TR return to the magic - feb half term.

[susannah365]

cast
- me 34 and disney obessed! loves stich best after being chosen as his girlfriend in stitch live last visit
- dh 36 and beginning to love disney.
- dd 5 (almost 6) and loves mickey and minnie
- ds 2.5 loves mickey mouse and anything to do with toy story

Day one - travelling on sunday 20th

left our house after a quick lunch and drove 2 hours to lullingstone roman villa. DD doing romans at school at the moment so this was an interesting stop for her - and a useful toilet stop for ds who at 2.5 is only just potty trained! back in the car and got to eurotunnel at 4.50, and put on the next train at 5.20 rather than our booked one later. drove to collegien novotel and got there 9pm UK time. room lovely with double bed for us and sofa bed for the kids - but ds did not sleep all that well, kept waking up, don't know why?

Day two - monday 21st

ds up early as usual but dd just would not wake. evenutally we got her eyes open and told her that there was a letter for her to open. it was an invitation from mickey and minnie to go and see them in disneyland today to celebrate her birthday early! (birthday is beginning of march). she was very sleepy but excited. got to cheyenne at 8.30 am checked in with no queue and had been upgraded to billy the kid block room 1975. it is nearer the facilities but i don't think there's any other difference? when i booked i mentioned that it was my daughters birthday trip (i don't believe in taking them out of school for holidays so this was as close as she was going to get!) and they said they would have baloons and a birthday card from the characters for her in our room. so at check in i just double checked that this had been noted on our reservation - but they had no record of it. i just said 'oh well that's a shame, never mind' to which he muttered' balloon - wait a moment' and came back with a 'taste of the magic' voucher for a free character balloon as a birthday present from disney. we thought this was a very kind touch - but my more cynical dh said that they knew that we'd have to buy another one so that ds could have one too so actually they made money out of us!!

anyway, off we went and were at the gates by 9am. we nipped into the village shop to buy an autograph book and headed to city hall to get amy the happy birthday sticker i had heard about. i also asked the lady about the birthday phonecall and she said no problem and took us over to a seperate little room with a phone which had a message on it from mickey mouse. my dd was SO excited that mickey mouse had wished her happy bithday - her face was a picture!

now it was time to get some rides under our belt so we headed to buzz - they were already giving out fastpasses for after 11.30 so we got them then joined the queue which was about 35mins. loved it as usual! dd's choice was to go and see the dragon next so off we went - unfortunatly we skipped on ahead (we do alot of skipping at disney!) and we lost dh and ds - so once we met up we handed out the walkie talkies so that it would be easier to find each other next time! next ride was ds choice, and his favourite in fantasyland is the caroursel so off we went, no queue so very quick. next was alices maze followed by teacups both with hardly any queue. we decided it was time to head up to salon mickey, and followed the train back up main street - with tigger at the back very excited to see my dd who was dressed as tigger! lots of kisses blown between them!

got to salon mickey at 11.20 and they only had croissants left - it had been a busy morning. we had our drinks (hot choc, orange juice and water) and croisants and the kids had sausages, strawberries and crisps as well which i had brought with us for their lunch. we were content with just a croissant.

next stop was back to Buzz to use the fastpasses - the queue was now 45min. while dd and i watched some cartoons in videopolis dh took ds off for his nap in the buggy. dd and i then followed the train up main st again then took the paddy waggon back down main st - we've never been in the main st vehicles before so that was fun. by now it was 2pm so we all met up behind the stage to watch the showtime spectacular from the back - and see lots of characters - and we got a photo and autgraph with mr and mrs incredible. by this time we were all shattered so we headed back to the hotel room. being on the first floor was a bit of a pain - but the bunk beds were a big hit with dd. spent the next couple of hours unpacking and resting before heading out to cafe mickey for our reservation. we got there 6.10 and seated upstairs straight away. interestingly the characters were already downstairs when we arrived - i think they do downstairs then upstairs. we got a great table by the window and ordered the usual pizza and baby cesear salad for us to share and the kids a kids pizza meal each, soft drinks all round (E54 with shareholders discount). we saw goofy, mickey, minnie, hook, smee and eeyore. all gave lots of hugs and great interaction. And most importantly dd got to dance with mickey again - which is her favourite thing to do!

as we left we realised that tigger was downstairs which was a shame as he is a favourite but never mind! straight back to the hotel room and kids in bed by 8.30. after getting the bags and clothes ready for the next day i was in bed not long after!

right - that's enough for now. more later.

 

[Disneyfanswicklow]

Great start! Our dd's birthday is March too and we also had the problem of school exams this year so this was the nearest time to celebrate her birthday - a big one - 18th! Like your dd she really enjoyed her birthday celebrations in DLRP! Can't wait to read more!

 

[Isila]

oh, another birthday trip. It's soooo nice. Lovely.

 

[jothp]

Another great trip report - we are all being spoiled at the moment

 

[susannah365]

Day three - tue 22nd

up early and at breakfast by 7.30. it was a scrum as usual but managable, just. walked into the park and got straight on peter pan at 8.35 with no queue. next was dumbo, carousel, and teacups all with hardly any queues. DS loved the 'elephant' ride. we stopped off to try to pull the sword out the stone but still no sucess. off to salon mickey and got the last 2 cookies for the kids and enjoyed hot chocolate with the place to ourselves.

next stop was the studios - we got to the gate at abou 9.45 and there was a big queue to get in. we headed for TSPL first which was really busy - we queued 45 min to do slinky dog which we weren't that impressed with - my son because he couldn't see slinky when he was on the ride and the rest of us because it was quite jerky. the queues for the other two rides were so long we decided to just have a quick photo stop with rex and head for stitch live - eating our packed lunch in the queue. got front row seats again but not chosen by stitch, oh well, loved it anyway.

by now it was 1pmish so dh took ds off for a nap while dd and i did art of animation. another first for us and we really enjoyed this - especially dd loved drawing the bouncing mickey head at the end. in fact it was a shame there weren't more drawing activities at the end.

by now ds was awake so we met up to do cars race ralye, a long 45min queue but a fun ride - worth the wait as far as the kids were concerned. it was now 2.30 so we headed over to the back of the stage to get a space to watch stars and cars, and meet the characters. we got autographs from snow white's evil stepmother and Gaston (who noticed dd was in a belle dress and kissed all up her arm!) and saw all the others. as that finished playhouse disney was starting so we rushed in there, which was great as usual, taking away loads of shiny leaves! next stop was the flying carpets - another first for us - and it had no queue! since it was obviously getting quieter we headed back to TSPL and did the parachute drop (40min wait) which we were all nervous about but we all loved - even ds! walking back we spotted pluto at the toon meet and greet so we got photos and had lots of fun giving kisses and cuddles - and getting tickled so much ds was on the floor giggling!

the final stop was for dd to chose her birthday present. we told her she could chose what she wanted - and we thought she would go for a huge teddy, but she didn't! she chose a winnie the pooh rucksack for E15 (-15% shareholders) so we got off lightly!

dinner at the chuck waggon was quick, plentiful and yummy, although the kids didn't eat that much as they were so tired. i had booked for 6 when it opened and so had loads of others - and many more were hoping to get in too. i noticed half an hour later there was no queue and then it got busy again when we were leaving. this was the only place we've found fruit though so we took two bananas home for the kids to eat. back to the room and off to bed.

DAY four - wed 23rd

up earlier today and the kids and us in a better mood after a good nights sleep. at breakfast for 7.15 and gates at 8. straight to buzz (walk on) then orbitron then buzz twice more (while dh went off and did space mountain which he's been really wanting to do - and there was almost no queue. i think most people didn't realise it was open?)

over to fantasyland where we did carousel, and decided that we wouldn't go to salon mickey and instead would do more rides as it seemed quieter today. 10 we did pinocchio as it opened, followed by snow white, both rides we had not done before. we loved pinocchio but not snow white as much - why on earth did they focus so much on the scary parts of the story?? then off to IASW, and, continuing our aim of doing as many new rides as possible, we headed over to pirates of the carribbean. this was a walk on and we were all realy excited to start with, ds especially who was doing his best pirate growl with one eye closed! i think it would have been ok but dd didn't really like the splashes and then we got stuck for a few minutes which upset dd so she was crying abit by the time we got off and said she was never doing it again.

we decided against doing phanton manor (!!) at that point which had been the plan and instead went to the winter wonderland show - it was a nice show but we were stuck behind one of the big poles so that was annoying. we'll get there earlier to get a better seat next time. we were also freezing by this point - definitely the coldest day today!

on our way back to fantasyland we spotted mickey mouse doing a meet and greet outside colonel hathis pizza outpost so got in line and only waited 5 mins to get a good family photo with mickey. as we entered fantasyland we noticed a queue to see belle by the festival theatre (where they have moved the meet and greet while the work to the princess stage is going on) which wasn't that long so we jointed it. we were sad a couple of minutes later when belle left and was replaced by Tiana, who isn't one of our favourites, but next minute our luck was in at Tigger, EEyore and rabbitt appeared out the door! we all hopped out the queue to see them and get photos and autographs and just got back in the queue before they closed it - which many people were not happy about, lots of crying little girls. we saw tiana and were just searching for lost gloves when Belle appeared out again, quite surprised to see the queue closed so she stopped to do a quick photo and autographs for everyone that was standing about which i thought was great of her.

by now it was 1.40 so dh took ds off for his nap while dd and i went upstairs in teh castle. we met up at 2pm behind the stage for the showtime spectacular while ds slept - and we got lots of photos with stitch, lilo, Boo, angel and jessie - much better being more central behind the stage.

we were now very cold and tired so we headed over to the studios to do the 3.15 animagique which was stunning as ususal - and warm! when we got out we went over to see buzz at the toon town meet and greet which was lovely.

to continue our quest of new rides, we did the studio tram tour which we all really enjoyed, and the heat from the fires was welcome! they were very excited by the idea of a dragon under disneyland and i'm not sure we convinced them that there wasn't one!

when we got off it was cold and raining so we had one last go on cars race rallye (almost a walk on) then went off to annettes for dinner (5.10pm ish). dh and i had the 'favourites' burger menu and kids had shepherds pie (very cheesy, yum!) and pasta, E49 with discount (very good value considering we all had two courses and drinks) and out by 6.20. straight back to hotel and kids in bed by 7.

that's it for now. last two days later.

 

[Isila]

busy days. I can't imagine getting DS in bed by 7p.m. seems like mission impossible

 

[Linda67]

Sounds like you had a wonderful time. What a wonderful way to celebrate DDs birthday

 

[Disneyfanswicklow]

Another lovely day! Sounds like a really happy Birthday! Can't wait to hear more.

 

[susannah365]

Day 5 - thursday 24th

once again up early, breakfast, at the gates by 8 and straight onto buzz to do three rides in a row. ds is obsessed by this ride! then over to fanasyland to do Dumbo which had a short queue. now time to catch the 'limousine' car up main street to salon mickey for the usual mid morning snack, yum.

we thought today we would see if dd would try phantom manor so headed there, but as we passed the paddle steamer it was just docking so we went on that first instead. it is a nice ride - we stood at the back and watched the paddles which the kids found facinating. we chatted to another disboarder (but i forgot to get his name?) about phantom manor which he had just been on. it sounded a bit too scary still for dd, and the queue was about an hour, so we gave it a miss. headed back to fantasyland and got a fastpass for peter pan, then went on to Casey jr and pays de le compte de fees - we waited 5 mins for that area to open (at 11) and then road the train then the boat with minimal queues - both very popular with us. glad we did it then as the queues later were huge!

we found a bench to eat our rolls and then it was time for our fastpass for peter pan - and the normal queue was over an hour so that was very satisfying! next was the character train down main street - and we managed to follow the crowds to where woody stood and luckily got picked to see him which was great. the fact that woody's roundup was closed this time was a big blow to us so finally getting to see woody was great. the scrum around piglet which we then went to join was not well regulated at all and not pleasant. next headed over to the studios to do the 1pm cinemagique which was another first for us. it was so much more exciting than we were expecting! we then split up with the hope that ds would have a nap (but he didn't) - dd and i went shopping! she found a minnie mouse suitcase she wanted but dh had all the money so we couldn't get it till we'd asked him. 2.25 we went to stake our spot behind the stage for stars and cars, with dh and ds joining us at 2.35. it started at 2.45 as ususal and our great spot got us Mulan, cruella de vil, alladin and emile, who really enjoyed tickling and pretending to eat both ds and dd - in the photo dd's long hair is in his mouth! he kept coming back to the kids to tickle and eat them which was so much fun.

next stop was the disneyland hotel for the 4pm 'dancing characters' which i had heard about on here. we had never been inside the 'pink palace' so it was a good excuse - it is amazing! and the dancing characters turned out to be a highlight of the trip. tigger, eeyore, donald, chip, dale and mickey all came dancing down the stairs then grabbed all the kids hands to form a ring and then eeyore went in the middle and everyone had to copy his dancing(which was moves from the showtime spectacular). then when the dancing shopped you got autographs and photos with each character. dd spent ages dancing with chip after everyone had finished getting his photo which was nice.

we headed back into the main park to see the parade but didn't get a great spot since it was 4.45, but it was still great. we wandered down to watch the first 10 mins of the showtime spectacular before it was time to go for our booking at cafe mickey.

we arrived at 6ish and were seated immediately, and the characters were already out. we were excited to see Balloo, but he left without seeing us. i asked if he'd be out again and they said 30 mins - it was more like an hour but more on that later. in the meantime out came mickey, goofy, eeyore and mr smee. when balloo reappeared we were almost finished dessert so i went over just to ask him if he'd come over to us soon since we would have to leave soon and we hadn't met him yet - but when i finished asking he immediately put his hand out for me to take him with me which was a surprise! the kids were very excited. the highlight however was when mickey came back to see us the second time and spent absolutely ages tickling the kids and getting hugs and kisses - i have no idea why he spent so much time with us but it was great.

back to the hotel and the kids in bed by 7.45 another tiring day but the best yet - and i had to spend the rest of the evening packing.



kids bedtime now so more later

 

[Disneyfanswicklow]

Wow sounds like a very full but fantastic day - how do we get to see your photos? the ones at Stars & Cars sound lovely would love to see them.

 

[susannah365]

friday 25th feb

ds did not sleep well and woke early because of a very croup like cough, so we got up early and we were packed, car packed and checked out and at breakfast by 7.15 as usual!

first stop - as was now becomming traditional, was three goes on Buzz in a row. we went over to fantasyland after that but it was already so busy that we decided to take the paddy wagon up main street and go to salon mickey. we were back in fantasyland for 10am and got a peter pan fastpass then went on pinocchio and IASW.

next on the plan for today was to see winnie the pooh at the meet and greet scheduled for 11.15 since it seems impossible to see him anywhere else. a bit disappointed to find that when we got there at 11 there was a huge queue and winnie the pooh had been out for ages, but never mind - at 11.15 the queue got really long so everyone else had been thinking 11.15 as well. dd was dressed as tigger again so had great fun meeting winnie.

we went straight back to fantasyland to do our fastpasses for peter pan - skipping the huge queue which was satisfying. it was now nap time so dh took ds off and dd and i tried to find a ride to do. we ended up at pays de la compte de fee which only had a 15min wait, everything else was over 45min. after this we met back up with dh (ds asleep in buggy by now) and had lunch at colonel hathis pizza outpost. didn't feel like pizza so had the pasta bolognese - would not reccommend it! we should have gone to toad hall like i wanted to by dh didn't feel like fish and chips!

we then headed over to the cowboy cookout where jessie, mickey and minnie were doing a meet and greet. we stayed there an hour just going from one character to the other as there was hardly anyone there! dd had made a little present for mickey, which was 10 cent coin in an envelope which she had written on. it became clear that he would love to have the envelope but could not even touch the 10 cent coin. we put it in his pocket which was lovely.

we headed up main street to get the candy floss dd wanted and ds got a mickey head shaped marshmallow. back to fantstyland while these were eated and we used our fastpass for peter pan(3.20 by now) which we had got after the last ride.

we decided that the queues were so long there was no point in trying to do any more rides so we went over to the studios and did stitch live followed by the tram tour - both had no queue which was why we chose them!

a quick pizza and burger in resaurant en coullisee and it was time to get in the car for the long drive home!




thanks if you've read till the end. i realise it's a bit boring without photos but my dh doesn't want me to put any on - sorry.

must start planning the next trip - 2013 we're going to florida but surely i can fit another paris trip in before then??!!

 

[Disneyfanswicklow]

Well done finishing - not boring at all without photos! They just sounded really nice! Sounds like you had a lovely time. Thanks for sharing

 

[Ware Bears]

A great trip - thanks for sharing.