The First Family Trip - 1st-7th January (Day 2)

[PhDisney]

Today was the day! We woke up around 7am in our Premier Inn across the road from St Pancras, had a leisurely continental breakfast, and made our way to Eurostar check-in for around 9am for our 10:14 departure direct to Disneyland.

Check-in took a while, due to three separate stages. Ticket check, security, and passport check, and my wife had a bit of a pregnant lady moment in the queue but thankfully was OK. The boy decided to throw one of his tantrums 10 minutes before getting on the train, because I offered him a drink. Yay for toddler logic!



Anyway - we finally got called to board, and he calmed down going up the moving walkway which must seem very exciting to a 2 year old. We boarded coach 16 (when we finally got there, right up the front), and found our seats. As he's only 2, he was going to sit on my knee for the entire journey, but after making stops at Ebbsfleet and Ashford, the carriage was still half empty, so my wife moved to a couple of seats in front of us, and my son and I had a seat each.

As we entered the tunnel, my wife started feeling ill (pregnancy), so had a nap, while I entertained my son with his sticker book. Thankfully there were 250 stickers inside, and it takes him a good 30 seconds per sticker, so I thought I'd be safe!

As we got to Lille, he started. First a little whinge, but soon a full on tantrum. I took him into the vestibule and it was very much a case of being thankful that there are lots of wind farms between Lille and Paris, because he likes windmills. Regardless, with my wife to and from the toilet to be sick, it was a tough final 45 minutes of the journey.

We disembarked at Marne-la-Vallee-Chessy, and made our way through security into Disney Village. We headed straight for the hotel. We were originally in the Santa Fe, but as a treat, and to make things as easy as possible for our first family trip, I upgraded us to Sequoia Lodge and a Golden Forest Club room. This would enable us free snacks between 4-6 in the lounge, free drinks all day, and breakfast in the lounge whenever we liked. It also gave us a FastPass each for every day of our stay. Well worth it. I also upgraded us to a Plus dining plan from the Standard.

Our room wasn't ready, so we dumped our bags and headed for the park before heading back for our first Plus dining plan meal of the trip, the buffet in our hotel at Hunter's Grill.

My wife picked up her Access Pass at City Hall on the way in, which showed which rides she could and couldn't ride, as well as giving her a sheet to fill in for instant(ish) access to rides. This was a good system which we used to our advantage on the trip. For example, if Small World has a 15 minute queue, you go to the Cast Member, and they fill in the Access Pass with a time 15 minutes from 'now'. You then go back 15 minutes later, and enter through the disabled queue line to the front of the queue. It's similar to a FastPass in some ways, but with even less queuing.



After only a couple of hours in the park, we headed back to the hotel to check in. Our room was on the 5th floor (the lowest of the Golden Forest floors), and faced the back of the hotel. As many reviews have said, and posts on here have reinforced, the whole hotel and room was far too hot. The window only opened a little bit, and we had very uncomfortable nights whilst there. I don't know if the air conditioning unit has a cool and heat function on, but when we were there, only the heat option worked. We also found a lamp not working in our room, and the kettle didn't work either. Not great first impressions, but generally the room was OK.

The buffet in the hotel was lovely. I can't remember what I had exactly, but the choice was excellent. We filled up, and the little one had plenty to eat too. My one complaint about the buffet, and I've seen this mentioned elsewhere too, is that the warm Camembert cheese STINKS the hotel out. Seriously - as yummy as it is - the smell of strong cheese floats around every floor of the hotel. It's quite overpowering! The receipt shows how it's well worth getting a Dining Plan if possible. Things aren't cheap.



Given our son seemed fairly awake and still on English time, we headed back to the park for an hour or so after we'd eaten. On the first day, we managed two rides. Buzz Lightyear's Lazer Blast and Pirates of the Caribbean. The latter, sadly, was only my son and I due to my wife being forbidden to ride. However, my son really enjoyed it. I was worried he wouldn't like the drops, but he giggled away.

We decided to get him to bed, as it was gone 9pm. The hotel put some guard rails on his double bed, and we looked at him drifting off with excitement as we knew the next day would be the first full day in the park. Here's a glimpse of the room, and the bed guards for those who may be taking similar aged children.



Day 3 to follow, and a meeting with a character (or two)...

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Rides (cumulative total): 2
(M = mum, D = dad, S = son)

Buzz Lightyear: 1 (M, D, S)
Pirates of the Caribbean: 1 (D, S)

[abiknox]

Ok, this trippy is so helpful to me as we have also booked Sequia Lodge with GF room & half board plus! Great to hear the buffet is good and the bed guards look perfect for our daughter too!

Shame about the room & hotel being too hot and had to laugh at the Camembert smell! Not sure how to prepare myself for that one

Did you need to book for any of your meals?

[PhDisney]

We booked all of our meals at least a fortnight in advance, as it was Christmas peak season. If you're going out of season (in other words, during school term time), you might be able to book when you arrive, but if you've got your hearts set on a particular restaurant, there's no harm in booking further in advance. You can always cancel if your plans change.

[Enchanted]

Ooh those guard rails look fab! DS is only 13mths but has never slept in a cot and is in a bed at home so they would be perfect!
Interested to hear which rides your wife could go on whilst pregnant too

[PhDisney]

Originally Posted by Enchanted

Interested to hear which rides your wife could go on whilst pregnant too

See more...

Here you go:

Disneyland Park

Carousel
Railroad
Dumbo
Storybook Boats
Small World
Buzz
Orbitron

Studios

Tram Tour

Quite a sad list really, but they have to be careful to cover their backs. The shows are usually fine, so I haven't included those, such as the Stunt Show etc.

[Enchanted]

Originally Posted by PhDisney

Here you go:

Disneyland Park

Carousel
Railroad
Dumbo
Storybook Boats
Small World
Buzz
Orbitron

Studios

Tram Tour

Quite a sad list really, but they have to be careful to cover their backs. The shows are usually fine, so I haven't included those, such as the Stunt Show etc.

See more...

Thank you for that, yeah definitely not nearly as many as I thought!

[PhDisney]

It’s to do with either the g-forces on things like Pirates (even on the short drops) or the bumping of boats. In most cases though it’s the lap bar restraints which for obvious reasons rule out pregnant ladies.

Peter Pan is banned because in the event of a breakdown, you are suspended in midair, and a ladder is required to evacuate the “ship” to safety.