Adventure Is Under Construction - April 2024: Day 2

[Gill H]

<<Day 1

Thursday 2 May

Despite getting to bed quite late after recovering from our drenching, I was awake by 6:30 so decided to wash my hair. We took our time getting ready and having breakfast, and didn’t leave the hotel until 9:10 am.

After a quick train journey we headed once again to Salon Mickey for some coffee, juice and pastries. While we relaxed, Peter checked the queue times for Big Thunder, which he hadn’t yet ridden, and on realising the queue was already quite long, decided to treat himself to a Premier Access pass. However, despite having our card linked on the app, the system didn’t seem to want him to book! Every time he tried to pay it just sent him back to the login screen. I tried it too, and the same happened to me, so we decided to drop in to City Hall and see if they could sort it out.

Today was another grey and rainy day, although without the dramatic lightning and hailstorm of last night. The park seemed very busy today – in fact much busier than yesterday which had been a bank holiday! However, last night we had finally managed to book Premier Access preferred viewing for tonight’s drone show and Dreams, so we knew we would have a good view without having to fight the crowds.

Meanwhile, we were still struggling with the app today, so we joined a sizeable queue at City Hall. Talking to our neighbours in the queue, everyone was experiencing the same thing and it seemed to be an issue with the app. So once we finally got inside City Hall, Peter bought a Premier Access pass at the counter for 16 Euros.

We headed over to Frontierland and Peter went straight to the Premier Access queue while I waited for him on a bench outside the shop. However, when he emerged from the ride he didn’t look too well. It turned out that the person next to him had pulled the lap bar much too tight, so that Peter couldn’t breathe. Both of them had shouted and waved for a cast member to come and help, but no-one had noticed them, and the ride went off without the problem being sorted. By the end of the ride Peter was in considerable discomfort and not at all happy about the way it had been handled. So we made our way out of Frontierland and queued up again outside City Hall.

The queue wasn’t as long this time, fortunately, and the cast member who served us was extremely sympathetic and understanding. Peter was given a replacement Premier Access pass and was advised to go to the ride exit and tell the cast member to seat him on his own in the row. To be fair, the cast members at City Hall did a great job sorting things out.

Once we left City Hall we decided to grab a coffee at Market House Deli so Peter could have a rest, as he was still feeling quite sore. As usual there was very little seating available but we did manage to find a spot outside under cover, where we could relax and enjoy our drink.

Afterwards Peter decided it was time to get ‘back on the horse’ or should I say on the train, as he didn’t want to be left with bad memories of what had happened on the ride. So he went back to Big Thunder, where the pass worked perfectly and he had a great ride.

We then had a browse in the shops. We resisted this pin but it did make us laugh! Stitch looks so fed up in the Aurora outfit!

instead we decided to buy a Phantom Manor pin with Stitch wearing the classic Phantom outfit, playing his ukulele in front of the hitch-hiking ghosts. Here's a pic we took when we got home.

It came down to a choice between this one and another where Stitch was Madame Leota. Tempting to buy both, but we resisted!

[Gill H]

Despite not having done much in the way of rides yet, we decided it was time for some lunch, and after a quick look at the seemingly ever-present hub show, we made our way out of the park and into the Village.

We had a brief look in the shops, but between the construction walls and the lack of any merch that interested us, we didn’t feel a need to linger. It was beginning to rain steadily, so we abandoned our initial idea of buying a baguette from ‘Le Comptoir’ take away counter. Instead we decided to have lunch at the restaurant adjoining it, Brasserie Rosalie.

Rosalie was new to us, having opened in December 2023. The venue had previously been Café Mickey, which we’d experienced several times over the years, but the transformation into a classic French brasserie was such a dramatic change that you would never recognise it as the place where Captain Hook stole your bread rolls and Pluto was seemingly never off duty. Instead we were transported to Paris itself – albeit at a price well above what you’d usually pay there!

We ordered ‘applejitos’ which were – as you’ve probably guessed – an apple version of a mojito. Really tasty and refreshing.

We chose from the ‘brasserie menu’ which was 39.50 Euros for 3 courses. Bread and pretzels came with it.

Peter went for the classic French starter of escargots. Properly garlicky and very nice.

I chose the pate en croute which had lots of flavour.

For his main course, Peter had the chicken cordon bleu, which was stuffed with ham and cheese, and served with pasta. Nice enough but he could have done with more sauce on the pasta as he found it very dry.

I chose the salmon, which was served on a bed of vegetables with a creamy sauce. Light and delicious.

Peter chose crème brulee for his dessert and found it tasty with a properly hard top.

I went for my favourite, iles flottantes (floating islands) – soft meringue clouds on a pool of vanilla custard, with a caramel sauce and almonds. When these are done well, as they were here, there’s nothing I would rather finish a meal with.

The staff were friendly and happy to talk with us as the restaurant wasn’t too busy. All in all, a very enjoyable experience, and we even got shareholder discount which helped a great deal.

[Gill H]

Pleasantly full and very contented, we strolled through the rain to the station. We popped into Relay to buy drinks and crisps for the room, and we also bought a 2024 Paris Olympics pen for Peter’s sister, who collects pens.

It was then time to get the train back to our hotel. However, the approach to the gates was blocked off, and staff were explaining that trains weren’t running due to smoke being discovered in a station further along the line. Yes, you can add your own jokes about French smokers here…

We were advised to take replacement buses, but after a frustrating 20 minutes not knowing whether we were standing in the correct queue, and being denied access to a bus which was clearly labelled ‘Gare du Val d’Europe’ on the grounds that it wasn’t actually going there, we gave up. Instead we went back into the station and got ourselves a cuppa in Starbucks while we waited for the gates to reopen.

Fortunately we didn’t have long to wait, and as an added bonus, all the gates were open and once again we didn’t have to use tickets for our journey!

Back in our room we dried off and rested for a while, before going out again about 6pm for the evening in Disneyland Park.

Still rainy... but stopped to watch the characters change on the signs.

Hello castle!

We went straight to Tomorrowland where Peter headed for Star Tours which had a 30 minute wait time, while I sheltered from the rain in Videopolis.

Buzz Lightyear had a queue which stretched right across the park, but the wait time was listed as 20 minutes so we gave it a go. The queue moved surprisingly quickly and we were soon helping the Little Green Aliens defeat Zurg, for which they were of course eternally grateful.

For dinner we decided to try somewhere we’d never been in all our years of DLP visits – Pizzeria Bella Notte. This place is now themed to Luca rather than Lady and the Tramp, which seems odd given the name, and the fact that they serve spaghetti and meatballs! We went for ‘menu 2’ which was a pizza, drink and side salad.

I think the best I can say was that it was hot enough and filled a gap. Not something I would order again, unlike the pizza in Stark Factory which was definitely worth seeking out.

[Gill H]

As we were so close to It’s a Small World it would have been rude not to give it another go. It’s still my favourite ride in DLP, and there are always little details I notice for the first time.

Coming out of the ride, we browsed the food huts which had taken up residence in Fantasyland. These fit rather well, and are a great addition to the park.

We chose a Nutella crepe each (let’s face it, Nutella is practically compulsory in France). These were really nice and helped take the sting out of the mediocre pizza!

Then it was time for a gentle ride on the carousel. As usual I asked for one of the carriages rather than a horse as I find it easier to get in.

The castle looks gorgeous from the back, don't you think?

After this we decided to go back to Frontierland for another ride on Phantom Manor.

Then we relaxed under cover at the Last Chance Cafe until the time came to go for our preferred viewing. The cafe was closed by now, but the tables and chairs were still there, and no-one seemed to mind us sitting there for a while.

[Gill H]

Tonight’s show was due to start at 11pm, preceded by the Electrical Sky Parade drone show at 10:45, so we were allowed into the preferred viewing area from 10:15 onwards. It took a little effort to find the way in – we were directed to go through Fort Comstock at the entrance to Frontierland, and every time we thought we had reached the barrier, we were told to go further on! But eventually we were led to a spot right in front of the castle.

There was a small crowd of people there, but plenty of room to spread out so no-one was jostling for position or impeding your view. It was such a contrast to the usual frustrating push-and-shove experience that castle shows involve. Definitely worth the money.

The Electrical Sky Parade was amazing, so clever and creative, evoking memories of seeing the parade ourselves in Paris and Orlando. Love it or hate it, that music gets in your brain! I honestly think this show should be exported to the American parks too, it looks so much better than the show happening in Disney Springs at the moment.

I didn't take any pictures but you can see it in Peter's video and it's well worth watching.

At the end of the Sky Parade there was a short pause before Dreams began. It was so exciting to be seeing this again. It was a must-do every night on our DLP visits, to the extent that ‘Second Star To The Right’ just sounds wrong if the second verse isn’t in French!

It was easy to tell that it had been developed for the Paris castle as the images fitted perfectly and made use of the windows and turrets.

Such a contrast to Illuminations, which was developed for Shanghai and a completely different shaped castle. We also love the story element, where Peter Pan’s shadow gets loose and encounters various characters.

The Dr Facilier bit is one of my favourites.

And the beginning of the Tangled section puts a lump in my throat every time, it’s so beautiful.

All in all, I think this is my favourite ever castle show.

After the show we drifted slowly down Main Street, letting the crowds go out ahead of us, and waved a fond goodbye to Mickey, and to this beautiful park – until next time.

Once back in the hotel, we discovered that we had some of our RER tickets left, since the barriers had been open several times. So we spoke with a couple of Brits who were just checking in, and gave them the tickets, before heading for bed.

Join us tomorrow for our journey home, and news of our upcoming adventure!

>>Travel Home Day

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