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[AliceJustbelieve]

Hi everyone! I'm going to try to finally write my first trip report~!
I tried it before, but the forum went down and somehow I couldn't get myself to do it since then.
Today I really have Disney Blues, and what's a better remedy than to relive the moments?
I promised myself I'd write a report, since I really want to share my first trip:)

**The following is an unnecessary introduction, feel free to skip and scroll to Day 1**

This trip was a birthday present for my 18th birthday last December. It's a very special present,
it was my dream come true, my first trip to Disneyland!
But that's not the only reason this trip is very special to me.
I think my parents gave me this present because my birthdays the last two years weren't really birthdays.
Three years ago my dad was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He got surgery on my 16th birthday.
From that day on, my birthday was 'the day that dad got his surgery' and oh right, happy birthday.
Not that I really cared, I started hating my birthday myself as well, since it had made our world pretty much collapse. The surgery went well, but they couldn't remove all of the tumor.
Dad got even more ill because they damaged his brain during the surgery and the tumor has grown back by now. But I believe that is exactly why my parents decided to give me this present.
I went together with my mother and for the first time in years we felt like everything was alright.
All the fears and stress about my father melted away and it was really bonding time, since we grew apart since the whole thing started. But I couldn't have gotten a more beautiful present.
I can honestly say I never felt happier in my life!

Excuse me for that long introduction, but I felt like sharing it because it is very important to me and it's what makes this trip so special to me.
Even in times like these, no especially in times like these, we must not stop dreaming, right?
Okay, I will start with the report nowxD

Please enjoy! ^o^

Day 1

Day one started of early, at 3:15 AM 'Let's go fly a kite' played to wake me up.
Not that it was needed, in fact I was laying straight awake and waiting for the song to play felt like I was waiting for a time bomb to explode. At the first tone I jumped up and at 4 we took the bus.
We traveled then to Schiphol by train, where we changed lines to Brussels. Then we took the TVG and around 12 o' clock we arrived in Marne la Valleé. We almost stayed in our seats here, since we expected Disneyland to be announced vigorously, but there weren't any signs at all. Luckily we didn't quite trust it, so we went off the train and a few minutes later we walked out of the station- straight into the Disney Resort. I was stunned. With a huge grin on my face, I raced off to look around and we took the shuttle to the Cheyenne Hotel to check in and leave our baggage. We were very lucky, we got to stay in Wyatt Earp, which is very close to the reception and Chuck Wagon and we even got to choose whether we preferred a room on the ground- or first floor. We ended up with room 1827 and I loved it. The room was nicely decorated and very comfortable. I especially loved the wallpaper in the bathroom and the lamp next to the television.

After we put our baggage away and looked around a bit we decided to walk to the parks and it was absolutely beautiful. There was hardly anyone and birds were tweeting all around us, all that was missing was western themed music playing in the background (you know, in those films when a cowboy walks into a quiet town, that music).
But it really was a pleasant walk.
We walked through Disney Village and spent some time browsing the stores. Then it was finally time for the parks! It was great to see the Mickey flowerbed and the hotel and then pass through Main Street Station, which was lovely decorated with Swing into Spring.
But when we entered Main Street U.S.A and we walked straight toward the castle, I cried happy tears. I had imagined seeing it for so many times and seeing it for real was absolutely brilliant!
On Central Plaza we encountered Minnie's Little Spring Train and we were surprised with a flash mob. Then we walked into the castle and admired every beautiful detail of the gallery and we had our first view of Fantasyland.   
We strolled around, soaking in the atmosphere and when I felt like I was ready, I decided we'd start with Alice's Curious Labyrinth. It was an amazing start! I really felt like I was Alice in Wonderland while already being in Wonderland! We had lots of fun finding our way and I had 'Painting the Roses Red' stuck in my head the whole time.
Next we went to do the teacups, since it was close and it's a necessary first visit experience!
I also really wanted to do Pirates, so we went to search for it, but for some reason it took a while to find it. It was great! So much more than I expected from it, it was a lot bigger than I imagined.

We got thirsty so we tried to get a drink in Blue Lagoon, which unfortunately was impossible, so we strolled over to Hakuna Matata. The weather was lovely, so we sat outside and relaxed for a while. After that we went to queue for Peter Pan's Flight, where a CM gave me a card to determine the wait time. Then it suddenly started to rain and we had to wait approx. 20 minutes until we could get inside. The ride itself was brilliant, although I personally thought it was way to fast. I thought the same about Pinocchio, which we did after. But they were fun nonetheless!
Since we had some time left until our dinner reservation (and it was pouring) we went on It's a Small World. The cheerful tune stayed in my head the whole time during dinner at Plaza Gardens!
It was a lovely restaurant, beautifully decorated. I loved the paintings.
The food was splendid, I especially loved the cheese, the greens (I had green beans and bell peppers) and the white coconut crispy dessert. The only remarks by mum were that it was rather cramped (it's Disney after all) and that the service was slightly awkward. Oh, and we had an unstable table, but this turned out to be rather funny. We had a lovely dinner with some good red wine and a fun talk with an older Dutch couple on the table next to ours.
After dinner the weather was dry again and mum got a coffee. We decided to queue for BTM and it was pretty short so it was a great decision. I was so excited! We loved the theme and the cheery music in the queue area. And I especially loved the twinkling lights in the (last?) lift hill.
Next we did Phantom Manor to get the story of Thunder Mesa complete. I have to say that this really is one of my favorites. It was brilliant and I loved the music.
The CM that let us in did a great job, acting all mysteriously and the inside was great as well!
We loved the ride so much, there were many things to see that we didn't catch everything.
After the ride, we strolled around the Manor and I spotted the dinosaur skeleton next to the water. We had a lot of fun studying the tombstones!
Then we left for coffee and to find a good spot at the Plaza to watch Dreams.
While we waited it suddenly start to pour. It only got worse and worse and I feared that we might miss Dreams since we had a dinner reservation the next day. I really really really wanted to see Dreams and suddenly the Evening Star appeared in the sky next to the castle. I clutched my umbrella and I strongly wished upon it. "May the rain stop so that we can see Dreams! And if I may have another wish, I really want to meet Donald Duck." Nothing happened so far.
But then, only five minutes before the show started the rain stopped and the clouds disappeared, leaving a clear sky scattered with stars. Then, Dreams finally begun. The familiar opening sounded (I watched it online a few times already) and I nearly cried again. It was even more beautiful than I could've imagined and I have to admit that I did cry eventually.
After Dreams we slowly walked down Main Street to go to our hotel. It felt very special to walk there with all the other visitors. But the Disney Magic wasn't over yet!
On the balcony of Mainstreet Station there were Cast Members waving their guests goodbye!
And they even turned especially to wave at me for my picture

After a pleasant, quiet evening stroll we got to our room and I took a lovely soak in the bathtub
(We don't have a bathtub at home, so it was very luxury to be able to!) and the soap smelled great! Not to mention the cute bottles:)
(I took a bottle with me when we left, which I have in my bag everyday so I can smell it whenever I want to remember Disneyland^-^)
After I changed into my Donald Duck PJ's I crawled into the lowest bunk bed, mum slept in the big bed and I dreamed about that day and of course the next!
Plans for the next day were the Studio's and watching Disney Magic on Parade!


Day 2

After we woke up at 6:30 and got dressed, we walked over to Chuck Wagon for our breakfast at 7. We braced ourselves because I heard it would be a chaos, but there was hardly anyone there yet! I had a petit pain and a croissant with cheese, I found the cubes so funny!
Then we headed to the park for EMH. Do you remember my wish on the eveningstar?
We walked onto the Plaza and who else but Donald was standing right in front of me!
I was so thrilled to finally meet him! After a small queue it was my turn. He took my hand and we posed for some pictures. Then he took my other hand as well and kissed them like a true gentleman It was so cute! We waved goodbye and I decided to queue for Mickey and Minnie. Now I really got nervous. Donald might've been my favourite, but you only meet THE Mouse for the first time, right? Once it was my turn I walked straight toward Mickey and he gave me a hug! Donald didn't, so I thought maybe I was too old for getting hugs, but here was Mickey hugging me and I felt so incredibly happy! Then Minnie hugged me too! We posed for some pictures, Mickey took my arm and Minnie grabbed my hand. I gave Mickey a kiss on his nose and he giggled in that cute way<3 Then it was time to say goodbye and I hugged both of them again! When I turned around to wave, Minnie even gave me a <3 sign with her hands~ I did the same and they both giggled and waved until I felt ready to look away and turn around.  I have to admit that I'm not sure about my favourite character anymore, Mickey and Minnie were so charming and sweet! <3

I kept smiling and crying all the way to Discoveryland Here we decided have a try on Buzz, which was so much fun! (Mum didn't like it as much, she gave up shooting halfway the ride and spinned to help me:))  I can't fully remember my score, but it wasn't too bad for me (I'm terrible at shooters!) around 12,000. That makes me a Platetary Pilot right?
Since it was very close, we went straight to Start Tours. It was pretty cool! I especially liked the design of the ride, waiting line and all. Coffee time! The Studio's weren't open yet, so we sat down at the Plaza, enjoying the sun, view and music (married life played so many times! It's one of my DLP trip theme songs now ^o^) and then it finally was time for the Studio's!

We arrived at the Studio's around 10 and it was so incredibly busy! I immediately dragged mum toward Ratatouille to get a fastpass, although I was kind of busy with being amazed with everything at the same time We had to queue for a fastpass and I have to say I was rather proud, since I was the only one out of the people in front of us who could get the passes out in one try! No one could tell I was a first-timer :3 Next we rushed over to Crush. The queue her was the longest we encountered, even longer than Peter Pan. Not that is was terrible, I think we were lucky anyways with 50 mins waiting time. And wow! We loved it! It was very surprising and awesome! I especially loved the voices of Squirt and the gulls ^o^ We were both very excited after the ride, so we got a little hungry. We both got a crêpe with sugar and walked on to Studio Tram Tour, which I really wanted to ride. I'm a huge film fan so I loved it, mum was a little dissapointed because it was a bit short. We were so very impressed by the scene with the water! It was amazing!

Next up was the ride I'd been waiting for the whole day already: Ratatouille!
The queue for the regular line was above two hours, it was crazy. We were 15 minutes early but we could go in anyway. The fastpass queue said 20 minutes, but with some random luck (again!) we could skip the last part of the line because we were with the two of us. The ride was different than I imagined (I had completely forgotten about the glassesxD) but it was briljant! I could smell the food in the restaurant scene, only mum couldn't.The champagne scene was so cool!
After the ride mum insisted on checking Bistrot Remy for real rats and when we walked out we encountered a short queue for Tower of Terror. Mum said we could ride since it was a short queue and I agreed kind of reluctantly. I'd never been so scared of a ride, hence the name Tower of Terror. But oh boy, am I happy I decided to ride it! It's definitely my Studio's favourite! Not only does the attraction look great, the interior design is just amazing, but the ride is so much more than I expected!
We wanted to see the parade that day, but we had plenty of time left so I dragged mum to Stitch Live! We laughed so much! Mum was annoyed the rest of the week because she just didn't understand how an animated character can converse with people, it was so funny! At a certain point some people left the room and Stitch said "Hey where are those people going? That's very rude!"
It was a really funny show, even if you don't have kids with you I'd reccomend it!
After Stitch we bumped into the queue for Art of Disney Animation and I'm so glad we did. In my opinion it truly showed the magic of animation! The film was so touching and the show was very funny, also they had translation available which really helped since I can't speak French that well yet. (I'm planning on studying though!)
Then we walked to Armageddon. I was really interested in this one since it is about special effects in films. I loved how they introduced it, we became actors and had to practice our scene before all actors were called to the actual attraction, being the 'set'.

We started to get a little hungry and mum got rather tired, so we returned to Main Street for coffee and to find a good spot for the parade. We ended up with a coffee and a giant hotdog from Casey's, crouching under the porch roof. It was rather funny actuallyxD  Then we saved ourselves a spot and around 6 I finally heard the familiar music! It was magical. Winnie the Pooh and Piglet kept reaching for each others' hand, it was so cute! And the pirates looked like they had a blast, it was so much fun to watch! I kept singing along as we followed the parade back to the Plaza. Then we walked back to the hotel since mum hadn't got a chance to properly sit since that morning.
I used the opportunity to take a lovely soak in the tub again ^o^ Poor mum fell asleep.
Around 8:30 we headed to Disney Village for Buffalo Bill. We were both kind of tired and feeling slow, but that immediately changed once we set foot inside!
After being greeted with a 'Howdy folks!' we got our cowboy hats and were showed to our seats. We were in the yellow Texas ranch, the same as Mickey! It was a wonderful evening, the show was great and the food was pretty good. I lost count of the amount of times where my hat was knocked of my head by a CM, everyone was so playful and friendly!
We could keep our hats, (I have mine hanging on my closet now) and after another pleasant walk back to the hotel, which felt pretty awesome, wearing our cowboy hats and all, we quickly crawled into bed. The next day was the last one already!

Thank you for reading~!

[Mileto]

You really made me cry!!!

Wishing you many more unforgettable visits and above all - health and happiness for your dad and all of you in the family.

Warm hugs from me!

[AliceJustbelieve]

Mileto, thank you so much! Your comment made me cry as well, haha.
I really hope I will be able to visit DLP again and have many more beautiful memories,
maybe I can take dad one day, he's a huge Toy Story fan

Thank you <3

[disneyjedilesley]

What a beautiful gift and a lovely report too!
Sooo glad you enjoyed yourself and I hope it makes bearing ur troubles a little easier!!

[BlackPearl]

Beautiful report! Thanks for sharing it with us!

[twentythingamabobs]

How cute are you Alicejustbelieve! I am so touched by your words, what a lovely trip report. I am so pleased you and your Mother were able to reconnect in Disney, it is such a magical place. I wish your Father good health and hopefully he can return with you and your Mother one day 

[AliceJustbelieve]

Thank you very much for your kind replies everyone! I shall add the other days as soon as I've got some time to spare I'm very glad you enjoy reading it!

[musicaljojo]

Really touched me reading this and I have a feeling i'm going to be like you, crying when I walk into the park!

[Disney Matt]

Great report
Will you be adding photos at some point?

[andrewuk]

Lovely trip report, thanks for sharing!  I think my Mother-in-Law would be exactly like your Mum at Stitch live!

[AliceJustbelieve]

Haha, thanks everyone!
I just love reading your awesome replies:D

Mathierson24, I would add them, only I don't know howxD haha, so if you can tell me I'll look for some nice photos^o^

I'm having my exams today, but the coming week I'll probably have time to add the last day!
Thank you again Xx

[Disney Matt]

Haha, thanks everyone!
I just love reading your awesome replies:D

Mathierson24, I would add them, only I don't know howxD haha, so if you can tell me I'll look for some nice photos^o^

I'm having my exams today, but the coming week I'll probably have time to add the last day!
Thank you again Xx

I actually don't know lol! But I'm sure some kind person on here would be able to tell you

[Mileto]

Hi, AliceJustBelieve!

I am sending yoi instruction in a PM. 

[twentythingamabobs]

Hi Mileto - could you please PM me the instructions as well? Would love to do a trip report either for WDW in the summer or DLP at christmas

[AliceJustbelieve]

Thank you Mileto! I'm going to try right away

Looking forward to your trip report twentythingamabobs!