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[loladelorean]

Day 2 – Tuesday, September 22

It was still dark when we got out of bed on the second day, but I was determined to make the most of EMH! My dear sister didn't complain as much as I had expected as I dragged her half asleep down to breakfast. We made for the Parkside Diner, but a smiling CM led us towards the Manhattan Restaurant. This restaurant is absolutely beautiful, very elegant. It is a circular room with a starry ceiling and plush armchairs – what a treat! I've written this elsewhere on the site already, but we were very impressed with the breakfast. We wolfed down cereal, sausages, potatoes, toast, pastries and apple juice to fuel us for the long day ahead!
After breakfast we bumped into Goofy in the hotel lobby – there was nobody else there so we posed for a quick photo.

We stopped at the concierge desk to book meals for the rest of our stay; the CM who we dealt with was very helpful (sorry cant remember his name) and had the most delightfully cliché French accent! Then it was off to the park, a little after 8am.
My park ticket had worked fine on the first day, but on this second day it wouldn't let me in. The CM entered a code, explaining that my ticket was demagnified. She also handed me a fastpass card to use at fastpass machines. My ticket never worked again for the rest of the trip, which meant I received one of these fastpass cards every time I went into one of the parks! I think I ended up with about 15 of them. We sometimes got extra fastpasses but we didn't want to overuse them as we didn't think it would be fair. A couple of times we had extras for Big Thunder we decided not to use, so we gave them to people heading for the normal queue – I liked doing this as I felt like it brightened up a stranger's day! Cheesy I know, but it is Disney after all.
So, once inside the park, we spotted the lovely old double decker bus waiting so hopped aboard to take a ride down Main St, which was more or less deserted. After a few pics at the castle...


We headed into Fantasyland, excited to go on all the kiddie rides! We did the Carousel first, I think there were only about ten people on it. Then we did Dumbo and the Teacups and finally Peter Pan. We loved Peter Pan....so we went straight back on. The only thing I didn't like was all the messy graffiti in the queue area – why haven't Disney painted over this?!
Here is a photo I like of the beanstalk...

Time for Discoveryland, where of course we rushed to Space Mountain. I had ridden this ride a lot on previous Disney trips but it was a first for my sister who was a bit nervous. She really didn't enjoy this first ride because the cast member pushed her restraint too tight and actually bruised her shoulders! I found the restraints a bit uncomfy too but not so much as to take away from my enjoyment of the ride. On the other mornings she tied her jumper round her shoulders to protect them and then she loved Space Mountain too.
By this time the park was starting to fill up with normal guests, so we decided to head to the Studios and make a dash for Crush. We had never been to the Studios before, but I knew from this forum that this is really the only way to get a ride on Crush.
When we entered the Studios we were delighted to find this jazz band playing in the front lot. I play saxophone and my sister plays the clarinet, so this was another treat for us. We stood to listen to their whole set, though we knew we might miss our chance on Crush.

After the band finished, we literally ran to Crush but luckily it wasn't open yet. The queue was a fair size but we only waited about 25 minutes (the longest we waited for any ride throughout our whole stay – very lucky). It was worth it, the ride was much more exciting than I had expected, I love the dark coasters as you really don't know what's going on!
Unfortunately Rock n Roller Coaster was shut for the entire duration of our trip, this really upset me when I first found out because the Florida ride is absolutely my favourite ride I've ever been on and I couldn't wait to try the Paris one. I'm really glad I was able to find out a few weeks in advance on DLRPMagic because I would have been even more disappointed if I found out on arrival.
After a quick shot on the Flying carpets (these kiddy flying rides are much more fun than they should be...) we bumped into some characters...

Then I was desperate to try the Tower of Terror! Again, I love this ride in Florida so I couldn't wait...but it was closed due to "technical problems"! They couldn't give any indication of when it might reopen. We decided to try the tram tour...also shut!!!
The CM said both rides would probably reopen later that day, just to keep checking the info boards. So we got some fastpasses for ToT just in case, and headed over to catch the Good Morning Studios parade. This was a nice wee parade, and the first parade of any kind we had seen on this trip so we got a bit carried away waving frantically to the characters!

Next we decided to go and see Cinemagique, though we had no idea what to expect from this. We thought it was really clever and funny! Martin Short is a favourite of mine, and we loved guessing where he was going to end up next. So this was a hit with us, although we thought maybe it would bore younger kids, and you probably wouldn't rush to see it twice in one visit.
Then we went to check out the HSM show. I can honestly say this is the only thing in the whole trip I didn't enjoy, and I don't mind HSM itself. But the singing was absolutely awful, really out of tune and whiny. We couldn't bear to watch the whole thing, so made a quick exit and headed out to front lot to see the Toon Train.
The scrum for characters here was dreadful, we gave up after a few minutes, not wanting to waste loads of time fighting with children for characters' attention! My sister was a bit disappointed not to meet Stitch, but we knew we would get other chances. We did manage to meet Lilo and Clarice.
Here is Stitch ignoring my sister lol...


With ToT and the tour still shut, and Crush having 60 minute queue, we weren't sure what to do next. We bought some Crepes and had a wee wander about, then decided to check out Armageddon. There were some jumpy moments in this and the effects are very good, but overall I was disappointed....nothing really happens! I wish it had a better story.
We decided to go and find a spot early for the Stars and Cars parade, but just as we were doing so we noticed a mad rush heading for ToT – it had reopened! Because we hadn't noticed straight away, the queue was already massive with a 30 minute wait. Luckily we remembered our fastpasses, which were for the right time slot! Apparently nobody else had bothered to pick up fastpasses, so we walked straight on. We were pretty chuffed with ourselves.
My sister was scared before this ride! (probably because I was winding her up hehe) The CM we had (Danilo) was amazing, so creepy, and we both had butterflies by the time the elevator set off. We screamed our lungs out but loved every minute of it!! We would have done it again but the queues were massive by this time and only two lifts were running.
Next, Stars and Cars.

A lovely parade, so colourful and we got a nice surprise with the wee show at the end, which we didn't know about. Then the characters came round and my sister got Stitch's autograph! He picked her out because she was wearing Stitch ears, so she was happy. Gaston at this point was also hilarious, he spoke and had the EXACT same voice as Gaston in the film.
Sorry, not a great pic.

Straight after the characters were gone, we made a last minute decision to go and see Stitch Live, although we weren't sure what it was and thought maybe it was just for kids. But we wanted to try everything! Wow, we were so amazed at this attraction! It's now our favourite experience of the trip, we both laughed so much and quoted Stitch for the rest of our stay. It's so clever, and even things that aren't too funny sound funny when Stitch says them.
After Stitch Live we made our way back to the Disneyland Parc for the Once Upon a Dream Parade. We got there about half an hour early, bought some yummy fudge and made sure we had a good spot. Like everyone, we took photos of probably every float, so here are just a couple.


I nearly had a wee tear in my eye at the sheer magic of it all. I don't know about you but it's the modulation near the end that gets me every time...
Anyway, after the parade we squeezed in a go on Big Thunder then headed back to HNY to get ready. In the lobby, Pluto was dancing with a cast member! This was really fun and all the kids were loving it.
That night we headed to Annette's for dinner, which we had been looking forward to after reading the great news on here. We weren't disappointed, there is a really fun atmosphere and the food is so tasty! Best of all after a long day, the portion sizes were huge. For our half board plus vouchers we got far too much food for two people. Sorry no pics of the food, we were too hungry but I had an onion burger and it was tremendous. The onions were all caramelized like in French onion soup mmmmm.
We did a spot of shopping in the village – throughout our trip all the MMP merchandise was 30% off which we thought was great, especially for gifts. My sis bought a 1000 piece jigsaw for us to do in the room later, and I got a couple of clothing items (kids age 14 haha, almost half the price!)
We started the jigsaw back in the room, but could barely keep our eyes open. Another early night was in order after our first full day in the magic.
Day 3 coming soon....

[Javey74]

Wow, this is turning into a great Trip Report loladelorean..  /  /  /

I see you have got you're photos sorted out, well done..  =D>

I must say you have some spectacular ones amongst them aswell, I especially love this one with the beanstalk, you have captured it from an unusual and great angle..  :wink:



Looking forward to the next instalment, thanks again for sharing..  

[Aveen2008]

Your report is brilliant so far! it's so strange to think we were there at the same time!

Esp as I had walked into the lobby when pluto was dancing with that woman too but we didn't stop to watch it lol!

Well done with the photos and fixing them...sorry I should have thought of that! For someone who never wrote a report and didn't know how to add photos your flying at it! =D>  /  /  /

Your photos are brilliant!  

I love your bambi t-shirt, it's beautiful! I definately must not have seen you that day as I would have remembered that t-shirt .. I am weird like that :oops:  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:  haha!

[Masamune]

I looove that Bambi t-shirt! Did you get it from New Look? I only ask because I have a Bambi t-shirt that's fairly similar that I picked up in the New Look sale a few weeks ago.

And that Gaston pic is great. That appears to be the one who looks a bit like young John Travolta! I saw him in April. So sexy. :lol:

[DLP-Photos.com]

BRILLIANT report - no less than that. Awesome photos and a great personal way of describing your trip - it's just like being there.

I cannot wait for the next installment  =D>

[loladelorean]

Wow, this is turning into a great Trip Report loladelorean..  /  /  /

I see you have got you're photos sorted out, well done..  =D>

I must say you have some spectacular ones amongst them aswell, I especially love this one with the beanstalk, you have captured it from an unusual and great angle..  :wink:

Thank you so much Javey! I'm really glad I decided to write the report. I kept a wee diary anyway and writing it is no problem, I was just a bit unsure how to post photos.
However, thanks to Aveen and yourself I now feel capable lol.
Stay tuned for day 3 tomorrow evening!

[loladelorean]

BRILLIANT report - no less than that. Awesome photos and a great personal way of describing your trip - it's just like being there.

I cannot wait for the next installment  =D>

Thank you forza_united, this is really kind of you. I enjoy writing, indeed I'm studying journalism at uni. Writing a trip report is a bit different from my usual style but I'm glad my enjoyment of the trip is in some way coming across.

[loladelorean]

I looove that Bambi t-shirt! Did you get it from New Look? I only ask because I have a Bambi t-shirt that's fairly similar that I picked up in the New Look sale a few weeks ago.

And that Gaston pic is great. That appears to be the one who looks a bit like young John Travolta! I saw him in April. So sexy. :lol:

Yup the tshirt is from New Look! Wasn't in the sale though sadly.
I wish I had a closer pic of Gaston, he was hilarious! He stomped over to us and announced himself, going on to throw some autographs around and fix his hair in someone's sunglasses. it's great to see the actors really getting into the part, it makes meeting them more of an interesting all-round experience.

[loladelorean]

Your report is brilliant so far! it's so strange to think we were there at the same time!

Esp as I had walked into the lobby when pluto was dancing with that woman too but we didn't stop to watch it lol!

Well done with the photos and fixing them...sorry I should have thought of that! For someone who never wrote a report and didn't know how to add photos your flying at it! =D>  /  /  /

Your photos are brilliant!  

I love your bambi t-shirt, it's beautiful! I definately must not have seen you that day as I would have remembered that t-shirt .. I am weird like that :oops:  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:  haha!

I know, it is sooo weird that we were there at the same time and obviously just kept passing each other totally unawares!
No need to be sorry about the photos, I really appreciate your help and I should have checked the rules myself. it was easily fixed.
Bambi T Shirt is from New Look, so not too dear. Only got it a few weeks ago so you could probably still find one!

[DLP-Photos.com]

BRILLIANT report - no less than that. Awesome photos and a great personal way of describing your trip - it's just like being there.

I cannot wait for the next installment  =D>

Thank you forza_united, this is really kind of you. I enjoy writing, indeed I'm studying journalism at uni. Writing a trip report is a bit different from my usual style but I'm glad my enjoyment of the trip is in some way coming across.

Cool - hopefully I will begin studying photo journalism next year. You experience sure does come across!

[jeakat24]

BRILLIANT report - no less than that. Awesome photos and a great personal way of describing your trip - it's just like being there.

I cannot wait for the next installment  =D>

Thank you forza_united, this is really kind of you. I enjoy writing, indeed I'm studying journalism at uni. Writing a trip report is a bit different from my usual style but I'm glad my enjoyment of the trip is in some way coming across.

I've just finished my degree in journalism, graduate next month  /

Great trip report so far I love that you decided to go ahead and write it!

[loladelorean]

I've just finished my degree in journalism, graduate next month  /

Great trip report so far I love that you decided to go ahead and write it!

Where did you get your degree? I've just started third year at Strathclyde Uni in Glasgow so still got pretty much 2 years to go. What are you doing now you've graduated?
I'm not really sure I'm going to go into journalism, I'm also studying politics and I'm quite interested in working with the Scottish government. But not a lot of jobs there (or anywhere...) so I'll just have to wait and see how it goes next year.

[jeakat24]

Southampton Solent, I live in Poole and I didn't want to move away so I commuted. To be honest I've not really been great at looking for a job so I'm a bit of a bum at the moment, still trying to cling on to being a student. A few of the people on my course have got good jobs, one on a paper, the others at Sky Sports and one works for Sony Games marketing department, so there's loads of stuff you can get into once you finish, I'm thinking about PR and marketing myself.
I have to say I'm missing the student loans as they mainly funded my trips to Disney!!