Pre-trip report March 17th - 21st 2014

[pialykke]

ONE MONTH TO GO AND WE'LL BE THERE!!!!!!
 
I have been waiting for sooooooo long to start my pre-trip report, and now I'm affraid I can't hold back any longer! It's bad enough keeping the surprise from the boys! We still haven't told them!!!
 
Going are:
Me - 33 (going on 13 when I'm in DLP - which we've sadly only been once...)
Hubby - 45 (with a bad back, so wont be going on any wild rides)
DS7 - loves Phineas & Ferb, The Incredibles and Tinkerbell (!!!)
DS6 - also loves Phineas & Ferb, Peter Pan and Goofy!
My mother - 56, never been to DLP before, but loves anything Disney...
 
Plan of action:
I still haven't decided how to tell the boys... We booked the trip end of November last year, and how I have managed to keep it a secret till now, I really don't know...
But I don't want to take the part of looking forward to it away from them completely... I think we might have to tell them the week before we go, so they can tell their friends at school as well.

One of DS7's classmates is going this summer, and DS7 really wants to go when his friend goes, so he can see him there.....!! (Me screaming inside my head: But you can't cause we're going next month!!!!)
Hubby did have the idea of not telling them until we actually wake them up to go to the airport... But I just want them to be able to look forward to it too.... I really like the idea of surprising them, but it will still be a surprise even if we tell them a week in advance...
 
What are your thoughts on this?? What have you done? Any surprises gone wrong...??

Anyway... Itinerary is as follows...:
Mon. 17th March:  (Sct. Patricks Day)
Wake up around 4am, pick mum up on the way to the airport. Depart Copenhagen at 6.55, arriving at Charles de Gaulle at 9.00. Get the next VEA to Santa Fe. Check in, drop bags and off we go. Lunch at Earl of Sandwich before nipping in World of Disney for our autographbook and pen. Then I want to nip in City Hall for info on characters during the week. There are certain rarer ones that we are hoping to meet - of which I've made a list - will they be able to tell me if/where/when they are available during our stay? I hope so...
We are spending the first day mainly in Fantasyland & Discoveryland, doing some of the rides we love, and some we haven't done before. As we only have the afternoon, and it's Sct. Patricks Day too, we will be checking out the programme for any special events, and probably wont be able to try too many rides this day.
We will be watching the parade, then having dinner at Plaza Gardens before watching Dreams!    Can't wait!!!

Tues. 18th March:
Having early breakfast at the hotel at 7.00 (our boys are used to getting up between 5am - 5.30 am, and this is stuck in their system, so the do this even on weekends and holidays too...)
Then off for EMH in Fantasyland / Discoveryland. Sadly their favourite ride Peter Pan is closed for our entire stay, but hopefully they will replace that with another Fantasyland ride instead...
Then we are off to the Studios for a day. Catching Studio Tram Tours once before that too closes down for the rest of the week. (I'm not fussed myself, but I want my mum to experience it).
We'll hopefully watch most of the shows today, but might give Moteurs Action a miss...
Hope to meet lots of characters before Stars in Cars (hope that will still be running, even if they have taken a few of the cars out for the Spring Festival)...
We'll be having lunch at the Blockbuster Café (in the Iron Man room - as the boys LOVE The Avengers at the moment), and dinner at Annette's before heading back to Disneyland for a few more rides before Dreams again!

Wed. 19th March:
We're booked in for breakfast at Café Mickey at 8.00 today. We went for this last time too, and it was fantastic. Much better selection of food, and of course the characters were brilliant!
Then we're off for what's left of EMH in Disneyland, and spending the rest of the day in Adventureland / Frontierland and chasing characters... 
Might have lunch at Pizza Planet if it's open, otherwise we'll see what we fancy.
Might have a look at the Pavillion, as we haven't met any princesses yet... And if the queue is reasonable (or they have brought the fastpass back) we might just have a go.... I for one would like the experience, just once. 
Then we'll be watching the parade again, having dinner, probably at a counterservice, and then rides till Dreams is on one final time... Wont be watching it Thursday...

Thurs. 20th March:
Breakfast at Santa Fe at 7.00 am again, then off for more EMH in Fantasyland / Discoveryland.
Then we're back at the Studios when they open, for any rides we might have missed, or want to try again. More character chasing, and lunch at Restaurant des Stars.
Don't know if we'll stay at the Studios after lunch or head back over to Disneyland.
Definitely going to the Disneyland Hotel for the Descent of the Stairs / Magical Moments (whichever it is on the day) at 16.00. Then we'll catch the parade one last time, before heading to Café Mickey for dinner. (Which means we'll miss Dreams, but so be it...)

Fri. 21st March:
Last day....!! Already!!! 
Might have breakfast at Plaza Gardens today, if it's available. If not, then breakfast at Santa Fe at 7.00. Check out, and drop bags at the store room.
Then heading to Disneyland for EMH, more meet & greets in the morning, whatever we can squeeze in, last rides etc.
Earl of Sandwich for lunch to go, and then getting the VEA back to Charles de Gaulle at 12.30...

I am beyond excited! I can't believe it's only a month away! YAY!!!!!! Now the countdown can REALLY begin!! Christ, and there I go, writing a novel again...... Hope you managed to stay awake through it all.......... 
 
 

[polar vixen]

Personally, i say tell tehm before you go, (I have to anyway, my kids do NOT deal well with surprises  -(autism), but the excitement of counting down sleeps, packing bags etc makes your holiday feels like it begins earlier.  We make a little count down calendar with matchboxes or something similar which we fill with little stickers or sweets for the last few days leading up to it.  Our last trip was sep, and our next will be about the same time, and we haven't had a day yet when the kids don't ask.  how many sleeps is it now?  or talk about their favourite rides.  It's nice to know that when i'm scrimping and saving to pay for it, they're really appreiating it1

[daddyof2]

We're not planning on telling DD3 and DS1 about our trip in June until the day itself - the age they are, it won't help and we're hoping to have the moment of realisation quickly followed by utter excitement.

[Ceh]

You shouldn't tell em! When I was a kid my parents told me we'd be going fishing. Then all of a sudden I noticed directions to Disney on the highway (cue excitement). And then the arrival, wow. Really, amazing experience. Best surprise ever!

[Gemma W]

Ah well I would tell them so they can join in with the excitement! We told ours a month before we went and had a great time counting down with a different Disney themed activity each day. They were so excited every time a Disney advert came on TV!

[princessemily]

We told our kids that we were going on 19th feb, when in fact, we were going on the 123th. It was hard going as every day they would ask how many sleeps, I nearly tripped up a couple of times. When I collected them from school on 11th, I told them that we weren't going to Disney the following Wednesday...cue lots of disappointment. Until I said, "we're going tomorrow"! The excitement was incredible.
So they got to countdown to the trip, it just came a week quicker than expected.

[pialykke]

So, 4 days left, and we have just told the boys today!
I had made a treasure hunt for them with pictures of the main 6 characters, which they had to find. On 4 of those pictures I had put "Look - in - the - bag". In said bag was a new hoodie for them each (Mickey ones) and an invitation from Mickey Mouse to come to Disneyland on Monday. I have made a video of it, which will be posted after we've been.
 
They enjoyed the treasure hunt, and they were happy when they realised that it was for real. But they didn't get as excited as I thought...
But then they haven't stopped talking about it since, so I guess it worked out alright...
They are really looking forward to going to school tomorrow to tell all their friends, so I think we did it the right way.
One thing we haven't told them is, that my mum is coming too - we are leaving at 4am on Monday morning, and picking mum up on the way - and we aren't going to tell them until we actually go to pick her up...
Just hope they are happy she is coming too, and they don't say "noooooo..." hahaha... I'm sure they'll be happy to see her. 

[DisneyManiac]

3 days left, have a great time! Just gotta wait till October...