The Art Of Timing It Right (days 2, 3, 4 & 5 added)
- Thread starter Christieand
- Start date
Christieand
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2012
Day Four
Firstly I feel I should apologise for my temporary absence…as you may have read I had work at the weekend and then I planned to update on Monday by writing a little after work on Sunday then posting the day after. However, my sister and I were picked up from work by our grandparents who said that they would drop us off at home before heading off to a friend's birthday party near our house after a cup of tea and a cake with us. Well! We opened our front door to find our entire family (about 25 people!) and close friends (another four!) in our living as a surprise "good luck for Uni and goodbye" party. Needless to say we were very shocked and I didn't really have the time to continue my TR! Haha! Then on Monday it was declared that we were going shopping for last minute things before we move in at the weekend. So that's that and here it is.
There was a bit of a queue for breakfast this morning, but nothing horrendous! We actually think that the Parks got busier as the week went on, perhaps because the prices drop so much after the 6 week holidays! Anyway we were soon seated as the system is so orderly.
Today was also the first day that there was a menu for the hot options on our table. It's not very expensive (when compared to prices in the Parks). I did take pictures of it but they aren't very clear. I suppose I could post them if anybody wants to know what's on offer!
I had cereal too today because I clearly know how to live life on the edge.
Then, of course, it was time to go back to our favourite place and go on Peter Pan as per the new tradition. Again it was a walk on. Yay extra magic hours! Then we did Dumbo where there was a bit of a queue but where else can you view Fantasyland from the sky whilst sitting in a flying elephant?
Then we did the teacups for the first time on this trip. At first we weren't sure that they were even open but a family were allowed through so we followed!
Afterwards, we decided that it would be a wonderful idea to go over to Discoverland to do Orbitron because we had wanted to all week but put it off because there always seemed to be a queue of half an hour plus.
We were still in EMH so we waited for about 15-20 minutes which was okay because we had a lovely view of the moon and snacks to eat!
However when we got on the ride we soon discovered that it was perhaps not the best idea to have me and Beth in one "capsule" and Charlotte alone in another since Beth is the tallest of all of us! We were a bit…uncomfortable but it did, at the very least, make the duration of the ride very funny! We didn't even think to give Charlotte our bags. Definitely not a ride made for two adults!
Charl was fine!
The Orbitron Experience must have made us slightly delirious because we then thought that it would be an excellent idea to go over to the Studios to queue for crush! I think it was about 9:40 at this point so we were expecting to queue to get in but the gates we already open and the Crush queue was already at over an hour long! We decided that we might as well queue for it because otherwise we never would.
Thankfully Charlotte had bought her iPod to the Parks with her so we could watch Tangled on it whilst we waited. There was no sound because obviously it was reasonably noisy but we have watched it so many times that we could probably quote it word for word anyway…
I think we only saw one episode of queue jumping so it wasn't too bad on that front. There was a little girl in front of us who soon discovered that she was too small to ride and was devastated and had to bribed to move out of the queue! I think that the cute little sign is a bit deceiving before you read the warnings.
Eventually (and after about 50 minutes) we reached the final stretch of the queue and loved the theming (by this I mean the "mine" seagulls!) However, we weren't too happy when we discovered that it is a continually moving ride given my experience on the boats yesterday! Anyway we got on and it was my turn to ride alone.
I wouldn't say that I enjoyed the ride (especially near the end when Charl shouted to me "are you okay?!" and all I could do was say no!) but I would probably do it again if only to watch the nice bits at the start. Beth on the other hand loved it! Even if it was my favourite ride in the whole of Disneyland I don't think I would want to queue so long for it.
Despite feeling a little nauseous we decided then to do Tower of Terror.
The wait was only fifteen minutes so we couldn't use the long queue as an excuse! I did want to do it though because there is obviously no other way for me to find out whether I would like it or not. Again the theming was quite good but not really my thing which you probably could have worked out from the amount of time that we spent in Fantasyland compared to everywhere else! We had a fantastic Cast Member experience when we were being loaded in to the lifts; he was so in character and it was hilarious. He was just about to close the doors when he said "au revoir" in a creepy voice and did a weird little thing with his eyebrows. Nothing big but it was great nonetheless. I ended up enjoying this ride but it did make me feel really sick!
I think I would be okay if I did this alone but straight after crush was a bit too much. I really liked the part when you are at the top and the doors open so you can see outside. It was a lovely view because it was so sunny. We went in to the TOT shop afterwards and I bought pin badges for TOT, Crush and Parachute drop. I may have wanted to ride the first two a bit more so that I had justification to buy the badges…Beth bought the photo from this ride because a) our faces were hilarious and b) she wanted to prove to her Auntie that she actually went on it! I liked that they zoom in on just the people in your 'party' because I wouldn't like knowing the I was on someone's sideboard somewhere in their photo.
We needed a sit down then to recover from our experiences! Clearly we are not thrill ride people. Well, Charlotte and I aren't…Beth loved them both despite thinking that she wouldn't! Again we timed it right here because we ended up seeing some characters walking by which was nice.
After a little while and the application of some sun cream (I am very pale and the sun was warming up quickly!) we headed back over to Main Street to get a hot dog from Casey's.
We just got one to share and ate it whilst watching the celebration train again. To be honest I didn't enjoy it that much and don't really see why people seem to love them so much, sorry! Maybe it's just me.
Look at that castle!
Charlotte wanted to get a little gold-effect castle statue that she had seen in the shop under the castle (coincidentally) so we walked through and she got that. The shop was very busy so we got out as fast as we could! The service was a little slow but there were only two cast members for the entire shop which isn't a lot when you can't just get what you want and pay because everything is in cabinets. It didn't matter to us though and we were soon on our way in to Fantasyland. There we collected some fast passes for Peter Pan which we ended up not using but it means that we can use them in our scrapbook. Instead of staying in the Parks we decided to go back to our hotel to go swimming. Yay!
Not a very flattering photo of me!
Of course this time it was easier to find because we had been before and there were only two other people in the pool when we arrived. In fact two of the life guards were outside when we arrived and we wondered it was even open. We had put our swimming things on before we left our room so we just took off our shorts and tops, put our things in a locker and went in. By this time the other people had left so we had the entire pool to ourselves.
I think it was about 1 o'clock ish so from our experiences it is good to go early afternoon if you want it to be quiet. The only downside to this was the the lifeguards were messing around a bit playing catch with a ball that kept going in the pool and we felt rude if we didn't give it back to them. That and that the slide wasn't working, which obviously isn't a big deal but perhaps would be disappointing if you have children…or like the slide (not me, of course…) again we made the mistake of going from the jacuzzi back in to the pool! No one's fault but our own. Charlotte got out first because she was cold so went to sit in the sauna! We joined her soon after which was a bit silly because we were almost dry and then just had to have a shower.
The three open showers were freezing cold so we used the single one with the curtain over but obviously kept our swimming costumes on! There is body wash/shampoo on the wall in case you forget your own which is nice.
Then we went back to our room, dried our hair and got ready to go back to the Park for the parade at 5 o'clock. I think we left at about 4:00 and this proved an okay time to arrive and get front-row seats. Charlotte sat down and Beth and I went to get BTM fast passes. We must have been gone for a little while because Charlotte, bless her, was very bored when we arrived back! I then went to fetch a drink from Casey's using the voucher that we got with our hotdog but the queue was massive and by the time I was heading back it was definitely difficult to weave through all the people. Of course by this time we were expecting the parade to start soon but announcements kept coming on to tell us that there was an unscheduled delay. By this it meant that we would be waiting for another half an hour! It was a bit annoying but what can you do? A family were behind us and their girls were tiny so they went in front of us and their parents were very grateful. We would have to be really mean to not let two little girls who weren't even half the size of us see properly!
Having a rest whilst the music stopped!
Of course it was now 6 o'clock instead of 5:30 so we had to head to Rainforest cafe quickly in order to get back in time for Dreams. This of course meant that there was no time to redeem our fast pass before we went.
We made our way through the shop and under the fish (I love the fish!) and were seated straight away to a table opposite the elephant. We ordered our drinks and after a while our starter and mains too. For the life of me I can't remember what they were called, sorry! They were, however, delicious. Especially the starter which we could have quite happily eaten four of. Our mains were good too and we didn't have to wait very long at all. Our waiter was very nice even if he did ask if we were enjoying our meal at least five times! Better than not asking us at all though.
Even though we were full we still braved the volcano for pudding! Beth was determined to finish it all and did just that. The only thing that we were a little disappointed at was the lack of thunderstorms. I seem to remember them being very frequent, atmospheric and exciting but they seemed a bit half-hearted this time. Maybe because I am older now!
After we had paid we browsed through the shop for a few minutes (the talking tree is very creepy) but nothing took our fancy so we headed out of the rainforest and back over to Disney! It must have been near enough 8 o'clock because we sat in our Dreams spot straight away. I had remembered my Vinylmation that I wanted to swap so I headed over to the shop in Discoveryland whilst Charl & Beth waited. The cast member didn't speak great English but we managed just fine. I always feel so rude not being able to speak a second language when the vast majority of CMs at Disney and people from some other countries in general know two languages if not more!
I had an Indiana Jones Vinylmation that I swapped with a Robinson's Treehouse that was in the clear acrylic box. Then I swapped the weird thing with a top hat (!) for number 13 which was Small Worldd (yay!) and got Dopey who was in number 24 for my animal-with-a-beak that I don't know the name of! It's safe to say that I was very happy with that! However I have since read that only two swaps per day are supposed to be done with Vinylmation, perhaps the CM didn't know the rules or the language barrier proved difficult. I also bought some mickey shaped lollies as per Charlotte's instruction. I had to go and pay outside because they must have been near to closing. The two CMs there were very friendly and laughing with one another.
So I walked back over to our Dreams spot, Charlotte and Beth could see me right from the Discoverland entrance
(I don't know how!) so they stood up and waved which I was very grateful for because like earlier with the parade it had filled up substantially.
Dreams came on but we were disappointed because it didn't work properly! On about 3 occasions the projections stopped so it just wasn't as good, unfortunately.
Afterwards we headed out and went down Main Street instead of through the Arcade for once so that we could look at everything all lit up. Then in to the Village and World of Disney! We realised that just before the steps there are huge grates that have the railway underneath which was a bit weird. Beth was looking for presents for her sisters which proved difficult because they aren't that bothered about Disney (we're not quite sure what is wrong with them!) but after a little while she decided what to get. I think we resolved that we would go back in the morning because of course it was very busy.
Back at the hotel we were queuing for the lifts again but it didn't matter. The longer we could stay out of our room the more time until we had to start packing which of course meant going home! Obviously though we were soon there and managed to pack our clothes and tidy up a bit before going to bed for the last time!
Firstly I feel I should apologise for my temporary absence…as you may have read I had work at the weekend and then I planned to update on Monday by writing a little after work on Sunday then posting the day after. However, my sister and I were picked up from work by our grandparents who said that they would drop us off at home before heading off to a friend's birthday party near our house after a cup of tea and a cake with us. Well! We opened our front door to find our entire family (about 25 people!) and close friends (another four!) in our living as a surprise "good luck for Uni and goodbye" party. Needless to say we were very shocked and I didn't really have the time to continue my TR! Haha! Then on Monday it was declared that we were going shopping for last minute things before we move in at the weekend. So that's that and here it is.
There was a bit of a queue for breakfast this morning, but nothing horrendous! We actually think that the Parks got busier as the week went on, perhaps because the prices drop so much after the 6 week holidays! Anyway we were soon seated as the system is so orderly.
Today was also the first day that there was a menu for the hot options on our table. It's not very expensive (when compared to prices in the Parks). I did take pictures of it but they aren't very clear. I suppose I could post them if anybody wants to know what's on offer!
I had cereal too today because I clearly know how to live life on the edge.
Then, of course, it was time to go back to our favourite place and go on Peter Pan as per the new tradition. Again it was a walk on. Yay extra magic hours! Then we did Dumbo where there was a bit of a queue but where else can you view Fantasyland from the sky whilst sitting in a flying elephant?
Then we did the teacups for the first time on this trip. At first we weren't sure that they were even open but a family were allowed through so we followed!
Afterwards, we decided that it would be a wonderful idea to go over to Discoverland to do Orbitron because we had wanted to all week but put it off because there always seemed to be a queue of half an hour plus.
We were still in EMH so we waited for about 15-20 minutes which was okay because we had a lovely view of the moon and snacks to eat!
However when we got on the ride we soon discovered that it was perhaps not the best idea to have me and Beth in one "capsule" and Charlotte alone in another since Beth is the tallest of all of us! We were a bit…uncomfortable but it did, at the very least, make the duration of the ride very funny! We didn't even think to give Charlotte our bags. Definitely not a ride made for two adults!
Charl was fine!
The Orbitron Experience must have made us slightly delirious because we then thought that it would be an excellent idea to go over to the Studios to queue for crush! I think it was about 9:40 at this point so we were expecting to queue to get in but the gates we already open and the Crush queue was already at over an hour long! We decided that we might as well queue for it because otherwise we never would.
Thankfully Charlotte had bought her iPod to the Parks with her so we could watch Tangled on it whilst we waited. There was no sound because obviously it was reasonably noisy but we have watched it so many times that we could probably quote it word for word anyway…
I think we only saw one episode of queue jumping so it wasn't too bad on that front. There was a little girl in front of us who soon discovered that she was too small to ride and was devastated and had to bribed to move out of the queue! I think that the cute little sign is a bit deceiving before you read the warnings.
Eventually (and after about 50 minutes) we reached the final stretch of the queue and loved the theming (by this I mean the "mine" seagulls!) However, we weren't too happy when we discovered that it is a continually moving ride given my experience on the boats yesterday! Anyway we got on and it was my turn to ride alone.
I wouldn't say that I enjoyed the ride (especially near the end when Charl shouted to me "are you okay?!" and all I could do was say no!) but I would probably do it again if only to watch the nice bits at the start. Beth on the other hand loved it! Even if it was my favourite ride in the whole of Disneyland I don't think I would want to queue so long for it.
Despite feeling a little nauseous we decided then to do Tower of Terror.
The wait was only fifteen minutes so we couldn't use the long queue as an excuse! I did want to do it though because there is obviously no other way for me to find out whether I would like it or not. Again the theming was quite good but not really my thing which you probably could have worked out from the amount of time that we spent in Fantasyland compared to everywhere else! We had a fantastic Cast Member experience when we were being loaded in to the lifts; he was so in character and it was hilarious. He was just about to close the doors when he said "au revoir" in a creepy voice and did a weird little thing with his eyebrows. Nothing big but it was great nonetheless. I ended up enjoying this ride but it did make me feel really sick!
I think I would be okay if I did this alone but straight after crush was a bit too much. I really liked the part when you are at the top and the doors open so you can see outside. It was a lovely view because it was so sunny. We went in to the TOT shop afterwards and I bought pin badges for TOT, Crush and Parachute drop. I may have wanted to ride the first two a bit more so that I had justification to buy the badges…Beth bought the photo from this ride because a) our faces were hilarious and b) she wanted to prove to her Auntie that she actually went on it! I liked that they zoom in on just the people in your 'party' because I wouldn't like knowing the I was on someone's sideboard somewhere in their photo.
We needed a sit down then to recover from our experiences! Clearly we are not thrill ride people. Well, Charlotte and I aren't…Beth loved them both despite thinking that she wouldn't! Again we timed it right here because we ended up seeing some characters walking by which was nice.
After a little while and the application of some sun cream (I am very pale and the sun was warming up quickly!) we headed back over to Main Street to get a hot dog from Casey's.
We just got one to share and ate it whilst watching the celebration train again. To be honest I didn't enjoy it that much and don't really see why people seem to love them so much, sorry! Maybe it's just me.
Look at that castle!
Charlotte wanted to get a little gold-effect castle statue that she had seen in the shop under the castle (coincidentally) so we walked through and she got that. The shop was very busy so we got out as fast as we could! The service was a little slow but there were only two cast members for the entire shop which isn't a lot when you can't just get what you want and pay because everything is in cabinets. It didn't matter to us though and we were soon on our way in to Fantasyland. There we collected some fast passes for Peter Pan which we ended up not using but it means that we can use them in our scrapbook. Instead of staying in the Parks we decided to go back to our hotel to go swimming. Yay!
Not a very flattering photo of me!
Of course this time it was easier to find because we had been before and there were only two other people in the pool when we arrived. In fact two of the life guards were outside when we arrived and we wondered it was even open. We had put our swimming things on before we left our room so we just took off our shorts and tops, put our things in a locker and went in. By this time the other people had left so we had the entire pool to ourselves.
I think it was about 1 o'clock ish so from our experiences it is good to go early afternoon if you want it to be quiet. The only downside to this was the the lifeguards were messing around a bit playing catch with a ball that kept going in the pool and we felt rude if we didn't give it back to them. That and that the slide wasn't working, which obviously isn't a big deal but perhaps would be disappointing if you have children…or like the slide (not me, of course…) again we made the mistake of going from the jacuzzi back in to the pool! No one's fault but our own. Charlotte got out first because she was cold so went to sit in the sauna! We joined her soon after which was a bit silly because we were almost dry and then just had to have a shower.
The three open showers were freezing cold so we used the single one with the curtain over but obviously kept our swimming costumes on! There is body wash/shampoo on the wall in case you forget your own which is nice.
Then we went back to our room, dried our hair and got ready to go back to the Park for the parade at 5 o'clock. I think we left at about 4:00 and this proved an okay time to arrive and get front-row seats. Charlotte sat down and Beth and I went to get BTM fast passes. We must have been gone for a little while because Charlotte, bless her, was very bored when we arrived back! I then went to fetch a drink from Casey's using the voucher that we got with our hotdog but the queue was massive and by the time I was heading back it was definitely difficult to weave through all the people. Of course by this time we were expecting the parade to start soon but announcements kept coming on to tell us that there was an unscheduled delay. By this it meant that we would be waiting for another half an hour! It was a bit annoying but what can you do? A family were behind us and their girls were tiny so they went in front of us and their parents were very grateful. We would have to be really mean to not let two little girls who weren't even half the size of us see properly!
Having a rest whilst the music stopped!
Of course it was now 6 o'clock instead of 5:30 so we had to head to Rainforest cafe quickly in order to get back in time for Dreams. This of course meant that there was no time to redeem our fast pass before we went.
We made our way through the shop and under the fish (I love the fish!) and were seated straight away to a table opposite the elephant. We ordered our drinks and after a while our starter and mains too. For the life of me I can't remember what they were called, sorry! They were, however, delicious. Especially the starter which we could have quite happily eaten four of. Our mains were good too and we didn't have to wait very long at all. Our waiter was very nice even if he did ask if we were enjoying our meal at least five times! Better than not asking us at all though.
Even though we were full we still braved the volcano for pudding! Beth was determined to finish it all and did just that. The only thing that we were a little disappointed at was the lack of thunderstorms. I seem to remember them being very frequent, atmospheric and exciting but they seemed a bit half-hearted this time. Maybe because I am older now!
After we had paid we browsed through the shop for a few minutes (the talking tree is very creepy) but nothing took our fancy so we headed out of the rainforest and back over to Disney! It must have been near enough 8 o'clock because we sat in our Dreams spot straight away. I had remembered my Vinylmation that I wanted to swap so I headed over to the shop in Discoveryland whilst Charl & Beth waited. The cast member didn't speak great English but we managed just fine. I always feel so rude not being able to speak a second language when the vast majority of CMs at Disney and people from some other countries in general know two languages if not more!
I had an Indiana Jones Vinylmation that I swapped with a Robinson's Treehouse that was in the clear acrylic box. Then I swapped the weird thing with a top hat (!) for number 13 which was Small Worldd (yay!) and got Dopey who was in number 24 for my animal-with-a-beak that I don't know the name of! It's safe to say that I was very happy with that! However I have since read that only two swaps per day are supposed to be done with Vinylmation, perhaps the CM didn't know the rules or the language barrier proved difficult. I also bought some mickey shaped lollies as per Charlotte's instruction. I had to go and pay outside because they must have been near to closing. The two CMs there were very friendly and laughing with one another.
So I walked back over to our Dreams spot, Charlotte and Beth could see me right from the Discoverland entrance
(I don't know how!) so they stood up and waved which I was very grateful for because like earlier with the parade it had filled up substantially.
Dreams came on but we were disappointed because it didn't work properly! On about 3 occasions the projections stopped so it just wasn't as good, unfortunately.
Afterwards we headed out and went down Main Street instead of through the Arcade for once so that we could look at everything all lit up. Then in to the Village and World of Disney! We realised that just before the steps there are huge grates that have the railway underneath which was a bit weird. Beth was looking for presents for her sisters which proved difficult because they aren't that bothered about Disney (we're not quite sure what is wrong with them!) but after a little while she decided what to get. I think we resolved that we would go back in the morning because of course it was very busy.
Back at the hotel we were queuing for the lifts again but it didn't matter. The longer we could stay out of our room the more time until we had to start packing which of course meant going home! Obviously though we were soon there and managed to pack our clothes and tidy up a bit before going to bed for the last time!
tinks_1989
<font color=teal>need a <b>like</b> button<br><fon
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2007
Another great day going to be sad when it is over!
That's so lovely what your family did for you both
That's so lovely what your family did for you both
Christieand
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2012
Another great day going to be sad when it is over!
That's so lovely what your family did for you both
Only one day left
Will have to go back just so I can write another TR! 
We were indeed very touched, after we got over the initial shock!
Christieand
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2012
Thank you very much! We had a brilliant time and would go back tomorrow if we could.
Christieand
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2012
Day Five
Our last day! To make matters worse we set our alarm for an earlier time to allow for a little more packing. However, I think this did mean that we were almost done by the time we left for breakfast which of course meant that we only had a bit more to do later. It also meant that we were on time and not ten minutes late for breakfast! Again it was much busier than on the first day but it really doesn't make all that much of a difference you just have to wait a few more seconds to get your food. Of course we ate as much as physically possible because it will be a while before we are back!
You can probably guess what is coming next…EMH and Peter Pan! It was really quite chilly this morning. On our way in to the Parks we saw some people taking a group photo and they were speaking English so we asked if they would mind taking a picture of the three of us together. The kind lady obliged and now we have a picture of the three of us in front of our dream accommodation. One day!
So we walked through Main Street and in to Fantasyland.
Everything was very bittersweet because it was of course lovely, but we knew we had to leave very soon! Peter Pan was brilliant because a CM shouted "off to Neverland!" just as the ride started in a shockingly similar way to the 'real' Peter. It's the little things!
Afterwards we did Dumbo again. We deliberated over it for a little while but then decided to stop being silly.
Then we went back to finish packing…yes we did go all the way to the Parks just to do two rides but we couldn't break tradition on the last day! And EMH are brilliant; it would have been a shame not to do at least one thing.
So, back to our room.
Charlotte can't pull a normal face, it seems...
the view
again!
Most of the clothes etc were packed and all the gifts were in the other case but we had the small task of closing it…after much rearranging the two cases were zipped up but then Charlotte discovered some clothes that we had missed and I very nearly had to put more layers on. We thought that with us initially having a suitcase full of food we would have enough room on the way back but apparently not. We had to resort to eating the tinned fruit we had bought because it wouldn't fit and we didn't want to throw it away! I didn't want any more and Charlotte was force feeding it to me..
But I don't WANT to go home!
I'm going to stay sitting here forever...
In the end we had very full backpacks that amused security on our way through the village, especially when my front pocket was filled with Vinylmation and Charlotte had a carrier bag with an Angel plush in…
Before we could go to the village though, we had to drop our bags off at Disney Express. The queue was huge! We just joined it but then a family realised that we had already paid for the service and therefore had our tickets and literally just needed to hand our bags over rather than pay so he let us go in front which was very kind. So we ripped off the final tag and passed them to the waiting CMs and we were off again. We were actually going to get the shuttle but forgot, went in to autopilot, and started walking instead. At least it allowed for some last pictures.
We popped in to Disney clothing on Main Street because we had somehow missed it during the rest of the week. They had some lovely jewellery and some pyjamas that we hadn't yet seen yet but we didn't buy anything.
Then over to Frontierland to get another fast pass for BTM and once again we went in to the shop whilst waiting for our time to arrive. I think Beth bought some biscuits for her family here and perhaps we found the character shaped mints that we had been looking for? We were very tempted by Mickey themed tea, coffee and sugar jars for University but decided that it perhaps wasn't the best idea given that we were already fully laden with luggage…
Our FP time arrived and the ride was as good as ever but the photo was awful when we looked at it on the bigger screens at the desk. However, a CM had a pin with Pearl from Nemo on and it was really cute so I decided to queue back up to ask her to swap. This ended up being a big deal because she was sorting something out on a till and I was holding up the queue! However, another CM let her know that I was waiting which I appreciated and she came over, albeit begrudgingly, and swapped with me. Then we got another fast pass purely so that we could try and get a good photo!
Whilst we were waiting for that we headed to Discoverland to do Star Tours. According to my pictures we found the time to sit down for a few minutes to have a snack.
I think the queue was about twenty minutes so we joined it. I must be getting more prone to motion sickness as I get older because I remember really enjoying it in 2009 but this time it left me a bit queasy…
Our beloved Orbitron...
Anyway we had to all but run over to Frontierland to make it in time for our FP only to find BTM broken down! I was very glad that we weren't the ones stuck on it because I would have been concerned about making it to the train station on time…I remember the first time we visited DLRP and it got stuck right at the ride's highest point…I'm sure that was enjoyable for the people concerned…
This of course meant that we couldn't ride it and wouldn't get our photo, but it wasn't as if we hadn't been on it before! I sat down for a few minutes whilst Charlotte and Beth went to refill water bottles. It was quite hot by this point and our heavy bags were making everything a little more difficult. Coupled with the fact that we were of course on the countdown to home and we weren't too happy. However, Charlotte discovered some ducks, gave them some biscuit, and happiness was resumed. Again, it's the little things...
We soon resolved this by having candy floss in Fantasyland. Whilst we were queueing, a butterfly landed on the castle wall which was pretty. I love all the butterflies in Fantasyland. We sat under the castle in the shade whilst we ate the fluffy sugar that was about twice the size of my head!
Looking a little bit red thanks to the sun!
"I'm Gepetto!"
Then we decided that if we wanted to go to EOS before the train station then it was probably time for our last ride. This had to be Small World because it had been our first so needed to be our last too. As always the queue wasn't long but I suppose that the same could be applied to the actual ride because it was over far too soon for our liking!
On our way out we just had to walk without looking back otherwise we would never have been able to leave! We really, really, really didn't want to go!
In the village we decided to go in to World of Disney one last time to pick up a few last things. Again I can't remember what we bought but I will try to do one last post with all of our purchases in. Of course it was a much nicer experience this time without the post-Dreams rush.
Then on to EOS. I decided to have The Original which is beef and cheese but I didn't really enjoy it which was disappointing. Beth ended up swapping half of hers for half of mine because she got the Hawaiian BBQ which she wasn't thrilled with either. To make matters worse, a wasp decided to attack and Charlotte is terrified of insects that sting so that made for an interesting dining experience. Combine all of this with the fact that we could see our hotel room from where we were sat and we weren't very happy!
Then, of course, we had to head to the train station. This time though, at least we knew where the Express desk was!
Check in is conveniently located right next door which meant that we didn't have to lug our cases through the station. There wasn't a queue- this was at about 4pm I think. The seats were all taken so we sat down on the floor (perhaps frowned upon but no one seemed to mind) and just waited for check in to open whilst becoming more upset by the minute that we were leaving. We genuinely contemplated going back in to the Parks for half an hour but it just wouldn't leave us with enough time…
Anyway it worked out that as soon as check in opened we were also able to board so we went through the process of check in and security (it was a task and a half lifting our cases on to the x-rays but even more so getting them off at the end…) which was as pleasant as ever and then we were able to get straight on to the train. It wasn't such a long walk to our carriage this time and we had soon lifted our cases in to place and sat down. Later on we discovered that we had sat at the wrong table and should have been on the one opposite which caused temporary confusion (clearly I can not read tickets correctly) but the family that were supposed to be in our seats offered to just sit on the other table. It didn't really make any difference so we were grateful that we didn't have to move all the stuff that we had unpacked!
see what I mean about the table?
There was still about an hour before the train left but we were glad that we didn't have to rush.
The journey passed without any problems, apart from when we were thirsty and had no juice left so I went to to the bar to buy something. Two whole pounds and fifty pence for a bottle of Tropicana! I expected it to be expensive but that was ridiculous. Clearly I have turned in to my mum when it comes to moaning about prices..
Just to give a bit of perspective about the size of the bottle!
I slept a little, watched a bit of Tangled and read a bit for the journey's duration. Then we arrived at St Pancras and of course had to get our cases off the train so waited for everyone to leave our carriage before devising a system of one on platform, one on stairs and one on train in order to get them off. Next came the long walk to the travelators which seemed even longer than on the way there! There was a bit of a problem when getting off because a family had decided to congregate at the bottom and of course this proves troublesome on a moving platform…
Then we had to queue for customs which I hadn't been expecting. It moved quite quickly (and we were at the very back) and the man who was minding the queue let us all go over together which saved hanging around. Gordon our driver had rang whilst we were in the queue to say that he was waiting and there he was when we emerged waiting to watch our suitcases whilst we went to the toilet (much easier without cases!) and filled up our water bottles.
We walked through the station to the car park, something that we had never done before so we saw new things. Then we loaded our cases in and got in the car. He had brought his wife, Pat, along for the journey which was fine but meant that we were squashed in the back! Not so pleasant. Charlotte slept on the way home but Beth and I mainly stayed awake and waited to arrive back at home. Of course there was no traffic this time because it was late at night.
There, Beth was going to stay over but her dad picked her up and we opened our cases on to the living room floor! Mum must have missed us because she didn't mind. We gave her her gifts (dad was fast asleep on the sofa…) talked for a little while then went to bed.
So that's it! Pretty much the next day we were back on the Disney land website working out if we will be able to go next year but I'm sure you'll hear all about that in a PTR if it ever happens…
Thanks for reading and hopefully I'll be able to write a post about everything we bought soon. I say hopefully because we are currently packing for Uni so it may have to wait a while as some things have been put away already.
Our last day! To make matters worse we set our alarm for an earlier time to allow for a little more packing. However, I think this did mean that we were almost done by the time we left for breakfast which of course meant that we only had a bit more to do later. It also meant that we were on time and not ten minutes late for breakfast! Again it was much busier than on the first day but it really doesn't make all that much of a difference you just have to wait a few more seconds to get your food. Of course we ate as much as physically possible because it will be a while before we are back!
You can probably guess what is coming next…EMH and Peter Pan! It was really quite chilly this morning. On our way in to the Parks we saw some people taking a group photo and they were speaking English so we asked if they would mind taking a picture of the three of us together. The kind lady obliged and now we have a picture of the three of us in front of our dream accommodation. One day!
So we walked through Main Street and in to Fantasyland.
Everything was very bittersweet because it was of course lovely, but we knew we had to leave very soon! Peter Pan was brilliant because a CM shouted "off to Neverland!" just as the ride started in a shockingly similar way to the 'real' Peter. It's the little things!
Afterwards we did Dumbo again. We deliberated over it for a little while but then decided to stop being silly.
Then we went back to finish packing…yes we did go all the way to the Parks just to do two rides but we couldn't break tradition on the last day! And EMH are brilliant; it would have been a shame not to do at least one thing.
So, back to our room.
Charlotte can't pull a normal face, it seems...
the view
again!
Most of the clothes etc were packed and all the gifts were in the other case but we had the small task of closing it…after much rearranging the two cases were zipped up but then Charlotte discovered some clothes that we had missed and I very nearly had to put more layers on. We thought that with us initially having a suitcase full of food we would have enough room on the way back but apparently not. We had to resort to eating the tinned fruit we had bought because it wouldn't fit and we didn't want to throw it away! I didn't want any more and Charlotte was force feeding it to me..
But I don't WANT to go home!
I'm going to stay sitting here forever...
In the end we had very full backpacks that amused security on our way through the village, especially when my front pocket was filled with Vinylmation and Charlotte had a carrier bag with an Angel plush in…
Before we could go to the village though, we had to drop our bags off at Disney Express. The queue was huge! We just joined it but then a family realised that we had already paid for the service and therefore had our tickets and literally just needed to hand our bags over rather than pay so he let us go in front which was very kind. So we ripped off the final tag and passed them to the waiting CMs and we were off again. We were actually going to get the shuttle but forgot, went in to autopilot, and started walking instead. At least it allowed for some last pictures.
We popped in to Disney clothing on Main Street because we had somehow missed it during the rest of the week. They had some lovely jewellery and some pyjamas that we hadn't yet seen yet but we didn't buy anything.
Then over to Frontierland to get another fast pass for BTM and once again we went in to the shop whilst waiting for our time to arrive. I think Beth bought some biscuits for her family here and perhaps we found the character shaped mints that we had been looking for? We were very tempted by Mickey themed tea, coffee and sugar jars for University but decided that it perhaps wasn't the best idea given that we were already fully laden with luggage…
Our FP time arrived and the ride was as good as ever but the photo was awful when we looked at it on the bigger screens at the desk. However, a CM had a pin with Pearl from Nemo on and it was really cute so I decided to queue back up to ask her to swap. This ended up being a big deal because she was sorting something out on a till and I was holding up the queue! However, another CM let her know that I was waiting which I appreciated and she came over, albeit begrudgingly, and swapped with me. Then we got another fast pass purely so that we could try and get a good photo!
Whilst we were waiting for that we headed to Discoverland to do Star Tours. According to my pictures we found the time to sit down for a few minutes to have a snack.
I think the queue was about twenty minutes so we joined it. I must be getting more prone to motion sickness as I get older because I remember really enjoying it in 2009 but this time it left me a bit queasy…
Our beloved Orbitron...
Anyway we had to all but run over to Frontierland to make it in time for our FP only to find BTM broken down! I was very glad that we weren't the ones stuck on it because I would have been concerned about making it to the train station on time…I remember the first time we visited DLRP and it got stuck right at the ride's highest point…I'm sure that was enjoyable for the people concerned…
This of course meant that we couldn't ride it and wouldn't get our photo, but it wasn't as if we hadn't been on it before! I sat down for a few minutes whilst Charlotte and Beth went to refill water bottles. It was quite hot by this point and our heavy bags were making everything a little more difficult. Coupled with the fact that we were of course on the countdown to home and we weren't too happy. However, Charlotte discovered some ducks, gave them some biscuit, and happiness was resumed. Again, it's the little things...
We soon resolved this by having candy floss in Fantasyland. Whilst we were queueing, a butterfly landed on the castle wall which was pretty. I love all the butterflies in Fantasyland. We sat under the castle in the shade whilst we ate the fluffy sugar that was about twice the size of my head!
Looking a little bit red thanks to the sun!
"I'm Gepetto!"
Then we decided that if we wanted to go to EOS before the train station then it was probably time for our last ride. This had to be Small World because it had been our first so needed to be our last too. As always the queue wasn't long but I suppose that the same could be applied to the actual ride because it was over far too soon for our liking!
On our way out we just had to walk without looking back otherwise we would never have been able to leave! We really, really, really didn't want to go!
In the village we decided to go in to World of Disney one last time to pick up a few last things. Again I can't remember what we bought but I will try to do one last post with all of our purchases in. Of course it was a much nicer experience this time without the post-Dreams rush.
Then on to EOS. I decided to have The Original which is beef and cheese but I didn't really enjoy it which was disappointing. Beth ended up swapping half of hers for half of mine because she got the Hawaiian BBQ which she wasn't thrilled with either. To make matters worse, a wasp decided to attack and Charlotte is terrified of insects that sting so that made for an interesting dining experience. Combine all of this with the fact that we could see our hotel room from where we were sat and we weren't very happy!
Then, of course, we had to head to the train station. This time though, at least we knew where the Express desk was!
Check in is conveniently located right next door which meant that we didn't have to lug our cases through the station. There wasn't a queue- this was at about 4pm I think. The seats were all taken so we sat down on the floor (perhaps frowned upon but no one seemed to mind) and just waited for check in to open whilst becoming more upset by the minute that we were leaving. We genuinely contemplated going back in to the Parks for half an hour but it just wouldn't leave us with enough time…
Anyway it worked out that as soon as check in opened we were also able to board so we went through the process of check in and security (it was a task and a half lifting our cases on to the x-rays but even more so getting them off at the end…) which was as pleasant as ever and then we were able to get straight on to the train. It wasn't such a long walk to our carriage this time and we had soon lifted our cases in to place and sat down. Later on we discovered that we had sat at the wrong table and should have been on the one opposite which caused temporary confusion (clearly I can not read tickets correctly) but the family that were supposed to be in our seats offered to just sit on the other table. It didn't really make any difference so we were grateful that we didn't have to move all the stuff that we had unpacked!
see what I mean about the table?
There was still about an hour before the train left but we were glad that we didn't have to rush.
The journey passed without any problems, apart from when we were thirsty and had no juice left so I went to to the bar to buy something. Two whole pounds and fifty pence for a bottle of Tropicana! I expected it to be expensive but that was ridiculous. Clearly I have turned in to my mum when it comes to moaning about prices..
Just to give a bit of perspective about the size of the bottle!
I slept a little, watched a bit of Tangled and read a bit for the journey's duration. Then we arrived at St Pancras and of course had to get our cases off the train so waited for everyone to leave our carriage before devising a system of one on platform, one on stairs and one on train in order to get them off. Next came the long walk to the travelators which seemed even longer than on the way there! There was a bit of a problem when getting off because a family had decided to congregate at the bottom and of course this proves troublesome on a moving platform…
Then we had to queue for customs which I hadn't been expecting. It moved quite quickly (and we were at the very back) and the man who was minding the queue let us all go over together which saved hanging around. Gordon our driver had rang whilst we were in the queue to say that he was waiting and there he was when we emerged waiting to watch our suitcases whilst we went to the toilet (much easier without cases!) and filled up our water bottles.
We walked through the station to the car park, something that we had never done before so we saw new things. Then we loaded our cases in and got in the car. He had brought his wife, Pat, along for the journey which was fine but meant that we were squashed in the back! Not so pleasant. Charlotte slept on the way home but Beth and I mainly stayed awake and waited to arrive back at home. Of course there was no traffic this time because it was late at night.
There, Beth was going to stay over but her dad picked her up and we opened our cases on to the living room floor! Mum must have missed us because she didn't mind. We gave her her gifts (dad was fast asleep on the sofa…) talked for a little while then went to bed.
So that's it! Pretty much the next day we were back on the Disney land website working out if we will be able to go next year but I'm sure you'll hear all about that in a PTR if it ever happens…
Thanks for reading and hopefully I'll be able to write a post about everything we bought soon. I say hopefully because we are currently packing for Uni so it may have to wait a while as some things have been put away already.
Christieand
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2012
That's the best thing about TRs I think...shows you what there is to look forward to! Seems so weird seeing the sun on the pictures when the weather is so horrible here now.
Christieand
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2012
I realise that it has been almost a year since our trip, however, my sister recently made this video, and, if you wanted to watch it, that would be great! It is a montage of some of the footage of our holiday and is a great reminder of all the fun we had...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh6fqIbZsV8
Thank you
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh6fqIbZsV8
Thank you
Carly_jones
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2010
Sounds like you girls had an amazing time 
did you ever take a photo of all your shopping? xx
did you ever take a photo of all your shopping? xx
Charlotea
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2012
Hi, this is Charlotte, Christieand's sister (invade you didn't know and wonder why on earth a random DISer has replied to you, haha!) we didn't take a picture unfortunately but I'm sure we could round most things up and take one now, we took pictures of everything we brought on our trip in April so can upload those I know I like to see what people brought so don't mind doing that at all!
I know I like to see what people brought so don't mind doing that at all!Carly_jones
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2010
I love disneyland shopping and I love seeing what other people have bought gives me inspiration for what I might want to buy in 7 weeks 
X
X
Charlotea
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2012
Glad you would enjoyed the TR
I will upload the picture later on today as I have to go to work (to earn money for the next disney trip of course!)
I love seeing what people brought too, so made sure to take a picture of everything on my last trip so I wouldn't forget what I spent all of my money on haha!!
I will upload the picture later on today as I have to go to work (to earn money for the next disney trip of course!)
I love seeing what people brought too, so made sure to take a picture of everything on my last trip so I wouldn't forget what I spent all of my money on haha!!
Charlotea
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2012
This is a little gold castle I brought in the glass shop under the castle. It was about €16 which is a lot for what it is, but it was in a glass case so you couldn't pick it up or have a good look before you paid!
DSC01593 by Charlotea1
now for pin badges, there are quite a few! (the ones on the lanyards are Christie's and the ones on the cork board are mine.) They are not all from DLP so if you want to know which ones are from DLP let me know.
DSC01592 by Charlotea1
DSC01591 by Charlotea1
DSC01591 by Charlotea1
Vinylmations (Christmas Minnie is not from DLP)
DSC01590 by Charlotea1
20th anniversary book, think it was €50
DSC01589 by Charlotea1
DSC01593 by Charlotea1
now for pin badges, there are quite a few! (the ones on the lanyards are Christie's and the ones on the cork board are mine.) They are not all from DLP so if you want to know which ones are from DLP let me know.
DSC01592 by Charlotea1
DSC01591 by Charlotea1
DSC01591 by Charlotea1
Vinylmations (Christmas Minnie is not from DLP)
DSC01590 by Charlotea1
20th anniversary book, think it was €50
DSC01589 by Charlotea1
Charlotea
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2012
Little tins of mints (they are actually shaped like Mickey/Minnie!) were around 6
DSC01579 by Charlotea1
Little magnetic Duffy from our trip in April (orange bow added by me!) approx. 8
DSC01578 by Charlotea1
Angel plush, I think she was 25!!!
DSC01576 by Charlotea1
I brought this from the Disney Store website with a 25% off code (so it was around £75 instead of £90!), but it is available in DLP. For the price it's not great, I had to send one back as a lot of glitter was missing from the '20', and it was the same on the replacement. I have filled it in with gold glitter nail varnish!
DSC01574 by Charlotea1
This was a snowglobe until some metal lettering fell off my shelf and knocked it off with it. The globe smashed and there was glittery water all over my rug. I was very sad because I want to start a collection of snowglobes and now my favourite part of it is missing! Was around 20
DSC01571 by Charlotea1
DSC01579 by Charlotea1
Little magnetic Duffy from our trip in April (orange bow added by me!) approx. 8
DSC01578 by Charlotea1
Angel plush, I think she was 25!!!
DSC01576 by Charlotea1
I brought this from the Disney Store website with a 25% off code (so it was around £75 instead of £90!), but it is available in DLP. For the price it's not great, I had to send one back as a lot of glitter was missing from the '20', and it was the same on the replacement. I have filled it in with gold glitter nail varnish!
DSC01574 by Charlotea1
This was a snowglobe until some metal lettering fell off my shelf and knocked it off with it. The globe smashed and there was glittery water all over my rug. I was very sad because I want to start a collection of snowglobes and now my favourite part of it is missing! Was around 20
DSC01571 by Charlotea1
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