Charlie's First DLP Adventure - August 2018 - Day 4: Finally riding Ratatouille and heading home

[Lisa_Lollipop]

Index can be found here

Sunday 12th August 2018
Steps: 20,383
Miles: 8.33

The alarm went off brutally at 6:45am as we had originally planned to make it down to the parks for EMH. As we were both feeling very tired and Charlie was still sleeping soundly we decided to ditch that idea and get some much needed extra sleep instead!

Charlie woke up at 8:30am and whilst I pottered around getting ready and doing the last of the packing he had some cuddles in bed with Paul.

At 9:30am we left the room to head down to breakfast. Joan and John had successfully made it up and out for EMH so it was just the three of us this morning. Once again we were directed into Hunters Grill and were immediately shown to a table on the right hand side of the restaurant.

We once again opted for our tactic of settling Charlie with food first and then getting food for ourselves. I actually remembered to get some photos of the food this time… well mine and Charlie’s anyway, sorry Paul! I of course went for my standard sugar fuelled selection!

Charlie was once again a little star and tucked in with great enthusiasm… he really couldn’t get enough of those potatoes!

After finishing breakfast I headed straight back to the room with Charlie whilst Paul went to baggage services to borrow a trolley so we could get all our bags down to the car in one go.

On making it up to the corridor where our room was Charlie made a break for freedom and did some speed crawling all the way down to the door at the very end… that boy sure can move fast!

Once back inside the room it was a mad dash to get the last things packed away and loaded onto the trolley so we could cart it all back downstairs to the car.

By 11:10am we were all set and leaving the room for the final time (sob). I thought 10 minutes past check-out time was pretty good going given our standard behaviour of always being late out! Paul once again did a fantastic job of playing bell boy!

We stopped by reception to check-out which was nice and simple and as we were still going to visiting the parks that day we held onto our magic cards. Paul pushed the trolley out to the car whilst I followed with Charlie in his pushchair.

With the car loaded up we made our way back through the hotel and out onto the lake to do our final walk over to the parks. My t-shirt really says it all, I so didn’t want to be going home today!

Studios was our first stop, arriving there at 11:55am.

Charlie had fallen asleep on the walk over so we decided to head straight over to Ratatouille in hope of finally being able to get a FP!

On arriving at the FP kiosks we were very happy to see that the return time was for 3pm which would work perfectly as we didn’t need to leave until later in the afternoon.

From Ratatouille we took a stroll over to Rock ’n’ Rollercoaster with the plan to see what the single rider queue time was but on arriving out front of the ride we discovered there isn’t actually a single rider queue! Well you learn something new every day! As the standby queue was quite a wait we decided to make our peace with not riding it this trip and instead made a new plan to head over to Disneyland Parc, arriving there at 12:35pm.

We made our way down Main Street, Charlie still of course asleep!

As our FP for Ratatouille was over 2 hours away we would be able to get another FP so we headed into Discoveryland to pick one up Buzz (with a return time of 3:50pm). Whilst over there we bumped into Alan and Val so stopped to chat to them for a while and also say our goodbyes as they would soon be leaving to catch the Eurostar home. Whilst we were stopped Charlie finally woke up, full of smiles and ready for some fun!

Our next stop was into the shops along Main Street as I wanted to get a glass for Charlie and have it inscribed with his name and the date (€12 plus €5 for personalisation). Whilst there I also couldn’t resist a wine glass for myself which I also got personalised with my name (€14.99 plus €5 for personalisation). The lady was free to do the personalisation there and then but we decided to come back for them later to avoid having to carry them around with us for the rest of the day.

With the glasses ordered and paid for we had a craving for something sweet so off we trotted into Frontierland for some crepes! On the way we stopped to have a look at Big Thunder Mountain, I was sad we hadn’t got to ride it this trip as it is such a great ride (and better than the WDW counterpart in my opinion) but I knew we would be back for future visits so there would always be more chances to come!

We made our way over to the crepe kiosk and got one each (€3.79) and then headed over to Hakuna Mata so we could grab a drink and sit and eat them in there. Charlie as always being his smiley, happy little self!

After fuelling ourselves with some sugar we carried on with our travels around the park and found ourselves back over by the Storybook canal boats and as then wait time was only 5 minutes we parked up the pushchair so we could ride it one more time.

I said it before and I will say it again, what a lovely little ride! Charlie really seemed to like this one and was eagerly looking around at everything (it must have kept his attention as it successfully distracted him from taking his hat off!)

On making it back onto dry land it was fast approaching our FP time for Ratatouille over in Studios so we decided it best to leave Disneyland Parc to head over there, arriving inside at 2:55pm.

We headed straight to Ratatouille as it was finally time for us to ride!

We had both really enjoyed this ride when we had experienced it on our last trip so I was excited to ride again although was a little dubious of how Charlie would react as there was no way we would be able to get him to wear the 3D glasses and I was worried it might hurt his eyes watching the screens without them. He didn’t seem concerned in the slightest and was mesmerised but the whole thing! I’m excited for this ride to come to Epcot!

With time now of the essence we needed to head straight back out on finishing up on Ratatouille, saying goodbye to Studios for the very last time this trip.

We were back over at Disneyland Parc by 3:35pm (all this writing about going back and forth is making me feel dizzy!) and our first stop was into the Christmas shop. Since buying our first place in 2014 we have had a tradition of getting a new tree decoration every Christmas so I was keen to get one whilst we were here to mark Charlie’s first Disney trip. Ordinarily when buying Disney decorations in WDW we get them personalised with the year but on asking the CM in the shop it seems they don’t offer this service which was a shame. We decided on Pluto (€9.99), in honour of Charlie’s favourite character at our breakfast the day before!

Our next stop was to pick up the glasses. I was so pleased with how these came out, and whilst Charlie won’t be using his any time soon it will make a lovely keepsake for his first trip!

Charlie was soon asleep once again… could he look any cuter with his legs all tucked up like this?!

We started walking in the direction of Buzz Lightyear as our 3:50pm FP was soon opening up but on arriving there it was very clear that Charlie wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon and we certainly didn’t want to wake him. So we decided to give away our FPs so that someone could make use of them. I spotted a young couple about to enter the standby queue so headed over to offer them up, I don’t think their English was too great though as they seemed a little confused at first and a little nervous… I guess a loud Essex girl waving FPs in their face might have been a bit overwhelming! They eventually seemed to understand what I was offering up though and took them off me with a smile.

As it would soon be time for us to hit the road to get back over to Calais we thought it would be a good idea to get some food in our bellies so headed into Cafe Hypernon… this was where we had our last meal on our trip last year so it seemed fitting to make it our last meal once again!

I joined the queue whilst Paul carried on walking Charlie around to keep him asleep a little longer. The queue was extremely slow moving and when I finally got to the front the girl on the till told me to wait there and she would be back in a minute. She then proceeded to go behind the counter and load a selection of food onto a tray and then disappear off to the back of the queue to give it to a waiting friend! I must admit my patience was wearing thin and I was getting pretty annoyed, probably a mixture of being tired, hungry and sad that we were soon heading home! She did eventually return to the till and kindly took my order… better late then never! We both opted for a cheeseburger meal with a Coke and Magnum. We also ordered a side of chicken nuggets for Charlie.

By the time I finally was served Charlie had woken up which was good timing as I was keen for him to have some food before we left too. We found a table up near the back of the seating area and popped Charlie into a Mickey highchair for the last time this trip He was in great spirits after his nap, I don’t think he had got the memo that it was almost time to go home!

Once we had finished up the food it was time to face the inevitable, we had to start making our way back to the car to head home. As we walked up Main Street and out of the exit we of course took some last photos.

By 4:55pm we were making our way out of the park and saying our goodbyes to Disneyland Parc for this trip.

As we made our way through the village we make a quick stop into World of Disney as I wanted to pick up a Pluto pillow for Charlie but on wandering around we found they didn’t have any! I was most upset as we had spotted them various times over the past couple of days but I hadn’t bought one. They had other characters but I was adamant it had to be Pluto!

Feeling deflated we left World of Disney to make our way through the Village and back to Sequoia Lodge to pick up the car. As we made our way through I remembered seeing the pillows in one of the other stores so leaving Paul and Charlie to carry on walking I made a quick dash inside and happy days, there was Pluto! (€39.99). Whilst there I also picked up another car (€14.99) the same as the one we had got Joshua as I knew Charlie would love it too as he has recently grown quite an interest in cars (and in just the last couple of days has actually started saying car!)

Charlie loves the Pluto pillow, he has a thing for pulling all the cushions off our sofa and laying on them so this was the perfect buy for him!

With purchases happily made I turned on my London legs and caught up with Paul and Charlie who had made it as far as the lake.

On making it back to Sequoia Lodge I made a quick visit to the toilets to change Charlie’s nappy and put him in a more comfortable romper for the long journey ahead. We were back at the car by 5:30pm and whilst Paul packed up the pushchair and the shopping I gave Charlie a feed to see him through the journey to Calais. By 5:45pm we were waving goodbye to Sequoia Lodge and pulling out of the car park.

We had left a little later than planned, on putting the Eurotunnel terminal into the sat nav we were given an arrival time of 8:55pm and the check-in for our train closed at 8:36pm so we knew we were cutting it very fine to make it!

The journey went without any drama and by 6:25pm Charlie was happily snoozing in the back.

Whilst driving I also spotted these pylons which I thought looked remarkably like owls… Paul thought I was a crazy, I will leave you to make your own mind up on this one!

As with all good car journeys we had snacks to keep us going including the necessary Maoam… what’s a road trip without Maoam?!

At 7pm we arrived at the toll booths and I had a bit of a panic as my purse was in the back of the car and I needed it to get my debit card out for the payment machine! In my panic I may have been a little on the loud side as I managed to wake Charlie up! He was not very impressed, sorry Charlie!

We arrived at the Eurotunnel terminal at 8:25pm, Paul had successfully shaved 30 minutes of the expected arrival time! On making it up to the barrier our booking was detected and shown on the screen immediately and the barriers went up, I am assuming from reading our car registration… clever technology! We made our way through to UK border control and thankfully this time we were not stopped for any additional security checks.

We were both very thirsty so we parked up so Paul could make a quick dash into the terminal to pick up some drinks, opting for an apple juice, orange juice and a bottle of water.

There seemed to be some delays with the loading of the trains and despite seeing signs telling us to proceed to board we got stuck in a queue for quite a while. Our booked train was the 9:06pm but that time came and went and we were still waiting in the queue with no idea what train we were actually going to get on! Charlie was getting very grumpy at being stuck in his car seat for such a long time so we were all most eager to get boarded so we could get him out and stretch our legs! We finally loaded onto the train at 9:15pm and finally departed at 9:25pm.

We were quick to get Charlie out of his car seat and bring him in the front of the car with us.

We arrived in Folkestone at 10pm (9pm UK time) and thankfully were offloaded from the train pretty swiftly. The sat nav informed us we were due to arrive home at 10:17pm. Charlie was a little on the grizzly side at the start of the journey but was soon asleep thanks to the wonder that is Say Hello to the Sun and slept until we arrived home at 10:30pm. It was
cold and raining, I was missing that glorious Paris sunshine already!

On making it indoors we let Charlie have a roam around the living room, he seemed really excited to be back home with all his toys! It was soon time to get him ready for bed and by 11pm he was down in his cot sound asleep.

Paul was due back at work the following day so after sorting Charlie we had a chill on the sofa and then made our way to bed at 11:40pm feeling very exhausted after such a busy few days!

And that my friends brings us to the end of Charlie’s first DLP adventure… and what an adventure it was! I couldn’t be more proud of how Charlie adapted to the Disney life, totally taking into his stride all the new sights and sounds and the total change of routine! It was amazing to see him react to everything and for all those who question why you would take such a young child to Disney as they won’t remember it all I will say is that no, he won’t remember it… but we certainly will and those memories will be cherished forever more. It went so well in fact that just days after returning we booked a villa in Orlando for September 2019… so stay tuned for a pre-trip report for Charlie’s first WDW adventure coming soon!

[Cha cha]

Really enjoyed your trip report, lovely photos too.
Charlie is such a little cutie 😊
We’re going to DLP in a few weeks, haven’t been for a while, so, we’re looking forward to trying the Ratatouille ride.
Is Storybook canal boats a new ride? I don’t remember these from last time we were there.
Glad you had such a good time 😊

[EJSakaAnna]

I've really enjoyed reading this Lisa, thank you sharing! What a lovely record of Charlie's first Disney trip .

I'm also so so jealous of how close you guys are to Folkestone, I know it probably still seems quite a journey for you but its hardly anything compared to what it would be for us to drive!

Can't wait to read the pre-trip for Orlando, less than a year now xx

[Disney Wishing]

We also buy a christmas decoration on each trip. We started when we first got engaged and having celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary this year we now have quite a collection. I love unwrapping them every christmas as they bring back such great memories. Really enjoyed your report. Thanks for sharing Charlie's first trip and yes the pylons defiantly look like owls

[Lisa_Lollipop]

Originally Posted by Cha cha

Really enjoyed your trip report, lovely photos too.
Charlie is such a little cutie 😊
We’re going to DLP in a few weeks, haven’t been for a while, so, we’re looking forward to trying the Ratatouille ride.
Is Storybook canal boats a new ride? I don’t remember these from last time we were there.
Glad you had such a good time 😊

See more...

On having a Google it seems that the Storybook canal boats opened in 1994 so definitely not new! When we were there in January last year the whole area where they were was shut so possibly they are only open in high season? Definitely worth checking out though, such a cute little ride!

You are going to love Ratatouille! Such a fun ride!

Thank you so much for reading!

Originally Posted by EJSakaAnna

I've really enjoyed reading this Lisa, thank you sharing! What a lovely record of Charlie's first Disney trip .

I'm also so so jealous of how close you guys are to Folkestone, I know it probably still seems quite a journey for you but its hardly anything compared to what it would be for us to drive!

Can't wait to read the pre-trip for Orlando, less than a year now xx

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Oh I am so grateful for how close we are to Folkestone, it makes driving there so easy!

So glad you enjoyed reading a long, I'm so excited to follow along with your trip next year... Libby is going to absolutely love it!

Originally Posted by Disney Wishing

We also buy a christmas decoration on each trip. We started when we first got engaged and having celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary this year we now have quite a collection. I love unwrapping them every christmas as they bring back such great memories. Really enjoyed your report. Thanks for sharing Charlie's first trip and yes the pylons defiantly look like owls

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Oh wow that's amazing (congratulations on 20 years!), so many decorations that all have a special memory attached... such a lovely thing to do I'm thinking in a few years we are going to have to have a separate Disney tree for all our special decorations!

Thank you so much for reading along, so great to hear you enjoyed it!

[Animagus]

A fantastic final day and a wonderful looking trip. Love that pic of Charlie in the Mickey ears high chair - you couldn't have caught him better if you tried. He is a very photogenic baby and looks to have had an amazing time.
I love the glasses. Seriously tempted to treat myself when we visit next year.
I'm with you on the pylons - definitely owl like.

Thanks for sharing your adventures. Happy WDW planning.

[sheluk]

Bravo on writing this and finishing it! Where have you found the time?

It sounds like a simply amazing trip and absolutely one you’ll treasure forever <3

I love, love, love your personalised glasses and how cute about Charlie and his “car”.

So glad you got to ride ratatouille in the end! Sure you’ll make up for the others at WDW if not another trip to DLP

Xx

[Lisa_Lollipop]

Originally Posted by Animagus

A fantastic final day and a wonderful looking trip. Love that pic of Charlie in the Mickey ears high chair - you couldn't have caught him better if you tried. He is a very photogenic baby and looks to have had an amazing time.
I love the glasses. Seriously tempted to treat myself when we visit next year.
I'm with you on the pylons - definitely owl like.

Thanks for sharing your adventures. Happy WDW planning.

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Aww thank you so much for reading and for your lovely words about Charlie... he certainly is a little superstar!

I'm so excited to share our WDW plans as they come together!

Originally Posted by sheluk

Bravo on writing this and finishing it! Where have you found the time?

It sounds like a simply amazing trip and absolutely one you’ll treasure forever <3

I love, love, love your personalised glasses and how cute about Charlie and his “car”.

So glad you got to ride ratatouille in the end! Sure you’ll make up for the others at WDW if not another trip to DLP

Xx

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Haha my evenings have been filled with getting this written... I am going to be at a loss as to what to do now it's finished!

I am so pleased with the glasses, they make for such lovely keepsakes... and I have to say my Aldi wine in a can tastes even better in my personalised DLP glass!

Thank you so much for reading and for the lovely comments

[Rockycat]

Really enjoyed your trip report, Charlie is gorgeous 😊 look forward to your next one.

[vics18]

Definitely the right decision to ditch EMH!

Your breakfast plate is the plate of dreams

More excellent shopping today - glasses are so lovely, Christmas Pluto is the cutest thing ever and those pillow pals are fab aren't they - Charlotte adore hers (Dumbo naturally!)

Charlie's face on Ratatouille

Enjoyed your report so much, can't wait for the next instalment in Charlie's Disney adventures! Xxxx