DLP Jan 2017: The Birthday Trip! Day 2 - The cold never bothered me anyway… well maybe a little bit!

[Lisa_Lollipop]

Index can be found here

Friday 27th January
Steps: 29,084
Miles: 12.06

The alarm woke us up bright and early at 6:15am, after such a busy day of travelling yesterday it’s fair to say we were feeling pretty tired! I allowed myself to snooze for 15 minutes and by 6:30 I was dragging myself out of bed and into the shower… time to get cracking with a full day of Disney fun!

First things first… my Disney socks of the day!

We had booked our hotel breakfast for 7am and on arriving at the restaurant check-in desk we were directed right and into Cape Cod.

As we had booked way back in August we had free breakfast included in our stay and I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by what was on offer! I had read previously that it was only continental so I was quite surprised to find hot food available alongside a wide range of pastries, cereals, fruits, yoghurts and bread. I love a hotel breakfast so this got me most excited!

It was still pretty quiet at this early hour so we had the pick of the tables and so opted for a window seat with a view of the lake (although it was still very dark at this point so there wasn’t actually too much to see!).

With our table picked we headed up to load up on some food! My first round consisted of pancakes, bacon and syrup (yes I really do love my sugar in the mornings!) and Paul went for a more traditional cooked breakfast of scrambled egg on toast with sausage and bacon.

Obviously we weren’t going to stop at just one round, so with all that devoured we headed up for round two. This time around I opted for a croissant, a pain au chocolate and a hot chocolate (yes, more sugar) and Paul had a slightly healthier croissant and yoghurt.

All in all it was a very good breakfast, I’m not sure I would pay for it OOP but as a freebie with our package there certainly weren’t any complaints!

With our bellies suitably filled we headed back up to the room to finishing getting ourselves ready and to collect our coats, scarves, hats, gloves (we sure would be needing them!) and by 8:30am we were back out of the door and making our way down to the parks to make the most of EMH which for our stay was in Disneyland Park between 8-10am.

On approaching DLH I couldn’t help but stop again for more photos, it really is the most beautiful entrance to the park and I was thrilled we had another beautiful blue sky… although as a result it was absolutely freezing! Even Paul was commenting on the crazy low temperatures and that is really saying something… he is very rarely cold!

As we entered the park and made our way down Main Street I was really taken aback by just how quiet it was. Remember we have never stayed onsite in Orlando so EMH were a new thing to us… I am totally seeing the appeal now! Having a near-undisturbed view down Main Street towards the castle was just stunning and I was so excited to get some photos with so few people around. A very kind French man also offered to take one of the two of us and this came to be my favourite photo of the whole weekend!

Walking down Main Street I totally made the most of the lack of crowds and was snapping photos the whole way, despite the cold it really was all so beautiful in this early morning winter light.

As we made our way down towards the castle we discovered the secret walkway that sits behind all of the shops on Main Street… what a brilliant idea! All I can think is that they learnt from the crazy crowds that swamp Main Street in WDW at park closing and incorporated this to allow for another exit route.

We finally made it to the end of Main Street (this took a while what with the constant photo-taking along the way!) and it looked just as beautiful as it had yesterday! I couldn’t resist a cheeky little castle selfie… mostly to show off my lovely new Luby and Lola ears!

As we approached the foot of the castle we found that it was roped off stopping anyone from walking through which was a great result as it meant photos with absolutely no one in the background… something I have never, ever achieved in WDW! A sweet pair of girls also offered to take a photo of the two of us (we did ask if we could repay the favour but they had literally just had some taken by someone else!)

Leaving the castle behind we started to make our way into Discoveryland but on heading in that direction we could help but spot the fountain that sits in front of the Plaza Gardens restaurant and had to go and have a closer look. I had seen several photos of this very fountain in the days leading up to our trip so was most excited to see it was still beautifully frozen… Elsa really had been working her magic here! (I think this photo perfectly sums up just how cold it was!)

Leaving the hub area we made our way through to Discoveryland and here we were most excited to see that Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast was only posting a 5 minute wait. For those of you who read my WDW trip report last year you may remember that we rode Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin countless amount of times… let’s just say Paul loves a bit of competition and takes great delight in beating me (which he has done all bar once in all the times we have ridden it!). But I wasn’t going to let all my past defeats hold me back; who knew… maybe I would be much better at the French counterpart!

Well turns out the country has no bearing on my ability on this ride, I was still pretty useless and of course Paul smashed me!

I would love to tell you by exactly how much he won by but sadly my photo-taking skills let me down here and I totally missed the score as it flashed up, plus I didn’t write it down in my notes. Such a shame

With Paul feeling suitably smug from his victory we made our way through the gift shop and back out into the cold and headed straight towards Orbitron. Despite posting a wait time of 15 minutes we were on in 5 and opted for a spaceship each (we had learnt the hard way from Astro Orbitor in MK that two adults do not fit comfortably into one!)

It wasn’t the most successful voyage for Paul, his spaceship didn’t seem to be working so he was unable to get it to raise in the air so was stuck at the bottom the whole way round! I spent the whole time shrieking as it went much faster and higher than I was expecting!

Our next stop in Discoveryland was Les Mysteries Du Nautilus and as it showed only a 5 minute wait we headed on inside. Now this is where my lack of research in rides at DLP let us down… I assumed it was a ride so we rush through thinking it was a pretty impressive queue to then find ourselves back outside right by where we started! It was just a walk-through! In reflection we should have probably gone back in and walked through and taken it all in but instead we wrote it off as a lesson learnt and went on our way!

Being in this area of the park it was hard not to feel a little sad that Space Mountain was closed. It’s one of my favourite rides in WDW and I would absolutely love to experience DLP’s offering but alas it was not to be on this trip as it is currently being re-themed to Star Wars ahead of the 25th anniversary celebrations. It will definitely be top of the must-do list on our next visit!

It was now 10am and as Walt Disney Studios had just opened we decided to make our way over there to check it out so off we headed back through the hub, past the castle and back up Main Street… and of course stopping some photo opportunities along the way!

Leaving Disneyland Park we made our way over to the entrance of Walt Disney Studios. One thing that feels very different at DLP is having everything all in one place and being able to walk from park to park, it’s very much like being at Universal Studios and being able to go back and forth between there and Islands of Adventure. For a weekend break such as this it really is a great advantage as there is very little time spent travelling between parks.

As we approached the entrance we stopped for some photos, as you can see the beautiful blue sky had now been taken over with some ominous looking grey clouds!

Once through the turnstiles we followed the masses and made our way into studio 1. On entering it hit me how similar it was to the inside of New York New York hotel in Vegas, I loved it! The theming is fantastic!

On exiting the other side of the studio we were immediately faced with the Partners statue, interesting that this is homed in the studios rather than in front of the castle in Disneyland Park. Regardless it deserved a photo and I did actually quite like that its backdrop was the Hollywood Tower Hotel!

From here we made our way straight over to Ratatouille as I had read many times over that the wait times for this can get rather crazy so we were keen to snag a couple of FPs sooner rather than later! This was our first experience of the paper-style FPs (we have only ever used FP+ in WDW) and I am happy to report it is very simple! The time posted was 10:55 although after scanning the first of our park tickets it went up to 11am, plenty of overlap though so not a problem!

As we had some time to kill we headed into Toy Story land to have a look at what was on offer. The first thing we were faced with was RC Racer and despite only a 10 minute wait it was an immediate no from me! Now I love rides and there are very few I will say no to but this one was being added to my list! I don’t seem to have taken a photo but for those of you unfamiliar with it I would liken it to a pirate ship but more intense and the ship being replaced with a car going back and forth on a track!

Making a quick getaway before Paul could talk me into riding it we headed towards the much more appealing Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop (stopping for a quick photo with Rex on the way!)

I must admit I did find myself a little nervous as we stood watching the parachutes going up and down, I couldn’t help but liken it to Tower of Terror and that ride absolutely fills me with dread every time! I didn’t have too long to worry though as within 10 minutes we were strapped into our parachute and ready to go!

Well my fear soon disappeared… what a brilliant ride! I loved how it gave you fantastic views of the park without the stomach-journey plummet that you experience with ToT. So much fun and definitely one of my favourite rides of the whole weekend.

With our feet back on solid ground we stopped for another photo opportunity, I loved the park was quiet enough to get these shots without people walking in front of us!

Whilst in Toy Story Land we made one last stop for Slinky Dog Zig Zag Spin. The wait was only 5 minutes and it was actually more exciting than I was anticipating, I was thrown right to the outside edge of the carriage… at one point I thought I was going to fall out!

Waving Slinky behind it was now time to head back over to Ratatouille as our FPs had now opened up. There was absolutely no one else in the FP line so we walked straight on, although I feel we may have missed a bit of the magic by walking straight through with no time to take in the queue! The ride was fab though and not like anything else I have experienced at Disney. I would liken it to Transformers/Spiderman in Universal/IoA due to its 3D nature and the big screens with the movement similar to Empire of the Penguin at Seaworld. All round a very fun ride, especially when you can walk straight on, I would probably be less impressed if we had queued for an hour as is normal with this ride!

Our next stop was Rock ’n’ Rollercoaster. This is a firm favourite in WDW so I was very keen to ride the DLP version and see how it compared. There were no FPs available but the standby line was only showing 20 minutes so we headed on in. The first thing that struck me that is was considerably less Aerosmith-focused with memorabilia from various rock bands throughout the queue line. In making it into the pre-show I was also surprised to see the ‘story’ of the ride was completely different! Instead of being late for an Aerosmith gig and jumping in a super-stretch limo to get to the show it was instead centred on the band designing a new rollercoaster and test-running the new idea. The change in story wasn’t a problem for me but what I did find odd is that they opened up the doors before the pre-show had even finished so everyone just started walking straight through with no interest in it at all! The ride itself was good though and not dissimilar to the DHS version. I had read several reviews in the weeks previous that mentioned there was no music paying which I was a little dubious about but the music played throughout for us so all good on that front!

By now it was approaching 12:20pm and we decided to head out and back over to Disneyland Park, stopping on the way to have a look around Walt Studios Store. The sales once again sucked me in and ended up picking up a Dory bag (€5) and a Mickey and Minnie top (also €5). As we still had more park fun ahead of us I took advantage of the shopping service that allows you to send any purchases you make back to your hotel… yet another perk of staying onsite! If you make any purchase before 3pm you can have them sent back to your hotel shop and they can be collected after 8pm… much better than having to lug carrier bags around with you!

As we walked from Studios over to Disneyland Park we had a quick FaceTime with Paul’s sister Tam and our nephew and niece, Reece and Izzy. They were very excited to speak to us whilst out at the parks and Izzy was particularly impressed by Auntie Lisa’s Minnie ears (yup I am totally cool to a less than 2 year old!)

On entering the park we headed straight up to the Railroad station to take some photos of Main Street.

It was now hitting 1pm and with breakfast a distant memory our thoughts turned to filling our bellies! On walking round yesterday afternoon we had checked out the menus of a few quick service restaurants and had ear-marked Colonel’s Haithi’s Pizza Outpost as a good option so this was where we headed, and along the way who should we run into but Aladdin, Jasmine and Jafar!

Inside Colonel Haithi’s we headed straight to the counter to order some food. Both of us went for the €15 meal deal, mine with a Royale pizza, garlic bread, Magnum ice cream and a bottle of water and Paul opting for the 3 cheese pizza, salad, fruit and a coke. All in all I would say very good value for how much food we had and especially as it included a drink! And in good news, it was really tasty too!

We found a table and sat down and moments later three men in the corner starting playing some traditional African bongo music, great lunch time entertainment!

With food devoured we headed back out and made our way round to Fantasyland. As Les Voyages de Pinocchio was only a 10 minute wait we went their first. A cute little ride, very much like Winnie the Pooh at WDW. I have never been a huge fan of Pinocchio and this ride served well in reminding me how dark it is!

From there it was over to the Mad Hatter Tea Cups as it was a walk-on. Much to Paul’s disappointment he could barely get our cup to spin… I can’t say I was too sad about that, we had just eaten lunch after all!

Next up was Snow White (Blance-Neige et les Sept Nains to give it its full name!), which despite posting a wait time of 10 minutes we found ourselves through in less than 5. This was a very similar style to Pinocchio but I enjoyed it more as I much prefer the story of Snow White… who couldn’t love those dwarves?!

Making our way through the castle we stopped in Merlin l’Enchanteur to have a look at all the beautiful glass work. Whilst we were browsing we were approached by a CM who told us about an offer they were currently running for a glass heart ornament that you helped to blow and then you could have it inscribed for only €9.99. Now as we like to collect a new Christmas decoration for our tree on each of our trips we thought this was the perfect opportunity so it was a yes from us! Paul stepped up and helped with the blowing whilst the woman worked her magic with the fire blaster thing (apologies, my knowledge of glass-blowing is pretty dire!)

We left our details and asked for our initials and ‘DLP 2017’ (as we wanted two lines of text it cost an extra €5) to be engraved and told that we could pick up either later that day or tomorrow.

It was now 4pm and as we were pretty much frozen to the core we decided to head back to the hotel to warm up for a bit (anyone who has read my WDW report will know this is most unusual behaviour for us, we normally are out and about for every available minute… it just goes to show just how cold it was that even we couldn’t carry on for much longer!)

On making it back to the hotel I made myself a cup of tea and swapped out of my jeans and into my PJ bottoms (a fatal mistake!)

Feeling warmed from the tea and cosy in our lovely room we made the error of laying down on the bed… what do you know, we both fell asleep and didn’t wake up until 6pm! We had planned on having a quick turnaround and making it make to the park to see the parade at 4:45pm but safe to say we had well and truly missed that! Ah well, we clearly needed to recharge our batteries and it was only day 2 so no need to worry!

We made it back out by 6:20 and headed straight to Disneyland Park to get a spot to watch Dreams which was due to start at park closing, which this evening was 7pm.

On approaching Disneyland Hotel I was excited to see the fountains now running… the ice must be slowly melting!

We made our way down to the hub and secure ourselves a good spot in front of the castle. What struck me immediately was how quiet it was and also how you were much more free to stand where you wanted… I have become so used to be ushered here, there and everywhere by CMs in WDW it was quite a change to just find a spot and stand there!

With a perfect spot found we waited for the show to begin… well it was the perfect spot until some annoying woman with a selfie stick came along and stuck her camera high up in the air right in front of me! One gripe of DLP… they are pretty slack at enforcing the no selfie stick rule! So with a shuffle to the right we were back in prime position!

I took a whole load of photos but of course they will never do the show justice but here is a selection of some of the better ones…

So my review of Dreams… I absolutely loved it! Now I only have Wishes to compare it too and I don’t think I can say it trumps that (I don’t think anything would in my opinion!) but I was totally blown away and absolutely loved how it combined the use of fireworks, projections, fountains and lasers… now that really is a night time spectacular! I adored the soundtrack and have found myself listening to the Tangled soundtrack repeatedly since being back due to the inclusion of ‘I See the Light’. I felt it had the perfect balance of French to English and I couldn’t help but chuckle at Wendy’s accent and pronunciation of ‘Peter’ It left me with the biggest smile on my face, the magic of Disney has struck again!

We decided to let the crowds disperse a bit before making our way back up Main Street (not that it was particularly crowded in comparisons to what we are used to at the end of Wishes) so walked to the foot of the castle for a couple of photos, it looks so beautiful lit up at night time.

Leaving the castle behind, we made our way back up Main Street towards the exit, stopping along the way at some of the shops. Making it into Disney Village we had our first venture into World of Disney.

Despite being tempted by pretty much everything in there I managed to escape with just a Finding Dory t-shirt (€5 in the sale) and a reusable Mickey Mouse bag (€3.99)

By now it was 8:45pm our thoughts once again turned back to food! I had heard great reviews about Vapiano, the new Italian restaurant in the village, so we decided to head there. On arriving we were pleased to find we were able to find a seat straight away. From reading Rachel’s (Beaker7929) TR (who was at DLP the same weekend as us) it seemed we made the right decision in coming that bit later as it really was lovely and quiet and an all-round really good dining experience!

On entering we were given a plastic card and explained that everything was self-service, basically you went up to the counter to choose your food and drink and everything would be loaded onto your card. When you are finished you head back to the till point near the exit and pay for what you had had. Simples! The décor inside was gorgeous too, very fresh and modern. I loved it immediately!

Paul headed to the bar counter first and picked up a Fanta for me and a Krombacher for himself.

As we had eaten pizza for lunch we both decided to steer away from that section and instead I opted for the Crema di Fungi pasta and Paul had the Scampi Risotto plus we asked for some bread which came at no cost.

The food was absolutely delicious and I loved that it was cooked fresh in front of you. I can imagine wait times are a little crazy during peak times (as poor Rachel found out!) but coming later in the evening worked a treat for us. I would definitely recommend and without a doubt would come back on our next visit (and it was all very reasonably priced too so even better!).

We left just before 10pm, and as the restaurant sits just outside the entrance to Disney Village we had to queue to get back through security (which was surprisingly busy!).

Walking through the village back to the hotel we had a quick stop into McDonalds to have a little nosey and check out if they had the McCafe milkshakes that we love on offer (sadly they didn’t!). I was quite surprised to see it had a patisserie inside! I totally couldn’t resist picking up a box of 6 macaroons whilst there, so cheap at €5.20, how was I to say no?!

On making it back to Newport Bay we had to quickly pop back up to the room as I had left our shopping service slip up there. With that in hand it was back down to Bay Boutique to collect my shopping from earlier (such a great service!).

Whilst we were down in the reception area Paul wanted to pop by the gym (which is open 24 hours) and check out the facilities… despite being 10:30pm at this point there was a guy in there doing weights, madness!

It is at this point my notes stop so all I can assume is that on making it back to the room we both passed out! It had been an all-round fab first full day including a cheeky mid-afternoon nap, experiencing Dreams for the first time and delicious Italian food.

Roll on doing it all again tomorrow!

Day 3 can be found here

[Jaybeez]

Great second day, the park looks so quiet in your photos. When we visited in November we found the the CM's were really quick to stop people from using selfie sticks, it's a shame that you had to move because of one.

Love the Vapiano photos, I can't wait to visit there. 😀

[Redrach1903]

Oooh your breakfast pics made my tummy rumble!

Still can't believe how quiet Main St was! Totally amazing photos!

I've heard good things about the Ratatouille ride! Really enjoying reading about all the different rides! ToT looks so tiny though?!

Love all the purchases today too and of course love the Disney socks of the day

Dreams sounds really cool too! I wonder if the replacement for Wishes (sob) will be similar?!

Ace report lovely chops! Xxxx

[clochette]

A great day. We always go to Colonel Hathi's (usually for lunch on the last day before we get on the train). I've never ever been warm at DLP - it just wouldn't seem right. I have to say I disagree with you about Wishes and Dreams; I prefer the Paris version, but I couldn't tell you why.

Looking forward to tomorrow.

[Dogwalker]

Great day!
You certainly had quiet parks when you were there. Morning EMHs at WDW are only 1 hour long and I've never seen the parks this empty in Orlando!
You dinner looked delicious

[Lisa_Lollipop]

Originally Posted by Jaybeez

Great second day, the park looks so quiet in your photos. When we visited in November we found the the CM's were really quick to stop people from using selfie sticks, it's a shame that you had to move because of one.

Love the Vapiano photos, I can't wait to visit there. 😀

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It was so lovely and quiet on this morning, we really were spoilt!

Ah I think we may have just been unlucky with the selfie sticks on this weekend, I lost count of how many I saw! Generally they don't bother me, only people aren't very considerate when using them

Yu are going to love Vapiano, absolutely delicious!

Originally Posted by Redrach1903

Oooh your breakfast pics made my tummy rumble!

Still can't believe how quiet Main St was! Totally amazing photos!

I've heard good things about the Ratatouille ride! Really enjoying reading about all the different rides! ToT looks so tiny though?!

Love all the purchases today too and of course love the Disney socks of the day

Dreams sounds really cool too! I wonder if the replacement for Wishes (sob) will be similar?!

Ace report lovely chops! Xxxx

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I'm not sure if ToT is smaller, I have just tried to do some research into height compared to WDW but can't seem to find out the answer! (answers on a postcard anyone else reading!)

I absolutely loved Dreams... so intrigued to see what the Wishes replacement is going to be like (and still heartbroken I won't be getting to see it one last time )

Thanks for reading my lovely, can't believe you didn't give me a high five for the mid-afternoon nap! xxx

Originally Posted by clochette

A great day. We always go to Colonel Hathi's (usually for lunch on the last day before we get on the train). I've never ever been warm at DLP - it just wouldn't seem right. I have to say I disagree with you about Wishes and Dreams; I prefer the Paris version, but I couldn't tell you why.

Looking forward to tomorrow.

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I think a lot of my love for Wishes is that it was the first ever night time spectacular I saw so it will always hold a very special place in my heart I am intrigued to see what the new Happily Ever After show will be like... after Dreams and Wishes it has a lot to live up to!

Thank you so much for reading

Originally Posted by Dogwalker

Great day!
You certainly had quiet parks when you were there. Morning EMHs at WDW are only 1 hour long and I've never seen the parks this empty in Orlando!
You dinner looked delicious

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I was really surprised by just how quiet the park was this day, it certainly wasn't come the weekend so we got very lucky on this morning I think!

I'm intrigued to experience WDW EMH now!

[HelenJNT]

Literally crying on the train at the vision of Paul not being able to get off the ground on Astro Orbiter!

Love how you managed to pack so much in. Ratatouille sounds really good, it wasn't there on our last trip. Boooo for Space Mountain being closed.

Some v impressive eating going on too - keeping up the good work!

[vics18]

Wow it looks COLD! It was chilly when we went in Jan but not in the same league I don't think!
Some brill castle shots. Doesn't it feel.more relaxed and lovely when the park is so quiet.
We didn't spend a whole lot of time in the studios park as a lot of the rides are bigger and I was preggo at the time. Hoping to get back one day and explore there much more!
Aw I loved Dreams. The main bit I remember is that Tangled song too! Think I might have even cried a little bit (I blame the hormones )
Yum that Italian place looks amazing! Excellent choice.

[Joosebug1987]

Wow you've managed to pack so much in (even a nap haha!).

Love the disney socks of the day and bargain purchases made while there.

Your trip report is reassuring me that from a WDW lover DLP will impress me - obviously I'm aware it won't be the same (I've only done WDW once for the first time last June and I'm hooked!) but I'm now really looking forward to going and seeing what DLP has to offer. Hope you manage to get to see the parade in coming days and looking forward to reading :-) x

[Dogwalker]

Originally Posted by Lisa_Lollipop

I was really surprised by just how quiet the park was this day, it certainly wasn't come the weekend so we got very lucky on this morning I think!

I'm intrigued to experience WDW EMH now!

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We prefer the evening EMHs at WDW as you get a couple of hours as opposed to just one in the morning. It used to be 3 hours in the evening and that last hour was brilliant. Sadly they have cut it back to just 2 hours now though