My first stab at a Trip Report so I apologise if I send you all to sleep
Details - Sun 28th Sept (pm) - Thurs 2nd Oct
Staying - Disneyland Hotel
CMs - Me, DH, DD1 (3.5 yrs), DD2 (5 mths), My Mum & Step Dad
Sun 28th Sept – arrived at CDG airport at 6.15 pm (slightly later than planned). BS Transport were waiting and took us to the Disneyland Hotel. We arrived at 7.10 pm ish and unpacked, fed and got the baby (DD2) ready for bed. I did have a fleeting thought about heading to the Park as it closed at 9.00 pm (later at weekend) but by the time we got sorted it was nearly that time anyway.
Tried to calm down DD1 so that she would sleep – not much chance of that! Had a bit of a night with her and began wondering if we would have been better off staying at a townhouse at the Marriott Vacation Club – but in the end it all worked out OK and hotel was fabulous!
Mum & Stepdad had the room next door and the rooms were interconnecting so it was handy (we’d requested this by email but they couldn’t guarantee it). Only issue was that M&D’s room only had one bed so there was nowhere for DD1 to sleep if we had wanted her to go in there – e.g. if she was being noisy and waking DD2 (which she did!) etc. We had two doubles in our room and a huge sofa (as did M&D). Both rooms were beautiful and very tastefully decorated with subtle Disney décor. DD1 fell in love with the bathroom mirror of all things as it was carved with Snow White and some of the dwarves’ heads on it!
With the rooms we got a daily Fastpass each – however, what I didn’t know was that it’s only valid from 2pm – 6pm each day! Having said that, the parks were quite quiet so we rarely needed them!
Day One - Mon 29th Sept
Up at 6.30 am ish (nothing new for me/DH). Got showered etc and the girls ready as quickly as we could and got down to breakfast for 7.45 am (served in Inventions). The first character we saw was Pluto and DD1 was over the moon – she truly loved the experience of meeting them. Breakfast was wonderful – lots of food – continental, sweet stuff, hot cooked stuff including boiled eggs. It wasn’t too busy when we arrived but by the time we left it was starting to get fairly busy although nowhere near a ‘scrum’ by any means.
Much to my huffing, we got to the Park at 8.45 am ish which isn’t bad with a baby and a 3.5 year old in tow! The weather was awful with freezing, thick fog but we didn’t let it get us down. I have a picture of Main Street where you can’t even see the Castle at the bottom – very strange to see (pic below)! Everyone in the party was wondering why I was so adamant that we went all the way over to Fantasyland to the Peter Pan ride first! I tried to explain about queues etc and making the most of EMH but at this point it was ‘over their heads’. We went on the ride straight away and then on again with a very small queue (2 mins or so). Then, having seen the ropes for the queue, DH and party realised why I’d been so keen! We then queued for Dumbo (for about 5 minutes) and went on the Tea Cups and the Carousel.
EMH was coming to an end so we raced over to Discoveryland and the Buzz Lightyear ride but the queue was already showing as 20 mins and that was at 10.05 am! So we went for a coffee as DD2 needed feeding and changing. Had a coffee and cookie in the Cable Car Bakery and we were glad of the warmth and dry!
Walked through Frontierland to enjoy the Halloween decorations which were just fabulous. Even DD1, whom I thought might be scared of them, absolutely loved them. We stumbled across Jessie from Toy Story and DD1 got pic/auto. She loved Jessie! DH then spotted Minnie in her little house next to Jessie which was such a find as there was no queue! Minnie was so cute and so nice with DD1 and DD2! We also saw Prince John, Big Al, Kenai, Pluto, Eeyore and Gov Ratcliffe outside the Barbeque cookout restaurant which DD1 just loved! Again got pics/auto with them all as not really any scrums!
On the way through to Adventureland we passed Colonel Haithi’s restaurant and saw more characters – Goofy (in safari clothes!), Mr Smee and Rajar. We walked onto Indiana Jones (I went on with my Stepdad who looked at me very sullenly as we took ‘off’ and said “This is my first ever rollercoaster ride” with a very white face lol). We then did POTC – 5 min queue max. I was reluctant to take DD1 on POTC but my DH insisted. Sure enough she was a little scared but OK – she asked to go on again when we got off but we thought better of it as I thought it was ‘bravado’!
We then headed back to Fantasyland and went to look around the Castle to find it is still closed upstairs (until 6/10) which was disappointing. So we went on the Snow White ride (quite dark and DD1 scared in places but liked the end with Snow White!) and also Alice’s Labyrinth which she liked. Not sure what work they’ve done to this recently but it can’t have been much as the characters looked a little shabby in places – I think they may have cut the shrubs?
We had a quick look at the Passage of Aladdin exhibition thing next to Agrabah and was not really impressed with it! Agrabah was open and looked nice but we decided to head out to the Village and eat at Annettes – this was about 1.45 pm.
Got to Annettes and had to wait 5 minutes or so for a table. There were plenty of tables but for some reason the whole of the restaurant wasn’t open? I’ll review this in the correct place but overall it was OK – nice food but a bit cold and expensive!
Headed back to the park for the OUAD parade which was just the most fantastic experience ever (and by lunchtime the weather had brightened up so the sun was shining for the Parade!). We all loved it and got some great photos and video footage. DD1 was on DH’s shoulders and had loads of characters come and say hello to her.
DH and SD wanted to do the Buzz ride as the queue had been a little long in the morning. We were going to use our fastpasses but didn’t need to as the queue was only 5 mins! We all loved it and DH got a great highscore (showoff!). We even bought the photos as a souvenir. DD1 wanted to go on Orbitron but there was a massive queue and as it was part of EMH I told her we’d do it the next morning. So DH, SD & myself went on Space Mountain which we used our fastpasses for as the queue was 30 minutes. Mum and the girls stayed outside. We all loved this ride!
The day was nearly finished so we took DD1 to Fantasyland to ride IASW which she loved (and I did too!). Then we headed back to the hotel to get DD2 fed and ready for bed. We went out to watch Candlebration but didn’t know what to expect and stood at the top of Mainstreet so had no view really and couldn’t see the lights on the castle because it was too light – it was a bit of a disappointment really!
We eventually got the girls to sleep (well DD1 as DD2 was out straight away!) and then went for a quick drink and snack at the Fantasia (Hotel) bar while M & SD listened out for the girls from their room. One of the drawbacks of the DLH was the lack of ‘snack’ food options in the evenings. The bar has a very limited (and v expensive) menu or the other options are full on meals in Inventions or California Grill – not really snacky!
Back to the room to feed DD2 and then to bed after a shattering, but fantastic day! Day 2 to come!!
Details - Sun 28th Sept (pm) - Thurs 2nd Oct
Staying - Disneyland Hotel
CMs - Me, DH, DD1 (3.5 yrs), DD2 (5 mths), My Mum & Step Dad
Sun 28th Sept – arrived at CDG airport at 6.15 pm (slightly later than planned). BS Transport were waiting and took us to the Disneyland Hotel. We arrived at 7.10 pm ish and unpacked, fed and got the baby (DD2) ready for bed. I did have a fleeting thought about heading to the Park as it closed at 9.00 pm (later at weekend) but by the time we got sorted it was nearly that time anyway.
Tried to calm down DD1 so that she would sleep – not much chance of that! Had a bit of a night with her and began wondering if we would have been better off staying at a townhouse at the Marriott Vacation Club – but in the end it all worked out OK and hotel was fabulous!
Mum & Stepdad had the room next door and the rooms were interconnecting so it was handy (we’d requested this by email but they couldn’t guarantee it). Only issue was that M&D’s room only had one bed so there was nowhere for DD1 to sleep if we had wanted her to go in there – e.g. if she was being noisy and waking DD2 (which she did!) etc. We had two doubles in our room and a huge sofa (as did M&D). Both rooms were beautiful and very tastefully decorated with subtle Disney décor. DD1 fell in love with the bathroom mirror of all things as it was carved with Snow White and some of the dwarves’ heads on it!
With the rooms we got a daily Fastpass each – however, what I didn’t know was that it’s only valid from 2pm – 6pm each day! Having said that, the parks were quite quiet so we rarely needed them!
Day One - Mon 29th Sept
Up at 6.30 am ish (nothing new for me/DH). Got showered etc and the girls ready as quickly as we could and got down to breakfast for 7.45 am (served in Inventions). The first character we saw was Pluto and DD1 was over the moon – she truly loved the experience of meeting them. Breakfast was wonderful – lots of food – continental, sweet stuff, hot cooked stuff including boiled eggs. It wasn’t too busy when we arrived but by the time we left it was starting to get fairly busy although nowhere near a ‘scrum’ by any means.
Much to my huffing, we got to the Park at 8.45 am ish which isn’t bad with a baby and a 3.5 year old in tow! The weather was awful with freezing, thick fog but we didn’t let it get us down. I have a picture of Main Street where you can’t even see the Castle at the bottom – very strange to see (pic below)! Everyone in the party was wondering why I was so adamant that we went all the way over to Fantasyland to the Peter Pan ride first! I tried to explain about queues etc and making the most of EMH but at this point it was ‘over their heads’. We went on the ride straight away and then on again with a very small queue (2 mins or so). Then, having seen the ropes for the queue, DH and party realised why I’d been so keen! We then queued for Dumbo (for about 5 minutes) and went on the Tea Cups and the Carousel.
EMH was coming to an end so we raced over to Discoveryland and the Buzz Lightyear ride but the queue was already showing as 20 mins and that was at 10.05 am! So we went for a coffee as DD2 needed feeding and changing. Had a coffee and cookie in the Cable Car Bakery and we were glad of the warmth and dry!
Walked through Frontierland to enjoy the Halloween decorations which were just fabulous. Even DD1, whom I thought might be scared of them, absolutely loved them. We stumbled across Jessie from Toy Story and DD1 got pic/auto. She loved Jessie! DH then spotted Minnie in her little house next to Jessie which was such a find as there was no queue! Minnie was so cute and so nice with DD1 and DD2! We also saw Prince John, Big Al, Kenai, Pluto, Eeyore and Gov Ratcliffe outside the Barbeque cookout restaurant which DD1 just loved! Again got pics/auto with them all as not really any scrums!
On the way through to Adventureland we passed Colonel Haithi’s restaurant and saw more characters – Goofy (in safari clothes!), Mr Smee and Rajar. We walked onto Indiana Jones (I went on with my Stepdad who looked at me very sullenly as we took ‘off’ and said “This is my first ever rollercoaster ride” with a very white face lol). We then did POTC – 5 min queue max. I was reluctant to take DD1 on POTC but my DH insisted. Sure enough she was a little scared but OK – she asked to go on again when we got off but we thought better of it as I thought it was ‘bravado’!
We then headed back to Fantasyland and went to look around the Castle to find it is still closed upstairs (until 6/10) which was disappointing. So we went on the Snow White ride (quite dark and DD1 scared in places but liked the end with Snow White!) and also Alice’s Labyrinth which she liked. Not sure what work they’ve done to this recently but it can’t have been much as the characters looked a little shabby in places – I think they may have cut the shrubs?
We had a quick look at the Passage of Aladdin exhibition thing next to Agrabah and was not really impressed with it! Agrabah was open and looked nice but we decided to head out to the Village and eat at Annettes – this was about 1.45 pm.
Got to Annettes and had to wait 5 minutes or so for a table. There were plenty of tables but for some reason the whole of the restaurant wasn’t open? I’ll review this in the correct place but overall it was OK – nice food but a bit cold and expensive!
Headed back to the park for the OUAD parade which was just the most fantastic experience ever (and by lunchtime the weather had brightened up so the sun was shining for the Parade!). We all loved it and got some great photos and video footage. DD1 was on DH’s shoulders and had loads of characters come and say hello to her.
DH and SD wanted to do the Buzz ride as the queue had been a little long in the morning. We were going to use our fastpasses but didn’t need to as the queue was only 5 mins! We all loved it and DH got a great highscore (showoff!). We even bought the photos as a souvenir. DD1 wanted to go on Orbitron but there was a massive queue and as it was part of EMH I told her we’d do it the next morning. So DH, SD & myself went on Space Mountain which we used our fastpasses for as the queue was 30 minutes. Mum and the girls stayed outside. We all loved this ride!
The day was nearly finished so we took DD1 to Fantasyland to ride IASW which she loved (and I did too!). Then we headed back to the hotel to get DD2 fed and ready for bed. We went out to watch Candlebration but didn’t know what to expect and stood at the top of Mainstreet so had no view really and couldn’t see the lights on the castle because it was too light – it was a bit of a disappointment really!
We eventually got the girls to sleep (well DD1 as DD2 was out straight away!) and then went for a quick drink and snack at the Fantasia (Hotel) bar while M & SD listened out for the girls from their room. One of the drawbacks of the DLH was the lack of ‘snack’ food options in the evenings. The bar has a very limited (and v expensive) menu or the other options are full on meals in Inventions or California Grill – not really snacky!
Back to the room to feed DD2 and then to bed after a shattering, but fantastic day! Day 2 to come!!