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Old 2 Feb 17, 06:13 PM  
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Beaker7929
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The Glowtini Girls do DLP - Day 1 - A Tale of Two Earls



Yes, you read that right, I was up bright as a button at 4am...well it's Disney day, no-one minds getting up at that time on a Disney day!

Anna and I snapchatted each other to check we were both up, of course we were! So after a cup of tea in bed I showered and got dressed and by 5.10am we were both ready to go



It's always such a strange time when you're leaving the Premier Inn at that time of the morning, when there is no-one else around but we love it. We were in the car and on the, very empty, roads at 5.15am and arrived at Ashford International at 5.25am.

We parked on Level 5 at Ashford International car park, our preferred level as it has direct access to the glass walkway across to the station.



Check in was already open when we arrived at the Eurostar area and it took just minutes for us to be cleared through security and passport control (both UK and France).

Once through we took up our usual seats at the far end of the waiting area and bought a cup of tea and a banana for breakfast.

We were on the 6.24am Eurostar from Ashford to Paris Gard du Nord.



While sitting having our tea Anna noticed a strange stand set up not far behind us, being the curious type I wandered over to find it was a photo booth Eurostar had set up for you to take a picture of yourself, it didn't cost any money so I had a play, this was the result



At 6.15am we were called down to the platform ready for the incoming train which arrived bang on time at 6.24am.

Once settled on the train it was time for more photo's and another cup of tea...Anna and I love our tea





Apologies for the matching stripy tops, that's what happens when you've been best friends for nearly 30 years!



There was a short delay while the train stopped for a service stop at Calais but at some point the train must have picked up speed as we still arrived in Paris at our scheduled time of 9.30am.

Next Anna bought our RER tickets from the ticket machines, really easy as they have an English language option, the tickets cost 15.20 euros.

Now we've done this journey once before, last year, so at least this time we knew exactly what we were doing and pretty much where we were going. The first part of the journey, where you get the RER B from Gad du Nord to Chatelet les Halles is easy (it's the next stop and only 5 minutes away) but it's busy, think London Underground type busy, and with big suitcases it's a bit of an effort. But once you've made the change at Chatelet les Halles onto RER A the trains are much emptier, and you then stay on that train until you reach Marne le Vallee.



Once you're on the RER A it's about 45 mins to Marne Le Vallee.

We arrived at Marne Le Vallee around 10.45am and headed through the station and up the escalator to the Disney Express counter where we left our bags, to be taken to Sequoia Lodge, and picked up our park tickets, half board vouchers and daily fast passes (a perk of staying Golden Forest).



So bags dropped, park tickets in hand there was nothing stopping us from going to Disney!

As is tradition Anna and I cried as soon as we walked out of the station and saw Disney Village to our left, the Disney Store in front of us, and Tower of Terror to our right, it's always such an amazing feeling when we arrive, I don't think that will ever change.



Cue lots of hugging and cries of 'I can't believe we're back'.

First on our itinerary was lunch at Earl of Sandwich, let's not forget we've been up since 4am!



At this time of day Earl of Sandwich is deserted, we placed our orders (a Caprese for me, less the mozzerella and a Club for Anna) plus a bag of crisps each.

Once we'd collected our order we headed upstairs. We can never understand why more people don't sit up here the view over Lake Disney is stunning, especially when the sun is shining.

I added hummus to my sandwich (which I brought with me) and we settled down to eat lunch, take in the view and continue to amaze at the fact that we were actually there.





Once lunch had been consumed we popped to the toilets to put our fleeces on under our ski jackets, just walking through Disney Village we'd noticed how cold it was. So layered up, we made our way over to the Disneyland Park.







Blue skies always make the walk into the park that little bit more special

Before we knew it we were under the Disneyland Hotel and into the park, that moment when you walk under the Disneyland Railroad and see the castle beyond the gazebo for the first time always gets to me, we've arrived home





Knowing that we had a hotel fast pass to use before 1pm (you can't use them between 1pm and 4pm) we decided to break tradition, and plan, and head over to Big Thunder Mountain. Normally our first ride is It's a Small World. But because Big Thunder Mountain had been closed on our last visit for a refurb, and because we knew that queues would be bonkers we knew it was the right thing to do.



We handed our hotel fast passes over (note that they are dated and can only be used on the date printed on them) and walked straight past the stand-by queue and straight onto the ride, no queue at all, result!

Well what can I say, it was brilliant! I'd forgotten just how fast it is, and in the cold I'm sure it feels faster it was such a good ride, the effects they've added are great.



With BtM done, we agreed that we would definitely use our fast pass again to ride it at least once more before we left.

Next we strolled over to Fantasyland, taking in our surroundings, and headed for It's a Small World. On arriving though we heard the annoucement for the Frozen Royal Welcome, which was going to be passing in 10 mins. We took up position near the parade exit gates and waited...we appeared to be the only people waiting!



Whilst waiting, Anna noticed that the Pizzeria Bella Notte building looks as little...umm...under the influence?



I love it when you notice something you've never noticed before

Finally the Frozen sisters arrived, this is a sweet little parade where they come past on their horse-drawn carriage and wave while they play Frozen songs over the speakers (almost all in French).



As soon as they'd gone past we got into the fast moving queue for It's a Small World.







Next on our itinerary was Alice's Labyrinth. I'm not great with mazes so tend to avoid them when it's just me and the kids, but being with Anna I felt sure we'd find our way back out. Plus, being a massive Cheshire Cat fan (hence the bag) how could I not!











Unfortunately the newly painted Queen of Hearts Castle was closed, but we did manage to see it from a distance, those colours are incredible!



As we excited the labyrinth we spotted White Rabbit meeting guests just outside Meet Mickey, neither Anna nor I have ever met White Rabbit before!

He loved my Cheshire Cat bag



White Rabbit headed off for a tea break just after we met with him so Anna and I re-joined the queue just in case a different character filled his place, but after 5 minutes or so he returned, it was just a tea break after all.

On checking the wait time for Meet Mickey we saw it was only 20 minutes so off we went to watch cartoons, in the warm, while we waited to meet the main mouse.

We had a fantastic meet with Mickey, he was full of hugs and kept blowing kisses, as ever the perfect gentlemouse





The plan now was to wander back through Fantasyland, via the castle before heading over to Discoveryland. But on our way we noticed that, from the outside, Snow White looked like it was a walk on, which it was.



Once off Snow White we were walking towards the castle when I noticed the sun glinting off something gold and shiny to me left...Cinderella's Carriage! This was one of our must-do's because until a few months ago neither of us knew this even existed, how we've missed it all these years we'll never know



Walking back through the castle we decided to pop upstairs to check out the Sleeping Beauty stained glass windows.









After taking in the stained glass windows we went out onto the balcony, having it all to ourselves we couldn't resist having a little dance to the Fantasyland music...we're just big kids a heart

This view over the rooftops, in the half sunlight was gorgeous.



Before we left the park to check in at Sequoia Lodge we mooched over the Discoveryland and did Buzz





Anna always beats me on Buzz

So rides done it was time to head to the hotel, but not before we'd checked out the frozen fountain outside Plaza Gardens. We'd seen this several times on Twitter in the run up to our trip so had to see it for ourselves.



It gives you an idea of just how cold it was!

So off we went, back through Disney Village, around Lake Disney and off to Sequoia Lodge





I cannot tell you how much I love this hotel, it's so cosy, warm and welcoming and by far my favourite of the resort hotels.

We headed through the crowds and past the normal check-in queue to the Golden Forest check in area.



Our Cast Member at check in was so lovely! Even though we told her we'd stayed before she still took time to tell us about the perks of Golden Forest, and even went into detail about what rides are open during Extra Magic Hours, we've never had that before!

Anna and I were slightly nervous about what room we would get, we'd booked a lake view, but having had such an incredible view last year we were worried our room this time around might not be as good. Turns out we were worrying over nothing, our room was fantastic!









...and look at our view!



Yes, that really is Tower of Terror you can see, and right in the middle of the trees we could see Sleeping Beauty's Castle

Once we'd unpacked, and rested our feet for a while (obviously having another cup of tea) we put all our layers back on and headed out to the Disneyland Hotel to meet a very special friend in Cafe Fantastia.



The very special friend we were meeting was the Dibbcast's very own Auntie Mel, who had arrived for a solo trip the day before.

Obviously there was no question as to which cocktails we would be ordering...





Glowtini's all round!



We had a wonderful time catching up on our trips so far and before we knew it we were ordering another round...



This time Anna and I had a Rouge et Noir each and Mel tried a red Glowtini.

Soon enough it was time for the three of us to head into the Disneyland Park, and we made it just in time for the start of Dreams. We were standing part way down Main Street, the furthest back I've ever watched it, and it was great. You could see so much more of the effects on the castle.

After dreams we parted company with Mel, agreeing to meet up in the Golden Forest Lounge after we'd had our respective dinners.

Anna and I headed for the newly opened Vapiano.



We were both really looking forward to this meal having heard good things. On arriving we were greeted and given a plastic card, the greeter told us that you ordered at the counter and the cost was put onto the card, which you then paid for at the end of your meal. This kind of made sense, but on entering the restaurant it all went a bit wrong. After a bit of a hunt Anna managed to find a menu, we found somewhere to sit and started looking over the food available. I decided to go for pasta and Anna pizza.

We went over to what looked like the ordering areas, different ones for pasta and pizza, I joined a queue expecting it not to take too long to order. I could see that Anna was already in the process of ordering her pizza, while my queue wasn't moving. From what I could tell it looked like they cooked your pasta while you waited in the queue, while for pizza you took a buzzer and came back to get your food (although where from was not clear at all). I waited and waited. Anna went to the loo and came back and not only had my queue not moved at all but the lady in front of me had been joined by another lady and 2 children! Both Anna and I were loosing our patience by this time, we'd been in there for at least 20 mins and I was no closer to getting any food. So we left.

We both agreed that the signage in Vapiano was very unclear, and that the process needed much better explaining. We're not against going back, the food looked great, but we'd definitely need advice from someone who knows how it all works before attempting it again!

With no food in our tummies we had the tough decision of where to eat now, especially with it being peak timing for everyone wanting their dinner. This is where the title of this day will make sense, because we ended up back at Earl of Sandwich! We both ordered the same as we'd had for lunch, but added wedges to our orders (we didn't even know they did wedges not having done dinner there before).



Earl of Sandwich never disappoints, especially not when you're sat upstairs again looking out over that Lake Disney view (this time at night). Thankfully, after a very disappointing experience at Vapiano's we had a lovely meal at Earl of Sandwich.

After our yummy sandwich we strolled back to the hotel, dropped our bags in our room and met up with Mel in the Golden Forest Lounge.

Obviously a cocktail was in order, purely as a nightcap obviously! I ordered a Blackwood...which may have looked innocent enough but turned out to be incredibly strong, oops!



The lounge closed at 10.30pm at which point we left (of course we stayed until closing time )

After firming up our plans to meet with Mel in Studios the next day we said goodnight and went off to our respective rooms, which were literally just down the corridor from each other!

By the time Anna and I had faffed around getting ready for bed, messaged/called home and looked through our photo's and snapchat from that day it was midnight when we got to bed, we'd been up for 20 hours!

Next: Tower of Actual Terror
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Edited at 03:26 PM.
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Old 2 Feb 17, 06:42 PM  
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LOU LOU DISNEY
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Wow what an amazing 1st day! You packed so much in!
Alice's labyrinth looks all lovely & bright & clean since the refurb, can't wait to go in it as it was closed last time.
Shame about vapiano as I was looking forward to trying it, so like you I must do my reasearch on how it all works!
What a view from your room!
I'm staying in SL golden forest for our trip at Christmas (going twice this yr) & have booked the lakeside view fingers crossed we get the same as yours!
Lovely to meet up with a fellow dibber, the drinks looked anazing!
Looking forward to day 2!

Edited at 06:43 PM.
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Old 2 Feb 17, 08:51 PM  
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Beaker7929
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Originally Posted by LOU LOU DISNEY View Post
Wow what an amazing 1st day! You packed so much in!
Alice's labyrinth looks all lovely & bright & clean since the refurb, can't wait to go in it as it was closed last time.
Shame about vapiano as I was looking forward to trying it, so like you I must do my reasearch on how it all works!
What a view from your room!
I'm staying in SL golden forest for our trip at Christmas (going twice this yr) & have booked the lakeside view fingers crossed we get the same as yours!
Lovely to meet up with a fellow dibber, the drinks looked anazing!
Looking forward to day 2!
We couldn't believe how much we did in that first day! It makes all the difference getting that early train into Paris, you gain at least 2 hours in the parks
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Old 2 Feb 17, 09:16 PM  
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Melanie R
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Great start Rachel - I could just manage one of those cocktails right now!
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Old 2 Feb 17, 09:39 PM  
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Ladies you need to get berets to go with those tops.
Great first day and glad to see you hit the Glowtinis together with Mel.
Not good news re Vapiano. Was hoping to try that in October. Your room at Sequoia Lodge looks lovely.

Edited at 09:47 PM.
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Old 2 Feb 17, 10:37 PM  
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Beaker7929
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Originally Posted by Melanie R View Post
Great start Rachel - I could just manage one of those cocktails right now!
I'm with you on that one! Those cocktails were sooo good!
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Old 2 Feb 17, 10:40 PM  
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Beaker7929
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Originally Posted by geoffa View Post
Ladies you need to get berets to go with those tops.
Great first day and glad to see you hit the Glowtinis together with Mel.
Not good news re Vapiano. Was hoping to try that in October. Your room at Sequoia Lodge looks lovely.
They have Vapiano in London, it might be worth you guys trying it out before you try the one in Paris, then we can ask you how it works
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Previous Hols *Jan '19 Sequoia Lodge Golden Forest*Jan '18 Sequoia Lodge Golden Forest*Oct '17 Cheyenne*Jan '17 Sequoia Lodge Golden Forest*Jan '16 Sequoia Lodge Golden Forest*March '15 - Cheyenne*Nov '13 - Cheyenne*Feb '12 - Newport Bay*April '08 - Santa Fe*March '05 - Santa Fe*


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Old 4 Feb 17, 01:56 AM  
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Fantastic 1st day
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Old 4 Feb 17, 09:00 AM  
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Great report looking forward to reading more.
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Old 4 Feb 17, 09:34 AM  
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Oh yes you definitely need the berets! Oo la la!
All looks fab, the perks of golden forest sound good too. A lovely first day and very smooth apart from dinner!
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