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[The Butlin Boy]

TBB's Disneyland Resort Paris Trip – 29th of December 2008 to the 2nd of January 2009.

Once Upon a Time... :wink:

Thursday 25th December 2008 – Christmas Day Surprise.

Our story actually begins here, on Christmas Day morning. Me and my two younger sisters were given Disney Store boxes from our parents as our main Christmas presents from them, we were told to open them simultaneously. As I opened the box, I gazed inside to find; the current park map for the two parks, a wallet of Euros, a torch/magnifying glass combo (so that I could study on the way back for an exam :| ), and a fake ticket reading:

'This ticket is valid for entry to THE DISNEYLAND PARIS THEME PARK ON NEW YEARS EVE AND DAY!'

The golden ticket sparkled at me as I read it with shock and excitement, like something out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; but better . I couldn't believe it, from Monday to Friday we were going back to Disneyland Paris :mrgreen:

To be continued... :wink:

[id@53]

I'm really looking forward to this trip report...... /

We were there at the same time so I'll be keeping an eye out in your photos for pictures of us  :-"

[ColdSun]

what a lovely present and such a cool way to give it! Looking forward to read about your stay and experiences .

[The Butlin Boy]

id@53: That would be quite funny wouldn't it :lol:

ColdSun: I was completely surprised when it happened, I had no idea. A great idea on my parents behalf

Monday 29th December 2008 – DLRP, Here we come!

Up bright and early with excitement flowing steadily through my body, we left home at about 8:30 (I think), arriving at the Channel Tunnel under an hour later. After looking around the shops quickly, we went to get onto the train at about quarter past or half past ten.


We're on our way!

Horse on the hill :wink:

Not quite Disney magic just yet :roll:

Excitement filled me as I heard the French announcements on the train, and as we arrived in France; we were on our way! After a few hours of driving (and studying for my exam :| ), we finally arrived at the Davy Crockett Ranch. We went to sign in at reception, when they told us that because the parks would be busy, until Wednesday we had to park in the car park next to the Di Vinci Car Park at Disney Village; a first for us.


We're here! /

Trying to be arty :wink:

Forget Hidden Mickeys, spot the Hidden Dave

From here, we went round to our cabin and unloaded our stuff (whilst watching the Disneyland Paris channel ). We were pleasantly surprised when we entered our cabin to discover two Mickey plush toys dresses as Santa, and a pack of chocolate truffles. But before I could claim a Mickey, my two younger sisters beat me to it, so I was left with the chocolate :roll:  :wink: .


Home, Sweet Home

We then headed towards the park. When we were told at reception where we needed to park, they also gave us a directions sheet as well to help us, but it wasn't what we expected. It actually took us through Val De Europe and past most of if not all of the DLRP hotels, before arriving at the car park. I suppose the logic in this was to try and get some visitors to visit the shops instead of visiting the busy parks, but it took us longer to get there nonetheless.


Lets play Hotel Hide 'n' Seek :roll:

We left the car in the car park and started to walk to the parks, through the Christmas fair (some of that food smells nice, but it doesn't look quite as appealing when you see the person making it with a cigarette in their mouth all of the time! :? ). It was just gone five o'clock, so we decided to visit the Studios until it closed at seven.


Lights...

Camera...

Action!

The Walt Disney Studios at Dusk

It felt good to walk through the turnstiles, into the beautiful Front Lot and the lively Studio One again, and then to see the partners statue, Hollywood Boulevard and the looming Tower of terror; I was home :mrgreen:  


"Hey there Walt, how's it goin'?"

Remember when this wasn't here, dark times... :-"

After checking the notice board, we headed over for the next showing of Stitch Live! It was great to see the new pre-show video which replaced the awful Disney Channel advert, a vast improvement, and the show itself was as hilarious as usual too :lol: .


Quite a contrast really isn't it :wink:

After this, we headed over to Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, which was advertised as a 40 minute queue (I don't think it was that long though). What was bad though was the amount of people smoking in the queue, it was appalling how many I counted, but none of the CMs tried to stop them (there was someone cleaning near the end of the line, and two people went up to him and asked if they were aloud to smoke. He said no and the person smoking put it out immediately, so it's not as if the CMs are un-informed), so this is an area that the resort really needs to improve on. RnRC was as good as always, but needed a bit more smoke though :roll: .


"Going Dooooooown......"

After this, the Twilight Zone beckoned and me and my Dad embarked as my Mum and two sisters went on the Tram Tour (cowards :twisted: ). Another smoking incident happened here, with someone actually smoking inside the building :shock: (things have got to change). The queue seemed to go very quickly for outside the building to the boiler room, but in the boiler room, it seemed a lot slower for some reason, I think they were only running two elevators, but it happened again later in the week. The ride itself was as amazing as usual, everyone really must try it. This was actually the best ride I've ever had on TOT, because it was at night, and when the doors opened, there was the Castle, all lit up from Candleabration. It was stunning.


"You unlock this door with the key of imagination, beyond it is another dimension..." :twisted:

After meeting up with the others, we made our way through to the Disneyland Park (whilst checking in on our stone ).


"The Pink Hotel"  :lol:

Do you think Pumbaa's in the bottom left corner? :wink:

The parks Christmas decorations looked superb, and the atmosphere of it all with the music, etc was just so magical. The parents popped into City Hall quickly to book a character tea for later in the week.


"Chante, C'est Noel! :mrgreen:

My favourite tree

Not your average City Hall :wink:

She looks smaller on the tele doesn't she! :roll:

From here, we walked down the ever beautiful Main Street USA, up towards the glittering Castle, all lit up for Christmas and it's fifteenth birthday (don't tell her she's actually sixteen ).


We've just found the stolen spot-lights from the Studios... :wink:

Like Peter Pan, she never grows up... she's been 15 for nearly 2 years :wink:

Random lamp, but I think it looks pretty cool

We were feeling a bit peckish by now, so a snack at Pinocchio's place was in order. Here's where I realised how bad the exchange rate is; seeing as it was almost 1 pound to 1 Euro, 14 Euros for 5 small portions of chips is a lot of money! :shock: After one of the most expensive meals ever, we headed over to Pirates of the Caribbean, one of our favourites. The ride was in good shape, except for the duelling pirates (please fix them) and that it seemed darker than usual (you could hardly see the little cats, or the drinking skeletons drink). We were also lucky enough to get a second ride without having to get off, because they only had one station open, and our boat was in the closed one .


He's revising for a Business Exam too :wink:

Bill Gates? :shock:  :wink:

You can fly, you can fly, you can fl... wait...wrong film :oops:  :-"

Back in the day... :wink:

We then went back to Fantasyland for some rides (Casey Jr, and maybe the Carousel), before going into Discoveryland to battle the evil Emperor Zurg on Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast! The only problem with Laser Blast was the Buzz animatronic in the queue was having some technical problems; his face was moving too fast, but the sound and everything else was fine, as if someone had pushed the fast forward button for his face :roll:  :lol: .


We must stop the Evil Emperor Kristof, and his army toy forum members: Buzz lightyear-Mission 2

"I dunno!" :lol:

From here, it was coming up to nine so we started to head back to our cabin, for some DLRP TV and sleep  :mrgreen:


Wait 'till you see the Mickey's Magical Party ones :shock:

See ya' tomorrow old friend :wink:

To be continued...

[Tubbyherman]

A fantastic trip report, I can't wait for the next installment.

[DLP-Photos.com]

Amazing trip report Butlin Boy with some stunning photos. What a christmas present to get

Looking forward to the next part of the report!

[ColdSun]

great start to the report and wonderful pictures =D> ...can't wait to read more.

[-breeno-]

Great start to your trip report Butlin.  Love the little comments below the pictures, some very funny ones :lol:

Also what a christmas present to get, i bet you couldn't wait for Christmas to end then, for the right reasons

[The Butlin Boy]

Thanks for your comments guys. I'm not quite sure when I'll get the next part online, it could be a while because I have quite a bit of coursework to do, but I'll see what I can do... :wink:

[SophieD]

great trip report so far Butlin Boy!! Love all the pics  :mrgreen:  Can't wait to read more


Good luck with your exam and coursework  :wink:  :wink:

[15MagicalYears]

Hey! I'm really enjoying your trip report  
Can't wait for the rest and good luck with your coursework/exams  

[The Butlin Boy]

Thanks for your comments guys and gals, I'm glad you enjoyed it

[Epcot_Boy]

Thanks for your comments guys. I'm not quite sure when I'll get the next part online, it could be a while because I have quite a bit of coursework to do, but I'll see what I can do... :wink:

 :evil: Now get your prioritys sorted out TBB :twisted:

 :wink: Only kidding

Enjoyed Part One =D>  =D>    Looking forward to the rest (Coursework permitting :lol: )

Epcot_Boy :ears:

[id@53]

Great report so far The Butlin Boy.

We were there at the same time so I'll be keeping an eye out in your photos for pictures of us  :-"

Didn't see ourselves yet, but that's hardly surprising since we didn't arrive until the 30th December, your second day. Best of luck with all the coursework.

[Nala_84]

I've also already commented on your great report on another forum, but again: I'm looking forward to seeing the rest, it's really much fun to read it !

Oh, and what I wanted to say: That sounds so disgusting that so many people around you were smoking - even in a building  :evil:  :shock: The castmembers really should be instructed to scold those ignorant people and show the rules more visibly  :? Even I am really sensitive when I smell smoke, but what shall the poor children say?!