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[never2old]

Hello all!

I'm just back from 3 brilliant days in DLRP. Christmas is definitely the best time to go - if you don't mind the cold and rain....

I'll start with a summary of our trip, and post the pictures later (still need to transfer them to the computer....) We only got back last night, still lots of unpacking etc to do!!

We left Saturday morning (late morning... no rush) and got to Paris in the early afternoon. We were staying in a hotel near Disney, in order to be close to it on Sunday. We went to the shopping outlet, which was packed  :shock:  I guess it was to be expected, a Saturday afternoon, just a few weekends before Christmas... Later we went to the Disney Village, for a first look around the shops, and dinner in King Ludwig's. Not bad, but not my favourite place in the Village. Then back to the hotel for an early night!

Sunday, after a quick check-in in the Sequoia, we went straight to Disneyland Park. It was around 9:00, but it was already quite busy. Extra Magic Hours are no fun if you need to queue!! Also it was raining... And cold. It looked quite miserable really!! But the park itself was beautiful. Walking in and going under the Main Street Station, with its beautiful decorations and snow men... Then there's that huge Christmas tree, and all the white trees and presents around it... Christmas music is playing.... And you look down Main Street, and there's the most beautiful castle in the world! I love Christmas...  That's got to be one of the best feelings in the world, arriving like that to a gorgeous DLP, with a few magical days ahead of you!!!  /

We knew Sunday would be busy so we were expecting not to get many rides done... We started off with Space Mountain (reasonable 10 minutes wait during EMH), then moved to Fantasyland for Pinocchio (Peter Pan was already very busy, and the wait time screens still not working). Once the park opened at 10:00 we headed for POTC, got some fastpasses for BTM, and watched Mickey's Magical Wonderland show - the bit when Minnie and Mickey are skating together is my favourite, it's so beautiful!!  We visited Santa's Village (but my husband didn't want to queue to sit on his lap...  :roll: ) - fortunately we run into Santa while we were taking pictures with Stinky Pete, so he did wish us a Merry Christmas!

We later headed to the Studios, but they were packed  :shock: , and waiting times everywhere were huge. We tried Cinemagique, and about 15 minutes after it was supposed to start we were told that they had some technical difficulties and to come back later  :x ... I blame a guy behind me, while we all waited for the show to start he was telling his friends that a a few times when he had been to Cinemagique it hadn't been working. And a few minutes later it broke?? Obvisouly he's bad luck   !! Fortunately we went again for the next show and all was fine - the rain effects were particularly good! After a quick lunch in the Village (and some shopping...) we went to get our room in the Hotel We had a Montana room, and it had a little balcony and all - not a lake view room, but still, I guess that if it hadn't been freezing, it could have been quite nice to sit outside and enjoy the view of the huge trees around us!

After a bit of a rest, we went back to the Park. We went to see the parade by IASW. Unfortunately it was still raining, and dark, so terrible conditions for good pictures, but still so enjoyable! It was good to see the Princesses' float back. And the Christmas part was great! The soldiers are still the best part though, all marching together, with the music and the sound of their steps... It looks great! The elves were OK, but not as good as the soldiers, and then Santa himself!

After a few more rides (including the BTM by night, love the fastpass service...), a visit to Belle's Christmas Village (looked very pretty by night), and a yummy dinner in Agrabah's Cafe (which I was delighted to find out was still opened in the evening), we managed to get a nice spot in front of the stage for the Enchanted Candleabration. It had finally stopped raining, so we could enjoy the show fully   !! Probably one of my favourite parts of the trip. The first part with Minnie & friends singing and dancing the Christmas songs was great. Then Mickey came on and turned on the 15 candles (I love that bit, the music is so beautiful.... there were a couple of tears I think). The part with the princesses was very romantic, I too want to be a princess... And at the end came the best part of all: Tinkerbell turning on the lights in Main Street and the Christmas tree, and then on the Castle... The whole thing was magical. I was crying like a baby  :oops: , it was so beautiful...  And then of course the Fantillusion parade. I didn't know it changed direction, it started from Main Street not from Fantasyland. We hadn't planned on seeing it on Sunday, but since we were in the shops, and it was just outside... We just had to come out and watch it!! We had Ursula and then Aladdin stopping in front of us. I wasn't very impressed with the Ursula one (I mean, compared to Maleficent's or Jafar's, her float is not the most impressive...) But Aladdin's was great, their carpet flies.....  :wink:

Monday coming up!

[never2old]

Monday morning, after a great night sleep (I always find the beds in Disney to be particularly comfy... but it could be that I'm always exhausted by the time I get to them  :wink: ) and a quick breakfast, we headed straight to Discoveryland (under the rain, of course  :roll: ) to make the most of the EMH. We did Buzz a few times (so much quieter than on Sunday!!), Space Mountain, then Peter Pan, then Buzz again... I love it when there's no queue   !!!

By 10:00 we went to the Studios. Crush Coaster was not working (broken already....) and there was a queue waiting outside ToT. We joined it just in case it wasn't as bad as it looked, but when we saw 45 minutes we decided to go elsewhere... The fastpass was not working on Monday (why not  :evil: ?). Instead we had a walk around the Studios. Didn't think much of their Christmas market (it looked rather desolate....) We went on Stitch Live  :stitch: , very funny. We got out in time to meet some characters - but it was hectic, people pushing their kids forward, no control whatsoever. Cruella was brilliant, there was a guy chasing her for an autograph, she just kept turning away and saying no, it was very funny!! Goofy was lovely, he saw that I had been patiently waiting for some time and took me by the hand before another woman shoved her kid in front of me, I was so happy!! I also managed to get one picture with Dale (or was it Chip??? Oh, total blackout... need to look at the pictures!), but had to give up on Donald  :cry: , there was just too many people around him. I hate it when there's no proper queue, I'm not aggresive or pushy enough, and I end up getting upset when everyone keeps pushing ahead of me   . So who knows, maybe next time... Unfortunately my husband is not a fan of queues, and didn't want to queue just to meet a character (sometimes I wonder why I married him  :roll: ....) so I had to give up on meeting Mickey, Minnie and Daisy in the Studios, and Minnie and Donald in the Park... But can't always have everything! Anyway, after failing to get my picture with Donald we went back to the Tower, which now had a more pleasant queue of 25 minutes (which turned out to be only 15). I love it I love it I love it!!! Such a brilliant ride!!  :stitch_bounce:  =D>  /

We went back to the Park, via the Salon Mickey. It was our first visit, it was quite nice, and the hot coffee (and croissant) were very welcome, my throat was still sore from the screams in ToT.... Don't know why we didn't become shareholders before!!!

Queues on Monday were a lot better than on Sunday, as we expected. Some rides (like BTM) had slightly longer queues, but nothing compared to Sunday's (e.g 30 minutes insteead of 60) And the fastpass worked brilliantly -  it seemed to be for about 30 minutes later, which was perfect. We could get the fastpass for BTM, go to Phantom Manor (where queues seemed to be around 5 minutes all day Monday and Tuesday), had a look in the Frontierland shop, then go back to BTM to use the fastpass.

On Monday at last we saw the Character Train (had managed to miss it everytime on Sunday), and then the snow on Main Street. That was another of the highlights of our trip, at least for me. It was so beautiful   !! I love the song that plays, and the lights along Main Street, and then the snow... So magical!! After that everytime we were near Main Street and I heard the song (or saw the lights going on and off) we had to rush to Main Street to see it...  What is that song, and where can I find it?? Does anyone know?

After a go on POTC (again no queue there) we had lunch in the Blue Lagoon. We went for 14:30, and it was still very busy. We had a table in the beach, the food was delicious (the white chocolate fondant I had for dessert was heavenly), but everything was so sloooooooooooooooooow. We had a full course (starter, main course and dessert) and the whole thing took 2 hours  :shock: . It was a nice, welcome break, but we missed the parade  :x .... Still, we were there for three days, by this time we had already done all our favourite rides a few times, and it was also nice to sit down and relax for a while...So we didn't mind too much. But I would have been very stressed if I only had 1 or 2 days to spend in the park!!

After lunch we headed towards the Studios again. The queue in Crush was 75 minutes  :shock: , but ToT was only 20 minutes so we went for it again. By now it was getting dark, and the view from the top was great! It was also quite funny, when we had the first drop, the guy next to me (I guess it was his first time) quickly took my arm and held on to it as if his life depended on it ... He really hadn't seen that drop coming!!    When we got out it was getting very close to 18:00, and since the queue in Crush was still 1 hour long, we rushed back to the Park to catch the Candleabration show. We had another go on BTM by night, and headed back to Main Street to see the Fantillusion parade, perfect end for a great day.... We had a snack in the bar (and a very yummy cocktail or two....) and went back to the room for an early night, we were quite exhausted!!

Last part coming up soon!

[Newbie]

Thank you, really enjoying your report, cannot wait to get there, although beginning to regret going over a weekend!! :?
Looking forward to your next part...

[never2old]

Tuesday morning, a miracle... No rain!!! At least when we got up... By the time we left for the park, after leaving all the bags in the car, it was raining a little bit... But nothing compared to the last two days! It did feel cooler, though... We had come prepared for the cold, and had been OK in general (I did have to buy a new scarf and gloves, but only because I had "accidentally" forgotten mine at home  :wink: ....). Tuesday was the only day when I felt a couple of times that an additional layer could have been welcome...

As we had done on Monday, we went straight to Discoveryland. Had a few goes on Buzz and the Space Mountain, then again went to Fantasyland for Peter Pan and Pinocchio, then headed back to Discoveryland for some more... We love Buzz, it's such fun, but some people (ie my husband) can become a bit competitive and ruin it for everyone else  :evil: ... He had been trying to break his record and reach level 5, and suddenly somehow inexplicably miraculously (no jealousy here) we got over 800.000 points  :shock: !!! After that he always had incredible scores (always over the 600.000...) and I kept getting terrible scores because he wouldn't let me control the cruiser  :evil: !!! After threatening with never allowing him to go on Buzz again (it was that or a divorce, really  :roll: ) and a go on the Space Mountain (nothing like a bit of screaming to calm oneself  :wink: ), we decided to try Buzz again, this time both controlling it... Which didn't change anything, he still kept getting level 6 scores and I kept getting scores around the 150.000, maximum....  I think my guns were not working properly, it's the only explanation  :wink: ! And I must be very unlucky, because that morning we must have done Buzz all in all about 10 times!!

On Tuesday again we concentrated on doing our favourite rides, and also on taking some pictures, since for the first time we had blue (dry) skies!! In one of the visits to the Phantom Manor, we had it breaking down  :? !! First it stopped a couple of times (at the very start), then when we got to the piano the soundtrack stopped completely, and a bit further away the buggies also stopped. For a few moments it was creepily quiet  :-$ , all we could hear was knocking in one of the doors (and people talking). Then the lights came on for a brief moment, it got dark again, and the "sorry we cannot continue our adventure please follow instructions" announcement came on, in all the languages... The buggies started moving again, and we did most of the ride with the announcement in English, French, Spanish etc for a soundtrack. Most of the effects were not working, it was really creepy!! Mme Leota was all blank, the Phantom in the cemetery was frozen, the cowboys were not moving.... Weird  :shock: !! And when we got out, BTM was also stopped (not the first time during our stay) - which was slightly worrying since we had fastpasses for it...  We had a walk around Adventureland and went on POTC, and by the time we got back BTM was working again, and we were able to use our fastpasses (which had expired a few minutes earlier).

We had another go on PM, which fortunately was working again, and aftter a walk around Fantasyland and Belle's Village (this time by day) we went for lunch in the Plaza Gardens (where a band was playing, it was great   ), then went to sit down in front of the Castle stage, to wait for the parade. It was freezing cold there, with a chilly wind, not the most pleasant wait!! But once the parade started, we forgot the cold and enjoyed it fully. The only thing, poor Belle was alone... Wonder what happened to the Beast  :beast: ?? We also had Santa stopping just in front of us (he was dancing to the Just like we dreamed it song, very funny).

And that was it. After some last minute shopping in Main Street (and the Village) we went back to the car and started the long, sad journey back home  :cry: ... I managed to stay awake for about 20 minutes and drive for a bit while my husband rested, but the rest of the time I was fast asleep...

I was really sad when we left. Still am.... I'm probably going back in a couple of months with some friends, but it won't be Christmas anymore. It's really the most beautiful season. The music, the decorations, the shows... It's so magical!!

Now I'm looking forward to this coming weekend, we're putting the Christmas decorations out, including some new ones we got from DLRP, so we'll have a little bit of the magic in our home  :santa: ...

Pictures coming soon!

[The Butlin Boy]

Great trip report, thanks for sharing it. I'm glad you had such a great trip. I can't wit to see your photos as well

[littlemermaid83]

Lovely report, i cant wait to see the photos.

[never2old]

Thank you all  

OK, after transferring them all to the computer, I've realised we took over 700 pictures... Still got hundreds to get through, but here are the first ones!

Arriving in Main Street:



Santa's Village:



Big Thunder Mountain



Mickey's Winter Wonderland:













More to follow!

[The Butlin Boy]

Great photos, I especially love the Mickey's Winter Wonderland ones :mrgreen: I can't wait for the rest

[Lilmiss]

Wow, great trip report and lovely pics!
Thanks for sharing  

[Javey74]

Great Trip Report and Photies Never2old, really looking forward to some more of them.. /  /  /

[katiefairy]

great report i;m going next thursday for my 30th birthday and reading your report give me goosebumps i;ll be crying soon as i see the castle :oops: the photos are brill too /

[never2old]

Thank you all!

Here are some more pics from Sunday; now from the Studios!





I love the picture behind Goofy...





The Christmas tree:





And the Christmas market:

[ColdSun]

love the report and the pics, sounds like  great time ...
I agree with you about meeting Donald though, I also wish they would have  proper queue to meet him :| .

[Pete's Dragon]

It was also quite funny, when we had the first drop, the guy next to me (I guess it was his first time) quickly took my arm and held on to it as if his life depended on it ... He really hadn't seen that drop coming!!

Caught me out the first time time too !!! Great report, love the photos !!!! But admit it, if you'd had the chance some of those WDS Xmas tree decorations would have been coming home with you  :wink: (I know I would have be tempted)

[never2old]

But admit it, if you'd had the chance some of those WDS Xmas tree decorations would have been coming home with you  :wink: (I know I would have be tempted)

Oh yes   ... I particularly liked the film bow, shame they didn't have it in their shops....

I'll be posting some more pics soon!