Hello everyone,
This is my first ever trip report!
Our family now consists of Me, mum and my sister Jocelyn. My parents split last year so this was our first holiday just the 3 of us! :thumbs:
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This is me and Jocelyn! (in that order)
I'm 22 (soon to be 23) and Jocelyn is 14!
Our holiday started on Saturday 14th August when our Grandparents took us to dinner/lunch to fill us up ready for our long journey! We left Swindon at 4pm to give us loads of time to get down to Dover ready for our crossing at 23.30!
We made it down there in plenty of time and our crossing was nice and smooth except for the 3 coach loads of kids on the ferry it would of been perfect! :roll:
The car journey from Calais to the park seemed to take no time at all but as we moved through France the rain got heavier and heavier but we finally arrived at 7.30 am all of us very excited!
Will continue later this evening!
3 coach loads of kids running round whilst your trying to seelp???? Lovely!
It'll be interesting to compare what you and Jocelyn enjoyed or didnt enjoy
Quote from: "tubbsy"3 coach loads of kids running round whilst your trying to seelp???? Lovely!
It'll be interesting to compare what you and Jocelyn enjoyed or didnt enjoy
We only had an hour and a half crossing so it wasn't too bad!
I think its going to be more a case of what I remember and what she remembers! :lol:
My trip report notebook was still in use long after she gave up :roll:
Quote from: "disneylandparisgirl"I think its going to be more a case of what I remember and what she remembers! :lol:
My trip report notebook was still in use long after she gave up :roll:
:lol:
I'm hoping I'll be able to remember everything we're gonna do! Maybe I need to buy myself a notebook when we get there to write everything down! OOH! another reason to spend money! :lol:
Hello everyone,
Sorry this is taking so long we've been having lots of visitors and now have new kittens (Hatter and Chez)! :D/
Ok so we arrived at the Santa Fe at 7.30 Sunday morning and it was raining a lot!
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but we really didn't care because we were finally at Disneyland after so many months of planning!
We went to the desk to check in and our cast member was fantastic she moved us room to one that was available right away so we could put our stuff in the room and get cleaned up! We could use the extra magic hours straight away so we hopped on the shuttlebus and made our way to the park!
We went straight to City Hall to get my mum's disabled pass! They have changed it since we were there last time before it said how many people there were in your party now it says how many you can take on each ride and only lets 1 other person into the parade viewing area which when there is 3 of us 1 has to stand alone! :(
We started off our trip in Fantasyland we went through the castle and jumped straight onto the carousel with no queue then me and Jocelyn went on Peter Pan's Flight! Then across to Discoveryland for mum's first time on BLLB! She was able to go on in her wheelchair the car they have for wheelchairs is really cool and much better than I expected! I won despite mum's cheating (she kept putting her hand over my gun) the cast members were fantastic and could not of been more helpful and friendly! :thumbs:
As extra magic hours had pretty much finished we headed over to our favourite place for drinks at Market House Deli to grab some breakfast we sat in Discovery Arcade and people watched for a while (one of our favourite activities) and enjoyed a very needed hot chocolate!
Next we did a lap of the main street shops to have a look at what to spend our money on and get Jocelyn's autograph book and pen. We have to just window shop on the first day otherwise all our money would be gone!
:lol: :oops:
We made our way over to Frontierland as Jocelyn was nervous and eager to have her first go on Phantom Manor before when we would go she would have hystrics just getting near the house! We had no queue and just walked on to it. We had watched videos online of the ride to help her get ready and we both loved it I had not been on this ride for over a decade due to Jocelyn's fear (not keen going on rides on my own) and it was fanatastic!
Next we made our way over to BTM and it only had a 15min wait and we had never tried it in the rain before (it would normally be shut I think) and it was amazing! The feel of not just the wind on your face but the rain as well was incredible! :-D
We also found some loos we never knew about hidden away under Fort Comstock and discovered the beautiful waterfall we didn't know was behind the teepees
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and a couple of pics from Phantom Manor
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I love how the park still looks great even in the rain! :D
We thought as our queues had been so short in Frontierland we would check out PotC! As we made our way across Adventureland we popped into see Aladdin as Jocelyn had not seen this before (wouldn't go in as it was dark) and she loved looking round this and the detail in the models!
We went passed to pirate ship and were appalled at its condition the refurb cant come soon enough! We decided not to take pictures of the ship on this visit, we didn't want the reminder of how bad they had let it get (this was 1 of the very few negatives we had during the trip) none of the pics we'd seen on here had shown just how bad the damage looks!
We got to PotC and walked onto it! We had never seen the park so quiet (or so wet we only really go in summer) there seemed to be lots of people about but very few queues! We stopped by to see the dragon my sister loves dragons so this was not our only visit! Grabbed another hot drink and made our way out of the park on our way to studios park!
As we emerged from Discovery arcade the character train was just approaching! We hadn't seen this before we always missed it during 15th Anniversary (last time we were there) the bright train looked great and still really bright in the rain!
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Will do part 2 later today!
great so far cant wait to read more :) xx
awesome trip report so far!! great pics! :D
Sounds great so far! Sam, I knew you and you're family were going on the 15th, because if you remember that was the last day of our trip. We had BEAUTIFUL weather all holiday except that last day where it DID NOT STOP! we were all a little down because of the weather, and I couldn't help thinking about you when we were there. It must have been a little disheartening with the weather. I know if it was like then when I arrived I would have been a little dissapointed :/ but looking forward to the rest of the trip! xx
Thanks!
Day 1 Part2
We got into studio's park which was much busier than Disneyland Park had been! Our first stop was the waiting times board to see what the queues were like here! Crush was 50 mins (no surprise) but the queue fot ToT was just 5mins! So it was time to attempt the ride that scared me the most!
For those of you who don't know I have very bad lift fear! I have walked many flights of stairs to avoid going in a lift! So I had been dreading this ride since I'd booked the trip but this was Jocelyn's birthday trip and I'd promised her a great birthday so I HAD to do this ride! I thank everyone who gave me advice in trip planning because without you guys I would never of got in the building! :thumbs:
I loved the themeing and the pre-show was very good! In the pre-show our cast member was Bob who was really good, very creepy! I took it one step at a time and ignored the ride bit until it was too late to do anything. I checked and double-checked both mine and my sister's straps were done up properly. the moment of panic didn't come until the lift started moving by which time it was too late so I just held on white knuckle tight to my handles and tried to enjoy the ride. I won't give too much more away here but I loved it. I was shaking when we came off but I was so glad I'd gone through with it because if I hadn't I would of really regretted it. Here is the proof!
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Jocelyn and Me our first ever ToT ride!
We did some shopping in the ToT shop (managed to buy Jocelyn's birthday present without her seeing) checked out the queue times but were starting to feel a bit tired now so decided to leave studios for the day and head to Disney Village to do some more window shopping and get something to eat.
We went to Annette's Diner for and early dinner that night (about 4pm). We had never been in here before but on the recommendations we had read on here we thought we'd give it a go. As calories don't exist in Disneyland (been dieting for 3 years and lost 6 stone) I had a cheese burger, mum had a bacon cheese burger and Jocelyn had a hotdog. The food was fantastic, we really enjoyed the atmosphere of Annette's and had definately found a new favourite place to eat!
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Jocelyn and Me in Annette's Diner
By the time we finished in Annette's (we really take our time with meals) it was still pouring down with rain and our very long day was starting to catch up with us so we decided to head back to the hotel and crash for the night as we had now been up for abot 36 hours and really needed some sleep.
Quote from: "tinker_fairy"Sounds great so far! Sam, I knew you and you're family were going on the 15th, because if you remember that was the last day of our trip. We had BEAUTIFUL weather all holiday except that last day where it DID NOT STOP! we were all a little down because of the weather, and I couldn't help thinking about you when we were there. It must have been a little disheartening with the weather. I know if it was like then when I arrived I would have been a little dissapointed :/ but looking forward to the rest of the trip! xx
We didn't mind the weather too much we we're just excited to finally be in Disneyland. It was our first trip for 3 years and it wasn't very cold just very very wet! I was amazed at how much rain there was, but it kept the crowds away so nice short queues on a weekend in the middle of August :thumbs:
We always try to see the positive side of things! :D
Yeah - rain can be a blessing sometimes! Some of my fondest Disney memories involve the parks in the rain - hubby and I have a fab picture of us all wrapped up in our dodgy Disney ponchos on Main Street in Orlando - it is absolutely pouring but we have the biggest, cheesiest grins on our faces - that Disney magic sure does work!
Day 2 Jocelyn's Birthday
We had 7am breakfast cards so up early after a great nights sleep to find that it was STILL raining. However it was time to give Jocelyn her present. We got her a nightmare before xmas hoddie from the park and she was really surprised as she didn't think she was getting any presents because we were away for her birthday! We had breakfast at the hotel and got the shuttle bus to the park and got there just after 8am. We went to City Hall first to book her birthday meal. She had finally decided she wanted her meal at Cafe Mickey and we got the birthday cake as well!
We started extra magic hours in Discoveryland instead today first Jocelyn and me went on Space Mountain while mum stayed in the shop then all of us onto BLLB I rode on my own but mum and Jocelyn wouldn't tell me what they got so I think I won again! We got talking to some people we had seen at breakfast in the Santa Fe. A man and his son who were from England as well, the dad had health problems so could not go on many rides like my mum couldn't. The 3 of us then went over to Fantasyland for the rest of extra magic hours. We grabbed a coffee and headed to Studios ready for its 10am opening.
In studios we had a 30 min queue for Crush's Coaster, RNRC 5min queue and then straight into Art of Animation with mum and her card and then Jocelyn persuaded me to go on ToT again as it only had a 10 min queue I enjoyed it much more this time and its now one of my favourite rides :thumbs:
We headed back to the main park to do some major shopping :D
After this we went to Woody's round up!
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I'm a big Woody fan
and then some fun with Bullseye
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We all then went on Phantom Manor (mum's first time) and then slowly made our way to Cafe Mickey doing more shopping as we went! (Shopping was a major part of our holiday ;) )
As we were shopping in Disney Village we met the people we'd met earlier in the day and after chatting for a while decided to meet in the morning and have breakfast together.
Nice trip report and thanks for the pictures. I'm sorry for the bad weather, but it seems you had a great time despite the bad weather.
The weather did get better! It also a good thing queues were no existent due to the rain so we got to do more rides! I will get the rest of it up soon but back at uni now so its taking a bit longer. I'm trying to get my pictures a bit smaller as well!
Great trip report (:
Who's that good-looking girl with the purple hair (; Just kidding, it's me :D
I cannot wait to go again this year, my trip report should be up soon :S
Day 2 Part 2
Sorry for the delay but after uni, a broken laptop and a missing notebook the delay has gone on and on! But laptop is fixed, notebook has been found and uni reading week now so should be able to finish this!
We made it to Cafe Mickey just in time for our reservation! The resturant was very busy but our waitress although overworked was fantastic! We had a great meal which was not as badly priced as I thought it would be! :thumbs: I thought it would be very over priced but it was quite reseaonable!
Both me and Jocelyn ordered a garlic bread starter expecting a couple of slices to come out but it was a rather large and very nice garlic pizza bread, it was huge! When it arrived I then understood the 5.90 euro price tag.
We had Mickey and Stitch out to sing Happy Birthday and bring out her cake! The cake was a very nice chocolate cake even though it was 24 Euros for a cake! :shock:
A few pictures
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There was a lovely moment when Mickey and Minnie met going round.
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After dinner we headed back to the main park for another ride on BTM and as we emerged from Cafe Mickey a miracle had happened! The rain had STOPPED!!! :shock: :-D
There was even a break in the clouds this was so welcome and momentus that I had to capture it! ;)
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By the time we got to BTM it was just starting to get dark so we could ride this in the dark for the first time!
As the rain had stopped the ride was running faster than the day before.
We had been intending to watch the parade and fireworks this night but we decided to head back to the hotel as we were really tired and we had a 7am breakfast slot meeting up with our new friends
Day 3
We made it to breakfast the next day to meet our new friends Kev (who could not go on many rides like mum) and Luke who is the same age as Jocelyn.
As it was still dry (but overcast) we choose to walk to the park as we do really enjoy the walk from Santa Fe to the parks.
We made it to the park for EMH but as there was a queue me, Jocelyn and Luke nipped into Disneyland Hotel for a quick look around while the parents waited in the queue.
When we made it into the park we headed straight for Peter Pan's Flight as Luke had not done this because Kev couldn't do this. We all really enjoyed this so went on again! Then headed for the Carousel and all get horses on together. We then went over to the teacups. Me, Jocelyn and Luke all grabbed a teacup together when that round had finished Kev wanted to have a go so all 4 of us squeezed into one teacups!
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3 of us on teacups
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4 of us on teacups (very tight squeeze)
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After this it was off to discoveryland for a go on BLLB! Jocelyn and Luke went in one together and I went on my own. Jocelyn won this round Luke had been on this before but had only been on his own and said it was much more fun going with people :thumbs:
We headed for Space mountain and got to sit in the front, it was great!
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We had to collect this photo later in the day as the photo place was not open that early in the morning and we only just got it if we had been a minute later the photo would of been gone!
We grabbed a coffee at Market House Deli while we decided what to do next. We wanted to have a go on Indiana Jones so we headed in the direction of Adventureland via the castle as the guys had not seen the dragon or even knew it was there, but it was still too early so we headed through Adventureland. We noticed on the board that PotC had a very small queue so we wandered past that way and it was only 10 minutes so we jumped on. The ride stopped about halfway round it was too long for loading and we saw a cast member moving around with a torch but couldn't see what they were doing. While we were stopped the boat behind hit us quite hard the boat tipped enough to let in a lot of water meaning we had some dodgy looking wet patches when we got off :lol:
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We then took a "short cut" through Adventure Ilse, first time we'd been through here and definately going to explore more next time we go. When we eventually made it to Indiana Jones it was closed! :(
We went to check out queue's on other rides BTM was 110mins, Phantom Manor was 30mins and just as we were trying to decide what to go to next the Riverboat was just pulling so we pulled up at the wheelchair place and jumped on the boat. It was the Mark Twain Riverboat which we hadn't been on before. We'd only been on the Molly Brown.
Me, Jocelyn and Luke went upstairs
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While Mum and Kev stayed downstairs
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We then headed over to the studios to check out TSPL but on the way we decided to have a lap of the park on the train.
After we got off the train we headed over to Studios and went straight to TSPL checking out Crush's queue (105mins).
When we got to TSPL we were going to skip the rides and just have a look round but Jocelyn and Luke really wanted to have a go on RC Racer despite its 90min queue! So while we were waiting we had a good look around.
I really like the area Rex was great and I thought the Buzz at the entrance looked really good. I liked the barrel of monkeys shop except their was some cars merchandise in there, a Lightening McQueen remote control car which looked pretty cool but very out of place so decided to buy it later (but forgot) :oops:
Ratatouille area looked really great, very good quality hope the rest of the area when it arrives lives up to this! So after this we went back to RC Racer to wait for the kids and saw the disabled entrance for slinky and decided the three of us were going to have a go! It was much better than I expected it to be, I had kind of dismissed it as a kiddie ride. I liked the way the door folded down on the side of the adepted car. :thumbs:
Parachute was down, there was a lot of wind, so we went to have another look at Crush it was down to 65mins so we decided to join the queue.
Right I will leave it there for today, hoping to do some more tomorrow!