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[ColdSun]

Yeah, you're back . The video was ace, your children are absolutely adorable! And I liked the pictures as well...now impatiently waiting for the next part of the report...

[Pete's Dragon]

Day Two : " Hi Mum, Bye Mum "

Up for breakfast at 7.30.  4 croissants and 8 slices of ham, coffee, orange juice and stewed apples for me. Then straight to the park for the EMH.



woo-hoo


WOO-HOO


No empty pictures of Main Street, everyone had the same idea as we had sadly, but there were no queues for the rides.



First ride of the holiday, Lancelot Horsey Ride


Forgot to pack coats for the kids caused I checked the forecast and it said warm and sunny. But there was a cold wind blowing, so headed into Sir Mickeys and blew 90 Euros on jackets for the kids !!!!
Followed quickly by the Tea-Cups and Dumbo. Elisha didnt like Dumbo because it was very jerky going up and down. And compared to the Magic Carpet in WDS I would have to agree, bit of maintenance needed.





Now for the first queue of the day, Peter Pan ( 10mins ). Again Elisha wasnt too happy cause she was " too tiny " (her words). Plus it was a lot darker than I remember, couldnt see London very well and couldnt make out any of the little cars moving. After some walking around and praying Alice wasnt closed, it hit 10am and the Labyrinth opened. Hurray !!!!!



Nearly tripped over this








Then off to IASM. By now I had already taken about 100 photos, and I went crazy inside. I dont think I missed one puppet ( all because on previous trips, my camera was lousy ). Here's a choice few





Quick toilet break on the way to Discoverland, and decide to ring my Mum ( you know what Grandparents are like ). Just as she answered Pinocchio and Robin Hood appeared from the cast members area, and the kids were off like a shot. So the conversations went " Hi Mum, kids are fine. Gotta go, Robin Hood's here. Bye "
On our last trip, Joshua wouldnt go near any Characters, so I was curious as to how Elisha would handle seeing 6 feet Cartoon Characters. Well, here's your answer.........





Next stop Autopia !!! I've had such bad luck with this ride. (1988 WDW - Closed. 2004 DLRP-closed. First time in 2006. 18 year wait !!!!). But, time for a treat first to keep the kids quiet for 10 minutes.

Quiet ? No such luck with my two


And now for the most annoying part of the holiday. In the queue for Autopia ahead of us was a Spanish family - Mum, 2 teenage boys and 2 little girls. The girls were playing tug-o-war with a skipping rope and crashing into everyone. The Mum didnt care as she was too busy smoking ( I'm a smoker, but NOT IN THE QUEUE !!!!!! ). And the guys were shouting and complaining. When we got into our car, the 2 guys were in the car behind us. Now, our car wasnt the fastest on the track, and they tail-gated all the way round. The CMs were making hand gestures for them to move back, and they did a little, but only so they could bump into us. After the 3rd time I cracked up and shouted at them to stop. Finally they got the message. But at the last corner there was a jam, so we stopped and waited. Next thing we got rammed at full speed by the guys again. My wife was ahead of us and she felt it too. It took all of my strength to stay in the car, cause I was so close to getting out and bashing their heads together.







Decided to leave Discoverland, incase I bumped into them and lost my temper, and headed off to Frontierland to vent my rage on Big Thunder Mountain. This was Joshua's first time on it. He loved it apart from the loud noise of the track-pulls up the slopes. Baby-switched with Jasmine, BTM is def. her favourite ride, all smiling when she came back. Next, Critter Corner or whatever its called.















After that headed back to Fantasyland just as the Character Express rolled in. Pluto came and stood right where we were, so quick easy pics !!!



After a couple more goes on IASM, Dumbo, Tea-Cups and Peter Pan, it was off to POTC !! Nice to see the swinging pirate working at the start.

By now it was close to 6pm. Did Lancelot again, then Snow White, Pinocchio, followed by Tea-Cups and IASM again. Started to leave at 7pm and avoided the mad rush by going down the back alley behind the Emporium.



Then off to Billy Bobs so we could stuff ourselves on the buffet. We asked for a high chair for Elisha, and as a result they must have thought she was 2, cause they didnt charge us for her !!! More Not-so-Hot Chilli, followed by Ham off the Bone and Cowboy Potatoes. Then 2 slices of Cheesecake and a little bit of Blackforest Gateau. Took some apples, bananas and yogurts for snacks tomorrow  :wink:









Then back to the Hotel and 2 hours of Disney Channel before bed. Still managed to avoid the gift shops, somehow.

To be continued.................

[bigrossco]

another great report keep up the good work cant wait to read the other 4 days

[MinniesBestPal]

Aww, thats such a fantastic picture of Minnie Mouse! The closest I got to that at Christmas was when she came to lunch and all six of us huddled round the table with her! She was wearing the same dress though!

[DLP-Photos.com]

Welcome back!

I love your trip report and the photos are great. Sound and seem like you have had a lot of fun and your children are very cute and seem to really enjoy the magic!

The story about the spanish however was not funny and it just too bad that some people don't know how to behave and control their kids. Unfortunately such an experience seem to be there one time in during any stay in my opinion  

Can't wait to read and see more from your trip!

[burntsienna]

Another great installement!
Love the photos!
Very impressed that you managed to keep your tempter though, I'd have gone all Donald on them lol.

[Aveen2008]

Hey,

welcome back!! :stitch_bounce:

Great trip report so far!! I loved the video, your children are so cute! joshua was so excited and wee alisha didn't seem quite awake to take it in bless her!! hehe

Sounds like you had a brilliant time so far apart from the rude family at Autotopia, I hate when those things happen! I don't know how you managed to avoid all teh souvenir shops so far!! Amazing hehe. Great photos, can't wait to see and hear more!

Aveen xxx

[Epcot_Boy]

Great family pics and nice report...........Don't kids just make any Disney visit....I never get tired of the wonder youngsters show at the resorts :wink:

Epcot_Boy :ears:

[never2old]

Great pics, PD!! Everyone looks so happy, it just makes me want to go more!

Sorry you had a bad experience in Autopia! I hate it when parents just let their kids do anything, with no respect for those around (not to mention smoking in the queue  :evil: )

But most of all, I'm amazed that you haven't done any souvenir shopping yet!! That's some serious self-control!

[Remco K.]

The girls were playing tug-o-war with a skipping rope and crashing into everyone. [...] And the guys were shouting and complaining.

It's about time they start taking this 'Kids Free' thing more literal... On the other hand, you wouldn't be able to bring your kids anymore too... :?

Great pictures, Brian! I really like your trip report so far. And you can see you had fun.

[The Butlin Boy]

Another great report, and more fantastic pictures Although I'm sorry about what happened to you at Autopia, it's a shame when some people don't consider others around them :? Can't wait to read the rest :mrgreen:

[Pete's Dragon]

Day 3 : " Uncle Owen. This R2 unit has a bad motivator "

Decided today was the day for Cafe Mickey and a good hot breakfast. So to work up the kids appetite we walked to the Village. Had a good look at the lake and I must say it's safer than I remembered. Could have sworn there was a steep unprotected drop somewhere near HNY but it looked pretty safe to me.



Got a nice seat downstairs beside the window and hit the buffet with a vengenace !! Filled my plate with sausages, bacon and scrambled eggs and ate until I was fit to burst.
It didn't take long for the characters to arrive.

First up, everyone's favourite dog


Then the Big Cheese himself




1,2,3, Smee !!!!


Elisha didnt fancy the look of Prince John and hid behind my chair. He was great fun. Whipped Joshua on the bum with the Royal Cloak


Once the coast was clear, she came back out in time for Minnie


Missed Goofy as I was getting a second helping of sausages and more coffee. Last Character to come around was Baloo. Again Elisha tried to hide behind my chair, but after a couple of tickles from Big Pappa Bear, she came around. But I had to go with her ( yeah, like I had to be forced    )



Pretty sad that Donald hadn't shown his face ( or Chip and Dale ), but I was sure we'd bump into him eventually.

Left and hit the Park for 9.30. Couldn't take it anymore, and hit the gift shops. Joshua had already picked out a Peter Pan suit before we left. Elisha wasn't too sure. She already had her favourite Princess outfit at home ( Snow White ) so we picked for her and bought Belle







Got no more than 20 feet from the shop when Elisha started crying. She didn't want to be Belle, she wanted Cinderella ( aparently her 2nd favourite Princess ). Luckily the woman in the shop was very understanding.





Decided to try and meet some Princesses at the Castle Stage. Arrived there at 10.10 and was amazed that a full blown queue was already there, 20mins early. Didn't fancy waiting so decided to come even earlier tomorrow. So, time for Walt Disney Studios

So much better than the Cars poster






Walked over to the new, and very helpful Info board and noticed than Cinemagique started in 2 mins. Ran to the entrance just as the CM was shouting it was about to start. Out of all the shows in both parks, this is by far the best. Joshua didn't like being sprayed with water, but perked up again once they were on the Death Star. Elisha was glued to it 100% and even cried when it finished as she wanted more.

naughty, naughty


Next it was off to have a look at Tower of Terror. The sign at the entrance said 5mins, so I waved goodbye to the kids and headed in. The whole place looked amazing, and the CMs deserve a pay rise, they really got into the spirit of things ( sorry, couldnt resist the pun ). While watching the film in the library I suddenly wished I hadn't gone for seconds at Cafe Mickey. Ah well, too late now. Now for some reason, I thought the lift went right to the top before the first plunge, so when it dropped I wasn't prepared at all. But 1/2 sec of shock turned quickly into hysterical laughing.





So much for 5mins. Apparently I'd been in ther for nearly 40 !!! Baby-switched with Jasmine and told her it wasn't that bad ( tee-hee   :twisted:  ). She came back shaking, but with a really big smile on her face. Could this be the new best ride in the park ? Only one way to be sure......off the Rock n Roller coaster to see if the Champ had lost his belt.



As fun and exciting as RnRc is, it simply can't compete with TOT. I've never laughed so much before on a ride. Def. my new favourite  =D>  =D>  =D>

Next up, Magic Carpets.



The queue for Crush was 45 mins. So decided to hit Cars instead





And now the problems started. If there's one major gripe I have with WDS is that there isn't really that much to do, and everything is so spaced out. Too early for Animagique, too late for Cinemagique, wrong language for Stitch, so went over to the Studio Tram tours.....which was broken. After all that walking about, we sat down and had a coffee and waited. Luckily we could see the Tram Tours entrance from our seats and when we noticed it opening again, we were first in line.



Decided to give Animagique another try and timed it well. Sat down to enjoyed 1/2 the show before the Gremlins got to work again. I think something went wrong with the sliding screen, as it only half closed after The Little Mermaid. The lights came up and out we went  

Meet some interesting characters as we headed over to Stitch Live




I loved Stitch, and so did the kids. I would love to know how they do it, I really didn't expect so much interactivity. Would have liked the show to have been longer, but it's you can't have everything.

Decided it would be a good time to leave and get dinner (6.30) and beat the swarms of people getting kicked out of the Parks. But not before I grabbed a little fluffy fellow in a blue hat, I noticed out of the corner of my eye.....

Just Chip and Dale left to find, and I'll leave happy


Got to Annette's Diner and we were seated straight away, by the same guy who served us 2 years ago ( if you've been, you'll know who I mean. Tall, lanky guy on roller-skates, can't dance. Looks half-asleep. Didn't take a picture )





Time for my favourite dish, The Incredible Burger Challenge !!!!!! 1lb of meat. Bacon,cheese and a 3 part bun. A large portion of fries and some salade. All for the sake of a free milkshake.

Oh baby !!!!


(N.B. In case anyone is wondering. Yes I have a very big appetite, but I've never weighed more than 11 1/2 stone. No, I don't know where it goes either)

Bit of Jiving from the Staff, and Elisha


and Joshua


And after that, we had a quick look in the gift shops. Didn't buy anything, but had a really good look at all the pins, and made a mental list of toys and souveniers I wouldn't mind getting. Then it was off the the Hotel for some more Disney Channel.

What's that ? How did I get on with the Incredible Burger Challenge ? Did I forget to mention the outcome, how silly of me. Wouldn't want to keep you all hanging with suspense.

So how did I do? See for yourselves......................

[spoiler:2rivu6wm]Free Milkshake Baby ! C'mon !! Who's a Greedy Pig then, eh ?
[/spoiler:2rivu6wm]

[Captain Pan]

Pete... Simply Supurb... and After All that (So Far) going back to uni is going to be a shock to your system... mainly because I don't think any of the lifts fall as fast as TOT, and your lecturer definitely won't be Chip or Dale (Yet mine could be a Mr Tim Burton)!

Can't Wait to read more! It'll definitely be better than reading The Teachers Tool Kit book!

[Pete's Dragon]

Pete... Simply Supurb... and After All that (So Far) going back to uni is going to be a shock to your system...

Everything's been a shock since I got back. I kid you not, I almost forgot how to drive my car home from the airport. Why there wasn't searchlights in the night sky. Why my hallway carpet was red, and not blue like in Santa Fe. And why, when I go outside for a cigarette I cant hear Mexican music playing in the background.

Plus the've reorganised everything at our local supermarket while we've been away. Took me 10 mins to find Red Peppers !!!!!!!!



I need another vacation  

[cinders]

That was a fab report pete well done !! i honestly dont know how you managed to keep it a secret from the children :| i am going soon and i couldnt keep it a secret any longer and had to tell my little girl who is 5 a few days ago ! LOL im like a big kid i cant contain my excitement  :lol: .........i have had out my videos of previous visits and sat singing away  :oops: oh my now i do feel silly !! LOL anyways well done again brill report !