Jingle All The Way (to Disneyland Paris) ***Updated on Page 2*** ***Updated AGAIN on page 3!***

[Guest]

I am so happy to be finally writing a new pre-trippie!

As I’m writing we are a mere 184 days away from a magical adventure to Disneyland Paris – a most welcome return for the hubs and I and most excitingly this time we are bringing a first timer which I’m very excited about (more on that in a minute...)

Firstly, I can’t say how much I am looking forward to this trip. I have a serious Disney problem and right now the Disney blues are hitting me hard, if I wasn’t planning this I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.

So I guess I should introduce the cast and fill you in on our Disney experiences and plans for this Christmassy trip – let’s begin!



The Cast

I’m Katie and I’m the planner of the family. I have been visiting Disney Parks since I was little and I’m seriously addicted. I just feel so happy when I get to go and play all day in beautiful surroundings with my most favourite people. I seriously love Disney.



I’ve visited Disneyland Paris more times than I can remember since it opened – I’m estimating but I think this will be around trip 17 or so! I’ve also been to Disney World 4 times, most recently in 2011 for our HONEYMOON and in 2013 for a much needed return to the magic. Our 2013 trip was incredible as we timed it just right to see both Halloween AND Christmas in the parks and it just blew my mind. We will definitely return over that fortnight again in the future.





It’s killing me that we haven’t booked for 2015 (I liked the every other year pattern) but we are saving hard for a new house at the moment and so it looks like I will have to bide my time a little longer (boo). I’m also desperate to visit Disneyland Resort in California so I’m planning a California road trip for some point in the future, I’m just hoping not too far in the future! Sooo... since we knew WDW was out for this year and most likely next year too, we decided we simply HAD to book a sneaky DLP trip to get a little fix



Next up is my husband Alan. Alan didn’t grow up on Disney like me, but he is now a firm convert (seriously, he listens to podcasts and everything!).



His first Disney Parks trip was a quick 1 day visit to DLP in 2005. He was very sceptical and really only went to keep me happy (we were in Paris and I pouted until he said we could go to Disney). I took him to Cafe Mickey for tea where he met his childhood hero Captain Hook. From that minute he was hooked!



I totally loved showing him around a place I loved so much and he’s subsequently been back to DLP a further 3 times and absolutely loves it. Obviously he was also there for Honeymoon at WDW in 2011 and the return to the magic trip in 2013! The last time we were at DLP was in December 2012 for 5 magical days (I actually went twice in 2012 but poor Alan only got to come on the Christmas trip!). It was the first time we had experienced Christmas time in the Parks and we just fell in love with the decorations, the music and the wonderful atmosphere.



That’s why when we were planning this year’s trip we decided to prolong the agony and hold on so we could go at Christmas time again. It means a longer wait but it’ll be totally worth it. Alan is also suffering from the Disney blues and we are constantly looking at prices and plotting for when we can go back.

[Guest]

Continued...

And that brings me neatly on to our very special guest for the trip – Alan’s Mum, Ann! Yes that’s right, my Mother in law is coming to Disney with us. I am totally excited about it though so it’s fine!

Alan’s Dad sadly passed away last year and since then we’ve tried to spend as much time as we can with his Mum (she lives 3 hours away so this isn’t always easy). We went on holiday to Spain with her last year and a few weeks ago I went to Cyprus with her for a week as well (we get on brilliantly so this is not bad like it would be for some people, we love it!).





It’s been a tough year but she’s doing really well and really getting more adventurous and confident now which is great to see. Ann has never ever set foot in a Disney park (I know how sad is that?!). She has listened to me go on and on about how amazing the parks are for 12 years now and now that I’ve got Alan in on it too she’s probably sick of hearing about how magical and wonderful Disney is!

So anyway, once we decided we really wanted to go to DLP this year we decided to invite Ann along so she could see firsthand what it’s like and (hopefully) why we both love it so much. She was very unsure at first (rides and especially rollercoasters are NOT her thing!) but we persuaded her to give it a go and that she really couldn’t have a better introduction to the magic of Disney than going with us. She agreed that this was true (I think curiosity got the better of her!) and a trip was born!

The Trip

We decided that because Ann is coming, we should probably add on a few days in Paris beforehand so she can have part of a ‘normal’ holiday too and see all the Christmas decorations and markets in Paris.







We knew when we went to Disney we wanted to stay onsite and the 2 days 2 nights free offer was on so it made total sense to. When we go to Disney we tend to hit the parks pretty full on from open to close and do a lot of running around. We knew this might be a bit much for Ann though so we wanted to stay somewhere walking distance of the parks so that if she got tired or fed up she could easily just pop back to the hotel and meet us later.

We had considered 2 rooms at the Cheyenne but we really wanted somewhere a bit closer to the parks to make it easy for her to pop back and really we wanted a hotel with a pool so she could maybe have a little swim and chill out (this is never a consideration for us as we want to be in the parks the whole time but it added an interesting dimension to the decision making process!). This meant we would need to compromise to keep the costs down and go for one room for all 3 of us but at one of the closer hotels with a pool (I don’t see this being an issue as we really do just use the hotel as a place to crash).

So we settled on Sequoia Lodge as there was a really good price for it and it seemed to tick all the boxes. When I looked at our chosen dates though I realised that the Sequoia pool is closed for refurb on the dates we wanted to go and since that was one of our criteria, this was a bit of a bummer. I looked again and found that I could book Newport Bay Club for just £66 more and the pool and hot tub would be open. Done!

I know that NPB is undergoing refurbs (and still will be when we are there) but the pool will have been done by then as well as many of the rooms. Since we will be at parks most of the time anyway and it’s in such a good location, we decided to just risk it and booked! In fact as soon as I showed Ann a photo of NPB there was no doubt we would be staying there as she was blown away and just thought it looked beautiful!



I checked flights and found some bargainous £70 return flights from Glasgow (Ann lives in Glasgow so we can stay at hers the night before and the night we get back) to Charles de Gaulle so we snapped them up.

So that gives us the basics of our plan!

• Friday 5th December – drive to Glasgow
• Saturday 6th December – day in Glasgow
• Sunday 7th December – day in Glasgow and fly in evening to Paris. RER to hotel (somewhere in Paris!)
• Monday 8th December – day of sightseeing in Paris
• Tuesday 9th December – day of sightseeing in Paris
• Wednesday 10th December – RER early in the morning to DISNEYLAND PARIS! Check into the beautiful Newport bay Club and hit Disneyland Park!
• Thursday 11th December – Disney
• Friday 12th December – Disney
• Saturday 13th December – Disney
• Sunday 14th December – Disney. TGV at around 6pm back to airport and fly back to Glasgow.
• Monday 15th December – home time

Then it’ll be 4 days of festive fun back in the office before we are off for 2 lovely weeks of Christmas and New Year loveliness with our family (Ann will be joining us for Christmas too!). I think Disney will be the perfect start to get us all in the festive mood early on and keep it going all the way into 2015!

So in total we have 3 nights and 2 days in Paris followed by 4 nights and 5 days at Disney with a little bit of Glasgow time tagged on the front for Alan and I. Lovely!

So far I have booked our flights and our Disney package (direct through DLP for first time). I’ve set up a notification on SNCF to let me know when TGV tickets are available so I can book them on the first day they come out. I want to get TGV as it only takes 10 minutes so we can stay in the parks as long as possible. Totally worth the slightly higher price in my opinion!

We still need to book 3 nights accommodation in Paris and I need to get on that soon. It’s really hard finding somewhere for 3 people that’s not extortionate. I’m considering an apartment from Air BnB but also looking at hotels in the city. 3 people is way harder to book for than 2!
In the meantime, we are saving hard in our terramundi for spends (last time we cracked one of those babies open for Disney there was over £600 in it!) and I’m ‘researching’ hard by watching lots of DLP YouTube videos and following the Ratatouille news closely. December seems so far away but knowing we are booked is really keeping me going and I hope that at some point we will be able to make a decision on WDW or California for the next big adventure.

[Guest]

Continued...

Specific Disney Plans

As usual, there are certain things we really want to do when we get to Disneyland Paris and other things that are currently on the maybe list. Most of all I am really looking forward to seeing Ann’s reactions to the parks we love so much and to guiding her through her first ever Disney experience. I have a few things planned to try and help make it extra special

So here’s a breakdown of the plans so far:

Must Dos

• Ratatouille. It will have been open for a few months by then so I will probably have ruined the surprise by caving and watching YouTube videos, but since a video can never compare to the real thing, I’m sure I will still love it. I’m excited for this as it’s been a while since I went on a new ride for the first time and from all the updates I’m seeing it looks like they’ve done an amazing job with this one.
  
• Getting Ann on Big Thunder Mountain and Tower of Terror. She’s not into the big rides but is up for a little adventure so my mission is to persuade her onto these 2 rides. If I manage that my trip will be made.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Earl of Sandwich. Totally bargainous and one of our favourite places to eat so we will be partaking in several of their delectable sarnies. Also, it will let me pretend I’m in Florida for half an hour so that’s good.
  
• Disney Dreams of Christmas. I’m a super fan of the regular Dreams show so I’m very excited to see the Christmas version. I plan on seeing it as much as possible (so probably every night) but a bare minimum of twice.
  
  
  
  
• The Christmas Cavalcade. I loved this in December 2012 and it’s only got bigger and better since then so I’m excited for this.
  
  
  
  
• The Tree Lighting Ceremony – as above I loved the old version of this so I’m excited to see the new version. Slightly sad that Chante C’est Noel is not part of it anymore but I know all the words so I can sing it for our enjoyment instead.

The Maybe List

• A Park tour. We did this in 2012 (the Disneyland one) and loved it even though we didn’t really learn anything new. I probably wouldn’t think about doing it again so soon if Ann wasn’t coming with us but I think it’s something she would really enjoy and it’s good value for money. Maybe I’ll suggest she does it while we hit the bigger rides on our own for a bit.
  
• Buffalo Bill. Again, we did this in 2012 and really enjoyed it. I think Ann might enjoy it and if we can get discounted tickets it’s not bad value considering you get food and a show! I’ll be watching out for discount tickets to weigh up our options.
  
  
  
  
• Walt’s and/or Blue Lagoon. We ate at Walt’s last time and enjoyed it but weren’t blown away (the place was beautiful and I loved watching the Disney snow from our table but the food was only good where I was expecting amazing). I’d love to go to Walt’s again as I loved the restaurant and I’d like to give it another go. We’ve never made it to Blue Lagoon yet though I’ve ALWAYS wanted to. The limited menu (not a fan of fish) and lots of poor reviews puts me off though which is why we’ve never made it yet. I think for theming though it could be one to impress Ann with! Not sure yet if budget will stretch to both so some tough choices may need to be made.
  
• King Ludwig’s. Never done it but I’m intrigued so it’s on the maybe list. Same for Agrabah Cafe.
  
• Le Bistrot Chez Remy. I’m liking what I’ve seen of this so far but will reserve decision making until it’s open and I’ve seen some reviews!
  
• Swimming! Since we’ve booked Newport bay I may try to make time to use the facilities there (will probably never stay there again). I think Ann will probably use the pool and hot tub but if I do I will have to drag myself away from the parks. Might be nice to rest my weary feet in the hot tub though!

Plans for making Ann’s trip extra special

• I already emailed DLP to ask if it would be possible to get a refurbished room in the main part of Newport Bay rather than stuck way out in one of the wings to make it easier for Ann walking back and forward to parks (and also because the refurbed rooms are sooo pretty!). They emailed back to say they couldn’t guarantee anything but by the time we stay the rooms in that bit should all be refurbed so they are confident that we should be able to get a new room. So my fingers are tightly crossed for this. I also asked about invitations to the Captain’s Quarters but sadly that area will be under refurb then and they haven’t decided yet if they are going to relocate it.
  
• Pixie Dust Postcard. I am going to solicit the help of one of my Dibber friends (not sure who yet!) to send her a pdp before we get there from Mickey saying how excited he is to finally meet her.
  
• 1st time badge. I know they don’t do these at DLP but I have friends going to DLR this summer and they are going to bring me back a 1st time badge and 2 I’m celebrating badges for us to wear. I thought ones from DLR would be better than the WDW ones we already have as at least they will say Disneyland on them!
  
• Pins. I plan to give her her own lanyard of trader pins right as we enter the parks for the first time. I did this for my first timer friend in Summer 2012 and she absolutely loved it. I have plenty of traders so I just need to get a lanyard.
  
• Ears. We plan to take her and buy her her first set of ears when we arrive. I already have some brand new red sparkly Minnie ears with a green bow and holly on (they are Christmas ones) for me but I also bought an adorable pair of Thumper earmuffs which I said we can share. But if she wants some ears they are hers.
  
• Disney tshirt. I have a whole wardrobe of Disney clothes but Ann doesn’t have any. So I will have my eyes peeled to get her a really good Disney top for her first day at Disney. Maybe a Christmassy one.
  
• If she’s really nice to me I’ll let her borrow my amazingly cool handmade Mickey wooly hat
  
  

So that’s it, that’s our epic pre-trippie for December 2014. I’m sure I will have plans to add as we get closer and I’ve got more stuff confirmed but I’m pretty happy that 6 months out I’ve got a good outline of what we’ll be doing. I really hope we can make this a magical experience for Ann (and us!)



Click here for the latest update!

[JRB]

I can feel your excitement LOL

Jackie

[Melanie R]

Great pre Trippie - I think it's lovely you are taking your mother in law with you, and don't underestimate the power of pixie dust! We took my mum along in 2002, she doesn't do rides at all, ever. On the second day she had ridden all of the tamer rides and loved them, decided to try Big Thunder and loved it, then shocked me by announcing she wanted to go upside down on Space Mountain! I still have the photo, and sadly she is now disabled due to a stroke so unable to ever ride again, but the photo remains a treasured possession
Enjoy your trip, and treasure the memories you will make - DLP at Christmastime is pure magic

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Melanie R

Great pre Trippie - I think it's lovely you are taking your mother in law with you, and don't underestimate the power of pixie dust! We took my mum along in 2002, she doesn't do rides at all, ever. On the second day she had ridden all of the tamer rides and loved them, decided to try Big Thunder and loved it, then shocked me by announcing she wanted to go upside down on Space Mountain! I still have the photo, and sadly she is now disabled due to a stroke so unable to ever ride again, but the photo remains a treasured possession
Enjoy your trip, and treasure the memories you will make - DLP at Christmastime is pure magic

See more...

That is a brilliant story! Good on your Mum for giving it a go!

At the moment, my MIL is saying she will definitely go on all the tamer rides but she doesn't want to go on anything that goes upside down. I think I may be able to persuade her to try Big Thunder and Tower of Terror simply on the basis that they are thrill rides that don't go upside down. I think that will be the limit though! But that's ok, if I can coax her on to those I will be delighted! I don't want to push her to do anything she's not comfortable with but everyone needs a bit of excitement in their life!

I'm so excited to just be there and show it all off to her. I'm sure she will love it! She's worried about how cold it's going to be but I plan on lots of hot chocolate stops

[Guest]

Originally Posted by JRB

I can feel your excitement LOL

Jackie

See more...

Thanks Jackie! I am extremely excited even though it's still 6 months away. I just can't wait!

[sharlu]

A great pre-trip report, sounds a brilliant and I look forward to reading more (might even squeeze a few days in myself at those prices) xx

[Guest]

Originally Posted by sharlu

A great pre-trip report, sounds a brilliant and I look forward to reading more (might even squeeze a few days in myself at those prices) xx

See more...

We were pretty happy with the prices! We've paid £70 per person return for flights and NPB is costing £739 for the 3 of us for 4 nights with 5 day park tickets (and breakfast of course). Which I didn't think was too bad.

I think our hotel in Paris is going to cost at least £100 a night by the look of it though I'm still hunting to see if I can bring that cost down a wee bit. But we will get 2 full days in Paris.

I'm estimating the TGV back to airport will be around £30 each based on what I paid last time but hoping that I may get it slightly cheaper than that by booking on 1st day they come out.

So all in all we're looking at a little over £1000 for 3 adults for a week in Paris and Disney. Not too bad I think!

[gtyrel10]

Hi,

What a fantastic Pre Trippy, you just sound soo excited and everything you have planned for your Mother in Law sounds amazing! All the little things like lanyard and pins that is just fab i love doing stuff like that. If you look at my WDW pre trippy i got really nice Minnie and Mickey gift bags from primark (£1 for 2) and i am filling those with goodies for my OH for our trip. Just thought it might work for you to put all your gifts in.

Love your hotel choice as well and it will be fab being able to pop back for a rest or swim. Thats a great flight price from Glasgow, i am hoping to take my brother next year so i may need to keep an eye out on those prices :-)

can't wait for any more updates you sound so excited and your trip report will be fab.

Gemma xxx