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[princessmummy]

Day 1 – Monday 10th March 2008

We actually started off on Sunday 9th March by driving down to Ashford from Evesham.  After 3 ½ hours we arrived at Ashford Premier Inn – these are definitely my favourite place to stay in England as they may not be exciting but they are always clean, comfortable and reasonably priced.

We arrived at Ashford International on Monday morning at 8am and checked in for Eurostar.  So far so good and I was looking forward to experiencing the Eurostar promise of stress-free travel direct to the centre of the magic.  What a load of **** (pardon my French)  :^o .  Half-an-hour we stood on the platform at Ashford in gale-force winds and driving rain, queuing to board the train as people tried to board with more luggage and buggies than any train could sensibly handle.  My daughter was crying the whole time and it was horrendous.  I also wasn't impressed that despite booking the tickets 8 months ago, before they were even released, we weren't even seated together, although at least my seat was only across the aisle from my daughter and husband – one of the disadvantages of taking Eurostar as a trio, I guess.  It was much worse for the way back where we were separated by a row (they'd rather funnily allocated my 4 year old daughter a seat all alone for the journey back although obviously I swapped with her) and every toilet on the train was blocked.  Add that to check-in opening 15 minutes later than advised on the return journey (so the whole of Marne La Vallee Chessy station was blocked up with aggravated Eurostar passengers who'd got there for the advised time) and I've decided that if there's a next time, I'm taking a plane.  Big thumbs down for Eurostar.

Anyway, grumping over, we arrived at the Disneyland station just before 1pm and on the plus side you do get the Disney Express service with Eurostar so after half-an-hour queuing to leave our luggage at the desk, we were able to start our holiday without any of the early afternoon checking-in horror stories I've heard about.  It was blowing a storm over there too and I wondered if our holiday was ruined before it was even started.  Still, we made the best of it and headed to Annette's Diner for lunch.  After that, we headed off into the park and although it was still rather wet and blowy, the worst of the storm had abated.  I took the totally necessary clichéd picture of Sleeping Beauty's Castle:



and off we headed to Fantasyland  We went on every ride there that was open (no Peter Pan's flight – boo).  Josephine loved it all except the Dragon under the castle (which she refused to believe wasn't real) and the Snow White and Pinnochio rides which scared her.  She particularly loved the tea cups and the carousel.  The "dolly boats" as she called them (It's a Small World) were also a firm favourite and we did them five times over the next 3 days (my husband was on the verge of slitting his wrists the final time).

After a wet and exhausting afternoon we headed for our pre-booked table at Café Mickey where an extortionately overpriced meal followed (6 euros for a bottle of water!) although Josephine was in heaven as she met Eeyore, Minnie Mouse , Gepetto, and Chip & Dale (none of which she was familiar with but she loved them all the same).  Here's one of the pictures:



After that, we headed over to the Newport Bay Club where I was a little anxious about what would greet us as, since booking it, I had heard some awful stories about the quality of the hotel, the state of the rooms, the nightmare of checking in, etc.

I was pleasantly surprised to find there was no queue to check-in.  We'd booked for the Admiral's Floor (as it was only £8 pppn more expensive) but hadn't been able to afford the Lakeview supplement so when we went up to our room (6280), I was pleasantly surprised to find we had a fantastic view over Lake Disney, taking in the Lighthouse, the Sequoia Lodge, the Hotel New York and Disney Village – you could even see the top of Sleeping Beauty's Castle all lit up (although it wouldn't show up in a picture):



The room was in lovely condition so, based on the reviews I've read, we either got lucky or some people have too much time on their hands.  It didn't look dated or in need of redecoration at all.  We didn't have a kettle, but that was remedied by a quick call to room service (my husband can't survive without tea).  The safe also didn't work but the hotel very quickly sent someone to fix it.  Unfortunately, they couldn't fix the problem but they advised us that the concierge has free to use, individual safes and we went down and put all our passports, etc. in one of those.  Just as easy and probably safer.

So after a very exhausting, very busy day, we went to bed:




Day 2 will follow shortly.

Siobhan

[Nicholas-c]

cool What program did you use to re-size your image? they seem a little pixelised

[princessmummy]

I didn't use any program - I just linked them from my online album.  They look fine on my screen though (it's a 14" laptop TFT though so maybe that makes a difference - I don't usually post on forums so am not very clever with it).

Siobhan

[Alpop]

Nice report so far.

although Josephine was in heaven as she met Eeyore, Minnie Mouse , Gepetto, and Chip & Dale (none of which she was familiar with but she loved them all the same).
Siobhan

It's very interesting this part. I was in a balloon shop with my friend and his 3 year old. He walked into a Foil balloon in the shape of Mickey Mouse standing up. I said "do you know who that is?" He said "no". He is old enough to know a load of other characters, but I think Mickey mouse isn't as publicised as he once was..... Maybe!

[Malin]

Great trip report so far, and sorry to read about the terrible experience you had using Eurostar. I hope you wrote a note to complain about the service as it does reflect badly on DLRP too, even through both are separate companies.

Anyway can't wait for part two.

[princessmummy]

Day 2 – 11th March 2008

Woke up to a lovely view from our hotel room:



We had planned to make use of one of the Extra Magic Hours between 8am and 10am but unfortunately although I set my clock to French time on arrival, it picked up the time signal from England and reset itself.  As a result (and me not noticing until I checked my watch at half-nine) we didn't get to the park until nearly normal opening time.  We skipped breakfast due to the hideous queue waiting (tip for those staying at Newport Bay Club – travel with a box of cereal bars as they were a lifesaver as we didn't get breakfast once during our stay due to the length of the queue).

Anyway, we arrived at the park and went straight to Discoveryland for a go on Buzz Lightyear's Laser Blast.  This was undoubtedly my daughter's favourite ride of them all and we ended up going on it 8 times across the next two days.

After that, we headed for "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience" as an English show was just about to start and I vaguely remembered it being quite good from my trip 15 years previously.  Unfortunately, my 4 year old daughter was not so impressed and got ludicrously frightened.  She kept screaming and crying and begging to go, so we got up quickly and headed for the exit.  Unfortunately, this was when disaster struck.  The place was pitch black with just two green signs showing the way to the exit.  There were no little runway lights on the floor like you get in British cinemas so we had to feel our way round the back wall to get out.  Unfortunately, unknown to me, my left foot was walking on the crack where the moving floor meets the static floor.  All of a sudden, the moving floor lifted and my foot was turned over with the most agonising pain.  I collapsed on the floor in a crumpled heap, the world flashing purple and everything sounding tinny and distant.  I had only experienced that feeling once before in my life and that was when I broke my ankle on a hill when I was 16 years old.

A cast member came to help me but I couldn't move for several seconds.  I eventually managed to pull myself up and limped for the door, my ankle sending lighting bolts up my whole leg.  She wanted to get a first-aider but for whatever reason, I just had the flight instinct and wanted to get away so I declined and hobbled off as fast as I could.  We found a bench and took off my shoe to view a rapidly swelling ankle.  Not looking good.  Anyway, I took every painkiller in my bag and cried for 10 minutes (it had taken 7 years and £700 to get there – you can imagine my disappointment at being taken out on my first full day).  Once I'd pulled myself together, I decided I couldn't let Josephine down as she wouldn't understand us leaving so soon after arriving.  I figured the ankle couldn't be broken because, as much as it had hurt to limp out of the cinema, I'd done it which is pretty much impossible if it's broken.  So I stood on the flaming thing and I made myself walk.  It was agonising and I cried every step but I was resolved (stupid, some might say, but hey).  Anyway, Josephine wanted to go on the Orbitron which had a 40 minute queue.  Seemed like a good idea as standing in line on one foot was far easier than walking, so that's what I did – I must have looked like a flamingo or something.  Anyway, by the end of the 40 minutes the ankle was feeling a little better – still painful but slightly numb and distant so I decided to go on too.  Hurt like crazy to get in the little rocket but much easier to get out as I could swing both legs out for the exit.  I was actually surprised how much fun a souped-up version of Dumbo could be (I suspect I was suffering an endorphin high from the ankle injury).

Then it started to rain and we limped over to Frontierland where Josephine wanted to go on Big Thunder Mountain but I talked her out of it because of the pouring rain and how nasty an outdoor train ride would be in that.  We headed for the Lucky Nugget Saloon where we'd booked a character lunch.  The place was lovely and Josephine met lots of new characters, although the food was pretty rubbish, especially for the price.

After that we tried Phantom Manor as there was only a 5 minute queue – Josephine stepped in the door, took one look, and demanded to be let out again so Chris took her (he wasn't keen himself) while I stayed and did the ride.

After that we headed over to Discoveryland for a go on Pirates of the Caribbean – no waiting at all – and Josephine didn't like the pirates much but she did like the boat ride and the log flume bit.

After that we went in search of an ice cream and then got a decent spot for the Once Upon A Dream Parade:





Josephine thought that was wonderful and it certainly felt lovely with the music blaring out of the speakers behind us (I actually bought the music the next day, much to my husband's disgust, but it's been very popular ever since with both Josephine and the baby daughter who stayed home with her granny).  Unfortunately they only did one show stop, I'm assuming because of how wet it was.

After the parade finished we headed back to Discoveryland to do Buzz again while the queue was short.  Then the weather improved so it was back to Frontierland to do Big Thunder Mountain.  I was a little nervous as, although Josephine met the minimum age and height requirements, I really didn't know how she would take to it.  I needn't have worried – she came off going "again, again!".  Little thrill seeker – scared of Snow White and Pinocchio but loves the thrill rides.  So we went round again (leaving Chris to browse in a shop as he didn't like it at all).

Note - it's just occurred to me I'm not sure I've introduced all the characters in our little adventure.  There's me, Siobhan, age 30; my husband, Chris, age 32; my older daughter Josephine, age 4; and my younger daughter, Melissa, aged 13 months (who stayed with Granny in England as she would have hated it).

Anyway, by the time we'd done all this I was pretty much in agony with my ankle, but I was determined to see Candleabration at 7pm so we went back to Fantasyland for Josephine to do some  more stuff with Chris while I had a sit down.  We finally saw the show that evening and then I dragged my sorry self out of the park in search of dinner.  Everywhere was full so we queued in MacDonalds (at least it was cheaper than the restaurants) and managed to grab the last table indoors.

After that it was back to the hotel to nurse the not-quite-broken ankle (which had gone a hideous size, shape and colour by this point) – it spent the night propped on a pillow being intermittently iced (yaay for the hotel having an ice machine – that's something you don't tend to get in England).

Day 3 will follow shortly.

[Javey74]

Thanks for sharing princessmummy, I really enjoyed reading that report, looking forward to the rest now  =D>

[SOARIN]

=D>

[cinders]

very good trip report!! ouchies about the ankle ! i had a very bruised bottom in December was rather slippery and i was comming down from buzz lightyear lazer ride and i went head over heels on my bottom that really really hurt !! allthough a cast  member laughed :| one did help me up, i did laugh in the end as my son and daughter both laughed ! but i am glad more people were not around lol !! who knows someone could have sent it to you`ve been framed !! haha perish the thought !!

[toonarmylass]

you were on the same train home as me. it was on that train i had horrendous problems with the eurostar staff. i was trying to struggle on with all my cases and matthew in his wheelchair and not on single member of staff had the decencey to help. infact they were downright disgustingly rude and sorry to say arrogant because i didnt speak french. you may have seen me i was the one stood on the otherside of the xray machines with a million cases anyway i know that was off topic. great review im looking forward to the rest. i hope your ankle got better.

[Malin]

Enjoying the detailed trip report. The ankle injury sounds painful and you really should of had it checked out. Through I could also imagine the embarrasment you must of been going through at the time. I can't wait for part 3

[princessmummy]

The ankle is unfortunately still severely busted.  The bruising has faded but the swelling is still bad.  I went to casualty on Friday and they thought maybe it was fractured because it was so bad but an x-ray ruled that out, thank goodness.  They've covered it in a huge bandage and said it will be about 3 weeks or so as it's all torn ligaments, etc.  It's actually kind of worse now because I haven't got that incentive to keep going so it's bothering me worse, although in reality it must hurt less, I was just determined not to end my holiday because of it.  Got a few tuts and sighs from the nurses when I said I'd just kept going on it.

Anyway, hoping to get part 3 done tomorrow (which, you'll be pleased to hear, should be shorter than the two essays posted so far).

Siobhan

[princessmummy]

Day 3 – Wednesday 12th March 2008

We headed to the main park at 9am to take advantage of one of the Extra Magic Hours and went round Buzz Lightyear a couple of times.  My husband scored 473,000 which was obscene as I didn't see another score like it show-up while we were there – my best was 179,000.  We bought Josephine a Buzz Lightyear laser blaster from the shop for the princely sum of 17 euros and then headed for the Studios at quarter-to-ten as I wanted to do Crush's Coaster and I'd heard the queues built up quickly.  We arrived before the Studios opened to lead a charge to Crush in the hope of getting a short wait.  I'd been manically measuring my daughter for the last few weeks in the hope she'd just make the 1.07m restriction – success as she measured 1.08m the day before our holiday.  But, unfortunately, we were turned away as there were 'technical difficulties' (Disney talk for broken down – not a word they like you using about their rides, I've found).  They said it might be running later that morning or in the afternoon.

So we headed for Cars instead and, after a 25 minute queue, we all squeezed into a mini version of Lightening McQueen (which was not intended to hold two adults across the back seat – we had to put our arms round each other as there wasn't space for us to sit normally).  It was quite fun but rather a short ride for the wait.  Josephine immediately wanted to do it again but I looked at the queue, which had doubled in length, and suggested maybe later.  We headed to the Flying Carpets of Agrabah where a slightly more reasonable 15 minute wait (with Josephine spending the whole time shooting her laser blaster at the children and getting envious looks back) saw us all boarding a carpet.  It was ok but I found the carpets the lamest of the three flying rides (Dumbo coming 2nd and the Orbitron coming 1st ) although at least it had the plus that we could all ride together.

We got off to find we were one minute late for the start of Animagique at 10:45am so we had to wait for the next one an hour later.  In the interim, Josephine queued up to meet Sully from Monsters Inc and I went off to get a Fastpass for Tower of Terror.  I came back to find as Josephine had neared Sully, she had got scared and decided she didn't want to meet him after all so we went and got an early lunch before the next showing of Animagique at 11:45.

We just made it for that – we had to drag Josephine in kicking and screaming as she thought it would be another "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience" but my sister had assured me she'd love it so we decided to push ahead.  And she did – she thought it was completely fab and loved every minute.

We got out and there were still 40 minutes until my Fastpass slot came round so we went to do the flying carpets again.  As we were exiting, I noticed they'd opened the queue line for Crush so we legged it round there.  They tried to measure Josephine who, being a bit daft, kept trying to duck under the measuring stick so they kept insisting she was too short.  I eventually managed to persuade her to stand up properly against the stick and they agreed she was just tall enough to ride so we joined the queue.

30 minutes later we'd got to the final section of the queue boarding the turtle shells and were less than 2 minutes from boarding ourselves.  So what do you think happened?  The flaming thing broke down again.  At this stage, my Fastpass for Tower of Terror had just opened and I had nearly 30 minutes before it expired, which would have been plenty if not for Crush's useless reliability.  So we were stuck there, no way out, when my daughter tells us she really needs the toilet.  No one was coming anywhere near us, offering to let us leave or anything, so I had no idea what to do and was getting really stressed.  We tried to attract a member of staff's attention but they ignored us.  My daughter, being 4, has less inhibitions than me so I suggested if she needed to get out that badly she should attract their attention so she promptly started shouting "Hey!" very loudly and repeatedly.  Eventually someone came and we explained and they let Chris take Josephine out with a special ticket to let him get back in the exit.

Half an hour later the ride started running but Chris hadn't returned.  I stood in that queue feeling abandoned and stuck with everyone boarding the ride around me.  The woman who'd let Chris and Josephine out came back and gave me a ticket for special return too so I could go and look for them.  I got outside to find that they were waiting there because the staff wouldn't let them back in, even with their ticket!  How stupid is that?  Anyway, we all headed back in via the exit on my ticket, got on a turtle shell, and off we went.  It was really good and I had a good scream and Josephine absolutely adored it.  She wanted to go on it immediately afterwards but by that time the queue must have been 90 minutes long so we said no.  Having finally escaped Crush, I checked my Fastpass ticket for Tower of Terror to find it had expired 10 minutes earlier, all thanks to Crush and his 'technical difficulties'.  By this time the queue for Tower of Terror was 80 minutes and the Fastpass machines were shut (I'm assuming they were all gone) so that was that.  I was a bit disappointed but Chris and Josephine didn't want to do Tower of Terror and I couldn't expect them to keep busy for 80 minutes waiting for me (plus I really couldn't be bothered to queue for 80 minutes alone).

The sun had come out by this time (the first time since we came to Disneyland ) so it would have been nice to have been outside and Chris wanted to see the stunt show (we'd also have liked to do the Studio tram tour but it was closed).  However, this was the day I think Josephine had got a bit 'Disney-ed out' and needed some time off as she asked to go back to the hotel for a swim.  As it was our last day at the hotel, we couldn't really refuse so we went and did some souvenir shopping and then headed back at 3pm.

We did go swimming but it felt freezing (the pool temperature sign read 30 degrees so either it was lying or 30 degrees isn't warm enough for a pool) and we had to give it up after 40 minutes.  We got washed, dressed, and then headed down to the village for another pre-booked meal at Café Mickey.  I wanted to do the Rainforest Café but they don't take bookings and the wait was over an hour (hence the precautionary booking we'd made for Café Mickey).

Josephine got to meet a load more characters – The Sheriff of Nottingham, Friar Tuck, Mr Smee, Mickey Mouse (again), Pluto (again), Goofy and, her personal favourite, Stitch  :stitch: :



After paying another bill which practically required us to remortgage the house, we headed into the village for some more souvenir shopping where I picked up some surprise gifts for Josephine to deal with any tantrums on the way home the next day.  It's very easy to lose track of time in those shops at night though – when we finished I checked my watch and it was 10:30pm which was well past Josephine's bedtime and I felt like a bad mummy, although she seemed to be enjoying herself.

The 4th and final day will follow shortly.

[Soap]

Great read and thanks for sharing!!!  

[RnRCj]

Thanks for the report princessmummy!

It seems like it was pretty busy for weekdays. I would've thought the queues would be about 10-20mins. But 80mins for Tower Of Terror? That's quite a lot. :?

I've learnt a lesson from this report as well - Don't go to Crush's Coaster before your Fastpass time is due. :lol:

EDIT: I've just realised why it seemed so busy - It was a French school holiday!