A Dream Year Part 3 - February 2012 - FINALLY FINISHED!

[Sulley's Arms]

Following our exploits at Halloween & Christmas, we returned to the Mouse Kingdom in February for the ‘main holiday’ of our Dream Year at DLP; we left England v. early on Thursday morning and drove straight to Disneyland, arriving at the car park around 10:30.  The theme of this tim e in the Parc was the Magic Moments Festival.

Day 1:

It was -11degrees when we got off the Eurotunnel and by the time we arrived at DLP it had warmed up to -5 degrees!  Most of you will probably remember last Winter and the immensely cold spell the whole of Europe experienced for a few weeks. This was towards the end of that period and as we walked towards the Disneyland Hotel the sky was a rich, vibrant blue, with not a cloud in the sky (hence the extreme cold!).

There was plenty of snow on the ground, presumably from the previous week, although as we approached Fantasia Gardens the only thing that grabbed our attention was that the fountains had frozen; strangely, they were still flowing, but out of frozen tubes!

After a whole 9 weeks away from the Parc, we were eager to make our way back to our perennial favourites!  As ever, Buzz was first on the agenda ?.  After Discoveryland we opted to venture into Frontierland and, of course, Big Thunder Mountain.  The water-wheel in the queuing area had frozen in the course of it’s water-wheeling!  And it looked great.  The ride was fantastic, as ever.

We walked around the Parc all day utterly amazed at how empty everywhere was!  In fact we still look back at our video clips and can’t believe that, in doing a sweep around Fantasyland, there are no more than 4 or 5 people to be seen.  Late morning we went on Pirates of the Caribbean (‘5 minute’ queue sign) and when we reached the section above the boarding area, we looked down over the boarding area and there were 8 people in a boat that was just leaving the dock and there was literally nobody else there!  As people that like to avoid queues where possible, this experience was heaven for us!

Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups after this actually had a ‘0 minutes’ queue sign at the entrance.  

At it’s a small world, they were only boarding every 3rd boat, to give the impression of some kind of queue!

This first day was just brilliant and was the best introduction to this February holiday we could have possibly hoped for.  Once closing time was upon us, we headed for the car park and went around to the Davy Crockett Ranch, to check-in and be introduced to our cabin for the next five nights.

Having arrived at the cabin, unpacked and had something to eat, we went along to the Blue Springs Pool for some whirlpool / waterfall / slide action, in what many say is the best pool complex in Disneyland, before heading over to the Trading Post.  This store was the very first Disneyland venue we attended on our initial trip back in 2007 and Pluto was there on that occasion, creating a great introductory experience for the kids (as well as us); within 10 minutes of browsing in store this evening Goofy strolled in, sporting his ‘French artist’ outfit, which we’ve never seen before!  Since the store was, of course, pretty empty, we were able to “chat” with Goofy, have lots of photos with him and then he started playing catch-ball with the boys ?.

Great start. 5 days left. How lucky are we??

[Sulley's Arms]

Day 2

Friday morning was ‘Studios Park’ time (after doing Magic Hours in DLP first, of course!).

What this usually means is we go over to Crush’s Coaster, see that the queue is already over an hour long (even though it’s only 10:02!), so walk past it and go over to Cars Race Rally!  From here, we go around to Toy Story Playland where the boys take the single rider queue for the Toy Soldier Parachute Drop, then do the same on RC Racer, whilst I pop around to Tower of Terror for 3 Fast Passes!

On this occasion we didn’t do it exactly like this <shocked!> :shock: .  Firstly, Crush’s Coaster only had a 20 minute queue (well after all, the Parcs aren’t busy at the moment, are they?!), so we took the opportunity to go on this ride for the 3rd time in all our Disneyland trips   .  I’d forgotten most of what happens on this ride; the Disney Hotel TV loop gives the impression that it’s a tranquil jaunt through gentle sea-scapes (a fact that caused all 5 of us to want to go on during our first Disneyland trip), whereas it is in fact a fast-paced, twisting & turning pseudo white-knuckle ride, mostly in the dark (a fact that caused my DW to never want to go on it again since that first ‘mistake’!)!  The second deviation from our usual plan of attack was that when getting the 3 FP’s for TOT, I also had to buy a couple of coffees due to the extreme cold, LOL.

After a morning of ride-hopping, we took the decision to not take in the shows on this occasion, opting instead to continue our second day of queue-less bliss back in the main Parc.

The first thing to happen when back in the Town Square was the train parade [without a train] was just starting it's journey up Main Street USA.  This is the parade that used Main Street vehicles to transport our heroes to Central Plaza (presumably because the Train was being "redressed" for the 20th Anniversary train parade?).  We followed them up and met Goofy, Dum (or Dee, LOL), Rabbit & Donald.

After a spot of lunch and a return to Fantasyland, we happened past a certain Aladdin, no less, who was returning back after a photo session at the Agrabah / Magic Lamp "come and meet Aladdin" set (I can tell why I don't have a job coming up with clever & catchy names for these attractions   ).  He was happy to pose for a photo, which was nice, as they don't all stop 'en-route', do they?

The highlight of today came when we rode Big Thunder Mountain.  Whilst making the main "falling rocks" ascent that leads to the finale, back into the dark tunnel, the train stopped just before the top.  It just stopped!  There was no "Howdy, Folks, sorry but you're going to be trapped here for a few days...", or anything.  Now, we were all ok about this unexpected break in proceedings, well all except DW, who was convinced that we were all about to plunge 30ft into a ravine, or get crashed into by the train behind us!  Our words of comfort held no sway in convincing a nervous Mum about her plight.  After around 5-10 minutes we were visited by various CM's who told us to stay put and wait to be released from the train, as we were going to be taken on foot back to Thunder Mesa.

The walk through / under the Mountain was very interesting (I got told off for taking photos...Oops!), and we got to actually walk through the tunnel that you go through at the very beginning (but with the lights on, which helped!).

Back on the Mesa, we walked around in the general direction of the Lucky Nugget, although without a specific purpose at that moment.  We came up to the Tobias Norton shop and I suggested we go and have a browse around, to which the kids all said Yay (or similar).  However, DW simply exclaimed that she'd just nearly died and all we can think about is going shopping!  We turned around an she was in actual tears :thumbs: .  Since we had all just had the same experience on BTM and, let's face it, nothing actually happened (!), this reaction was simply the funniest thing I'd seen all day.  Well, could I stop laughing?  That'll be a 'No'  

Anyway, we compromised and went to have a sit down and another warm drink!  After this, along with the knowledge that there was very little likely to top this today, we visited the Dragon, saw the main Parade and left the Parc at around 6pm.  This evening was to be spent at Crockett's Tavern, followed by a "quiet" night back at the cabin   .  Life doesn't get much better than this...

[never2old]

20 minute for Crush, nice!! That's the good thing about going in February. It's freezing cold, but you have almost the parks to yourselves!!

Really enjoying your trip reports. You have a great memory!!!

[Sulley's Arms]

20 minute for Crush, nice!! That's the good thing about going in February. It's freezing cold, but you have almost the parks to yourselves!!

Really enjoying your trip reports. You have a great memory!!!

Actually, we also went in February last year and it was warm enough to not need coats! So you don't necessarily have to even deal with the cold to have the parks to yourselves!!

[Sulley's Arms]

Day 3:

1. Saturday
2. Cold
3. Magic Hours - most rides are frozen and won't work!
4. Go on the few open (i.e. indoor) rides - including Buzz (phew!)
5. Bella Notte for coffees & pastries (and to thaw out)

The sky was still remarkably clear this morning and made for an amazing early-morning red glow on the front of the castle as the Sun rose.  Since Peter Pan had been closed so far due to refurbishment, today was our first opportunity to go on so we changed our usual EMH route and headed to Fantasyland first.  However, we only got as far as the 'queue time' board in Central Plaza which confirmed that Pan was still closed due to unforeseen circumstances, so Buzz won out after all!

We decided to put the brakes on a little this morning and slow the pace somewhat, opting to explore some of the walkaround sections rather than the more frantic ride-hopping of our first 2 days.

We managed to rediscover the excellence of the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse; it's really easy to focus on rides & characters but these areas are also enjoyable and there's always jolly but subtle music floating through the area.  We went around to Skull Island as well, since this is another attraction we normally walk past on the way to/from Pirates!  I'd also forgotten that you can go up inside the skull for a great view down onto Adventureland!

Walking round near the Fort / Tee-pee area, we came across Chip & Dale having a play fight with sticks and the boys just had to join in (typical...), which gave us some excellent photos for the album.

After a spot of lunch we decided to hop across to WDS for some rare afternoon japes (instead of our usual morning stints, that is!), during which we managed to take in AniMagique & Cinemagique, which we'd passed on yesterday, and this also added some much needed warmth to the day, in addition to the top-class entertainment.  We've still not been brave enough to sit near 'Martin Short' in Cinemagique - I'd love to do this and try chatting to him to see if you can get a conversation going, or whether he'd just ignore you, maybe opting instead to move to a different seat, LOL.  Still, I'll never know 'cos I'm too chicken!

We decided to go and queue for the Studio Tram Tour, since this is another of those attractions that we subconsciously class as "we've done that, so don't need to go on it again...", so haven't actually been on it for a couple of years.  Now let's face it, it's not an amazing ride, but the "fire canyon" segment is just brilliant.  More hot drinks were required for while we queued but the wait was worth it   .

[Sulley's Arms]

Day 4

Today marked the start of the second half of our trip, and also signs of the beginning of the inevitable thaw.  The BTM lake now had birds swimming on it rather than walking on it  :thumbs: .

Having a long trip meant that we didn't need to always be at full tilt, and today we slowed down, opting to focus on having fun in some of the shops, walking around to meet various characters (including possibly our first ever full-family photo, with Aladdin & Jasmine!).

It was good to walk around and not feel the need to rush everywhere, although the rush would of course return!

Now, on our Christmas trip we had said we would go into the Disneyland Hotel (for the first time), to see the Gingerbread House.  However, we bottled it as we didn't even know where the entrance was LOL.  This time though we said we would definitely go, especially as I'd reseached where the doors could be found   .

We walked in (actually the boys walked in at least 4 times, as they used the revolving doors) and the foyer was busy, which we didn't expect, and it became apparent as we walked further around the staircase that there were characters in the lobby.  Lots of characters.  Including Rapunzel & Flynn - I had assumed we would only ever see them on the Parade, as we'll never queue for 90 minutes at the Princess Pavilion, but here we were meeting, greeting and, indeed, having autographs from these champions of love!  Great   .

After this we went through to the Village for a stroll around, then back to the Crockett Ranch for the evening and to recharge ahead of Day 5...

[Sulley's Arms]

Day 5

Change is good but some things have to stay just as they are.  So, up early once again, over to DLP for 8am and straight up Main Street USA on our way to Buzz Lightyear's Laser Blast!  Yes, this sometimes unassuming ride really steps forward as one of the attractions in the Parc.  Each time you go on the ride the result is different (literally, unfortunately ) and even going in with some 'secret insider knowledge' about where the highest scoring targets are doesn't always mean you'll get the best score, LOL.

After EMH we walked across to the WDS Parc for our 3rd & final morning amongst the movies.  Crush still had a queue of over an hour, even before 10am!  Still, Cars Race Ralley and Toy Story Playland were much more kind to us in terms of queue size, although there was a scary moment after the kids went on RC Racer, as that normally lovable dinosaur, Rex, nearly ate my wife - I've got photos to prove it, LOL.

Walking back around we saw that the real Buzz Lightyear (i.e. not the ride!) was at home for guests & photos, so since the queue was not very large, we waited for the space ranger.  Whilst queueing we asked the CM at the side of the line whether Buzz signs autographs; he said no, BUT he does have a special Stamper with his logo on it for your autograph book.  Result!

After this cool encounter (and it was still cool as well, despite the thaw!) it was time for AniMagique & Cinemagique, for that double header of great entertainment plus much welcome indoor warmth!
When we came out of AniMagique, there were various characters dotted around Toon Plaza so we queued to meet Ariel (very lovely lady / fish, and as pleasant with the kids as she is in the movie).  Around the corner was Gaston, obviously up to no good.  We went in for autographs but must have caught him as he was about to leave, as he told everybody with him to ghather round for some group photos, which was actually quite a nice idea, as although we didn't get the autograph or individual photo, we did get a good pic (with various randoms!) and fun memories.

Well by now it was lunch (just where does the time go??) so off to The Earl of Sandwich (mmm, nom, nom) before heading back to DLP for an afternoon of rides and shops.  As we walked into the Town Square one of the Main Street Vehicles pulled up next to us, so in we got and took the short ride to the Castle (plus photos with the car, of course).  Another fun afternoon was punctuated by a final viewing of the Once Upon A Dream Parade (literally our last as it ends in March  :cry: ).

An hour or so after this it was back to the Ranch for our final evening, ahead of our last day at DLP.  We have so much fun & laughs at Disneyland but can't possibly get bored.  Even so, we know that Day 6 will be a simple case of rides, rides & rides before we have to head home.  Or so we thought...

[cinderslg]

Sounds amazing practically having the parks o yourselves those first few days  

[Sulley's Arms]

Day 6 - The Final Day <sob>

The last day of any holiday is one you would rather didn't come.  It marks the end of everything that's fun, all that is great and the imminent return to normality.

We got up a little earlier today, to allow the extra time to pack the car since we were leaving the hotel (after all, we can't arrive late for EMH!).  So as a result the EMH rides (which were all now running properly, due to the big thaw) could be given the maximum amount of attention for those fantastic extra hours.

At 10am we had gone over to wait for Pirates / Adventureland to open and sure enough as the clock struck 10, the ropes fell and the boys both made a dash for the ride.  By the time us oldies reached the attraction the main CM at the ride was talking to the boys and asking how old they are, how many are in your party, etc. (very pleasant, although a bit odd!).  Next thing we know the boys are being invited behind the barrier for the ride (it's not officially open yet :? ) and we're being beckoned to join them.  No amount of puzzled looks at each other or the CMs helped us understand what was happening, LOL, but before we knew it we were being asked to follow 'the main guy' and he lead the way through the corridors / caves, all the way to the ride.  He was carrying a small, but still significant, wooden chest and when we got to the ride they declared the boys 'Captain for the Day' and said the first boat was exclusively ours.  Cool.

Now when we got off at the end, the CM at the exit came over and took the chest, opened it and showed the boys that there was treasure inside. Wow!  There were pin badges, chocolates, a piratey scroll, and various other trinkets, including a Captain for The Day badge, that gave the wearer (plus family!) unlimited rides on POTC without queueing, a free on-ride photo plus 20% off at the Blue Lagoon.  Not bad, eh?  Also, every CM in Adventureland would, when they saw the badge, stand to attention and ask if there was anything they could do to help.  This was just wicked, even for me!!

Majority the morning was taken up making most of this fantastic treat, before going for lunch and, inevitably, having to say our farewells to our dear friend, Disnelyand Paris, one more time.


Those lasting memories we all wish for when we book holidays like this certainly came thick & fast on this brilliant trip.  Every day something great happens that we don't expect, we find ourselves laughing uncontrollably at something we didn't plan.


So pleased we decided to get Annual Passes.

What a Dream Year we are having...

[Little mermaid 240]

Wow
Captain for the day must have been great fun! :thumbs:

[princessemily]

Oh wow, my boys now know their "mission" for when we go on our trip in March.  Just read them your passage about captain for the day....they are super excited!

[Sulley's Arms]

Oh wow, my boys now know their "mission" for when we go on our trip in March.  Just read them your passage about captain for the day....they are super excited!

It's probably worth mentioning that in both our June & August trips they weren't doing Captain of the Day, so it's an occasional treat!