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Old 18 Aug 17, 09:55 PM  
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clochette
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Is it Ever Warm at DLP? 8th-11th August Day 3

Thursday 10th August – Braving the EAC

As we were going to the studios this morning, I decided we could afford to have a lie in so I set the alarm for 7.45. I was woken by the children in the room next door at 7.42, so that was pretty good timing. We got ready ie waited for Elinor to do her make-up and then we headed out towards the Village where we were going to have breakfast at the New York Deli, so as not to waste precious park time. The only option available for the breakfast vouchers was the sweet menu so we had to do without our omelette burger but we got a baguette and jam with our pain au chocolat instead so we didn’t go hungry. The service was much, much quicker in there than it had been in the Hyperion Café the day before, but they weren’t very busy when we arrived. It got busier as we were eating and somebody I took to be a very senior person, as he was in a business suit came out of the back to help, which I found quite amusing as he didn’t know where anything was or how to use the drinks machine. You could see the girls rolling their eyes when his back was turned. Bless him, he tried and he was very smiley with the customers, which isn’t always the case at DLP.
We left just before 9 and went to check whether they had opened the gates early at the Studios as I have been caught out by that before but the gates were tightly closed and there was nobody waiting so we went to the World of Disney.


Inside World of Disney

This is why I like being here without DH and DS; they look in one shop and then don’t want to look any more. “Why are you looking in here?” “What do you want to buy in this one?” “We’ve seen all this stuff in the shop we’ve just been in so why do we need to come in here?” etc, etc. They just don’t understand the concept of browsing!
With nothing purchased, we headed to the gates at 9.20 to find a significant number of people were now waiting, so we joined the shortest queue and waited for the gates to open.



Waiting for the Studios to open

At 9.30, the CMs did a count down from 10 and then we were in! (Do they always do that? I don’t remember doing it before.) Well, I say we were in but, as usual, we were behind the muppets who still had the tickets in their bag when they got to the gate so it took us a while (boo hoo!) Originally, we had been going to go straight to Ratatouille to get a FP but when we walked past Crush’s Coaster, the wait time was only 5 minutes. Now we knew that it wouldn’t really be 5 minutes but we have only ever been on it once about 5 or 6 years ago as the wait has always been 50 minutes plus so, as the line looked quite short we decided to risk it. The girls were happy to wait because there is free WiFi in the queue. It’s meant for playing Crush’s game, but the girls used it to connect to their social media. (It’s about time they got free WiFi across the parks like they have in Florida.)
We got in line at 9.40 and had been in the line for 15 minutes and were almost into the bit where you go into the actual ride area and up the stairs when the ride broke! They switched on all the lights on the ride (I assume so that they could evacuate it.) We waited about 20 minutes while they fixed it and then it probably was another 10 until we got on the ride.



Waiting to surf the EAC

The only other time we have been on Crush, it broke while we were actually on the ride and we were sitting on the slope just past the shark in the pitch dark for what seemed like ages. Elinor (8 or 9 at the time) was totally traumatized and didn’t speak for about 2 hours after – it was great, lol! This time I didn’t have to ride on my own as Elinor wanted to ride with me as she was quite apprehensive (so was I TBH!) I am glad we waited as we all really enjoyed it, although I’m not sure I would wait 50 minutes plus for it. By the time we came off the ride at about 10.30, the wait time was 65 minutes for the regular line and 55 for Single Rider.
We were on our way to get our FP for Ratatouille but as we passed Cars, we noticed it only had a 15 minute wait, so we hopped in line. It was closer to 20 minute and when we got off, it had gone up to 30, and Crush was up to 85 and 65 for SR. I don’t know why I go on Cars, as the teacups make me queasy and these are much more extreme! By the time we got off, I was really dizzy and the girls had to help me walk in a straight line! I probably looked really drunk - I certainly felt it! I don’t think I will go on again.



(Two wrecks together!)


I’m not sure why you aren’t allowed to take photos or film on this ride, but for whatever reason you aren’t but there was a man in one of the cars who was filming all the way round. The CM made announcements several times and in several languages but he was completely oblivious. As we left the ride, we noticed that a CM was having a word with him, but I don’t know what happened, as I wasn’t quite brazen enough to stand and listen.
On our third attempt, we finally got our coveted FP for Ratatouille with a return time of 3.30-4. It was 11.20 by this point so we went to see what the wait time was at the moment. It was only 10 minutes for SR, which I found quite surprising, so we got in line and were on the ride in just over 5 minutes. We were all in different rats but on the same cycle, so we all finished at the same time anyway. I wish more rides had SR, as now the girls are older, we could save so much more time and as there were three of us, I was on my own for a lot of the rides anyway.
We had been hoping to see the first Mickey and the Magician Show at 11.40 because when we were there last time, there were so many technical problems that they cancelled lots of the shows so my thinking was that we would aim for the first, as we would then have several more chances if it was cancelled. However, it was 11.30 by now and I didn’t think we’d be able to sprint across the park in ten minutes, so we headed over to Toy Story Playland instead. We had a ride on Slinky and looked at RC Racer. We would have gone on but the wait time was 55 minutes. Who am I kidding? There’s no way you’d get me on that thing, I’d probably throw up!
Ride that? Not a chance!

After our brave adventure on Slinky, we headed over to the Animagique theatre and ate our lunch while we were waiting to get into the theatre. Elinor and I saw this show (twice) when we were here last October, but Rebecca hadn’t seen it and was really looking forward to it. I hoped that she wouldn’t be disappointed as I had really hyped it up, but she wasn’t. She loved it all, particularly the dancing and the Lion King segment. (Having seen the Lion King in London in February, I realised how similar this was to it). I think my favourite part is was the genie; he was so good, absolutely full of character and a really good singer too. If you haven’t seen this show and it is on when you visit, do go and see it as I can’t recommend it highly enough.
We were out of the theatre by 1.30 and had a bit of a chat about what to do.





Leaving me behind as usual

I didn’t really have a plan as all we really wanted to do in the Studios was Ratatouille and Mickey and the Magician. We had another browse in the shops, just in case there was anything different in the Studios (there wasn’t) and then we went to see if we could do the animation class but there was a big queue and the girls weren’t that bothered. The Meet and Greet for Moana was in Mickey’s hat. They have quite a novel system for the wait. You get a buzzer at the counter and then you are free to wander around the hat, looking at the exhibits etc rather than wait in line. I think this is such a good idea. It would be great if they could do that for other Meet and Greets but I suppose you have to have something to do nearby for it to work. It would be cool to meet the Queen of Hearts in the middle of Alice’s Labyrinth and be free to explore the maze while you were waiting, for example. However, the wait was 50 minutes and we weren’t that bothered. Rebecca wanted to do Disney’s Art of Animation, so we went to do that instead. I found it a bit weird that in an attraction about animation, they were promoting Beauty and the Beast. I suppose it does have some animation in it and the CM may have explained it but I was relying on French as the headphones weren’t working in my seat so I didn’t catch everything she said. (In my defence, she was talking really quickly.)




We decided to go on Armageddon next as Rebecca and I have only done it once, about 10 years ago and Elinor has never done it. Rebecca remembered it as being very scary with lots of fire so Elinor was a bit twitchy when we went in. We both had to promise to hold her hand all the way through before she would agree to go on. She jumped a bit when the floor moved but apart from that, she said it wasn’t as bad as Rebecca had made out. Rebecca wasn’t bothered by it at all, but then I didn’t think she would be as I don’t find it scary at all. It was okay and I’m glad Elinor experienced it, but it isn’t something I’d rush to go on again.

It was time for our Ratatouille FP now so we headed into “Paris” only to find a massive group by the FP entrance. I thought the ride must have broken down and there was a backlog, but it was just a group of people who had turned up before their FP time and were arguing with the CM to let them on. Once we managed to get past them, we waited less than 5 minutes. I really like Ratatouille, I think it is very clever and the whole Paris area is very well themed, although rather cleaner than the real Paris! I didn’t note down the wait time for the standby line but I know it wasn’t as long as I was expecting it to be – maybe about 35 minutes?

The girls weren’t bothered about hanging out for the next Star Wars show that was due to take place in about 20 minutes (neither was I but I would have waited if they had wanted to watch it, of course) so we headed over to the other park to watch the parade. It had been raining at parade time the previous two days so I was really hoping it would stay dry but there were some very ominous clouds overhead. Oh well, if we got wet, we got wet. We had yet another look in the shops along Main Street (I can’t believe we’ve not bought anything yet) and then decided to stake out a place to watch the parade as it was about 4.30 by now and there wasn’t really time to do anything else.
Waiting for the parade to start

We usually watch the parade from near IASW as it isn’t as crowded but I fancied watching this one on Main Street; it just felt right somehow. Just before the parade started, the Family of the Day were paraded up Main Street in an old fashioned car and escorted to the place of honour (a bench in front of the bandstand, where they presumably had the best view down the whole of Main Street). I don’t know if they got any other perks, or how they were chosen but what a nice memory to have.
Family of the Day

I enjoyed the parade but it felt quite short and I prefer the music in the old parade, but that may be because it is more familiar. The new music is very jazzy, not really my style but maybe it will grow on me. Elinor spent most of her time watching the dancers, again saying that she could do all that. She is just counting down the days until she is old enough to audition. You have to admire the energy and enthusiasm those dancers have, as although I thought the parade was quite short, I’m sure it doesn’t feel it to them! It was nice to see Crush in the parade, the fire breathing dragon was magnificent and very intricate and there were lots of characters walking about but – I don’t know- it just didn’t grab me, somehow. I don’t want this to sound too negative as it was still very good and I’m sure other people love it, so feel free to disagree!













We went on Snow White after watching the parade as it only had a 10 minute wait. I know it is very simple, but it is one of my favourite rides as it’s the first one we ever did at DLP. We wanted to go on Pinocchio too as we hadn’t been on it yet, but we didn’t have time before our 7pm dinner reservation at Plaza Gardens. There weren’t nearly as many people waiting as there had been on Tuesday, but they were still telling people it was an hour’s wait without a reservation. I have never known the restaurants to be so busy, although we don’t usually come in summer, of course so it may be normal for August. I’m just glad I made reservations before we came. Dinner was the usual buffet fare. I was quite impressed with how quickly the food was replenished when it ran out, as I have been in the past when the buffet has looked a little sparse but that certainly wasn’t the case this time.

It was raining again when we came out of the restaurant but we were brave and joined the queue for Autopia, working on the assumption that it would probably have stopped by the time we got to the front. The wait time was posted at 20 minutes which was the shortest I had seen it our whole time there but it was probably closer to 30 minutes before we got on the ride. There was a bit of an argument in the DAS queue while we were waiting, as there was a man who wanted to ride but he didn’t have his card with him. The CM was a bit confused and kept asking if the card (wherever it was) was his and if so what it was for (which I didn’t think they were supposed to ask TBH), but in the end she just gave up and let him on. That may have had something to do with the fact that he was quite large and tattooed, although he wasn’t aggressive in any way. Rebecca and Elinor both wanted to drive, so I went in with Elinor, with Rebecca chasing us. Well, she would have done, but we had a very “careful” driver in front of us! Elinor was getting quite a bit of road rage; I dread to think what she will be like when she’s driving for real! (And it had stopped raining by the time we were on the ride – result!)


I was determined to get my ride on Pinocchio, so we headed back to Fantasyland via the castle. Just as we were walking over the bridge, a man next to us went down on one knee, pulled a ring box out of his pocket and proposed to his girlfriend! Pinocchio or not, we just had to stop to see what she said! She said yes so we gave him a round of applause, along with everybody else watching (which wasn’t that many to be honest) and then went on our way. It was lovely and I think it was very brave of him. Elinor and I may have shed a tear or two. As for Rebecca, it gave her ideas and she was texting her boyfriend before we had finished walking over the bridge. Surprisingly enough, he didn’t sound too keen!
Pinocchio was showing a 20 minute wait so we got in line. I didn’t know until this trip that Elinor doesn’t like this ride as she finds it scary! She has been coping with Phantom Manor and Snow White’s Scary Adventures since she was two, but is scared by the whale on Pinocchio. Does anybody else find it scary? It was just after 9.30 when we got off Pinocchio. Rebecca’s feet were hurting her and we were all quite tired, so we headed back to the hotel.
One day, I will go up in this


We got back about 10.10 and did a bit of packing so we wouldn’t have to do it in the morning and I took a few photos of the room
because I forgot before.



Rebecca then had the bright idea of soaking her feet in the bath, so we both sat on the side of the bath for a while. Rebecca’s feet had been quite swollen, actually, but they went down after she had soaked them for a while. We have the same size feet so I nobly offered her my trainers to wear tomorrow as I thought they would be more comfortable for her and I had my trusty Go Walks with me. We had hot chocolate and I Whats Apped DH and then we went to bed about 10.45.

Steps taken – 20 917
Miles walked – 8.44 miles
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Old 19 Aug 17, 06:45 PM  
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spencem
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Sounds like another great day, you seemed to get a lot done.
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Old 19 Aug 17, 09:16 PM  
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clochette
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Yes, we don't hang about when we are in Disney!
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Old 20 Aug 17, 12:23 PM  
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another great day, and I'm gonna disagree about the parade - I really like it, its very colourful, with a carnival-type beat to the music.
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Old 20 Aug 17, 07:59 PM  
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clochette
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Originally Posted by sammykitten View Post
another great day, and I'm gonna disagree about the parade - I really like it, its very colourful, with a carnival-type beat to the music.
Yes, I knew somebody would be along to disagree with me soon. Maybe it will grow on me. Did you not think it was quite short though?
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Old 20 Aug 17, 09:17 PM  
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Originally Posted by clochette View Post
Yes, I knew somebody would be along to disagree with me soon. Maybe it will grow on me. Did you not think it was quite short though?
it didn't leave me with that lasting impression, no, to be honest.
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Old 21 Aug 17, 01:14 PM  
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Wrong post

Edited at 01:18 PM.
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