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!

Disneyland Paris - February 2015 - Day 4

So here we are on our penultimate day of our little trip - day 4.

Despite being up nice and early for breakfast in the hotel we decided to take the morning at a leisurely pace and rather than heading for the parks we had a wander around the Disney Village and took the opportunity to get some shopping done!

But boy was it cold this morning, here's a few photos that hopefully capture what a beautiful, but extremely cold day it was!

Frozen river

Stranded duck in the ice!

Warning sign!!!

Ever so slightly frosty!!

Heading to Disney Village on a crisp, beautiful morning.











We decided to head for the large World of Disney store where I was able to buy some earrings, tea towels and a pin for my fellow 'Disney Dream Girl' Michelle.  Molly also bought herself a pin and was desperate to buy a Sulley pillow but alas there was not one in the store.  So we thought we would try the Disney Store only to find that it hadn't yet opened for the day!

Our next stop was Disney Fashion, probably my favourite of all the shops as this stocked my style of merchandise.

I love all the Disney Couture range, and anything that is a little bit different from the norm; whether it's the fabric, the pattern or the cut of a garment I always make a beeline for items that are just that bit unusual. Hence why I left with a tinkerbell long sleeve top, a grey Mickey bling t-shirt, a long sleeve Mickey t-shirt and a pair of Mickey ears!

Some of our shopping haul from the trip

Well all this wandering about and shopping had made us hungry and there was only really one place for us to go...Earl of Sandwich...our 'go to' restaurant of choice for this trip. Beautiful food and great prices in a nice warm building with free wifi!! After lunch we headed back to the hotel to drop off our shopping bags before heading over to Disneyland Park.

After taking a stroll down Main Street USA we headed over into Frontierland and straight to Phantom Manor.

View from the front door of Phantom Manor looking towards Big Thunder Mountain

View from the front door of Phantom Manor, the 'Molly Brown' was in dock having some maintenance work completed

When we exited the ride we went left and took in the sights of Boot Hill; this is a small area themed as a cemetery and is well worth taking a look as it is beautifully done. It is all too easy to turn right when leaving Phantom Manor to get back to the hustle of the park but then you miss out on what is a little gem of an area.

Photos of just some of the gravestones scattered around Boot Hill...

After Phantom Manor we braved the 40 minute wait time to ride Big Thunder Mountain, probably our favourite ride. We then went back over to Main Street USA and decided it was treat time; so despite the cold we headed over to The Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlour. The ice-cream choices here are all standard Ben & Jerry's flavours although they do serve crepes...I opted for a crepe filled with Nutella and a dollop of vanilla ice-cream.

About to order

 As we were on Main Street we decided to have a wander of the shops in search of the Sulley pillow that Molly was after, and sure enough she found one!

Yay we've found one!!

Now shopping can build up an appetite and stomachs were beginning to rumble so we wandered over into Fantasyland looking for food. We had a look at Toad Hall Restaurant but none of us were particularly taken with the choice of offerings; fish & chips, chicken nuggets and the same salads that could be found in every Disney restaurant. I do like the theming though of this restaurant so here's just a couple of photos.

We decided to look elsewhere for food and ended up in Adventureland, but as we passed by Pirates of the Caribbean we just couldn't resist taking a ride...after all a 5 minute wait is not to be passed up!

The first restaurant we tried was Colonel Hathi's Pizza Outpost but despite it only being 5.00pm (or thereabouts) it was closed, the lights were on and the doors open but no-one was around and there was no sign of it being operational...strange! We knew that the other counter service restaurant in Adventureland, Restaurant Hakuna Matata, was also closed as today was it's scheduled day to be closed. This meant we had to try the next land which was Frontierland, which was fine because I quite fancied some Mexican food from Fuente del Oro Restaurante...but we were faced with the same situation again...doors open, lights on but very evidently no food was being served! So we back tracked on ourselves and thought we'd try Cowboy Cookout Barbecue but guess what? Yep, exactly the same scenario again!  To say we were all getting a little frustrated would be an understatement...never mind the hunger!

We now just wanted food quick, so decided that one place we could guarantee being open was Casey's Corner. As it turned out our timing here was pretty good as the parade was just about to go by, so by the time we got our food we sat outside (yes it still was very cold!!) munching on hot dogs, chicken nuggets and fries just as the parade passed by!

By now the night was beginning to draw in and we were drawn to the lovely neon lights of Discoveryland and the fun of Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast.

Entrance to Discoveryland

The kids then wanted to ride Big Thunder Mountain...again. But there was a 40 minute wait...it was also very dark but more importantly freezing cold and I really didn't fancy getting even colder whizzing through the night-time air! The warmth of shops beckoned and a few more treats were bought; some cookies, chocolates for my team at work, a Phantom Manor t-shirt and some Nightmare Before Christmas PJ's!!

It was now time to go get our spot staked out for Disney Dreams! We headed towards the centre of the Central Plaza area and found a spot with the castle almost dead centre in front of us but more importantly we stood at some railings so that no-one else could stand in front of us and spoil our view - crafty!!

We had just over an hour to wait so the kids took their cash and went off in search of sweets. Simon and I needed something to keep us warm and hot chocolate seemed the ideal option. Now just a few yards from us was a cart selling drinks and crepes, but as we stood there we could see guests going up to the open window and getting turned away. It looked like they had stopped serving, which I thought was a bit strange as they had a massive captive audience all waiting for Disney Dreams to start. But I headed over there anyway and luckily for me they were still serving drinks but they had run out of crepes!! Knowing how good the service can be in the US parks I thought that this was really not acceptable...if they were running low more stock should have been brought in rather than just running out and having to turn people away! But hey that's just my opinion!

The kids returned and we munched on a few sweets, drank our hot chocolate and stood chatting to another British family who had joined our little viewing spot.  As it got closer to Disney Dreams starting the area around us began to get busy, but luckily our view was unimpeded as the spot we had picked prevented anyone from pushing in or standing in front of us. This meant that both Simon and Molly were in brilliant positions to get their respective video camera's out to film the whole show.

Our view ready for Disney Dreams to start

Now unfortunately despite grabbing this spot with over an hour to go we still found ourselves being pushed and jostled about by other guests. I have to say this is not something we have really come across in the US parks but this wasn't the first time it had happened to us in Paris. As we stood there enjoying the show a family pushed their way through and stood their two children on the narrow railing right next to Simon...they then began to push into Simon (almost spilling a drink over him) trying to move us out of our position. But we stood our ground and despite all their effort we didn't budge and still managed to get some fantastic video of the whole show.

The show itself is amazing, there is so much going on that it is definitely worth seeing more than once if you can. There are fireworks, and lasers, and projections, and water fountains and all set to a fantastic score. As much as I loved this show and was in awe of everything that was going on, and how long it went on for I still prefer Wishes over at Walt Disney World. There is something about Wishes that gets me every time, it brings about an emotional reaction in me that always makes me shed a tear or two which Disney Dreams just didn't manage to do.

By the time the show was over we were all extremely cold from having stood still for so long...in fact I have distinct memory of walking back to the hotel and not being able to feel my feet! Exiting the park took quite a while as Disney Dreams takes place at 'park closing' and so everyone is making for the exit at the same time. We thought we'd be crafty and walk down Discovery Arcade that runs parallel with Main Street which was easier to navigate but getting to an actual exit was hard work. The only turnstiles that were working as exits were to the far right, despite there being other turnstiles to the left and center...as no-one was coming into the park wouldn't it have been sensible to use all the turnstiles as exits and so speed up the process for all concerned...but hey that's just my thoughts!!

Finally we made it back to the hotel and warmth and to aid our defrosting we hit the hotel shop for beer, crisps and chocolate!

Just one more day to go...

Disneyland Paris February 2015 - Day 2

Right so this was our first full day at Disneyland Paris...so just what did we get up to?

Well the day started really quite early with breakfast scheduled for 7.45am...however despite an alarm set for 6.00am we didn't actually wake up until 7.15am!!  So a mad dash round to get all four of us showered and dressed and we made breakfast for 8.15am...only 30 minutes late! 

Breakfast is served in the main building of the Sequoia Lodge in their two restaurants - Beaver Creek Tavern and Hunter's Grill.  Both restaurants offer the same breakfast and operate in the same way.  On arrival in the foyer between the two restaurants you are met by a cast member who directs you to one of the two restaurants.  Another cast member then takes your breakfast ticket and asks how many are in your party before handing you over to another cast member who takes you to a vacant table. The cast member then writes on the paper table cloth drawing a tri-circle Mickey with the number of how many are in your party, you are now free to help yourself to the breakfast buffet.

The buffet consisted of drinks station which served coffee, hot water, hot milk and hot chocolate as well as choices of fruit juice.  The food station included; cheeses, deli-style meats, fruit salad, bread for toasting, bread rolls, cereals, croissants, pain au chocolate, yogurt and fromage frais plus pots of jam, marmalade, butter and chocolate spread.

Breakfast Food Station

View from Hunter's Grill Restaurant

There was an option to have what was described as an 'American Cooked Breakfast' at an extra cost of about seven Euros (about £5 or $7.50), but although there was a sign indicating it was available there was no obvious way to get it! Cast members didn't offer it when seating you and there was no-one waiting to serve it should you decide you wanted it!!

Once we'd eaten we went back to our room to get ourselves sorted and wrapped up in as many layers as possible as the weather was rather cold and today started off rather misty and damp.  We then headed straight for Disneyland Park.

Outside the main entrance to Disneyland Park - this is also the Disneyland Hotel

And just inside the main gates, with the Disneyland  Railroad Main Street Station just behind me

Iconic view in any Disney park looking down Main Street USA towards Sleeping Beauty Castle 

Once again the kids ride of choice was Big Thunder Mountain...at least this time it would be in daylight! And again there was about a 40 minute wait; this seemed to be the norm for the duration of our trip which considering we were here at the early part of February I was quite surprised by as I would have expected the wait time to be shorter...this could have been due to other major rides being 'down' for refurbs...

Big Thunder Mountain behind me on an island in the middle of Rivers of the Far West

Queue selfies!!

We even managed to bump into an old work colleague of Simon's whilst we were in the queue!!

We then moved from Frontierland over into Adventureland to seek out Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril but unfortunately the ride was 'down' and didn't show any signs of being operational any time soon.

Yes it really was that cold!!

So off we went in search of pirates...Pirates of the Caribbean of course. This was a great choice for a number of reasons; firstly because it was warm...by this time we were in desperate need of some warmth because the weather was bitterly cold..secondly because it is a fantastic version of this classic Disney attraction. This version makes no reference to any of the movies and is beautifully themed throughout from queue, to boarding area to the ride itself and whilst I love Pirates in both the US parks I do think this stands out as being an exceptional interpretation of a classic.

It was now lunch time so we popped over into Fantasyland as it is right next door to Pirates and stopped off at 'Au Chalet de la Marionnette', a pinocchio themed counter service restaurant. Whilst everyone else had cheeseburgers and fries I decided that I'd try to keep relatively healthy and went for the chicken salad which actually wasn't too bad for a quick service food item (although it could have done with more chicken!). But as I would find out during our trip the choice of healthy options around the parks was limited within the counter service restaurants and in fact each restaurant offered the exact same salad options (chicken salad, three cheese salad or vegetable salad).

 Au Chalet de la Marionnette restaurant.

After lunch we attacked Fantasyland; we rode Blanche-Neige et les Sept Nains (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and which follows the same story path as Snow White's Scary Adventures in Disneyland)...

Casey Jr - le Petit Train du Cirque (which is a small roller coaster aimed at the whole family and especially those with very young children)...

Les Pays de Contes de Fees otherwise known as Storybook Land Canal Boats which follows along similar lines to the version over in Disneyland...

Some photos from around the canal...

...and then we had a wander around Alice's Curious Labyrinth.

Which way to go???

Views from the castle inside the labyrinth.

It was at this point that we decided to head in the direction of Discoveryland...and I think I shall leave the rest of our adventures on Day 2 for another post...