Woke up with that sad feeling you get when you know it's your last day.
We went down to breakfast in the hotel in the Beaver Creek Tavern. We got talking to a lovely family from the UK who had been told off by a member of staff for making sandwiches for lunch with the breakfast items! It turned out he was a new employee and when he spoke to his manager they confirmed that everyone does it so there wasn't a problem. Bit embarrassing for the family though being told off in front of the entire restaurant!
After breakfast we went back to our room to finish packing and then we said goodbye to our wonderful room and went to check out. We hadn't charged anything to our room so we checked out on our tv and then put the key in the box at reception before leaving our luggage with the luggage room.
We then went to Lake Disney with some slices of bread from breakfast to feed the ducks and fish. This was something we had meant to do all holiday but we only remembered to do it today. We then walked through the Village to the Studios to spend time here. We went on all the usual suspects again, Flying Carpets, Cars, Slinky Dog. The park was so quiet, this is what I had been hoping it would be like all holiday. We then saw a lot of characters coming out into Production Courtyard. We saw Cruella de Vil, the Evil Queen from Snow White, Snow White was out with Dopey, Donald Duck and also Gaston. I was only able to get to Gaston for photos and autographs as it seemed the rest of the park decided to crowd round the others. We then said bye (literally!!) to the park and headed over to the Disneyland Park.
The park was really empty so we strolled down Main Street and saw the characters from the 20th Anniversary Train waiting to meet 'n' greet so we found Clarice who we hadn't seen before and had photos and autographs with her. We then rode Buzz one last time and then crossed over to Fantasyland to ride "it's a small world" for the last time (much to Daniel's relief!!).
We then walked over to Frontierland to ride Phantom Manor one last time only it was closed. We were all rather disappointed by this. We tried one last time to get Jack on Big Thunder Mountain but without success so we went back to Pocahontas Indian Village so Jack could play. He absolutely loved this playground and I could really appreciate Disney for adding these little playgrounds around the place so adults can have a sit down in the sun and the kids can just burn off excess energy. I must admit this was a bigger hit than I could ever have imagined it to be. On this occasion we actually saw one of the fabled River Rogue Keelboats being used by some Cast Members to get out to Big Thunder Mountain island for some reason. It was quite interesting to watch.
After this we went to Adventureland for lunch at Colonel Hathi's Pizza Outpost. This was quite busy but we got a table outside and we shared a giant fusilli bolognaise and a ham pizza. The portions here were huge and I must say that the food was surprisingly delicious and made a change to burgers and hotdogs! We then reluctantly walked back to Main Street to look for any last souvenirs before leaving the park.
I always feel really sad when leaving, even Daniel admitted he felt it this time. I was worried that Jack would be really upset but he just said goodbye and that he'd be back again. We walked back to our hotel to collect our luggage and wait for the 3:30pm VEA shuttle to pick us up. It arrived bang on time and was very empty so we got to CDG airport by 4:15pm.
We had a bit of a game trying to check in on their automated machines and we had to go back to the check-in desk after finding that they had given us all seats separately. Now this isn't so bad if you're all adults but putting a 2 yr old on his own was a bit stupid so I complained and they managed to seat us together. We had a snack in the airport and then went through to departures where we caught the 6:45pm flight back to Birmingham. Fortunately on the plane a very kind man swapped his seat with Daniel so we were all able to sit together.
We arrived back in Birmingham at 7:05pm where it was freezing and wet!!, typical! We then caught our taxi back home and put Jack straight to bed.
We had an amazing holiday with ups and downs, illness and of course the swimming pool saga! I never made it into that pool which made me laugh as that is one of the main reasons I booked the hotel in the first place!! Still we're booked to go back in November so maybe I'll have better luck next time!! I can definitely recommend going for as long as you can afford, especially if you have young children as you can take things at a more relaxed pace and if things don't go according to plan you have time to change your agenda. If we go in September again, which I would, I would definitely recommend the last half of the month for a quieter time. This length of time was also brilliant for character hunting which we made a point of doing for the first time ever, mainly for Jack's benefit (honest!). In the end we got 37 character autographs which I thought was amazing!
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read my very lengthy trip report, it shows real dedication on your part as it's all text and no pictures! I'm sure I shall bother you all again with my next trip report at the end of the year!!
Finally DLP we love you!!!!! Xxx
Loved your reports, :) can't wait to read the next ones!
Thanks for taking the time to read them Gemma!
They were really interesting, never thought to go feed the ducks before will need to do that when I go :)
I would love to go to Sequoia lodge for that length of time, it sounded brilliant! So glad you all have a lovely time! I also went in September last year and oh my gosh on the weekends it was so busy!
Anyway thank you for the trip reports! :ears:
Thanks for reading Cara! It was mental on the weekends I'd never have believed it could be that busy. I'm assuming that the lovely weather played a big part in the amount of local people out and about on those days.
Oh I know! It was ridiculous! I guess it was the weather because it was so lovely :)
I always get really emotional saying goodbye. I bet you'd have been a thousand time worse if Jack had been upset!
All in all, despite the swimming pool, it sounds like you had a fantastic trip. Thanks for sharing it :)
I'm dreading leaving, my daughter cried when we left the caravan at great Yarmouth last year so can imagine her being inconsolable leaving Disney!
Hi
Lovely report, thank you for sharing.
Not sure how you managed 13 days we did 8 days last June and it was very tiring even though you have longer to do things, I think we must have walked miles :)
Hi Little Mermaid 240 thanks for taking the time to read it. It was tiring as nothing can prepare you for all that walking! I'd love to have taken a pedometer to see just how far we did walk over those 13 days. Not long till your holiday now so I hope you have a wonderful time!
What a lovely report. I really enjoyed reading. :D
And I'm feeling with you about the pool.
In all the times I visited Disneyland I managed it into a pool only once, when we stayed at Davy Crockett Ranch.
(But I will try again! ;) )
Hi BlackPearl thanks for reading. I'm determined to try the pool next time, it seems a shame to not have managed to get in it. I'm the same as you except I've never yet managed to get into one the pools despite my previous trips!!
Thank you for writing all this down! We`ll stay at the Srquoia in octobre for the first time, so I loves reading bits about this!
My daughter was 6 when we took her the first time. Then she didn`t react all that much! She said she wants to go back, but was fine going home . 2 years later, on the way to our car,she was all quit and had her head down. First I didn`t notice, because she was wearing a hat. But then I saw tears in her eyes. She said,"I don`t want to go home" so we explained to her, that we would come back. In a wa, it shows, that she realised, the good time we had, and that all good thimgs come to an end. But other tings to follow!
Sorry, that was a little long.
I`m glad you had a great time and your son saw so many characters!
Aurora1
Thanks Aurora1 for reading! I must say I do love the Sequoia and will be going back again in November, it really is a lovely hotel. I'm sure you'll enjoy staying there. I've been a couple of times to DLP before having my son and I really enjoyed it then but going with Jack just made the place take on a whole new meaning and it was amazing to share that with him. I hope you and your daughter have a wonderful time!
Aww thank you for sharing your trip with us.
Great to read details about eateries, I made a mental note of the cherry coke tip at Annettes. My son reminded me the other day that I PROMISED we would eat at a table with a jukebox next time we eat there! I told him 9 years ago so his memory is amazing! ;)
Your trip mustve been extortionate for that length of time. People still say to me 'but Disneyland Paris is soooo expensive, you might as well go to the USA'. I see their point, but DLP is my fave.
I look forward to your future reports :D
It wasn't as horrific as I feared! It cost £3200 in total plus the money I took for spending so everything came in at £5000. I checked out the cost for Florida and including spending money it would have cost me £6000. I've been to Florida before and am determined to take my son and my other half but I think I'll wait till my son is a bit older. I agree with you DLP is definitely the prettiest out of the parks and I like the fact it's just a quick flight over the channel! The castle is also the most beautiful in my opinion. Can't wait to go back in November. It's cost me £1800 for 7 days and with spending money it will come to £3000 in total so I suppose when you compare the two an extra £2000 for an extra week including everything wasn't too bad a price to pay for September.
Wow, just finished reading all 13 days through! I wanna go again so bad now!!!
We've only been once, stayed at the Santa Fe, but will hopefully be booking Sequoia for April 2014.
Thanx for doing such a detailed description of everything! I really enjoyed reading through it all!
really nice trip report
Thanks pialykke for reading. I hope you do get to stay at the Sequoia it's a beautiful hotel and well worth the visit. I'm hooked on it after my last stay especially!
I really enjoyed reading your report and thanks for writing it all down! I really hope that you'll be able to take a swim in that pool next time though! :P
Thanks PrincessEnya, I really hope so else it will be the third stay at the hotel without getting in the pool!!
Thanks so much for sharing your trip. I really enjoyed reading it. We stayed at Sequoia Lodge for a week last February and because it was so cold, we made good use of the EMH and had breakfast back at the hotel around ten to get warm again. We went for a swim after breakfast and the pool was really quiet, we loved it!
Thanks tinian for taking the time to read! That actually sounds like a good idea to go swimming in the morning I may have to try this out next visit.
Hi, loved reading your reports, we are taking our 2 1/2 yr old son for the first time so it was interesting to read how yous got on! We are staying at Santa Fe, going in less than fortnight!!!! We're just hoping he stays awake for the end show!
Hi kazza74 thanks for taking the time to read!
We watched Dreams a couple of times and my son did manage to stay awake for the show at 10 or 10:30 the one night! He was so mesmerised I reckon his adrenaline just kept him going. I know you'll have an amazing time!