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[bad-pink-tink]

Ok so here is my trip report. No photos just text, Happy Reading

Mum and Me Christmas 2013
Day 1 Monday 23 December

Early start, taxi booked for 6.30 am. It takes 30 minutes to get to the airport. Not too many in the check in queue and by 7. 45 am we are through security and heading for breakfast.
The airport is not as busy as we expected, most people are arriving back home to Ireland for Christmas, not going out of Ireland like us.

The flight is at 10am, it's a full flight. The weather is not too bad, a little turbulence but that's to be expected. The flight time is about 1 hour 30 minutes so with the time difference we land in Paris just before 1pm.

After getting our cases we make our way to the VEA bus which is between Terminal 2E and 2F. We have arrived in Terminal 1 so we follow the signs and take the shuttle train to Terminal 2. We then follow the signs and walk through the terminal to 2E and then follow the signs for VEA.  It takes us about 20 minutes and when we eventually get to the VEA desk we have just missed a bus. We take a seat and wait for the next one.

We eventually leave CDG around 2.45pm and get to our hotel, Sequoia Lodge just after 3.30pm. At check in we get our room keys, park tickets, hotel easy pass for EMH and for the pool and our Christmas Lunch voucher. We also get our breakfast vouchers. We book for breakfast in the park for Thursday 26 December and we are given a voucher for The Plaza for 8.45am.  Before we leave reception we have to confirm our Christmas Lunch reservation at a separate table. 

Our room is not in the main building, we are in Sierra Lodge, which is about 5 minutes' walk from the main building. We follow the path down to the lodges and find our building and then up to our room.

The room is Bambi themed, 2 double beds, a good sized table with 2 chairs and a chest of drawers where the TV is.  The bathroom area is divided in 2. The shower and toilet are together. The sink area is outside the door, and there is a safe and suitcase bench.  There is a retractable clothes line over the bath / shower.

We take a few minutes to settle ourselves and then its off to the park we go.

We have just about 2 hours as we have booked our evening meal at The Plaza for 6pm. This is mums first time in Disney so we take our time walking from the hotel, down to the village and then into the park.  Its great that mums first sight of Disney is in daylight, so she can get her bearings and figure things out.

As we walk into the park, we see everyone gathering for the Christmas Cavalcade.  We decide to try to do the train ride to give mum a complete overview of the park. We start queuing but there is a huge queue and by the time the parade starts we are still not at the top. We decide to leave the queue and watch the parade from the train station. We actually have a very good view and it really gets us into the Disney atmosphere.

After the parade we decide to not go on the train and just stroll down Main Street as we don't have much time before our meal booking. 

Just before 6pm we go to the Plaza. It's not too busy but it was still better to have made a reservation in advance.  The Plaza Restaurant in Disneyland Paris is a buffet restaurant, very different type of food to The Plaza in Disneyland California.

We haven't eaten properly all day so its great to stop and have a proper meal. We stay for about an hour, just enough time to recharge and be ready to do some rides.

The park closes at 10 pm so we have about 2 and a half hours as we want to get a good place for Dreams. 

So its off to Frontierland and Phantom Manor.  The queue is not too bad, about 20 minutes.  Mum has never seen Haunted Mansion film or does not know anything about the story of the ride so I try to explain bits as we queue.

When we reach our doom buggy , the ride seems dark to me.  It was hard to read the the TOMB SWEET TOMB  sign and if you didn't know about the door knockers you would have wondered where the noise was coming from.  Mum enjoyed it though which is good.

After Phantom Manor we decide to go to Pirates.  As its dark we can't really see much of the themeing in Frontierland.  I get kinda lost and disorientated in the dark and take a few wrong turns but we eventually get to Pirates.  This time it's a 10 minute queue time, brilliant . As we walk down I explain about the ride to mum, as again she has never seen any of the films or know anything about the ride.  She loves the theming and whole atmosphere. As the ride starts I point out the Blue Lagoon restaurant which I have booked for Thursday 26 December.  I have mixed feelings about this Pirates ride. I love it but at the same time I prefer the California version.  Mum enjoyed it though.

After a quick look in the shop and at The Blue Lagoon menu its into Fantasyland. We don't do any rides, just wander through and then around to Discoveryland. My idea is to give mum an overview of the park, let her get her bearings and see what each of the lands are like.

In Discoveryland we try to find the train station but again in the dark I get totally disorientated. The plan was to do a complete circuit of the park but we end up running out of time.  By now mum is getting tired, she has foot problems and is not able to long hours of standing and walking.  We decide to try to find somewhere to sit as it is around 9.30pm and we can see people gathering for Dreams. As we come out of Discoveryland we see people sitting on the wooden sculpture thingy so we decide to sit too. 

We see people standing at the railings and after a while we decide to go there too as it's a better view of the castle.

At 9.45pm the Castle lighting starts.  It's really beautiful; I really love the icey sparkly roofs on the turrets. 

Then at 10pm Dreams start. We have a really good , view of the castle, a bit sideways but its ok. The sound is a bit low though as we are not near any speakers. 

Ok, first impressions of Dreams.... It's good but not spectacular.  The fountains and fireworks are great but the animated projections on the castle don't really work for me.  It's a bit of a mish mash, the Frozen elements, the Christmas elements, trying to do a sing-along in different languages, it just seems they are trying to cram in as much as possible.  Yes it's magical Disney but it's not classic Disney, if that makes sense to anyone!


It takes ages to leave after Dreams, as we are at Discoveryland entrance.  We take our time and make our way with the crowds. By the time we get back to our hotel its nearly 11pm. Its been a long day but I am just so happy to be back in Disney again.

[bad-pink-tink]

Day 2 Tuesday 24 December

We wake up early as we have a 7.30am breakfast slot. It's raining today, so out come the ponchos, hat, gloves. We are both wearing boots as we came prepared for rain.  After breakfast I head into the park for EMH and mum goes back to the room. We make arrangements to meet for lunch. She prefers to do things at a slower pace than me, so she will make her own way to the park later in the morning.

So well wrapped up I head into the park. It's a bit windy and raining but it doesn't bother me.  Once in the park I follow everyone down Main Street towards the castle. Due to the rain there is not a lot of people around, which is nice. I head straight for Peter Pans Flight. The queue is nice and small which is good.

The one thing about being in Paris is that nearly everything is in French. For Peter Pan this is good, as it's always hard to hear Peter saying "and it's off to Neverland" in the California ride. When it's in French it doesn't affect me as much and I can get lost in the ride. Again this seemed darker than the one in California, but like always it's too short and before you know it , it's back to reality.  I want to go and do it again but the queue is much bigger now so I take a walk around Fantasyland and head into Discovery land.

So next its onto a new ride, Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast. As its new, it gets really huge queues so the best time to do it is during EMH. When we walked past it last night the wait time was 110 minutes!!  Now though as its only 10 minutes.  This is similar to Toystory in California, a shooting ride.  It's a 2 person buggy on a track moving through space. You have a handheld laser gun and you just point and shoot. I can see why it gets huge queues. My first go was terrible, I got a really low score, so when I came out, the wait time was still 10 minutes so I went back in again. Much better this time around.

I checked the time and its nearly 10am so I make my way over to Captain EO. This is only open between 10am and 6pm so as I was already in Discoveryland I decided this was the best time to do it. The rain is still pelting down and it seems like the crowds are smaller due to the weather.  I am at Captain EO when the castmembers open for the day.  Again things are slightly different in Paris than California. The main wait area is inside. This is where they show the Making Of video. There is also a short Kodak video before the Making of video.  The Making Of video is in French with English subtitles. 

After Captain EO I take a look in Star Traders shop. As expected they have very little merchandise, just 1 t-shirt and 1 baseball hat.

I decide next to finally do the train. The Discoveryland train station is just near me, but as I get near it, I see it is closed.  Great. So I decide to head back to Fantasyland and see if that train station is open. It's still raining, not light misty rain but proper rain and many people are looking a bit wet. I'm quite dry in my poncho. It's not the best look but I don't care.

On my way to Fantasyland I pass the side of the castle and remember another hidden extra. Underneath the Castle in Paris there is an animatronic dragon. There is a passage way under the main drawbridge which brings you under the shops in the castle. The dragon is very good , it breaths smoke and has sound effects. I spend a few minutes there, just watching the children's reactions and having a break from the rain.

I continue past the dragon and come out at the other side of the Castle and into Fantasyland.  I head over to the train station but again it is closed. There is a castmember at the entrance and he tells me the only station open is Main Street USA. He didn't say but I guess its cos of the rain. They don't want people just staying on the train, going round and round.  Ok then so its off to Main Street. As I am at the end of Fantasyland I decide to try to find the hidden walkway.  I go over to Adentureland entrance and find the covered part and just keep walking. The pathway is really good. As long as you keep the buildings on your left you can't go wrong.  You just need to be observant in Adventureland and Frontierland and walk across the flow of people and you will see the pathway continuing. It's great, there is hardly any people, it's a break from the rain and it's a really quick way of getting to Liberty Arcade and avoiding the crowds.

Through the arcade and over to the train station. As I pass City Hall I decide to ask about the guided tour and see if I can get a "My First Visit" badge for mum. They are very helpful in City Hall but unfortunately there are no tours in English during our visit and they don't do the "My First Visit" badge.  Oh well, I tried. So over to the train station and I join the queue.  As I reach the top level, I see people gathering for the Christmas Cavalcade. How lucky is that. Second time to see a parade from the train station.  After the parade, the train pulls up and I am at the top of the queue. The train stops at every station to let people off but no one is allowed to get on. I do a complete circuit and when we get back to Main Street I check the time and find its nearly 1pm. So I head over to the studios to meet mum.

We decide to go for lunch at Blockbuster Café.  It's not too crowded and we manage to get a seat in the Pirates section.  We spend about an hour over lunch, it's nice to sit down in the warmth for a while. Mum has enjoyed her morning, getting to know the park at her own pace.  After lunch we decided to separate again and meet up later for our evening meal.  Mum goes shopping in the arcade at the studios and I head back to the main park.

As I enter the park I decide to explore the shops on Main Street so I head into Discovery Arcade. I find Town Square Photography and go in to find the telephone on the wall. It's a lovely little shop but I can see why Disney are closing it. It's really had its day, and the space can be better used. 

After about an hour wandering through the shops I decide its time for more rides. So it's back into Frontierland. As I pass Thunder Masa Riverboat landing, I see The Molly Brown is about to leave so I manage to get on it.  It's still raining so everyone is inside in the cabins, but as I have my poncho, I go up to the top deck and find a seat at the back. I get a great view of Phantom Manor. It is starting to get dark though so it's hard to see things as we go around but I'm glad I did it.

By the time the boat ride ends it is dark, so I head over to Phantom Manor. The wait time is 20 minutes, not too bad. It's still raining, so I'm sure that has a lot to do with the small crowd in the park today.

After Phantom Manor, I again use the hidden walkway to get to Pirates. This is a really good way of of avoiding the crowds.

After Pirates I check the time and see I don't really have time to do another ride. I decide to head back to Main Street , again using the hidden walkway.  I have about an hour before I meet mum, so I just wander through the shops and find a bench in Liberty Arcade to sit for a while and warm up.

At about 6.45pm I leave the park and head over to the village to meet mum. We decide to eat at Rainforest Café as mum has never been to one of them. 

We get a table quickly, it seems it is a good time to eat. The service is a bit slow though so we are there longer than we had thought. 

After our meal we decide to go back to the hotel. Both of us are tired and don't really want to wait around in the rain to see Dreams.  An early night is a good idea, so we can get up for EMH.

[DisneyManiac]

Nice Trip Report! Got a question:


Where is the Hidden Walkway in Adventureland? Also is it the walkway that goes underneath the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse?

[bad-pink-tink]

Where is the Hidden Walkway in Adventureland?

Ok, start at Adventureland entrance beside Pirates. Instead of walking through to either Pirates or PeterPan, walk down under the covered part. This is the start of the hidden walkway. Keep going straight across the second entrance to Adventureland, across to the round tables of the outdoor seating area of Au Chalet De La Marionnette restaurant. Instead of going into Fantasyland continue straight though the seating area, which takes you down the side of the restaurant. Follow the path, keeping the building on your left and you will see Adventureland on your right. Just keep going, following the side of the buildings and you will reach the third entrance of Adventureland. The next part is a bit more complicated. You need to walk across the flow of people over to the Giraffe shop. Between the shop and Aladdins Enchanted Passage you should see an opening. This is the next part of the hidden walkway. It looks like just a cave but when you walk though you will see the path continuing. This path brings you to Frontierland entrance. Again you need to go  across the flow of people and on the other side of the entrance you will again see an opening. Again just go through this opening and the path continues. You go through the trees and pass toliets and then suddenly you are at the top of Liberty Arcade.


I hope this makes sense   

[bad-pink-tink]

Day 3 Wednesday 25 December
We have a 7.30am breakfast slot so its another early morning. After breakfast we head down to the park for EMH. This is mums first time in the park this early, so we take our time walking down Main Street to the castle.

We head straight for Peter Pan. Luckily not to big a queue. The weather is dry and there is a big difference in the size of the crowds.

After Peter Pan we head over to Buzz Lightyear. The wait time is 10 minutes, great.  As we walk in I try to explain to mum what to do, just really point and shoot.  Mum loves it although by the time she has figured out what to aim at the ride is over. We come out and see the on ride photos, which is really funny. We go around to the entrance and the wait time is still 10 minutes so we go back in again. This time mums score is much better.  On the way out mum takes a photo of the onride photo.

After a quick look in the shop we check the time and decide to head back to our hotel. We have planned to Skype my sister and her husband back in England before we go to Christmas Brunch at Hotel New York.

We go over to Hotel New York for 11.30am. You can read about our Merry Christmas Brunch here https://forum.dlpguide.com/index.php?topic=15959.0

After a quick look in Hotel New York lobby area, mum decides to go back to our hotel and I head into the park.  We plan to meet up around 7pm.

The crowds are much bigger today  and its not raining. I head for Captain EO first as I know the queues will be small.

Then I got the train from Discoveryland over to Fantasyland. The queue for Peter Pan was huge so I went to Pirates and then down the hidden walkway to Phantom Manor.

By this stage I was getting a bit cold so I decided to go back to our hotel and get my big coat. By the time I made it back to the hotel it was nearly 6pm. Mum was in the room and we decided we really didn't want a big evening meal after the very heavy lunch. We decided to meet about 9pm in the park to watch Dreams.

After putting warmer clothes on, I went back into the park. By now there were a lot of people in the park and I really didn't feel like queuing for anything. After a wander through the shops on Main Street, I decided to get something to eat so I went into the Cable Car Bakeshop and got a hot chocolate and a baguette and sat for about an hour in the warmth.

At about 8pm I went out and just strolled around. I just love the whole atmosphere and being in Disney.
I met mum around 9pm on Main Street. After seeing the huge crowds and how long it took to leave the park the other night after Dreams, I had decided that tonight we would watch Dreams on Main Street. We decided to sit for a while in Liberty arcade and then find a spot around Casey's Corner. This would mean we would be near the top of Liberty Arcade for our way out after Dreams.

I found a spot just on the wall the far side of the seating area, near the speakers, mum had brought a small blanket to sit on, so around 9.30pm we made ourselves comfortable.

When the Castle lighting started though, the area between us and the far railings got really crowded, really quickly. We decided to stand as with all the people in front of us now, we couldn't see when we were sitting on the wall. When Dreams started we had a good view though, which was good.

This time, as we were near the arcade entrance, it was easier to leave the park and we didn't get caught in a crush.

We took it easy going back to the hotel, we were both cold and tired as it was nearly 11pm and we just went straight to bed.

[bad-pink-tink]

Day 4 Thursday 26 December

This morning we have breakfast booked at The Plaza Restaurant in the park so we don't have to be up as early.  We decide to be in the park around 8am to do EMH before breakfast but we are a bit slower moving this morning and we get to the park around 8.15am. We take some photos of the lights in Main Street and then we see one of the Disneyland Transportation Vehicles, an old fashioned car coming up Main Street.  As we are near the pick-up point, we decide to see if we can get on it. Luckily we are the only ones waiting at the pick-up point and we get a lovely drive up Main Street USA to the Castle.

By now it's around 8.30am and we are getting hungry so we decide to see if we can get into The Plaza for breakfast. Our slot is for 8.45am but it's not that crowded so we are given a table.

The breakfast buffet in The Plaza is basically the same as in The Sequoia Lodge but it's nice to be able to eat in the park. We take our time over breakfast and it's just after 9.15am when we decide to leave.

As it's still early we head over to Discoveryland to see how the wait time for Buzz is. It's not that long so we go in. Mum really loves this ride.

After Buzz we decide to separate for the afternoon.  We have dinner booked at The Blue Lagoon at 6pm so we decide to meet around 5pm. 

As its nearly 10am and I am in Discoveryland, I decide to go to Captain EO.

After Captain EO, I decide to take a walk up to The Village. I haven't really been in the shops here, just walked though on my way to the park each day. I spend about an hour just walking around and then head back to the park.

There seems to be a lot of people in the park today, it's a really nice day, not too cold. This means the wait times at rides will be very long.  I decided to go back to Captain EO as I know the wait time won't be too long. 

After Captain EO, I decide to try Pirates. When I get there the wait time is 60 minutes, nope, not doing that!!  So I decide to have a wander over to the Studios.  As I go in I see people are starting to gather for Stars In Cars parade. It's a bit different over here, there are no ropes on the parade route, people just somehow know the route and just stand. It looks a bit odd but I guess it works. 

After the parade I decide to go back to the main park. There's nothing much I want to see here. 

Back in the main park there is a lot of people on Main Street. I am really not in the mood for big queues today so I go back again to Captain EO. 

After Captain EO, I take a walk through Fantasyland and over  to Frontierland.  There are a lot of people in the park today so I really don't bother trying to do any rides. I take a look at the shops and just sit for a while people watching and enjoying the atmosphere.  After a while I check the time and its nearly time to meet mum. I decide to take the hidden walkway from Frontierland back to Main Street.  As I am walking, I suddenly meet mum, coming towards me!  What a surprise, this was not the time or place we had arranged to meet but we ended up in the hidden walkway at the same time.

We sit for a bit, catching up on our day.  It's just after 5.30pm so we decide to slowly make our way to Pirates and The Blue Lagoon restaurant. Our reservation is for 6pm but we decide to try to see if we can get in early.

This is my first time in Blue Lagoon and I just love it. It's something so totally different, a restaurant inside Pirates ride, something you don't get anywhere else other than in a Disney park.

As we have a reservation, we don't have long to wait for our table.  The restaurant is busy and our table is not near the water but its ok, we can still see the water from where we are and the atmosphere is amazing.

When our server arrives with the menus, we explain about mum's dietary problem, she is allergic to gluten. She has a card written in French explaining about her allergy and the server takes this card into the kitchen to show the chef.  He comes back with a special allergy menu, which has two dishes which are suitable for her. He is very apologetic about having a different menu for her but she doesn't mind. Most restaurants don't go to that much trouble.  Disney always go that little bit extra.

We have a lovely relaxed meal. The restaurant is full tonight, so it's just as well we had a reservation. 

After our meal, we decide to just take it easy. We have a look at the wait time for Pirates but its 40 minutes and we decide to just take our time and head back to our hotel for an early night. As we go through the village I do some shopping in Disney Designs. I had seen some things earlier which I wanted to buy.

We get back to our hotel around 9 pm.  Mum starts packing but I am totally exhausted and just fall into bed.

[bad-pink-tink]

Day 5 Friday 27 December
Our last day in Disney. We wake up early, I need to pack and I want to spend as much time as possible in the park.  Our Breakfast slot is 7.30am so we decide to bring our cases to the left luggage room before breakfast. Check out is at 11am so mum plans to come back to the room after breakfast and just stay around the hotel. We plan to get the 12.30pm bus to the airport.

After breakfast I head straight to the park. Even though it is early there are a lot of people on the move for EMH.  I go straight to Peter Pan but, oh no, the ride is not working. The cast member says technical problems and cannot give a time when it will be back. So I decide to go over to Discoveryland and what Buzz is like. Goodness the park is busy this morning, the wait time for Buzz is already 30 minutes!! Not doing that. I decide to go back to Fantasyland and see what is happening with Peter Pan.  When I get back across to Fantasyland, yes Peter Pan is open, but there is now a huge queue and it's a 40 minute wait time. Wow seriously busy this morning, this is still EMH. I decide to just sit and people watch and find a bench in Fantasyland beside the carousel. 

After sitting for a while I take a look in the shops under the Castle.  I decide to go back across to Discoveryland for Captain EO at 10am. There are just too many people in the park and I don't want to waste what little time I have left queuing.

After Captain EO I spend my last hour on Main Street USA. I really don't want to leave, I just love being in the Disney bubble, escaping reality but all too soon it's time to go. 

At 12pm I make my way out of the back to the hotel to meet mum.  She is at the left luggage area. We collect the cases and wait for the 12.30pm bus to the airport.

[Aurora1]

thanks for the report! I`m glad you had a good time!

[grovesie]

Bad-pink-tink

Sounds as if you had a great time.... as we did. Where did you sit for the Cristmas lunch? The day after you left there was a demonstration between DLH and the train station. The park cleaners emptied all the bins on to the floor, coated the area with toilet rolls and spread food all about the area. The park guests had to be ushered around the ooutside of the main walkway.

I will post my photos of our stay instead of a written diary.

Grovesie

[bad-pink-tink]

Thanks for reading Aurora1


grovesie


We were sitting in the middle at the top near the steps up to the food, this was our table





Oh gosh thats sounds horrible. I saw something about that on twitter but I didnt realise it was that bad.
Looking forward to seeing your photos   

[DLRP Roundup!]

Nice report


I can only imagine how nice it is to be there over Xmas.

[Livvipivvi]

Fab trip report 

[samuelvictor]

Lovely to read all this, thanks for taking the time to type it all We'll be going for Christmas for the first time this year so great to hear what its like, and get an idea of queing times on the different days, plus the shows, weather etc. I can't wait (not even told the kids yet, but I'm excited enough for all of us!  )

[seraphelle]

What a great report. I'm definitely going to try and find those hidden walkways the next time we go. 

[bad-pink-tink]

thanks for reading and the comments. I tried to put in as much information as I could, to help people planing trips. The hidden walkways are such a nice find, not only do you shelter from the rain but you beat the huge crowds and can get to the back of the park and to Pirates and Peter Pan alot faster.