A Christmas wish come true

[Guest]

With just 20 days to go until we kick start the festive season with a super special DLP trip, I thought it was about time I got the pre-trippie on the go! I've actually only just finished the trippie from our December 2014 extravaganza (links here if you want to read!) and now it's almost time to go back again - hurray!

We've got some lovely things planned this time around and usual I will be taking notes and lots of pictures so I can share with all you lovely Dibbers when we get home.

So let's get on with it then (forgive me for recycling the 'Cast' section from last time)!

The Cast

I’m Katie and I’m the planner of the family. I have been visiting Disney Parks since I was little and I’m seriously addicted. I just feel so happy when I get to go and play all day in beautiful surroundings with my most favourite people. I seriously love Disney.



I’ve visited Disneyland Paris more times than I can remember since it opened – I’m estimating but I think this will be around trip 18 or so! I’ve also been to Disney World several times, most recently in 2011 for our HONEYMOON and in 2013 for a much needed return to the magic. Our 2013 trip was incredible as we timed it just right to see both Halloween AND Christmas in the parks and it just blew my mind. We will definitely return over that fortnight again in the future.





I'll actually be back in Florida this December (just 3 weeks after my return from DLP!) but on a bit of a different trip - I'm going as a volunteer on a charity trip for children with terminal or life limiting illnesses and will be there on hand to make things extra magical for them and just make sure everything runs smoothly. I really can't wait for this and I will be blogging the whole thing so I can share when I get back. I feel so lucky to be part of this amazing thing and I'm going to do everything I can to make it perfect for the families.



Next up is my husband Alan. Alan didn’t grow up on Disney like me, but he is now a firm convert (seriously, he listens to podcasts and everything!).



His first Disney Parks trip was a quick 1 day visit to DLP in 2005. He was very sceptical and really only went to keep me happy (we were in Paris and I pouted until he said we could go to Disney). I took him to Cafe Mickey for tea where he met his childhood hero Captain Hook. From that minute he was hooked!



I totally loved showing him around a place I loved so much and he’s subsequently been back to DLP a further 4 times and absolutely loves it. Obviously he was also there for Honeymoon at WDW in 2011 and the return to the magic trip in 2013! The last time we were at DLP was in December 2014 for 5 magical days when we introduced his Mum to the magic of Disney for the first time.



It was a truly brilliant trip and we made so many happy memories together. We weren't sure if we'd make it to Disney this year as we moved house but we knew we really wanted to keep up our streak of going to Disney every year (we've not missed a year for the last 6 years and intend to keep it up!) so we decided we would just try and do it as cheaply as possible. That was until the Expedia sale which brings me on to the next section of the pre-trippie...

[Guest]

The Trip

So once we'd decided to go, I started fishing around for prices looking for the cheapest option I could find (but on site because, well it's on site sooo...).

On my search, I happened upon the Expedia sale. I am usually a massive advocate of booking directly with Disney but I couldn't ignore the 50% off deals I found and then I stumbled across the holy grail - a 50% off deal at the Disneyland Hotel!

I should say here that I have ALWAYS dreamed about staying in the pink palace - it's just so perfect and beautiful. I never ever thought I would get to stay there though as the price has always been a massive barrier. It really is the dream though.



I clicked the Expedia link not expecting anything affordable to come up when up popped a price for 4 nights/5 days in the first week of the Christmas season (which we LOVE) at £50% off. It was more than we had intended to spend but I couldn't argue that it was an excellent price for DLH. And when I compared it to the prices I was getting for the other Disney hotels it was easy to convince myself that it wasn't THAT much more and that I probably wouldn't see it that cheap again. I spoke to Alan about it and he said book it - you've always wanted to stay there, this is our chance. A quick google later and logged back onto Expedia armed with a discount code for an additional 10% off and our 2015 trip was born.

The deal I found was for Mon - Fri but I really really REALLY wanted to do the Sunday brunch at Inventions. It was really easy to convince Alan that flying out the day before and staying 1 night off site so that we could do Inventions and make the absolute most out of our park days was a good idea - I think at this stage he was just like do whatever you like! So that's what we're doing - we're flying out super early on the Sunday morning, arriving in time for brunch at Inventions and staying that night at the Relais Spa Chessy at Val d'Europe. Then we'll be up bright and early to check in at the DISNEYLAND HOTEL first thing on the Monday morning. We also managed to get a late evening flight home on the Friday so we are making the absolute most out of our park days which makes me a very happy bunny.

I'm a little nervous about not having booked directly through Disney but at the price we got I couldn't turn it down and now I'm going on my dream DLP trip - Disneyland Hotel at Christmas time!

Plans

So obviously we fly out on the Sunday morning super early. I've yet to decide how we are getting from the airport as I think we will miss the TGV or have to wait 2 hours so we may just get the RER even though it takes longer. Yet to decide. That first day I plan on us dropping our stuff off at the Relais Spa if we have time and then heading straight over to the Disneyland Hotel for brunch at 1pm. I am so excited for this, I just can't wait!

I plan on staying at Inventions for quite a while and taking our time over the delights there. In the afternoon we will have a look around Disney Village, maybe go for a couple of drinks at other hotels or something - we'll just see how we feel. Thinking of either Earl's or somewhere at Val d'europe for tea (since we never stay out there so it will be something different for us!) and maybe a quick dip in the pool as it looks lovely.

We'll be up bright and early on Monday and straight over to DLH our new home for the next few days (eep!). Then we will hit the parks!

I've booked us a couple of meals so far but I'm debating booking a couple more. So far I've booked Walt's for the Wednesday as it's Armistice Day and I think the parks will be a bit busier so I thought we might be glad of a nice sit down and a good meal on that day. I've also booked Plaza Gardens for around 2pm on our last day so we can fill up before we have to leave to go home (boo) at around 6pm. I'm also debating booking Blue lagoon for the Monday (our first night actually at Disney) and I'm debating Bistrot Chez Remy just because we loved it last time. Budget may get the better of me on these though so it kind of depends on how much cash there is in my terramundi when I crack it open in the next couple of weeks!

Other than that our plan is to just soak up as much festive atmosphere as we can as we just love it. We absolutely loved being at DLP last year with Alan's Mum but we are looking forward to a trip just the 2 of us this time around especially since we are staying in such a beautiful romantic place. I'm looking forward to just enjoying the hotel (lots of hot chocolates at Cafe Fantasia) in the knowledge that we actually LIVE there (at least for a few days). We may never get to stay at DLH again so we plan to savour every moment (and take lots of pics!) - it really is a dream come true.

So that's where I'm at so far and the reason the trippie is called 'A Christmas' wish come true - it really is.

[Guest]

So we're now just 5 days to go and I am super excited! This week can;t pass quickly enough and I am really not feeling work this week as I just keep thinking what I'll be doing in a few days!

I've now booked Blue Lagoon as well as Walt's, Plaza Gardens and Inventions brunch so I'm very excited and optimistic about our dining options! I'm still debating a return to Bistrot Chez Remy but we will see how the cash flow is going when we're there - might save it for next time.

We cracked open our terramundi a few days ago and we were delighted to find £408 in there - we only started in at the end of June! So that's given us some extra pennies to spend while we're there - I'm off to swap them for euros at lunch time

I emailed DLH yesterday to make a room request - I know they probably won't be able to help and to be honest I don't mind at all I'm just happy to be staying there! Thought it was worth an email though so I've requested one of the King rooms rather than one with 2 queen beds. I know I'll be happy whatever room we get though!

I've started to put a few things aside to pack but I think Saturday will be the big packing day as we seem to have loads on this week.

I'm worrying about the fog at the moment as it's been super foggy here for around a week and a lot of flights have been cancelled or delayed. It's due to rain though so fingers crossed that clears it before Sunday! We have our Inventions brunch ressies at 1pm on Sunday so I REALLY don't want any flight delays (or worse cancellations!). So fingers crossed tightly for the fog to pack up and clear off!

Other than that I think I'm pretty prepared. We are so looking forward to just chilling out and not rushing around as much. We really want to enjoy DLH so there will be lots of hot chocolates in Cafe Fantasia and sitting comfortably on those big squishy sofas! Bliss!

[candycat75]

Sounds great, I'm so jealous of you staying at the disneyland hotel!

[Guest]

Originally Posted by candycat75

Sounds great, I'm so jealous of you staying at the disneyland hotel!

See more...

I never thought we'd get to stay there but with the Expedia sale price it seemed rude not to! We had been planning to stay at Sequoia Lodge but it ended up being about £150 more for DLH and so we decided to splash out (one time only!) and go for it as it's a dream to stay there!

[dozy]

sounds amazing