Small trip report

[Dutchdisneyfan]

We just got back from a few days Paris incl 2 days Disneyland.

The rules for us are fully vaccinated people can travel with the Pass Sanitaire (EU covid passport) but our teenagers only had one jab so they had to test before entering France.

Wednesday: Antigen test for the girls, testing is free in July and August. Within 30 minutes we got our result, negatieve 2x.

Thursday: Travelday, from our home it's a 5 hour drive (500KM) We had to enter France before 14.00 the deadline for the tests (24 hours). We entered at 11.30 ish no check at the border or anything. The teenagers were not impressed, they tested for nothing
Around 14.00 we arrived at the B&B hotel (next to the Explorers hotel). Our room wasn't ready yet so we started to walk to Disney village (35 minutes) So sad to see Santa Fe and Sequoia lodge still closed.
We passed New port Bay but were not allowed to walk through because we weren't guests (not yet).
In Disney village only half the shops were open. Luckily so was the starbucks.
We had an early dinner at Annette's diner, and all loved our different burger. Also our server was on rollerskates <3
We got the bus back to the hotel and got our stuff out of the car.
This hotel is fine, a bit basic but cheap and clean.

Friday: DLP day!
We had a quick (and free) breakfast at the hotel. This was also ok, nothing special.
After our breakfast we put our suitcases back in the car and had a very short drive to New Port Bay.
We would stay here for one night and have two days in the park. I did the online check in so everything was very quick and it was only 10 minutes before we had our magic pass.
Again no check for covid or the pass sanitaire.

At 8.30 we made our way to the Disneyland Park.
We had the bag check at the beginning of the Village (at the MacDo) and the check for the Covid App at the end of the village. We did stand in line for a few minutes to enter the park but the crowds were ok.

And then we where in <3 finally seeing a castle after May 2019. It was a lovely day almost no lines (10 minutes max) almost everything was walk on and we got to do the whole park (except big thunder) before 14.30.
We had lunch at the BBQ cook out, and it made us miss the fort (Wilderness) very much.

We changed park and again almost no lines. DH and DD got a standby pass (the only attraction offering this) for crush. They ended up waiting an extra 40 minutes for this. So not really standby...
The other DD and me went to the hotel and got our stuff from the car and settled in there.
We were joined an hour later by DH and DD.



Tired but still going strong we went back to the park and did a few more rides.
The park closed at 21.00 and we picked up some MacDo for in the room.

Look at my fitbit review from that day! I could hardly walk in the end

I will post more tomorrow

[Ilovedisney]

Nice to see a trip report. Hoping to go to DLRP next March if possible for DD birthday.
Look forward to reading more.

[Cath24601]

How did you find it wearing masks all the time other than when eating/drinking? It’s wearing them for that many hours at a time (and the lack of direct trains atm) that are putting us off, altho I like how quiet it looks!

[Dutchdisneyfan]

Time for a new update, my macbook did the same and this resulted in resetting the complete thing That's why I am a bit later then planned.

Saturday:
And second and final park day, we got up quite early (I was surprised by the teens!) and got ready, and packed our suitcases again (we would go back to the B&B again). After we used our coffee credits (4 pp per day) we had a quick walk to the car and put our stuff in the boot. And left the car in the parking to pick up later tonight.

We didn't have breakfast included with our stay and at 30 euro's a person didn't want to waist money and time in the hotel for this. So a quick Mac breakfastmuffin it was.

We walked to the park again and after all the checks we entered the park at 9.40. It did look a bit busier the the day before, but is was saterday so we expected it.

But again it was quiet. 5-10 minutes waits for the smaller rides and 20 minutes for the bigger ones. Except Indiana Jones, this was walk on both days.

Our pace was a lot slower then yesterday, we did everything we wanted and our muscles hurt form yesterday.
But still we did a few things in de Disneyland Park and dicisions were made about what to buy.
We had a lovely lunch at the earl of sandwich before entering the Studio's park. The wait for Ratatouille was 25 minutes but Toystory land was crazy (30-50 minutes) so we skipped the 3 rides there.
The shows there are all gone, and in the buildings there is the possibility to take selfies with the characters. But the teens didn't want to do that
Again we did all the rides (except Toystory) in de studio's. This park definitely needs all the updates coming and you can hear and see the work being done.

And back to the disneyland park we went. Had some diner at the hyperterion cafe, and it was surprisingly ok. The choice about where to eat was hard, most of the quick service restaurant already closed down for the day at 16.00!

We stayed until closing at 21.00 and walked back to New Port bay. We did buy a lovely statue in the giftshop and spend our last coffee credits.

A quick (4 minutes) drive back to the cheaper hotel where we checked in and showered and
Not quite as many steps as the day before, but still a lot.

[BevS97]

Sounds like a lovely break.
Was their an advantage to having one night in Newport Bay? Or did you just fancy a treat staying there?

[Dutchdisneyfan]

Sunday:

When we were planning this trip we wanted to go to Paris and do some sightseeing but with all the protests (against the pass sanitaire) we didn't feel happy to be there.

So we planned and prebooked to go to Versailles. Again just like Disney this was limited capacity and only you could only get in with the covid app.

It is a 50 minutes drive from Disney and parking is easy in front of the castle. And where quite impressed with all the gold

But then we saw the queue
This was crazy so many people, we had to wait 30 minutes after our (reserved) entry time. The castle and the art was beautiful but the amount of people in such small rooms was terrible. Also maybe not such a good idea to visit with an 13 and 14 year old. I think we broke a record and walked through the castle and a small piece of the gardens in 2 hours.
After the relaxing days at Disney this was a bit of a downer.

We had a lovely (but very expensive) break at a patiserrie in the street of the castle. And drove back to Disney.

The early evening was spend in the Disney Village and the girls were dying to have a french mac menu. Where we had a chat with some Americans (also clueless about the travelban).
And some more money was spend.

We where hoping to visit the new Marvel hotel but you aren't allowed in any Disney hotel it you aren't staying there, because of covid.

After an icecream we went back to the hotel and spend an hour or 2 using the wifi.

Monday:

Our final morning and travelday.
DH and I went downstairs to eat some breakfast together while the teenagers stayed in bed. We did bring them a croissant/drink/fruit to eat in bed.
Moved everything back in the car and made a quick stop at Val d'europe for some shopping. In the end we where to tired and after an hour went to the Auchon (supermarket) to buy some drinks/snacks for the drive home.

Luckily traffic was fine and arrived back home 5 hours and 15 minutes after leaving.

[Dutchdisneyfan]

Final thoughts

This trip was hard to plan and we booked it 3 weeks before, but after that the rules changed 3 times. But in the end we stuck to the plan and it paid off.
Disney was great but very bittersweet to see it like this.
Yes, the lack of queues was great but they need a lot more people to break even or make a profit. Half the hotels still closed and closed stores in the village.
It was kind a weird seeing it like this, but I am glad we went and got to experience this.

Again Disney handled the covid situation very good. Never seen so much sanitizer in my life, before you enter a queue, halfway the queue, at the beginning of the attraction and at the end of the attraction. And at every table, picknick, quick service a big bottle to use. The facemask situation was fine, 98% of the people was wearing it like you are supposed to. And the other 2% were being told off by cm's.

One thing I didn't really liked was that there was a vaccination centre in New Port Bay. And about 1/5 of the hotel parking lot was used as a queue for this. In the lobby we didn't see them but outside it was quite visible. It was a bit strangle walking past them with our suitcases.

Versailles was a different story not sure if there was a delay in entry and it was just unlucky but it didn't feel safe. Still was nice to visit and had a history lesson come to life for the girls

The pass sanitaire was only used to enter the Disney parks and Versailles, shops/restaurants/hotels didn't seem to care.
And all the paperwork we had to fill in each was never asked for.But you never know and could be fined it you didn't show it.

Food:
We did bring drinks and snacks from home and breakfast was included in our stay at B&B. So we didn't spend to much on food. The BBQ cook out (3 meals) was 44 euro's and Hyperterion cafe (3 kids meals and 1 adult) was 37 euro's.
Popcorn and icecream was a bit steep 5,95 for popcorn and 3,50 for an ice cream.

But look how cool! Better get use to those prices without the DDP in WDW But on the park days we spend about 100 euro a day for food/snacks.

We did a split stay because we love the ease of walking to your hotel from the park, and got the use the early morning magic (but that's not great just a few rides). But don't want to spend 500 euro's a night for this. So one night and 2 days park entry was 780 euro and the B&B hotels was 110 euro incl breakfast a night. It was fine, and I think we will do this again next time. But only now that the girls are bigger and can help with the luggage.

[Dutchdisneyfan]

Originally Posted by Cath24601

How did you find it wearing masks all the time other than when eating/drinking? It’s wearing them for that many hours at a time (and the lack of direct trains atm) that are putting us off, altho I like how quiet it looks!

See more...

When we went it was 24 Celcius and it was ok, we got used to it very quick. You can take it off for a sip of water, or when you sit at a table.
Even the smaller children seem ok.
But we did say to each other we are happy we didn't had to do this in Florida. That would have been terrible.
Oh and one teenager got a few extra spots on her chin.
We had disposable ones and used 2 a day each.
I ordered lots from aliexpress last year.

[Cath24601]

Thanks for the reply Yeah, I think disposables would be the way forward - I wear mostly fabric ones here but they can get quite warm! Sounds like you had a good time

[BevS97]

Sounds like a good break.
It makes sense to move away when you are heading to Paris or Versailles.

Thanks for sharing