We got back from our first Christmas trip in the early hours of Thursday morning. We have only ever been in the summer and I was a little unsure if I would enjoy it as much with the weather being colder, shorter opening hours and no fireworks. However, we had an amazing time, the park was looking great and the decorations were better than I could have imagined. :thumbs:
I am in the process of sorting out the photos and as soon as I have I shall start our trip report, but here is one to keep you going.
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Quote from: "MrsPirate"I am in the process of sorting out the photos and as soon as I have I shall start our trip report, but here is one to keep you going.
Looking forward to it :thumbs:
omg! sooo looking forward to seeing/reading your report! :-)
Look forward to it!
I can't wait to read it!
I was going to start this trip report from our arrival at Disney, but for reasons which will become clear, I have started from home.
About us-
Mrs Pirate - Alison (5th visit)
Husband - Mel (5th visit)
DD 1 - Suki, age 6 (3rd visit)
DS1 - Ollie, age 3 (2nd visit)
DD2 - Issy, 13 months (1st visit)
My Mum - Kathy (1st visit, has previously been to Disneyland Anaheim)
We went in July but the weather was so bad we lost a whole day so when a 30% offer came on we booked 3 nights/4 days at the Cheyenne then upgraded to Sequioa Lodge when the 40% offer came out.
Day 1 - Sunday 13th November
The alarm went off at 5am, it was cold and dark and I was more than a little reluctant to get of out of bed, but as soon as I realised it was 'Disney Day' I shot out of bed and woke the children who quickly dressed in their new Mickey tops. At 6am my parents arrived, (my Dad was going to drive my car) closely followed by our friend Mark (who was going to drive Mel's car). At 6.15am with the cases and pram loaded into one car and us in the other we set off for Haywards Heath station, a 45 minute drive away (because of engineering works on the Brighton line), where we had arranged to meet at 7am leaving us plenty of time to catch the 7.31am train to St Pancras, or so we thought ..............
At the station we waited for Mel and Mark to arrive, but when they hadn't shown up at 7.20am I was beginning to get a little worried. I tried calling Mel's mobile but it was off and I remembered we had decided not to take it with us as we wouldn't need it in France and I didn't know Mark's number. At 7.25am we took the children up to the platform to wait, the train was already there. I went out to the front of the station, it was now 7.28am, I was beginning to loose hope and was frantically formulating a backup plan. Then he arrived!!! I grabbed the pram he grabbed the cases and we ran for it. Out of the lift I shouted to my Mum to get the children on the train, we threw the cases and pram on just as I heard the beep beep beep and the train doors shut behind us. We had made it, but only just. The hour to St Pancras passed it a bit of a blur and by the time we arrived I was still shaking. It's was only once we boarded the Eurostar I began to calm down.
It turned out Mel's car had broken down, they tried to get it started but in the end left it on the side of the road and desperately rang round their friends to find someone willing and able to pick them up at silly o'clock on a Sunday morning.
The rest of our journey was thankfully uneventful and we arrived at Marne La Vallee on time. We were staying at Sequioa Lodge and as it was a beautiful sunny day we decided to walk to the hotel and show my mum the sights. This was our first stay at SL and I had emailed them a few weeks before to request refurbished rooms as we were celebrating my mum's 70th birthday. Check in was smooth and we were informed we had been given VIP breakfast which meant we could have breakfast anytime we liked between 7am and 10.30am. We were in the South Wing, rooms 3156 and 3158 which had connecting doors but unfortunately were not reburbished but we had a slight lake view a little obscured by trees, but as we had not paid for a lake view I couldn't really moan! Each room had a bottle of water, chocolate coins and a welcome note which was a really nice touch. Not something we have had in the other hotels so maybe for my mum's birthday?
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We quickly unpacked and walked through the village which was looking good with the Christmas decorations up.
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Walking through Fantasia Gardens we caught our first glimpse of the Disneyland Hotel where maybe one day we will stay, through the ticket gates, under that station and finally I was home. The Disney Dance Express was passing, the tree was up and the decorations were looking good. Christmas had come early!
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We walked up Main Street to Fantasy Land, our first rides were Le Pays and Casey Jr as these were going to be closed for the rest of our visit, we picked up a fastpass for Peter Pan and headed to PoTC. The dog was missing from the jail scene which made the pirates look a little strange whistling and waving a bone at nothing but apart from that it was just as good as always. After using our fastpasses for Peter Pan it was time for tea at the Cowboy Cookout. It wasn't too busy and we had a great table, before we had a chance to get any food the characters had started to come out. There were Minnie, Mickey, Woody, Goofy, Pluto and Donald, Suki and Ollie were beyond excited. Issy wasn't that bothered, she doesn't like to be interupted when she is eating! It was only later I realised that Suki and Ollie had chocolate on their faces in almost every photo.
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After filling up on as many sugary things as they could manage it was time to leave. Being in Frontierland I just had to go on my favourite ride, Phantom Manor. In July it was in desperate need of a refurb, and I was pleased to see most effects working. I love the atmposhere of the gardens with the music playing and always spend ages walking to the house.
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By now it was dark and we walked back to Fantasy Land stopping for another go on PoTC, the childrens favourite ride of this trip, and for the first time saw the castle with it's Christmas lights. It was beautiful.
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By now it was late and we decided to head back to the hotel, stopping for a Vin Chaud in the Village on the way back. The balloon and the village looked lovely across the lake.
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We were so tired we were in bed by 9.30pm but unfortunately didn't sleep that well because of a loud whistling noise everytime the other rooms used their water. I really should have gone to reception to let them know, but I was just too tired and luckily enough it had been fixed by the next night. With the stress of the journey forgotten we had had a brilliant first day.
Fantastic report, thank you, makes me so excited, 4 weeks to go! :D/
Am interested to hear Cowboy Cookout was good, did you have to book?
Well after a 'Not too great' start it seems things perked up :) It's amazing just how many reports I have read over the years where things have started with travel problems etc as soon as the reporters walk through those gates and see that castle 'All becomes well' 8)
Thanks for sharing your trip with us =D>
hi! your report of the 1st day is great! shame about travel stresses but it could have been alot worse! glad it all turned good in the end.. also you say it was you mum's birthday and you had emailed before you went ... who do you email for this sort of thing? im taking my mum, dad and partner for there xmas present as a surprise for new years eve and would love little extras like that!...
any info please let me know :-)
Looking forward to reading the rest!!!
Your report of the first day is really good! The castle looks beautiful! I can't wait for Day 2!
Great trip report!
I realise it's because of the new paint job and perhaps because of the coloured leds etc, but I think the castle looked prettier last year with a lot more lights: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=10321 (https://forum.dlpguide.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=10321%22%20onclick=%22window.open(this.href);return%20false;)
The snow kind of helped too!
Thank you for your comments, hopefully I will get time to type day 2 in the next day or so.
@Newbie, I booked the Cowboy Cookout over the phone a few days before we went. I'm glad we did, it wasn't anywhere near full but people without bookings were being turned away.
@Epcot, it is so true, once we walked through those gates the worries of the morning just disappeared. The magic of Disney.
@Tink, I emailed Guest Communications who forwarded the email to the hotel. I'll dig out the email address and let you know what it is.
@Dutchbrit, those photos are amazing, but I'm in two minds as to which I prefer. My photo's don't do the castle justice, in real life it looks slightly more 'classy' with less lights, but then again I like the bling of lots of lights....
Brilliant first day your photos are the best I have seen x
come on mrs pirate im waiting for day 2 your 1st day was great to read im left waiting for the 2nd day! great pics
Sorry it's taking so long, ill children and husband demanding my attention. I'm half way through writing day 2 so not much longer, promise xx
I really loved the two last pictures of yours! :)
Quote from: "Dixieface"I really loved the two last pictures of yours! :)
Thank you, I knocked the camera off the railings and almost droped it into the lake taking the last one :shock:
ok ill be off tuesday morninf for my chrimbo trip im so excited after seeing your pics, dont think ill be trying an extravagant photo like your last one i have enough camera issues anyway!!
Really excited to read people's xmas reports I keep checking everyday! hehehehe!!
Day 2 - Monday 14th November
I awoke before the alarm went off, took a quick peek out of the window and although it was still dark it was not raining - bonus!!
We were aiming for a 7am breakfast so we could get to the park at 8am for EMH but it just didn't happen, it is so much harder getting up in the dark even at Disney. Luckily we had the VIP breakfast card meaning we didn't have an allocated time slot and eventually made it into breakfast around 7.45am. After breakfast we headed back to the room, put on our thermals and we were ready to start the day. We walked out of the hotel into bright sunshine, it was a beautiful day even if it was a little cold.
We were in the park by 9am, there were a few people around but it wasn't busy. We took the opportunity to have a good look at the tree, the presents and Goofy's sleigh.
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Just then we heard the horn of the Paddy Waggon and we jumped on for a ride up Main Street to the castle. After a quick ride on BLLB Suki wanted to give Grandma a guided tour of the castle whilst I gave her an in depth account of the refurb, proudly pointing out the golden spires, the snails and all the other tiny details that make the castle so special.
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Out of the castle and into Fanstayland Suki once again tried to pull the sword from the stone, she failed.
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On our way to the teacups we stopped for a cup of tea
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Then Dumbo which had the longest queue of the whole trip. Just as the ride finished we saw Peter, Wendy and John, and before we knew it Suki was off chasing Peter, we quickly followed and found ourselves 'backstage' of Follow the Leader. Once Suki had had her photo taken with Wendy, Peter and the other pirates we were about to move round to the front to watch the show when Captain Hook turned up.
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He was brilliant, poor Ollie was petrified and hid in the pram with his head in his hands. Captain Hook went up to him, waved his hook at him and told him he would turn him into soup! Suki was then invited to take park in the show as one of the lost boys pretending to be the tick tock crock. She looked really cute in the costume, but they had quite a long wait and by the time they were due to go on she had a case of stage fright and changed her mind. She still got a certificate and she seemed quite happy with that.
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Next we walked through Frontierland stopping at the Agrabah Cafe to see if it was open for lunch, sadly it wasn't, Hukana Matata was vetoed by me as it lacked anything veggie. We carried on walking seeing a couple of characters on the way and ended up by the Molly Brown. There was no queue so we went for a lazy ride whilst Mel took Issy Christmas shopping. After the Molly Brown it was time for PM, before we went I had shown my mum youtube clips and explained the back story to her so she was quite looking forward to it. We walked through the gardens which were looking great in their autumn colours (I know it's winter, but the plants obviously didn't). The ride was a walk on and we were quickly in the stretching room, however, something was wrong. There was complete silence, no music, no narration, nothing. I have never known guests be so quiet. Out of the stretching room and again no audio through the picture gallery. Once on the ride things were back to normal and the rest of the ride was as good as always. A disappointing first ride for my mum, but it gave us the perfect excuse to go again later. Ollie was desperate for a ride on PoTC, then we used our fast passes on PP and it was time for lunch.
Out of the park we made our way to the Rainforest Cafe, we were seated next to the elephant which would have been great had Issy not been asleep in the pram. I can't think why but she wasn't asleep for long! There was a good choice of food, we all started with garlic bread, I had the veggie burger, Mel had the Biggie burger, my mum had some sort of spicy chicken though I don't remember which and the kids had fish and chips. The portions were enormous and we really struggled to find room for desert but somehow managed it. Mel and I had the taster which was a mini chocolate pudding, raspberry sorbet, creme brulee and a coffee. My mum had creme brulee and the kids had chocolate mousse.
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Once we had finished eating we made our way back to the hotel for a rest before heading back to watch the lighting of the tree, well that was the plan anyway. We left the hotel in plenty of time but Ollie insisted on walking the whole way and it took forever, just as we walked under Main Street station the tree was being lit. I wasn't going to risk missing the lighting of the castle so we immediately walked up Main Street and got a space on a bench right at the front of the stage. We had a bit of a wait and lucikly it wasn't too cold, but boy it was worth it. The show was brilliant and the lighting of the castle was something else. I wasn't expecting the fireworks so that made it extra special.
Ollie insisted on yet another go on PoTC, it was a walk on, when it was time to get off there was no-one waiting so we went again. It was the last ride of the night and by this time it was only us and a CM in the boat which felt a little strange. When we came out the pram was waiting for us at the exit, Adventureland had closed and as we walked down to exit by Cafe Agrabah we were the only people around. It was very dark and very creepy and I was extremely glad I was not on my own. I have always thought how great it would be to have the park to myself, but I have changed my mind. As we walked back into Fantasyland Fantillusion was going past, we watched for a while but as Ollie and Issy had fallen asleep in the pram decided to head for the exit before it got too busy.
After a fairly long wait to get through security into the Village we made our way to EoS and picked up some snacks to take back to Mel who had stayed at the hotel. Issy and Ollie were so tired they didn't even wake up when we put them to bed. We finished our snacks and fell into bed dreaming of the castle with it's beautiful lights.
We finished our snacks and fell into bed dreaming of the castle with it's beautiful lights.
Isn't that just a great way to sleep the night away ;)
Loved Day 2 =D> Thanks for sharing :)
Great report loving reading it:-) its making me excited to go!!!
how did you get the VIP breakfast??
Quote from: "tink2012"Great report loving reading it:-) its making me excited to go!!!
how did you get the VIP breakfast??
I had emailed the hotel asking for refurbed rooms as we were going for my mums birthday and wanted it to be extra special, we couldn't have refurbed rooms for whatever reason so they gave us VIP breakfast instead. As it turned out much more useful.
When do you go?
aww thats fantastic! :-)
i go on 30th dec until the 2nd jan! cant wait- and havnt told a soul as its a surprise for my mum and dad and partner so I have no one to get excited with haha!
Warning photo heavy and I've already posted some of them on the photo of the day thread, so apologies if you've already seen them.
Day 3 - Tuesday 15th November
Once again I was awake before the alarm went off, a quick look out of the window confirmed it was very very foggy. Breakfast was a fairly laid back affair, as I had come to the conclusion there was no need to hurry for EMH, it was just not busy enough.
Coming out of the lovely warm hotel into the freezing cold air was a bit of a shock to the system and I was very thankful for my thermals! We've not been in the Disneyland hotel before, so before we went to Salon Mickey we decided to drop in and have a look at their Christmas decorations.
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Next was the one and only visit this trip to Salon Mickey
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There were plenty of pastries to choose from and we had a relaxing coffee whilst planning the day which we decided would be a day of 'firsts'
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Once in the park we took the opportunity to take some more Christmas shots
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Of course Ollie wanted yet another go on PoTC so we headed up Main Street stopping to visit the dragon on the way. Unfortunately it was closed for a refurb, but I did get a couple of excellent detail shots.
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We walked down through Adventureland stopping at the Aladdin photo point which the children loved.
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Then down into Frontierland for our first go on the Rustler Roundup Shootin' Gallery, another thing the children really enjoyed, although it was bitterly cold standing around waiting for them to finish.
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By now the fog was almost gone which was a shame as I would have loved to have seen PM in the fog. However, there was no queue and we took the opportunity for another visit to Melanie and thankfully the audio was working again today.
Next we went pirate hunting in Advernture Isle
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We didn't see any pirates, not surprising given the state of their galleon which looked more like a ghost ship. We spotted the contractors a few minutes later walking round the park smoking.
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By now it was time for lunch. For a while we had talked about eating at the Blue Lagoon but had been put off by the reviews, however, as today was a day of firsts we decided on the Blue Lagoon. We couldn't get a table next to the water as there were 6 of us but we still had a good view. I kept a close watch for vermin but didn't spot any and the service was fast and friendly.
Mel had the Ostrich steak, which came to the table flaming
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This is what it looked like once the flames had gone out
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I had the swordfish which was lovely but could have been a little warmer
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The children had the most boring looking chicken I have seen, but they said it was nice
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Now it was time for our first visit to WDS this trip and in particular Toy Story Playland which wasn't open when we were there in 2010 and we didn't bother with because of the weather during our July trip.
On the way to TSPL we stopped to have a chat with Mike
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and after a quick visit to Radiator Springs
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Came face to leg with the Space Ranger himself
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A quick dental check for Rex
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Then it was time for the rides. First was Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop, the queue didn't look that long, but it took ages before we were loaded and I was more than fed up with watching the safety video by the time we were. I loved the ride, something really different and a great view of the park. Although something really needs to be done about the queuing area, there were children climbing all over the railings, standing on the boxes and generally not respecting the ride. The parents seem to let them as there was nothing else for them to do whilst they waited.
Next Mel took Suki and Ollie on Slinky Dog, it had only gone round a few times before it started to slow down, we saw a CM walk furiously towards us before taking off her gloves and throwing them to the ground, the ride had not ended it was being evacuated. It turned out the emergency braking system had kicked in when a parent let their child stand up on the seat whilst the ride was going round. It took ages for the ride to be re-set then the CM's were escorted from the ride to go and make a report. No wonder the poor CM was so cross.
After that drama Mel took Suki on RC Racer. They were seated right at the front and it was brilliant to watch their faces as it went higher and higher. When it finished Suki looked a little worried, but soon said it was her favourite ride so far.
The sun was starting to set and it was very cold so we said goodbye to TSPL taking a stroll up Rat Blvd
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Unfortunately we didn't manage a ride on ToT, but it looked lovely in the setting sun
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Coming out of the Studios we decided to head back to the hotel
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I was very pleased to see something being done about the flooring outside the studios
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The NPBC, lighthouse and the Village were looking good
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and the trees in front of SL were being decorated with their Christmas lights
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After a snack the children were too tired to go back to the Park, so my mum very kindly offered to look after them whilst Mel and I went back. Before our trip we managed to get hold of a video camera with night capture, so our mission this evening was to film PoTC and PM which we did. I didn't manage to get a photo, but I'm sure Melanie appeared in the window of PM.
We also managed our first ever ride on BTM which I loved, easily my second favourite ride and one I will do my best not to miss on our next trip.
Since we didn't have the children with us we took full advantage and went for a drink in Cafe Fantasia in the Disneyland Hotel. It was extremely busy but the staff were friendly and the service was fairly quick considering. I couldn't resist the old classic - Pina Colada
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After our drinks we went to the DLH shop to buy the DLH room fragrance but couldn't find it which was a shame.
We did some window shopping in the Village on the way back to the hotel and were shocked to see one of the seats covered in graffiti, something I've not seen in the Resort before. There were a couple of guys with a pressure washer trying to remove it but it was still there when we looked the next morning.
Back at the hotel the children were tucked up in bed asleep and it was not long before we were too.
Nice trip report. I notice you went into the Blue Lagoon which is one of my favourite restaurants, I love the themeing and atmosphere and Pirates of the Caribbean is my favourite ride. We've never seen any vermin in there either, you would think the restaurant was overrun with rats reading some posts.
whata lovely report.....cant be;ieve your daughter went on rc racer...2yrs now i've chickened out.loland i am 41.lol but really enjoying your report:-)