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[never2old]

Hello!


As some of you may remember last year I won a free stay in the Hipark Residence    in Val d'Europe, so we had to force ourselves to go back to DLP 


Originally it was going to be in March, but seeing that there were school holidays everywhere, and that the weather was kind of OK,we decided to move it forward to February. There were of course already some people on holiday, but it seems to be more and more difficult to avoid that... Also originally it was going to be just the 1 night, and just the 3 of us (my husband and my almost 3 year old little princess), but a friend of mine decided to join us with her husband and 3 kids (and make use of the special AP offer with which we could get tickets for our friends for 21 euro!!), and we also decided to add one more night to make it a very reasonable 3 day trip...


We decided also last minute to add an extra night Saturday night, staying somewhere cheaper but not too far. We tried the Saphir hotel (20 minutes away, on the Francilienne). Hotel was OK, avoid breakfast though...


Sunday morning we went to check in in the Hipark, we had a nice surprise and the rooms were ready (our friends were staying also there), so we could leave all the bags in the room before heading out to the parks.





It was a GORGEOUS day. Beautiful blue sky, not to cold (for February, that is...). Absolutely perfect.


After getting the tickets for our friends, we were in 





My friend Yolanda had already been to the parks a couple of times before (with me of course) but for her family it was the first time


Group photo (my husband with Alicia, and my friends with their 3 kids, ages 1 - 2 - 4)





And with me 





We thought we would start with IASW, but the queue seemed quite long (ok, maybe it was 10 minutes....  ) so we headed to the back of Fantasyland for Le Pays des Contes de Fees and Casey Jr. There was NO QUEUE AT ALL!! For a sunny sunday like that, it was quite surprising!!


Pays des Contes de Fees first. Ooooohh!!

















I have to admit, this is one ride we never used to do, firstly because it's closed so often, but also because I thought it was really more for kids.... But it's a really cute little ride, and the sets are beautiful!!


Casey Jr next.











We did this with Alicia last year, and she hadn't been too keen... This time again, when it started going up and down a bit she did get a bit scared... But she enjoyed the rest of it, so fingers crossed it will be better next time!! I can't wait for her to be able to ride BTM, so I need her not to be terrified of roller coasters!!


We went for the teacups next, where again the queue was very reasonable, maybe 5 minutes? On the way we saw the Mad Hatter with Alice, but there was no queue to meet them, only the usual crowd of people around them, so we didn't bother. We had seen earlier Eeyore and Tigger outside Plaza Gardens, and they had a very organised (and quite long) queue to meet them, so the system is there, just not always in use...





The kids loved it of course, always a favourite the teacups 


On to Alice's Labyrinth, a must on a gorgeous sunny day!!























When we got out, the Queen of Hears and Tweedle-Dee (or Tweedle-Dum, can you tell them apart) were coming our way. We tried to go and see the Queen first, but the girls got scared of her... But Tweedle-Dee was OK 








By now it was lunchtime...We had booked Plaza Gardens for 13:00, so we headed that way. We were all starving!





Continues soon!!

[never2old]

So, lunch in Plaza Gardens








Great buffet as usual, particularly the desserts... They had a chocolate cake that was simply perfect!


After lunch, while my friends took the baby to the baby care center to change him and feed him (he had been asleep the whole time we were at the restaurant), we walked around with Alicia a bit so that she would go to sleep (she still needs at least 1 hour nap during the day...)










Sshhh she's almost there....








By the way did I mention I had a new camera? My old compact camera was starting to really annoy me, it was becoming very slow and unresponsive when I most needed it, so I had just replaced it. Quite happy with the new one (a Canon SX280), although the battery does not last long (for a full day in DLP I need to batteries). Anyway, I was playing with it a bit....





There were some CM in Central Plaza, entertaining the guests with ropes and hoops, great to see that.











Also really good to see, lots of vehicles were out!! The horse drawn carriage, the limousine and the fire engine were all out





While we waited for everyone (Alicia was finally asleep in her pushchair) I took my friends's daughter on the firetruck, down to Town Square





Selfie 








I was very excited, I don't think I had ever been on the fire engine before!!!





And because we like to travel in style, we took the limousine back from Town Square to Central Plaza 








Once we were all together again, we decided to try the Studios for a bit. Though before that, we all needed a proper coffee, so we went to the Village for Starbucks...


On the way there...





My friend's son (2 year old) loves Cars and Flash McQueen, so when we told him we were going to see McQueen, he couldn't wait!!





First stop of course was Cars. There was only a 10 minute wait, really reasonable. While they went on the ride Alicia woke up, so the two of us joined the queue to see Pluto, and waited for the others to join us. Alicia wanted to show him her Pluto plush!





And time for a big hug... She's a hugger, my little one 














Disney Jr live on stage next. Unfortunately moving from one place to another with 4 kids it's not always very fast, so we missed most of the pre-show with Sofia and Jake. Alicia still got there in time to get a hug from Sofia so she was quite happy, but she didn't get to dance around with them    Still, I think I was more upset than she was....





The kids really enjoyed the show! Alicia has already seen it a few times, but this was the first time she was really dancing and interacting all the time.











Catching the bubbles











And blowing to get the kite off the tree!!








Alicia really loves collecting all the leaves....


Last update for day 1 coming soon!!

[never2old]

And here we go!


After Disney Jr, we were going to head back to Disneyland park. But on the way we saw the way for TOT was only 15 minutes.... So I went in with my friends's husband (who is afraid of heights but wanted to try it), while the others waited for us...























Survived!!





So much fun!! It felt like ages since I had last done it, and it's such a fun ride!!!


Heading back to Disneyland park








And back in Fantasyland....





We wanted to try Peter Pan but the queue was way too long (40 minutes) to do with 4 kids. So instead it was time to (finally!) go on Its a small world




















I think my little girl loves it more and more every time!!


Dumbo next





That's another ride I never used to do, and now with Alicia I have to do on every trip, she loves it!!


By now it was about 19:30. I had looked at the opening times when we first chose the date, and hadn't really checked them since... According to the website the park was closing at 20:00, so I thought we had only a bit before Dreams. We had a look in he shops, and about 19:50 we went towards the castle and got an amazing spot almost first row...


Alicia got a new dog... Bolt is one of her favourite films!














20:00 came... 20:10... Strange, they're never late... So I went and asked a CM at what time Dreams was... 21:00 of course    Opening times in the website were wrong    No wonder we had such a great spot....


Unfortunately 21:00 was way too late for the children, so we headed back    Honestly, I felt like a real idiot for not checking the opening times in the program....





We had parked in the main car park (free with the AP) so it was quite a walk from the park to the car, and by the time we go back to the hotel it was close to 21:00. We managed to get Alicia in bed by 21:30, and we spent the evening relaxing watching the Big Bang Theory after dinner 


Day 2 coming soon!!

[norhel]

Great report so far :-)
By the way, how was the hotel?

[daddyof2]

Great pics, good report

[Rosy25]

Brilliant report.. Getting SO excited now this day two weeks we begin our holiday. Your photos are amazing. Beautiful blue skies. Looks amazing. What price were the balloons I can't wait to buy my son and daughter a Mickey and Minnie one!    Do you have to buy a ticket or something to go on the fire engines, limos etc...?

[Rapunzel1]

Great photo's. Really hope you will post some more 

[princessemily]

Our last day was the 16th, and it was a beautiful spring day. We got to go on the horse drawn vehicle for the first time.
Rosy25, there is no ticket or charge. Just embark at either end of main street.
Beautiful photos.

[BlackPearl]

Great report! Thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures 

[never2old]

Thank you all for your comments 


Rosy25, and princessemily says you need no tickets, just go to their stops (there are different stops along Town Square and Central Plaza, one for each vehicle) and wait for it!


norhel, the hotel was great!! Will be definitely be going back. We had a suite, so it had a separate bedroom and a living room with a sofa bed (which was very comfortable!) and a kitchenette and dining table. Very comfortable, and plenty of room for the 3 of us. Our friends were in a similar room for the 5 of them (the baby was sleeping in a baby cot in the bedroom with them, the other 2 children slept in the sofa bed) and they were very happy with it. Breakfast was really nice, delicious croissants and pains au chocolat, plus bread, cheese, ham, cereal, yoghurt... And quite decent coffee Honestly, I think it will be our first choice for staying off site next tinme 


Will try to get day 2 started later today!

[Gorneesh]

Great to read your trip report, I know how nice the weather was then as we were there then as well, it made a great change. I was thinking on the run up before we went of all the wet weather gear we would have to lug around.
Look forward to part II

[never2old]

Day 2!


After a really good night sleep all around, we woke up and went down for breakfast in the hotel. As I said, it was really good, and a great start to the day!


View from the hotel!





Before heading out we needed to go to the Auchan in the shopping centre to buy some more milk for my friends' baby, so by the time we headed to the park is was close to 11:00....


This time we parked in the Disney Village (2 EUR a day with an AP, offer does not work on weekends but otherwise, great value!! Much better than the main car park). From the hotel to the DV car park is what, 2 minutes?? Very very close 





City Hall





Town Square - it was rather sad to see Town Square Photography all closed up like that, I have to admit...





First stop for the day, Meet Mickey Mouse. Unfortunately the wait by now was 40 minutes (the longest queue we did during the whole trip), but we simply had to meet him...











This was Alicia's 5th visit to the park, and maybe her 7th or 8th visit to Mickey Mouse. At least. So she felt right at home    She gave him a really long hug!! (the kind of hugs I thought she only gave to me  )








All the kids got to meet Mickey, even the baby!





And everyone was really excited about it 


When we came out, the sun was shining once more! It looked like we were going to get a second beautiful day!!


Playing with my camera a bit...





(20x optical zoom  )








We had booked lunch in the Restaurant des Stars in the Studios, but we still had a bit of time. Next: Pirates of the Caribbean (we walked pretty much straight into the boats  )





Alicia seemed to enjoy it a bit more than last time (last time we did it with her, in November, she had gotten a bit scared)


Hook and Smee were doing a meet 'n' greet, but the queue was a bit long... Still, great to see them out like that! There really seemed to be more characters around.


We slowly started heading back towards the Studios....























And straight into the Restaurant    Everyone was quite hungry by now! So hungry that no one didn't even notice the parade going by outside... I hope we get to see the Stars 'n' Cars parade someday, to be honest it's timing seems terrible to us, we're always in the middle of our meal, or if we've already eaten it's Alicia's nap time... Maybe next time!


Busy busy





And here's the rat we're all waiting for!











Do we know yet if he'll move to the new restaurant next to the Ratatouille ride when it opens? It makes sense!


My favourite dessert in the restaurant, their cheesecake....








Day 2 continues soon!

[BlackPearl]

Aaaww, the Mickey-with-the-kids-pictures are so cute!

And I would love to taste a bit of that cheesecake  yummy

[never2old]

Ooooh now that you say that I want some more cheesecake too....

Apologies with the delays, I'm having some technical difficulties with the photos I uploaded, I'll try to have the next update tonight!!

[clarybell]

i am loving this trip report, cant wait for the next installment.