Uragano Tati - May 2012

[Uragano Tati]

Hello everybody!!
I am quite new here, so I would like to share with you my trip reports even if they are quite old, just to make you know me a little better!
Let's start with May 2012, but before...


Just a little bit of history.



My first visit to Disneyland Paris was in April 1998.


At that time internet was not used as it is now and it was not easy to get the weather forecast for Paris.
We left for 4 days at Hotel Sequoia Lodge, the Canadian style hotel. We took with us light jackets, after all it was April and we were in Paris, not in the North Pole!
Unfortunatly it really seemed to be at the North Pole! In the morning there was a thick layer of frost that covered everything.
We had also some rain, but not too much.
Despite the cold, it was a wonderful experience! At least for me.


At that time I lived with my parents and my sister and we usually went on holiday together.



To decide where to go sometimes we did a kind of lottery.
Everyone wrote his 3 favourite destinations on 3 different sheets (they could be the same destination repeated 3 times). Then we made the draw.
The winner destination was not the first sheet taken out, it was the first that was taken 10 times.
So actually the destination that was repeated several times was the one with the greatest chance of victory.


It was the winter 2002-03. We wanted to go somewhere for Christmas.
We did not agree on the destination so we made the lottery.



I wanted at all costs to go to Disneyland (expecially because they had just opened the second park, The Walt Disney Studios) and of course I wrote on my sheets "Disneyland Paris" 3 times.


My mom and my sister wanted to go to Sharm El Sheik, they wrote Sharm on all their sheets, so there were 6 sheets with Sharm .
My dad wanted to go skiing and wrote 3 different mountain places.
I was already resigned to the fact that we would go to Egypt.


We started to pull out and the first sheet was "Disneyland Paris". Yeee!
Oh well, it was just the first.
The second sheet was again "Disneyland Paris"! I did not believe it!
It seemed like a dream.


We continued to pull out the sheets and "Disneyland Paris" came out with an unbelievable frequency!
Of course it came out often "Sharm" too, but Disneyland was always the most one!
It was fantastic! I jumped around the living room like a happy cangaroo!!!
And at the end Disneyland won!
If this is not pure magic!


We then decided to stay at the Disneyland Hotel this time.
To save money we decided to go early January, the 3rd I think, so we would still find the Christmas decorations, but the prices would be lower.
Given the temperatures that we had found a few years earlier in April, this time we were more prepared and we left with heavy jackets, sweaters, gloves, scarves and more. It was good because it was really freezing .
And I must say that having the hotel right at the entrance of the park was really good, especially for the freezing temperatures.
One afternoon, the day before coming home, there was also a big snowstorm. The park in the snow was really magical, even if the parade was canceled and they had to close some attractions.
The airport was a mess and the day after our flight had a delay of several hours.

[Uragano Tati]

Pre-trip:


I was literally in love with Disneyland.


At this point I did not live with my parents anymore but with Claudio, my boyfriend. He had never been to Disneyland and I would love to take him there!
But there were two problems. First of all the money. In my previous holidays I got to see that the park was not cheap at all!
And Claudio is afraid of heights, he suffers from vertigo and do not like attractions where there are big falls.
In Italy we have been to Gardaland and Movieland, the 2 parks on Lake Garda, and he did not come on any roller coaster! The only roller coasters he liked were those for very little children...
So I didn't want to go to Disneyland and then having to go alone on many attractions, especially on Big Thounder Mountain, one of my favorites ever.


Then finally in January - February 2012 we decided to go.
I remembered the arctic temperatures that I had found in previous trips, so I decided to carefully avoid the coldest period and choosed the end of May when temperatures should be more human.


In addition, at the end of May schools are open and the park would be less crowded.
Or so I thought ...


We booked 5 days and 4 nights at the Hotel Santa Fe, from Thursday 24th to Monday 28th, May 2012 .
I wanted to be there in the weekend, because I remembered that on weekends the park was open longer and there were more shows. I did not know what would be the actual opening times and shows because all this information is posted on internet with little advance.
About a month before I found out that the park would be open every day until 23:00 because there will be every day a show in the night! If I only knew it before I would avoid the weekend. But I was too happy to go to Disneyland that that was not a problem at all!


A few weeks before I started thinking about what to pack. I wanted to fly with only hand luggage. So we couldn't bring a lot of things with us. My previous experience had taught me that it would be better to bring something heavy to protect us from cold and rain.
Even in Italy it was not hot at all, so I decided to take jeans, a couple of sweatshirts, the raincoats and the umbrella for the rain.
A few days before I began to look at the weather forecast on internet and I found out that it would be sunny with temperatures between 25 and 30 degrees. Warmer than in Italy!


So I modified the list of things to pack. A pair of jeans, but also a lighter pair of leggings, two light T-shirts and only one sweatshirt. I took also the raincoats and umbrellas because weather forecast sometimes can be wrong!

[Uragano Tati]

Day 0 - Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012


In the morning we cleaned the cage of the hamster that we had at that time, Roger. In the early afternoon we prepared the bags, a small trolley and a backpack.
In the afternoon we loaded everything in the car and went to Bologna to my parents' house. I told my mom everything she had to do and not to do with Roger, and then went to bed.

[Uragano Tati]

Day 1 - Thursday, May 24th, 2012


After breakfast my parents took us to the airport. The plane (Air France) was scheduled to take off at 10:30 and arrive in Paris at 12:20.
At the security checkpoint there was no queue so we passed very quickly. The plane was on time, fortunately. Unfortunately they took my trolley because, even if it wasn't too big or too heavy, the plane was too small and only backpacks were allowed as hand luggage. The other were put in the hold. The plane was not only small. It was very very old. The first thing I thought was "that thing can fly?"!
Surprisingly, the answer was yes. It flyed. Incredible!


During the flight we were served a "big" meal, a glass of something to drink (just one, eh!) and a pack with 20 grams of bread sticks or 3 biscuits. Not both. Either one or the other.
Finally we arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport, at the terminal 2G, the one far far away. The hand luggage that were put in the hold were left right out of the plane, on the ground, and everybody had to collect them there. What a great service!


In that huge airport we had to find the tunnel that connects the terminal 2D to 2E , where there is the Vea bus stop for Disneyland. Needless to say, we got lost. Fortunately we found the free airport shuttle that took us to the terminal 2D. From there it was not easy to find the tunnel, but then between the billions of signs we spotted the word "Disneyland Paris".
Yeeessss! That's where we need to go!


Meanwhile we also took a side trip to the bathroom and noticed that next to the entrance there was a water fountain. We could fill the empty bottle we had brought with us in the backpack and that was good because it was very very hot and very very sunny!


Finally we managed to find the Vea bus stop but the first bus was already full. The driver told us that after a few minutes it would come another one. In fact, after less than 5 minutes appeared another shuttle. Yeeee! Finally we were getting close to the magic!


After about forty minutes we arrived at Disneyland Paris! The Vea shuttle stops at all Disney hotels, and of course the Santa Fe was the last on the list!
But it was not bad. The hotels are all very beautiful and well themed and it was a pleasure to see them at least from the outside.



Finally we were at the Santa Fe. There was not much queue at the check-in. The girl did not speak Italian, but she struggled to talk a mix of Italian and Spanish even if I told her that we could speak English!
The hotel was being renovated and half of it was with scaffolding.


Our room was ready so we could go to freshen up and change us, it was really hot, there were definitely more than 30 degrees and we were wearing sweatshirts and jeans because in Italy in the morning it was chilly!
Our room had not been renovated and I must admit that there were some things that needed to. One of the lights above the bed goes off randomly, the safe did not work , one of the drawers of the dresser was very hard to open, you could see that the bathtub was very old and we must find the right position to close the cold water in the sink, in the sense that you should not close it at all or the water continued to come out.
But that was not a problem! We are at Disneyland and it's all perfect!!


From our room we could see the Panoramagique ballon.






We left the hotel that they were already about 15:00, and we walked along the path that runs along the Rio Bravo river.
But first a photo with the UFO!

[Uragano Tati]

We walked through the Disney Village and then in front of our eyes came the Disneyland Hotel!
And after entering our tickets in the machines the voice "Welcome!" gave us its welcome to park!

It was still early to eat . We did not had lunch, but my mom had given us a piece of cake to take with us and we ate it while we were in the room.
Claudio saw the train that goes around the park which is right at the entrance and said " Why don't we do this ride? ". I knew that he was afraid that I would have immediately brought him on a roller coaster, heheh!
That wasn't a great idea because the wait time was much longer than the 30 minutes that were written at the entrance. And I forgot that you had to avoid at all costs the Main Street Station and prefer those of Frontierland or Discoveryland. Oh well, never mind. The tour however is cute.


After we went to see the information panel with the waiting times and Star Tours, the flight simulator dedicated to Star Wars, was only five minutes so we decided to go there. Claudio loved it, even all the way inside that was supposed to be the waiting line!








At that point they were already 17:30, and it seemed a good time to go eat with no queues and crowds.
We headed for the Pizza Planet Restaurant. We're both fans of Toy Story! Too bad that a sign at the entrance said that the restaurant closed at 16:00.


Okay, then we went to the Plaza Gardens and tried the magic spell to get the free water "eau en carafe"! And it worked!


The restaurant was a buffet with the formula "all you can eat".
In the buffet there were a lot of things. All really good!
There were some good ravioli stuffed with cheese and topped with a blue cheese sauce that were divine. And we are from Italy, so we are quite demanding about filled pasta!
And there were very tasty cannelloni filled with a cream of meat and vegetables. Also the meats were excellent! And the desserts! They were so many and all delicious! I was able to taste them all but it was really hard!
The meal took us a hour and a half, we tasted a bit of everything! The place was very nice and there were few people.
We left immediately after the parade (a little after 19:00)and we were so full that we were struggling to walk.



So we decided to go to a quiet attraction, "It's a small world", a nice ride on a boat surrounded by a billion dancing dolls that sing a song that enters your brain and does not go out anymore!


Then the "Pirates of the Caribbean" one of my favorites. It's a ride on a boat in the world of Pirates of the Caribbean. In this attraction the queue line is gorgeous, rich in details. It is the attraction that inspired the saga of "Pirates of the Caribbean" with Captain Jack Sparrow and not the opposite as many people think!

[Uragano Tati]

Then a walk in Adventureland.


The skull rock...





and Captain Hook's ship.








Then we went to meet the ghosts in the "Phantom Manor." Unfortunately, the ghosts that appear at the end above the vehicles in the mirrors did not work.





What you see in the background is the Phantom Manor. And the boat is the Molly Brown. It makes a cruise around the lake, but it was already closed. It closed at 18:00. There should also be another boat, the Mark Twain, but in all five days we only saw the Molly Brown.


We then went on "Big Thounder Mountain", a ride on a mine train at a very fast speed! It's a roller coaster for everyone, you don't go upside down and it's actually fairly quiet. It's very special because the ride is mostly on the island in the middle of the lake, but you get on the train on the shore of the lake. So there is a part in the dark as the train goes under the lake!


Claudio felt in love with "Big Thounder Mountain"!
The waiting time was only 10 minutes and we have done it 3 times in a row!
It became Claudio's favorite attraction ever!


The attractions of Fantasyland were almost all closed because they were preparing everything for the night show "Disney Dreams".
We went to Discoveryland and rode again "Star Tours" and tryed "Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast", a ride where you have to shoot the targets of the evil Emperor Zurg with laser guns. It was very funny even if Claudio's score was always better than mine!


It was almost 22:00 and several people were beginning to take place on Central Plaza, the square in front of the castle, to ensure a good spot for the show and we sat down too. We were in 7-8th row, perfectly in the center.
The show was amazing. We were in a perfect location, the people in front of us remained seated on the ground, so everyone had a perfect wiev.
After the show we walked back to the hotel along the lake and the river. We went to sleep very late, more than half past midnight, and the next morning we had breakfast at 7:30!

[Uragano Tati]

Day 2 - Friday, May 25, 2012


Wake up at 7:15, and after a quick set up we went to the restaurant "La Cantina" for breakfast.
We were not very hungry, we ate too much the day before, but we managed to have ​​at least 3 croissant and some sandwiches!


Then we returned to the room to get ready for the day. We wanted to go to the other park, The Walt Disney Studios dedicated to the cinema, which opened at 10:00 so we had time to do everything slow.
We went to take the free shuttle to the park and in few minutes we were in front of the Studios that were already opened even if it was not yet 10:00.





We went immediately to "Crush's Coaster", the coaster of "Finding Nemo". Claudio had changed is mind and he wanted to go on roller coasters!
This roller coaster is a bit weird because the turtles on which you are sitting can turn on themselves in both directions. So depending on how the weight is distributed among the people seated on the turtle the ride changes because the spinning movement changes.
It began as a peaceful ride through the oceans but soon became a mad rush in the ocean flow!
I had read on the web that this is always one of the attractions with very long waiting time, and for this reason it is recommended to do it as first thing in the morning or in the evening just before closing time. Well, although they were not even 10:00 there was already a queue of 60 minutes.
We joined the line, and I must say it was quite fast and we waited not more than 45 minutes in reality.
The ride was fantastic! At the exit the wait time had become 90 minutes.


After Nemo we needed something quiet and opted for "Studio Tram Tour". It was one of the attractions that were already there when I went in 2003 and at that time I liked it a lot. There were screens on the tram which explained the background and the special effects of the films also in Italian. Isabella Rossellini was the Italian speaker.
It passed through a few sets, you could see cars and clothes from movies and you were put into action in two sets: the canyon where there was an earthquake, some explosions and an impressive waterfall, and the London of the film "The reign of Fire" with some flames.
This time it seemed to me a little strange that there were no separate rows based on the language spoken. Many of the tram cars remained just closed, the screens were not working anymore and the London set was just crossed with no flames. And also in the set of the canyon there was much less water.



A new attraction was the "Tower Of Terror". It is inspired by the TV series "The Twilight Zone".
You can see it (The Hollywood Tower Hotel) on the left.





I went on it alone, Claudio did not come because the elevator falls down and he doesn't like that feeling!
The wait time was only 5 minutes! And it was magnificent! It became one of my favorite attractions! The atmosphere is beautiful and the hotel is recreated in every detail. It's great! Only on that day I went on it 2 more times! And always with no queue!

[Uragano Tati]

Then we went on Aladdin's flying carpets. It's a simple ride but it is cute! With no waits too.


"Armageddon" was a 5 minute wait and we went there. It's a set recreating the scene of the movie Armageddon on the space station when it is struck by the pieces of the asteroid with that funny Russian astronaut!





In the afternoon the wait time for "Crush's Coaster" was 45 minutes, so we went there again.


Then I went on Toy Story's parachute. Claudio didn't come. The normal wait time was pretty long, but there was the "single ride" line which was pretty short, about ten minutes. After being on the Tower of Terror this seemed a more "children" ride but it's very good!








At around 17 we went to the main park because we wanted to go on the Molly Brown.
The ride on the lake was very pleasant and relaxing. Unfortunately, the geyser near the Phantom Manor did not work. But there were lots of small ducks in the lake! Very cute!!


It was still early for Dreams, so we rode Phantom Manor 3 times, Big Thounder Mountain 3 times, Pirates of the Caribbean 3 times and then even Buzz Lightyear and Star Tours, all of them were walk on!!

















At this point I started feeling the problem of the sun.
Because of the restrictions for liquids in hand luggage on planes, I had with me only a low-protection sun lotion, the only one that I had in a small tube. I would never imagined to find such hot and sunshine in Paris!
Already at 9 in the morning the sun was very strong and there was light until after 22:30!
And my poor arms were beginning to turn red although I used a lot of the sun lotion I had.

[Uragano Tati]

Day 3 - Saturday, May 26th, 2012


Wake up at 7:15 and huge breakfast with croissants and sandwiches.
Of course it was sunny. We searched in the shops for a sun lotion with very high protection and there was only Nivea, but it was very very expensive and it was in a big packing so I couldn't take it home on the plane because it was too big for hand luggage. So I decided to continue to use my low protection.


Right from the breakfast we could see that there was a lot more people and it was expected since it was Saturday. We headed toward the Disneyland park, and just walked in a guy (an Italian guy) stopped us to ask ourselves questions about our stay at the park for a market survey.


First some pictures along Main Street:











In the days before we had not even used a fastpass, there was no need to, but today would be different!
First we went to get the fastpass for "Space Mountain", an indoor roller coaster. Once it had the subtitle "From the Earth to the Moon" because it was based on the journey of the book by Jules Verne. Now it's more of a generic space travel.
Claudio wasn't really sure about it, but he wanted to try a real roller coaster and the fact that it is in the dark and it's not clear what's going to happen helped him!


While we waited the time for our trip into space we went on two attractions that had little wait time, "Casey Jr", the train of the circus, and "Le pays des contes de fees", a delightful cruise aboard boats that pass through many miniature sceneries of the most famous fairy tales. The miniatures are stunning and wonderful in every little detail.
Even "It's a small world" had a short wait time so we went there to stay in the shadow and away from the heat!



When it was finally the time of our "Space Mountain" fastpass we found out that the attraction was closed for technical problems.
The cast member at the entrance told us that after a few hours probably it would reopen and that we could use our fastpass in every moment.
But when they reopened it in the evening, the queue at the fastpass entrance and the one at the normal entrance were too long so we skipped it.

[Uragano Tati]

For the rest of the day we took the fastpass for "Big Thounder Mountain" and we were able to do it 2 times.
Wait times were long everywhere so we took the opportunity to visit all the attractions that are walking paths with no queue: Alice's labyrinth and the castle of the Queen of Hearts, "Adventure Isle", The Nautilus, the Sleeping Beauty's Castle and the cave below with the dragon.








At about 17:30 we went to eat at the restaurant Agrabah Cafe.
It's an Arabic restaurant, an all you can eat buffet.
I expected to find some Arabian food, but mostly normal food and instead almost all food was Arabian! It was very good! We tasted everything and we ate really a lot!
The place is very nice and going there at that time also very quiet.
The only thing that did not impress me were the sweets, a bit too sweet and rich of honey for me.


We left the restaurant when the parade was going on and since "Snow White" and "Pinocchio" rides were empty we went there. They are two nice dark rides that tell the stories of fairy tales. Snow White is actually a little frightening!





In the evening waiting times were very short so we could ride Phantom Manor, Big Thounder Mountain, 3 times Pirates of Carribeans, and then Star Tours and Buzz Lightyear.


We began to feel the effort of the long days in the park walking for miles and the lack of sleep so we decided not to stop for Dreams and we went back to the hotel to go to sleep a little earlier for once!

[Uragano Tati]

Day 4 - Sunday, May 27th, 2012


Usual alarm clock at 7:15 and the usual huge breakfast.
There were families who ate within 5 minutes and ran away to the parks, while we always used to take more than an hour for breakfast. We love to enjoy and take delight of every single moment!


Saturday there was so many people, and today there was a lot more!
So we decided to go to the Studios and spend the day mostly with the shows.


Upon entering the park the same guy from the day before stopped us for the market survey. We did not have the time to tell him that we were the same of the day before that he realized it too!


As first thing we saw "CinéMagique", a beautiful interactive film that celebrates the history of cinema. Do not miss it!!


Then "Animagique", a show with some Disney characters dancing on songs from the soundtracks of some animated movies.
And of course "Moteurs Action", a stunt show with cars and motorcycles. Now there is also the participation of Lightning McQueen, the car starring in the films "Cars". The only downside of this show is that the special effects and tricks that are used are explained in both English and French, and this breaks up a bit the rhythm and slows the show.
In the afternoon we saw "Stars n'Cars ", the parade of the characters on very beautiful and unique cars.


Of course there was a very hot sun.
Fortunately in both parks, near almost all toilets there are fountains where we could fill our bottle with fresh water. We really needed it!!
You may notice the sign and the color that my arms were taking!!





Nemo (Crush's Coaster) had 120 minutes waiting time in the morning and during the day has always been like that, and if I remember right at some point in the afternoon had even 150 minutes! So we gave up.
The Tower of Terror has fastpass so I could avoid the queue and do another little visit in the fourth dimension.


Then we moved into the main park because at 19:00 there was the parade and we hadn't seen it properly yet.
It is a parade of decorated floats with many characters along the streets of the park. The parade is always exciting. Now the song that accompanies it is "Magic Everywhere" which is beautiful, but I have to admit that "Dancing a catchy rhythm" will always be my favorite, probably because for me it was the first that I heard back in 1998 and it entered my heart!
The twentieth anniversary train went out several times a day and we had the opportunity to see it many times. His song was "Do you believe in magic" that is gorgeous!


At this point we went to see if "Space Mountain" worked but the response was negative. I had miraculously persuaded Claudio to ride it but we could not! It seemed like a conspiracy!



So we walked around Adventureland:





And Frontierland:











As usual in the evening the queue were almos empty and we managed to do our usual rides on our favorite attractions.


Then we went to Central Plaza for Dreams. We sat down on the right side of the castle to try a different view, but it wasn't a great choice.
The fireworks are beautiful anyway, but the images projected on the castle are not really clear from there.


Once back at the hotel we had to start packing because the day after we came home.

[Uragano Tati]

Day 5 - Monday, May 28th, 2012


For the last time we woke up at 7:15 and went for our huge breakfast.
We wanted to go to eat at Pizza Planet at 15:00, but I prepared a couple of sandwiches to take with us anyway. The return flight was at 20:20 and at the airport we could be a little hungry!


We finished packing my trolley, we took it to the bagagerie (the free luggage depot that is in all the Disney hotels) and went to enjoy the last hours of magic.
It was Monday and I expect that the park would be quite empty as it was the first 2 days, instead it was very full. How strange!


We went in the main park.
Main Street:





Of course the sun was shining and it was hot.
To protect my poor arms I wore the sweatshirt with long sleeves. Better to suffer a bit of warm rather than continue to burn my skin!


First we took the fastpass for "Space Mountain". Would it be the right time?! While we waited for the time we went to "It 's a small world" and "Le pays des contes de fees" that had little wait time.
And then finally we were able to make our journey into space!
Claudio kept his eyes closed the whole time! As he has survived he told me that the next time he'll try to do it with his eyes opened, or at least one eye!


There was really a lot of people and we didn't want to spend hours and hours in a queue, so we decided to take the fastpass for Big Thounder Mountain (which we still managed to ride 2 times) and for the rest to enjoy the atmosphere of the park.
While we waited the time for Big Thounder Mountain we explored every corner of Frontierland, including of course the fort.

[Uragano Tati]

[Uragano Tati]

[Uragano Tati]