While The Cat's Away, The Caz Will Play With The Mouse! Day 1 - Solo DLP - Sept 2018

[Cazzius]

The Index is here
Pre Trippie is here

The cast

Just me!

The background

Long story short, my boyfriend, Chris, was off to Berlin with his stepdad and a couple of friends. They were flying from Scotland, had booked late and flights from London had become expensive. I ended up giving Chris a load of my Avios so he could book a flight out, and the only one that suited was Business on BA from City.
At this point I was miffed that not only was he going on a trip and I wasn’t, but he was also going business on MY miles.

The only solution was to book a sneaky trip to Disneyland Paris for myself.
Chris consistently refuses to go because his boss went years ago and says it was rubbish. I’ve been twice before (once with my family the year it opened, and once about 12-13 years ago with friends), and had fun both times.
I did some research and decided that I might as well buy an annual pass as 3 day tickets and went for the MagicPlus option.

I booked Hotel Santa Fe direct with Disney, and the Eurostar through my work healthcare provider – Vitality Health give discounts for various fun things if you earn points by being active. Sadly Eurostar has since left the programme. My logic for this was although I could get a nicer, cheaper hotel nearby, I wanted to use Disney’s Express Luggage service to maximise my park time, and this could only be done with a Disney hotel.

I originally wasn’t going to tell Chris I was going, and just send him a photo from the castle when I arrived… but my mum said that was mean, plus when I thought about packing my bag and hiding it and waiting for him to leave the house on his trip before I could leave for mine, I decided to spill the beans a week before.

At first he called me a weirdo for going alone (charming!), but then I pointed out that…
1. Many people travel alone to exotic places like Thailand and Cambodia and Australia
2. DLP is probably one of the safest places I could go.
3. If he continues to refuse to go I’ll have to go alone
4. Lots of lovely Dibbers do solo trips all the time and it is normal!

So, that is where we are, now on with the show…

Due to me caving and telling Chris the BF that I was off to Disneyland Paris while he was in Berlin, I was able to pack both of our bags on Thursday evening while he made dinner.
With both bags packed and waiting by the door, I wasn’t having to worry about hiding my packed bag, lugging it downstairs by myself or waiting for Chris to leave before I could leave, so despite not being as fun as keeping the secret it did actually work out better for me.

Eagle eyed readers will be pleased to notice that I have got another use of of my Disney Springs emergency purchase...

I slept well despite thinking I’d be too nervous or excited and was raring to get up and go at 8am. Showered and dressed, I packed the last few toiletries that we had both been using while Chris made coffee and crumpets for breakfast.

One last sweep to make sure I had everything, including my trusty French phrasebook and we were out the door and on the way to Balham underground station. Once again I was pleased I told Chris that I was going as he carried my bag down the stairs at the station, good boyfriend!

We both needed the branch that went via Bank as he was heading to City Airport and needed to change to the DLR. We rode together as far as Bank, where we both got off the train to say goodbye, we waited for the next train, which I boarded and Chris headed off for the DLR.

At this point it really hit home that I was going by myself. I started thinking of scenarios in my head like what to say if people asked why I was travelling alone… maybe I would say I was meeting a friend there… but what if they then saw me at the park by myself? Maybe I would say my friend dropped out?
I don’t know who these mysterious people were that I thought would quiz me about my life, but I spent the rest of the tube journey thinking about explaining myself!

Soon enough we reached Kings Cross. I disembarked and followed the signs to St Pancras. I’m pretty sure it would have been quicker to exit Kings Cross, cross the road and enter St Pancras, but I went via the directed route and was soon arriving.

On the way to the station I realised that I had forgotten to pack any face wipes so popped into Boots to get a small travel size pack. No such luck, they only had packs of 25 so I bought one of those, plus a big bottle of water for the journey.

I arrived at the Eurostar terminal entrance about an hour and 20 minutes before my train, they were letting people for the 12:58 through, so I joined the queue and waited as a succession of people struggled to scan their tickets and use the automatic gates.

I remembered doing security and having bags scanned here before, but couldn’t remember if liquids needed to be under 100ml and separated. As I wasn’t sure I went airport style with everything in a plastic Ziploc… and it wasn’t needed. Everything scanned just fine and I was then directed to passport control. There was a bit more of a queue here and I was glad I had a bit of extra time, not just the 60 mins that they suggest.

Immigration was painless and I was through to the rather uninspiring holding area. I had a bit of a wander around looking for somewhere to sit but it was very full.

I entertained myself for a few minutes taking selfies in the sea themed photo booth that they have, I think so you can pretend you are under the sea on the train. I sent one of the photos to Chris who saw through my ruse right away and pointed out that I wasn’t really under the sea at all. Spoilsport.

Soon one of the trains was called for boarding and the seating area began to empty out. As I would soon have somewhere to sit I popped to Pret to get some snacks and a drink for the journey. As I had late breakfast of crumpets only 2 or so hours before I wasn’t really hungry so just bought a brownie and some nuts as a snack for the journey – which was a bit of an error as I forgot I wouldn’t be arriving until 5pm and I would certainly be hungry by then!

I sat and reorganized my toiletries and make up and put them away in their respective bags now I knew they didn’t need to be checked. I kept an eye on the clock as I was sure we should have been boarding, just as I was starting to worry they announced the platform and I headed off to the train.

I had booked my seats when I booked my tickets so just headed to my carriage. When I found my seat, which was the aisle seat travelling backwards at a table, there was a foreign gentleman sitting in it. I politely informed him that it was my seat. He shrugged and stood and said I could sit where I liked. I said I wanted to sit on the aisle, which was the seat I booked, and stayed standing thinking he would then sit by the window… he didn’t. I said I needed to get past to put my bag on the rack, which I did, then came back and he was still standing. I asked him where he was sitting and he took the seat opposite me.
I thought this was odd as why would he choose the backwards travelling seat if he had the forward seat booked?

Still, I had my prebooked seat, texted Chris to let him know I was on the train and ready to go. He messaged back to say he was sat on the plane and people were just boarding. Excellent timing!

I settled down with my iPad and watched some TV as we zoomed out of London and towards Lille.

Nothing dramatic happened and the journey passed uneventfully until we stopped at Ashford to collect more passengers. At this point a well dressed man boarded and pointed out that the man that was previously in my seat was now in his seat. The seat stealer grudgingly got up and let the man sit in his seat. I stood, thinking that Seat Stealer was supposed to be by the window all along, but he declined and said he would go further up the train?!
It's prebooked seats! You can’t just wander around sitting where you like!

It was at this point I realised that I had forgotten my power converter and wouldn’t be able to charge my phone in France. Thank goodness for The Dibb, where I was swiftly told that some of the resorts have USB charging points, and that you can buy converters at the relay shop in the station. Phew!


After that it was a smooth journey all the way to Lille, where we arrived on time at 3:30pm. Here I left the train, remembering my little rucksack and my holdall from the rack. There weren’t really any directions, but I remembered from a previous trip report that I just had to head up the escalator to the main concourse, which I did.
Here I found an information booth and I asked in my best/generally terrible French where the train for Disneyland Paris was. The lady was very sweet and replied which train it was and that I should watch the board as the platform would be announced soon.

I was amused that the bar on the platform was called Le Pub

I thought about having a look around the station and maybe getting a sandwich, but the train was due at 3:53 and I didn’t want to miss my connection so just waited on the concourse. Soon, our platform was announced and it was right by where I was standing. Back downstairs where I quickly checked with the guard that I was boarding the right train and checked where my seat was. I was pleased to discover that I was on the 2nd floor.

Anyone else love the 2 storey trains that they have abroad? It’s so exciting to sit upstairs!

I settled down into my seat and overhead some conversation happening across the aisle. There were 4 ladies who were all wearing matching hoodies who were clearly travelling to DLP too. They were wondering if they were on the right train as they weren’t sure. I wanted to confirm with them that they were, but didn’t want them to know I was eavesdropping, plus thought they might ask why I was alone, so I didn’t volunteer any info.

The train was soon pulling out of the station and I was really pleased it was now the last leg of the journey, I was nearly there!

A guard came around checking tickets, and I ate the snacks that I purchased at Pret in London hours ago. I was listening out for the journey announcements and heard that we would soon be arriving at Marne La Vallee, so got up to collect my belongings and wait near the door. A lot of others did the same, but we ended up stood in the corridor with our bags for about 15 minutes.

Finally, we stopped. I saw the sign that said we were at Marne La Vallee station and knew I had arrived!
Off the train, up the escalator and into the station. I think I was expecting the station to be a bit more Disney, when it was actually just quite concrete-y. Still, I was thrilled to be there and spotted the sign for the Express Luggage on the top floor. I took the escalator up and popped my bag on the bench so I could swap stuff between my little park bag and the holdall. I also retrieved my Minnie Ears from the bag, as I felt it was now time to wear them. It was really easy to drop my bag with the Express Luggage service, I showed them my booking confirmation, they checked my name with their list, put a tag on my bag and gave me a ticket to retrieve it at the hotel later – so simple!

Next stop, Relay, where I bought another bottle of water and the plug adaptor. The adaptor was 9 euro, but was a necessity and I was expecting it to be more. I was just happy that I didn’t have to worry about charging my phone now.

Out of the station, and World of Disney was right infront of me. Now I had arrived!

A few photos with the Disneyland Paris entrance before heading through security and towards Parc Disneyland.
Security was painless, I think I much prefer that they x-ray your bag then have someone poke about inside it like they do at WDW. Much quicker too.

Out the other side and the Disneyland Hotel loomed in front of me. I love the fountains dancing to music out the front, and how the hotel blocks the view of the castle so you get the reveal once you set foot on Main Street USA.

A quick photo at the entrance and under the hotel to enter the park. It was my first time using my new Annual Pass, and I wasn’t sure if it needed to be activated or anything, but I scanned the card, the light went green and I stumbled through the turnstile and into the park.

Anyone else always have trouble with turnstiles? I always seem to get caught in them!

I was here!

Main Street USA was gleaming in the sunshine, the Halloween decorations were bright in the sun and as it was now around 17:30 everyone was patiently waiting for the parade to begin. Not bad, Eurostar to Main Street USA (via Express Luggage, Relay and security checks) in 20 minutes!

It was too late to get a good spot for the parade, and as I am only 5 foot nothing tall, even having a relatively tall child in front of me means I can’t see a thing, so I decided to head up the street and see how I got on further into the park.

Once I reached the hub it didn’t seem to be too busy. The parade was just doing it’s lap around by the front of the castle and I found a spot by some railings sort of near the entrance to Frontierland where the path is a little higher. I couldn’t see the dancers of lower floats but I could hear the music and see the big floats easily. Considering I didn’t think I would really be there in time for the parade, anything I saw was a bonus.

How cool are the floats in this parade? Love the Steampunk vibe that Mickey & Co were rocking, and was on the right side to see my main duck, Donald.

How impressive are the acrobats that spin round on the Toy Story float?

However, how creepy is parade Jessie? I think it's maybe her face?

The music in this parade is great too, really liked the Zip A Dee Doo Dah bits. I watched a few of the floats, and saw the dragon, who was breathing fire.

Just as the Frozen float approaching I could see it was the end of the parade and I decided to make a move and beat the crowds.

Into Frontierland and the Halloween theme continues, with the fort at the entrance all decorated with pumpkins and autumn colours. It looked really good and it seemed like a lot of effort had been made here.

I knew exactly where I was heading and took a right. The app had shown me that Big Thunder Mountain was only a 20 minute wait and I couldn’t think of a better ride to start with. Through the entrance and round the queue system until I found the back of the line.

This is the part where I found a big downside to travelling solo. Queues are boring. Not many rides at Disneyland Parc have single rider (only Hyperspace Mountain iirc) so I was queueing with groups and couples who all had each other to chat to. I did send some WhatsApp messages, plus do some Instagram and Facebook to kill time, but the queue ended up being about twice as long as anticipated and I was very bored. There was also a coupe that was next to me but across the barrier in the switchback zig zag queue and they just couldn’t keep their paws off each other. I’m no scrooge but REALLY!? It was like they couldn’t not be touching.

When queuing up, I notices that there were loads of coins outside the 'window' in the queue line where you wind around the inside of the building. Anyone know what's going on here? There's more further round but the queue was moving and I couldn't get a good photo.

Finally I made it down the stairs and was given a section to myself as I guess there were no other 1’s or 3’s waiting to ride.

Ears off and away we gooooooooo!

This ride is SO good. I have only ridded WDW and DLP but it’s my favourite of the two. I just loved it. It feels really fast and also felt quite a bit longer than the ride on Florida. Maybe that’s because you have the sections going to/from the island though.

I left the train grinning from ear to ear and thought about riding again, but the queue was now up to 60 minutes so I carried on my walk through Thunder Mesa.

This section of Frontierland was also decorated for Halloween, but with a Coco skeleton theme. I thought it looked really good and that it was nice that they had managed to include Coco in the park without too much stress/overhaul. It also fits Halloween really well, and looked perfect in the Frontierland setting.

Fireworks were at 8:00pm that night, and I knew I wanted to squeeze in another ride before staking out my place in the hub.

I headed into Adventureland, past the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House, I saw the pirate ship and Skull Rock… and then became completely disorientated and for the life of me could not figure out how to get to Pirates of the Caribbean!

I looked at the map and still couldn’t figure out where I had gone wrong, so asked a friendly CM in a red fleece. She directed me around the pirate ship, through Skull Rock and straight on… which worked perfectly and I was soon entering the Spanish style castle that contains the ride.

I did encounter a small problem with the queue here, where the queue goes through large, wide corridors, and I was only one person, it was quite easy for larger groups to sort of queue around me and then end up in front of me. It wasn’t the end of the world but was a bit frustrating. I don’t know if it was intentional queue jumping or if they just didn’t see me and kind of slid around me as it is gloomy in there and the tunnel is wide. Something to be aware of though.

Soon enough I had reached the port and was ready to ride. I got a row to myself which was really nice (no new cousins or adopted kids here) and we set off.

Captain Jack’s restaurant looks lovely here, and if I return with company then I will definitely make a reservation there. Chris and I really enjoyed eating overlooking the Mexico ride at WDW and this looks like a similar atmosphere.

This ride is excellent too, and it looks like it has all been spruced up recently. The animatronics were all working, the new Redhead was really lifelike, as was the Captain Jack figure popping out the barrel. The splashed were fun and as I sat in the middle of the row I avoided getting wet. Score!
The new Captain Barbossa and the effect that accompanies him are impressive… but no spoilers here 
Again, this felt like a nice long ride and I really enjoyed all of the details.

We came out into the shop and I tried to see the ride photo. Sadly, the photos display in a funny sort of corridor section and it was busy so I gave up. I wouldn’t have bought it anyway.

I did think about buying a year long PhotoPass for DLP before the trip, as you get a discount with an annual pass and I thought I would use it if I managed to persuade Chris to come with me. However, when I looked at what was included, it was really only ride photos and character meets. It is a shame they don’t have the photographers outside the castle and taking magic shots, as that would have persuaded me to sign up. Still save me 50 euro so not necessarily a bad thing!

I had a look around the shop as I was thinking of bringing something back for my best friend’s 2 little boys, but there wasn’t much in there that I thought they would like, that she wouldn’t hate (no swords please!), that I could fit in my bag and wasn’t clothes!

They did have a lot of cool Coco themed merchandise in the shop, I especially liked the Minnie ears.

I came out of the shop and it was dark! I thought that I would have time to squeeze in another short ride in Fantasyland as it was only just gone 7pm and the fireworks weren’t until 8pm, but outside the ride a CM was directing everyone away from Fantasyland as they had roped it off and were sending people back through Skull Rock and towards the hub.

I followed the instructions given by the CM and walked back the way I came. I spotted Restaurant Hakuna Matata on the way and thought about stopping in for some fries, but then decided to have dinner there tomorrow and carried on to the hub. What I really wanted was a savoury snack, like a Mickey pretzel, but I could only see/find sweet shops and popcorn sellers.
I wandered back to the Hub via the Aladdin themed Adventureland entrance, which is so pretty, especially all lit up.

The hub was starting to fill up with people waiting for the fireworks. I didn’t really want to hang around, standing up for 30 mins, but I also wanted a good view of the show. I did consider popping to Casey’s for a hot dog, but as I was walking there I found a REALLY good spot. I wasn’t sure if it would still be there if I left so I figured I would just suck it up and wait.

The spot I found not only had a good view of the castle, but also seemed to be on a slightly raised part of the pavement, so I could see really well.

The hub started to really fill as people were herded out of the lands to the front of the castle. I do think it is a little off that they do this, as what if you weren’t bothered about fireworks but wanted to do some more rides? It seems they take the opportunity of the fireworks to begin to shutdown. Makes sense but if I had been there more time I think I may have sacrificed Fireworks for more Big Thunder one night!

They announced 15, 10 and 5 minutes until the show and I was getting impatient – just start already!

Finally the lights dimmed in the hub and the show began.

Wow!

I love how they have used the projection mapping on the castle, and incorporated the fountains with the music too. There seemed to be less fireworks than Happily Ever after, but they did the other other elements really well.
I really enjoyed the show. Thought it was funny that The Little Mermaid and Frozen sections were sung in French – who knew the princesses were also bilingual?!

The only disappointment for me was that the Beauty & The Beast section was the new film, which I didn’t like at all, rather than the animated film which I loved.
There was also no Moana, but I wonder if it came out after these fireworks debuted and so is to new? Shame as they could have done something fun with the fountains for Moana, I am sure.

The fireworks were so good. As the rest of the park had closed everyone in the hub began flooding down Main Street USA to the exit. I had no desire to get caught up in that so found myself a Nice Bench (TM Gopherlass) to wait for the crowds to die down.

All credit to the DLP cast members, but the crowds disappeared really quickly. Soon it was just me and a few other people taking photos of the castle. I got some good (for me) photos of the castle all lit up with hardly anyone else around, and walked round to get a couple of photos of Discoveryland too.

I slowly wandered down Main Street USA looking in the shops at what they had to offer. I thought I might be able to get a bit of Christmas shopping done and find gifts for friends with upcoming birthdays too.
Despite my good intentions, I did just end up buying a new ring for myself. I already have the earrings like this but really liked the ring when I saw it as it means I can look down at my hand and have a little bit of Disney with me. I also bought a couple of magnets as Chris’ mum and my friend’s little boy collect them. The man in the shop kindly just the tag off the ring so I could wear it right away, which was nice of him

To be fair, I had heard a lot about the CM’s at Disney being unhelpful or surly, but I had found the opposite. They may not have been as smiley and “have a magical day!” like as their US counterparts, but I found them to be very helpful, happy and forgiving of my terrible French skills.

Once I reached the bottom on Main Street USA, I realised there were only a handful of people left in the park… and I was one of them! I had closed down the park
I could never do that in the USA I don’t think, as they shut so late, but it turns out at 8pm close is all I need.

I took some photos of empty Main Street, and saw a chap setting up a professional looking camera on a tripod to photograph the street and castle. I asked nicely and he kindly too a few photos for me on my phone as proof of me being one of the last people there.

As I was on my way out it was only just 9pm and I didn’t feel like I wanted to call it a night just yet.

They were having people leave via a gate on the right, so I left the park and walked across the front of the Disneyland Hotel, into their lobby and jumped in a lift to the 2nd floor.

How fun is the wallpaper here… I wonder if I I could get some for our house? Maybe just a feature wall? Chris wouldn’t be TOO unimpressed, hahaha.

Once on the 2nd floor I headed down the corridor to the lounge area where Café Fantasia and California Grill were located. By now I was pretty hungry, but couldn’t find anything I wanted in the cafe menu, plus it was really expensive.

Note – not sure if it was just the time of day, but it calls itself a café and have maybe 4 food items on the menu. Not really a café, harrumph!

Still, I knew that I wanted a drink and perched up on a stool at the bar. The barman was soon with me, asking if I wanted to be sat at the bar or if I would prefer a table. I said sat at the bar was fine by me if it was alright with him. He said that it was and handed me the drinks menu.

Well, there was only 1 choice for my first solo trip, I had to celebrate with a Glowtini!

It was delicious, but very strong.

It was really nice sat there at the bar with conversation buzzing around me. I caught up on some Facebook, What’s App and Twitter for a while, and rested my feet. Soon, a man began playing the Mickey Mouse song on the grand piano in the main room. He was soon joined by a lady with a violin and they played a number of Disney classics for the people in the lounge. I did feel a bit bad for them as no one seemed to be listening and on one clapped when the finished each song. I hoped they would get a nice round of applause at the end of their set though.

I finished my drink, slid off my stool, settled my bill and headed back out into the night.

I walked away from the park and into Disney Village. World of Disney looked very busy so I carried on walking. Between the sports bar and Annette’s diner there seemed to be some sort of dance party happening with an outdoor bar and a DJ. If I hadn’t have been by myself I might have stopped into the sports bar for another drink and something to eat, or may have investigated the dance party further.

I had a look in a few of the shops on the left hand side as you walk down towards the lake, which mostly sold clothes. Remembering Helen JNT’s warning about buying clothes at Disney that never see the light of day once you are home, I managed to restrain myself… however, if they’d had long sleeved Spirit jerseys then I could have been tempted.

Onwards, towards the hotel and I reached the lake, to the right was Earl of Sandwich… exactly what I needed! The place was empty and I was worried for a moment that it was closed, but then I saw the staff were still there and they were still cooking. I ordered the Earl’s Club to take away and picked up a bottle of water. The girl gave me a buzzer and said it would flash and vibrate when my sandwich was ready. I wasn’t waiting very long at all then the buzzer activated and I collected my sandwich from the desk.

I wrapped it in a few extra napkins to try and retain the heat and began the walk to Santa Fe.

It is a very easy walk to Hotel Santa Fe, but it felt like it was quite far, especially was you walk past hotels that are closed and your aching feet wish you were staying there! Still, I am not sure if there is a lot of difference between the further rooms at Sequoia Lodge, and the nearer rooms at Santa Fe.

Also, the path brings you out at the back of Santa Fe, and I wasn’t quite sure where I needed to go. I remembered the pictures of the entrance had the big hoarding at the front with a picture from Cars. I could see the back of the hoarding and headed towards that, as I guessed reception would be underneath. I was correct and headed into the main reception area.

Reception at Santa Fe is nothing fancy, and that is fine – how much time do you spend in your hotel lobby anyway?

I did wonder if someone earlier had maybe been trying to braid the tablecloth to relieve the boredom while waiting?

This is where I encountered my worst queue of the day. There were 2-3 people working on reception and a pretty long queue of people with requests/questions/wanting to check in.

At this point I started to regret my choice to head straight into the parks, as if I had checked into the hotel I would have missed the parade but could have headed straight back into my room. I’m still not sure which will do next time – however, a fancier hotel would possibly have more staff on.

Just as I was contemplating sitting on the floor as I was so fed up with standing up, it was my turn. The young lady that served me was very efficient, retrieved my bag from the office and was pretty helpful with my request for a room near reception. I was in Lightening McQueen section, block 44, room 18, which was a straight walk downhill from where I was.

All was quiet as I entered the building, I found my room and went inside. Conscious that other people nearby would have small children sleeping, I was careful to be quiet while unpacking my wash stuff and getting myself organized.

There was a connecting door between my room and the one next door which I wasn’t best pleased about, but there wasn’t a lot that I could do so I just put my bag in front of it.

The room was decorated with a fun Cars theme and looked to be in pretty good condition. It was very clean and there were lovely Mickey ear H2O bath goodies with a refreshing orange scent.

I found some old episodes of The Wizards of Waverly Place in English on TV to keep me company and finally, I was able to tuck into my Lunch/Dinner/Supper! It was still warm and was very good. No wonder Dibbers are so enthusiastic about The Earl!

I got ready for bed, wrote up my trip notes for the day, set my alarm for the next morning, messaged Chris (who was in a bar in Berlin) and fell into bed at 11pm.

Total steps = 16,818
Distance = 6.57 miles

[OB1LukeLucas]

What a fabulous travel day, all your planning definitely worked out. It’s a shame you had to wait so long in the reception-it’s horrible when you finally hit the wall and realise you have been on the go all day. I think you did really well, I probably would have fallen asleep at the bar with the glowtini!

[caitlinsmummy]

Absolutely amazing first day, I can't wait to read the rest of them. That sandwich looks lush xx

[Goldia]

Awesome day. Bit of a weird guy on the train, but otherwise super day!

The park at night photos are great, how cool to be one of the last people in the park. I can imagine that queuing up does feel longer when you're on your own. But you did get to do lots of people watching.

The cocktail looks yummy, and your room looks cute. I liked the mirror, definitely a good choice to stay in the resort with the perks of them sorting out the luggage.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the trip. Also, does Chris have any tips for Berlin, we're off there on the 23rd for 5 nights, we're taking the kids so is possibly a different holiday to the lads holiday he had!

I'm also really tempted to try and fit in a DLP trip! I have only ever been once back in 2000. Hmm...will have to think about that!

[Cazzius]

Originally Posted by OB1LukeLucas

What a fabulous travel day, all your planning definitely worked out. It’s a shame you had to wait so long in the reception-it’s horrible when you finally hit the wall and realise you have been on the go all day. I think you did really well, I probably would have fallen asleep at the bar with the glowtini!

See more...

You're right, that is exactly what happened, I just hit a wall and wanted to be in my room enjoying my sandwich already!

The Glowtini was too delicious to fall asleep on

Thanks so much for joining me on my DLP adventure!

[Cazzius]

Originally Posted by caitlinsmummy

Absolutely amazing first day, I can't wait to read the rest of them. That sandwich looks lush xx

See more...

The sandwich was so good! I think it was almost best that I decided to bring it back to the hotel rather than eating in at Earl of Sandwich as I would have been so desperate to devour it I would have almost certainly burnt my mouth!

Thanks for reading along!

[Cazzius]

Originally Posted by Goldia

Awesome day. Bit of a weird guy on the train, but otherwise super day!

The park at night photos are great, how cool to be one of the last people in the park. I can imagine that queuing up does feel longer when you're on your own. But you did get to do lots of people watching.

The cocktail looks yummy, and your room looks cute. I liked the mirror, definitely a good choice to stay in the resort with the perks of them sorting out the luggage.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the trip. Also, does Chris have any tips for Berlin, we're off there on the 23rd for 5 nights, we're taking the kids so is possibly a different holiday to the lads holiday he had!

I'm also really tempted to try and fit in a DLP trip! I have only ever been once back in 2000. Hmm...will have to think about that!

See more...

I know, the chap opposite me who also had to oust him and I exchanged a bit of a 'look' after he had toddled off up the train. The problem when people do things like that is it makes you doubt that you are in the right place!

Being last in the park was fantastic. I don't think i'd have the energy to wait it out at WDW, even though I really want to see the Kiss Goodnight, but closing up at 8:30 at DLP made it much more manageable.

The room was really cute and I thought the theme was fun. I'd stay there again even though it was furthest away it was a quick bus to the parks and I think still nearer to the park than a number of the WDW hotels are to their nearest parks.

If you squeeze in a DLP trip I hope there will be a report

I'll drop you a line with some Berlin tips. I went a while ago for work so have a little bit of info. It's a funny city as where it was once divided it doesn't really have a centre. There is an excellent bar that overlooks the zoo though!

[MrsSilverStar]

I’ve only just found this Caz - spotted photos on IG but hadn’t realised there was a trippie too.

Sounds like a great first day! I’m a huge fan of the express luggage service, sounds like you made the most of it!
The Halloween decorations look fun, definitely want to go back at this time of year to see them.
Look forward to reading more.

[Cazzius]

Originally Posted by MrsSilverStar

I’ve only just found this Caz - spotted photos on IG but hadn’t realised there was a trippie too.

Sounds like a great first day! I’m a huge fan of the express luggage service, sounds like you made the most of it!
The Halloween decorations look fun, definitely want to go back at this time of year to see them.
Look forward to reading more.

See more...

I got quite a few ideas from your trippie, I must admit

The Express Luggage was great. Not sure it entirely justified the extra cost for a Disney hotel, but I think I made the most of it so to me, it was worth it, if that makes sense?

I wasn't sure if the halloween decorations would be up as it wasn't even October when I arrived and I read somewhere that their Halloween celebrations began on 01 October. I was glad they were up though as I thought they looked really good. Loved the ghost statues around Main St.

If the weather stays mild at the time of year it could be the prefect time to go as you get the decorations, the weather was good and it wasn't too busy.

Thanks for joining and commenting

[DevonPumpkin]

Sounds like you had a great first day, you managed to squeeze so much in! I never would have expected the Disney Express and security checks to be that quick, so it sounds like it was a great bonus!

Your pictures from the park after closing are amazing, I'll definitely try to hang around to get some of my own!

Look forward to reading the rest