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[never2old]

Hello all!

So that's it, another trip is finished, I'm still suffering from Disney withdrawal symptoms  :cry:  and all I want to do is to go back... I've also been a bit busy so I haven't had time to go through all the pictures (way too many as usual, and the time in one camera was wrong so they're all out of order, a real mess  :roll: ), nor to upload them all. So bear with me, this may take some time!

Quick summary of the trip:
We had a few days off work so after lots of debating and a little begging  [-o< , I managed to convince my husband to book a couple of days in DLP... And with the 40% discount, it was not to be missed! I knew we would be going between seasons so we were not expecting much in terms of shows, and also that unfortunately one of our favourite rides, POTC, would be closed... But still, I'm not one to turn a trip down,so we booked for 2 nights / 3 days in the NYH and off to Disney we were  /  

Needless to say, it was a great trip. It was fairly quiet so not many queues (BTM seemed to have 15 minutes throughout our whole stay... we even managed to go on Crush without much queuing!). It was very cold (there were still some frozen bits, particularly around Adventureland), but very sunny, and when there was no wind it was even pleasant... And of course, the biggest bonus, we got to see the Castle stripped of its MMP decorations  / ! You'll see the evolution in the pictures... Definitely one of the highlights. And I have to confess, on our last day when we were standing by the beautiful, decorations-free Castle, watching the characters leave in the Main Street Vehicles (no train since it's getting ready for the NGF), and they started playing Dancin' a Catchy Rythm... I alsmost cried with joy  =D> . My husband called me a geek  :roll: , but I'm sure you understand  :wink:  

Since it was just the two of us, we took it easy... We did go for the EMH every day of course, but we took the time to enjoy the parks, just walking around, browsing in the shops or simply seating in a bench in the sunlight... It was very relaxing!

Anyway, here's the first part...

We left Luxembourg early on Tuesday morning, and got to the New York Hotel around 12:30. The room was not ready yet, so we left our bags, got our tickets and off to Disneyland!

On Tuesday the MMP banners were still around the Plaza Gardens:


This was the Castle on Tuesday:


As you can see many of the ears were gone, but the worst of it was still there...

We had a quick lunch in Mr Toad's Hall (it was rush hour and rather busy inside, so we had to get a table outside). It was very sunny, but rather windy, so the hot tomato soup was very welcome... Still, sitting outside was not too bad, and the fish and chips were good. Oh, and the mini muffins?? Yummy!!





Had a walk around Fantasyland, before heading for IASW

One of my favourite shops








We walked straight into IASW, which is always a great pleasure. When we were seating in the boat, about to enter the building, the girl in front of us took out a cigarette and starting lightning it  :x  :x  Before I could say anything a woman sitting in front of her turned around to tell her smoking was not allowed (in a very nice way, I may add), so the smoking woman apologised and stopped. Some people, honestly! I have to admit, I was quite glag the other woman spoke out first, because I would have been... well, maybe not as polite. I usually try to keep things nice, but this woman really annoyed me  :evil:

Anyway, after that the cruise was lovely, even though I have to say there were quite a few dolls not working... It was looking a lot better when I went in January.

Frontierland next. We went to get some fastpasses for BTM (why wait 15 minutes when you can wait none?) And while we waited for our FP, we headed to Phantom Manor. On the way a nice surprise there, the Mark Twain was out!



Phantom Manor  was looking great! There were even some effects working which I had never seen before (like smoke coming out of one of the graves in the cemetery scene!). And were there always two ghosts sitting in the big lamp in the ballroom scene? I had never noticed them before! Truly a great ride!

A walk around Boot Hill. They have cleared out many of the plants so you can read all the graves (although it was now looking rather dry). There was also a broken grave, and a couple of lamps missing...











 :roll:


 :roll:  :roll:


Mark Twain came by... A real treat to see it again. I had forgotten how beatiful it is!





It was then time for our fastpasses... I love BTM, I can't ride it enough, but it was cold!! You really felt the cold in there... Still, great views from there, beautiful with the sunshine, and a lot of fun!!

Enjoying the Frontierland sun...


Part 2 coming soon!

[Annet]

Great photo's! Love the report so far, I want to go back too!!!

Unfortunately it was more busy when we got there on the 12th, but we had kids we couldn't take away from school half a week Ah well, I had a great time anyway, nice to read you also enjoyed yourself!

[never2old]

Thanks Annet!  

Here's part 2.

We decided to go back to the hotel and try to get our room. I also wanted to change cameras and take my Canon.

So we got back to the New York Hotel. We quickly got our room key, and went straight to our room. First pleasant surprise, our bags were already there, waiting for us (I just LOVE the NYH!!). And second surprise, we had been upgraded to a lake view room!



We had a quick rest (too quick for my husband... but I was impatient to get back to the park!!)



The window displays in the Disney Village (in the Disney Store)







And so that they don't feel left out, some of the windows in the Emporium, which were also quite beautiful:



(notice still the MMP merchandise)






I always like the windows in the Main Street shops, but this time I thought they were really beautiful. And in case you're still not convinced, don't worry, I have some more pictures, I'll be posting them later  :roll:  :wink:

Now, since I had beaten my hubby's top score in Buzz in a previous trip  :mrgreen: , he was really impatient to try and beat me (I had just over 826,000). So Discoveryland was next.



We had a first go on Buzz, not bad, we both got around the 420,000 (this was to be the only time we got an even score, I may add...) There was really not much queue, so we decided to have another go... Bad idea. BIIIIG mistake. Well, for me anyway. We were in Planet Z when we stopped. My husband was facing a great target, I was facing a bad one  :x . So he kept hitting it and hitting it and before I knew what was happening, he had reached 999,999  :shock:  :evil:  He spent the rest of the ride taking pictures, I spent it trying to get a half decent score. I failed, by the way  :cry:





Not feeling much like doing Buzz again after my crashing defeat (even though let's face it he got lucky it shouldn't really count if you get stopped for a long time in front of a good target  :evil: ), we decided to give Space Mountain a go...

They were roping the exit of the ride off so that the only exist was through the Constellations shop....


Space Mountain was great, the sound was really good, the ride was looking beautiful... But we were sitting in the back and it was very very bumpy!! Too bumpy to go on it twice in a row without risking permanent damage!

Instead we went to the Videopolis to see the end of the tam tam players show:





(nice way of re-using the Lion King stage  :wink: )

The show was good, by the way, and worth the visit  =D>

Early evening around Discoveryland...





Part 3 coming soon!

[Magic M]

We are going on Monday - in general how is the weather?  Do we need hats and scarves?

[bigrossco]

loving the pic's so far always see the pic's and sooo want to go back!

[dagobert]

Thanks for the great trip report and the beautiful pictures.

We were also surprised in what good condition PM was during our trip in February. Truly one of the best rides at DLP.

[never2old]

Thank you guys!  

We did PM quite a few times (to make up for the loss of POTC...) and it was brilliant every time. It was a real treat to see it like that, I'm with you on that dagobert, one of the best rides!!

@ Magic M Last week definitely, we were wearing full winter gear... But this week already the temperatures have come up quite a bit (Luxembourg and Paris have very similar weather), today in the sun it was actually warm! So I would pack the gloves and scarves just in case, but it looks like spring is finally here! And make sure you take lots of pictures of the uncovered bridge!!

[bigrossco]

when I was at DLP October 08 was very disapointed by PM as when i was on it the ride kept breaking down, had a very long wait at the door before we even went in as well it was that bad everyone was about to leave and the door opened! and never went back on it in the 7 days I was there

[jsygirlheartsdisney]

Thanks N20 - I love reading your trip reports and your photos are always amazing! They always make me want to jump on a plane and be in DLP immediately!! Can't wait to read the rest  

[never2old]

Thank you  

And here's part 3!

After Discoveryland, it was time for another walk around Fantasyland...

With the Castle bridge closed, we decided to go through the dragon's layer... I love seeing the dragon (who was looking quite well, I may add), plus that way gives you great views of the Castle!





The bridge...


Since it was fairly quiet, we went to visit the Gallery.









No visit to DLP is complete without a walk around the Gallery... I particularly like the snoring guards  :lol:

Should that be bent like that?  :shock:






We had a go on Pinocchio, and headed towards Adventureland since we hadn't been around there yet, and it's particularly nice in the evening... It was very very quiet!



By now it was almost closing time (19:00, so early!!) so we headed back to Main Street

We didn't know this then, of course, but this was the last evening for the big Mickey on the Castle!



Evening around Main Street... more of those beautiful windows!

Princess and the Frog:






Donald and Daisy




Hungry, anyone?








OK, enough with the window displays...   :roll:





And my last picture EVER of the Castle with the big Mickey:


By now the park was closed so we went back to our room for a little rest, before heading for dinner in the Parkside Diner.



I like the food they have in the buffet, but the place can be quite noisy... After dinner, we went to the bar for a couple of drinks. I've probably said this before, but this is definitely my favourite bar in any of the Disney hotels!











It was then time to bed, we had to get up early on Wednesday for the EMH!

[Aurora]

HI N20,
thanks for the report so far. Looking forward for the rest. And the pictures. =D>
I like the pictures from the windows, usally take some myself, when I`m there. :wink:
Aurora

[ZINDERELLA]

I love your window display pictures! I will have to make sure me and my girls spend some time looking at the displays when we are there in Oct, hopefully not EVERYTHING will be all Halloween-y!

[never2old]

Thanks!

And here's the next chapter...

We got up around 7am for an early (and quiet) breakfast before the EMH  

When we got to the restaurant we were almost alone in there... It was a very relaxed start to the day!!







Breakfast was yummy, I only wished I was more hungry to try everything!

We also met forum member WillN (there on their honeymoon)!

A bit after 8am, we were making our way towards DLP... First surprise, most of the MMP banners had been removed and replaced by NGF ones!



(although some still remained)


Is there a better place to start your day?


Of course, the best surprise ever, as I said one of the highlights of the trip (for me, at least.... my husband couldn't care less  :roll:  :wink: ), the big Mickey was gone  /  =D>  /  =D>  /  =D>



A very very empty Market Street:


First destination was to be Peter Pan, my favourite dark ride, and although the park was quiet, it still had some queues during the day... And no wait at all is a lot nicer than 20 minutes!

Of course, going to Peter Pan gave me plenty of opportunities to admire the beautiful, gorgeous, Mickey-free Castle! (only one of the spires remained)









The water around the bridge had a thin layer of ice (not sure you can see it in the picture!)


We were alone in Peter Pan... Totally alone! First time that happened to us! Incredible... But a bit eery... Still, it was looking good (although not many cars were moving in London), but at least it was going at a reasonable speed (unlike Snow White, where you miss half the ride if you blink). Beautiful ride, really... We did it a couple of times, but after that my dear husband was eager to try his luck again in Buzz, so we started heading towards Discoveryland.

Peter Pan was not the only empty ride... No one around Dumbo either!


We were practically alone in Fantasyland!




Discoveryland had a few more people than Fantasyland, but still, pleasantly quiet...



We walked straight into Buzz a couple of times. And on one of them, yes, we stopped again, and yes, he did it AGAIN!  :evil: My other half got 999,999 (me? I don't think I reached 150,000  :evil:  :evil: )

Galactic hero show off....


So again to shake him out a bit out of his pride, we went to the Space Mountain. Again sound and effects working great, but very very bumpy!



Beautiful Discoveryland




We had another go on Buzz; this time we had no stops, and my other half only got something over 980,000. I did wonder why I had brought him with me  :roll:  :wink:

It was now getting close to 9:30, and since I had generously allowed my husband a few goes on Buzz, he couldn't refuse me another go on Peter Pan. So we headed back to Fantasyland, for the last half hour of the EMH!

One more, for the road  :wink:






The smoking chimneys in Peter Pan


Next part coming soon!

[bigrossco]

more great pics nice to see the smoke of the chimey on Peter Pan dont think I seen that when I was there infact im positive I didnt

[dagobert]

The castle is so beautiful in the sun without the ugly Mickey head. You have taken very beautiful pictures and can't wait to see more.