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[Laura678]

This is my first Trip Report in this forum so I think I should introduce myself first!

My name is Laura, I'm 20, and I live in Ireland.

This trip was my second trip to DLP this year. The first trip this year was in January. Seeing DLP in the snow was amazing.

This time around, myself, my brother Barry(16), my mother and my boyfriend Jason(24) spent 1 night in Paris and 3 nights in DLP.

On with the show...

Sunday 13th June

Jason, Barry, Mam and I got up at 3 am and we were on the road by 3:30am. We arrived at Dublin Airport at 5am and checked in straight away. The airport was surprisingly packed at that hour! We then went to a cafe and the 3 others had breakfast but I decided to wait until I was on the plane and I had a ham and cheese pannini. The flight was very turbulent and during our decent into Charles de Gaulle out my window I could see La Defense and La Tour Eiffel! As soon as we got to the luggage belt our luggage was waiting for us so we grabbed it and got the RER into Paris.

We arrived at our hotel which was 300 metres from the Arc de Triomphe at 11:30 and waited a while for our rooms to be ready. We all had a snooze until 2pm and then we got the metro to the Latin Quarter for some food. It cost €120 for a 3 course meal for 4 people and 8 drinks. The food was ok. The goat's cheese salad starter was a letdown. The lettuce had no taste to it at all and we got two measly pieces of goat's cheese on hard bread. The pizza for main course was nice though, and the carbonara was fantastic. Desert was mixed, the crème caramel was like scrambled egg but the chocolat liegeois was lovely. You can't really go wrong with chocolat liegeois!

After dinner we walked to Notre Dame. I bought 3 lovely scarves on the way and a little notebook with "Un petit mot de Laura" on each page. Notre Dame was very crowded and the queue to get in was very big so we decided to walk along the Seine. This is one of my favourite things to do. We went into a few pet shops along the Seine and we saw the cutest puppies and kittens but they were all caged up. It seems cruel for a big dog to be put into a space that would be the size of a box for a TV.

We were on our way to La Tour Eiffel. We had tickets for 20:30 to go to the very top. After 2 hours of walking we finally arrived! We got a few cokes and sat under the tower and people watched until 20:30. I was glad we had bought our tickets online in advance as the queue for tickets was extremely long. It was definitely a good idea! At 20:30 we went up the tower. There was no queue for us at all. The view was amazing and it wasn't cold at all as you would expect. The night was so clear and we could see for miles and miles.

When we got back down we walked to Trocadero. Along the way in Jardin du Trocadero there was a giant screen showing the World Cup. There were hundreds of people eating and drinking (and smoking!) while watching the match. The atmosphere was cool but it was getting late and we had had a long day so we decided to head back to our hotel. On the way to the metro Mam bought a handbag and my brother bargained the seller down from €35 to €20. We got the metro Charles de Gaulle Étoile and got a snack in McDonalds on our way to the hotel.






The crowds watching the world cup.


Myself and my brother at the top of the Tour Eiffel!

Day 2 on the way!

[loladelorean]

Hi Laura,
Thanks for sharing your trip report with us. I love Paris and can't wait to go back for a day as part of our DLP trip in November.
Really looking forward to reading the Disney part of your trip report too
Lisa x

[tubbsy]

Oh wow Laura! That view is amazing Looking forward to the rest of your report

[Laura678]

Thank you both! Yes the view was amazing. The sky was so clear that we could see for miles!


Day 2 - Monday 14th June

We got up at about 9:30 today and had breakfast in a café on Rue MacMahon. Chocolate tart for breakfast? Can't go wrong! By 11:30am we were on the RER A and were bound for Marne-la-Vallée. We arrived at 12:30 and walked to Hotel Santa Fé. Myself and Jason left our luggage with Mam and Barry as we had to meet Darren at the gate to Disneyland Park at 1pm. He was sponsoring us for our Annual Passports. We paid for them at the gate and then went to the Bureau Passport Annual to get out permanent AP's. We said goodbye to Darren and his family and met up with Barry and Mam.

We went straight to Pirates of the Caribbean and the queue was no longer than 10 minutes. We then went to Bug Thunder Mountain and the queue was 35 minutes so we joined it. We were 15 minutes in the queue when it began to rain. Suddenly the music stopped and we saw a CM outside of the queue saying that the ride had been stopped due to rain! It was only a light shower! This is proof that a Disney Park wouldn't last in Ireland ha ha! Since we were well into the queue and a number of people had decided to leave the queue we decided to stick it out and before long the ride was up and running again! We were at the top of the queue at no time. After BTM we went to PM which was a walk on. Afterwards we got FP's for BTM and went to Discoveryland. We joined the queue for Star Tours. A CM decided to make the path for the queue longer and he opened up a roped off zig-zag queue area to the left of the current queue. We followed the people in front of us and without realising it we were skipping the regular queue. A CM came up to us and told us and everyone behind us and the family in front that we had to go back to the beginning of the queue that we were skipping the queue. We replied saying that we weren't the only ones who had taken this route and we hadn't skipped the queue intentinally. He said that everyone had to go back but he couldn't distinguish who was who in the main queue as both lines had merged. So we went backwards and rejoined the queue. We were kind of frustrated as the CM who opened up the queue area to the left was responsible for us having to spend an extra 10 minutes queuing. To make matters worse, we were all queuing in the fast pass line so we moved very slowly... And the queue was 30 minutes or more as opposed to the 10 minutes as advertised!

After Star Tours we had planned on returning to BTM to use our FP's, but when we came outside it was raining and considering BTM was closed earlier due to rain, we decided not to risk wasting our last half an hour in the park in a queue for a ride we wouldn't get to go on. So we went to Captain EO instead. I hadn't seen EO since I was about 6 so I was excited to see it again. When we went in the doors to the auditorium were just closing so everybody sat on the floor to watch the preshow. It was a behind the scenes look at the making of EO which originally was shown in Disneyland. I enjoyed the show as it seemed new to me because I couldn't remember it from being 6! I thought the floor shaking was cool as I felt it added to the 3D experience.

After EO it was time to leave the parks and make a plan for dinner. We went to Disney Village and I went into the steakhouse (after reading how Dave had enjoyed his meal there )and joined a big queue and managed to make a reservation for 21:15. We all went back to the Santa Fe as myself and Jason had to check in and Mam and Barry had to get their room key. Our rooms were in building 44, halfway between the main building and the path to the parks. We had 2 rooms which were opposite each other.

We got ready for dinner and got the bus to Disney Village. We waited at the bar in the Steakhouse for a few minutes and we were then showed to our table. The menu looked inviting and we were starving! Jason and I got our complimentary Kirs and we got some lovely bread and butter, and then some bread and olive paste. We all ordered from the Chicago Menu which was €33. To start myself, Mam and Barry had the caeser salad and Jason had the Ocean City Cassolette. For our main course we all ordered the Downtown Rumpsteak, 3 "à point" and 1 "saignant". The steak was delicious and just what we needed after a long day on our feet! For desert I had Bailey's Creme Brulee, Jason had Old Fashioned Apple Pie a la Mode and Barry had The "Cherry Garcia". Mam opted out of desert. All in all we had a fantastic meal including wine etc for about €120 including our AP discount!

After dinner we went to Hotel New York for cocktails. After falling in love with the Glowtini cocktail in January I was keen to return to the bar in Hotel NY to get another! Jason and Barry had Mojitos and Mam decided to have a Pina Colada. After our cocktail we walked back to our hotel and hit the hay. It was a great start to our stay at DLP!

I was having too much fun that I forgot to take photos so this is my only photo from Monday. Mind you I think the smoke adds a nice effect!  :lol:

[tubbsy]

Sounds like a fab time apart from the CMs error x Mmm cocktails! got me tempted now!
Love the BTM pic!

[Jaivy]

Very nice report, Laura!    I'd love to see and read more! A holiday in Disney combined with Paris is a perfect holiday!  :thumbs:

[Laura678]

Very nice report, Laura!    I'd love to see and read more! A holiday in Disney combined with Paris is a perfect holiday!  :thumbs:

I agree! I first went to Disney in 1992.. I was 2. Then each year when we went on holidays to France we would go to Disney. Since 1999 I have gone to France and Disney each year bar 2 years... But I have made up for that by going twice in other years! :lol:

Sounds like a fab time apart from the CMs error x Mmm cocktails! got me tempted now!
Love the BTM pic!

Mmm cocktails is right! They were good! And thanks! Not a bad shot for my only pic of the day!

[Laura678]

Day 3 - Tuesday 15th June


We booked our holiday without checking out low season/high season and park hours. Disneyland Park was open from 10am to 7pm. Because of this we decided to make the most of our Extra Magical Hours.

Jason, Barry and I got up early and headed to the Disneyland Park for 8am. Mam decided to meet us later on at 10am at Walt Disney Studios. We began our day in Discoveryland with Buzz. Jason won the first round, and I came first in the second round with a score of 155,300!! After Buzz the 3 of us went on Space Mountain. It was a walk on. Every year I say I am not going on SM again but every year I do! It is so rough and I spent half the time with my eyes closed trying to force my head back into the head rest. Afterwards Barry and Jason wanted to ride it again but needless to say I opted out!

We then all went to Cookie Corner on Main Street for some breakfast. We got pain au chocolats, doughnuts and jus d'orange. I queued up to pay for it while the boys sat down. While in the queue I noticed on the counter a pouch for the Rainforest Cafe in which the bill is handed to the guest. I picked it up and looked inside. In it was a bill for €35 and a €50 note. After toying with the idea of keeping the €50 I decided to do the honest thing and hand the money to the man behind the counter. I work part-time at weekends as a waitress and I hate when a customer leaves without paying. It doesn't happen very often but you would get the odd guest who would do a runner. The bill probably had the table number and the servers name on it so it could be traced back and cleared off the system. I gave the pouch to the man behind the counter. He stared at it blankly and I explained to him that I had found it on the counter. He took him a while to understand what I was saying. I said it in both French and English and used hand gestures! I presumed he would pass it onto his manager who would pass it onto the Rainforest Cafe. Well if he is as honest as I was I presume that would happen! I paid for our breakfast and joined the boys. While eating a lady came over to us. She was behind me earlier in the queue to pay. She said that because I had been so honest and had handed in the €50 that she was giving us 3 VIP Fastpasses! She and her family were leaving and they had VIP FP's that were still valid for that day! She said I deserved them for my honesty! We couldn't believe it.


After finishing our breakfast and thanking the lady and her family again we headed over to WDS to meet Mam. This was her first time to be in WDS.
We decided to queue for Crush's Coaster since it was closing the next day for a refurb. The queue stretched right across past Animagique. We spent about 50 minutes queuing but it was well worth the wait! Afterwards we went to the Tower of Terror and since there were 4 of us we got 2 FP's for later on to use with our 3 VIP FP's. We then all went on the TOT and afterwards we got 1 FP for the Rock'n'Roller Coaster. We then decided to go and watch Moteurs....Action! It was Mam's first time to see the stunt show and she felt it was very dragged out. We agreed with her. Compared to previous years there was a lot of standing around and talking. Personally I feel that you only need to see the show ever few years.

When we came out it was time to use our FP for the R'n'RC. Mam didn't enjoy it. The 3-2-1 take off took her breath away and she didn't enjoy the ride. Afterwards it was time to use our 2 FP's for the TOT. We all got to go in it twice in a row. It was then time for lunch and we got burgers and chips in Restaurant en Coulisse. I don't usually eat beef burgers but they looked good!

We decided to let our food settle and we went to Cinemagique. It was really brilliant. I had forgotten the full the story and it was nice to sit back and relax after lunch... Even if Jason fell asleep during it! It was then off to the Tram Tour which Mam wanted to do. Although we got a sneak peak at Toy Story Playland, everyone was disappointed. The most exciting part was the canyon scene. The soundtrack didn't match what we saw visually, and we didn't go through the costume department...

We decided to go back to the TOT as the queue was only 5 minutes. We then needed ice pops to soothe our throats! Mam decided to head back to the hotel while Barry, Jason and I rode the TOT 5 more times with our VIP FP's . We left WDS and walked back to our hotel. Barry was really interested in the fish in Lake Disney.


After a quick refresh we went to Café Mickey for our reservation at 9:30. In short, food was great and service was awful! Suffice to say we didn't leave a tip! We waited about 15 minutes with our menus sitting in front of us...closed to signify we had chosen might I add. Our waitress came over and didn't say "Avez-vous choisi?" actually she didn't even say "Bonsoir". She just said "What you want?" We were all taken aback by this and said "Pardon?" in case we had heard her wrongly. She then said "So you are not going to eat anything??" She was so rude. We all made it a priority to speak French on our holiday but here we weren't given a chance. Our waitress decided to just talk down to us in English.


Service aside (for now) our starters were lovely. Mam, Barry and I had a warm goat's cheese starter with parma ham and salad. Jason had the Fantasia mushrooms.
Our main course arrived an hour and a half after we had eaten. After our starters were cleared we waited an hour for our main course. We hadn't noticed it until I looked at my watch and checked the time. We had been distracted by the characters and we were also deep in conversation that time flew by. However sitting in a restaurant for an hour waiting for your main course is bad form.

We asked our "friendly" waitress where our main course was and she made a funny face and walked off! She came back 5 minutes later with our 2 carbonaras, a pizza and a steak! The main course was just as good as the starter and Jason even went as far as to say his rare steak was easily one of the best steaks he has ever had!


Unfortunately our lovely meal had been tainted by awful service! We decided to skip desert as it was 11:30 when we had finished our main course. We were going to get Ben & Jerry's at Annette's but it was late and it had been a long day. We walked back to the hotel and had a good night's sleep.

My mam


Myself and Jason


Barry myself and Mam


Barry

[tubbsy]

How very rude of her! I would have made a complaint! Very unDisney. I think tho, unfortunately, theres usually one peron that makes me feel they've slipped past getting their sprinkle of daily Tink dust. I guess like anyone else they can have a bad day, but in my job I cant show it and would hope they shouldnt either.

Wow! Well done you for being so honest! And well done for getting the VIP passes  :thumbs:    :thumbs:

Great trip and loving the pics. Its good to see characters visiting tables with adults on too-I know I'd be worried they wouldnt come near our table if there were just adults

[Laura678]

How very rude of her! I would have made a complaint! Very unDisney. I think tho, unfortunately, theres usually one peron that makes me feel they've slipped past getting their sprinkle of daily Tink dust. I guess like anyone else they can have a bad day, but in my job I cant show it and would hope they shouldnt either.

Wow! Well done you for being so honest! And well done for getting the VIP passes  :thumbs:    :thumbs:

Great trip and loving the pics. Its good to see characters visiting tables with adults on too-I know I'd be worried they wouldnt come near our table if there were just adults

She was extremely rude! I wanted to complain there and then but I was just so tired and frustrated! I still haven't had a chance to lodge a complaint but I will do! I am the same. In my job I can't show if I am haveing a bad day either or it ruins the guests day (part time waitress when I'm not in college).

The VIP FP's were amazing! The lady was so generous to give them to me! We had an amazing day using them!!

In regards to the characters, we decided to eat at Cafe Mickey because of the characters. I find in DLP that trying to get a photo with a character in a park is not a pleasant experience if you are an adult. You get parents pushing their kids on top of you. In Cafe Mickey you get to meet the characters without all that hasslo. The characters were all great! Even though Mickey's minder tried to push him past our table, Mickey came back to take a photo with us!

[Laura678]

Day 4 - Wednesday 16th June

We had planned on doing to EMH's again today and using this time to do Fantasyland but we all slept in! We had breakfast in our hotel at 10:45 and the place was deserted so there was no breakfast rush! After breakfast we went to the Sequoia Lodge and the Newport Bay to check out dinner menus.

Then we headed to Parc Disneyland and got FP's straight away for Big Thunder Mountain and also joined the main queue for BTM. While in the queue I made reservations for 7:30 at Hunter's Grill in the Sequoia Lodge. When we got back to the platform on BTM the Cast Member who was on the side that you disembark asked me did I want to ride again. Of course I said "oui". Myself and mam jumped back in the train and got to ride again. Afterwards we went to Phantom Manor and also got 4 more FP's for BTM. When we got the first 3 the CM didn't swipe our tickets as the machine was broken so he was handing them out from the back.

It was then time to go for lunch. We ate at Market Street Deli. I had a Croque Monsieur which was tasty. It was a nice change from a hot dog! While everyone finished their lunch I popped over to city hall to make a reservation for Walt's on our final day. The CM commented on how good my French was. I love being able to speak French when I visit France.

We then went over to Adventureland. We crossed the "Pont Suspendu" which I hadn't crossed since I was little. We decided to go to Pirates of the Caribbean. We were almost at the top of the queue and we noticed two families on the dock who had just gotten out of a boat fighting with each other. One man in one family shouted angrily in French to a woman in the other family "Would you like water thrown in your face???!!" He then got opened a bottle of water and threw it in the woman's face! I wonder what happened there.

After POTC it was time to use our FP's for BTM. Typically as we got to the top of the queue the ride broke down! We waited 15 minutes and said that if it wasn't working in another 10 minutes that we would leave. Luckily enough 5 minutes later the ride was back up and running! As soon as we got out of the queue (thanks to the delay) it was time to use our second batch of FP's!

We then went over to Walt Disney Studios and joined the queue for the Tower of Terror. We had spent about 25 minutes queuing up and a little bit in front of us was a group of about 6 Spanish boys. Coincidentally a group of about 6 Spanish girls had just joined the queue. They had been in the queue about 5 minutes when they decided to crawl under the barriers and join the boys. This irritated me a lot and I could see it irritated the people around me too. I noticed a CM then walking around the queue and I caught his attention. I explained to him (in French) what had happened. He asked me to point out the girls and I showed him the group of them. Straight away he went up to the girls and opened the chain in the queue and told them to leave. They refused at first but then left. Loads of people began to clap and the Spanish family behind me said well done for telling the CM. After riding the TOT we joined the queue again for the last time that day.

Myself and Mam then decided to head back to the hotel to get ready for our 7:30 reservation. Barry and Jason wanted to ride the Rock'n'Roller coaster again so they stayed in WDS. Mam and I strolled back through the store in Studio 1 and picked up a few things. We did a quick change at the hotel and all headed to the Sequoia Lodge for dinner. The buffet was great but I think I prefer table service restaurants. There is too much to choose from at the buffet! We were stuffed afterwards!

We then went to the Sports Bar in Disney Village for a few drinks. We tried the "Geronamo"; 1664, Jack Daniels and Coke. It was surprisingly nice! Then we had a "Monaco"; 1664, Sprite and Grenadine. It was lovely!

It was then time to do some shopping! Jason and I started a thing back in January where we set a money limit and go shopping for a present for each other. We set a limit of €50, split up and did our secret shopping! I got Jason the Pin Trading Bag. The only things he has really taken an interest to buying in Disneyland are pins and I knew he wouldn't buy the bag himself! After a while searching I found it! I also got him the pin for Hotel Sante Fe and a few other little things. I got Barry a present also. A Buzz Lightyear yoyo which lights up when used! But Barry being typical Barry ended up leaving the yoyo in the hotel when we checked out! I got a call a week later from Disneyland Lost & Found saying they had found the yoyo and it would cost €23 to post it back! I decided not to take them up on their offer as the yoyo only cost €3.20!!
We swapped presents back at the hotel. Jason gave me a TOT Stitch which I was looking at earlier in the TOT shop! I gave Jason his little presents. Then we swapped our big presents. I gave him his Pin Bag which he thought was "Deadly!". Then he gave me my big present which was the book "From Sketch to Reality" I was delighted. I had said that I really wanted the book before we left Dublin but I had completely forgotten to look for it! Unfortunately there were no English copies left and the man in the shop in which he got it even rang around Disney Village to check. The French version will help to broaden my vocabulary though!
We packed up our suitcases and hit the hay!

[norhel]

Well done of the Cast Member in the Studios!

[Laura678]

Well done of the Cast Member in the Studios!

Well done indeed!  :thumbs:
When I told him what had happenned he had no hesitation at all in asking them to leave!

[Laura678]

Here are some photos from day 4!
Day 5 should be up soon too  

Me and my Mam


The lighthouse in need of some extreme TLC


Barry


Barry and I on BTM


Unfortunately Indy was closed during our trip


A broken down BTM


Myself Mam and Barry


A little friend enjoying the view!




Jason and I

[Laura678]