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[ilovedisneylandparis]

Hey everyone! Don't think I'll be able to get going properly with this until later today, but wanted to get it started as soon as possible. You can have a quick look at my pre-trip report here (//http://www.magicforum.eu/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=15580) if you're interested but for those who haven't seen or want to stick with this report, I'll do a little recap of the basic information!

WHO: Me (Sophie) and my boyfriend Russell.

WHEN: Monday 10th June til Friday 14th June (the first time either of us have done more than 4 days at DLP!).

WHERE: Hotel Cheyenne (our third trip to the Cheyenne together and my seventh trip overall)

HIGHLIGHTS: Watching the parade and the 20th anniversary celebration train, meeting Duffy again, being waved at by Mickey when he spotted my Mickey tee during the celebration train's trip down Main Street, all of our rides on POTC, the descent of the stairs, Disney Dreams!, generally being back in such a magical place.

LOW POINTS: Guest behaviour and the shabbiness of the parks This is always something I try SO hard to ignore when I go to DLP, but this time it really felt obvious for us and it would be hard to skirt around it in my report because it did have quite a big effect on how I felt while I was there. But I'll try not to focus on it too much because we did really enjoy our stay and there were lots of positives to it too!

Right, I'll leave this for now and start properly later on. I'll edit the topic subject every time I add a new day or post  :ears:

[ecila]

Glad to hear you had a good time despite the low points So excited to read your report

[ilovedisneylandparis]

DAY 1

(I'm sorry if this is a bit text-heavy - we didn't really start to take photos until the Tuesday, so this is mostly writing rather than pictures!)

Day 1 was Monday - we'd prepared by watching Lilo & Stitch and getting our final packing done the night before so we were in very Disney-ish moods! Our flight was at 6.30am so we woke up about 4.30am and left for the airport at 5ish. We originally planned to get a taxi but my mum told us she'd be able to drop us at the airport as it's only 10 minutes from our house which was sweet of her.

I couldn't sleep AT ALL (you know one of those nights where you genuinely feel as if you were awake the whole night and you only actually slept for about 10 minutes?) but I didn't care because I was so excited to go! We arrived at Birmingham Airport at 5.30am and got checked in etc pretty quickly. By the time we got through to the departure lounge everyone was boarding our plane so we grabbed some food and ran over to the boarding gate.

In the queue for boarding we kept spotting people with Minnie ears and DLP hoodies and stuff on, which made me even more excited! I love when you see people who are clearly also really big Disneyland Paris fans, I always want to give them a knowing look but I'm never sure if they will reciprocate so I get scared, haha One of our favourite Disney characters is Squirt from Finding Nemo, and behind us in the queue was a family with a little boy who had a Squirt plush, so that made us smile

Once we were on the plane, everything went just as well. We landed slightly earlier than expected I think, and because we landed in Terminal 2E/F it made it even easier than last time to find the VEA Shuttle area. We'd booked the VEA tickets online this year - I think you're meant to get a saving if you do it online. In the end it was only a couple of euros, but it was nice to already have the tickets and not have to worry about paying for something else. As soon as we got to the VEA point we saw there was a coach already there! So on we got and away we went.

As we started to see the signs for Disneyland Paris it started to sink in a bit more that we were ACTUALLY GOING TO BE THERE in a matter of minutes, and I kept looking out for signs of ToT and other tall DLP things that you can see from a distance. I love being on the VEA when they drive round all the hotels - staying at the Cheyenne meant we got to have a look at Newport Bay, Sequoia Lodge and Santa Fe before we arrived at the Cheyenne itself.





We got off the coach at the Cheyenne and went straight to check in. The first time we stayed at the Cheyenne together we had such a lovely room and I think the trouble with going back to the same hotel is that you do start to compare your visits, so this year we decided to ask if there was any chance of requesting the first year's room. The answer was yes - hooray! I'd called 5 days before when the hotels do the room allocations, and the man I spoke to was really helpful and said it'd be no problem. Sadly when we arrived they told us that actual room was being refurbished, but they offered us the room next door which was absolutely fine with us.

The room wasn't ready yet but we went over to have a look at it anyway  





We quickly dropped our suitcase off at the luggage area and headed straight into the parks! We walked through Disney Village and on the way to the Disneyland Park we stopped off at World of Disney, as it wasn't open last time we visited. I loved this store so much :') I think my favourites are often the cosier, more themed shops like La Chaumiere des Sept Nains and Sir Mickey's, Constellations, Le Coffre du Capitaine, that kind of thing, but I really did like World of Disney. As soon as we walked in we heard Once Upon a Dream which had me in tears straight away  :oops: We went back a few times throughout the trip - I definitely think it's such a welcome addition to DLP.

After our browse around WoD, we walked to Fantasia Gardens! I was so excited to use my new Daisy ticket and hear "Welcome" when you put the ticket through the turnstile, it always makes me so happy. As soon as we got through the ticket area and into the park itself I started crying and couldn't stop for quite some time, haha :') I'm sure a lot of you guys are the same when you're at DLP - I think for me one of the most special parts of my trip is walking through into Main Street and actually realising I am where I am, if that makes sense. I think it's one of the happiest feelings I've ever had but it's also tinged with lots of other emotions, like sadness that I can't be there all the time, shock that I am actually there after months of planning and pining, and general love for Disney and gratitude to Walt...so I'm a bit all over the place when we first arrive each year - to feel all that at once is quite overwhelming!



We had a little sit on Main Street and then got an overwhelming urge to go on Pirates so we ran over as fast as we could - although we had to pause to admire the castle! This was hands-down my best ride on POTC ever, I'm really not sure why but it just felt even more special after having been away for a year, and I had really tried hard not to watch any on-ride videos on YouTube so it'd be a bit fresher for me when we went, and it definitely was! The smell of the queue area and the water was just as amazing as ever and I may or may not have shed another tear or two, haha.

After a look around the gift shop, we figured it was getting towards lunchtime so we decided to head over to Annette's for food! I am one of those people who a) likes to plan b) obsesses over things they are very interested in to quite a degree, so I'm not exaggerating when I say we had had this trip to Annette's planned for months

As we came out of Pirates I looked up and saw a load of 13/14 year-old children standing and sitting on some of the tall rocks in Adventureland, smoking Sadly this was the start of quite a few similar instances that really brought me out of the magic and back down to earth. Like I said, I don't want to write too much about the negatives of the holiday, because we still had an amazing time, but it's really tough when you've just been a buccaneering pirate and then 5 minutes later you're greeted by something that just kills the magic and the innocence of the place

But that aside - off to Annette's!











Definitely a favourite of ours. It was so nice to be back there! After that, we headed back over to the Disneyland Park for a browse around Main Street USA.







I got my yearly balloon, which I always manage to accidentally hit people on the head with whilst carrying around, and Russ got his popcorn which again has become a bit of a tradition We sat down on Main Street and soaked up the atmosphere, until Russ spotted Mary Poppins and Bert!





We're not huuuuugely fussed about the characters (I prefer fur characters for some reason) so we didn't rush to meet her but it was still really nice to see her and Bert :') We had a little walk around the park just having a look at everything, and then went to collect our luggage and check in to the hotel. After that we both got showered and unpacked, then went for a look around the Cheyenne. We were both exhausted, so we decided to get an early night and be ready for a full day in the parks on Tuesday!

[ilovedisneylandparis]

Glad to hear you had a good time despite the low points So excited to read your report

Aw, thank you! :')

[Shannon]

I get really emotional too when I'm there - it's like all of my emotions are heightened and I just can't help it! I'm liking your photographs and it sounds like you had a nice relaxing first day when we go our first day is usually busy because my sister wants to go on everything! Can't wait to read the rest!

[tubbsy]

We dont go very often to DLP so I dont notice so much, but if we went to Legoland-BOY can I point out what needs doing!
And there are people smoking there too. Drives me mad!

I'm getting emotional reading your report! Glad you had  a good time.

[babe ruth]

Your report is truly a pleasure to read through, such a vivid account of your special holiday  :thumbs: I can't wait to read the rest and I am saddened to hear some things brought your special time down  :oops:

[ilovedisneylandparis]

Your report is truly a pleasure to read through, such a vivid account of your special holiday  :thumbs: I can't wait to read the rest and I am saddened to hear some things brought your special time down  :oops:

Aww, thank you so much babe ruth! I still had a wonderful time despite the negatives, it's a very special place for me  :ears:  

We dont go very often to DLP so I dont notice so much, but if we went to Legoland-BOY can I point out what needs doing!
And there are people smoking there too. Drives me mad!

I'm getting emotional reading your report! Glad you had  a good time.

Thanks Tubbsy! I completely agree, I think when you go somewhere fairly frequently it's easy to pick up on things like that So glad you're enjoying the report, thanks for reading!

I get really emotional too when I'm there - it's like all of my emotions are heightened and I just can't help it! I'm liking your photographs and it sounds like you had a nice relaxing first day when we go our first day is usually busy because my sister wants to go on everything! Can't wait to read the rest!

I am exactly the same :') Thanks so much, I'll hopefully be able to get going with the rest soon (just got to wait for my photos to upload which I always forget to do until I actually need to write the report haha)

[ilovedisneylandparis]

So...onto Day 2!

We woke up very excited for our first full day in the parks! But first - breakfast at the Chuck Wagon. This is definitely one of my favourite parts of being in DLP, I know sometimes the queues for food and the hunts for tables can get a little manic, but the food is always so lovely and as someone who never eats much breakfast it is always really nice to enjoy endless amounts of food when we're in Disneyland







After that we got our things together and headed in the direction of the Disneyland Park!



One of my favourite rides at DLP is Phantom Manor, so we decided to walk to Frontierland. We spent quite a bit of time in Frontierland over the course of our trip and both commented on how we missed Big Thunder Mountain - even just the sounds that come from it are so magical, and without it Thunder Mesa seemed a little lifeless. But still...can't complain about refurbs if you're also the one complaining about the state of the park, so even though we missed it we were still very glad it was getting some TLC











Phantom Manor was amazing. Seeing as we are such seasoned DLP-goers now, we always make sure to stand on the side where the door opens in each room, and if we spot anyone else doing the same thing I have noticed that an unspoken competition begins to see who gets onto a doom buggy first, haha

As we were going round I felt like the ride was a lot darker than this time last year and Russ said the same a few seconds later. I quite liked it though, it definitely gave it an even spookier kind of feel! I got a bit tearful again on the way round, the ballroom scene made me so happy, and when we got to the singing busts and heard Grim Grinning Ghosts I was even more emotional.

After we came out we took a few photos and had a look at the gravestones (I always think it's so cool how they've done this, the whole backstory behind PM and Thunder Mesa never fails to impress me and the fact that they've gone so far as to add the gravestones etc always makes me feel so proud to be a Disneyland Paris fan!).

Now...over to the teacups! This is another of our favourites and the queue was only 5 minutes so we were sitting in a teacup before we knew it.





I'd never been over to the wishing well by the castle and really wanted to see it up close, so after some pre-trip help from my DLP friends about where to find it (it's one of those things I've always known existed but had no idea how to get to, for some reason?) we made our way over to there. It's a really sweet little addition to the castle grounds and I liked it a lot. Of course, we both made a wish :')

After that Russ suggested we see what the queue for the Railroad was like, as this is something we've always wanted to do together but have never got around to doing. I went on it when I was 6, on my first trip to DLP, and I remember me and my brother absolutely loved it and learned the spiel off by heart (//http://ilovedisneylandparis.tumblr.com/post/49518051719/euro-disney-railroad-announcement-disneyland). I wish they still played it!

We were probably waiting about 10/15 minutes before we got onto the train. I was a bit silly and accidentally selected seats that meant we were going backwards but we actually still had a really good view of everything. I really liked how almost every worker on the Railroad was a woman - all the train drivers were women and 90% of the other CMs were women, too. Just a nice thing to see is all :')











We enjoyed the Railroad a lot, it was lovely to travel round the park at that pace and have a little look at everything. I know this is quite commonly advised but I would definitely reiterate that Frontierland Station seems to be the quietest and Fantasyland Station the second quietest, whereas Main Street USA is where everyone seems to get on! So if you're looking to get on quickly or for a fast ride from one land to another, I'd definitely recommend Frontierland Station

I think the only negative of the Railroad was that you are almost 'behind the magic' and are likely to see aspects of the park that you might not necessarily want to be exposed to. Russ took to saying "Ooh, look at that!" and pointing in the opposite direction whenever he saw something that he thought might upset me, haha, so I was mostly distracted from it :')

I don't know if it's just me that gets like this, do you guys find you are the same? Whilst walking down Discovery Arcade we would see CMs come out from backstage and stand having a conversation with each other whilst holding the door open and when you see backstage it's sad It's not like it's all messy and disgusting or anything, there's nothing wrong with it, but it's just that it shatters the illusion and all of a sudden you think "Oh...I'm not actually where I just thought I was". I know from working at the Disney Store that there is 'onstage' and 'backstage' (there was a sign on our door that said "Smile! You're about to go onstage!") so I do wish that kind of thing would happen less, I feel like if I was a CM I would squeeze out the door and leave the smallest amount of backstage visible as possible

Other things stood out to me, like a massive metal structure above Town Square Photography (//https://twitter.com/DLPRehabs/status/346388156565819394/photo/1) and similar stuff on-show whilst surveying Fantasland from the castle balcony.

After our trip around the park on the train, we decided to grab some lunch and walked over to Au Chalet de la Marionnette, which is one of our favourite fast food restaurants in the resort. I had chicken nuggets and Russ had the burger







In a photo a while back I'd spotted a Medieval Minnie plush (her in an all-pink version of her Ye Olden Days outfit and hat!) which I'd fallen in love with, so we set off to explore Fantasyland and see if we could find her. Sadly they don't seem to sell her anymore, as we checked literally everywhere, but I'm not sure how old the photo was - I'll have to search for her on eBay :') We had a lovely time looking round the stores though, all of the cosy Fantasyland shops are so beautiful and intricate.





Later on we walked back down Main Street and checked some of the stores there. Still no luck but a lot of fun anyway!





When we were on Main Street, Russ spotted my favourite bear, Duffy! So we joined the queue to meet him



Time for another go on Pirates, which was a walk-on! After this I have a feeling we went on Buzz but I can't remember exactly (I really need to start writing down exactly what we do on each day, as it happens!) :oops: We spent some more time in the park and then went over to the Rainforest Cafe for tea/dinner!









We were by one of the elephants, which happened the first year as well! I think it might be an English-speaking section, as a lot of other UK or English-speaking guests I know have also been seated there before. The food was really good and came out so quickly, as it always seems to do, I would definitely recommend TRC for when you're looking for a quick turnaround but don't fancy the counter service restaurants! I got one of those flashing glasses which I have always secretly longed for but been too scared to ask for, but this year I decided to go for it I bought it afterwards and am looking forward to drinking my juice out of my flashing cup in the future, haha.

Poor Russ was wearing new shoes which had rubbed his feet really badly and he was starting to struggle with all the walking We had a look around the DLP shops for some replacements but they were all made of quite hard material and were very expensive so he was unsure. I remembered the Val d'Europe shopping centre from when I stayed at the Hotel l'Elysee Val d'Europe in 2006 with my mum and dad, so we went over to the train station and caught a train to Val d'Europe. The centre closes at 9pm (apart from the hypermarket) and it was 8.30ish so we were in a bit of a rush and I couldn't remember which train to get etc but it worked out well in the end as we spoke to a helpful member of staff who told us that all the trains from Marne la Vallee stop there

There was graffiti all over the bridges on the way to Val d'Europe which made me sad Is this Disney property? I'm guessing it is but I'm not sure. I just kept thinking that if I was a first-time visitor getting the train to DLP and this is what I was greeted with just before arriving at the parks, I'd be a little disheartened I noticed graffiti a lot around the resort in general - on the signposts around Disney Village, all over the queue for Peter Pan's Flight, in three different areas in our hotel room(!). The Peter Pan's Flight graffiti and etchings were all there last year so I don't understand why it hasn't been removed, you know?

I don't want to sound like someone who just complains about everything, because I really don't - in fact often quite the opposite with DLP - but so much this year just stood out for me and made me feel as if my favourite place in the world isn't being properly taken care of! I think that's what it is - it's somewhere that means so much to me that I worry about it, and when I see things like empty drinks bottles and a baby's sandal drifting around in It's a Small World (every day we were there so I guess they'd been there a while) I just want to cry.

I do appreciate that DLP is open 365 days a year, so without a doubt things can't always be pristine. But that's the thing - I always stick up for DLP and I really don't expect perfection. But I don't think it's too much to ask that graffiti and carvings be removed from one of the most popular rides in the Disneyland Park, especially when they have been there for at least a year?! And I don't think it's much to ask that a CM rides IASW or similar rides at the end of every day and checks for water bottles and that kind of thing Obviously I have never worked at DLP and can't really comment on what 'should' or 'must' be done, because I don't know what goes on behind the scenes. But...

Moving on - we arrived at Val d'Europe! We didn't have much time and we thought it'd be best to stick to what we knew, so we headed to H&M and Russ found some cheap canvas pumps which were a lot comfier, phew! We got the train back over to Marne la Vallee and had another browse around World of Disney, before heading back to the hotel room for a bit.

We left the room at about 10.15pm and got the bus over to watch our first 2013 showing of Dreams! Eek We didn't have the best view but it was still so magical and we both absolutely loved it. I think we both missed The Jungle Book section, but the new Brave and The Lion King segments were AMAZING, I think the Brave part is actually one of my favourites despite it not being my favourite film, I loved it :') And we are big Timon & Pumba fans so TLK was very well-received. I think it's times like this where you can really feel the Disney magic. Even though there were people smoking around me and people standing on flowerbeds etc I was able to completely ignore them on this occasion and just enjoy what was going on around me. Watching it makes me feel so proud of DLP!









After Dreams! we walked back over to the Cheyenne and got ready for bed. Breakfast the next day was at 7.45am so we needed a good night's sleep ready for Extra Magic Hours!

[ecila]

Really enjoying your trip report so far! I completely agree about how horrible it is to see things 'backstage' as you said. For me, one of the main reasons I love dlp so much is because you feel like you're in a different world but when the illusion of that is shattered it really upsets me haha. For instance, I refuse to go on the toy story parachute drop because I'm scared I'll be able to see over and out of the parks and it'll make me realise that I'm not in my own little world :')
 I also agree that they need to do something about the graffiti on Peter Pan's Flight, the only thing that upsets me more than the fact that they haven't fixed it is that someone chose to do it in the first place, in the queue for one of the loveliest rides
But it seems like you're having a lovely time anyway, can't wait to read more!

[Aurora1]

Thank you for posting a TR! And you have great pictures!
One question, on the possibility of sounding stupid, where is the wishing well by the castle you mentioned? I never heard of  it!?

[ilovedisneylandparis]

Really enjoying your trip report so far! I completely agree about how horrible it is to see things 'backstage' as you said. For me, one of the main reasons I love dlp so much is because you feel like you're in a different world but when the illusion of that is shattered it really upsets me haha. For instance, I refuse to go on the toy story parachute drop because I'm scared I'll be able to see over and out of the parks and it'll make me realise that I'm not in my own little world :')

 I also agree that they need to do something about the graffiti on Peter Pan's Flight, the only thing that upsets me more than the fact that they haven't fixed it is that someone chose to do it in the first place, in the queue for one of the loveliest rides
But it seems like you're having a lovely time anyway, can't wait to read more!

Yess I am exactly the same! So glad it's not just me :') That is such a good point about the parachute drop - I never went on because I'm a bit of a ride wimp but even if I wasn't I think I'd feel the same as you! Same with Panoramagique haha, anything that could take me out of the magic is a big no-no

And I completely agree about Peter Pan's Flight I genuinely have no idea why someone would choose to do something like that, especially somewhere as magical as DLP where it's obvious how much effort has been put into everything!

Thanks so much for your reply, I love talking to other DLP fans! I'll be posting Day 3 tomorrow at some stage :')

Thank you for posting a TR! And you have great pictures!
One question, on the possibility of sounding stupid, where is the wishing well by the castle you mentioned? I never heard of  it!?

Thank you Aurora! That's lovely of you. Aw no you don't sound stupid at all, it's very easy to miss I think! It's on the right hand side of the castle as you look at it from Main Street - if you walk past the castle stage towards Fantasyland, it'll be on your left, down a little walkway

[never2old]

I am LOVING your TR!!! Lovely pictures and above all, a great read! I know just how you feel, lots of emotions when we go to DLP!!  

The graffiti in the Peter Pan queue is terrible. I have seen them cleaning it though, and it always comes back I remember one year we went in October and it had just been cleaned, when we went back a month later it was all covered in graffiti again    It was very upsetting, why can't people show a bit of respect?!?

Looking forward to more

[Shannon]

The graffiti in the Peter Pan queue is terrible. I have seen them cleaning it though, and it always comes back I remember one year we went in October and it had just been cleaned, when we went back a month later it was all covered in graffiti again    It was very upsetting, why can't people show a bit of respect?!?

It's good to hear that they do actually clean it - I wasn't sure if they just left it as it's been there each time I've visited it is so frustrating to see it in that state!

[Macchiato]

Nice report! We stayed at the Cheyenne a week before you.   I think we even sat at the exact same table in the Rainforest Cafe as you.

Gosh, I hate the graffiti in the Peter Pan queue. It definitely get's cleaned though. Between September 2011 and August 2013 I went to DLP 4 times and I could swear it was different etchings and stuff every time. One time there was even no vandalism at all.  :thumbs:

I swear if I ever see someone actually doing it while standing in the queue I'll go all Queen of Hearts on them (even though I'm a guy.)