You're taking HOW many children? Day 2

[Guest]

Saturday 16th January 2010

The Cast

Me, Rachel, 35, chief planner and Disney fan

DH, Andrew, 42, chief bag carrier and pushchair pusher

DS1, Dan, 15, rollercoaster fan

DD, Hannah, 11, Tink and Spongebob lover

DS2, Tom, Chief Bossyboots and Mickey fan

My niece, Amy, 11, rollercoaster enthusiast and Jekyll and Hyde

My niece, Emily, 7, Thumper lover

Andrew's nephew Josh, almost 11, easygoing and willing to try anything

Dan's friend Matthew, 16, easygoing and willing to try anything once

Saturday dawned bright and early for us at 6.30am. Our theme park strategy is always get there early and do the best rides first and having lots of children with us wasn't going to put us off.

We emerged from the Sitting Bull block of the Hotel Cheyenne into the dark. I'll just mention here that we loved the theming of the Hotel Cheyenne and would love to go back and see it in daylight! We've stayed in the Santa Fe before but much preferred the Cheyenne and really liked having bunk beds instead of queen beds - more hotels should offer them!

We ate a mixture of cereal, pastries, bread, coffee and juice at the Chuck Wagon. Already we seemed to have set seats in there, with Andrew, Tom, Dan, Matthew and I at one table and Emily and the eleven year olds giggling away at the next table. It was nice having Matthew along as he kept up a stream of lively small talk. I think he's definitely a morning person. Dan is a more normal teenage boy and finds it difficult to respond with more than a semi-coherant grunt before he's had his breakfast - think the neanderthal man on the cornflakes ad who goes through evolution while eating his breakfast and that's Dan.

Afterwards we debated catching the bus to Disneyland but with vivid memories of the bus scrum from our last visit and a vague idea that you can walk to the parks, we asked for directions and set off to walk. It's a pleasant enough walk and I bet in the spring or summer it would be quite a nice way to start the day. I don't know for sure though as it was still pretty dark!

We passed throuh the rather ineffectual bag check (I presume if I was carrying anything illicit that I wouldn't put it right on the top of my bag in full view!), into the park and onto Main Street. It was really quiet and I debated taking a few photos but didn't as it was still dark and I hadn't quite worked out the setting son my new camera, plus the kids were champing at the bit to get on a ride. I was a bit disappointed as they were improving Sleeping Beauty's castle for "my future enjoyment" and it had big hoardings all round it blocking off the route through the castle which rather spoiled the view.

We arranged with Dan and Matthew to meet up at quarter to six for our evening meal, gave them their lunch vouchers, then set off in the same direction towards Discoveryland, or whatever it is that Tomorrowland is called in France.

The boys were off to Space Mountain but we decided to do something we could all do so we started with the Buzz Lightyear ride.



We all got pretty rubbish scores, but enjoyed it so much that we headed straight back on. This time I was rather proud of my 125,000 score though I had absolutely no idea how I got it! I was pleased to have beaten Andrew though as he's usually pretty good at these kinds of rides.

After a second time, the eleven year olds and I decided to go on Space Mountain. Emily decided it was too scary for her, which is just as well as she wasn't tall enough. We entered the queue and managed somehow to take a wrong turning, go completely the wrong way and ended up out of the queue back into the outside area. It wouldn't have been so bad if other people weren't following us. We turned back and found the proper entrance. We were almost at the point of getting on when the ride was closed due to technical difficulties. I was beginning to think I would never get to ride this attraction; due to children being to short and being pregnant, this was my fourth DLP trip and I still hadn't managed to ride it even once.

We left the ride and found Andrew who was watching Emily on the rocket things so the eleven year old gang ran off to join her. A couple of circuits and it was back onto Buzz Lightyear, where we all performed dismally. On our departure we bumped into Dan and Matthew who couldn't wait to tell us that Dan had scored 350,000. That makes my score look pretty pathetic, then!

At this point we had exhausted all that the Extra Magic Hours in Discoveryland had to offer so we wandered over to Fantasyland via the castle.



We were surprised at how little was actually open in Fantasyland. Andrew took Tom onto Dumbo, and the others weren't yet cool enough to refuse to go on, so they all rode while I tried unsuccessfully to take a decent photo.

Afterwards, I took the kids on the teacups. I'm not wildly keen on spinning rides so I rode with Emily as I knew Hannah, Josh and Any would want to spin fast and I wasn't wrong. Glad I wasn't in their cup!



We followed this with a trip on the carousel. Unfortunately, apparently there is a rule at DLP that only one person can ride on each horse. As Tom wasn't able to ride by himself he had to get off which is a shame as he rode it with Andrew at WDW and really enjoyed it.

There wasn't a lot more open in Fantasyland and time was moving on so we decided to head over for the opening of Frontierland in order to ride Big Thunder Mountain, taking the opportunity for a couple of photos along the way.





I've lost count of how many photos of Hannah I must have taken here over the years. She's desparate to pull the sword out of the stone but hasn't managed quite yet!

There was quite a crowd built up at the entrance to Frontierland and it was a bit tricky making sure we didn't lose anyone. When we got to Big Thunder Mountain the queueing time still said 5 minutes but the crowds were flooding onto it. Andrew went to get Fastpass tickets for later, and said he was going to try and get Tom off for a nap, so the rest of us queued...and queued...and queued. We tried to keep each other entertained but Emily was quite easily bored and began to huff and puff about how boring DLP was. A few short, but to the point words were dispatched in her direction about being grateful and not letting Uncle Andrew hear what she just said and her mood improved somewhat.

When we did get to the front we all enjoyed ourselves... including Emily. We met up with Andrew and a still-wide-awake Tom and headed to Phantom Manor.



The queue here was longer than I've ever seen it but it went down fairly quickly. Emily recognised the building from a video I got for Tom called "Let's Go To Disneyland Paris" and asked if it was going to be scary but we told her it was funny scary rather than really scary. She did much better than Dan and Hannah who both cried on this ride on their first visits.

Afterwards, it was already time to use our Thunder Mountain fastpasses, so firstly Andrew rode with Josh, Hannah and Amy while Emily, Tom and I browsed in a shop. Tom was rather taken by a rubber snake, though he insisted it went "Rooarr!" rather than "hiss". The others soon arrived back and Emily and I had our turn. When we got off it was beginning to rain slightly, but we didn't let it ut us off. We walked round to get fastpasses for Indiana Jones (another ride that I've so far missed) before heading to Pirates of the Caribbean as the rain was beginning to get heavier. We passed several characters, including Abu and the Genie, running for cover from the rain as we went and Emily and Amy had to be discouraged from chasing them for autographs!

After Pirates of the Caribbean - always a favourite and fun to spot the similarities and differences between the Florida version - we decided that it was lunchtime. Our original idea had been to got to the Chalet au Marionettes with the idea that it would cater for the fussier eaters we had brought with us. This plan was scuppered however when it was closed! The nearest place was Toad Hall so we headed there and it was packed! It was really hard to find a seat, never mind seats for seven and the kids ended up squashed around a small table with three chairs, while Andrew and I stood beside them. The kids had two mini sandwiches, one with ham and one with cheese, although they all pronounced the cheese disgusting and not even Hannah, who will eat anything, would eat it. I don't remember what the adults had. I think it was quite nondescript but there was enough to fill us up and keep us going.

We passed our table onto a very grateful German family who had been casting imploring looks around the room. (Don't you find it annoying when people have obviously finished eating but sit there taking up a table when it's really busy?)

We retrieved the pushchair, then were chased out of the restaurant by the mother of the German family. Turned out I'd left my bag under the table, containing my purse, hotel keys, passports, park tickets, meal vouchers, eek! Thank you to that lady!

Continued in next post...

[Guest]

The rain was still persisting and it was really cold now so we decided to try and head to a few indoor attractions. We were already in Fantasyland and the queues for Snow White and Pinocchio were fairly small so we rode these. I don't mind this sort of ride but I wish they'd take you round a bit slower so you can take it all in. Tom was a bit scared of the witch but as he was riding with Andrew and I we were able to hold onto him which helped.

The queues for Peter Pan were huge so we skipped this and moved onto It's a Small World...well, you have to don't you!



Tom and Emily loved this ride. Tom was so much more interested in the rides than when we were in Florida last year which was great. Can't wait to see what he thinks of Disneyland in the summer! Hannah adored this attraction when she was younger but I think the novelty might have worn off.



It was now time to use our Indiana Jones fastpasses. On the way onto the ride Josh asked if it went upside down. Having never ridden it before I replied that I didn't think it did. After riding I had to apologise

"Sorry, Josh, I think that *may* have gone upside down!"

Whoops! Not that he minded as he and Amy were very happy to have gone on their first upside down ride. It does loop the loop, that ride doesn't it? I didn't imagine it?

We decided it was now time to go back to Discoveryland to try out the attractions that hadn't been open that morning. On the way, we noticed that the parade was passing through so the kids went to watch it while Andrew and I had a seat on a small wall. Hannah grabbed Tom to hold as she says she gets more attention from the characters when she holds him! It's the only tme she ever volunteers to take him!

Onto Discoveryland and the queue for Star Tours was 60 minutes so we gave that a miss and went onto Honey, I Shrunk the Audience (or whatever it's French name is!). We had to almost physically gag Hannah to stop her telling the others the surprises. While waiting we had tme for a daft photo



The water and mice didn't seem to be working on the chair I sat on, but I wasn't too worried as we've seen this so often I can practically recite the script. Obviously Andrew felt the same as he took the opportunity for a snooze and had to be woken up at the end. It's usually me who does that sort of thing but it's kind of difficult with Tom crawling about on you. The important thing was that everything worked for the kids and they were suitably sprayed, tickled and terrified, which is nice

I was sad to see that there doesn't seem to be a Lion King show at DLP anymore as that was one of my favourite shows but we numbed the pain by trying out the Jules Verne Submarine thingy which we've never done before. And probably won't bother again, I imagine! Still, at least we've done it. I noticed Space Mountain was now working but it also had a 60 minute queue and it was almost time to meet the boys.

We headed to the Plaza Gardens where Dan and Matthew were already waiting, a bit cold and wet but full of stories of how they'd done almost everything, including It's A Small World, Dan said wryly.

We were seated quickly at the Plaza Gardens and once again chose weird and wonderful combinations at the buffet. The girls were especially keen on the pancakes and ate quite a few. I only managed to take one photo which the waiter ruined by running to get on it and ending up as a blur!



Again, the food was plentiful but mediocre. It's a bit of shame that in a country famous for its cuisine that the food in DLP is so blah! Maybe we need to try some higher class restaurants, I think (but when we're not trailing quite so many children!)

Afterwards, we considered another ride but we were all rather wet and cold so we headed down Main Street, browsing in a couple of shops. Emily bought yet another Thumper and Hannah bought Chip and Dale (or Tic and Tac) to add to her ever expanding Disney character collection.

We caught the bus back to resort where after hot baths all round to warm up, the boys' room and Emily fell almost immendiately asleep and Hannah and Amy watched the Disney Channel while I soaked in a hot bubbly bath with a magazine. I think we were all asleep by about nine after a long, tiring but fun day!

Tomorrow: Disney Studios, back to Disneyland Park and home.

[moolie19]

wow a really full day xx

[Guest]

Originally Posted by moolie19

wow a really full day xx

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It was but that's the way we like it. We never seem to get the hang of relaxing!

[Gill H]

(quote) Again, the food was plentiful but mediocre. It's a bit of shame that in a country famous for its cuisine that the food in DLP is so blah! Maybe we need to try some higher class restaurants, I think (but when we're not trailing quite so many children!)

The high end restaurants are pretty good. We loved Walt's and California Grill, and Blue Lagoon was nice too.

[msdisneytonian]

We ate at the Plaza Gardens and thought the food was Ok, nothing special but everyone could find something they liked.

fab report