Day 2 7th July first day in the park, nobody sick today hooray!
Cast members
Me Disney fanatic - I stomped through
Disneyland Paris in 1997, since why come to a theme park when youre in Paris, yes really!
Diane (DP) Long suffering Disney widow, buts loves it all anyway
Morgan (DD) 7 year old Disney fan. Favourites BTM, Pirates of the Caribbean
Jack (DS) 5 year old Disney, Star Wars and Power Rangers fan. Favourite Autopia
Robyn (DD) 3 year old Disney fan. Loves parades and Casey Jr
Kids wake up at 6.00am and are encouraged to go back to sleep, remembering that this is 5am our time.
We know best and if they dont get a bit more sleep then grumps they will be
At 7.30am, now thats better
we are up and showered.
The troop and I walk the 10 steps or so to the breakfast hut. Now this is an excellent arrangement with Davy Crockett Ranch. Each trail is served by a hut where you collect your breakfast at any time between 7.30 11.30 am.
We show our id and are rewarded with 3 boxes with 10 croissants, 5 cartons of oj, butter, marmalade, jam, hot chocolate, 1ltr milk and a French stick. Only half the croissants are touched along with the oj; although in the evening the troops have another ½ croissant. Oh and hot chocolate becomes the new favourite morning drink of the troop. I settle for croissant and Nescafe sachet, hopefully Ill get a real coffee later.
Guests of DCR get to park in the main car park for free, but as Annual passport holders we decide to park at the Hotel New York. This will give us a nice walk through the village back to the car and we suspect will be much quieter than navigating the main carpark at the end of the day
We arrive at the park for 10.00am, although I cant believe that I forgot that it opened at 9.00am.
The park is looking busy so we are expecting a lot of queuing
After entering we head straight for the stroller hire. Even without the free hire from our annual passes, we would make this our first stop. Fantasyland is made in good time with youngest DD on stroller and DS on standing. First port of call is Snow White, where Robyn spends most of the ride with her head buried as she is scared of the wicked Queen. We follow this with Pinocchio and have a similar performance.
Next stop is Dumbo and although there is a reasonable queue Jack always asks to go on this when we arrive.
Casey Jr beckons, but this does not open until 11.00am. No problem, spinning tea cups substitute for the time being. I always have a bit of fun pretending to be sick, which only encourages everyone to spin it faster.
As you can probably tell Jack has fully recovered.
Cant believe that it has taken us to 10.45 before we go on IASW. As usual everyone sings the entire ride and point to any they think no one has seen before
As we come off Casey Jr the heavens open up so we hurry over to the Annual Passport Bureau to get a passport for Robyn. She gets a Roo soft toy and for us a 20% voucher for shopping and a 20% voucher for restaurant.
We go next door to Constellations to check out the Star Wars merchandise, although it is not as good as we were expecting.
The park is buzzing and while we enjoyed November with the smaller crowds the park has a magic with all the people who are happy to wear Minnies ears, Goofys hat etc
Since the weather has not improved and the shops are doing a roaring trade in yellow ponchos we head to Café Hyperion. It would seem that most of the park has a similar thought
The 12noon Lion King Show is due to start so Jack and I belt ahead and secure a table in the top tier, although nearly loose everyone else in the process
I queue for food and get back to the table just as the medley finale is playing. Everyone is happy as they get a show as well as food.
Now when we saw the show in November we had queued for the tickets and I would still recommend this as the best way to see the show, but the café represents a decent alternative.
The weather had got a bit cold se we decide to head back to car and the Ranch.
As we hit the lobby at HNY Uncle Scrooge is there with little attention. Since he is related to Donald we think this is as good as it will get. With another photograph and autograph secured we head for the car.
Back at the ranch our code does not open the barrier, but a friendly CM gives us another code.
A quick change of clothes and we head back to the park.
We arrive back in time for the parade. This is always Robyns favourite, so we watch the floats.
Next stop is Phantom Manor which Morgan and Jack both enjoy. Robyn decides she wants to do this, now remember Snow White and Pinocchio, is this a good idea.
At the end it is announced that I wasnt scared and well do this again. So we decide to push our luck. We have always fancied a photograph of us all on Pirates of the Caribbean, since the film is a family favourite.
So we go on this and Robyn is not fazed at all. Unfortunately only Diane and I are visible.
The kids are keen for us to go to Hakuna Matata for supper, but it is closed for refurb.
As we head out of the park we note that security is heightened. A txt from home explains the worst of todays events. I txt my brother who says they are well but not sure what travel arrangements will be there for tomorrow.
Supper at Annettes Diner is the usual success.
When we get back to the Ranch I head to the shops, while the kids are bathed.
The shops are well provided with food as well as merchandise. I buy apple juice and real coffee for breakfast and red wine for later.
Write todays report and then off to bed.