From Santa Fe to Santa's Sleigh: Day 1

[Gill H]

<<< Pre-trippie

(Apologies in advance for the lack of photos. However, do check out the video! Coming soon...)

So, the long-awaited day has dawned and we’re off to catch the Eurostar to DLP. But first we have to say goodbye to the newest addition to our household – our beautiful cat Spikey, who came to live with us in January. She’s a grand old lady of 17 and is deaf, but still has plenty of life in her, particularly in the wee small hours when she likes to sing loudly in the corridor! Our friend Jo is coming tonight to look after her and stay in the flat while we are away, and we hope Spikey won’t keep her awake!

As per usual, we are leaving the house earlier than necessary, because negotiating the Piccadilly Line with a suitcase in rush hour would be a challenge we really don’t need today. And so at 7.15 am we leave the house, jump on the bus and then take the tube to Kings Cross St Pancras, where we go in search of breakfast. Experience has taught us that the Kings Cross part has a better range of options, including Patisserie Valerie and Giraffe; and today we decide to try another of their eateries, the Parcel Yard. This is a Fuller’s pub/restaurant located next to the Platform 9¾ shop, and once inside it does fit rather well with the Harry Potter theme. It’s a Grade I listed building which was – unsurprisingly – formerly the station’s parcel yard. Although it’s upstairs, this is no problem with luggage as there is a lift. As well as a light and airy atrium it features an intriguing variety of little rooms off to either side. We already feel like we are in a film set.

As this will be our last hot breakfast for a few days, we treat ourselves to the full English, which arrives promptly and is delicious – particularly the black pudding. They need to give cookery lessons to the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley at Universal Studios, whose staff appear to think black pudding should be steamed!

Happily full, we pay and go back downstairs for a little mooch around the Platform 9¾ shop, which has expanded since we last visited. Understandably there is a lot of new merchandise tying in with ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them’ which uses the film’s gorgeous 1920s theming to great effect. However, we need to save our money for DLP, so we resist.

There’s just time to nip into Boots for some cold remedies to stave off the sniffles which are hanging around us both, and then we head for the Eurostar check-in. We have about an hour before the train leaves, but unfortunately security seems to take twice as long as usual to get through. We wonder whether the staff are being particularly thorough these days, which is no problem; but part of the delay seems to be caused by clueless travellers who haven’t the foggiest how to get through security. The woman in front of us is attempting to take through a cardboard carrier with two full Starbucks coffees, and has to be told at least five times by the staff that she can’t put them through the scanner. Also there aren’t enough trays for everyone’s belongings, and we have to scrabble to get one. And then for some reason I set off the bleeper and have to be thoroughly swiped and patted down by a stern and brusque woman who almost seems disappointed not to find anything.

Once we’re through to the passport queue, proceedings are held up again by Ms Starbucks-Lover who is told off again for bringing her coffees through, and directed to a separate passport queue. Seriously love, was it worth it? There’s a Café Nero through security, after all.

All this means that by the time we get through the passport queue and nip to the loo, the gate has already opened for boarding our train, so we follow the crowd straight up the ramp and find our carriage. Considering it’s a Wednesday in term time, the train seems unusually full, and we hope this doesn’t mean big crowds at DLP.

Our seats are surrounded by a large and very excited family comprising two parents, a grandmother, three boys, one girl and a baby. The children turn out to be reasonably quiet and well behaved for at least the first hour or so – or perhaps they are as tired as we are, because I think we all manage to have a little snooze for part of the journey at least. I nip to the buffet car for a couple of coffees and some French biscuits – sort of shortbread with little squares of caramel and chocolate in. Quite nice, although of course overpriced as all train food is!
 
Once we’ve finished these, we notice that the family around us are more awake now, and we get into conversation with them about the upcoming holiday and our experiences of DLP. The boys in particular are starting to get restless and annoy each other and their parents, so I decide to start a game of ‘Disney ABC’ to keep everyone occupied. I start with ‘I went to Disneyland Paris and I met … Aladdin’ and then Peter follows on with ‘I went to Disneyland Paris and I met … Aladdin and Baloo’. For most of the game it’s mainly us playing, but the children start to make suggestions and are particularly helpful with some of the tricky letters. (I’m not actually sure that you can ‘meet’ an X-wing fighter, but hey…)

We finally manage to get to the letter Z, and seem to have mostly stuck to characters you can actually see at DLP (thank goodness for Zazu hidden in the trees in Adventureland!) And by that point we’re only about 20 minutes away from the station, so manage to pass the rest of the journey discussing what our plans are for the day.

Once off the train we head out of the station and over to the bus stop. Now, usually I am an advocate for walking to the hotels rather than using the buses. However, on this occasion we’ve decided we want our first view of the Santa Fe to be the front entrance, rather than trying to find our way along the river. We’ve stayed at the Cheyenne before but not the Santa Fe, and though the walk is only a little longer, it’s one that we would prefer to do once we’ve checked in and sorted ourselves out.

Over the next 10 minutes, as we watch buses for the other hotels arrive and leave, we start to regret that decision. But eventually a Santa Fe bus pulls up and the small crowd squeezes on for the brief 5 minute drive round to the Hotel Santa Fe. Or as the neon sign above the entrance calls it – the Hotel Fe. The ‘Santa’ part is broken and doesn’t light up. I guess Santa is busy in the park! Sorry DLP, I do love you, but these are the kind of things you need to keep on top of!

[Gill H]

Our overall first impression of the Santa Fe, however, is ‘not as grim as we were expecting’. There are maps on the external wall showing an American road trip along Route 66, with stops such as Amarillo and Oklahoma (so lots of opportunities for singing!) Inside the lobby, there are some Christmas decorations and also some Mexican style theming which, while not lavish, is enough to give you something to look at while you queue. But first we need to go through security, where we’re scanned and patted down before being waved through. This is a new feature to us, but we understand why it’s necessary and frankly it’s not much to put up with for the sake of peace of mind.

Fortunately the queue to check in is fairly short. As always, though, the checking in process seems to take ages, and there are so many bits of paraphenalia to deal with – park tickets, hotel easy pass, meal vouchers, room key, hotel map, etc etc. However, one piece of paper is a nice surprise. We mention that we are celebrating my 50th birthday (a month early, but hey, if DLP can celebrate its 20th anniversary for 18 months, what the heck). The CM disappears for a moment and returns with a voucher for some freebies. This has happened to us before, and we know you can choose between options such as a free soft drink, hot drink or a free pin (no contest, the pin is worth way more!) But perhaps the CM is feeling particularly generous, because he writes something on the voucher and explains that we can buy anything from the DLP shops up to the value of 25 Euros. Seriously? That’s generous! What a lovely surprise.

Before we leave the check in desk we ask to book our meals for tonight and tomorrow. We had intended to eat at Billy Bob’s after watching Dreams tonight, but the CM says the last booking is 7.15 as it’s full for 8pm. He says not to worry, just go after Dreams and explain that we have been delayed. We also book Café Mickey for 6.15pm tomorrow.

This done, we go to find our room, which is only a short walk away. The accommodation blocks are fairly functional, but DLP have done their best to cheer them up a little with silhouettes around the top of the external walls, and some Cars-themed touches in the hallways and the rooms. While I can’t claim to be a huge fan of Cars, the theme works nicely in the room without being too overpowering – OK, so maybe lights in the shape of traffic cones are not exactly subtle! The bathroom is perhaps a little jazzy for adult eyes too, with the bright orange walls, the checkered flag design and most of all the mirror surrounded by lightbulbs! Fun theming, though, and kids would love it. The room itself is fine, nicely sized and the beds seem comfortable. And we are fortunate in that a kettle has been left in the room so we don’t need to hire one. We’ve brought some sachets of Kenco ‘2 in 1’ instant coffee with milk, and a couple of mugs, so we can have our morning coffee. Think I will need it before I can cope with the bathroom décor!

As we unpack we discover there are no toiletries in the bathroom, so we make a quick call to reception on our room phone, and we’re promised they will arrive before we’re back that evening. And so we grab what we’ll need for the rest of the day, and go to find our way to the parks.

We follow the signs to the nearest bridge (which we later discover was the wrong way, and takes us right to the top of the Cheyenne grounds, the furthest point from the parks). From there we follow the river down to the walkway past Lake Disney, and have our first experience of the bag check in the Village – fortunately at this time of day there’s no queue. Then on through the Village, making a note of all the Christmas stalls we need to check out later; then at last we are walking through Fantasia Gardens, then under the beautiful Disneyland Hotel and into our happy place. We both comment later that instead of feeling the usual rush of excitement, there is just a feeling of contentment – we’re back ‘home’ at last.

By the time we finally get into Disneyland Park it is 3.35 and it’s too late to get to the Frozen singalong show which we had intended to do first. So we start to think about getting something to eat – but are waylaid by the unusual sight of a very short queue outside Minnie’s boarding house, where Marie the cat from The Aristocats is doing a meet and greet. Now, Marie is a popular character, and not one we have met before, so this is an opportunity we shouldn’t miss. We join the queue and enjoy watching Marie play with the baubles on the Christmas tree in between meeting guests. She’s very cute and finds lots of fun things to do which remind us of our own lovely Spikey back at home. She pretends to head-bump the guests or lick their faces and nuzzle up to them, and the children really seem to love her. As is often the case at DLP, she spends a good amount of time with each guest, which means the queue moves really slowly. Then when there are about four families in front of us, the bell rings and Marie has to go for her break. Fortunately there isn’t long to wait, but when she returns – well, let’s just say she isn’t quite as active or as thorough as she was before! This does mean the queue moves a lot quicker though, and soon it’s our turn. I tell her that I know she plays the piano, and I do too, and suggest we all pretend to play, which makes for a fun photo.

[Gill H]

As we say goodbye to Marie we get the Photopass card from the photographer. We haven’t yet decided whether to buy the Photopass this time. Last time we were there 5 days and there were photographers at every meet and greet, even during EMH. We’re aware this isn’t the case any more, and with BTMR and Buzz Lightyear closed as well, we are questioning whether it’s worth buying the Photopass for such a short visit. Particularly as the price has shot up since we bought it in 2015. Even with Shareholder discount it sounds a bit much for us this time. However, we decide we will take the card and decide later what to do.

By now we are seriously hungry, as breakfast at Kings Cross was a loooong time ago. So we stop into what is perhaps the hidden gem of DLP’s quick service restaurants, the Lucky Nugget. We first discovered this place on our last trip, and although our burgers initially came out cold and we weren’t particularly impressed even with the hot ones, we liked the place itself very much. It’s a classic saloon straight out of the Wild West, beautifully themed. Although I’m guessing the Western saloons didn’t usually serve fish and chips! The big plus about this place is that once you have placed your order at the counter, you go and find a seat and then your food is brought to your table. Oh, and the soft drinks are refillable too. (All right, I know all drinks are refillable, but I mean the refills are free here, which is a rare treat!)

OK, so it’s a bit pricier than most counter service restaurants – our meals were 21.99 Euros for a main course, ice cream sundae and drink. But you can stay as long as you like. Which brings me to the other reason for visiting the Lucky Nugget – the entertainment. On our last visit we saw some great musicians, but since then they have introduced Woody themed puppet shows, interspersed with music from a pianist and some songs with a puppet (who looks rather like ‘Lucy’ from the musical Avenue Q – although this lady is called Goldie Diamond and her act is definitely suitable for all ages). A friendly master of ceremonies ties the show together in both English and French, and gets the crowd clapping along and joining in. I say crowd, but aside from us there are maybe 3 other tables of guests here at the moment.

Our food arrives – a cheeseburger and chips for Peter, fish and chips for me. Sorry, I forgot to take photos as we were so hungry! However, I am pleasantly surprised by how good the fish and chips are – hot, fresh and very tasty. We follow with a chocolate sundae for Peter and a caramel one for me, which are great.

Meanwhile we watch Goldie Diamond and join in with her ‘Bon Appetit’ song. Then the MC tries to teach us a ‘Hey Howdy Hey’ song, which I’m not sure we ever really got the hang of. Then there’s a piano player, after which we watch the Woody’s Roundup puppet show. Apart from the familiar opening theme and closing song, much of the show is in French, but it’s mostly action and very easy to follow what’s going on.

By the time we finish our sundaes and our second drinks, Goldie has come back and is starting her song again, so obviously the show repeats after a while. As we leave, we can see that the CMs are beginning to prepare the place for closing – it’s about 5pm now and this seems to be the last sitting for the evening.

Now, cast your minds back to when we booked tonight’s meal. We have a reservation for La Grange at Billy Bob’s at 7.15pm, but are intending to head there after Dreams and tell them we were delayed. However, I now realise that in our haste to head to the parks, I have left tonight’s dinner vouchers back in our room in the Santa Fe. Serious planning fail!

We discuss what to do. We don’t want to miss the tree lighting or Dreams, as tonight will be the quietest night for both. And we definitely wouldn’t have time to go back to the Santa Fe and then to La Grange, even if we could be bothered rushing there and back. We could pay out of pocket, but we’re planning on doing that tomorrow at Café Mickey. So we decide that the sensible solution is to eat at La Cantina, the Santa Fe restaurant, once we get back from the park. Sorry Billy Bob’s, you will have to wait till next time!

We’ve decided not to bother with the parade as we’ve seen it many times before, so instead we head to Phantom Manor which has no queue. This place is so atmospheric – I love the fact that even before you go in, it looks like something out of Scooby Doo. And I don’t know whether they have changed the lighting inside, or some of it isn’t working – but as we go through the ride, some areas seem much darker than before. This means that some of the details, such as the eyes in the wallpaper, stand out really well. As always, a great ride – probably my second favourite in DLP. (And if you don’t know my first, you’ll find out tomorrow!)

[Gill H]

As we come out of Frontierland we just catch the end of the parade from a spot on the corner of Main Street outside the Emporium. It’s such a good place we decide to stay there for the tree lighting which is happening at 6pm. OK, so it gets a bit crowded and we have to defend our spot with sharp elbows at times, but eventually the music strikes up and the float arrives bearing Mickey and his friends along with some singers and dancers. They give us a short medley of Christmas songs in both English and French. Peter and I have recently learned the French Christmas song ‘Petit Papa Noel’ (‘Little Father Christmas’) and we are probably the only Brits joining in with that one!

Then Santa joins them and the countdown starts for the tree lighting. The music strikes up and lights begin to appear on the tree in sequence, moving up and down with the music until the whole tree is covered with beautiful twinkly lights. I will admit that I preferred it when they used the slowed-down version of the ‘Magic Everywhere’ parade song to accompany this, and while we’re at it, I wish they would bring back a proper full rendition of the maddeningly catchy ‘Chante, C’est Noel’, too. But these are minor quibbles. It’s a lovely show, and as the magic snow starts to fall we all feel thoroughly festive.

We decide to make our way to the Hub, stopping off for a little browse in the Emporium on the way. We also have a look at the pin cart on the right hand side of Main Street, but don’t buy anything as the carts don’t give Shareholder Club discount. By 6.30 we are at the hub, and since it’s pretty quiet we find ourselves a good spot right in the middle. On our last visit we used the same tactic – do the show midweek when things are at their quietest – and it’s worked for us again. We don’t have a completely unobstructed view as there are people in front of us, but overall it’s pretty good, and for once no-one puts their kids on their shoulders right in front of us!

Check out my Vera Bradley 'Where's Mickey' ears, courtesy of the Dibb's own Robberiffic!

This is the first time we’ve seen Dreams of Christmas live, though we have seen the previous version and the current version on YouTube. I’ve read lots of opinions on this show, and I’ve never seen anyone who thinks it’s an improvement on regular Dreams. And despite the fact that I love all things Christmassy, I have to agree. Not that it’s a bad show - it’s a good mix of familiar characters, clips and songs with a few new additions like the ‘Wonderful Winter’s Night’ song. In fact much of the show is taken straight from the Christmas show at California Adventure, and having seen that version on YouTube also, I think DLP’s version is actually better. They aren’t using the water screens here, and to be honest I feel the show works better without them.

Opinions seem divided on the Toy Story ‘Nutcracker’ segment. Maybe it helps if, like me, you’re a big fan of Fantasia, which used some of the music to great effect. But unfortunately they’ve dropped my favourite segment – the Chinese Dance, where the Little Green Men recreate the ‘dancing mushrooms’ Fantasia scene. I’ve loved those mushrooms since I saw the film at four years old, and even have a pin of the little mushroom, Hop Low, which I got from a trade with a CM at Sequoia Lodge. So I was disappointed to see this has been cut. OK, it was probably only me who found it hilarious …

Still, we have some great tunes, including a hoedown version of the Cossack Dance and a Latin take on the Coffee Dance which are fun. And the rest of the show ties together images of snow and ice (including of course Elsa singing That Song) and some comedy moments from Olaf. Who gets to sing ‘In Summer’. Yes, I know it’s his big song, but it really doesn’t belong in this show! Also included is the song ‘Believe’ set to images of children in different countries, in the style of my favourite ride (have you guessed it yet?)

[Gill H]

Anyway, the show closes with a joyful gospel number and we boogie down Main Street, stopping to get some film of the lights and the tree on our way. As we exit and walk through Fantasia Gardens we spot another new addition – the illuminated fountains. A lovely little touch to brighten up an area which isn’t best appreciated in the dark.

We walk back through the Village, along the river and to our room at the Santa Fe where we drop our stuff, pick up our meal vouchers and go straight to La Cantina for dinner. Or at least, straight to the back of an enormous and barely moving queue outside the restaurant! We’re stood motionless for at least ten minutes, and to our frustration once we do start to move, the other queue moves much faster than us. It turns out that the CM on the till at the entrance to the restaurant is rather – well, let’s be kind and say thorough. Very thorough. Each party he’s checking in seems to take forever, even though practically everyone has dining vouchers. By the time we get in, we’re tired, hungry and very frazzled indeed. However, fortunately we manage to find a table fairly quickly, and Peter goes to the bar to get the one soft drink each which is included with our meal. He also asks for some tap water as we can see lots of people have jugs of water on the tables; but he’s told he can’t have any as they have run out of jugs at the moment.

Oh well, time to investigate the buffet. Now, if you’ve read our previous trippies you’ll know we appreciate the fine dining at DLP and like nothing better than a few hours in a quiet restaurant being served gourmet delights. However, this is a budget trip, and we are looking forward to trying out La Cantina, which we’ve heard good things about. And as it turns out, there is a decent spread of Tex Mex favourites here. The fajita station is particularly nice – you help yourself to tortillas and all the usual accompaniments, and the meat is fresh, hot and tasty. There are some nice desserts too, and plenty of choice so everyone can find something they like. We’re also pleased that La Cantina doesn’t have the high ceiling which Chuck Wagon over at the Cheyenne has, because that place was just too noisy for our tired nerves! La Cantina seems better laid out, and despite the crowds who came in with us, the restaurant doesn’t feel over-full. All in all, a decent buffet which we would be happy to eat at again.

After our meal we briefly check out the resort shop but didn’t get anything; we then decide to nip over to the garage just outside the Santa Fe, for some soft drinks for our room. We have also discovered that we forgot to bring toothpaste – another planning fail! Unfortunately by the time we find our way in, the owner is just about to close up for the night, but we have time to grab a couple of Cokes and some packets of mints – but no toothpaste. Practically everyone else in there seems to be Brits stocking up on supplies!

We stroll back, checking out the silhouettes around the top of the buildings in Santa Fe. They look nice in the dark!

Back in our room we’re delighted to find that the missing toiletries have arrived. We set a Mickey alarm call on our phone for 6am tomorrow, so we can be at breakfast for 7am and beat the crowds. After some brief channel-hopping on the TV we decide we are too tired to cope with the ever-perky Sophie and her ’10 things to know before you go’ but instead we happen upon some ‘Safety Smart’ cartoons with Timon and Pumbaa, which are fun. But it’s only a matter of minutes before we are turning out the lights and drifting off to dreamland after a wonderful first day.

>>> Day 2

INDEX

[Melanie R]

Great start Gill, only just spotted this, off to catch up on the rest of the trip

[jandlsmum]

What a lovely read thank you for sharing

[Hels80]

Off to read the rest! Thanks for sharing x

[clochette]

Can't believe I missed this when you first posted. A great day. I never thought of going to Kings Cross for breakfast - I will have to try that for our next trip. Off to read the rest of your report now.

[Cazzius]

What a jam packed day.

Breakfast in London and Dinner at Disneyland Paris!

Well done you for entertaining the children on the train with a Disney game. Quick thinking!

Does everything at Disneyland Paris close quite early? I may have messed up timings (highly likely) but from this it seems like everything closed around 7:30pm? Is this the case?

Phantom Manor is excellent at Disneyland Paris, when I first went (aged 10) there was only commentary in French but I think that may have changed now?

A shame about missing dinner at Billy Bobs, but as a TexMex fan I think your dinner in the cantina looks yummy.

Doesn't help now but sometimes a reception desk can help with toothpaste - our luggage didn't arrive when we did once and reception had some little kits that included toothpaste, toothbrush, even a (very basic) razor!

Christmas looks charming and the tree lighting ceremony sounds magical. I would love to visit at that time of year

Thank you for sharing in so much detail.