The Magic 3 do DLP - day 1

[MrsSilverStar]

Hello and welcome to my first Disney trip report! I've read so many on here that I thought I better do one myself - hopefully it'll be helpful.

Pre trip is here and has all the info about us and the holiday.

On with Day One - Wednesday 14th February

The taxi for the station was booked for 7.15am but I think I was up from around 6 - feeling excited and nervous! I always worry the cab isn't going to turn up but it did and we were at the train station in plenty of time for our 7.38 train. A fast train to London had gone just a few minutes before ours so it was nice and empty with plenty of seats and space for the luggage (two big suitcases and a backpack, no travelling light when we had to lug a lot of cold weather gear for us!). Oh how the journey changed once we reached Vauxhall. It hadn't occurred to me that we'd be arriving right in the middle of the commuter rush hour - the tube was packed!

Heath and I managed to squeeze on a tube but there was no way Mark and the bags could fit in too, so we said we'd meet at the other end. Poor Heath burst into tears as we went without Mark, bless him, I think he was worried we'd lose him. Luckily Mark got on the next one ok (well, a woman shoved him in the back and I'm sure all the commuters were cursing the fools travelling at peak time with a child and big bags, sorry!) and we all met up again on the platform of St Pancreas.

Then it was time to head to the Eurostar - we headed straight for security as we weren't sure how long it would take. We ended up going straight through that and passport control with 45 minutes to spare..and into the horrible waiting area. It was packed, not enough seats for us to sit together and full of hyper children racing around. This made Mark and I worry if we'd made a horrible mistake as we hate busy, crowded places full of other people's children

Fortunately it was soon time to board the Eurostar. We'd booked premier and were in coach 10. Online, it looked as though we were sat around a table but we ended up with two seats and a single one behind, which was fine really. It was quiet and spacious so we were happy.

Some friends of ours were also off to DLP and they got on at Ashford. Their eldest son is the same age as Heath so the boys happily played for the rest of the journey while we chatted.

Food was included in the premier booking - we all got a croissant, bread roll, jam, butter, yoghurt, water, orange juice and a hot drink.
We'd booked the Disney Express so we could ditch the bags and head straight into the park - a cast member came along with an envelope with our tickets, luggage tags, PhotoPass voucher, Inventions character meal vouchers and tickets for Buffalo Bill's Wild West show.

Our room was already assigned. We'd paid a bit extra for a lake view and were in room 4145.

We were held at the Charles De Gaulle station for awhile due to a suspect package at Chessy luckily the owner of the bag was found and the bomb disposal team cancelled (phew!) and we were only half an hour late in the end. Mark was first up to the luggage drop off on the first floor. The guys just grabbed the bags off him and it was time to head to the park!

It was so amazing walking in. I'm a longtime Dibb reader and have been dreaming of us going to any Disney park for ages - it felt magical that we were finally there!
We headed into the Emporium on Main Street because we wanted to get an autograph book straight away, just in case we saw any characters today.

I also picked up a 25th anniversary lanyard for myself, a 25th anniversary spinning pin, booster set of Coco pins and got the PhotoPass all sorted (just handed in my voucher at the till and got the box with our pass in - I used the app on my phone and would recommend it, can add photos and check them on there).

Now we took a walk down to the castle, breathing it all in. My catchphrase for the holiday swiftly became "it's so beautiful!"
We bumped into our friends again

They were heading to Discoveryland but Heath liked the look of Frontierland so we went that way. He loves the film Coco (we all do, the soundtrack is on repeat at home) so we stopped for some photos by Fuente Del Oro restaurant

Big Thunder Mountain had a 40 minute wait and the fast pass machines weren't working so we didn't bother with that. Indiana Jones was only 15 minutes so I went there while the boys went off to the Swiss Family Robinson area. Heath is not a coaster fan so I did all of them on my own.

I was off again with 12 minutes so the wait time was much shorter than predicted which was nice. I enjoyed the ride but once was enough.
Met up with boys and started to head towards Pirates of the Caribbean. On our way, I spotted the figures of Carl and Russell from Up by the side of the water - this made me "ooh" loudly with excitement, which made a man walking towards us burst out laughing! I do get carried away with enthusiasm at times
Pirates had about a half hour queue

Heath didn't like the drops but we all had fun. Our ride photo was useless because we had a pair of giants sitting in front of us so you could only see our eyebrows

We then walked through Fantasyland - wow, absolutly stunning. I want to live here! I spotted the 25th anniversary Minnie ears I wanted (glitter, need I say more ) so bought those from Sir Mickey.

At this point, it was 4.30pm so we stopped outside Bella Notte to get a parade spot. I'd read this was a good place because it wasn't as busy as Main Street and was at the start of the parade so you could get back on the rides faster at the end. We were very happy with our view and loved the parade - get ready for the photo spam!

We headed onto Small World after this, Heath loved it and it was one of his favourites of the trip.

We were all hungry by now so popped into Bella Notte for pizza.

It cost us around 33 euros for two child meals and one adult and it was all tasty enough. We saw someone trying to come in after 6 and being told it was shut, they looked furious. So be aware, the counter service places close early!
We headed off to Dumbo after filling our faces

Then tea cups

And Pinocchio. Heath found this creepy and it's definitely one of the darker Disney films!
It was 45 minutes to Illuminations now so we decided to find a viewing spot. We ended up at the front of the grassy area, with the railings to our backs. This way, we wouldn't get jostled by other people and Heath was able to stand on the railing and lean on Mark without blocking other people's views. There was the usual mix of phones, umbrellas and kids on shoulders but we still had a good view. It was rather unsettling seeing a bemused grandma's face in an iPad for awhile as her family face timed her...she didn't look impressed I had to give one woman a gentle push on the shoulder to move her, after she thought standing right in front of me with her phone in the air was a good idea she moved with no issue thankfully!
I absolutely loved the show and welled up several times, such a softy!

Getting out of the park after the show was busy but fine - however, this is when our ordeal to get to the hotel started. We had no clue where we were going despite me knowing we had to go through Disney Village, so we followed the crowds. Unfortunately they were all going to the car parks! Turned back on ourselves but still couldn't work it out, Mark tried to ask a CM who actually ran away from us I guess he was finished for the day Finally a CM at another exit gave us directions (between Annette's and Planet Hollywood and then right at the hot air balloon) and we managed to find the hotel! Took us 35 minutes in total since the end of the show
Check in was rather blah, certainly no magic or indeed personality from our CM but hey ho. Had to go outside to get the luggage from their holding area, ours were the last there! Then off to the west wing to find our room.

I never managed to take any daylight photos of the room because we were always out so early! View from the balcony.

The portholes round the top of the room had character pictures in which was very cute.
We put Heath to bed and while Mark had a bath, I went off to the hotel boutique for a nose.
I bought some locks for the pins as I'd heard they sometimes fall off lanyards quite easily, and a hotel pin and a special Valentine one.

Then it was back to the room to crash out in bed and prepare for a busy day in the parks tomorrow!

[Guest]

Because I'm a weirdo, I spent several minutes looking at the parade snaps and checking out all the face characters' "cold weather kit". I especially liked Tiana's velvet cape!

Heath is right about IASW. That's my favourite ride - and the DLP one holds a very special place in my heart, as it was the place where I became CERTAIN that Poot would talk one day. You may remember that he was very, very late to talk - but as we sailed around IASW, his eyes were like soup-plates - and both R.C. and I could see that there were words in there - somewhere!

A great start - I love that DLP had people on the train to give you all your stuff. What a fab idea! Too bad about the blah CM at check-in - we had a really grumpy woman at the G-Flo, and it did rather rain on my parade. The front-line CMs make or break the holiday a lot of the time - hopefully you had more good than bad.

[MrsSilverStar]

Originally Posted by GopherLass

Because I'm a weirdo, I spent several minutes looking at the parade snaps and checking out all the face characters' "cold weather kit". I especially liked Tiana's velvet cape!

Heath is right about IASW. That's my favourite ride - and the DLP one holds a very special place in my heart, as it was the place where I became CERTAIN that Poot would talk one day. You may remember that he was very, very late to talk - but as we sailed around IASW, his eyes were like soup-plates - and both R.C. and I could see that there were words in there - somewhere!

A great start - I love that DLP had people on the train to give you all your stuff. What a fab idea! Too bad about the blah CM at check-in - we had a really grumpy woman at the G-Flo, and it did rather rain on my parade. The front-line CMs make or break the holiday a lot of the time - hopefully you had more good than bad.

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Hello April thanks for popping by!

I hadn't even thought about the characters capes, as we've not done a hot Disney yet - it was very cold and I would have quite liked a velvet cape myself!

I do remember you sharing that about Poot before, must have been so special for you and R.C. I loved seeing Heath's jaw drop - he especially loved the sparkly bit at the end, he's a magpie like his mother

It was really handy getting sorted on the train, I think it cost £42 for the three of us - Disney doesn't miss a trick when it comes to add ons, but I thought this was well worth it.
The CMs were all fine really. Even the one that ran away from us, made me laugh rather than angry! Certainly none were rude to us - and I even saw several tell smokers off, which I know is a big bugbear for a lot of DLP visitors.

Thanks for commenting, I was thinking of you as I shouted into the abyss

[Guest]

I was thinking of you as I shouted into the abyss.




I know I've said this before...but I would have totally packed in my first trippie if not for Mel in France - she was my only "commenter" for the first few posts. Good luck!

[Goldia]

I knew it was going to be good when I read the bit about the tube at the beginning...not Heath crying, but hubby being shoved in the back by a commuter desperate to get on the train. I like it when the trip report goes into proper details...

The photos of you in front of the castle look fab. We hadn't seen Coco before, but DD and myself went to the cinema while you were away in half term to see it. I really loved it and I have to say there were a few tears, from me not DD! The photo by the colourful dog is great, sorry i cant remember his name .

Fab Minnie ears purchase! The parade looked great too.

My SIL said that Pinocchio was a bit creepy too...

I do love Disney fireworks. The music for illuminations is fab, is it the same as the music at Epcot? I haven't been to Paris since 2000 so can't remember what they had back then and besides they have probably updated it by now anyway!

The room looks fab.

This is my first venture into DLP reports, mainly I'm here cos it's you , sorry for the tardiness, I'm loyal even if I'm not a sprinter!

[MrsSilverStar]

Originally Posted by Goldia

I knew it was going to be good when I read the bit about the tube at the beginning...not Heath crying, but hubby being shoved in the back by a commuter desperate to get on the train. I like it when the trip report goes into proper details...

The photos of you in front of the castle look fab. We hadn't seen Coco before, but DD and myself went to the cinema while you were away in half term to see it. I really loved it and I have to say there were a few tears, from me not DD! The photo by the colourful dog is great, sorry i cant remember his name .

Fab Minnie ears purchase! The parade looked great too.

My SIL said that Pinocchio was a bit creepy too...

I do love Disney fireworks. The music for illuminations is fab, is it the same as the music at Epcot? I haven't been to Paris since 2000 so can't remember what they had back then and besides they have probably updated it by now anyway!

The room looks fab.

This is my first venture into DLP reports, mainly I'm here cos it's you , sorry for the tardiness, I'm loyal even if I'm not a sprinter!

See more...

Haha, got to love the details!

We all cried at Coco, lovely film. The dog is called Dante. I'll be buying the DVD as soon as it's out!

The music was gorgeous and I quite liked that lots of the singing was in French - stopped me singing along and spoiling it for everyone I don't know about Epcot because we haven't made it there yet! We're aiming for a 2021 WDW trip...Heath doesn't want to go before they've built the Ratatouille ride there

Thank you so much for venturing into the DLP boards for me!

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by MrsSilverStar

Haha, got to love the details!

We all cried at Coco, lovely film. The dog is called Dante. I'll be buying the DVD as soon as it's out!

The music was gorgeous and I quite liked that lots of the singing was in French - stopped me singing along and spoiling it for everyone I don't know about Epcot because we haven't made it there yet! We're aiming for a 2021 WDW trip...Heath doesn't want to go before they've built the Ratatouille ride there

Thank you so much for venturing into the DLP boards for me!

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Of course it's Dante! I thought you'd be helpful

[firsttimemouse]

Great first day.

We watched the parade and illuminations on the Wednesday too. We were in a really similar spot to you.

Thanks for writing.

[MrsSilverStar]

Originally Posted by firsttimemouse

Great first day.

We watched the parade and illuminations on the Wednesday too. We were in a really similar spot to you.

Thanks for writing.

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Thanks for commenting - I'd love to be back there now!

[clochette]

We too watched Illuminations on Wednesday. We had quite a good view too but were more to one aside than you.
Love your parade photos. Again, you were in a very similar place to us but we were watching the day before.

I'd better get on with my trio report so we can compare notes!