Malton Seadog
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2007
Well here we are again. After our last visit (June 2008), we thought it would be ages until the next trip to the house of mouse, but it had come round very quickly.
Here is the account, in diary form, of day one.
Saturday 23rd May 2009
05:15 - the alarm goes off in sleepy Conisbrough, South Yorkshire. Two very excitied travellers rise and attempt breakfast but it's not really happening. We are booked on the 06:40 train from nearby Doncaster to London Kings Cross.
06:43 - the train is a few minutes late but we have plenty of time once we get to London. Our Eurostar doesn't leave St Pancras until 12:29 so we weren't too bothered.
07:50 - a bit peckish now actually. Hmmm. Train food? Yeah - why not. I head off to the cafe bar with a £10 note and return with a few coins. We bought two bacon sandwiches. Ah well - good practice for expensive park food!
08:45 - we arrive into London Kings Cross on time and walk to St Pancras where we intend to pick up our tickets. We booked over the phone because we had a discount offer due to a delay in last year's trip. Due to a fire outside Paris last June, our train was stopped for an hour which entitled us to 50% off a return ticket on this occasion.
09:15 - it's all gone very wrong. We pick our tickets up and apparently we are on the 15:29 out of London. Our return tickets are for the 15:13 from Paris which arrives into London at 16:29. We booked our Doncaster tickets for the 15:35 from London. Why would we have got to London at 08:45 if our train wasn't until 15:29? Why would we have booked a ticket back to Doncaster before the Eurostar was even back in England?! Eurostar had got it VERY wrong and we let them know about it. They could do nothing to reassure my girlfriend who was by this point in an utter state of panic and anger. I phoned Ashford from the free kiosks in the Eurostar office and they said they couldn't get us on an earlier train. This we could cope with. It was the return which was the problem. A walk on ticket to Doncaster would set us back £70 each. Thankfully, they got us onto the 11:13 back from Paris. We booked the 12:13, but this didn't appear to be the case on their system. I lost a certain amount of confidence in them from that moment onwards. They had got both our tickets wrong. Here starteth a 6.5 hour wait at St Pancras.
09:18 - bored now. Might have a look around the shops.
09:35 - well that took a long time. I'll sit here for a bit and see if I can count how many people are wearing black shoes in a pathetic attempt at self entertainment.
10:05 - I have a puzzle book! It's quite a big one too. 500+ puzzles. This should keep me busy.
10:10 - they're a bit hard. Maybe I should look around the shops again.
12:00 - lunch time. Fantastic - something to break up the monotony! Ooh - a tuna sandwich. Excitement unleashed in St Pancras station!
14:00 - I dance a jig of joy as check in opens. We go through without any problems. Finally, the final hour and a half is here.
15:00 - choo chooooo! We get on the train to realise we're sat facing backwards. T'other half has a look of dismay on her face as she doesn't travel well unless she's going forwards. I'm sure I booked us a forward facing seat... oh wait, no, this is Eurostar we're talking about.
16:05 - it's all gone dark. Anyone would think we'd entered a tunnel.
18:59 - Paris Gare du Nord. A welcome sight indeed. Now to find the RER line to Chatelet-Les-Halles.
19:15 - Found it AND managed to buy a ticket. Well impressed!
19:18 - Change trains onto Line A to Val d'Europe where our hotel lies.
20:05 - Where is our hotel? It said on the website that it was 20 metres from the station. How can you not see a hotel that is 20 metres away?
20:10 - Ahhh! The station has two exits at either end of the long platform. Naturally, we'd come out of the wrong one. Hotel found - and it is ridiculously close to the station. (see image below taken from the Paris platform. The hotel (Ibis Marne la Vallee) is in the background).
21:00 - On a train to Disney Village. I'm not sure I can cope with the long journey.
21:02 - Oh. That was quick!
21:10 - Genuine smiles as we see the entrance to the park and Disney Village in front of us.
21:20 - Can't talk - eating. A very welcome McDonalds eases our hunger pangs. It's been a long day.
22:30 - Back on the RER. Another 2 minute mammoth journey!
23:30 - Zzzzzzzzzzzz.....
That's it for day one folks. More to follow shortly!
Here is the account, in diary form, of day one.
Saturday 23rd May 2009
05:15 - the alarm goes off in sleepy Conisbrough, South Yorkshire. Two very excitied travellers rise and attempt breakfast but it's not really happening. We are booked on the 06:40 train from nearby Doncaster to London Kings Cross.
06:43 - the train is a few minutes late but we have plenty of time once we get to London. Our Eurostar doesn't leave St Pancras until 12:29 so we weren't too bothered.
07:50 - a bit peckish now actually. Hmmm. Train food? Yeah - why not. I head off to the cafe bar with a £10 note and return with a few coins. We bought two bacon sandwiches. Ah well - good practice for expensive park food!
08:45 - we arrive into London Kings Cross on time and walk to St Pancras where we intend to pick up our tickets. We booked over the phone because we had a discount offer due to a delay in last year's trip. Due to a fire outside Paris last June, our train was stopped for an hour which entitled us to 50% off a return ticket on this occasion.
09:15 - it's all gone very wrong. We pick our tickets up and apparently we are on the 15:29 out of London. Our return tickets are for the 15:13 from Paris which arrives into London at 16:29. We booked our Doncaster tickets for the 15:35 from London. Why would we have got to London at 08:45 if our train wasn't until 15:29? Why would we have booked a ticket back to Doncaster before the Eurostar was even back in England?! Eurostar had got it VERY wrong and we let them know about it. They could do nothing to reassure my girlfriend who was by this point in an utter state of panic and anger. I phoned Ashford from the free kiosks in the Eurostar office and they said they couldn't get us on an earlier train. This we could cope with. It was the return which was the problem. A walk on ticket to Doncaster would set us back £70 each. Thankfully, they got us onto the 11:13 back from Paris. We booked the 12:13, but this didn't appear to be the case on their system. I lost a certain amount of confidence in them from that moment onwards. They had got both our tickets wrong. Here starteth a 6.5 hour wait at St Pancras.
09:18 - bored now. Might have a look around the shops.
09:35 - well that took a long time. I'll sit here for a bit and see if I can count how many people are wearing black shoes in a pathetic attempt at self entertainment.
10:05 - I have a puzzle book! It's quite a big one too. 500+ puzzles. This should keep me busy.
10:10 - they're a bit hard. Maybe I should look around the shops again.
12:00 - lunch time. Fantastic - something to break up the monotony! Ooh - a tuna sandwich. Excitement unleashed in St Pancras station!
14:00 - I dance a jig of joy as check in opens. We go through without any problems. Finally, the final hour and a half is here.
15:00 - choo chooooo! We get on the train to realise we're sat facing backwards. T'other half has a look of dismay on her face as she doesn't travel well unless she's going forwards. I'm sure I booked us a forward facing seat... oh wait, no, this is Eurostar we're talking about.
16:05 - it's all gone dark. Anyone would think we'd entered a tunnel.
18:59 - Paris Gare du Nord. A welcome sight indeed. Now to find the RER line to Chatelet-Les-Halles.
19:15 - Found it AND managed to buy a ticket. Well impressed!
19:18 - Change trains onto Line A to Val d'Europe where our hotel lies.
20:05 - Where is our hotel? It said on the website that it was 20 metres from the station. How can you not see a hotel that is 20 metres away?
20:10 - Ahhh! The station has two exits at either end of the long platform. Naturally, we'd come out of the wrong one. Hotel found - and it is ridiculously close to the station. (see image below taken from the Paris platform. The hotel (Ibis Marne la Vallee) is in the background).
21:00 - On a train to Disney Village. I'm not sure I can cope with the long journey.
21:02 - Oh. That was quick!
21:10 - Genuine smiles as we see the entrance to the park and Disney Village in front of us.
21:20 - Can't talk - eating. A very welcome McDonalds eases our hunger pangs. It's been a long day.
22:30 - Back on the RER. Another 2 minute mammoth journey!
23:30 - Zzzzzzzzzzzz.....
That's it for day one folks. More to follow shortly!
Rather sound like my journeys when I got to Germany - nightmare!!
And 23 rides, nice one! I might tally up how many rides we go on when we go in Sept.... 
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