Today is a super short one as it was going home day ☹
After our busy week we all managed to sleep through the 7am alarm today until Ellie woke just before 8 – we needed to be on the road by about 9 so it was lucky she woke when she did.
I quickly threw the last few bits into the case and woke the others up so we could head down for breakfast. None of us were feeling that hungry today so we weren’t in there long – just enough time to grab some pastries and a coffee.
Once we had finished, we quickly called in the hotel shop so Leah could grab a Snow White keyring she had seen and we went back to the room to brush our teeth and bring our luggage down. The weather was awful today – it was rainy and really windy and made us realise how lucky we had been with the weather all week.
Bye Bye Hotel
We were all loaded and ready to go by 9.10 and quickly stopped at the Esso near the Santa Fe to fill up on petrol. The sat nav said 2 hours and 50 minutes with an arrival time of 12.17 which was bang on an hour before our Eurotunnel at 13.20.
The journey was pretty uneventful and we arrived on time – had a quick stop in the terminal for coffee, toilet stop and to grab some chocolate from duty free for my sister to say thank you for feeding our fish and then we headed to boarding. You do border control before you get to the terminal this end and it made more sense than queuing for it once you had been called for boarding. I was impressed with how straightforward it all was again and we will definitely be using again for our Holland trip next year.
We were pretty close to the front of the train again and once we had parked up I fell asleep. The last few days had really caught up with me. I didn’t wake up until we were back in England (only 30 minutes later – I need to practice that for the flights back from Florida). We drove off the train and as we had completed border control in France were straight on to the motorway home. The journey home said 2 and a half hours as there was traffic around the Dartford Tunnel and the time seemed to really drag once we were back on English soil. We were soon on the homeward straight though and we got home about half 3. I unpacked a bit and put some washing on and we were all in bed pretty early. It was nice knowing we had the weekend before we all had to head back to work and school though.
And that was another trip done!
Highs, Lows and what’s next?
You see everywhere so many comparisons between the different Disney Parks - especially I find between DLP and WDW. We visited DLP in 2013 - and we hadn't been back as it wasn't the most enjoyable trip (owed mainly to my bad planning - I underestimated the crowds, taking an 8 week old and only planning a day there) so this time I was determined to do it differently. I knew it was a busy time of year and knew we wouldn't get to do anything - so made sure we each had one 'must do' that got done. We actually did way more than I expected which was nice and there are parts of DLP that I prefer.
Highs
The rides – A lot of the rides were brilliantly done and better than their WDW partners! It’s a Small World, Big Thunder Mountain, Peter Pan and Pirates of the Caribbean I’m looking at you!
Disneyland Parc – This was my favourite park of the two – although there isn’t much competition at the moment. It is so pretty; the Halloween decorations blew me away and I just loved it. The extra touches like the dragon and the walkthrough of the castle were really nice to experience.
Characters – We saw some fab characters – Maleficient was by far my favourite and one I had been wanting to meet for a while.
Cast Members - I had read so many negative reviews of the CM's in Paris. I guess they do tend to be more in the background than in WDW but they dealt with que jumping brilliantly and they were helpful and polite. Especially those dealing with the Maleficient que - they did a brilliant job.
Lows –
Closures – As always its disappointing when rides are closed on your trip unfortunately, we didn’t get chance to ride Indiana or Rock & Rollercoaster but we went knowing they weren’t available so it wasn’t too much of a disappointment. The closures at Studios really do mean there isn’t a large variety of rides at the moment there and they really do need the new lands. I’m sure once these open that these will be a game changer though!
Rudeness – I think wherever you go you will get rude guests and I had read so much about the que-jumping that goes on in DLP. Although a low, it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting and where we did experience it the CM’s dealt with it superbly. I’m sure they must get so fed up of repeating themselves on a daily basis!
What’s Next?
Well – we have a surprise Florida trip booked for next Christmas – eeek! We are staying offsite with Disney and Universal Tickets – a first for us since 2014. It’s a secret I am going to have to try and keep for over a year!
I really want to get back and experience onsite at DLP – this will more than likely be once the new lands at Studios are up and running however so no firm plans in place yet. I do know I want to stay at Sequioa Lodge though!
Thank you so much to all who got this far and for following along on our journey
