Wow, it really is Magic-Day 4. Disneyland Park, Goodbyes and Hometime on the Eurostar/Virgin.

CreakingStool · 7 Mar 15, 09:52 PM

A couple of links

Introductions

Index

Sunday 22nd February

Today is our last day

I set the alarm again for 7am as I know everyone is tired and might oversleep. We wake up and need to get the packing done so I set about sorting it out and organising the rucksacks with all the information we need for the journey home. Doesn’t take too long and we are all ready and the room is empty. We’ve enjoyed our stay at the Cheyenne and would definitely stay here again, the rooms and buildings I think are very nicely themed, I especially love the cowboy boot lamp and the carved mirror. Outside it is very cold but with a beautiful blue sky, the tables and benches are all frosty and it’s a bit slippy underfoot, a lovely day to end out trip though.

We take the case to reception to check out and ask about the 11 euro charge to have the cases taken to the station. We didn’t pay for the full luggage service (as explained in Day1) but I had heard I could get it just for the homeward leg. The lady makes a call and then takes our money (all in loose change

) and gives us some tags. We are leaving one case and one rucksack with a carrier bag attached as we couldn’t work out another way to take the cowboy hats home! Once labels are attached we drop the bags at the luggage bit and ask for them to be taken in the first pickup. The reception told us there were 2 pickups and we needed the first as our train is at 2. I think this is a really good service for a small cost, the earliest pick up at the station seemed to be 1pm though so this is something to consider if you are going to use it.

We’ve already decided not to bother with the breakfast and are going to get croissants and coffee/juice at the train station again so we can get in the parks as quickly as possible. We wait a couple of minutes for a bus (the buses have been great all holiday).

I’m soon paying about 12 euros for our breakfast at the station. I know this seems like a real waste but our hotel breakfast is only continental and we are not big eaters first thing anyway.

Off we go through bag check again and into Disneyland park for EMH. Its about 8.30 now and crowds aren’t too bad , we consider stopping to meet some characters but the children want to go straight to Buzz. We head down Mainstreet and I took a picture with the beautiful sky.

Over to Discoveryland, its got a slightly bigger queue than last time but its only about 15 minutes, maybe its not been open very long. Again we love this ride, no problems today with starting and stopping, DH still wins but Imogen manages to come second, who knows what she found to shoot!

Next stop is Fantasyland to go one some of the rides we've not managed so far. First up the carousel, this doesn't have much of a queue but takes ages to unload and load, DH does a lot of eye rolling. Its a beautiful carousel and the kids enjoy it.

We get in the queue for Snow White next, as we get to the front there is a problem and they have to close the ride

First time we've had this problem. What a shame but at least we aren't stuck on it!

Next door to Pinocchio then, not a huge wait, the ride carriages look like the snow white ones, are the rides similar?

A cute ride, very detailed and I do love the Pinnochio story. Next up is Dumbo (on no, another round and round ride

) Bit of a wait but nothing too bad. I like how they tick of the elephants when they check how many of you there are

I took this picture in the queue, I think its lovely.

We have to pick a yellow Dumbo as it's Imogens favourite colour, DH and Zach go in the next one.

Its a nice ride. I know they make me feel queasy but I do like making it go up and down

The good thing about sharing with Imogen is she will let me take control!

We all want to go on Pirates of the Carribean again, well, all except Imogen who doesn't seem keen. Not sure why as she liked it last time, we wander round to Adventureland and try to convince her all the way to the ride and all the way in the queue. The queue was really short actually, I wonder if they'd had a closure as it was 5 minutes but when we came out it was up to 30. Back to Imogen, she is having none of it, the CM at the boat notices and I ask if we can just go across and out but she suggests we wait on the bench and swap when DH and Zach come back round - Yay

Once they get back I wait with Zach and we get put in the next boat on the front row, we decide to pose for the picture

I really love this ride and its a family favourite except for Imogen

Time is getting on now and tummys are rumbling so we decide to go to Chalet Au Marionette again for the roast chicken. Not many people in at about 11.30 and we are served quickly for 3 roast chicken meals and take a seat to eat. I think the Pinocchio theming in here is nice. As it hits 12 the queues get huge so I think it pays to eat before the 12 o'clock mark if you can.

Full tums we have about 45 minutes left before I want to head over to the station for 1pm so we take a stroll through Fantasyland and try our hand at the Sword in the Stone, they pull and pull but it won't come out!

We take a slow walk along Mainstreet and look in the shops again. Children buy some sweets in one of the shops, I'd love to take some time to wander around here as the shops look lovely. We head out of the gates and wave goodbye to DLP. Over to the Disney store to spend some final euros.

I bought a Ratatouille pin, Imogen bought an Elsa pin and Zach bought a Buzz Laser Blast pin. I also bought a couple of fridge magnets and Zach got one of those magic flannels, a Ratatouille one.

Out through the security and we walk over to the station and buy some water (much cheaper in here for water and snacks). We locate the toilets and then the Luggage Express which looks to only just be open, they locate out bags and pass them over. We were getting the 2pm TGV to Lille Europe and it was about 1.15 I think. We went to work out where to get the train and it was pretty straight forward so now we had to wait with our sad (grumpy?) faces.

Travel home is a bit boring really but I've detailed our journey as it might be helpful for anyone thinking of the same journey.

I'd thought an hour before the TGV was a good idea as I was a bit worried about the cases maybe not being there but honestly it was so easy and there is no need to clear customs here, we could have arrived a while after we did.

About 10 minutes before our train was due we were allowed down onto the platform, they keep you up in the station until this time I think because there are fast trains running through. Once on the platform there are images of your train and with the numbered carriages (or voitures) and the platform with lettered signs you then go and wait on the actual platform where the letter is - easy peasy. We were on the TGV for 1hr 15 minutes and arrived in Lille Europe at 15.17ish, the train was comfy and very fast!

We had to wait until 16.36 for our Eurostar and they don't let you through to the departure lounge very far in front as there is only really room for one train worth of passengers I think. We decided to try and get a cuppa and a snack but there aren't really many options and also it's cold in the station! We got some tea/coffee (never really had a decent brew in either form while in DLP) and some chocolate cake.

We were called up to passport control at some point and you go the ticket barriers, the French passport control followed by UK passport control here one after the other then its onto security for the usual stuff. We got some seats and waited for the gates to open. This isn't a starting point for the train to London, its a stop on the journey and so they ensure that you know to be organised and there is a platform guide in the lounge to check. They open the gate and let you down to the platform a little while before. This Eurostar was very busy, we had reserved table seats and thankfully no-one was in our seats but luggage space was at a premuim and DH struggled a bit but the train manager helped find somewhere for our big case.

This journey was about 1hr 20mins and we were soon in London, I still can't believe how fast you can get from London to Paris on a train! Its a shame they haven't opened it up for Eurostars from other UK cities though. We knew that we had a bit of a rush on our hands here, our Virgin train to Manchester was at 17.47 from Euston and so off we headed outside and it was chucking it down! The walk didn't take long, kids were stars and even slow Imogen walked fast

We decided to try and get some tea from Burger King but service was so slow, we had about 5 minutes to get on the train after I got the food

We made in the knick of time but had to jump on before our carriage which made poor DHs trip through the train with the huge case a bit tricky

This journey was probably the worst of them all, it was absolutely packed. Almost every seat in first class and and standard was filled, we thanked the lovely ticket man for reserving our seats for us on the Wednesday evening. Someone was sat in our seats so I had to ask them to leave which they did straight away but faced with 2 dishevelled children and their dishevelled mum carrying bags and Burger King while trying to stay upright on a moving train we probably scared them off! The train was so hot but it was quiet at least, I played a lot of Uno with Zach while Imogen watched a Tom and Jerry film on the iPad and we were in Manchester just over 2 hours later.

My dad was waiting to give us a lift home and we got in our (freezing cold

) house about 8.15 and had to get ready for work and school the next morning, booooooo.

We'd had a great little holiday in Disneyland Paris and are all looking forward to going back - see my Future Plans thread next

Floridasun · 8 Mar 15, 06:22 PM

Great report. makes me wish I was there now.

stitcher3000 · 9 Mar 15, 10:27 AM

Really enjoyed your trip report, we love Dlp too. Our last trip was in November last yr and DS was sick the whole time so we spent most of it in the hotel room :-( we usually go nov/Dec for the Xmas theming. We need to get another trip booked 😀

darbs · 9 Mar 15, 11:06 PM

Have loved reading your report, hope you get back soon x

CreakingStool · 11 Mar 15, 10:53 PM

Originally Posted by Floridasun

Great report. makes me wish I was there now.

Thanks for reading

Originally Posted by stitcher3000

Really enjoyed your trip report, we love Dlp too. Our last trip was in November last yr and DS was sick the whole time so we spent most of it in the hotel room :-( we usually go nov/Dec for the Xmas theming. We need to get another trip booked 😀

Aww, your poor DS

Hope you can go again soon and have more luck with bugs.

Originally Posted by darbs

Have loved reading your report, hope you get back soon x

Thanks, I enjoyed writing it

**Gill H** · 21 Mar 15, 11:25 PM

Lovely last day.

A suggestion for you - maybe next time see if they are offering breakfast in the park when you go? They don't always offer it, but if they do you could have breakfast during EMH (maybe about 9.30) and it's included in the price of your stay.

CreakingStool · 25 Mar 15, 09:47 PM

Originally Posted by Gill H

Lovely last day.

A suggestion for you - maybe next time see if they are offering breakfast in the park when you go? They don't always offer it, but if they do you could have breakfast during EMH (maybe about 9.30) and it's included in the price of your stay.

Thanks Gill, I'll remember that for next time

**walt4it** · 25 Mar 15, 11:40 PM

What a great last day - amazed at how much you have fitted into your time at DLP.
No decent brew though at DLP has me worried - I thought I might get some nice coffee next week.

Really enjoyed your report and it has helped to give me so many ideas for my secret mission next week. Hopefully I can reveal soon and write a report as good as this

**Gill H** · 25 Mar 15, 11:43 PM

The coffee is OK but it's the chocolat viennois you want to ask for. Not chocolat chaud which is just ordinary hot chocolate, but chocolat viennois is the really rich creamy stuff!

CreakingStool · 27 Mar 15, 10:41 PM

Originally Posted by walt4it

What a great last day - amazed at how much you have fitted into your time at DLP.
No decent brew though at DLP has me worried - I thought I might get some nice coffee next week.

Really enjoyed your report and it has helped to give me so many ideas for my secret mission next week. Hopefully I can reveal soon and write a report as good as this

There is a Starbucks, I'm sure the brews are good there and if you walk from the hotel you'll pass it. At Lille Europe I ordered a large coffee for DH and it was not more than a double expresso! If I go again I'd take a travel kettle and tea bags for sure and long life milk too!