69 Days and counting

Yes there is a countdown happening!

Finally four years after our last visit to a Disney park we have a trip booked. This August we will be heading our way over to Disneyland Paris for a 5 day trip.

The last few years have been tight financially which has meant any Disney trips have had to take a back seat. But we now find ourselves in a position to be able to dip our toes back into visiting the parks once more.

The last time we visited Disneyland Paris (February 2015) things were very different. Firstly our kids were still kids now we have two young adults who we are blessed still want to come on vacation with us, but who are also now able to pay for themselves - win!

Back in February 2015 we made the trip under very sad circumstances as my mum had died only a few days before we were due to go. We made the trip with the blessing of family but it was a very hard trip to make, filled with memories of visits gone by made with my parents. And then there was the weather...the freezing cold weather! The wearing of layers upon layers to keep warm, the struggle to find shelter to keep warm, navigating the parks with limited food options and areas of the parks closed for big refurbishments.

Do not be fooled by the brilliant blue sky...it was blooming freezing!!

And although I did make a small trip back in 2017 with my fellow podcaster, Disney Dream Girl Michelle, there is something about visiting Disney which to me says 'family' and I am ready for us to embrace the Disney magic as a family once more.

Disney Dream Girls take on DLP - June 2017

Our lives this year are changing; both children are now young adults and both of them are reaching the end of their respective education paths and will be entering the world of work. We also find ourselves in a position to begin planning for much missed Disney travel and adventures and with a desire to ensure that life does not pass us by and that we make the most of every moment. This was brought home earlier this year when I had a brush with cancer. Thankfully it was very early stage; I have had the necessary surgery and although I have a few weeks of further treatment ahead it will all be completed by the time we set off to Disneyland Paris. But when life throws you a curve ball like this it does make you stop, think and re-assess...and although it is a cliche it does make you take a long hard look at what you are doing, why you are doing it and how can you ensure you make the best of the time that you have.

And so began the process of booking a trip!

We decided that we wanted to get away sooner rather than later which meant that a trip over to Paris was the most obvious choice. I wanted us to be able to re-visit Paris to enjoy it at a warmer time of year, to put sad memories to rest and to be able to take the time to enjoy it all at whatever pace we liked!

We knew we would have to visit over the Summer months as my job working in education forces us to visit during the school holidays. We then had to factor in my sons university graduation ceremony, my daughter getting her A-level results, dates already booked for a concert and a theatre trip...this left us with just a few weeks in August to choose from!

We also wanted to make this trip as simple and as easy as possible for us; we need to get our travel legs back so to speak! Plus I just wanted us to be able to enjoy the trip with as few stresses as possible. So we knew we wanted to stay at a Disney hotel and to travel there by Eurostar...here's where hours at the laptop kicked in weighing up all the different options!

Now money as always will play a factor when planning any vacation but especially a Disney one. And despite looking around at various different options, selecting different dates, different days of the week and through various different companies I actually ended up booking with Disney themselves.  I would always recommend that when booking you take the time to look at all the options out there and then ask yourself what you want out of a vacation and which option best meets your needs. This time around booking direct ticked the most boxes for us and we were also able to take advantage of some discounts that Disney were offering. On this occasion our booking covers all travel, hotel and park tickets but we did briefly debate whether buying an annual pass would be a better option. But because we can't at this point in time guarantee being able to use the pass more than on just this occasion and knowing that if we could make more trips we would need the pass with the most accessible dates we decided not to bother. But this maybe something we come back to in the future if we find ourselves able to travel more freely around work commitments! Who knows?!

So we are getting there by Eurostar and using their direct service. There were other options available with changes at Lille but we decided that on this occasion we wanted the simplicity of the direct train.  It's worth noting that the direct service only runs on set days per week and that may have an impact on planning, availability and of course cost! We have also booked the Disney Express service; this means that we can drop our luggage at the Disney Express point at Marne-la-Vallee station (station at Disneyland Paris) and our luggage will be taken to our hotel so that we can go straight into the parks, and then on departure day the hotel will take the luggage to the station so we can make the most of our final day.

As we live in the center of the UK we will have to travel about 3 hours to get to Ebbsfleet which is where we are taking the Eurostar from. The train actually runs from St Pancras, London and picks up at Ebbsfleet and then Ashford before heading over to France. We did look into whether we could take a train from home to London and then pick up the Eurostar but it would have cost us more than the petrol for driving down to Ebbsfleet. We have decided to travel down the day before and have booked a cheap hotel for overnight; this will take the stress out of getting there on time as we would have had to have left home in the early hours as well as battle rush hour traffic! And it still works out cheaper than taking a train from home!!

Well that's the getting there sorted so where are we staying? We knew we wanted to stay in a Disney hotel but which one? We had two factors to consider - money and whether we wanted to try somewhere different to our last visit. To be fair this did limit our choice to the Santa Fe, Cheyenne and Sequoia Lodge hotels and having stayed most recently at the Sequoia Lodge we were leaning towards the other two.

Both the Santa Fe and Cheyenne are 'graded' as 'two keys' and tend to follow the same or very similar pricing structures. But it is worth checking these two and the Sequoia Lodge against each other as on some of my searches for accommodation across various different dates there were times when the Sequoia Lodge actually came out the cheapest. But for the dates we had settled on it came down to a choice between the Santa Fe and the Cheyenne.

We had, many years ago when the children were much smaller, stayed at the Cheyenne a number of times and had fond memories of staying there;

August 1999 - Hotel Cheyenne - our first visit to Disneyland Paris

August 1999 - Disneyland Park

(Excuse the photos as these were taken pre-digital and are now physically stuck inside a photo album, so much so that I couldn't remove them to scan them so I had to take a photo of them in situ!)

Coupled with a recent room refurbishment and the additions of a Starbucks we were swayed into picking the Cheyenne over the Santa Fe. For me personally the Santa Fe doesn't look as inviting as the Cheyenne but I am definitely going to have a wander over and have a look while we are there just to see for myself.

The Cheyenne is located within the Disney resort area but is classified as about a 15/20 minute walk to the main park. There are free shuttle buses should you not fancy the walk but we know from previous visits that the walk is easy enough to do and is a pleasant walk along the 'Rio Grande' river. Having visited before with very young children and never once used the shuttle bus we know that this short walk is not an issue for us; I'd much rather have a stroll along the river than fighting to get on a shuttle bus!

So we have hotel, park tickets and travel all sorted and booked which means that I can now start planning and researching! I really want to be able to take in all the details this trip and soak up all the 'Disney' that I have been missing.

Well that research won't get it done by itself now will it....

It's been a while...

Well it's been a while but guess where I'm heading in just a couple of days?

Disney here I come!

So with my good friend and podcast co-host Michelle I am about to head off to my closest Disney resort...Disneyland Paris!! EEK!!

Now as those that have read my blog will know it has been over 2 years since my last visit to Disneyland Paris and almost 4 years since we last ventured across the pond to Walt Disney World. Personal circumstances have meant a vacation stateside for the four of us just hasn't been financially viable. And even a visit across the channel isn't cheap and memories of our last trip are tinged with sadness as the trip was so close to when my amazing mum passed away.

So how come I'm going? Well I have to give all the credit to Michelle who has done all the organising along with hubby Simon who has encouraged me to go. I think they both realised just how much I needed a little Disney in my life and so they got together and hatched a plan!

Now this will also be the first time that I have visited a Disney resort without Simon and the kids; which in itself is a strange prospect! Disney and family to me have always gone hand in hand and I have never given any thought before to visiting without them. So whilst I am super excited about this trip I have to confess to being a little sad that I won't have Simon and the kids with me - Michelle I hope you know what you're letting yourself in for!

And other firsts for this trip include staying in a non-Disney hotel as well as booking all aspects of the trip separately. Now as I said Michelle has done all the organising (bless her soul) but this will be the first time I have ever made a trip that has not been a 'package' booking. It will also be a trip with the most varied forms of transport I think! So I am really interested to see how it all pans out as it may give me the confidence to look at future trips differently.

So we fly out very early on Wednesday morning to arrive in Paris ready to catch a bus to Disneyland Paris. Park tickets have been bought and we will be taking advantage of Michelle's 'annual pass' to make use of bag storage facilities so that we can head straight into the parks when we get there. We will have 3 full days and nights to explore both Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park as well as the Disney Village. On our return we will be taking the high speed train back to the airport before flying home.

We are lucky in that our trip coincides with the 25th Anniversary of Disneyland Paris so we get to see new parades, fireworks and shows! There is also the new Star Tours ride; as Paris has now had the upgrade seen in the other parks. Plus Space Mountain has also been transformed into Hyper Space Mountain; not that I shall be riding but I am more than happy to look after the bags while Michelle takes a spin!! And the only attraction that is closed is Pirates of the Caribbean which is sad but as it's only one attraction I can live with that. I am really looking forward to riding Big Thunder Mountain and Phantom Manor especially...oh and Casey Jr, and Snow White and It's A Small World and...OK this could be a very long list!

I am probably most excited about Disneyland Park as this for me is what Disney is all about. But I am looking forward to riding Ratatouille a few times over at Walt Disney Studios Park as well as eating at Bistrot Chez Remy! There is also the chance to ride the Studio Tram Tour; Behind the Magic and experience Catastrophe Canyon which is no longer available in Disney Hollywood Studios over in Walt Disney World. As well as see the much loved Mickey and the Magician show. And of course there will be shopping, not only in the parks but also in Disney Village; looking forward to a stroll around Disney Fashion!!And while we're in Disney Village I will be very surprised if we don't make our way over to Earl of Sandwich for a bite!

So at the moment it is all about the packing...we've decided to just take hand luggage so packing skills will have to be on point! My nails are painted, t-shirts have been chosen, Euros about to be purchased and final packing to be done and then it's away we go!

Disney Dream Girls are on tour, watch out Disneyland Paris here we come!

Disneyland Paris - February 2015 - Day 5 - The Last Day

Well here we are, the last day of our short trip to Disneyland Paris.

It was yet another early start for us, breakfast was booked for 7.00am and we made it for 7.30am...we had the usual breakfast selections which I have to say we were all a little bored with by now. Not quite the same as staying at a Disney hotel in the US where the breakfast choices are wide and varied.

We then had to finish off our packing...I did feel a little mean squashing Sulley into the bags though...

Don't worry he made it home all safe and sound!

Because we had booked our trip direct with Disneyland Paris we automatically qualified for the Disney Express service. We took our cases down to the Left Luggage Office in the hotel and were then free to enjoy the parks on our last day knowing that the cases would be waiting for us at the train station later on.

We all decided that we'd really like to ride Ratatouille once more so off to Walt Disney Studios we went. Both Simon and I went through the turnstiles without a problem but neither of the kids tickets would work...so we were left with us one side of the gate and the kids on the other and a cast member who didn't speak enough English to be able to tell us what the problem was. The next thing we know is the cast member saying something to us in mainly French and then walking away...luckily they returned with two new tickets for the kids which got them through the turnstiles. Now the new tickets the kids got were basically one day park tickets which was fine for what we needed, but I was a little disappointed that they didn't give us back the original tickets that had stopped working. You see I'm a bit sentimental and like to keep things like tickets as mementos of trips but on this occasion I couldn't :(

The original park tickets we received (well the two we had left!)

The day tickets that replaced the ones that stopped working!

Now we were inside the Studios we headed to the right to ride Ratatouille. As we approached the Toon Studio area of the park it became very busy; on passing Crush's Coaster the queue was out into the pavement area, and in fact the Stand-By line hadn't even opened.

Then as we rounded the corner we were met with a sea of people and what looked like a very long queue. So we jumped on the end of the queue suspecting it was for Ratatouille and Simon went off to investigate.

Joining the queue...

Sure enough Ratatouille was not yet open, even the Stand-By line was not yet open and this large queue had formed. But there was also a lot of people simply congregating in the 'Place de Remy' the town square like area in front of the ride - there seemed to be no organisation as to what was happening. There were no cast members about, no-one giving out information, no-one organising the waiting guests...it just seemed terribly disorganised.

The queue on the way to Place de Remy

Almost in Place de Remy - just a tad busy!! 

We are not amused!

There was also an equally large queue for the Fastpass booths, which were already issuing tickets for midday and beyond. But as the ride was not yet operational, and showed no signs of being operational any time soon getting a Fastpass seemed a little pointless!

So we left the area and walked back round past Crush's Coaster which now displayed a 60 minute wait. Both the Stand-By line and the Single Rider line were taking up a lot of space in the thoroughfare and were making navigating this area rather tiresome.

We took this time to get a photo with the Partners statue, which is just beyond Disney Studio 1.

So what to do now?

We decided to look at the 'wait times board' as that might gives us an idea. Well the board confirmed that both Ratatouille and Crush's Coaster were closed. The shortest wait times were for the Tower of Terror and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, neither of which we were interested in riding. So we looked at some of the shows; Animagique and CineMagique both of which were scheduled to start at either 11.00am or 11.30am and most of the showings were in French...the first English presentations weren't until the early afternoon! So after a 20 minute visit to Walt Disney Studios we found ourselves leaving the park and heading to Disneyland Park.

The Studios for us on this visit had been rather disappointing; I'm hoping for others visiting that we were just unlucky with our timings and that perhaps at busier times of the year this park has more to offer. There is so much potential here that I hope Disneyland Paris recognise that and continue to give this park the expansion it deserves and needs.

Arriving in Disneyland Park we headed for probably our favourite ride; Big Thunder Mountain. The wait time was 40 minutes but that was fine we were all happy to wait that long, so we joined the queue which seemed longer than on previous 40 minute waits but that didn't put us off. We'd been in the very slow moving queue about 10 minutes when both Simon and I noticed at almost the same time that we'd not seen any trains come through since joining the queue. Then I realised that the background music had stopped playing and on looking down to the entrance to the queue the cast members were turning guests away...this wasn't going to be our day! So we decided to turn around and leave the queue and as we headed away from the ride we looked back and could see that there was a train stopped on the track right at the top of one of the lift hills - oops!

By this time we needed cheering up and warming up so we popped into the Cable Car Bake Shop and had coffee, hot chocolates and muffins!

Re-charged we headed over to Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast and even this ride didn't run completely smoothly...although a couple of stops as we went round did mean we could rack up our scores...or at least try to! Molly did manage to get over 100,000 for the first time ever!!

Next we jumped onto the Disneyland Railroad at the Discoveryland station to take a tour around the park to Fantasyland. There is the lovely Grand Canyon diorama that you travel through on your way between Main Street USA and Frontierland which is a highlight of taking the train journey. Strangely we stopped at the station in Frontierland despite the station being closed and this was the view from the train...

This was once a 'petting zoo' type area

It was such a shame to see a whole area just left to ruin...there was literally nothing there but empty buildings and paddocks. If my memory serves me right this had once been a small petting zoo/farm type area populated with animals that children could get up close and personal with. Now there is nothing except empty space - what a waste :(

Once in Fantasyland the kids rode the Mad Hatters Tea Cups, followed by a quick stop over into Adventureland to ride Pirates of the Caribbean one last time. Back into Fantasyland to ride 'it's a small world' before we headed down Main Street USA...

Last photo in the park!

We did some last minute shopping as we left the park and then headed into the Disney Village in search of food and there could only be one place to go...yes it had to be Earl of Sandwich!

The infamous gold brick!

I think Molly might be a bit happy to be here!!

As we'd got a long journey ahead of us we made sure we ate well...I had Thai chicken soup followed by a Philly cheese steak sandwich and then my favourite - bread pudding!

Fully fuelled we wandered through the Disney Village to make our way to the train station. On the way we stopped at the Disney Store where me and Molly bought our first Tsum Tsum's; I opted for the classic Mickey & Minnie while Molly bought Perry the Platypus from Phineas & Ferb. We also took a stroll around the World of Disney store where I bought myself a new Mickey mug for work.

We got to the train station around 3.30pm and simply visited the Disney Express desk to fetch our luggage and whilst we had a small wait it wasn't too long and the desk operated very efficiently. Next we checked in for our Eurostar train which again was very straight forward and then found ourselves with about an hour to wait for the train. Unfortunately once through check-in there was nothing to do...no where to sit, no where to grab a coffee...nothing! Thankfully after about 35 minutes we were let through to the platform where our train was waiting so we had plenty of time to get on board and get settled ready for our journey home.

We arrived back at Ebbsfleet on time and were in our car and on our way home, in heavy rain, in no time at all.

And that was Disneyland Paris...a short visit and whilst not the same calibre as the parks in the US it did mean that I got my fix of Disney at a time that I really needed it. Will we be going back to Paris any time soon? I don't think so...from our families point of view whilst we enjoyed the trip we all agreed that we would rather save up for a trip to Walt Disney World or even Disneyland. Now this may be some way off but we will get there one day and until then I have plenty of Disney memories to keep me going!

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...