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Old 17 Aug 16, 10:41 PM  
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kadypants
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February Firsts for our Little Man - Pre-trip

Disneyland Paris Trip Report – February 2017

The cast:
Me: Kirsty, 29 - chief organiser, Disney and Harry Potter obsessive (I have to be, it’s part of my job!), primary school teacher (see? Told you so!)

My Darling Hubby: Ben, 29 – football nut and secret Disney fan (he would never admit it, but he knows all the films!)

Our little monster: Jack, 2 – just starting to ‘get’ Disney – LOVES The Lion Guard, Lion King, Jungle Book and Mickey Mouse AND food – he loooves food!


The History:

As a teenager I experienced Disneyland Paris with my family on two separate occasions; both left a massive imprint on me and I always knew I’d go back, I just didn’t know when that would be!

I met Ben in 2005 and in 2010 we took our first (and hopefully not last!) trip back to the Mouse – 4 days staying on-site at Santa Fe – perfect! It was our first holiday abroad together and we loved every minute!

From then on I had itchy feet to go back, but we always seemed to have other plans and the timing was never right, mainly because we were still at uni/finding jobs/saving for a house – all those major life things!

Fortunately, in 2013 my itchy feet had a HUGE scratch in the form of a honeymoon in Florida/New York (see my previous trippie: incomplete – sorry!). This trip certainly satisfied my Disney appetite, and it was a good job too as late in 2013 I fell pregnant with our little man!

This leads us to the current day, now our little man is 2 years old we have decided it’s time for his first visit. Of course we debated long and hard about the merits of Orlando; the pros, the cons, the logisitics and the cost, but in the end we just couldn’t justify that much money, especially when we don’t know how he’ll take to it. So we decided to do Disneyland, Paris and boy am I excited!

The Planning

The planning basically started when Ben agreed we could go... I believe I had loaded The Dibb within seconds of him (finally) saying yes. (Even though it was originally his idea!) After a little bit of research I had narrowed it down to February half term. We had originally discussed October, but the price difference, and the fact that I really couldn’t wait that long, persuaded us to go with February, even though we were a bit uncertain about the weather!

We always knew we would want to stay onsite, mostly for the ease of things, we didn’t really want to do car rental or rely on shuttle buses/public transport with Jack being so young and unpredictable. We stayed in Santa Fe last time and although we both enjoyed it and found nothing wrong we wanted somewhere new. I really fancied Sequoia Lodge, but a quick pricing up on the official website told me it was going to be a good few hundred pounds more to stay there than at the more budget options, so we decided on Cheyenne, especially since the refurb should mostly be complete by the time we go.

That decided I was back on the Dibb estimating the best offer option for us, by using past years examples I figured the 2 days and nights free offer would be most suited, and as that was the current offer anyway I took the plunge. I actually made the booking at about 10pm a few days after our dates were released. Ben didn’t really get much say in the matter as he was half asleep at the time, but I was confident and happy with my decision making!

So, I booked 4 nights 5 days (including 2 free) at Hotel Cheyenne for February half term 2017 including lunch at Cafe Mickey the day before we go home. I debated Buffalo Bills, but figured I could add that on at a later date.

We’d already decided that we would travel direct on Eurostar from St Pancras, as we can stay with family in London beforehand and that’s what we had done previously. All this was providing we could get tickets of course!

I rang Eurostar a couple of times over the next few months to check our dates and each time I was told to call back at the end of the next month. I was at work when I received a message from my friend who said that Eurostar had gone onsale for our dates, so during my lunch break I checked the Eurostar site as well as a couple of others, before ringing Disneyland direct for a quote. Disney came in at quite a bit cheaper somehow, including Express luggage service, so I fired off a quick message to Ben whilst enquiring about Buffalo Bills, he messaged back to give me the go ahead and voila! Train tickets booked.

So, the plan is to stay with relatives in London on the Saturday and Sunday nights before getting the train on the Monday morning. I’m hoping that we might be able to get a cheeky lift to the station that way as well! Its Ben’s 30th while we’re away, so we’ll probably book a meal out with family on the Saturday night too.

We don’t really have too much of a concrete plan for while we’re there, we’re hoping to plan our meals and any potential later nights (Dreams and Buffalo Bills) and make a brief list of absolute ‘must-do’s’ but other than that we’ll play it by Jack I think.

So far we plan to eat at; Cafe Mickey, Rainforest Cafe, Earl of Sandwich (we missed this in Orlando, so this is on our must-do list!), Hakuna Matata (Lion King obsessed child!), Lucky Nugget Saloon and we are definitely going to book Buffalo Bills very soon.

Dreams was not on the last time we visited DLP so that is at the top of my must-do list. Ben is more keen on ride and eatery specifics; Pirates of the Caribbean and Rainforest Cafe being up there on his list. For Jack we’re thinking Fantasyland and the railroad, as well as the daily parade and Disney Jnr, oh and Cafe Mickey, of course!

That’s our plan so far! I appreciate any suggestions or comments, particularly for February tips and info or suggestions for Jack. And thanks for reading thus far.
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DLP - Jul '01, Aug '03, Sept '07, Feb '17, Feb '19, Feb '23
WDW - Aug '13, July '22

Edited at 10:43 PM.
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Old 14 Sep 16, 09:48 AM  
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Lisa_Lollipop
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Great pre-trippy, what a wonderful time you have ahead... and so exciting for Jack to experience Disney for the very first time!

I am heading out to DLP in January for my very first visit so will be excited to read your report once you are back in February and re-live the magic with you!
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Old 20 Sep 16, 11:17 AM  
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Mobile Exciting times!

Sounds great! We are looking at going first week in July for 4 nights 5 days on the 2 night free deal also but staying at sante fe! There are 11 of us me my partner and little boy who will be 20 months along with his mum her partner and younger brother (15) and his older sister partner and her 3 little girls (6,5 and nearly 2) will be the kids first trips and my little one is obsessed with Mickey Mouse club house (and food like yours) 😂 I am Disney obsessed my partner not so much his family never really watched it growing up and only been to DLP once before when they were lot younger, I have been once when I was 5 I think 🤔And WDW 3 times aged 3,10 and 13 and I can not wait to take little one there in few years when he's older I just hope he handles DLP well with meeting characters etc but what exciting times! Will look forward to ready your report ☺️
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Old 20 Sep 16, 10:10 PM  
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clochette
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Take plenty of warm clothes! DLP in February can be cold and even snowy but I'd much rather have it cold and dry than damp. I've always found layers the best way to go, with hot chocolate to warm us up when necessary!

The Cheyenne is a great hotel and you can easily walk to the parks from there, particularly if your little one is still in a pushchair.

If you want to watch the parade, don't watch on Main Street as it gets very crowded - go near to Its a Small World where the parade starts and then you can be on the rides while people are still watching the parade.
Try and use EMH, particularly if you want to meet characters - you can save a lot of time that way. Also, if you want to ride Peter Pan, (one of my favorites) do that during EMH as the queues are ridiculous later on.


Take plenty of snacks if you want to keep the price down as food is expensive in the parks. We always manage with two meals a day ie a big breakfast ( no cooked items at the Cheyenne but lots of food nevertheless) and a meal in the evening and we snack on cereal bars dried fruit and ,I have to be honest, sweets during the day. I have just bought a tin of Roses for us to take for our trip in October;we will take a few a day out with us and when we want something sweet, we have a chocolate. It saves buying sweets when we are there.

We always take a kettle, teabags and longlife milk with us for the room - oh and cups too. You can hire a kettle from Reception, but we find it easier just to take one with us.

Hope you have a great time.DLP with kids is even more magical.
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Old 29 Sep 16, 11:19 PM  
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kadypants
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Originally Posted by NJS1992 View Post
Sounds great! We are looking at going first week in July for 4 nights 5 days on the 2 night free deal also but staying at sante fe! There are 11 of us me my partner and little boy who will be 20 months along with his mum her partner and younger brother (15) and his older sister partner and her 3 little girls (6,5 and nearly 2) will be the kids first trips and my little one is obsessed with Mickey Mouse club house (and food like yours) 😂 I am Disney obsessed my partner not so much his family never really watched it growing up and only been to DLP once before when they were lot younger, I have been once when I was 5 I think 🤔And WDW 3 times aged 3,10 and 13 and I can not wait to take little one there in few years when he's older I just hope he handles DLP well with meeting characters etc but what exciting times! Will look forward to ready your report ☺️
Thanks for reading so far. Wow, 11 of you! That will be amazing! I definitely think we might miss sharing Jacks enjoyment with grandparents etc. But who knows, maybe next time they will come too!

Originally Posted by Lisa_Lollipop View Post
Great pre-trippy, what a wonderful time you have ahead... and so exciting for Jack to experience Disney for the very first time!

I am heading out to DLP in January for my very first visit so will be excited to read your report once you are back in February and re-live the magic with you!
Ooh enjoy your first visit! You'll love it I'm sure! Make sure you tell us all about it!

Originally Posted by clochette View Post
Take plenty of warm clothes! DLP in February can be cold and even snowy but I'd much rather have it cold and dry than damp. I've always found layers the best way to go, with hot chocolate to warm us up when necessary!

The Cheyenne is a great hotel and you can easily walk to the parks from there, particularly if your little one is still in a pushchair.

If you want to watch the parade, don't watch on Main Street as it gets very crowded - go near to Its a Small World where the parade starts and then you can be on the rides while people are still watching the parade.
Try and use EMH, particularly if you want to meet characters - you can save a lot of time that way. Also, if you want to ride Peter Pan, (one of my favorites) do that during EMH as the queues are ridiculous later on.


Take plenty of snacks if you want to keep the price down as food is expensive in the parks. We always manage with two meals a day ie a big breakfast ( no cooked items at the Cheyenne but lots of food nevertheless) and a meal in the evening and we snack on cereal bars dried fruit and ,I have to be honest, sweets during the day. I have just bought a tin of Roses for us to take for our trip in October;we will take a few a day out with us and when we want something sweet, we have a chocolate. It saves buying sweets when we are there.

We always take a kettle, teabags and longlife milk with us for the room - oh and cups too. You can hire a kettle from Reception, but we find it easier just to take one with us.

Hope you have a great time.DLP with kids is even more magical.
Wow, thank you so much for all those tips!

We are on the hunt for bargain ski jacket and trousers for Jack at the moment. Will make sure we take plenty of layers. I'm with you though, I'd much prefer cold than rain.

Last time we went (pre Dibb discovery) we stayed at Santa Fe and the busyness of breakfast put us off. But this time we're determined to get an early slot and fill up before EMH!
__________________
** A Dream is a wish your heart makes **
DLP - Jul '01, Aug '03, Sept '07, Feb '17, Feb '19, Feb '23
WDW - Aug '13, July '22
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Old 29 Sep 16, 11:22 PM  
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kadypants
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A little teeny update...

*Ben is slightly disappointed as it looks as though POTC is closed for refurb while we're there.
* After careful consideration and research we are going to try to change our Cafe Mickey ADR to an Inventions one (fingers crossed!)
__________________
** A Dream is a wish your heart makes **
DLP - Jul '01, Aug '03, Sept '07, Feb '17, Feb '19, Feb '23
WDW - Aug '13, July '22
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Old 19 Oct 16, 10:32 PM  
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kadypants
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18.10.16
Just a little update... Called Disney today to...

1) Check whether we could reserve seats on the train – apparently not.

2) Enquire about changing our Cafe Mickey reservation to an Inventions one – no, but we can book an ADR for Inventions at the 60 day mark and cancel Cafe Mickey (at a charge). We’re going to have a think about this one, we might just leave it as Cafe Mickey as we’ve never done it and won’t get chance again with the changes.

3) Book Buffalo Bills – we did this and have been advised that we can add Jack on when we check in on the day. We weren’t going to bother with a reservation for Jack as he can share our plates anyway. But he will definitely need his own seat, so we will have to see what the cast member says on the day.

All-in-all a successful call... although I am a little disappointed that we can’t reserve seats on the train, but not the end of the world.
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DLP - Jul '01, Aug '03, Sept '07, Feb '17, Feb '19, Feb '23
WDW - Aug '13, July '22
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Old 8 Feb 17, 11:55 PM  
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kadypants
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Another little update:

Ben called Billy Bobs yesterday to reserve us a table at La Grange for the Wednesday night as we all love Tex Mex! I didn't realise at first that they don't open until 6pm, but with it being a buffet we figured it wouldn't end up being too late for Jack. On phoning them it worked out that they don't have a table til 6:45. We've booked it for now, but will see how we are after our first day and might cancel it depending on Jack.

Nearly at our SDD! Excited!
__________________
** A Dream is a wish your heart makes **
DLP - Jul '01, Aug '03, Sept '07, Feb '17, Feb '19, Feb '23
WDW - Aug '13, July '22
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