ynwa19
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2007
Day 3 - Wednesday 03 March 2010.
What a day this turned out to be.
After getting up about 7am and grabbing the food from the DCR (even though we wouldn't use it for breakfast that day), we made our way to the entrance of Disneyland. Just as a poit to note, for anyone that hasn't stayed at the DCR before: The drive to the park from the DCR is advertised as being 15 minutes. I'll be honest, from jumping into the car to parking, it took less than 10.
We had arranged a character breakfast for today, not that the kids knew this of course. Shout's of 'Dad, I'm hungry' were going on for the few minutes it took us to get to Cafe Mickey.
The Character breakfasts here are awesome. There is no crowding round the characters and you can have photos and autographs at a leisurely pace without being pushed about by others. This alone (if you have kids and want them to meet the characters) is worth the money itself! Breakfast was really nice as always and the kids couldn't believe their eyes when Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Eeyore all came wandering out. Eeyore walked past Emily at one point when he was about to say hello to Hayley and Emily (being the cheeky child that she is) pulled his tail! Eeyore turned around, saw who did it and proceeded to try and pull her pony tail a little bit. He then knealt down and Emily gave him a huge hug and a kiss on the nose (a great photo!)
I had to kiss Minnie's hand (it would have been rude not to), but Hayley got her own back by running off with Aladdin later in the day
After a filling breakfast, we headed to the park for the few minutes that were left of EMH. We made it onto Peter Pan before the park opened for the day. At opening, we made sure that we stood at the rop drop area round the corner from the main Frontierland gates. This meant that my family were the first to ride BTM that day!!
After coming off of there, we decided to head over to Indiana Jones, hoping that the queue wouldn't be too big. It was a 10 minute queue and me and Hayley were deciding which one of us should ride first as none of the kids were tall enough. The CM at the entrance (really wish I had made a note of his name) pointed to a roped off area a couple of meters to his right and said that if we wanted, the kids could wait there and we could both ride as he made sure they were ok. We spoke to them and they were happy to watch the ride, so on we went. Before going on, we told the kids that as long as they were good whilst we were on the ride, we would buy them each some popcorn or candy floss later that day.
We came off of the ride to find that the kids were sitting in the roped off area, each with a soft Mickey toy (provided by the CM) and Dan and Emily were colouring in some pictures that the CM had given them as well!! I was amazed at just how good some CM's can be! It got better though. I went up to the CM, shook his hand and told him how grateful I was to him. He asked me where we were heading next so I told him we were off to POTC. He pulled out a form from his pocket, wrote on it and told me to take Hayley and the kids through the exit and we would walk straight on! I didn't think to get his name as I was too busy thanking him, but the Disney hospitality had really worn off on him. Absolutley brilliant CM!!
Off we went to POTC and walked on straight away, bypassing the 1 hour queue! The kids loved it, me and Hayley spent the time discussing just how impressed we were by the CM.
We decided that we were going to go over to the Studios as we hadn't spent any time in there up until now. Walking through the castle onto main street and we saw the Character Express coming up, so we thought we'd wait and see if there were any Characters that we hadn't met yet. I am so glad we did!
The Genie was on the Express and I think that he had taken something similar to the CM over at Indiana Jones. He stepped off of the Express and took up residence near the entrance to Agrabah. He was immediatley surrounded and Hayley took Emily over towards him to try and get an autograph. Hayleya nd Emily waited and waited, but kept getting pushed back by people shoving their books in front of the Genie. Emily's foot got stood on by someone and she yelled out in pain. She is only 4 and it must have hurt. The Genie looked at her, held out his hand and walked hand in hand with her over to the other side of the road. He knelt down and spent a couple of minutes with her. She gave him a huge hug and kiss before she left and the pain of being stepped on had eased dramatically.
Me and Hayley couldn't believe how the Disney magic that we had been talking about for so long was there for all to see! It rounded off an incredible morning! (That wasn't to be the last time that Emily was given some personal time by a character. More on that in tomorrow's)
We went to the Studios and Dan really wanted to ride the RNRC. He was just tall enough and the queue was small, so me and Hayley took a turn each in riding it with him.
We were in time for the Stunt Show, so we headed over and watched it. Jamie was well impressed with the whole thing and to be honest (even though I have seen it before), so was I!
We went into the Armageddon attraction and Jamie and Dan were impressed by this. Emily loved the fire effects in the final 'scene'.
We went in and saw Animagique which is one of the best shows in the resort. Loud and colourfull and we all loved every minute of it. After eating in Studio 1, we went and found the Art of Disney Animation. I was quite impressed with my drawing of Winnie the Pooh. Dan drew a picture of Hades that was on the wall and to be fair to him, he did a pretty good job!
We went over to the ToT after having collected fast passes earlier. All of us went through the Pre Show, but Jamie didn't ride with the rest of us as he doesn't like drop rides. I told him he had to walk through the queue lines though as it was worth seeing! Emily (4 years old remember) loved it and was laughing the entire time! I, on the other hand, had to have my hands surgically removed from the handle bars!
Cruella De Ville was outside telling people that she would not sign autographs for people if they kept pushing into her and thrusting book into her face. At one point she said 'Darlings, I need to sign the books, not eat them!' That made me laugh. My kids have been brought up with manners and respect and they stood patiently to one side waiting for their turn to see Cruella. Cruella noticed this and called them forward. Emily had a blue coat on with some blue 'fur' on it. Cruella asked her why she had dyed her dalmations blue. I'm not sure Emily understood, but I laughed. Cruelle said that Emily had spoilt her fur by having glitter on it, but Emily told her that she liked sparkles and then asked Cruella why she didn't have sparkles on her coat.
Cruella actually smiled!!!! She then told all of my kids that they had been really polite and kind and that she really liked them!
Me and Hayley spotted Emily and Daniel starting to yawn and look really tired, so we decided that we were going to head back to the ranch for the evening. Clutching their Mickey Mouse toys that they had aquired from the best CM I have ever met, we got back to the car and drove the short distance back to the ranch. Em and Dan fell straight asleep as their heads hit the pillow's. Jamie, Hayley and I stayed up for a bit discussing the events of the day and hoping that tomorrow would be just as good - we needn't have bothered worrying!
Just a side point - even though we didn't get his name, me and Hayley went into City Hall on our way to the studios and made a point of speaking to a manager and telling them the amazing experience that had been provided by the CM at Indiana Jones (making sure we told them the time that we were there and the job he was doing, so that they knew who we were talking about) and the Genie. I used to work in the leisure industry (Center Parcs) and although I only ever saw it as doing my job (as I'm sure they did), it makes your day when a guest takes the time to mention your outstanding service to management! Hopefully they both received some recognition for it from the powers that be!
What a day this turned out to be.
After getting up about 7am and grabbing the food from the DCR (even though we wouldn't use it for breakfast that day), we made our way to the entrance of Disneyland. Just as a poit to note, for anyone that hasn't stayed at the DCR before: The drive to the park from the DCR is advertised as being 15 minutes. I'll be honest, from jumping into the car to parking, it took less than 10.
We had arranged a character breakfast for today, not that the kids knew this of course. Shout's of 'Dad, I'm hungry' were going on for the few minutes it took us to get to Cafe Mickey.
The Character breakfasts here are awesome. There is no crowding round the characters and you can have photos and autographs at a leisurely pace without being pushed about by others. This alone (if you have kids and want them to meet the characters) is worth the money itself! Breakfast was really nice as always and the kids couldn't believe their eyes when Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Eeyore all came wandering out. Eeyore walked past Emily at one point when he was about to say hello to Hayley and Emily (being the cheeky child that she is) pulled his tail! Eeyore turned around, saw who did it and proceeded to try and pull her pony tail a little bit. He then knealt down and Emily gave him a huge hug and a kiss on the nose (a great photo!)
I had to kiss Minnie's hand (it would have been rude not to), but Hayley got her own back by running off with Aladdin later in the day
After a filling breakfast, we headed to the park for the few minutes that were left of EMH. We made it onto Peter Pan before the park opened for the day. At opening, we made sure that we stood at the rop drop area round the corner from the main Frontierland gates. This meant that my family were the first to ride BTM that day!!
After coming off of there, we decided to head over to Indiana Jones, hoping that the queue wouldn't be too big. It was a 10 minute queue and me and Hayley were deciding which one of us should ride first as none of the kids were tall enough. The CM at the entrance (really wish I had made a note of his name) pointed to a roped off area a couple of meters to his right and said that if we wanted, the kids could wait there and we could both ride as he made sure they were ok. We spoke to them and they were happy to watch the ride, so on we went. Before going on, we told the kids that as long as they were good whilst we were on the ride, we would buy them each some popcorn or candy floss later that day.
We came off of the ride to find that the kids were sitting in the roped off area, each with a soft Mickey toy (provided by the CM) and Dan and Emily were colouring in some pictures that the CM had given them as well!! I was amazed at just how good some CM's can be! It got better though. I went up to the CM, shook his hand and told him how grateful I was to him. He asked me where we were heading next so I told him we were off to POTC. He pulled out a form from his pocket, wrote on it and told me to take Hayley and the kids through the exit and we would walk straight on! I didn't think to get his name as I was too busy thanking him, but the Disney hospitality had really worn off on him. Absolutley brilliant CM!!
Off we went to POTC and walked on straight away, bypassing the 1 hour queue! The kids loved it, me and Hayley spent the time discussing just how impressed we were by the CM.
We decided that we were going to go over to the Studios as we hadn't spent any time in there up until now. Walking through the castle onto main street and we saw the Character Express coming up, so we thought we'd wait and see if there were any Characters that we hadn't met yet. I am so glad we did!
The Genie was on the Express and I think that he had taken something similar to the CM over at Indiana Jones. He stepped off of the Express and took up residence near the entrance to Agrabah. He was immediatley surrounded and Hayley took Emily over towards him to try and get an autograph. Hayleya nd Emily waited and waited, but kept getting pushed back by people shoving their books in front of the Genie. Emily's foot got stood on by someone and she yelled out in pain. She is only 4 and it must have hurt. The Genie looked at her, held out his hand and walked hand in hand with her over to the other side of the road. He knelt down and spent a couple of minutes with her. She gave him a huge hug and kiss before she left and the pain of being stepped on had eased dramatically.
Me and Hayley couldn't believe how the Disney magic that we had been talking about for so long was there for all to see! It rounded off an incredible morning! (That wasn't to be the last time that Emily was given some personal time by a character. More on that in tomorrow's)
We went to the Studios and Dan really wanted to ride the RNRC. He was just tall enough and the queue was small, so me and Hayley took a turn each in riding it with him.
We were in time for the Stunt Show, so we headed over and watched it. Jamie was well impressed with the whole thing and to be honest (even though I have seen it before), so was I!
We went into the Armageddon attraction and Jamie and Dan were impressed by this. Emily loved the fire effects in the final 'scene'.
We went in and saw Animagique which is one of the best shows in the resort. Loud and colourfull and we all loved every minute of it. After eating in Studio 1, we went and found the Art of Disney Animation. I was quite impressed with my drawing of Winnie the Pooh. Dan drew a picture of Hades that was on the wall and to be fair to him, he did a pretty good job!
We went over to the ToT after having collected fast passes earlier. All of us went through the Pre Show, but Jamie didn't ride with the rest of us as he doesn't like drop rides. I told him he had to walk through the queue lines though as it was worth seeing! Emily (4 years old remember) loved it and was laughing the entire time! I, on the other hand, had to have my hands surgically removed from the handle bars!
Cruella De Ville was outside telling people that she would not sign autographs for people if they kept pushing into her and thrusting book into her face. At one point she said 'Darlings, I need to sign the books, not eat them!' That made me laugh. My kids have been brought up with manners and respect and they stood patiently to one side waiting for their turn to see Cruella. Cruella noticed this and called them forward. Emily had a blue coat on with some blue 'fur' on it. Cruella asked her why she had dyed her dalmations blue. I'm not sure Emily understood, but I laughed. Cruelle said that Emily had spoilt her fur by having glitter on it, but Emily told her that she liked sparkles and then asked Cruella why she didn't have sparkles on her coat.
Cruella actually smiled!!!! She then told all of my kids that they had been really polite and kind and that she really liked them! Me and Hayley spotted Emily and Daniel starting to yawn and look really tired, so we decided that we were going to head back to the ranch for the evening. Clutching their Mickey Mouse toys that they had aquired from the best CM I have ever met, we got back to the car and drove the short distance back to the ranch. Em and Dan fell straight asleep as their heads hit the pillow's. Jamie, Hayley and I stayed up for a bit discussing the events of the day and hoping that tomorrow would be just as good - we needn't have bothered worrying!
Just a side point - even though we didn't get his name, me and Hayley went into City Hall on our way to the studios and made a point of speaking to a manager and telling them the amazing experience that had been provided by the CM at Indiana Jones (making sure we told them the time that we were there and the job he was doing, so that they knew who we were talking about) and the Genie. I used to work in the leisure industry (Center Parcs) and although I only ever saw it as doing my job (as I'm sure they did), it makes your day when a guest takes the time to mention your outstanding service to management! Hopefully they both received some recognition for it from the powers that be!
