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[RockNRoller]

Greetings, I decided that after many years on the forum and many trips to DLRP I would finally do a trip report. Decided to start nice and early so I could up date you all on the preparations and, if I'm honest, build my own excitement a bit as the trip gets nearer. Also thought I would share a few top tips as I went along. So here goes.....

Dates: 24th - 27th November for our 14th trip
Travel: Eurostar from St Pancras to Marne le Vallee, Chessy
The group: Simon and Sarah, Sue and Andy
Hotel: New York
Must do rides: Tower of Terror, Ratatouille, Phantom Manor, Buzz Light Year and RockNRoller Coaster

So were still over a month away but the preparations have started, for me anyway. My bag is already out on the bed and my wash bag is packed, complete with Tower of Terror face cloth from last year. The count down calendar has been printed and stuck to our kitchen cupboard door, we'll start crossing it off next Friday. In the side pocket of my bag is a list of all the pins I've seen come out in the last year that I want to buy for my collection and I've located the Euro's I had left over from last year. Yep this is going to be a good one.
Top Tip no: 1 Under no circumstances, no matter what your sister may say, give your digital camera to your 4 year old nephew so he can look at your Disney photo's before you have transferred them to your computer. Little pest deleted all my pictures from last year.

[pialykke]

Aaaaargh - hyperventilating just at the thought of loosing all our photos...!!! 

Looking forward to reading more about your trip. We go a few days before you (13th-17th). SOOO excited now! A month tomorrow!! Eeek!

[RockNRoller]

Aaaaargh - hyperventilating just at the thought of loosing all our photos...!!! 

I know, fortunately I didn't let him anywhere near the video camera or who knows what he might have done.

[Sonyak3]

Hey it's exciting to think it's getting so close...we r goin the 23rd till the 27th and r very excited too..

[DisneyRon]

You can use some software to recover those pictures rockNRoller from the SD-card, unless you've taken new pictures on the card already, then it might not work (still worth trying). There are free data recovery programs that can snag them back from oblivion. They're not really deleted, the card merely removed the reference to the files from its master list.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/digitalcameras/how-to-recover-deleted-photos-from-your-sd-card/1102 is a nice article to start off with.

[RockNRoller]

You can use some software to recover those pictures rockNRoller from the SD-card, unless you've taken new pictures on the card already, then it might not work (still worth trying). There are free data recovery programs that can snag them back from oblivion.

Thanks for that Disney Ron I'll give it a go.

[Uragano Tati]

I will be in Disneyland from 24th till 28th november!! If you see me around the park tell me something! It would be nice to meet someone from the forum! 

[RockNRoller]

It would be nice to meet someone from the forum! 

No worries, always happy to say hello

[RockNRoller]

Now I know its not exciting to most but this morning through the post I had a new pair of comfort inserts for my walking shoes. Lots of walking on a Disney trip, gotta be prepared. (Told you it wasn't exciting)

Tonight we shall start watching our holiday videos from previous years, all part of the psyche up for us.

[RockNRoller]

So this morning we crossed off the first day on our countdown calendar, only 37 days to go . As my wife is away for a week I let her do the first day whilst I did a drum roll on my cereal bowl. Yes I know 37 days is a strange time to start but 5 years ago when my wife first had the idea that's how many days we had to go and it's just stuck.
Top Tip No: 2 Make your own countdown calendar with lots of photo's from previous trips and also comments/reminders. Ours marks down the day we pick up our tickets, order our Euro's, start packing and travel to London. Make it really personal.

[RockNRoller]

Oooh bonus time. Had a call from our travel agents today, very apologetic that they had over booked their allocated standard class seats on the Eurostar for our outward journey so would we mind if they bumped us up to first class. 5 minutes later and we've been bumped up to first class for both journeys.
Very excited, I've never travelled first calls before, I understand you get food on the train. Anyone know what you get?

[DisneyRon]

Oooh bonus time. Had a call from our travel agents today, very apologetic that they had over booked their allocated standard class seats on the Eurostar for our outward journey so would we mind if they bumped us up to first class. 5 minutes later and we've been bumped up to first class for both journeys.
Very excited, I've never travelled first calls before, I understand you get food on the train. Anyone know what you get?

If it's anything like the Thalys (Netherlands), then the menu should be on the Eurostar website.

EDIT: quick check of the Eurostar website, found the following. Will see if I can find the menus.

Standard Premier

Our team will serve you a delicious light meal and drinks at your seat, with a choice of two main dishes and a dessert.*

Our menus suit the time of the day that you’re travelling, so on trains leaving before 11am we serve breakfast, which includes a selection of pastries, yoghurt, juice and fresh tea or coffee to start your day perfectly.

Throughout the rest of the day, you can enjoy a choice of two main dishes and dessert with soft drinks, wine or beer, plus tea or coffee.

For younger travellers, you can also order children's meals before you travel.

Business Premier

We've designed our Business Premier menus with our Culinary Director, Raymond Blanc, OBE. As Chef Patron of the two Michelin-starred Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons and founder of the Brasserie Blanc restaurants, Raymond brings 30 years of creativity and experience to the table.

We have also worked with Raymond to choose sustainable, seasonal and responsibly sourced ingredients for our meals, and we'll continue to do so as a member of the Sustainable Restaurant Association.

We serve breakfast on trains leaving before 11am, where you can start the day with pastries and breads and a choice of a hot breakfast or cold meats, yoghurts, and fruit.  Hot and cold drinks are served at your seat, with as much delicious Lavazza coffee as you’d like.

For lunch and dinner, tuck into a three course meal with a choice between a hot or cold main dish.*  On mid-afternoon trains, you'll enjoy afternoon tea from London or a café gourmand from the Continent with a selection of cakes and hot and cold savoury items. 

You can also take your pick from a wide selection of soft and alcoholic drinks at your seat, including champagne, if you’re in the mood to celebrate.

*Please keep in mind:

We'll always do our best to give you the meal you'd prefer, although we cannot guarantee that your first choice will be available
If you have specific dietary requirements you can request special meals in our Manage a booking section. We’ll need at least 48 hours' notice before you travel.
Meals are not served on journeys between Brussels, Lille and Calais.

Well, no luck on finding actual menu listings, but at least they mention hot food as being available. That was something I found quite disappointing on the Thalys, they only served cold food. There are special children's menu's available, so you may want to look at those on the site.

[RockNRoller]

Thanks for that Disney Ron, had a look and it would seem we get fed quite well on the train.

[RockNRoller]

Only 30 days to go which means that this weekend we start watching every film that is related to a ride. So films like Snow White, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Pirates of the Caribbean and of course on Halloween night Haunted Mansion. We love watching the films and then shouting at the telly "look that bits in the ride". Sad to say we actually keep score.

[RockNRoller]

So tonight as part of the build up, and because it's Halloween, we shall be watching "Haunted Mansion". Love that film and all the references it contains to the ride at DLRP even though it's based on the Florida version.
Afterwards we shall also be watching "Toy Story of Terror", always a laugh

Top Tip No:3 If you haven't already get a copy of the book "The Haunted Mansion: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies". Its a fantastic book covering the development of the ride, the differences between the versions around the world and how they went about transferring it to the big screen.

They also do one for "Pirates of the Caribbean"