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[Dancing Piratess]

Our First DLRP Trip – 10th – 13th March  2008

Firstly, let me introduce out little 21st century family.
There is me Nadine, my little girl then 2.5 years old (but acts and talks like a 4 or 5 year old, shes very bright   , and my Mum and Dad (Nanny & Grampy) who we live with. Baring in mind my parents act like kids most of the time, my daughter is the boss in our house.

We have had a bit of a rough time in the last few years with illnesses and my divorce, so as a treat for all of us I booked 4 days at DLRP! I don't know who was more excited, Lyra or Nanny.  /

Luckily, we just missed the French half term this year as it ended on the 10th so it wasn't too busy.
In fact we had a completely different experience to the other lady who did a report for the same few days as we only had to wait minutes in queues. Anyway I digress....

Day One 10th March 2008
"AKA, A bad case of wind"

Thankfully, Lyra slept all night and so when we dragged her out of her bed at 4am she was in a sleepy but good mood to take to the Airport for our 6am flight. The weather however, was atrocious!

It was Lyra's 1st flight and to be honest the worst one we could have had for her to experience. We went on a small Air France plane which was petrifying. It was gale force winds and sheet rain, in fact our plane was the last one to take off that morning before 9am as all the other planes after ours were cancelled until the winds dropped. Both myself and my Mum were feeling rather queasy due to the terrible turbulence but we managed to hide our feelings from Lyra as she fell asleep for the whole flight! I actually prayed during the landing and almost crushed my Dads hand, as we came in SIDEWAYS!!!! Literally, no kidding, the poor pilot must has been fighting with the controls. You could almost hear him sigh with relief when we touched down. Sadly after all that we had to stay on the plane another 30mins to wait for the ground team to be able to bring the steps out as they were combating horizontal rain!

*Phew* Once in the airport we had an hour to calm down and find where to get the VEA Disney bus from as it was all in our package (I paid for the Disney package from the official website, but next time I will be doing it separately, more on that later). The VEA was very helpful and we were glad of a good hours sit down and snooze. Almost everyone on the coach was asleep as we approached the Valley. It was so nice to see Lyra's face light up when she saw the Mickey Water Tower. We arrived at our Hotel (Santa Fe, which was okay for a 1st time, but I wouldn't stay there again) and checked in with no problems. We had a ground floor room very near to the entrance as I had requested this due to my father having back and hip problems he walks with a stick.
As we were all exhausted after being up since 3am and traveling so long, we all needed rest and wash up. After this we thought we would brave the weather and go for a walk to the Disney Village.

Being around 4pm now (and after doing some reading on the net) I guessed it would be pretty quiet in the Rainforest Café, and although it is VERY expensive and has had some bad rap, I thought it was an experience we had to do to start off the Hoilday. Nanny and Grampy loved the animals and SFX, though Lyra liked the atmosphere, she was a bit unsure of the Thunder storms. Grampy took far too many photos than is healthy (he's a photoshop fiend). We had a wander around the Village and bought sweeties for in the evening   Lyra was soo excited when she saw all the Disney Princess clothes and wanted to try on every hat and ears we came across. Sadly the weather got the better of us though as we decided we had better head back to Santa Fe and prepare ourselves for all the fun the next day.



Santa Fe: Now I know everyone says Santa Fe is a great cheap hotel and that its good for people on a budget; but it does have its drawbacks. Having to hire a kettle (which they didn't tell you that you can do, so most people don't bother). We brought a travel kettle so we were okay. Also that breakfast in the morning is utter chaos and that sadly the French families let the kids run riot and shout and scream all the time. Argh. That the TV only had 2 channels, and every day the housekeeping people threw my daughters Teddy and Nightclothes on the floor when they made the bed and never bothered to pick them up. Anyway nuff of the moaning.

I bought a Mickey Plush for Lyra whilst she had a tea of Ham, Bread and Cheese purchased from the Petrol station at the end of the road. Her little face was a picture when I got back to the Hotel room with him. So we snuggled up in bed with Mickey in the middle tickling my nose. We were all so exhausted we all fell asleep by 8.30pm! But at least we would be up early for breakfast.

Day Two 'Dancing Dollies and Here be Dragons' to follow....

[Dancing Piratess]

Day Two: 11th March 2008

OMG, I was so excited Lyra and I practical ran to the park after breakfast; we almost left Nanny and Grampy behind. Lyra brought Mickey along too, and she spent a lot of the time chanting 'Disneyland!' at the top of her voice. Both Nanny and I got quite choked up when we saw the Castle for the first time, it was wonderful to have a moment to feel like a kid again, all excited and in wonder, I forgot all my worries as soon as we stepped through the gates. Right then I said, "Plan of action – Fantasyland". I had been planning this trip for 3 months so I was determined to get as much done for Lyra as possible and a full day in Fantasyland was first on the list.

We loved the Castle, though Lyra didn't appreciate the Dragon, she thought he was really real and although she came in with us, closed her eyes for most of the time in there. After lots of posed photos for Grampy we then made our way out the other side.

We jumped straight on the Carousel, which was so lovely, if not a little uncomfortable for me and Nanny as I had Lyra on my lap and my bum was a bit crushed in the seat and poor Nanny got stuck trying to get on and off due to a dodgy knee. I shouldn't laugh but even she thought it was funny. Sadly the queue for Dumbo was too long for Lyra to wait so we then went on the Tea Cups (which I made go really fast). Le Pays des Contes de Fées, which we adored even if it was raining, being very 'British' we just went around with our umbrellas up    Casey Jr was just excellent, Lyra didn't realize how fast it was going to go, so she looked a little unsure at first, though I knew she would be okay as she is a bit of a dare devil. Sure enough as soon as we got off she asked to go on again, ha ha that's my girl   The sun actually came out after this and we had a wander in the Labyrinth and watched the dormouse in the teapot for a bit whilst Nanny & Grampy discussed where best to get a cup of tea from. Lyra got to meet several different characters outside the Pizzeria where we also sat and made up our lunch from our breakfast stash. The new bout of rain didn't bother us and Lyra thought it was great to see Princess Belle skipping by on her way to have a well deserved break. The main attraction for us was next, 'It's a Small World'. Oh how fantastic is this ride. We were so gob smacked by how touching and sweet this was I had tears running down my face the whole way round.

I had been recommended to go and see 'The Lion King' show so we headed to Discoveryland. What a great show, it was loved by all of us and gave Grampy a chance to rest his back for a bit. He was quite chuffed that guy who played Simba shook his hand when he came down into the audience at the end. Great dancing and wonderful singing it was definitely worth doing.  =D> After this we had a wander around and decided to go back to Fantasyland as we all wanted to go on 'It's a Small World' again. This time I filmed it. Lyra still talks about this now and refers to it as the 'Dancing Dollies' ride. So cute.



We spent the next hour or so wandering around the shops and making our way towards Main street so we would be in time to watch the parade. We had fries and chicken nuggets undercover and Hot Chocolate and Mickey brioche was purchased ready to get in our places for the Parade, sadly 5 mins before the start Lyra fell fast asleep. So she missed the whole thing. Luckily though this left me free to film the Parade, which unfortunately was a little rushed in places, but as it was STILL raining I was not surprised. It was so wonderful, but disappointed Lyra missed it so me and Nanny secretly decided we must come back the next day and watch it again so Lyra could see it. Well, that was our excuse anyway  :wink:

Sadly the wind and rain was getting the better of everyone again so we headed toward the shuttle bus, which was very unpleasant with lots of wet children and annoying pushing French people, one man shoved Nanny so hard she nearly fell, and she was carrying Lyra at the time. :shock:  He looked a little surprised when Nanny gave him a full mouthful of 'Old English'.

Much playing and jumping on the beds kept Lyra amused before having a lovely warm shower and a cuddle, she crashed out into our bed, taking up all the room.
Day Three: "Haunted Houses, Pirates and Character breakfasts" to follow....

[Captain Pan]

Reading this I've done nothing but grin inanely from ear to ear...

Sounds like you had a great time so far... With the exception of a few hiccups which were beyond your control!

[The Butlin Boy]

Great trip report so far, thanks for posting it. I can't wait for the rest

BTW, welcome to the forum, feel free to introduce yourself in the "Introduce yourself" forum :wink:

[never2old]

Welcome to the forum Dancing Piratess!!

Looking forward to the rest of your report, it's a very good read, I can practically see myself going along with you!

And I'm hoping Lyra managed to see the parade!

[Clarebelle]

Welcome Dancing Piratess!

Thankyou for sharing your trip report with us, you actually made me cry! I really wish I could take my mum back to Disneyland but she refuses to fly or travel ANYWHERE :-( I can't wait to take our future babies to disneyland (I'm planning "tricking" my mother into coming, No thats not a plane  :oops: lol  and annual passes I think :lol: )

I would like to say that Santa Fe is a great hotel. I loved staying here when I was little and have very fond memories of the cactus and the volcano, admittedly when I went back (just before you, Feb '08) I was dissapointed that the volcano didn't work and the lack of water in the water trail, and yes there was a loose tile or two on the bathroom floor but my memories of being a little girl on her first trip with her parents (and remembering how new it was then. and how hard my mum had to work to pay for our family to go) I guess overshaddows the reality of what it ws really like. But really its not a bad hotel, just needs a little refirbishment, like most of the resort. But after all, it is just a place to put your things and sleep for us anyway, and OK maybe the breakfast isn't planned out too well.

Is the rainforest cafe really that expensive? and where has its bad rep come from? we have always found it to be brillient, fantastic food, quick service, great atmosphere ... but that is after a few cocktails so maybe ...

It was so cute how your little girl closed her eyes in the dungeon, I remember I was so scared of the dragon when I was that age (ok maybe a bit older ... maybe 7). You must have so many wonderful memories of Disneyland now!

You are so lucky to have gone on Le Pays des Contes de fees AND casey jr. I thought they were closed! when we tried to que for Casey jr I was attacked by tigger and winnie the pooh who were using the que line as an entrance to the park for meet and greet, perhaps it was that time of day the rides close?

I'm so glad you enjoyed the Lion King, its so fantastic, and your allowed to film it and take photos woop! me and my boyfriend are hoping to go see the west end production of it when we go to London next weekend we liked it that much!

Thanks again for sharing your report, its seems your stay was very well planned out! Cant wait to read part 3!

[treble]

great report  
loved the umbrellas-very british  
we too went to the santa fe for our first time. we loved it and would be happy to stay again. like clarebelle said it's just somewhere to lay your head.
i've never tried the rainforest cafe mainly because of the price. for the same price at cafe mickey you get characters as well.

[Javey74]

Welcome to the Forum Dancing Piratess  

Thanks for sharing the first section of your report, looking forward to the rest.  By the way I do like Lyra's new name for "It's A Small World" - The Dancing Dollies Ride.. :lol: Very logical interpretation, I must say.  :wink:

[littlemermaid83]

Thankyou for sharing lovely report

[Soap]

Thanks for sharing Dancing Piratess!!

[Carnival_Princess_]

Oh my teddies got sat together nicely on my pillow after the cleaners had been when we were at Santa Fe last september.
Your report makes me want to go back  

[Javey74]

Actually come to think of it, Jen's Minnies were put neatly up against the pillows, and more shock, our PJs were folded neatly and put onto the side chair, now I didn't know that was in with the service at the Santa Fe.  :shock:

[Rain]

Day Two: 11th March 2008

 Both Nanny and I got quite choked up when we saw the Castle for the first time, it was wonderful to have a moment to feel like a kid again, all excited and in wonder, I forgot all my worries as soon as we stepped through the gates.

Isn't that just the most magical sight in the world? I know just what you mean about getting choked up - it is a really special moment. I'm such a softy when it comes to Disney parks - I cry at the parades, at the shows, the fireworks. And yes, the "Dancing Dollies ride"  (I love that!)really made me fill up too. Has always been closed when we've been to WDW, so it was a really big deal to finally go on it at DLRP in October.

Thank you for sharing your trip with us - really adorable report that totally captures that Disney magic.

[Epcot_Boy]

:hello:

And welcome to this jolly gathering Dancing Piratess :wink:

Great report, and for a first report brilliant =D>

Everytime I walk through the gates at DLRP and see the castle I also well up a little, and I'm getting on a bit now :oops: , but it still does it for me

Epcot_Boy :ears: