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Day 2 - Part 3
"Hmmm, which WDCC figurine to buy?"

We had reservations at Café Mickey for 8 pm and after a quick visit to the hotel to drop off my camera ( I wanted to be camera free this evening) we walked towards Café Mickey so we would be there at 7.45 in order to be able to get in at time - but no...



... when we came to Café Mickey the queue was huge and there didn't seem to be any movement at all. We checked our reservation receipt and it said that our table would only be held for 15 minutes, so we were getting a bit nervous. All people in the queue for reservations were getting a bit impatient by the lack of action in the queue, so when the clock turned 8 pm my mum and a couple of other people from the queue went to the desk through the exit to hear what was happening.

The CM had told my mum that we just had to stay in the queue, but when my mum showed her the receipt and the fact that according to their own rules there was absolutely no chance we would get our table in time the CM told my mum to wait 2 seconds. My mum called me in from the queue and we got our table. Actually we didn't feel that good by doing it this way, but they should really change this system as soon as possible - it CANNOT be true that they advice people to make reservations everywhere (website, hotel, in front of restaurants, rooms, etc.) and then treat the people with reservations like this. It must be possible to make a smarter system - they could start by stopping double booking

But we got seated up against the kitchen and right next to one of the character entrances which was a perfect place to be. When we were seated Mickey and Captain Hook were out and soon they would be joined by Stitch and Gideon (a weird character in Café Mickey in my opinion - a bit like Gepetto...). A German couple were seated next to us and at first they looked very annoyed by the noise, the characters and especially the lovely birthday celebrations - this would change however. After a couple of character visits the husband jumped off his chair every time a character came near our tables - I don't think anyone can be in this place without finding their inner child!





After encounters with Mickey Mouse himself and Stitch we were ready for our main courses: A pizza with ham, bacon and pineapple for me and Lasagne for my mum. It was very delicious and the fact it was fresh pineapple on the pizza was just awesome - I have never seen anything but canned pineapple on a pizza before!





In between our main courses and desserts we were grabbed by the true Café Mickey experience with lots of Characters, birthday parties and waiters dancing on the tables with the kids - LOVELY!









For dessert we both ordered the dessert that I got last year - Baloos Chocolate Tutti Frutti. This is perhaps the best dessert ever! It is so yummy, the fruit is really fresh and the chocolate sauce is creamy and very tasty - perfection! The German man next to us was so impressed with our dessert that he made a noise, which prompted the waiter to ask if something was wrong - the man just answered: "No not all, we are just ready for dessert now!" :lol:



We still had one Character to go - Chip and he was in his playful corner. Both me and my mum had finished our dessert but there was some chocolate sauce left in the pineapples. Chip grabbed a spoon, filled it with chocolate sauce and tried to feed both me and my mum with pure chocolate sauce :lol: we both denied him causing him to leave. However, he came back to seconds later, grabbed the same spoon and tried again. Although it was a bit too much it is still nice to see that the characters don't just interact with the kids. In Café Mickey everyone is a child again!



After a nice meal we were ready for our shopping night. It was expensive - very expensive. We bought a lot of stuff and I finished the night in Disney Gallery where I would buy the traditional WDCC figurine. I had chosen to buy Shere Khan, but due to the lack of space we had on the bus I ended up going for a smaller figurine, which meant that I bought the Donald Duck figurine from A Christmas Carol - a very nice figurine for the price of 99 €! (Pictures of our souvenirs will be uploaded with the Trip report summary)

When we walked towards the hotel I noticed the beautiful surroundings around Lake Disney and how beautiful they looked in the dark. Due to the rain I hadn't taken any night photos here on Sunday, so I decided to grab my camera and tripod and take 15 minutes around Lake Disney to get some shots





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When I came back to the room, we started packing so we could leave for the park as early as possible on Tuesday morning. We needed to secure my figurine, a Disney Traditions figurine we got for my sister and a lot of delicate merchandise, so it was some task we had given ourselves here. When the clock said 0.30 am we went to bed and were ready for the next day, which would start before 7 am.

Day 3 coming soon....

Day 2 statistics:

Rides: Buzz (2), Tram Tour, Animagique, Cinémagique, Flying Carpets, Pirates, Snow White, Pinocchio, Big Thunder Mountain, Aladdins Passage.

Photo count: 493 photos

[Aveen2008]

aw sounds like a great cafe mickey experience, thankfully i have never had to queue for it as we always make early reservations at 6pm. Its awful that people make reservations and then have to stand in a queue!! :roll:

I am surprised but really glad they have started to use stitch in cafe mickey, I wonder if it just because of halloween season though. I have seen gideon in there twice before, he is a random character in general hehe!

[DLP-Photos.com]

Day 3
"How come it has to end now?"

We woke early on Tuesday Morning in order to be ready for breakfast at 7.30 am and EMH, during which we wanted to have a go or two on Buzz and Peter Pan. This morning we had breakfast in Beaver Creek Tavern and as always the breakfast was delicious and very satisfying. After the breakfast we went back to our room in order to get our luggage which would be stored in the Luggage Storage until we left the hotel at 6.20 pm. We had been very happy about the hotel and this is already a sad part of the trip as you know that this day ends on the bus in Belgium and not in the middle of the magic





We walked towards Disneyland Park at 8.20 am...



... and after the usual trouble with our park tickets we were both given new fast pass tickets and we were ready for the last 9 hours in the park. When we entered Main Street U.S.A the Omnibus was taking on passengers and with just a few spots left we jumped on for a lovely atmospheric journey down Main Street U.S.A - if this doesn't get you in the mood for a day in the magic, what will?





After this we went to Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast which had just 5 minutes of waiting time - GREAT! We took three rides in a row and I kept breaking my record of the trip and my mum actually found out what to do, so she started collecting bigger scores too. I started off getting 169.200 before scoring 364.700 on the second ride, but this was with quite a long lasting stop in the first room, so it didn't really count. I finished off with 283.900 without any stops, which I was quite pleased with. My mum was extremely proud of her score which had reached 16.300 with no stops

Hereafter we went to Peter Pan's Flight via It's a Small World, where we catched the 9.15 celebration - lovely little "show" and this gave us the fix of IASM-magic that the attraction in a way failed to give us due to its bad state on this trip.



We now went to Peter Pan's Flight, which as I have already said, was in a very good state on this trip and I wanted to try to take some photos on the ride, as I had done on Pinocchio and Snow White on Sunday. Due to the small waiting times we did the ride twice in a row and I got a couple of shots which I am pretty happy with





After this we wanted to take a train ride around the park, as this is a tradition for us - although we normally start the trip by taking this journey. On the way to Main Street Station we took some time to look at all the windows at Main Street U.S.A and the many tributes. It is some truly lovely details and a great way to pay tribute to some of the main people behind Disneyland - some guests seemed to wonder why I kept taking pictures of the windows though ;-)



We arrived at Main Street Station at 9.45 am, so the station wasn't open yet and we had to queue on the pavement, which caused a lot of queue jumping, but luckily the train had no problems containing all the people waiting, which made the queue jumping very unnecessary. The journey around the park was very enjoyable as always - though a bit cold! It will play some part in my Trip Video, but I will not spring the surprise yet The only complaint about the ride was that they played the wrong music when we left Discoveryland - they had started the Fantasyland Soundtrack once again, so when we left DL Station it played It's a Small World and when we arrived at Main Street Station they welcomed us to Discoveryland, but hey those thing happen it certainly didn't ruin a nice and nostalgic trip. I remember being so affraid of the Grand Canyon part on our first trip that I started crying and my nose began bleeding - luckily this didn't happen this time





Now we decided to go for the first BTM fastpasses of the day. We got Fast Passes for 45 minutes later - perfect. This meant that I could take a quick ride on Indiana Jones and we could get a Meet'n'Greet with the Pumpkin King himself. We headed for Indiana Jones, which had 5 minutes waiting time. I don't have a problem with this thrill ride as I can see what is coming, but when after riding this and finding it a bit boring I think that I would have dared Space Mountain if I had someone with me who dared it too. Maybe next time I will try Space Mountain then



It was time for our Meet'n'Greet with Jack Skellington - we were a bit surprised that everyone in the queue was adults, but then on the other hand, how many smaller children would recognize him? He was 5-10 minutes late, but we were 4th in line and the BTM FP entrance was right next to the spot, so it wouldn't be a problem with our fast passes. Jack arrived and he interacted greatly with the guests, joking, chatting and agreeing how to pose. I got a pretty regular photo with him, while he and my mum agreed to do scary faces :lol:





After our ride on BTM, which was funny as always, I grabbed another fast pass for it - my mum had never tried it twice in a day before, so it would just be me It gave me access 30 minutes later, so we decided to stay in Frontierland and pay Phantom Manor and Boot Hill a visit. Outside Phantom Manor we bumped into Goofy, Donald and Chip'n'Dale in their Halloween costumes. Luckily we got in queue right before they left, as this gave a huge queue for Phantom Manor and probably doubled the waiting time many times.



On Sunday almost everything had worked perfectly on this ride, but it was completely different now. The three biggest effects that didn't work was: app. 50 % of the dancers weren't  moving, so you would just see the ghosts standing still on the dance floor, the dog in the graveyard was moved completely out of the attraction although it still barked and finally the wagon wasn't working. It was a shame to see how quickly three big effects had broken, but the ride is still very atmospheric and will always be one of my favorites - broken effects or not.

After this we went for a nice walk around Boot Hill - a very atmospheric place to walk and once again a great and funny way to pay tribute to some of the people behind this attraction. Some of the tombstones are really funny to read and of course the heart was beating heavily from its grave







After this we went to get lunch in Toad Hall Restaurant - once again we got a double Fish'n'Chips as part of a Mr. Moustache Menu with additional fries and a yoghurt dessert - just as delicious as it was on Sunday. On the way we wandered through Adventureland and we even met Hook, Smee, Peter and Wendy outside Peter Pan's Flight. They interacted greatly with the people in the queue line, while Hook was hunting the autograph hunters and not the usual other way around - great fun





After lunch we took 25 minutes to walk around the Labyrinth, which was only open between 11am and 3pm with this being our last chance to get a walk in it. The main state of this attraction was pretty good, with pretty bright colors on most of the figures (a few exceptions) - the Labyrinth was well visited and especially photographers seemed to appreciate its many motives and the beautiful green bushes. I got a couple of shots myself, which can all be seen in my Fotki Album. While walking around the labyrinth we saw a worker putting on some snow on one of the Christmas Village cottages - this did seem to be some "funny" work placing snow on all the roofs







After the labyrinth we went for our second and last ride on It's a Small World, which wasn't as magical as always due to many broken dolls, which I already have said. I managed to get some good photos though and the ride was still great - just not as great as it can be - please refurbish it soon






An example of one of the broken dolls

We knew now that everytime we left a land it would be for the last time on this trip, so this meant that it was now goodbye to Fantasyland and we continued into Adventureland, where Pirates would be our last ride in this land. This ride was probably the ride in the complete resort that was in best state - every ride it felt new and (almost) every effect worked perfectly. I tried taking some photos, but it was difficult. I got a couple of good ones though:







When we came out we bumped into Captain Jack Sparrow who was out for autographs - people were going crazy and the CM had to almost yell at them telling that Jack had to leave for 15 minutes only to come back then. Jack certainly didn't help the CM telling him that he wanted to stay



Goodbye to another land and as we headed into Frontierland I decided to grab one last set of fastpasses for Big Thunder Mountain. My mum was still unsure whether she wanted another go on it or not, so in the meantime we ran over to Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast for one last go on this great and funny ride

Now hold on, this time I got a score of 686.800!!! [spoiler:qjs8lmim]But yes, as you've probably guessed we stopped - a lot! First we were asked to leave the Space Cruiser we had just boarded, because it was "dead" then we stopped 3 times just in the first room and further 3 times throughout the ride. Although I got a lot of points it took away a bit of the fun, but it is still a very funny attraction and definetely a favorite of ours![/spoiler:qjs8lmim]

With 15 minutes until our BTM Fastpasses we decided to visit Les Mysteres du Nautilus - an attraction we hadn't been on for ages, because frankly it doesn't interest us that much. The storyline still doesn't interest me that much, but this is a true Imagineering wonder filled with details and immersive themening. The squid attack was coming just as we entered the main scene and it freaked out a little boy who kept moving further and further away from the building, while his parents just stood lauging - I felt a bit sorry for the boy, thinking that I probably reacted the same way the first time I experienced this quite scary AA






Bye to yet another land with only Frontierland and Main Street U.S.A left for us to visit. When we entered Frontierland my mum said she didn't want to wait for me trying BTM, so she would use the second fast pass. First time ever she has done this ride on all days of the vacation and first time she's done it twice in the same day - awesome, the best way to end an amazing trip on the attraction we started with on Sunday and the attraction we both love so much: Big Thunder Mountain.

Sad to leave we strolled around Main Street U.S.A for app. an hour, doing the last bit of shopping, catching the last bits of atmosphere and buying some delicious cookies and muffins for the bus drive from the Cookie Kitchen. I wanted to try their Blueberry Muffin and I was not disappointed - extremely delicious! On the way out we noticed a CM in ToT dress helping out wiht the parade route - she couldn't have bothered changing her clothes or was she trying to capture some guests to the Studios? :lol:



We left the park at around 5 pm and on the way back to the hotel we stopped in Village to buy sandwiches in New York Style Sandwiches and I paid the Disney Gallery another visit, because I wanted another WDCC figurine besides the Donald Duck (as Nephew Fred) I brought on Monday. I ended up buying the Pinocchio figurine titled "Look Out, World!". I was now all out of money, but it didn't matter as it was the last stop before the bus drive.

The day ended with this beautiful sunset and we were back at home at 1 pm on Wednesday.



Trip Report Summary coming soon along with souvenir pictures and Fotki Album.

Trip video coming in a week or two.

Day 3 Statistics:

Rides: Omnibus, Buzz (3), Peter Pan's Flight (2), Disneyland Railroad, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril, Big Thunder Mountain (3), Phantom Manor, Alice's Curious Labyrinth, It's a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean and Les Mysteres du Nautilus

Photo Count: 242 photos.

[never2old]

Wonderful report Nicolai! Looking forward to your gallery! Again, you have some amazing pictures!

The only complaint about the ride was that they played the wrong music when we left Discoveryland - they had started the Fantasyland Soundtrack once again, so when we left DL Station it played It's a Small World and when we arrived at Main Street Station they welcomed us to Discoveryland, but hey those thing happen it certainly didn't ruin a nice and nostalgic trip.

The exact same thing happened to us!! I thought it was a one off error, but maybe not... Or maybe we were in the same train!

On Sunday almost everything had worked perfectly on this ride, but it was completely different now. The three biggest effects that didn't work was: app. 50 % of the dancers weren't  moving, so you would just see the ghosts standing still on the dance floor, the dog in the graveyard was moved completely out of the attraction although it still barked and finally the wagon wasn't working. It was a shame to see how quickly three big effects had broken, but the ride is still very atmospheric and will always be one of my favorites - broken effects or not.

Yep, we also noticed that... Where did they take the dog??

[Aveen2008]

Aw what a brilliant few days you had! Loved your trip report, can't wait to see your photos of the things you bought and all the others!

[brenjo]

Well done - a fantastic trip report.  My daughter and I really enjoyed reading it.  Your photos are just amazing.  Well done to your Mom two rides same day on Big Thunder mountain - excellent.

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[loladelorean]

Hey Nicolai - I have just read through your whole trip report, I enjoyed it immensely and you have some truly beautiful photos.
Yes it was me who fell victim to the weird roped off corner at stars n cars, although nobody was even in it when we were there so it was even more annoying! Goofy did jump the rope and come in to see us though.
You should definitely try the thrill rides, once you have done them once you will love them! Especially ToT it provides a great overall experience and the CMs are the best anywhere at DLP. Well done for trying Indiana Jones, I agree it is a wee bit boring but we still did it a few times as there was never any queue.
The lack of booking system at Cafe Mickey is infuriating, I had a wee rant about this in my trip report as well. Sort it out DLP!
Thanks for sharing your fantastic trip report

[Annet]

Great report =D>  And awsome pictures too!
It has definitely brought me in the mood for my Halloween-trip next week!

[Soap]

Thanks for your lovely report and lovely pictures.  

[The Helmsman]

Great report Nicolai  =D> ! I just came back from the magic as well and I will be posting my trip report soon.

[Epcot_Boy]

Thanks for sharing your vacation with us Nicolai  Looks like your  enjoying playing with your camera.......some nice pics =D>

[DLP-Photos.com]

Thanks for the lovely comments anyone - I am happy that my report has been to your enjoyment. That is the best way to pay back for all the great report I have enjoyed from you guys.

Summary and Fotki Album with all 1200 pictures will be available later this evening.

You should definitely try the thrill rides, once you have done them once you will love them! Especially ToT it provides a great overall experience and the CMs are the best anywhere at DLP. Well done for trying Indiana Jones, I agree it is a wee bit boring but we still did it a few times as there was never any queue.

With TOT it probably is the height issue that keeps me away from it the most and with Rock'n'Rollercoaster and Space Mountain it is the acceleration and lack of knowledge of what is to come if you understand.

I simply cannot stand things that turn around too fast, which is why Crush is a no-go for me too :p

Luckily enough DLP has lots to offer even if you aren't the biggest fan of thrill rides

Well done - a fantastic trip report.  My daughter and I really enjoyed reading it.  Your photos are just amazing.  Well done to your Mom two rides same day on Big Thunder mountain - excellent.

Yes my mum was very proud and I was proud of her. She was very happy about it.

Great report Nicolai  =D> ! I just came back from the magic as well and I will be posting my trip report soon.

Cool, I will be looking forward to reading your report later

[DLP-Photos.com]

Post Report - The Merchandise

I think I already have summarized our trip pretty good - magical as always!

As always you want to keep the magic running when you arrive back at home and one of the best (and most expensive) ways to do this is to buy some merchandise on the trip and we so did we ... we bought some very expensive merchandise:


This is everything that my mum brought...

And now to my items:


A lovely t-shirt and a nice scarf to use here in fall until the big scarf is needed


A big mug, some hot chocolate mix and the most wonderful cookie canister with the old Pinocchio poster as motive.


A Zero plushie, which my mum got me (she gave me Santa Jack last year, so she almost had to give me Zero this year ) and some MMP Playing Cards (I collect playing cards from places I have been).


A Mickey Mouse portfolio for my many drawings


... and some nice wooden Christmas ornaments

And now to the more expensive shopping items:


My 8 pins of which 3 is limited edition pins with the numbered Stars'n'Cars pin being the most special as I was the first ever to buy it :mrgreen:


"Festive Fellow" - The first of the two WDCC figurines I bought on the trip.


And last but not least my second WDCC figurine - "Look Out, World" from the WDCC Spotlight collection.

That was the end of the report for now - BUT look out for an update in the coming weeks, where I will post my edited Trip Video. (I will update the topic title as well, so you will know when the video is added).

Until then you can enjoy my 1200+ photos in my Fotki Album, which can be found here: //http://public.fotki.com/NicolaiKA/disneyland-paris-2009/!

[Aveen2008]

=D>  =D>  =D>  =D>  Aw yay great trip report on a whole!

Love your purchases!! /  I have the stitch mobile phone holder and the pinocchio tin book as well hehe! You bought some lovely things! I have to say I adore the WDCC donald, he is so cute!

I am going to take a nosey at all your photos now hehe! :wink:

[bigrossco]

even more great pics and see they already getting DLP decorations ready for xmas hmm