And home...

It's a couple of weeks since we returned home after our trip to Disneyland Paris; so I thought I would just do a short post to summarise our visit.

This trip was our first 'Disney' trip as a family in a few years; it has been 6 years since we visited Walt Disney World and 4 and a half years since we visited Disneyland Paris. We have not in fact had any major vacations as money has been tight so this trip was not only a chance to visit Disney but also to get our travel groove back on!

Our last visit to Disneyland Paris had been just a few days after my mum died and was in early February when it was extremely cold, so suffice to say it was a trip that was marked with sadness.

This time around we were blessed with warm weather, sunshine, a very blustery day and a bit of a soggy (but warm) day. It was busy and crowded and some attractions had very...very...long wait times but we took it all in our stride, determined to simply 'go with the flow' and enjoy every moment and you know what? We did!

We had five full days taking in as many attractions as we could, and wanted to; we 'shopped' as much as we could afford; we tried our best to eat as 'low carb' as possible (not always an easy task) and we walked and walked...we reckon that we walked between 7 and 10 miles each day!

But most importantly we enjoyed the time together as a family; enjoying what was a much needed and deserved vacation for all of us. So although the 'Disney blues' have kicked in we have once more created some great memories and reinvigorated our love for Disney...just need to start planning the next trip now...

Arriving!

I will do some more detailed follow up posts to this one with lots more photos to share!

Getting closer...

Well it's getting closer to our next visit to a Disney resort...in fact we're now in single digit countdown!

In a couple of days we shall be heading our way over to Disneyland Paris for a much needed dose of Disney.

It is almost 4 and a half years since we were at Disneyland Paris as a family and 6 years since we last visited Walt Disney World so we are very ready for Disney!

These last few years have been tough both financially and personally and this makes this trip all the more wanted.

So I am all ready? Well...err...maybe! I don't really feel like I've done any 'prep' work or research and to be honest I think I did most of that when we were deciding when to go and where to stay. It's not quite the same as visiting Walt Disney World when you have to think about booking fastpasses and dining reservations and perhaps scheduling all the different parks in to make sure you get to experience all that you want to. Paris is a much more compact resort in comparison and most of my 'research' has been done online or is something that I already know. So while there are things that are different to our last visit we shall all just be happy to experience some 'Disneyness'.

To get us in the mood myself and Molly had a little home pampering...we have matching toe nails that took inspiration from The Lion King & Jungle Festival currently happening at Disneyland Paris...

...and then we decided on a more classic, sophisticated look for our fingers!

Mine done by Molly!

Molly's done by me...although I had to ask Simon to complete the Mickey as my numerous attempts were not good!!

So what will we be doing over the next few days? Well, we will be getting there by Eurostar which will take us direct to Disneyland Paris where we will take advantage of their Disney Express service; this means that we will get our tickets and hotel information on the train and then leave our luggage at the station where it will be moved to our hotel leaving us free to go off and explore!

We will be staying at Hotel Cheyenne which will be a walk down memory lane as this was the hotel we stayed in on our first ever visit to Disneyland Paris way back in 1999. So it may be fun to try and recreate some of our photos from our first visit...although I'm not sure my eldest will be willing to join in the fun as a lot of the photos involve him being either in a pushchair or being held!!

So are there any must-do's for us on this trip? I think there are only a couple of attractions that we haven't actually rode in the past; one is the Tower of Terror which none of us have a strong desire to ride (love the themeing just not the mechanism) but the other is Crush's Coaster. Now last time we visited we tried a number of times to ride Crush's Coaster but were thwarted by either breakdowns or ridiculously long wait times so this is a definite rope drop/extra magic time objective!

Otherwise we are really looking forward to experiencing the newly refurbished Phantom Manor; Big Thunder Mountain is a big definite (this is probably my favourite version); Star Tours will just have to be done as will Hyperspace Mountain (although not by me!); the castle here is just stunning and made all the more special by a visit to its guest underneath at La Taniere du Dragon and it goes without saying (if you know me at all) that It's A Small World will be ridden...a lot!

So packing is done, euros have been bought, passports are at the ready and now it's time to have some Disney fun!