Right! Best I start our pre-trip report
Those attending
Me (Sam) 21 *cough* ..... OK 39
Mark (DH) 41
Steph 15
Rob 7
Travelling from Portsmouth to Le Havre overnight
Arriving in DLP on the 23rd
Staying at the NPB Admirals Floor
Eating in
Cafe Mickey and Robs birthday cake (23rd)
Auberge do Cendrillonand Stephs birthday cake (24th)
Cafe Mickey for breakfast (25th)
Walts (25th)
Inventions (26th)
Obviously hoping to see lots of characters (So many eat n greets!)
And looking forward to riding the new rides as we havent been for 3 years-and this includes ToT..... maybe! :P
Have a great trip :D/
Hope you have a great time in DLP Tubbsy :D/ I see you're staying in the Admirals Floor.. so jealous :P
have a fantastic time !!!! safe journey, and looking forward to your trip report when you get back...and lots of pics of all your shoping...lol x
Hvae a fantastic time, and do please try ToT, it is worth it!
Thank you :D And I'll try and work up the courage .... but not promising anything :lol:
Have a fantastic time! Both your kids celebrating birthdays at Disney, the lucky things :)
Be brave and ride ToT, it is one of the best themed rides in the park with the very best cast members, and you'll be so glad you did it! It's an amazing sensation. Life's too short not to ride every Disney attraction! :P
Can't wait for your trip report when you return
Have a fantastic trip - and I hope the kids enjoy their birtday cakes!
Regarding TOT I swore not to ride it before my latest trip too, but just forgot my fear and walked on. From the second I entered the lobby I was taken to a different place where fear was replaced by pumping adrenalin (in the good way) and eyes popping out of my head. It is a top class Disney attraction and I ended up riding it 7 times!
Looking forward to the report!
Have an amazing time Sam, can't wait to compare notes hahaha!!
xxxx
Have a great trip Tubbsy. You must be travelling now so the excitement must be building intensely. Have fun and definitely ride TOT!!!!
i hope you have a great trip and a great time in DLP
I highly recomend that you have a ride on ToT!
Just got back-had the most Amazing trip! :D :thumbs: :D :thumbs: Will do a full report as soon as I've had some sleep
glad you had a good time! cant wait to read your report :) x
OK so I had every intention of doing what Nicolai did-posting good things in green and bad things in red but you wont see much red in my trip report :D Please remember its three years since our last visit so us as a family are looking at Disney skin deep, not looking for the niggles and flaws regular visitors can see. It was just amazing to be back in the magic :D
So here we go (watch out for a few red bits, but most of it was FAB!
Day 0/1-travelling to the magic. We left our house at 8:30 at night and travelled the mega long distance of 20 minutes to Portsmouth to catch the overnight ferry to Le Havre.
Once booked in and on board and queueing as though to get on Crushes Coaster to just get our room key we got ourselves settled for the night. Only problem is the walls are thin (thinking this should be in red really!)
There was a young girl in the cabin to our right who didnt stop talking til gone midnight, then at 2:00am somebodys phone went off-OK fine, cant be helped but the man proceeded to have a 10 minute conversation!
"HELLO! YES? THE CODE? ITS 881188! YES! WHERE AM I? ON THE FERRY GOING TO FRANCE! NO! ITS OK! WE CAN TALK!!!" :shock: :twisted: :lol:
Then at 5:30 Steph decided to suffer from travel sickness! Poor kid, shouldnt laugh, but by this time we'd lost the will to sleep! :lol: Steph and I got up showered and left Mark and Rob snoring (It'd take a Hell of a lot to wake Rob but I am sure that his snoring disturbed a few people! :lol: )
Steph and I got a drink and watched the sun come up and Le Havre come into view, the travel sickness ebbing and the exciement growing :D
About 7:00 we wandered back to the cabin to find Mark up and showered and Rob snoring with his backside in the air! Charming child. So we waved doughnuts under his nose until he responded, got him showered, dressed and fed and headed to the car.
As the ferry docked, Mark yelled at the TomTom for saying we had to go back to the UK, go to Dover and come across at Calais, the TomTom admitted defeat and planned our route to DLP from Le Havre. (I had a paper copy of our route in case we had satnav failure) and we headed off.
Good things TomToms, brilliant, pointing out speed limits, speed cameras and points of interest. They also say things like "I have found a faster route, would you like to take it?" Now here, dear friends, is a tale of knuckle whitening, stomach churning excitement. Mark clicked "Yes" We travelled along our way, looking at the beautiful view until I said the TomTom had taken us off the route I had printed off. Mark was OK with that, he was happy to follow the directions from our automated friend.....right up to the moment we came over the crest of the hill and saw..... the Eiffel Tower!
Explitives of not so cleaner versions of "Oh Golly Gosh" and "Whoopsie daisy" came out of our mouths before remembering we have a child with aspergers who will repeat every word he hears sat in the back of the car!
So Mark and I have a quick conversation and the jist of it was "OK Get a grip we can do this! Smurfy had given us directions on the train to go to Paris, so we'll skip that and just get on with it now shall we?"
"OK then-Rob look the Eifffel Tower!"
"Yay!"
And I should have had more faith in the TomTom cos she didnt steer us wrong. I may have gained a few more grey hairs, but Rob got to see the Eiffel Tower, and we made it unbelievably safely through Paris on a Monday morning. :D/ Who needs a roller coaster for heart stopping thrills???
A round of applause for our survival of Paris traffic please! ...... No? OK, lets move on shall we?
The excitement built and we attach Stephs Ipod with Disney music on to the stereo, and we travel the last few miles singing at the top of our voices and as we pull off the motorway, Steph flicks her ipod to
"Tell everybody I'm on my way!"
"With new friends and new faces to seeeeeeeeeeee!"
"With blue skies ahead yes I'm on my way"
"And theres nowhere else that I'd rather beeeeeeee!"
:D
We pull off the roundabout and into NPB :D
Day One proper to come a little later
=D> applause well and truly deserved, sounds kind of fun letting Tommy take control for a bit and see what happens. I thought you had every inch of this trip planned? Love your report, loads of fun to read.
Glad you had a lovely trip, cant wait to read the rest of your report, especially the birthday surprises :D
DopeyDad-I had-but great plans n all that. It was quite an adventure but fun :)
Kelly-coming soon! Promise :)
OK-I've got a few minutes-lets see if we can get day 1 done :D I will upload photos later
We booked in at Newport Bay Admirals floor, the lady was fantastic, explainging everything. We then went over to the concierge and confirmed all our meal bookings for the week as I have read people had had problems. the concierge printed out receipts for each one for me as proof, which was very reassuring. Then it was down into the park and City Hall.
Oh that feeling of walking up and seeing the Disney Hotel and then through onot Main Street! I wish I could bottle it :D
First stop as I said was city Hall to get Robs pass sorted and for him to receive a birthday sticker and phone call from Mickey :D He kept looking at the phone in an odd way cos he couldnt quite believe Mickey was talking to him.
Then down to Caseys Corner for lunch-and all I can say is YUM! Rob had hotdog and chips, Steph and Mark nuggets and chips and me the salad and nuggets. Fab!
Once replenished we headed off to our first ride of the day-Star Tours, then Buzz Lightyear, Orbitron, and Captain Eo-which Rob being a Michael Jackson fan loved.
Then we had to do the scariest ride in the whole park-hold onto your seats ladies and gentlemen........ "Its a Small World After All!!!!" ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!
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Are you scared yet?????
A few rides in Fantasyland before we were all beginning to flag (casey Juniors comin down the track, with a smokey stack!) as we hadnt slept so well on the boat-apart from Master Rob with his bum in the air! We headed back to NPB.
We picked up our room keys - the lady saying "Oh you have a beautiful room" and me thinking "Yeah, thanks, I'm sure its very nice"
We headed of to the 7th floor, walked out of the lift and followed the arrows to just around the corner-Mark opened the door and .... A roll drum please- WOW :shock: :thumbs: :shock: :thumbs: We had a corner room! Over looking the lake (as we had requested) with a balcony and we could see ToT, Space Mountain and the castle! I could have cried! Wow Wow Wow!
It really took our breaths away. It was beautiful :D What a fantastic surprise. So much for resting we all kept going out and staring at the view!
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Then the phone rang
"Mrs Tubbs, theres been a mix up" (My heart dropped. I wasnt leaving that room for love nor money!)
"We were supposed to have decorated the room for your children and its not been done" (My heart leapt back up agan!)
"So we were wondering are you going out again?" I explained we werent going out til 6:00 for dinner at Cafe Mickey
"Thats fine Mrs Tubbs, we'll do it then" OK so now I am officially in love with the Admirals floor CMs!
I persuade the family to rest for a while before frantically keel hauling them out of the room and marching them down to Cafe Mickeys at 5:45! :D
Again I know some of you have had problems at Cafe Mickeys, but it was fantastic.
The kids saw Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Tigger, Chip n Dale Mr Smee and of course Eeyore :D :D and the food was hot and delicious. Oh happy days :D can it get any better??? ......
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Oh yes it can!
Music comes on and Robs cake accompanied by Mickey and Pluto arrives at our table :D :D :D
It was absolutely brilliant :D
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Everyone is ridiculously tired but Rob asks if he can go for a swim, so we take a slow walk back to NPB, me still holding onto my camera ;)
We open the door to our room and there are balloons on the bed, from lampshades, from the balcony window and even hanging in the bathroom! :D And placed on the childrens bed is a box of sweets and a postcard with Mickey and Donalds autographs :D
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We head off for a quick swim before persuading Rob to go to bed-by this time its just short of 10:00pm- a very long day. Rob falls asleep whilst Mark, Steph and I sit with a warm drink and watch the fireworks from our balcony :D
What a lovely trip report so far. Sounds like the DLP I know and love.
Wow Tubs, those little extra touches sound lovely. Did they decorate your room because you had told the hotel it was your Son's B'Day? Also, if you don't mind all the questions, how easy was it to set up the Mickey call at Town Hall for your Son. It's my eldest Sons B'Day on our last day when we go in Oct and I'd love to set things like that up for him too.
Thanks guys-the whole week was like this-as you'll see as it goes along.
Dopeydad-It was really easy to set up-we rang NPB a few days before and said it was their birthdays coming up and they said they would try and decorate the room
The phone call is a standard recorded message, you just go along and say its your childs birthday, they give them a sticker and hand over the phone.
Happy you had a great trip - and great start to the report (glad I inspired you with the colour scheme :P)
The extra touches with birthday stickers, phone call and decorations sound very nice - does the sticker give your child some advantages in the parks?
Your way of seeing the fireworks on day 1 sounds like it can compete with my experience on Big Thunder Mountain :)
Looking forward to more days and of course the photos :)
wow it looks like you had a great start to your trip :) cant wait to read more :) x
:thumbs: Thanks Tubbsy
Excellent trip report so far Tubbsy, looking forward to the rest of it!
I knew you'd love the Admirals Floor, we stayed there a few years back and loved it too. We had a balcony too with a great view of the other end of the hotel looking out the long grass area (although your view sounds magnificent) :thumbs:
Sounds amazing!! love the idea of watching the fireworks from my hotel room! maybe next year (altho dont think hunny wants to go) but we will see.!!
XX
Thanks guys. I've hit a brick wall tonight-really tired after so many early starts and late finishes, but I've managed to upload photos to my FB account-gives you a slight preview of all the characters we got to see! Just a few ....... :D I promise I'll load them on here too soon.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6 ... 562&page=3 (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6398941&id=674791562#!/album.php?aid=246920&id=674791562&page=3%22%20onclick=%22window.open(this.href);return%20false;)
and the view from our room
http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?pi ... =fbx_album (http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?pid=6398814&id=674791562&ref=fbx_album%22%20onclick=%22window.open(this.href);return%20false;)
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?id=67 ... id=6399139 (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?id=674791562&pid=6399139%22%20onclick=%22window.open(this.href);return%20false;)
Ur trip sounds so magical so far, even the detour by the eiffel tower hehe! I never knew on your birthday you got a sticker and phonecall from mickey? Is this a new thing? your room sounds so amazing!! I am so majorly jealous hehe! can't wait to read more! :thumbs:
Oh what a lovely first day happy Birthday Rob and Steph!
I can't wait to read the rest.
Thank you guys. I feel like I am writing up the corniest most wonderful trip ever :)
Just uploading photos, so hopefully I'll attach them in a bit.
Day 2 started with breakfast in our room. Steph and I were up and showered and ready for another day, Mark was just getting moving whilst Mr Robert with his bum in the air was still snoring! So Steph promptly waved a croissant under his nose which resulted him going from snoring to munching in 30 seconds!
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(The 10 euro delivery was definately worth it, the queues were horrendous each morning)
Once we were all ready to go we headed off into the park
First stop off to City Hall to get a very embarrassed Steph a birthday sticker although she refused to talk to Mickey on the phone! :lol:
Then off for a look around the castle and onto some rides.
I forgot to say about the weather! You'll see thick black cloud and rain in a few photos, then beautiful sunshine. It was so hot and the cloud built up, dropped a load of rain on everyone for 30 minutes and then we were back to blazing sunshine!
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Also-Just a bit on Rob and aspergers and the use of the disability pass
Aspergers can mean different things for kids, but mostly it means they get multi sensory overload and dont understand social situations. Rob is academically at the level someone 2-3 years older than his age but has the social skills of a 3-4 year old. Makes for an interesting life! Rob is a tall chunky lad and did get funny looks as he spent quite a bit of time during the holiday walking around with ear defenders on to slightlly muffle the sound-
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he particularly found Main Streets music a bit too much, but he is a complete ride nut and loves the characters and his interactions with them was brilliant-one Mum commented on the first night how brilliant he was.
Rob did have a disability pass but during EMH we decided to do a little life skill training!-one day Rob will need to queue with everyone else so where we can we do take him in the queue lines-and EMH is a good opportunity for him to learn. The queues werent much longer than 15 minutes and we were able to give him a little more space so he didnt feel overwhelmed by too many people in his face. During EMH Rob queued every morning for Peter Pan, Dumbo, Buzz and on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday we finished by queueing for the opening of Star Tours.
OK so after EMH we headed off to POTC, PM and BTM and this was the only time we managed to ride BTM. We tried three more times but it was down each time-bad timing on our behalf me thinks.
After a spot of lunch we enjoyed a few more rides then it was time for us to meet up with my friend Miriam I had met through another forum - I know a few of us on here know Miriam ;) ).
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It was fab to meet her and great to watch the showtime spectacular together and have a sing and a dance whilst we watched :) , Steph got a teeny bit excited at seeing Angel, Boo, Lilo and Stitch and Tiana and Naveen :D and Rob got a cuddle from Jessie :D then it was off to have a drink at the Deli and a chat before we had to say goodbye to Miriam as we had reservations for L'Auberge De Cendrillon
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Steph was feeling a little self conscious as being 16 she towered above all the little girls queueing to see the princesses. She tried to play it cool but when she saw Cinderella she developed the most cheeeeeeesiest grin! :D And Robert went really shy!
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The food was fab and the Princess interaction was great-the kids saw Cinderella, Suzie and Perla, Aurora and Snow White and her Prince ( I think was he most impressed with the Prince! :lol: ) Then it was Stephs turn for her cake-unfortunately I wasnt warned that it was coming out so didnt get to video it, but got a lovely photo of her with it.
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Then it was a time for a few more rides before I tried to persuade the family to leave the park for an earlyish night-is 10:00pm an early night? Hmmmmm! :?: :lol:
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I cant believe how long its taking to upload my photos! My internet is on a go slow today, ah well we'll get there!
Day 3 started off with Cafe Mickey-yes we did have a character experience every day! :lol:
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Then off to EMH for a few rides before heading Studios. First visit was TSPL. This was interesting as I walked behind Mark and the kids and listened to their points of views.
The bamboo was seen as a good addition, adding greenery to the park and it will fill out. Buzz at the entrance, Slinky dog (although their was concern over how his ears will weather. Parachute drop was deemed as good, Mark said he felt like he was in Andys garden, he loved the toys like RC and Rex being there for photos
RC was deemed as a silly ride-but not because it didnt fit, but because of the height issue-as a family its not something we fancied riding anyway but I can see there being tears because little people want to ride and they cant
I then showed the family the new Paris Walk and this got lots of "Oh Wows!" and "We'll certainly be back to go on the Ratatoulie ride" ;)
Then off to do Crushes Coaster-I couldnt ride this last time just after it had opened, but I was dragged-yes dragged onto it..... and loved every minute! :D
Then it was off to see Play House Disney-this for me was sad as Rob suddenly realised how much bigger he was than the other children watching :(
I forgot to say I love Hollywood Blvd-it looks amazing. Why oh why we still have studio tours? It used to be a favourite with our family, but our bus didnt have the screens working so we just had commentary which didnt make any sense. I still love the canyon tho-wish they could do something else with it.
A quick drink
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before heading off to Stitch Live. And this registers high as one of the highlights of our holiday. We were sat in the disability section to the right. Children were sat on the floor, but Rob wanted to sit where we were-fair dos. What a brilliant show and the audience loved it. Rob was crying with laughter! Then we had to pretend to be lions and monkeys and guess who was chosen as the best monkey?????? Yep Rob! I didnt know what he'd make of having a microphone in front of him but he was brilliant! It really made his day.
What order rides came after that I am not sure! I need to say the CMs were brilliant with Rob on Armageddon and positioned us in a way if it got too much for him we'd be OK, but he loved it.
Now dear friends I know a few of you tried to persaude me to do ToT but Steph and I did something really silly-we ate a croque monsieur! So you might not think such a biggy, but we dont eat things like that and with the nerves of riding ToT we both felt suddenly very sick! So sorry guys no ToT this time! (Yes yes, cluck, cluck! :P ) We did however, investigate the Toilets of Terror and discovered no queue! :P
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Then onto Moteurs Action which was a real bun fight to get into and scared Rob quite badly with people pushing and shoving trying to get in! Brilliant stunt show as always tho'.
We also didnt manage Cinemagique-by the time we had an opportunity to watch it Rob was asking to go for a swim. So off we went-I know people have complained the pool was cold but I found it as warm as our local pool. Mark went in the jacuzzi! Wimp! :lol:
It was only a quick dip as we had dinner reservations at Walts. The croque monsieur was still making itself known so I didnt know if I'd be able to eat-Well what can I say except YUM!
I'd love to have known what my prawns were like but Rob ate them!
Everything else was perfect! Steph had a small burger.....
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We werent rushed but took our time and had a lovely view of Main Street. Fab! :thumbs:
Then off to get ready for the parade. Again this is where Robs pass was a God send. Robert had a complete melt down (we're still not sure why) and because Mark was in the disability section and I was with Steph just next door I was able to go in with Steph and me n Mark calmed Rob down with the wonderful assistance of Bram the CM-hats off to him-he was brilliant. Poor lad, I wish we knew what causes him to have these meltdowns but it could have been a look from someone across the street cos he was wearing his ear deenders for all we know.
Anyhoo-Bram said we could all stay put as the area wasnt full. Rob stood on the bench with us standing next to him and near Bram.
Rob and the rest of us thoroughly enjoyed the parade, especially as the Princesses stopped nearby :thumbs:
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Once the parade was over we headed off to get some rides under our belts
I am still wondering if we'll ever make it Endor -I mean after nearly 50 flights we have made we've never made it!
I have no doubt that my family are space rangers but I am a complete space cadet! I scored my highest score on Buzz of the holidays! Whoop me! Of 66000 (Hangs head in shame :oops: ) And somehow Rob managed to scare Steph on Orbitron! :shock: :lol:
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Right I am going to get on my high horse a little here-why oh why do people have to constantly smoke? We felt that we were walking through a cloud of smoke constantly from Discoveryland to Fantasyland and onto Adventureland! URGH! And I think the worst moment was when a man manged to palm his cigarette on Casey Junior and have it with him on the ride! :twisted: People have the right to smoke, fine, but it felt like there was a haze of it that evening and our clothes stank of stale cigarette smoke!! Sorry I'll calm down now-it wasnt constant but we did have a few times when it got like this. Not pleasant.
An attempt to ride BTM was prevented by a breakdown but a trip to swashbuckle the pirates on POTC made everything OK again.
Then we went back to our parade spot to wait for fantillusion and the fireworks. Bram was there to welcome us back and we met up with some other familiar faces in families we had seen around the park including Andrew and his sister-Andrew couldnt wait to see Jafar change into the snake! :D
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Fantillusion, for us who have never seen it before, was beautiful. Rob loved the lights his eyes were enormous!
The fireworks-now I know we dont compare parks, but we have seen the fireworks at Legoland for the last 3 years and they are amazing. Enchanted fireworks-OK not as loud or as flashy but they had their own very special charm about them which we all fell in love with-it felt like real Disney magic.
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Then we made a very slow walk back to the hotel and were in bed for midnight, Zzzzzzzzz
It sounds like you had such an amazing time Sam. Can't wait for your next instalment! And as for Tot well I am dissappointed in you ;) ha ha! I'm sure I won't be doing it on our next trip either!!!
Oh wow I cannot wait for the rest!!!
Thanks guys :D
OK Day 4-We couldnt believe it had come around already :(
We ordered breakfast to arrive an hour later, but Stephh and I were up and ready for it when it arrived-we ticked for 8:00-8:30 and it arrived at just gone 8:00. Both Mark and Rob were still fast asleep.
Breakfast was eaten slowly but unbelievably we were still in for the last half hour of EMH :thumbs:
So off to be humiliated on Buzz again :cry: before queueing to get on Star Tours. Rob then asked to go back and see Stitch again-we said that was fine but that he wouldnt get to speak to Stitch as he had spoken to him and other children need to have a turn.
So we headed back to Studios. We booked Rob in for Stitch then had a quick flight round Agrabah.(Who gave Mark and Rob the controls???? :sick: ) and a race round Radiator Springs-Rob doing well queueing for everything :)
We hopped off in time to join the queue to meet Buuuuuuuuuuzz and Suuuuuully!
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(I'm thinking we squeezed Animagique in between all this too!)
So then it was time to go and see Stitch. We sat just along from where we had been the day before.
Stitch was on form this morning and saying things Nicholas wasnt ready for! :lol: :thumbs: Sooooo clever, love it. But Nicholas was having a hard time as all the children he spoke to on the carpet had minimum English or were shy! He tried very hard, but I guess you get shows like that every now and again.
Lilo phones up and we all pretend to be lions and monkeys, Stitch hangs up and asks Nicholas who the best monkey was and Nicholas says
"I recognise my friend from yesterday!" and came straight over to Rob!!!!
And Rob was brilliant, even doing a couple of Nicholas' lines for him (the joy of having aspergers-photographic memory!)
I am thinking Nicholas came to Rob because he was guaranteed a response for the monkey photo, but lucky lucky Rob. :D :D
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Robert and Nicholas
Then with Rob floating on air we made our way over back over to Dinsey Park to queue for Tiana and Belle.
We ate lunch then Mark and rob left Tianas queue to go and fetch Ben and Jerries :thumbs:
Ice cream eaten and Robs hands wiped we went off to search for a CD with Fantillusion on and I came back with my purchase-wish they'd do a CD with the Showcase on.
Then it was time to meet Tiana, Steph almost bursting with excitement but trying to be the coolest teenager you can imagine!
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Then off to the Princess meet n greet hoping to meet Belle.
So we queued up (very impressed with Rob, it was very busy. Rob leant his hand on the wall and let out the Biggest scream I have ever heard him make! Everyone turned round as he pulled his hand away from the wall and a wasp falls to the floor. Poor kid is sobbing his heart out. One of the CMs dashes over to see whats happened, we explain hes been stung and I am taking him off to First Aid and she says "When you come back, you come round and he can go straight on and see Belle"
We shoot out of the queue to the First Aid (Mark thanking he has got a Disney Geek wife who knows where it is) Unfortunately Rob reacts to stings - not anaphalactyc but he has adverse reactions which means he swells up in the area hes been stung so his hand is looking big. :( But the nurse at the first aid sorts him out and we administer his meds and his hand starts to come down. Phew!
After a little more sobbing and woe is me, Rob is ready to go back to see Belle.
We walk round the corner and there she is! And Rob is invited up to see his Princess! :D And Steph was very happy too!
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Can you see Rob holding his right hand close to his side? He didnt want Belle to touch it!
Then Rob declared he was ready to swashbuckle some Pirates, so round we went and who did we run into? :D
Every time Steph tried to get close somebody pushed her out of the way-so dear me--I waded in with my big feet n sticky out elbows as Robs comment of "Everybody be patient" fell on deaf ears too.
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We found BTM down :( Oh well
We then decided that as it had just gone 3:30pm a dip in the pool would cool us all down-it was getting ridiculously hot!
So a dip in the pool, we got out and dressed and as we were leaving the pool was shut as a storm came and dumped a load of rain on Disney! How very rude! But very very welcome! :lol:
So off we went to get sorted for dinner at Inventions.
Now three years ago when we went we were met by Mickey and Eeyore who took us to our table and Isaid to Mark the chances of something like that happening again were slim to none
See now the magic was defiantely with us this holiday :D
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Mary and Bert! :D
We also got to see Mickey Tigger Gideon and Goofy
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Now we had loads of character experiences this holiday- two trips to Cafe Mickey and one at L'Auberge and we had no experiences of other kids pushing their ways in when the characters came to our tables-OK so we're being greedy because this was our fourth experience but it was very annoying as two families kept sending their kids over to everyone elses tables and butting in. Mark finally turned round and said "Can you get your kids to sit down? The characters will come to you!"
I do wish Disney would come up with a courtesy card explaining this cos its very annoying to see poor Tigger being pulled and prodded by a lad of about 10 whilst Tigger was with another family getting their autographs and photos. :roll:
Mickey was brilliant as there was a baby crying and he went over and sat on the table with the family, the baby was entranced by him, when the kid came over and was poking him, Mickey ushered him away, pointing at his table. the baby settled, Mickey and the baby got a big "Aw!" from everyone else and Mickey continued on his way round the tables :thumbs:
After dinner we made our way back into park and caught the end of the parade and I managed to get a photo of Peter and Wendy!
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Then we took advantage of the short queues for me to get right royally beaten on Buzz and we made another attempt to get to Endor! :roll: :lol:
Then back for an "early" night and for Mark and I to start packing :(
Day 4-The magic comes to an end :(
Breakfast in the room again,we get showered and dressed and pack our bags. We call concierge to organise bag collection then it was off for our last rides during EMH, queued up for Star Tours, then off to swashbuckle and an attempt to ride BTM to find it not working (Honestly! Bad timing again! Oh well :( )
A quick trip on Peter Pan, Casey Junior and then a last request to try and get to Endor before we make our way back through Main Street and the village with the children picking up gifts for themselves and their friends.
We got in our car, switched on the TomTom and took our journey back through Paris :lol: and up to Le Havre.
Travelling back was great. Rob was exhausted and sat quietly playing his DS whilst Mark, Steph and I chatted
We arrived back in Portsmouth but there was nearly an hour delay to disembarkment but as we were sat in the solent we were pointing out landmarks (Spinnaker tower, HMS Warrior) we see nearly every day to the family we had got friendly with on the next table! :lol:
Then we had the 20 minutes drive home before popping a very tired Rob and Steph into bed!
And thats it! Our magical trip is over for a couple of more years.
Mark is now pretty much away doing his job until November next year, so we'll keep our memories going until we can organise our next trip ;)
Hi Tubbsy
We were there exactly the same time as you! BTM did seem to be down a lot (certainly more than last year it seemed) and the weather was strange. Going out everyday with Pac a Macs, cardis and suncream!
I see you mentioned trying to get the music from the parades. I assume you got the Fantillusion music but if you or yours use iTunes then they are available on there!
Last year I got the Dream Parade and It's a Small World music and after we got back I downloaded the Fantillusion music. I'm glad we bought the Mickeys Magical Party Time CD while we were there last year as that isn't on.
Thanks again for your posts. You have inspired me to blog our holiday!!
- D
Dwrighty-I think I've got muscles from the rucsacks carrying raincoats and sweaters and suncream! Very strange weather! :lol: BTW Welcome to the forum :D
So it wasnt bad timing with BTM? It was genuinely not feeling very well, poor BTM, in need of TLC
I got Fantillusion and Once Upon a Dream Parade and IASW but I would have loved the showcase music-I'll get Steph to search and see if she can find it later - thanks for the tip ;) And I'm glad I inspired you to do your report. I cant wait to read it :)
Such a fantastic trip report Sam, just reading it all gives me goosebumps!!! Am soooo looking forward to our trip in October now :thumbs:
Kelly xx
Quote from: "tubbsy"Dwrighty-I think I've got muscles from the rucsacks carrying raincoats and sweaters and suncream! Very strange weather! :lol: BTW Welcome to the forum :D
So it wasnt bad timing with BTM? It was genuinely not feeling very well, poor BTM, in need of TLC
I got Fantillusion and Once Upon a Dream Parade and IASW but I would have loved the showcase music-I'll get Steph to search and see if she can find it later - thanks for the tip ;) And I'm glad I inspired you to do your report. I cant wait to read it :)
Thanks! Long time reader first time poster, as they say!
We went on the Eurostar and had Friday planned as BTM is my daughters favourite ride and our train left around 8pm. I'd planned to be out of Disneyland by 6 and had got us in to the queue for BTM for 4pm. We'd just got through the turnstiles (always go left!) and guess what happened? Yep, it stopped again!
Not knowing how long it would take to get going we had to leave the queue because I didn't want to miss our train home so she didn't get to go on it one final time.
That also meant we had to kick our heels a bit because all the other rides were long queues and then there was the daily 5pm downpour so we had to shelter next to the Tiana/Naveen cut outs down Main Street!
I might be being daft but what's the showcase music?
Have you heard/seen this website: //http://www.soundofmagic.com/menu.htm ?
It has the music they play around the parks!
Will post my blog entry when it's done!
- D
The showcase is the music played for the show at Central Plaza :) I think its called Showcase .... :?
Hadnt seen that website! Thank you for the link. That is a brilliant website :D xx
I'm glad you had a good trip it sounds wonderful.
Oh Tubsy, thanks for sharing, it sounds like you had a wonderful time (we did too). It was a real pleasure to read your report, and I love the Stitch story - REAL Disney magic!
Great room too, seeing the fireworks from your room is a real treat, we have done this from the HNY in the past, and it is an unforgetable memory huh?
I am so glad it went so well for you guys. And I am glad you are able to spread a little pixie dust too.
Glad you had a great time too :D
It truly was a magical trip :D
Oooh I've just read all this tubbsy - fantastic, so pleased almost everything went so well for you!
Elaine
Thank you for a great trip report. It sounds like you had a lovely time :D
Great trip report Tubbsy (sorry I didn't post in here more regularly, although I checked here daily I forgot to post giving my views :P )
Glad to hear you had a great time, and as davewasbaloo said the story about stitch is what makes Disney great, true magic.
Thank you :D I felt a bit embarrassed at Rob being chosen twice but as Nicholaas was struggling with shy ones I guess it was a good and LOUD option :D
I must say thank-you to you guys for all the advice and tips because it all certainly helped to make our holiday more magical :D
Hi Sam, wow read your trip report and I am SO glad everything worked out for you and your family!!
The room decorations - WOWOWOWOWOWOW!!!!! I bet steph and rob loved it! did they have any clue??
Steph's cake looked yummy too mmmmm nom nom :D
I wouldn't be embrassed about Rob being chosen twice - it's things like that which make the holiday!!! Especially good as he loves Stitch too :D
The food at Walts and the view of the parade - wicked!!!
I totally agree with what you said about the smoking. Smoke really gets to me and I had a couple smoking in the queue for Peter Pan infront of me. I ended up coughing so much it made my eyes water and made it look like I was crying!! luckily the man behind me pointed to me and said something in French to them and they stopped.
thanks for sharing such lush piccies!!
xx
Hi and thanks for a wonderful report - I just read through the last 3 updates and had loads of comments during the reading, but now most of them have gone away in my forgetting mind :lol:
Well, great photos - both Rob and Steph look like they are enjoying everything a lot.
I'm happy to read that Rob had some amazing experiences with Stitch - especially with the sad discovery in Playhouse, but say to him that there is nothing to be ashamed of. I'm 20 and I love visiting "childish" places around Disneyland, so no reason to be ashamed by visiting Playhouse Disney :mrgreen:
I am also happy to hear about your parade experiences - I always cheer up when I see how people with various disabilities are treated by the CMs, so I am glad to hear about an actual experience with this :)
I have to agree with you regarding the smoking - it was crazy when I was there in July too, people were smoking the queues (BTM, SM, PotC, etc.) and during the parade. At times I felt like taking their stupid cigarette and crush it... ;)
GREAT report!
*DOUBLE POST*
Thanks :D I am glad I am not the only one who felt the smoking was ridiculous. I understand people have the right to smoke but it was so bad at times. Mark said mbe we should find a smell they dont like and squirt it at them and see how they like it! :P
I cant believe how well the CMs treated Rob. I sent an email to DLP-dont know if I'll get a response, but I hope I do-thanking them and commenting on all the CMs but especially Bram in the disability section, Nicholas at Stitch Live and the girls who helpeed when Rob got stung, I'll let you know if I get a response.
Thank you for taking the time to write to them Sam. I think it is really important we let Disney know when we are really happy and why, and when we are unhappy and why.
loved your report...what a wonderful time you had ...the veiw from your room looked amazing,and the decorations WOW...that was awsome that your little boy got picked twice, good on him, my hubby got picked last time we went,from space prison , and evev now the kids still call him "CRAZY WAYNE" haha... for me its the little things that make the holiday extra special...
Hiya
Loved reading!! i just got back and miss it already!! my Daughter whos almost 5 has shed a few tears as she misses the characters - bless her. But told her we will again next year!
i also get very cross with the smokers its just so so rube the park is mostly full of kids and if they are walking they some times get so close to it. i make sure i moan very loudly not like they care tho!
X
Thanks for a wonderful trip report.And I^m so glad you all had a wonderful time.I think Rob looks like a happy little guy, even with the hand picked by that wasp.
The birthday surprises looked just great, wish I could have that :D
Stitch is an all time favorite for us too,last year we went in there about 5 times, and we all were picked at least once, Lara is still talking about it(she sat in front, my husband was the space prisoner and I was Stitchs friend for ever). That made our day¨!
Aurora
I'm still sorting through all our photos, and keep getting a big smile on my face :D-Hope it keeps us going for a while with Mark being away for such a long time but we will be going back :D
JackieAnn-Bless your little one-it wont be long before shes back in the magic :)
Stitch is a fantastic show-it'll certainly be top on our list for next time, whether we get picked or not :D
Havent had a reply to the email yet, but I will let you know if I do x
Tubbsy, your report really was inspired. Such a great read, and made me want to join your family!!! All the details that went into it to make it extra special were delightful. You must still be on a high.
Aw Thank you. I have got severe withdrawal symptoms this morning! :roll: :lol:
But I am making my videos and enjoying looking at the photos and we have plenty of time to plan our next trip
Great report tubbsy,thanks for sharing!
To me your room sounds amazing, I am curious: corner rooms often have to have a bit different layout than the "regular" rooms, besides from the great view was there anything special about it that you did notice (i.e. was it a bit larger, had two windows instead of one etc.)? Do you have more pics of the room by any chance? :)
I dont think the room was any bigger-but the view was amazing! :D
(//http://i358.photobucket.com/albums/oo21/tubbsy_2002/Disney%202010/DSCN5453.jpg)
Balcony doors
(//http://i358.photobucket.com/albums/oo21/tubbsy_2002/Disney%202010/DSCN5452.jpg)
side windows
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My dodgy photo of me trying to get both sets!
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The view pout of the side windows
Still havent heard from Disney. Sham really but hopefully I 'll hear something next week
Great, thanks for the info, tubbsy! As I suspected you got an extra window, because you had a corner room! If I am not mistaken, your room was exactly here: http://www.pininthemap.com/0fb6efa9729abba03 (http://www.pininthemap.com/0fb6efa9729abba03%22%20onclick=%22window.open(this.href);return%20false;), correct?
Nope-even better :D
(//http://i358.photobucket.com/albums/oo21/tubbsy_2002/DSCN5722.jpg)
God, my arrow is tiny! But can you see? Central part of the building, left hand side
love the piccies of the room woow at that view!!
I know! Sooooooo spolit werent we? :D
I had a reply from Disney today.
Dear Family Tubbs,
Thank you for your correspondence concerning your recent visit to Disneyland® Paris.
It was a pleasure to welcome you back to Disneyland® Paris for your fifth visit and we sincerely hope that our Resort will provide you with magical memories each time you visit. On behalf of all the teams at the Resort, I would like to sincerely thank you for your continued patronage to our company.
It is always a great pleasure to hear from our guests especially those who take the time to write, telling us of their positive experiences at Disneyland® Paris.
Indeed, I was delighted to learn of your impressions and to know that your visit was such a success. Going beyond each guest's expectations and offering a warm welcome has always been paramount to Disneyland® Paris. Therefore, it is truly encouraging to know you were so happy with your stay.
I was delighted to know that our Cast Members exceeded your expectations. We give great importance to the quality of recruitment and staff training and, before entering into operations, all Cast Members participate in Disney Traditions, which explains the company values. Ongoing training initiatives are also put in place to ensure that this is upheld constantly. As such, we can remain the number one favourite destination in Europe.
I personally congratulated each Cast Member mentioned in your letter. They were thrilled to know that your family brought home memories of a lifetime. In each Disney Resort around the world, it is our wish to deliver magical moments and to spread pixie dust during our guests' holidays.
Disneyland® Paris hopes to soon have the opportunity to welcome you once more to the Resort to live new magical moments in our company.
Yours sincerely,
Damien Wayne
Guest Communication
Quote from: "tubbsy"I know! Sooooooo spolit werent we? :D
I had a reply from Disney today.
Dear Family Tubbs,
Thank you for your correspondence concerning your recent visit to Disneyland® Paris.
It was a pleasure to welcome you back to Disneyland® Paris for your fifth visit and we sincerely hope that our Resort will provide you with magical memories each time you visit. On behalf of all the teams at the Resort, I would like to sincerely thank you for your continued patronage to our company.
It is always a great pleasure to hear from our guests especially those who take the time to write, telling us of their positive experiences at Disneyland® Paris.
Indeed, I was delighted to learn of your impressions and to know that your visit was such a success. Going beyond each guest's expectations and offering a warm welcome has always been paramount to Disneyland® Paris. Therefore, it is truly encouraging to know you were so happy with your stay.
I was delighted to know that our Cast Members exceeded your expectations. We give great importance to the quality of recruitment and staff training and, before entering into operations, all Cast Members participate in Disney Traditions, which explains the company values. Ongoing training initiatives are also put in place to ensure that this is upheld constantly. As such, we can remain the number one favourite destination in Europe.
I personally congratulated each Cast Member mentioned in your letter. They were thrilled to know that your family brought home memories of a lifetime. In each Disney Resort around the world, it is our wish to deliver magical moments and to spread pixie dust during our guests' holidays.
Disneyland® Paris hopes to soon have the opportunity to welcome you once more to the Resort to live new magical moments in our company.
Yours sincerely,
Damien Wayne
Guest Communication
What a good response from Disney - It's great to see they are making a personal response and pass on your comments to the CM's involved.
Yep, I agree :) And it makes me want to go back more :) best get saving!
Oh my gosh what an amazing holiday :) sorry I havent been on here so long (mentioned in the other post) :)
I agree with the whole smoking thing thought, especially on crowded summer days. It was like you had to push through walls of smoke sometimes, not nice.
I also totally agree with you with the cast members and disability. There are absolutely fantastic. I would be happy to share some of my experiences with you privately, but I dont wanna put everything on here. However our trip this year, our last ride was pirates of the caribbean. The cast member dealing with the disability was extremely rude and very upsetting. To cut a long story short, we ended up very upset whilst cruising around on our last ride, which left a very negative ending to the wonderful holiday. Aside from her though, they are fantastic :)
And you're letter you got in reply is absolutely lovely :) xxx
Wow, what an amazing trip report. Thanks for putting link on your current post. Wish I had seen this before we went last as would have been a great help with our daughter. Can I ask, when you booked to have breakfast in room. How did you request what you wanted? Plus, how did you organise the birthday decorations, was that an extra? Thanks :D
Hi Julesk. Glad you enjoyed it. Funny to come on and see this report at the top again!
I phoned NPB a week before our visit for the decorations.
The breakfast card was hanging on the door. You tick what you want and you settle the bill when you leave. You hang the card outside your door each evening and it appears each morning :) We are definately doing it again :)
Quote from: "tubbsy"Hi Julesk. Glad you enjoyed it. Funny to come on and see this report at the top again!
I phoned NPB a week before our visit for the decorations.
The breakfast card was hanging on the door. You tick what you want and you settle the bill when you leave. You hang the card outside your door each evening and it appears each morning :) We are definately doing it again :)
Thanks Tubbsy :D