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[never2old]

Hello all!

Well that's it, my trip is over Months and months waiting for it and then it's over sooo quickly!!

I will write a more detailed report with plenty of pics soon (got over 1000 of them to get through...), so this is just a quick prelude...

This was my first trip back to DLP in almost a year (and last time it was only a very short 1 day trip to meet up with my dear toonarmylass!), and first trip in about 2 years for my husband! That's what having a beautiful little baby girl does to you, I guess... Priorities change!! But this year we've celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary, and since we couldn't really go away for too long (couldn't take too much time off work), we decided DLP was the perfect destination, and our anniversary the perfect excuse to treat ourselves to the Castle Club...

We did not take our little Alicia with us, because she's still a little young (17 months old), and although she would enjoy plenty of things, there are even more she wouldn't. And also, to be honest, we wanted to spend some time alone, just the two of us!! So Alicia stayed with my parents (and by the way had a great time, I think we missed her a lot more than she missed us!!)

Our room at the Castle Club was amazing. We had a balcony, and a perfect view of the park. The CC is excellent and the service you get there doesn't compare to the other hotels. Yes it is completely overpriced, but it doesn't get more special than that.

The real highlight of the trip was definitely Dreams. What a show. I had seen plenty of photos and youtube videos and all, but they cannot compare to seeing it live. It's such an incredible experience. I hope I get to see it many many many more times in the future. I have to warn you already, I will not be posting many pictures of Dreams (and none that are really good), because I only had 2 nights to see it, and I wanted to enjoy it fully. I did take a few quick pictures, and filmed bits of it on my phone on the second night (which considering I was not looking at the screen did not come out too bad), but that's all.

And the only real low of the trip was of course not having our baby girl... We missed her so much!! I still think it was the right decision not to take her, but this was the first time we were away from her! Of course I can't wait to take her next year... This was our first and most probably our last trip to DLP without her (and we made the most of it!!)

Otherwise the Halloween decorations were popping up everywhere (I loved them, great themes in both Main Street and in Frontierland). Weather was not too bad (we were expecting a lot more rain that we actually got). Park was not too busy (a bit more than we were expecting, but nothing too bad... plus having VIP fastpasses helped!!).

I'll leave you for now with a little video, I took it yesterday morning from our room, just before 8:00...

[youtube:33tfjqf2]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qbf8ulojx88&hd=1[/youtube:33tfjqf2]

Proper report with pictures coming soon!!

[esmeralda]

I'm so looking forward to your report!!  Can't wait for pics of the CC!!!

[i love main st]

O M G    :shock: ....As you can see from my name i love main st and could live there and what a wonderfull view you got of it , you lucky thing  :thumbs:      :thumbs
as soon as the music came on your video it made me smile ear to ear just hearing those sounds  , you know your home and it has cheered me up on such a gloomy day in warrington , and made me even move excited for our upcoming trip
carnt wait to read more.....x

[Eveline]

Can't wait to read all about it.

Going back with my baby girl (now aged 15!) in 2 weeks time and your wee video clip has given me goosebumps!

[Pluto2011Pluto]

Hi Never2old I know my question may annoying for you but did you and your husband have an room with 2 double beds or did you stay in an suite.

Also do the same characters that do the general meet'n'greet in the Rotunda on the floor below also visit the castle club lounge.






http://disney.budgettravel.ie/images/di ... el%202.jpg

http://www.deneidels.com/GFX/SuiteDLHotel_01.png



Again sorry if my question is annoying  for  you.

[never2old]

Thank you all!!

Yes it's an incredible view, it really is a dream come true, to stay in a room like that. And I'm sure you'll understand me if I confess I got up in the middle of the night just to check the view again...

Hi Never2old I know my question may annoying for you but did you and your husband have an room with 2 double beds or did you stay in an suite.

Also do the same characters that do the general meet'n'greet in the Rotunda on the floor below also visit the castle club lounge.

We were not in a suite, it was a 'standard' Castle Club room, but one with a single big bed (I think it was probably a king size bed) instead of two double beds, and a seating area.  In the suites you get a bedroom and a separate living room!

The characters come up to the CC lounge during breakfast (but only from 8:30); we had Pluto come to see us at our table, and later when we were leaving I saw Chip & Dale. On Tuesday I saw Gideon and Eeyore.

I'm still transferring pictures to the computer... I'm hoping to have the first update soon!

[MrsPirate]

What a view!

Very much looking forward to your report.

[ilovedisneylandparis]

Really excited to read your report, thanks for sharing Even watching that 28 seconds of Main Street and hearing the music and seeing the castle and Space Mountain in the distance made me cry, there is nowhere more magical than DLP  :oops:

[i love main st]

Thank you all!!

Yes it's an incredible view, it really is a dream come true, to stay in a room like that. And I'm sure you'll understand me if I confess I got up in the middle of the night just to check the view again...

Oooh  yes , not even thought about that , what was it like ? do you have pictures ?       ...... think i would have been just sat on the balcony the whole time ...

just walked in from dropping the children off at school and just had to watch it again ...haha...x

[never2old]

Oooh  yes , not even thought about that , what was it like ? do you have pictures ?       ...... think i would have been just sat on the balcony the whole time ...

just walked in from dropping the children off at school and just had to watch it again ...haha...x

It was around 6am, the music was on (for all I know it stayed on all night!!), the lights on the Main Street buildings were on (but on on the Castle, you could hardly see it!), and it was totally empty... It almost felt like I had the park to myself!!!

[never2old]

OK let's get this started!!

The alarm went off Sunday morning, at 7am... A quick breakfast, a few cuddles with our baby girl, and some last minute packing, and we were ready to go. We dropped Alicia off at my parents (managed not to cry in front of her... but leaving my little baby behind was really difficult   ) and off to Marne la Vallée we were.

The drive was pretty quick, we managed to make it all the way in just under three hours! Since the last time we'd been to Paris they had finished the motorway around Reims, which means you no longer have to go through the city, and it saves a bit of time on the journey. Around 11:45 we were stopping outside the Disneyland Hotel  /

As soon as we arrived someone came pick a trolley to pick up our bags. When he saw were were going to the Castle Club, he told us to leave our car there, took our car keys (yes, you get valet parking in the CC...), and took us straight to the CC. Ah, home at last... The DLH was looking as good as ever. The main reception area was fairly busy, a few families checking in. And then of course there is that beautiful scent...  

We went up the first lift to the main level, past the shop to the Castle Club lift.





Now to access the lift you need a key, so when you first arrive, you need to call on the little phone (you can just about see it on the picture, on the bottom left corner; I'll post a better picture later). The CM that was taking us up called to say we had arrived, and the lift magically opened for us... And up we went. There are two reception desks; since they were both busy, they asked us to wait in the Castle Club lounge... So we sat down by a window, got offered a drink, and enjoyed the view for a few minutes...



The view from our table




A very happy me


We had just enough time to finish our coffee before a CM from the CC reception came to find us. She was very friendly, quickly confirmed our reservation details, address etc, while we chatted about our favourite rides. They had booked for us a restaurant for both evenings, which we didn't need because I had already done so myself earlier that week, so she quickly checked that my reservations were indeed there and printed out new tickets. And then she took us to our room!! For future reference, it was 2307 (I think... )











Enjoying the view from the balcony




Halloween!


A few minutes later our bags arrived, and after a few more oooohs and aaaaahs admiring the room, the view and everything, it was time to get going. First things first, lunch!! We decided to head to Starbucks in the Village for a quick bite (we were having an early dinner in Walt's with the Dreams package, so we didn't want to eat too much).

First thing we noticed, the new security barriers. Such an improvement!! It means we can easily move from the parks to the Village and without going through any checks. It also means that if you're staying in the DLH, you don't need to go through any at all... (though I think I saw a scanner for the bags by the hotel entrance, on the car park side...) Overall, a great change!

And then of course, there was the World of Disney Store!!



Now it took a HUGE amount of self control not to run straight into the shop, and to instead continue towards Starbucks... But I warned by dear hubby that after lunch, we were going to pay the new store a visit...

As usual the Village was relatively quiet (it's always a good place to go for lunch, much better than for dinner when everything is packed!!) There was only a short queue in Starbucks and soon enough we were sitting enjoying a sandwhich, a latte and free wifi!! Was their wifi always free??

And then, finally, after months and months of waiting, it was time to walk into the WOD!!











iPhone case anyone?


I want it ALL!!
















Hidden Mickey in the stars










And this is now my favourite shop in the whole wide world... It's beautiful, the decorations and theming are great, it's spacious and confortable and easy to browse. I could have spent hours in there!! And the merchandise... For the first time in a really long time, there was plenty of merchandise I loved and wanted!! Sooo much better than on previous trips!! It was really tough not to buy it all...

We got some shopping done (impossible to come out of there empty handed), and convinced that we would come again later to admire the shop some more (big mistake, this ended up being our only visit on this trip!!) I let my husband drag me away from it...



On the way we stopped by our room to leave the shopping there (it was of course just an excuse to use the lift that goes from the park entrance straight to the CC... )









Next: we finally go into the park!!

[norhel]

Great start :-)
And the Castle Club looks really nice :-)

[SVioletS]

Looks like you started really well!
your room is amazing! we can really see the difference reagarding other hotels!

I'm sure you had an amazing anniversary! Looking forward to reading the rest!

[Epcot_Boy]

Thank you all!!

Yes it's an incredible view, it really is a dream come true, to stay in a room like that. And I'm sure you'll understand me if I confess I got up in the middle of the night just to check the view again...

I can fully understand that, I would really have difficulty going to sleep knowing that view was just outside my window /  

Loved your photos of the Disneyland Hotel. There's one jealous Epcot_Boy reading your report  Great read, thanks for sharing :thumbs:

[Aurora1]

Image

Sorry it is suposed to be the iPhone-cases-picture. Don`t know, why it didn`t appear... :?:
YES; I WANT ONE!!! It`s on my list when we go! Along with.... haven`t made up my mind yet.

Looking forward to your report.!

PS: I still remember, when we left our daughter with my parents the first time for a weekend. Had to hold my self back, not to run to the phone all the time. It does get easier with the time, only a little, even if they are older...

Aurora1