theDIBB - The Long Overdue Mother and Daughter Trip

I’ll start by saying that I’m feeling totes emosh about this trip!

Back in 2005 I took my then 4 year old daughter to Disneyland Paris for the first time. Not only was this her first experience of a Disney park, but it was mine too and I will never forget the feeling of being enveloped in the magic on entering the park and walking under Main Street station to be presented with the stunning Sleeping Beauty’s Castle.

Here is Chloe at 4 years old, looking as tiny as can be in front of the castle!

As you will know from my trip reports, we have visited several times since then (me a few more than Chloe much to her frustration ;)) but we are finally going back as just mother and daughter for the first time since 2008 when she was 7 years old.

Then...

...and now

We are both really looking forward to some quality mother and daughter time, the last few years have been very stressful for Chloe with her GCSE’s a couple of years ago, and her A Level exams finishing just last week so some much needed Disney magic is in order!

So, to the plan!

Sunday 30th June – Pre-Travel Day

I will be picking Chloe up straight from work at 3pm and we will be hitting the road to Ebbsfleet where we are staying in the Gravesend Central Premier Inn the night before we travel. I’m already looking forward to the plentiful meal and glass of wine that evening :d:

Monday 1st July – Disney Day! :mickeybou

We’re booked onto the 10.34am Eurostar direct from Ebbsfleet to Marne La Vallee and will arrive there at 2.03pm, after dropping our bags off with Disney Express we will be hitting the Disneyland Park, whoop whoop!

Back when Chloe was 7!

I’m thinking that we might be a bit peckish by this point so a trip to Victoria’s may be in order for a Mickey Waffle and milkshake….obviously because I want another Mickey waffle, but also because I owe you guys a photo from my last trip report!

At some point in the afternoon we will head over to our hotel to check in….this is where I have a little surprise for Chloe! When I originally made the booking, the budget was a lot tighter and I was seriously considering off-site for the first time….however, I couldn’t quite bring myself to do it and booked us into the Cheyenne.

Then, last summer I just happened to price up a Sequoia Lodge Golden Forest Room (as you do ;)) and with it not being an extortionate amount of money I decided to upgrade us! :spin:

Unlike my son who can do rides from park opening to park closing without remotely flagging, I know that Chloe will totally appreciate chilling out mid-afternoon in the Golden Forest Lounge, and tucking into the delicious cakes!

That evening we will be eating in the Rainforest Café with the intention of re-creating these pictures from when Chloe was 7!

We may head back into the park after dinner, or we may just chill out back at the hotel depending on how we are feeling. I have never visited Disneyland Paris in the summer so I’m really looking forward to the flexibility that the longer opening hours will offer, Disneyland Park doesn’t close until 11pm during out stay!

Tuesday 2nd July

So having upgraded to a Golden Forest room you’d think I would be hot footing it down to breakfast on our first morning….well, you’d be wrong! Chloe and I decided a little while back that we wanted to go all out meeting characters on this visit and have booked a character breakfast at Plaza Gardens.

After that we will be well and truly hitting the parks! :pgig:

For our evening entertainment we will be going to Buffalo Bills Wild West Show, something we haven’t done since our very first visit back in 2005!

I’m really looking forward to this, especially as the addition of characters is new since we saw it back in the day, and it’ll be interesting to see how they get around not actually having any buffalo’s in it?

We’re booked into the 6.30pm sitting and are planning to head back into the park afterwards to do some rides in the dark and hopefully make it to 11pm to watch Illuminations…this is where I may not be quite so glad of the late opening times!:pgig:

Wednesday 3rd July

Something completely new today! In all my visits to Disneyland Paris I have never visited Paris itself (unless you count going via Gare du Nord? ;))

One very specific request that Chloe made was to squeeze in a trip to the Paris Catacombs, so tickets have been booked! We’re going to have a lazy morning in the hotel (taking advantage of the Golden Forest breakfast!) and will head off for Paris around 9.45am, our time slot at the Catacombs is at 11am. According to the website it takes a couple of hours to navigate the Catacombs, so afterwards I’ve suggested we take a stroll, around 45 mins or so according to google maps, over to the Eiffel Tower. We’re not planning to go up it (not with my fear of heights!) we’ll just take a selfie and will then probably head back to DLP.

Given that we will be in Paris most of the day we will definitely be in need of a Disney fix when we get back and have booked Café Mickey for dinner. We’ve not been since they made the menu changes so it’ll be interesting to see what the food is like….but in all honesty, who is there for the food! It’s the characters we want :d:

Thursday 4th July

It’s back to the parks today! No more detail than that I’m afraid…..I know, no plan! I’m as shocked as you are ;)

We do, however have a plan for dinner :d:

Now, back in March my baby girl turned 18……how did that happen!?!?! Obviously with her being 18 that means she can drink alcohol, however unlike her mother she doesn’t really have a taste for it….I’m not entirely sure where I went wrong?:pgig:

So back to the plan, we will be visiting Café Fantasia early evening where we will be partaking in a cocktail or two, being not that keen on alcohol I have already recommended Chloe try the Rouge et Noir which basically tastes of blackcurrent squash :d:

Chloe's Aunty Anna (aka Blondie1979) has very kindly provided the funds with which to purchase one, or two:grin: Bad influences? Us? I don’t know what you mean….:pgig:

After a couple of cocktails and soaking up the atmosphere we will be taking the very short walk, all of about 5 steps, over to Inventions for dinner. Again it is all about the characters this trip! I didn’t have a great experience the last (and first) time we ate here but I think that was more down to my expectations, as the kids really enjoyed it :spin:

After dinner I think we will probably head back into the park, well, being that close it would be rude not to!

Friday 5th July – Our last day :cry:

Today our trip will be coming to an end…..but not until later this afternoon! We’re booked onto the 4.55pm Eurostar direct back to Ebbsfleet so have many more hours of fun in the parks to look forward to. The only loose plan we have is to eat lunch in the park at one of the counter service restaurants.

So I think that’s it for now, we’re almost at 2 weeks to go, so the packing will commence soon. Chloe has already chosen her Disney t-shirts for each day and I’m still trying to figure out what you pack for a Disney park in the warmth…so much harder than packing for the cold! :pgig: