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[pink_danio]

Well i just got home after lots of travelling and it was a fantastic magical holiday
This is my first trip report and im waiting for my photos to upload (will post them when they are done)
Bear with me as I cant remember the exact order of what we done but you'll get the idea.

Myself and my 5 yr old son Ríonn got up at 4.30 am on the tuesday morning. He wasn't very excited - still tired.
We got our bus in Galway at 5am and left for Dublin airport. It was snowing as we arrived in Dublin and i was hoping the french weather would be better.
Our plane left late and i was panicing as I had only left 1 hour between our original arrival time and the TGV. Unfortunatly our plane was over an hour delayed and by the time i got from terminal 1 in CDG to the TGV station i had missed the train The staff in the TGV office were really helpful and exchanged my ticket for a couple of euro. We waited about 40 minutes for the next train.
Finally got our train. I had no idea how close the station was to disney!!! We were at the doorstep Ríonn was in shock the excitement suddenly came over him and he was hyper It was around 3.30pm at this stage.
We got the shuttle bus to the Cheyenne hotel. It was just a quick stop at reception to check in and we found our room. We stayed in the running bear block. Our room was lovely. It had double bed and bunk beds - this really excited Ríonn. Everything from wallpaper to mirror and lamps were in theme.  The only thing i wasn't too impressed was how cold the room was but i just doubled up the blanket



We left our bags and went to the parks. I decided to walk. We went up the main road (the one the shuttle uses) it took about 10 minutes to get to disney village.
We went straight to Disneyland park, when we got in we went to the castle first. Its so beautiful in real life. We went to buzz lightyear then. Ríonn enjoyed spinoing the car around more than actuaaly shouting hahaha. It was a good ride the waiting time was 5 minutes. We went straight back on again this time he was actually shooting
After buzz we head down to star tours. The waiting time was 15 minutes but when we got in we were more like 45 minutes. It was hard trying to keep Ríonn amused and i thought about leaving the queue a few times. Finally we got to the top and we really enjoyed the ride. It was really well done and Ríonn voted this as one of his favourites.
We walked up to its a small world, there was no queue. Rionn hated it. Too boring haha. He couldnt understand the concept of it and wanted to get off. We didnt come back to this ride.







We went on the tea cups, orbitron, and walked around for the next while just looking at disney.
We head over to Pirates of the carribean next. Queue times said 15 minytes but when we got in we practically ran to the top of the line and got straight on. We both really loved this ride (and went on about 15 times!!!!!!) It got to the point where Ríonn new what was going to happen when and where and he loved the splashes and putting his hands up in the air. When we got off Ríonn asked could we go again and they let us straight back on. The staff are amazing i must say, all so helpful and friendly.





It was raining really heavy and we both got soaked. Our feet were wet and we were really cold. We left the park at 8pm and walked to the village. We couldnt get tickets to Buffolo bills we were so dissapointed as it was the only night it would be on during our stay. We walked to cafe mickey but the queue was so busy as was macdonalds so we head back to the hotel.
At the hotel we paid 32 euro for all you can eat buffet inc drinks. The food was great i was surprised as i hadnt heard too much about it. It had a selection of rice, pasta, chicken, beef, veg, salad, chips, pizza, chicken nuggets, fish and cheeses. Something for everyone. We ate ours and got seconds.
After dinner we went to  the hotel to warm upp, had a bath and went to bed. Ríonn was asleep within 10 minutes. Wonderful first day.






I woke at 6am and woke Ríonn we got washed and dressed and went for breakfast. Our breakfast was nice we had cereal and croissants, put a few croisaants in the bag for nibbles in disney. We walked up to the parks again following the main road. It was really cold but not raining.

We went straight to buzz again, went on a couple times and then up to peter pan went on that a few times too - liked peter pan the effect when flying over the city was great even down to the little cars driving on the streets.
We went on dunbo, the tea cups and orbitron all which were good too.


We went and waited at the entrance to discoveryland for pirates of the carribean. Went on it twice and walked around the boat and caves. Kept walking and head over to phantom manor. It didnt open until 11 but we waited in the queue that had already built up. Finally at 11.15 they opened and we got up to the house. After waiting for approx 65 minutes we were told the ride wouldnt open - this is when the day got horrible. Ríonn has adhd and had a complete meltdown, he had been finding the queue difficult enough already but this just set him off. He was shouting and cursing and biting and crying and running into people and throwing himself on the ground, he stared hitting himself and causing a huge scene (bear in mind we were still in a crowd of people and we were all trying to exit the queue through the gates) a lovely cast member came over and moved people to allow us get out faster. It was this point i decided to get the disability pass (i was trying to get by without it but after this i could tell he was going to have a bad day)
We went to city hall, Ríonn was still in quiet a state. The lady at the desk filled the pass (a green one) out really quickly to try let us out as fast as she could she could see he was worked up.
We spotted the train and headed up to the castle, we met chip and dale and Ríonn got his photo taken - this changed his mood completely. Dale gave him a huge hug and was playing with him. As i took the photo he covered Ríonns face and then we got a proper one. Rionn was super excited and we went looking for the rest. We saw smee, hook, pluto, goofy, minnie and stitch but couldnt get photos with everyone that day.



We left the park and went to the studios. We were just in time for motor action. It was brilliant!!! What a great show. We thouroughly enjoyed it and the day was getting better we left there and went into armagedon. This was the only ride to scare Ríonn - so much so he wouldnt go on again. As soon as the lights went off he ran and got lost in the crowd because of this i couldnt find him. When the fire etc started he was crying and the CM found him and we left i thought the effects were great (even though i couldnt really watch too much)
Ríonn wanted to go on crush next. I explained i thought it was a bit scary for him but he was adiment he wanted to ride. I got to the queue - 90 minutes! I decided to try the disability card and see how it worked. (this was my first time using it) we were let in through the exit and had to join the queue just at the stairs, we only had 20 minutes to queue so that was great. We got in and i was nervous, i wasnt afraid for me but for Ríonn. Well he proved me wrong and loved it!! This is his second favourite ride. We spotted the stars in cars too which is good




We went on the alladin carpets after this and then left the park. We had a quick run around the disneyland park again to get alice's labrynth etc. Ríonn dressed up as stitch too.



We went to the hotel got food there again and back to the hotel room to warm up, we decided to go to sleep - it was about 8pm by then.


Our final day
We had the same morning routine. Got up at 6am breakfast at 7am and walked to the parks. It was really cold but sun was shinning. We decided as it was the last day to make the monst. Our list of things to do were - pirates, buzz, thunder mountain, phantom manor, autopia and star tours. These were the ones he really wanted to do and meet the charecters.

Got to the parks before 8 and waited outside.


When we got in we done buzz first - a couple of times heehee.  Went on the tea cups and orbitron and dumbo. We waited by the entrance to frontierland for thunder mountain (on our way we met a cm who was working in pirates he was dressed with a pirate hat so rionn had a photo with him)

When frontierland opened the crowd got hyper and Ríonn got knocked over he was stood on by a couple people too it didnt stop him and he kept going towards thunder mountain. We werent too far back in the queue we got to the top of the stairs just before you get on the ride. We waited and waited - no one moved. Finally 20 minutes later an announcement was made saying the ride was temperarly closed. At 10.45 it started and by 11 we got on. Ríonn and myself really enjoyed this one but i was slightly nervous as my skinny 5 year old looked like he was going to slide out of the seat!!! Of course he thought this was great  

We went straight onto to phantom manor after, the queuew went quick and we got into the room - i thought the effects here were great. The ride was good too but again Ríonn was a little bored he much prefers the action type rides and thrills.
We went to woodys roundup and walked around the park for a while going on a couple rides we had already done.

Walked to star tours to find it was closed it was closed for the rest of the day too which was dissappointing. We walked to Autopia and the queue was 90 minutes!!!! We used the disability pass again and i was shocked to find we were allowed pass the whole queue!! I wasnt expecting that to be honest. But our ride wasnt great. Our car broje down going up the hill and ended up rolling backwards into another car and holding up about 4 more. Eventually (a few wolf whistles later) a cm came and started it up again. Not 2 minutes later the car stopped again, the person in the car behind me decided to fix it this time. But again 2 more times the car stopped we did eventually get to the finish line but we didnt have a good ride and i felt sorry for the people in the cars behind me as they couldnt enjoy it either. I spoke to the cm and he let the two cars behind us go again (we didnt we left)
We had a look in shops and Ríonn bought teddies and bits. Then we went hunting for charecters. We found them and Ríonn waited patiently most of the time for his turn. Unfortunatly not everyone did and when Ríonn was having photos done other kids and adults were practically jumping on top of him. At one point he got knocked over when were waiting for goofy. So goofy told everyone to get back and helped Ríonn up and took two photos with just him and Ríonn. He met a few others and had more photos. We were a bit sad we couldnt find jack sparrow anywhere.
We had to leave We went to the hotel and collected our bags took the shuttle to the train station and left our bags in the luggage department. We were early :oops: by 2 hours!


We went to the studios to kill some time. Used the disabilty pass to go on crush which was great again. Then we went on cars which was actually quite good - but very short
We walked around taking photosd wehn Ríonn asked could he go on the tower or terror. I told him it was scary and he was too small but he went over and asked the cm's so they measured him and sure enough he was tall enough. We queued (5 minutes wait) and after the movie i thought we would be turning back but no again Ríónn wanted to prove me wrong. We got on and he loved every minute of it!! This was by far his favourite ride!!


I totally under estimated him and wish we had doen the more thrilling rides more but there is always next time.

We had a train, plane, bus, and taxi ride before we finally arriced home at 1.30am.
What a great trip! I'm already tryint to plan my next.

[smurfy74]

it sounds like you had a great time, the walk along the river between the Cheyenne and the Santa fe to the village is an easier walk than the main road, but we did the same as you on our first visit as we werent sure. Happy planning for your next visit

[Aveen2008]

Hey hun!

wow sounds like a fully loaded trip! first of all how do you pronounce your sons name...is it like Ronan, no? lol just interested hehe!

It's awful that he got knocked over twice by crowds!! Although the crowds around characters are always awful and nobody really waits, its a survival of the fittest really :roll:  :roll:  :roll:  I have pretty much given up on it unless its someone I reallllllly want a photo with because I hate the scrum!

What was it like getting from terminial one to the TGV??how did you get from one terminal to the next?

Sounds like dispite a few small hitches you had a great trip!!    

Aveen xxx

[pink_danio]

aveen - its pronounced ree on, it means little king its an old irish name.
Going from terminal one to the tgv station wasnt too bad. We had to go through the passport ceck in area in termial one and then follow the signs to the lowest floor where we got a little shuttle train. The shuttle takes about 5 minutes to get from terminal 1 to terminal 2. It stops at 2 car parks and terminal 3 first. Once you get to terminal 2 you just follow the sign for the rer station and your there
It took me about 35 minutes because we got caught in a queue at the passport area.

[tubbsy]

Sounds like a great trip Cant wait to try Tower of Terror for ourselves
We do the same as you did and try and hold out and not use the disability pass, but when it gets too much at least we have that to fall back on.Its very hard as Steph is 15 and 5ft 4, but she still has aspergers-it aint gonna go away!! She would have completely shut down and cried whereas Rob who's 7 would have done the same as Rionn.
Shame about Rionn being knocked over. I have a real issue with this-I get really annoyed when I see kids climbing on stuff that is so obviously not meant to be climbed on and parents not doing anything and pushy people knocking others out of the way to get their photos done-and pushy parents pushing their kids in front  :evil: Sorry I'll stop ranting now! :lol:  Well done to Goofy for helping him out  =D>

[never2old]

Sounds like you had a great time! Sorry about your little one getting knocked over!! As Aveeen says, crowds around the characters can get really bad, I too have given up trying (just because I'm an adult all the kids seem to think they can push in front of me...), but at least the characters usually notice and they try to help... They're the best   !

Looking forward to seeing some of your pics!

[pink_danio]

Thanks everyone. I think it would be nice to have a system of some sort - like a queue, for the meet and greet. It would be alot more fair and less dangerous. I mean Ríonn is 5 so he is able to pick himself up but there were smaller kids that i was watching and thought they would be really hurt if they were knocked over.
If i was there by myself i wouldnt have bothered with the meet and greet but because Ríonn really wanted to do it we just got the few we spotted
Tubbsy, i know what you mean. Aspergers and adhd are disabilities you cannot see so some people don't realise there is a problem. Ríonn is being assesed for autism and tourettes too as he started getting alot of ticks and twitches. We just have to wait and see

Ive added the photos. I could have put up more but didnt want to overload the page.

[tubbsy]

I LOVE the photo of Rionn with Stitch and little Stitch! Fantastic And Rionn looks so cute dressed up x

[never2old]

Rionn's smile in the pictures says it all...  

Thank you again for sharing your trip with us!!

[Aveen2008]

aveen - its pronounced ree on, it means little king its an old irish name.
Going from terminal one to the tgv station wasnt too bad. We had to go through the passport ceck in area in termial one and then follow the signs to the lowest floor where we got a little shuttle train. The shuttle takes about 5 minutes to get from terminal 1 to terminal 2. It stops at 2 car parks and terminal 3 first. Once you get to terminal 2 you just follow the sign for the rer station and your there
It took me about 35 minutes because we got caught in a queue at the passport area.

Ah thats how you pronounce it, that's a lovely name!!  I havent heard of it but its lovely!:)

your pictures are great!! Hes a wee dote! hehe!

Did you get any pins?

[pink_danio]

Avenn i want to cry. (rionn is wearing one stitch pin in a few photos i think)
I spent about 50 euro on pins - mostly stitch as Ríonn is mad about him.
The one Ríonn is wearing got lost in the park I put mine in a disney plastic bag and put them in my purse. When i got to the hotel the bag of pins were gone I was so upset. I couldnt afford to get anymore after that.
Ríonn spent his money on stitchteddies. I'll post a photo in a minute

[pink_danio]

and here are the teddies he got Our favourite is the tower of terror stitch

[weebo1980]

wow love all the sitch teddys iam a big stitch fan to, i  work in the disney sotre to i love it, i also have aspergers syndrome

[Annet]

Great report and photo's! I love the Stitch pluche collection!
I have one on my rearview mirror, and in the back of my car there's Eeyore and Sulley.
Next time I want to get one of the little green alien-pluches from Toy Story

I even got pushed aside by people when I have my crutches with me, some people are just rude... :roll:

[ed-uk]

Thanks for the report and pictures, brings it all back, glad you and the little stich had a good time.
We to get to the station too early most times after one last mad event where we were stuck on a ride and hotel could not at first find bags ; they did and then took us by car to the station and we caught the Eurostar.  Now the last ride is at least 2 hours before the train and then shopping with bags picked up and in the station at least 1/2 hour before train goes (usually much earlier).

Hope you get the chance to try out the 'scary' rides most of us can do more that others expect. /