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[Pete's Dragon]

Finally back from  Disneyland. This report may take a while to get through as I have hundreds of photos and 8 days worth of memories to sort out.  But I will say this to begin with, everything was nearly perfect, especially our timing for everything. I'll explain all in better detail when I get the chance. But as a little taste of how well things went I'll post up a photo as an example.

Oh Yeah !


More to follow really soon once I get all the photos uploaded

[Javey74]

Well I look forward to reading this one Pete's Dragon, since I was supposed to do a new version of mine from earlier on in the year, which never happened..  :mrgreen:

I think I ended up on the same path as breeno this time..  

I must say that photo from Buzz Lightyears Laser Blast is great, I pleased to see you mastered your skill with photoshop..  :lol:  :lol:  :mrgreen:

[never2old]

I must say that photo from Buzz Lightyears Laser Blast is great, I pleased to see you mastered your skill with photoshop..  :lol:  :lol:  :mrgreen:

 :lol:  :lol:

Looking forward to your report PD!!! And welcome back  

[Martin B]

Look forward to the full report!

[Pete's Dragon]

Wednesday 29th August - Prologue

Not much to report on from this day as it was all travelling. But luck was on our side. No delays at the airport or with the plane. In fact we arrived 15 minutes early at CDG. We had the TGV booked for 18:03 but when we got the the station at 17:00 there was a train about to depart, so we decided to risk it and play dumb if a train conductor came along.

Sweet ! Made it to Disneyland a whole hour early thanks to some good luck and some good timing. Took a taxi to Val D'Europe, checked into the Adagio and got our shopping for the week from Auchan. Next we decided to go for dinner at the Italian restaurant in the Place de Toscana, and our great timing struck again as we arrived just as they were opening.

After dinner there was the option of 3 hours in the park, but we decided an early night and some Extra Magic Hours in the morning was a better idea. This was our first visit during the summer season and we a bit worried about the queue lengths.

So that was it for day one. This feels like more of a tease than a report thus far. But don't worry, the Magic starts tomorrow and so do the photos

A photo by my 7 year old daughter

[littlemermaid83]

Looking forward to the rest!

[norhel]

Sounds good so far :-)

[Javey74]

There's nothing like a run of luck when it comes to DLP, the more time the better..    

Nice start..  :thumbs:

[petals]

joining in.

[Pete's Dragon]

Thursady 30th August - Let the Magic Begin

Up bright and early at 7am. Booked a taxi for 8am as the buses didn't start running until 8:45 and we couldn't wait that long!









After a few customary photos we headed straight for Buzz Lightyear's Laser Blast. Our first ride and no queue. I don't know what they're doing to the giant, animated Buzz in the queue line, but there was a  curtain around him the entire time we were there. I decided to film the ride rather than shoot stuff, but I did take a shot to determine if the hidden target was where I thought it was; and it was.

Next was Orbitron and again no queue. I assumed that if people were staying up for Disney Dreams then they weren't too bothered about the Extra Magic Hours. Afterwards we finished off the rest of the available rides: the Teacups and then Dumbo (again no queues)







The time was now 9am and we'd done everything. I was still waiting for a massive influx of holiday makers but they never came. We sat and relaxed for a while and then queued for Autopia, as it was due to close on Monday.







It was after 10, it's the summertime and the park is fully open. Where is everybody? The waiting time for Space Mountain was still 10mins, so me and Joshua had 2 turns in a row.

Next we headed back to Fantasyland and did Alice's Labyrinth, It's a Small World and the Storybook ride.









There was a slight queue for Peter Pan so we got Fastpasses which were for 40mins time.  Plenty of time for a Caribbean adventure while we waited. Again there was no queue for Pirates. Either everyone was boycotting the park today or we were moving in the opposite direction from everyone else. POTC took so little time that we managed to have lunch before using our Fastpasses.





It was now 1pm and without rushing or running we had covered over half the rides. We decided to finish off Discoveryland with Star Tours. Finally a queue, we'd found other people. Whilst queuing near C-3PO where the walkway zigs back and forward a woman in the middle section leaned too far over the railing and her expensive sunglasses fell off. Now there walkway is only elevated 2 feet off the floor at this point. Quick as a flash Joshua literally leapt to her rescue. He scaled the barrier, jumped down and found her sunglasses. The woman was so thankful she called Joshua her hero. We gently teased him about it all day (especially if I wanted him to smile for a photo)

You're my hero!


Spot the monitor that's never used or dusted




The only land we hadn't visited yet was Frontierland and we eventually found the queues. Apparently everyone was waiting for a turn on Big Thunder Mountain, and I mean everyone. Waiting time was 120 minutes and the Fastpass queue looked as long as the main one. We headed to Phantom Manor much to the displeasure of Elisha, but she went on it anyway. Those playful spooks were really frisky cause the ride stopped at least 5 times!







It was around 4:30pm by now. Fearing crowds and no available tables we had booked La Grange at Billy Bobs for 6pm. We headed to the Village and had a few Mocktails at the Sports Bar. Well, the kids had Mocktails. I had a Long Island Ice Tea. Hmmmmmm. We hadn't realised but while we were waiting for our drinks the heavens had opened and the rain had lashed down. By the time we came back out it had stopped. Sweet, another bit of good timing.

I swear it's non-alcoholic


So much for needing a reservation, we were the only ones there. I had avoided the summer season like the plague because I can't stand large, unruly crowds. Yet apart from a 30min queue at Star Tours and the choas at Big Thunder Mountain there hadn't been one all day. We concluded that everyone else was maybe 1 to 2 hours behind our schedule thanks to Disney Dreams.

After a lovely buffet dinner we decided we'd had enough for one day, because if we kept this rate up we would have done everything by the weekend and would still have 4 more days to go. As we got to the bus stop, the bus magically appeared. Another bit of excellent timing.

Tomorrow we decided to get the 9:20am bus and the head straight to the gates of Frontierland. Big Thunder Mountain Awaits !!

[DisneyManiac]

Nice pics! Can't wait for the rest!

[Javey74]

Yes, nice continuation, starting to bring back memories of mine already, back in late March..  

I also like some of the angles you have picked for a few of your photos..    

Looking forward to the rest..  =D>

[petals]

luvin all the pics so far.   :thumbs:

[never2old]

Great report! I'm so surprised about the lack of queues, you were very lucky!! Only once we've been during the summer (end of August) and my husband said never again - even with VIP fastpasses we were queuing for everything!!

Brilliant pictures. Looking forward to the rest!!

[Pete's Dragon]

Sorry, I'll put Day 2 up later. This house has been mad since we got back.