Trip report - Sequoia lodge golden forest club 28 – 31 of march

[elisje]

It is so wonderful to read al those lovely comments on my trip report. Thank you al very much. It really makes my day.
I hope to post the next part tomorrow

[elisje]

Day three

A Disney morning

This day always feels a bit confusing to me. It is our last full Disney day so I am sad that have to leave soon and some things we see like the parade or illuminations will be the last time we see it for a long time. But I can’t be sad yet can I? We still have a full Disney day left. A full day! In Disney! So let our day begin



Our alarm was set for 06:45 so we could make the most out of this day. But we were both so tired that we couldn’t leave the bed until I dragged myself and my still sleeping boyfriend out at 7:15. I was still too tired to go to the park or even eat breakfast so we decided to walk around the hotel area and see what cool stuff Disney hide at the sequoia (like the ufo at the Santa fe). It was a nice walk, the sequoia is such a beautiful hotel with amazing grounds. We found some beavers building a dam and took a peek at the pool. I made a mental note that we have to go for at least five days next year so we had more time to enjoy the hotel. At breakfast we had pancakes and bacon. It was a bit busier today but still really enjoyable.








Extra magical hours

I didn’t really watch the clock at al. I was under the impression that we had a late and slow morning. So I expected to be at the park around ten. So I was surprised to find out it was just 8:30!. We had almost all of the extra magical hours left. We decided to hitch a lift from the paddy wagon so we could rest our legs a little. I think the vehicles bring life to main street, but I like the horse drawn tram more. We rode buzz lightyear and Pinocchio with almost no queue to speak off. Peter pan was next followed with the tea cups. I love the atmosphere of fantasyland during extra magical hours. It is just so pretty and quiet. We decided to go up the castle and take a look of fantasyland from the balcony next. I can’t ever get enough of that view. Especially in the morning with the beautiful morning sunlight.





The Cheshire cat and more Disneyland park stuff

A few weeks before our trip I bought a Cheshire cat dress. I totally fell in love with it and I just had to buy it for this trip. This morning we decided to do a little Cheshire cat photoshoot in Alice’s curious labyrinth. It was so much fun. I was totally being Alice and was running around smiling and twirling like a little kid in a newly bought princess dress. It turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip for me. The labyrinth just went through a big refurb and looks amazing. The colours are so vibrant. I think it is one of my favourite parts of the whole park.







After we found the castle and the exit of the labyrinth, we decided to take the train from fantasyland station to frontier land depot. This turned out to be one of the longest queues of the trip. Well it wasn’t really a queue since there only two other people waiting but it was a more than 20 minute wait before the train showed up. In frontierland we rode big thunder mountain and phantom manor.
     We had reservations for lunch in chez Remy at 3 o’clock so we decided to do some shopping on mainstreet and head over to the studios to  see mickey and magician, do a few attractions and ride ratatouille before our reservation. On main street we bought the anniversary star shaped and apricot filled donut. It was a disappointment. It was really dry and there was almost no filling at all. The only filling in the huge (bigger than your hand) donut was a little dot in the left side. Donut disappointment aside, we had a wonderful time shopping at mainstreet. There was a little band playing in the gazebo and the weather was amazing.
Walt Disney studios
In the studios we used our hotel fast pass to ride the tower of terror. I have a hate love relationship with that attraction. My boyfriend loves it so he always convince me to go. I love it too… the atmosphere, the decorations and the theming but the idea of dropping down form that height gives me Goosebumps and a very weak bladder. I really do like the ride and the thrill, but the anticipation of it is just too much for me. I would never ever go on it alone or convince someone to go with me.
     Mickey and the magician was next on our list. We went to the 13:20 show and waited for about 15 minutes. The show was amazing even seeing it for the second time. After mickey and the magician we went to Armageddon. We were planning to ride rock and rollor coaster after that but we were lured into the motors action stunt show. A few cast member were standing outside with flags and asked/gestured us to come in quick. After some quick time calculations (our chez remy reservation was in 50 minutes) and looking at my boyfriend’s begging face I decided it would fit in our planning, so we went inside. Inside the show building some angry looking cast members gestured us to hurry up and run. It turned out the show had already started! I have seen this show since the beginning and it isn’t what it was anymore. A lot of the stunts are missing so more than 50 percent is explaining how a stunt show works. My boyfriend still liked it though. He thought it was better than a few years ago, but not as good as when it started. After the show we latterly ran to bistro chez remy to make sure we were on time for our three o’clock reservation.



We both loved bistro chez Remy. The food was great, we both had steak which where cooked just as we asked for.  The atmosphere, decorations and staff were awesome. It really felt as being in a very very tiny fancy restaurant. It became one of our new favourite restaurants in the park. After our lovely lunch we rode ratatouille (an awesome way to end our lunch) and the rock and roller coaster.
Stars on parade, some princesses and discoveryland
It was almost time for the parade so we headed over to the main park. We found a spot in front of mainstreet station about ten minutes. And again for the third time, it was an amazing parade. I felt a bit sad because this was going to be the last time I was going to see it for a long time. After the parade we watched the starlit princes waltz at the castle stage. I am not really a princes person but is was a good show. I was amazed by the amount of princesses (I counted about but disappointed because my favourite princes (Merida) wasn’t there. But well what was I thinking,  Merida wouldn’t waltz, would she ?
    Discoveryland was next. We picked up a fast pass for star tours and went to explore nautilus. The Jedi training academy was about to start so we decided to go and see it. A great show even if you don’t have kids that are participating. I cried a bit when the kids entered the stage, little me would have died to have a change like that. But unfortunately I am not that little anymore. When darth vader was defeated we hoped on our star speeder to explore universe.



Adventure land at night

After startours we decided to go to Adventureland because it was the only land we had not been to that day. We visit la passage enchanté d’aladin and rode Indiana jones. It was starting to get dark so we figured it was the perfect time to go on an adventure. We started our adventure with the Robison tree house. Which I really like until I am halfway up and my fear of heights starts to get the upper hand. After that we spend about an hour exploring the caves and bridges of adventure island. It was awesome and really felt like an adventure. There was almost nobody there because everybody was waiting for illuminations and the darkness made it a whole other place.





Illuminations and our last night in Disney

We watched illuminations from the end of the hub. We were there about ten minutes before the show started and had quite a good view. I don’t know if it was our viewing spot and the distance of the castle or because it was our last night. But I really liked the show this night. It even made me cry. My boyfriend theorised that we appreciated the spectacular scenes more because we watched it from further away. we could see the entire castle and surroundings in one view from our viewing spot.
     After illuminations we started our nightly routine. We did some shopping on mainstreet and in the village. Went to the earl to get a sandwich and picked up some free drinks in the lounge. Back at our room we had to do the most awful task. We needed to pack our backs. There was only one Disney day left, the next day at 6 o’clock we had to leave.

Step counter: 6758
Attractions: 19

[disneymagic006]

Looks like you had an amazing time. Your pictures are lovely. I love the idea of exploring Adventure land at night. Would love to give that a try.

Thanks also for showing the sequoia lodge golden forest facilities. We are staying there in a few months time and so excited about how great it seems.

[jenny]

Have loved reading your trip report so far (not sure if I have missed your last day). Was wondering if you could advise please as this is our first trip to DLP in a very long time and we are taking our 2 girls (10 years old) with us.

You mention the HUB a couple of times and not sure where you mean? We would obviously like to see the parade and illuminations from the best spot and wonder if you can advise? I have read quite a lot of posts on this forum and someone said for the parade to sit by the railings by entrance to Discoveryland as a bit quieter and I think you have mentioned the Hub with regard to seeing the illuminations as further away so got a better effect. Thanks

[elisje]

Have loved reading your trip report so far (not sure if I have missed your last day). Was wondering if you could advise please as this is our first trip to DLP in a very long time and we are taking our 2 girls (10 years old) with us.

You mention the HUB a couple of times and not sure where you mean? We would obviously like to see the parade and illuminations from the best spot and wonder if you can advise? I have read quite a lot of posts on this forum and someone said for the parade to sit by the railings by entrance to Discoveryland as a bit quieter and I think you have mentioned the Hub with regard to seeing the illuminations as further away so got a better effect. Thanks

Thank you for your reply. You haven't missed my last post. I am going to write it this week and hopefully post it  on Sunday. 

The hub is the round plaza in front of the castle it is also called central plaza. My best spot for iluminations was at the back of the hub on the Discoveryland side. But we are two tall adults wo can watch over other people. I dont know what the best spot with children is. Mabye try to stand behind a railing for a flower or grass patch in the hub. I would recom to ask this question again in an separate post in  the trip planning section.

The best place to watch the parade is in fantasyland on the oposite of pizzaria Bella note (near its a small world). It isnt as bussy as mainstreet and it is one of the spots where the dragon will do its trick.  I would recommend to be there at least an half hour before the parade starts to be sure to get a good spot.

I hope you have a wonderfull trip

[jenny]

Thank you for advice

[elisje]

Day four

The start of a day full of goodbyes

Before we knew it we woke up on the 31th of march. It was the last disney day, a very sad day by tradition. But still a disney day and one with a very special lunch planned.
we said goodbye to our room and enjoyed our golden forest club breakfast for the last time. We had pancakes and bacon as usual and noticed that breakfast was a bit busier than the day before but still nothing compared to the Cheyenne breakfast chaos. We checked out by putting our room keycard in the dedicated box. Emotions were very high. I almost couldn't let go of the keycard. Goodbye golden forest club. It was amazing and I will definitely book it for next time.
    We were in the park around 8:30 and had plenty of time to enjoy the EMH. We said goodbye to peter pan's flight, les voyages de pinocchio and the mad hatter's tea cups.



Time always goes fast on your last day so it was almost 10 o'clock when we were done with the tea cups. We decided to go to discoveryland so we could be one of the first people to ride star tours this day. On our way to star tour I almost literally walked into the arms of Suzy. She was meeting guest with Perla near the starting point of the parade, but there was almost nobody there. I saw her and she saw me and held out her arms so I ran straight into them. It was perfect. We were indeed one of the first people in the queue for startours. It still is one of my favorite disney attractions.



After startours we went to frontierland to ride big thunder. Unfortunately it was broken so we rode phantom manor instead. It was a shame that big thunder was closed so often. I hoped the refurb would deal with this problem, but is seems like it’s only got worse. Hopefully they will quickly find a solution for their problem. My boyfreind still wanted to ride a coaster so we went to indiana jones. Since riding it really hurts me I decided to wait this one out and do some shopping in the little shop nearby. It started raining as soon as my boyfriend stood in line. After waiting for about 15 minutes in the rain they closed indi down. So still no coaster today. We went into the caves of adventure island to get some cover from the rain. Luckily the rain stopped as quickly as it came and the rest of the day was as lovely as the rest of the week. I really wanted to see the happy birthday disneyland paris show again so since it was dry, and big thunder and indi were still closed we decided to go to the castle stage and get a good spot for the show. We managed to sit on one of the benches and got a really good spot. What an amazing show. After the show we rode it's a small world and said goodbye to fantasyland.




A special lunch

I always dreamed of eating at walts. But because of the high cost of the meal I thought it would never happen. My boyfriend made my dream come true and promised to take me to walt's as a birthday present (My birthday is in november, so he gave me a homemade gift certificate). We had reservations at 1 o'clock and I was so excited. The downstairs lobby is beautiful. I love all the details and the pictures of walt and his family. We were seated at the mainstreet room, and ordered some sweet main street cocktails which included glow cubes and candy floss. I liked everything at Walts. The food was amazing, the people were amazing, the  environment was amazing. I loved that they went around with a basket of bread and let us choose what kind of bread we want. We had a good laugh about the extra set of cutlery we got with our fish, and I loved that we got no crazy or snobby looks from the staff or other people in the restaurant when we hadn't had a clue what to do with the strange little knife. I loved the instrumental and somewhat fancier versions of disney songs they played as background music. Walts had such a relaxed and adult feel, without being to stiff or being undisney. It was an amazing lunch and an amazing gift. When we finished our meal we had a quick look in the other rooms which al had their charm and amazing details and decor. I really need to come back to have a chance to eat in the discoveryland room, or the fantasyland one.. Well I want to eat in all of them to be honest.





Our last hours

When we walked out of Walts I had a little breakdown. It was 3 o'clock and we had only 2,5 hours left before we had to go and catch our train. Only 2,5 hours! How is that even possible. I looked forward to this trips for over an year. And now it was almost over. I decided to suck up the tears, put on a smile and tried to enjoy our last hours as much a possible. We rode startours and went to frontierland to see if big thunder was working again. My boyfriend noticed we didn't explore the ford at the entrance yet so we climbed up and payed a visit do davy crocked and buffalo bill.



A last ride on phantom manor was next on our planning. After we said our goodbyes at the phantom and Melanie we used our last hotel fastpass to ride big thunder mountain. We were so happy that it was open and we had a chance to enjoy the wildest ride in the wilderness for one last time. My boyfriend rode indi while I took some time to take some pictures from indi and adventure land



After indi we had time for one more ride. A difficult decision but one we made unanimous. It was going to be star tours. I would be an awesome way to end a perfect holiday. But it wasn't our last attraction. We did ride star tours and it was awesome. But after startours we walked past buzz which only had a 5 minute queue. So I convinced my boyfriend that we had enough time to ride it. We didn't really. The queue turned out to be more like ten minutes and when we were on the ride it got stuck for another ten. So we hadn't had time to say goodbye to the dragon as planned or walk slowly over mainstreet savoring every last bit of it. We had to run to the station. I took a quick last picture of the castle and we ran into discovery arcade while we heard the first notes of the parade song. yes we had to leave just when the parade was starting. which only made it more difficult to go.
Don’t worry we were on time for our train. But it was not the way I planned to end our trip.

 

Sitting in the train I could only smile and cry. We had an amazing time. It was the best vacation I have ever had and it will always have a special place in my memories and hearth.
I am crying again writing this because with this trip report ending, so does my trip. It is really over now. I guess I need to start planning my next trip now.

step counter: 6592
attractions: 14


Thank you all for reading with me. I hope you al have a chance to have such a wonderful trip as I had.

[BlackPearl]

Thank you for this great trip report. We stayed at the Golden Forest last time and liked it, too.

[bluelady]

Thank you so much for a lovely trip report! We are staying GF in Nov for our first ever trip so am so excited now if only for the breakfast and afternoon tea! We also have a lake view room so I really really hope I get a glimpse of the castle. I might email them to beg - don't suppose you'd let me know your room number lol?
The adventure isle tip is great so will be sure to check it out.

[elisje]

Thank you so much for a lovely trip report! We are staying GF in Nov for our first ever trip so am so excited now if only for the breakfast and afternoon tea! We also have a lake view room so I really really hope I get a glimpse of the castle. I might email them to beg - don't suppose you'd let me know your room number lol?
The adventure isle tip is great so will be sure to check it out.

Thanks for the kind reply
I will look up my room number when I am home.

[tubbsy]

We always cone across that one group of people that take a shine off the holiday.   
Really enjoying your report

[Vikkilou]

Can I ask how much extra you roughly pay for the upgraded room?

[elisje]

Can I ask how much extra you roughly pay for the upgraded room?

I am not completely sure but it I think it was about 100 or 150 euros on top of the price of a standard room.
But totally worth it for us.

[elisje]

Thank you so much for a lovely trip report! We are staying GF in Nov for our first ever trip so am so excited now if only for the breakfast and afternoon tea! We also have a lake view room so I really really hope I get a glimpse of the castle. I might email them to beg - don't suppose you'd let me know your room number lol?
The adventure isle tip is great so will be sure to check it out.

Thanks for the kind reply
I will look up my room number when I am home.

I am so sorry. Life happend and I totally forgot about your question.
I dont know if it still matters to you but the room number was 6237. You could only see they castle if you stood right next to the wall at the bed side of the room.

[MickeyAteMyCap]

- Being stuck in buzz right before we needed to catch our train to go home. I was so terrified I would
   miss the train. But luckily we didn’t

And THAT's why you don't book a train back on the same day you're still having fun in the park.