First family trip to DLP - Feb 2017 - Day 1 Travel and Arrival

[Milpston]

So what do you want before a fairly long drive? That's right. A good night's sleep. Did I get one? No! After going to sleep at about 22:00 and setting alarms for 04:00 I managed to wake up and 00:30. I had been suffering with full on man-flu for a good few days now. I woke with a headache and felt like my throat was on fire. I shuffled around a bit and then went to the toilet. I'm not that great at being quiet so Sally was soon awake and offering a limited amount of sympathy. I took some super strength cold and flu tablets but that was it as far a sleep was concerned for me. Sally managed to get a couple more hours but I lay there on my death bed contemplating whether or not I would survive long enough to enjoy our little Disney break.

By about 03:00 Sally was awake and we lay in bed chatting. It was at this point that I realised that when Sally directed me towards the bin in the dark last night I had manage to put Emma's dirty nappy in Sally's boot. Luckily it was only a wet one! Anyway, we both found this highly amusing and our laughs triggered another telling off from our Mum at the other side of the room. By about the time the alarm was due to go off I was prancing around the room wearing a hat which I had fashioned from the cardboard pillow menu. The lack of sleep obviously hadn't done me much harm by this point and even Chloe woke in a good mood quipping at me, "You're actually quite funny this morning". High praise indeed so the Disney magic must be alive and kicking!

We had planned to be in the car and making our way by 04:30 to allow for any unforeseen circumstances. After re-packing the boot of the car we were on the road by 04:35 so it was a pretty good effort. Our plan was to keep Emma in her pyjamas, get her in her car seat and wrap her in some blankets for the first part of the journey. She had other ideas and was up and wide awake before we left the hotel room so we got her dressed and changed ready for the journey. There was a road closure on the way from hotel to Folkestone but the Tom Tom soon re routed us around it. We were all in good spirits considering the early hour and looking forward to the next few days ahead.

On arrival we found that our crossing was 06:15 rather than 06:20 but we had plenty of time. We pulled in and the ANPR cameras recognised our booking. I just pressed the OK button on the screen and out popped a printed card to hang off of our rearview mirror.

There are screens in the car park and inside the terminal which tell you when to drive towards the train.

We had half hour or so to kill so we had a wander into the terminal. There is a duty free shop and a handful of shops and eateries. Sally got herself a coffee and Chloe bought a couple of make up bits from the duty free shop.

Breakfast of champions for Emma! Don't judge us! She's on holiday

We were soon driving down to board the train. This was the first time I had been on the Eurotunnel for about 17 years I think so it was very unfamiliar but very straightforward and efficient.

The kids were obviously excited to be on the train.

Very simply once you are on the train you are told to switch off your engine, open sun roofs and windows and place the car in gear. It was then a pleasant 35 minute journey under the channel. I think we probably had some breakfast snacks at this point to pass the journey. Sally had made some rolls before we left home as well as we knew we would otherwise not have any breakfast. Emma much preferred being in the front of the car.

I had a slight worry whilst on the train as warning message showed on our car 'battery low'. As usual we had phones, my e-cigarette and the sat nav all charging. I was just dreading that when we got to the other end the car wouldn't start. That would be quite embarrassing with a queue of cars behind us. I quickly unplugged everything and fortunately there were no issues when the time came to start the car again.
Soon enough we were driving off on French soil. It really doesn't take long at all to be unloaded from the train.

When driving off the Eurotunnel you have already cleared passport control prior to boarding the train so you pretty much drive straight off onto motorway. I was half expecting that the roads would be very busy at this time on a Monday morning. The weren't. I set the cruise control at 85mph (this married up to exactly 80mph on my sat nav) which is the speed limit. I barely had to touch the brake all the way down to DLP. I think it was about 4 different motorways we used but I didn't pay a lot of attention as the Sat Nav did all the work. It said it was 197 miles from the Eurotunnel to The Newport Bay. There was one toll to pay. From memory I think it was 22.60Euros and you could pay cash or card providing you got in the correct lane.

Virtually as soon as we drove away Chloe and Emma fell asleep. I have to say I was a little jealous.

The drive took 2 hours and 45 minutes. Chloe woke up about 30 minutes before we arrived at DLP and Emma woke pretty much as we pulled up at the hotel. This made the journey nice and peaceful!
Sally, on the other hand, only slept for about 5 minutes as I heard the dull snoring from next to me. It did allow her the opportunity to take some fascinating pictures during the journey though!

We arrived a Newport Bay and it was a nice bright morning and chilly but not as cold as it had been in the week or two preceding this one. Although the drive may take a little longer than flying or the Eurostar I would definitely do it this way again. It was smooth and easy and allowed use to partake in our usual brand of ridiculous over packing.

This was the one and only roundabout on the whole French leg of the journey which was good as they always confuse me when driving on the right!

First impression of The Newport Bay were very good. It's an impressive looking building.

Stupidly, I forgot that we got complimentary Valet parking with our Compass Club booking and parked right at the bottom of the car park. Even more annoying as obviously Sally can't carry the heavy bags in her current state so, with the help of Chloe, I lugged three cases and countless bags to the hotel.

I have read a fair bit on the DIBB about the heavy security at the hotels and Parks and whilst I do agree in part I did get the feeling that much of it is for show rather than being anything particularly effective. For example, on arrival at the front of the hotel there is a baggage scanning area on the left side outside the main entrance. I, inadvertently, walked straight past in and into the hotel lobby with all my suitcases and bags in my hands and attached to me. I wasn't challenged or stopped and none of our bags were scanned at security. I then walked into the lobby and one of the security guards in the lobby gave me a 3 second cursory passing with a hand held metal detector. It would have been about 11:00 by now and the reception was pretty busy. This is the main checking in area immediately to the right as you enter.

Immediately on the left is the Compass Club checking in desk. There are two desks in here which were both in use. A CM came out and looked at our reservation paperwork and asked us to take a seat in the lounge behind this area and put our luggage aside in the room. As we entered the Compass Club lounge there were 2-3 other families sitting in this area. We presumed we ma have a bit of a wait so Chloe, Sally and Emma went off to the toilet. As soon as they left I was called through and was checked in within about 5 minutes. We were handed our easy pass (basically proof we are staying in a Disney hotel and needed to be shown on entry to the Compass Club Lounge), Park tickets, Hotel fast passes (one per day each), maps of the park and confirmed the restaurant reservations we had made by phone. We were also told that our room wasn't guaranteed to be ready until 1500 but it was likely to be ready earlier. We decided it was time to head off to the parks as we intended to meet Sally's sister, brother-in-law and nephew at The Lucky Nugget for lunch at 12:30.

We headed out of the rear of the hotel towards Disney Village getting a couple of snaps on the way. The rear of the hotel and lake area is lovely.

We went through the security check between the lake and Disney village and I took a few more snaps as we made our way through to the parks.

Not sure I'd argue with these guys. These were at the train station where there are back checks prior to entering the Disney Village area.

There is a shop inside the train station if you feel the need for cigarettes or some cheaper drinks and snacks than available inside Disney.

So it was time to head into the Disneyland Parc. First time I'd been here and I have to say this first entry is a little underwhelming.

However, once you head down towards the Disneyland Hotel and into the main park I started to get a better feeling about it all. As I said in my pre-trip report I had fairly low expectations of DLP in general.

We were on time to meet for lunch and headed on through the ticket turnstiles and up onto Main street. This felt very similar to WDW (but much colder!) although its many years since I was last there.

As we walked onto Main Street Emma was becoming a bit miserable as she was getting hungry. We had brought a huge suitcase with us full of snacks and drinks but never gave it a thought and had left it all at the hotel check in. We made a quick pit stop into a shop on main Street and bought her some cookies (a bargain at 1.99 Euros for 4 shortbread cookies) which soon did the trick and cheered her up.

So we made our way straight to Frontierland to meet family at Lucky Nugget for lunch. There is still plenty of boarding up on the way in where they are still completing work ahead of the 25th anniversary celebrations. On arrival we had a few minutes to kill so relaxed on a bench in the (cold) sun.

For some reason, and I can't remember why, we decided not to go into Lucky Nugget and decided to grab a quick bite to eat at Casey's Corner.

As usual for me I chose completely the wrong queue to enter. There was two people in front of me that were ordering food for about 12 people using half board vouchers. Well instead of heading up to the counter knowing what they were ordering they proceeded to shout back to each individual member of the family in turn to shout their orders back and forth. This whole process must have taken about 25 minutes and, now and again, they would turn round to me and apologise. I was very restrained and just replied with lovely things such as, "that's Okay", mainly because what I really wanted to say would either have had Sally disowning me or I'd have been famous on the DIBB for being turfed out of a Disney Park. Eventually I got our food, my blood pressure returned to normal levels and I joined the rest at our table. We had three hotdogs, three portions of fries and 3 soft drinks. Emma would just share some of ours.

How was it? Utter rubbish in all honesty. Low quality and cold... so pretty much what I expected from The Dibb This cost about 43Euros so significantly more than our Premier Inn in Folkestone. Never mind. Onwards and upwards.

This is taking longer than I expected so I'll take a break. Day 1... to be continued...

[Jaybeez]

Apart from the food it all sounds good so far. We have only travelled to DLP via the Eurotunnel and wouldn't travel any other way now.

[Milpston]

Day 1 continued...

Once lunch was over it was time to sample a few rides. This was going to be a very different trip to our previous theme park visits as we would be concentrating on rides that Emma could go on. Her only previous experience with rides was a day out at Pepper Pig world last summer. I was a bit apprehensive as on that day she screamed from start to finish on any ride that we put her on. It would be fair to say she was not a fan!

First stop was a ride I had read lots about both here and in Florida.

The queue was only about 5 -10 minutes (a rarity for anything with it being half term week) and we were soon loaded onto our boat.


The good news is there were no tears from Emma... or anyone else for that matter. And yes, the music does get stuck in your head just as much as regular Dibbers say it does. It was a lovely little ride when you have Dibbers in tow. I did feel like I'd been transported back into the 1980's but enjoyed it none the less/ It was a bit breezy on exiting so even got a little shower from the water fountains outside as we were waiting to disembark. That livened things up a little.

After such a tranquil little ride we decided to really liven things up and headed over to Dumbo. On the short walk we passed Alice's Curious Labrynth. A bit disappointed but we never actually got a chance to have a wander around this.

On to Dumbo and the queue was about 30 minutes. Emma got a little bored but was actually very good in the queue. It was a rather long wait for such a ride but we knew we would have to get used to it his week. The park did seem very busy.

Emma is a real mummy's girl so Sally took her on whilst I went in the elephant in front with Chloe. Perfect ride again for a 2 year old and apart from saying, "down, down" all the way round so that Sally didn't go up in the air she seemed to enjoy it. I wouldn't say it's a ride I would bother with without kids but it was perfect for us as a family on this occasion. Half hour was a bit of a steep wait for it though.

Afterwards we headed to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It was a pretty short wait for this one and it was the first time we realised just how few rids Sally could go on. Any of the rides that had a lap bar were posted as not suitable for expectant Mothers. As such Chloe, Emma and I went on this one without her. I have to say the ride didn't do a lot for me. Emma was fine on it though and declared that it was, "fun" when we got off. Sally parked herself on a bench and waited for us to return.

When we came off I looked across to the bench and Sally just seemed to be sitting really uncomfortably. I sped up to make sure she was Okay. As I moved closer and called her she moved with a start. Obviously the early start and the walking had taken effect as she had fallen asleep upright on the bench. As such we decided to head back to the hotel and check into our room.

We called into the Compass Club and were given our room key. We were allocated room 7189 and given directions to the lift and up to the 7th floor. As far as I'm aware all compass club rooms are on the 7th and 8th floors and centrally located in the hotel. Before heading up to the room we decided it would be rude not to take advantage of the afternoon snacks in the compass club. I think these were available from 16:30 to 18:00. There or thereabouts anyway. Basically the afternoon snacks consisted of mini bagels with different fillings and some cakes such as brownies, chocolate chip sponge and slightly different variations on each day. Hot and clod non alcoholic drinks were available from 12:00 until 22:30 each day and we would stock up a couple for the room and the parks the next day whenever we visited.

We had a small selection each as out dinner reservation was at Cape Cod for 18:00. I have to say these snacks were all lovely and a welcome little snack on returning to the hotel. unfortunately we didn't always have the time to get here when they were available.

On arrival at our room we were not disappointed. The room was lovely and the view, as expected, was beautiful overlooking the lake. There were two double beds and the room had a coffee machine, a kettle, a safe and an iron and ironing board. Our luggage had been delivered to the room as promised. We pretty much decided it was easiest to live out of the cases for 4 nights so never really checked out the storage space but there were three massive drawers under the TV.

Handily there was one English plug socket in the room. Less face it who carries enough adaptors for everything that needs charging these days. There were a few plug sockets. The only difficult I had was charging Apple products due to where the sockets were placed. If your are using a genuine Apple plug there wasn't enough room to plug in the wire.

This was our case for snacks. I have put my foot at the bottom to gibe an idea of size. This had everything in it including a few 2 litre bottles of water. It certainly set us up for our park visits. I reckon it weighed about 35kg and I struggled to get it in the boot of the car! The only downside was that it stayed on the floor and Emma soon worked out how to find her way into it!

Emma had a bit of a nap on the bed whilst we got freshened up ready for dinner. By now it was about 1700 and only an hour until our reservation at Cape Cod.

We made it down to the restaurant on time and was shown to a table by the window. I failed miserably in taking any pictures in here. I wold say that it was standard buffet fare really. A good selection of nuggets etc for Emma. Quite a small choice but every taste countered for adults I suppose. There was steak on there which I had some of but it was pretty chewy. Not a bad buffet at all but for 35Euros a head I think it was very steep. Probably just because I'm tight though

By about 19:00 we were on our way back over to the park as we wanted to have little look in the Disney Studios Park before the end of play. It was cold tonight but we had all wrapped up and had our thermals on.

As we walked in we headed to the left and just saw the end of the Starwars show. The lighting on the Hollywood Tower Hotel was amazing.

Having caught the last few minutes we hotfooted it over to Ratatouille. The standby queue was well over an hour but we planned to use our hotel fastpass. Using this our queue was only about 10 minutes. We were gutted to find that Sally couldn't ride this either. I was sure never to tell her she could ride anything until we got there and checked after this. Chloe, Emma and I headed on whilst Sally found a bench. A trend was definitely forming! I really like how this area felt. It really looks like some thought and effort has gone into it.

I really enjoyed this ride and thought it felt like a more sedate version of something like Spider-Man in Islands Of Adventure. Definitely more sedate as Emma was fine on it. She was actually transfixed by it from start to finish. I sat her next to me with one arm around her and the other just holding her 3D glasses in place. Probably effected my enjoyment and concentration but Emma and Chloe loved it. When we came off she went running to Sally shouting, "Emma, water in face". Sally said it was lovely to see how excited she was when she came out.

We headed over to Rock n Rollercoaster to find that the standby queue was only 10 minutes. Chloe and I headed on and it was pretty much a walk on. Had a brisk walk through the memorabilia and pre show.

I have to say that this quickly became my favourite ride in DLP. I am a bit of a roller coaster nut so it catered best to my tastes. I think it's about the only one that caters only for adults. It's a bit of a bone shaker but I really enjoyed the ride.

As we walked back towards the exit it was about 20:30 and the Star Wars show was on again but this time in French. The show is superb and I have to day, not being a star wars fan, the fact that it wasn't in English diminished the enjoyment very little!

We then took the cold walk back to the hotel. Sally had been an absolute trooper considering how long we had been up and the distances we had walked so we were all ready to retire to bed for the night. Alarms set early as the plan was to be up for breakfast around 07:00 so we could head into the park for EMH.

On the way we paid a flying visit to the Compass Club so that we could all have a drink before bed. I thought I deserved a pint to wash away the day too.

I have to say that the it had been a fantastic family day that had by far surpassed my expectations of the trip

[DizzyDisneyMum]

Wow, what a long day! I think I would have had a quick nap on the bench too Looking forward to day 2.

[Milpston]

Originally Posted by Jaybeez

Apart from the food it all sounds good so far. We have only travelled to DLP via the Eurotunnel and wouldn't travel any other way now.

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It was a lovely day. I don't think I would do it any other way either. The roads were so clear too. Nothing like the M25!

[Milpston]

Originally Posted by DizzyDisneyMum

Wow, what a long day! I think I would have had a quick nap on the bench too Looking forward to day 2.

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It was a really long day! It didn't look that comfortable to be honest

[kateh134]

Looks like you're all having a fab time. Looking forward to day 2!

[Joosebug1987]

Looking forward to day 2 and seeing your DLP review :-) x

[Milpston]

I'm slacking somewhat! Finally posted day 2