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[gothprincess]

Gerat trip report. It's so nice not to hear about how this and that was better before as I won't know the diferance. I may have to steal that door hanger though.

[Clara2141]

:!: Complaint/Warning  :!: : It was a bit difficult to manage the nervous and anxious parents who try to get their children in front of you, which is OK since you're taller than them and you can still watch the floats and the characters and dancers normally. What really bothered me was that, once they placed their children in front of you, they tried to get there themselves subtly by elbowing and telling you to move aside...! Come on... we have been waiting for 45 minutes, you just arrived 5 minutes ago, put your children in front of us without even asking and now you want to step in front of me? No way!  :x  We just pretended we didn't understand them and enjoyed the parade. It was quite easy once we ignored them, since they got tired and went to the back.

We had the same problem last year. Lady physically tried to put her buggy in front of us. We had been waiting for 30 mins and had a good view. There was room on the other side of the street so we sent them over there. I'm not too fussed about the children but having me feet run over by the push chair really got me annoyed.

[WillN]

Thanks for all the replies. It's our first report so they are very encouraging...!  

DAY 3 – Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

We got up at 7am and enjoyed briefly the nice views from our room.



After a long breakfast (we weren't in a hurry and needed to eat a lot for another exhausting day at DLP) we took advantage of the EMH and went this time for Mad Hatter's Tea Cups.



This ride, even though it hadn't been refurbished yet, I like a lot. The roof geometry is wonderful. Of course we managed to be alone in a cup (it was very easy) and we didn't turn it too much, just in case, since we wanted to keep our breakfasts inside for a while... I like the soundtrack loop, which is a medley of Alice in Wonderland's movie songs.

We also went to IASM once more



As we did the day before, just a few minutes before ten we were inside the big Studio 1. The first ride this time was Crush's Coaster, for which we had to make a 25 min queue (I think the longest of the whole trip). It's a pity that the loading/unloading takes so long, otherwise we would have ridden it more times (though we rode it twice).



I liked the way it's divided in two parts. The first one, calm and smooth, with the characters and so on... the second, after the lift hill, so crazy and fast! I really like these indoor coasters...

The two rides that were previously closed were already operating that day, and first we went to Armageddon. The preshow was a bit avoidable, to be honest, but the show is ok. However, I compared it to the Templo del Fuego in Port Aventura and Armageddon is quite smaller and shorter.

Rock'n'roller Coaster avec Aerosmith is another great indoor ride.  :thumbs:  Something I like from DLP is how many rides and shows are indoor (obviously due to meteorological reasons), and it also adds more magic, since the atmosphere totally surrounds you. Being inside a building it's easier to create the feeling. Wow...! This coaster was amazing! The music makes you feel it's even faster than it is, and the launching is so long you almost think the first loop never comes... until it comes, and you start seeing all the spotlights, smoke, lasers... when we left we went for a ToT and the to Animagique.

Animagique is great for children but as adults we also enjoyed this show. The theme song is very catchy and the black light effects work perfectly in this show.

Here's a video (not mine) featuring the song:

[youtube:2jm70vuv]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzsPuBLKwQQ[/youtube:2jm70vuv]
As I said, not only children liked this show.  

(Part 2 and Day 4 during the weekend, I hope...)

[WillN]

We had the same problem last year. Lady physically tried to put her buggy in front of us. We had been waiting for 30 mins and had a good view. There was room on the other side of the street so we sent them over there. I'm not too fussed about the children but having me feet run over by the push chair really got me annoyed.

Well, I see we're not the only ones...!  

Actually, situations like that are quite usual in Spain (though not ALL Spanish people act the same, of course!), but now I see that sometimes nationality doesn't matter...  :?

[gothprincess]

How long does animagique last? I have a toddler and I'm hoping it isn't too long for her to sit through. Any other info would be great because I'm not sure what the show entails.

[WillN]

How long does animagique last? I have a toddler and I'm hoping it isn't too long for her to sit through. Any other info would be great because I'm not sure what the show entails.

I think it lasts around 20 minutes, but I assure you she wont't get tired of sitting through it. There were lots of children and most of them were sitting very quietly almost like hypnotized by the show, so...  

However, since the show is based on dark light, it gets very... well... "dark", so if she is afraid of it, I don't know how would she take it. However, I insist, I think it's great for them.

[WillN]

Hi again, and sorry for the delay.

Day 3 - Part 2

After Animagique we left the WDS and went back to Disneyland. I forgot to mention that we had previously booked a table for two at Walt's: an American restaurant. We booked it at the City Hall, a building where people can get lots of information about the park, but many don't even notice it's there (right on the left as you enter the park, the building with a clock tower).

We still had some time until lunch so we went for two similar rides we hadn't seen yet. One was Les Voyages de Pinocchio and the other Snow White. Both are more or less the same, since they tell you the tales of Pinocchio and Snow White as if you were in the story. They're short rides but very well designed, recommended for small children.

We arrived at Walt's and were told to go upstairs, where we were sat at the Adventureland room (there are 5, one for each land in the park, I think). Our table was next to a window that faced the small dead end street almost at the corner of the building, so we could see a bit of Main Street while eating.



We used again the Half Board Plus vouchers and have to say that the quality, quantity, and presentation of the food were excellent! Plus, the service was also on the same level as well. Even the dishes have some nice details!



And here are some pictures of what we had for lunch (we don't have pictures of everything, but you'll get an idea):

-   Goat cheese salad



-   Salmon rôti



-   Cheese Cake



-   Chocolate coulant



We took our time and enjoyed every moment. We had a very quiet meal (the quietest of our stay, to be honest) at Walt's and wished more restaurants were like it. It's probably the most adult oriented place to eat, or at least of the places we went to.

Since we were already in Main Street, we decided (we...?) to go shopping for a while. We entered the large Emporium store and spent some time perusing around the other shops. As I already mentioned, they are worth a visit, even if you're not planning to buy, just to enjoy the architecture, the decorations and all the details.

We spent the rest of the afternoon riding some random rides like BTM, Buzz (guess what...? I lost again...), HISTA and SMM2 until 6.30pm.

That day we had decided we were going to walk around the lake and visit the other hotels out of curiosity, so we went to the hotel, had a quick shower and left for a walk.

It took almost 2 hours but we enjoyed every minute. It was a nice change after all the excitement in the parks. We left our hotel and turned left following the lakeside:



At the American based Sequoia Lodge hotel we stopped for a while next to a fireplace inside before we continued until the classic Newport Bay Club hotel, right at the other side of the lake:



From here we could admire our hotel from a different perspective:



Then, instead of following the lake perimeter we decided to go back and make a right following the Rio Grande (a river that dies at the lake) to visit the two hotels on its banks. On the right, the Mexican style Hotel Santa Fe, with some nice details as a volcano or a UFO crash landing next to the road. On the left, as if going back in time to the Far West, Hotel Cheyenne, which we understood why is best recommended for children, with its outdoors play areas and large streets. It was getting dark so we headed back to our hotel and since there was still one hotel we hadn't seen from the inside, we thought it would be nice to visit the Disneyland Hotel. Its majestic outside matches the interior perfectly, with large staircases, wide halls, and classic architecture.



Two hours of (more) walking made us hungry and since it was almost 9pm, this time the choice was the Rainforest Café. The service that night was very slow, somehow understandable because it was very crowded, but it was something we didn't like. The jungle atmosphere, however, is very nice, and especially during those moments when the lights dim and the rain starts falling (almost literally) with thunders and lightning.



Food was OK. My wife had a Caesar salad (this time with chicken) and I had the Cha-cha menu (coated turkey with tomato and mozzarella salad and fries.

We left by 10.30pm and went straight to bed.

End of Day 3.

[gothprincess]

Mmmmmm yummy I'm so hungry now.

[loladelorean]

Thanks for your excellent trip report, especially the photos from Walts. We have booked lunch here on the second day of our trip and I am really looking forward to it, the food looks fantastic!
We are also planning to visit all the other hotels as we have only stayed in Hotel New York. We are going to go to a different one each night for cocktails!

[WillN]

Again, thanks for your comments! We really appreciate that!  

DAY 4 – Thursday, March 11th, 2010

Our last full day at DLP!  :?

We decided to do some of the things we hadn't done yet, so that day, once we entered the park during the Extra Magic Hours, we hopped on the double-decker vintage bus and sat at the front, which offered us a different way of admiring Main Street and the castle.



At the end of the tour we went to Dumbo, Peter Pan and finally Buzz (don't ask who won this time, I'm not going to answer that... :-" )

Then, at 10 we went to WDS (as usual), as in DLP for some rides we hadn't done yet.
 
First we headed for our second time at Crush's Coaster, which we rode after 20 minutes of queuing. The next was Cars Quatre Roues Rallye, a flat ride which was OK, but nothing special (similar to the teacups), and the cars are quite small (some large people looked like sardines in a can).

The following ride was Les Tapis Volants (Flying Carpets over Agrabah), a Dumbo-like flat ride which, again, was OK but nothing remarkable IMHO.

Since we were in the WDS we couldn't miss another trip to the twilight zone or some thrilling musical moments at the RnRC.

When we finished we went to Stitch Live. We went for the English version of the show and found it very funny. The way Stitch interacts with the audience is very well done and the technical aspects of the show are great.  :lol:

It was around 1.30pm when we had lunch at the Restaurant des Stars, a buffet restaurant which can be very crowded sometimes, especially when Rémy himself shows up around the tables. And I don't mean a human-size character, no, I mean a rat-size... err... rat.

See for yourselves:



We would like to thank the CM who made Rémy come right next to our table (by next, I mean a few inches only!). Since I knew about Rémy's coming around the tables, I asked one CM if he could manage to get it next to our table so my wife could see it and, well, he did! It's very funny to see him move, "speak" and even dance at the tune of "U Can't Touch This"!  /

After lunch we went to see the Stars'n'Cars Parade, which is nice if you can get a spot in front of the main stage. Otherwise I guess you only see the cars passing by for some moments and then nothing...  :roll: The show features a nice song and some dances performed by the various characters. The floats... well, actual cars, are very well achieved, so once again it's that thing only Disney can do, I guess...





We went back to DLP and took another one of the Main Street vehicles, this time the Fire Truck. At Central Plaza we turned left to Frontierland, took a couple FPs for BTM and went to Phantom Manor. Then we went up to Adventureland to ride Indy again, Fantasyland for a last IASM ride, Space Mountain at Discoveryland



and finally another complete tour on the Disneyland Railroad. We took some sunset pictures before we went shopping on Main Street and back to the hotel.





These were about to become the last pictures we took there, since on Day 5 we didn't go to the parks...  

At 8.30pm we had dinner at the hotel's Parkside Diner restaurant, but I completely forgot what we had, even though I remember it was very good.

And went to bed, to enjoy our last night at Disney...

[dagobert]

Thanks for another great update. I really enjoy your trip report and can't wait for the last day.

[gothprincess]

Great trip report!

The sunset pic od the castle is amazing you have quite a talent.

[WillN]

DAY 5 – Friday, March 12th, 2010

This was our last day and the less "Disneyesque" of them all. We woke up at 8, had breakfast and by 9.30 we were already leaving our room in order to proceed with the checkout. However, we left our luggage still in the hotel because today we wanted to go to La Vallee Village, the outlet stores close to DLP, and the Val d'Europe shopping center. We booked a van at the reception (I think it was about 5€) and in 10 minutes there was a large black van waiting for us for a 10 minute ride to the site. The outlet village was almost identical to the one we have near our home in a town called La Roca del Vallès, which means expensive brands at not so expensive prices, but still pricey IMHO... However, we did enjoy the Val d'Europe shopping center, where we had a sandwich before we went back to the hotel.

We collected our luggage (they were in a huge meeting room, one of many in the hotel) and walked to the RER station, where we bought two train tickets to Paris, were our honeymoon continued for six more days.

So, that's the end of our trip report, finishing with this picture of the beautiful Castle.



We hope you've enjoyed it and wish all of you a wonderful time when you're visiting Disneyland Paris.  :thumbs:

Good Bye!!!

[SwipatronSparks]

that last pic is awsome =]

[Soap]

Thanks to you both, great report with a lot of fun and love, always a good thing