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Old 17 May 16, 11:07 AM  
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The Very Last Minute "Fit of Pique" Report - DLP May 2016

Index is here.

The Cast

Me, 46, recovering from a second course of chemotherapy, following surgery and chemo in 2015, hoping to have enough staying power to go the distance. Disney fan. Love a detailed plan. Love food, but unfortunately can't eat as much as I once could, and some things taste weird. Hoping wine will taste like wine again by the time we go. DLP veteran and three trips to WDW.

DH, 59, lets me get on with the planning and goes with the flow. Can get irritated with crowds and rude people, if he tells me he’s “not feeling the magic”, I know we’ve pushed it too far. Loves food and beer. DLP veteran and one trip to WDW.

DS, 7, very excited, loves Disney, but a little nervous of the big coasters. I blame myself for letting him go on BTMR at DLP aged 3 (he was tall enough and begged to be able to do it, despite warnings that it was fast, in the dark and scary). He spent the whole ride hiding in DH’s coat and came off saying “I am never going on the scary train again!” Loved Gringotts and Forbidden Journey when we were in WDW last year, but still wouldnt go on BTMR, or Splash, or Space. Loves food and will try anything. DLP veteran and one trip to WDW.

We are DLP veterans, with around 10 trips in total and 4 last year (we had APs this year) and we had our first visit as a family to WDW and Universal last autumn.

Link to my WDW Second Time Lucky Trip Report is here.

Trip Title

"Fit of pique" is a well used phrase in my family. We use it for any impulsive purchase bought while feeling a bit p'd off. My mum will quite often buy new clothes in a "fit of pique" and then return them a week later. My biggest "fit of pique" purchase was a very expensive dining table and chairs bought a few years ago after getting some bad news.

When we returned from WDW last year I was getting some twinges in my shoulder and side which I put down to the "bl**y mine train". Unfortunately I had a review with my consultant a couple of weeks after we got back and found out the dreaded cancer was back. I started another round of chemo in February, which totally wrecked my bone marrow and had to have some emergency hospital admissions and platelet transfusions. This meant we missed a trip to Iceland to see the Northern Lights which I was gutted about. I persevered with the chemo which seemed to be working quite well. We squeezed in a short break to Rome in the Easter hols which was great. Unfortunately the chemo has stopped working and the cancer is progressing again. So I've got 6-8 weeks off treatment before starting yet more chemo. Hence the "fit of pique".

We hadn't made any plans for the May half term, other than three days of sports club for DS as I thought I would still be having the chemo I started in Feb and would therefore not feel up to doing much. Every cloud has a silver lining though, and I will actually be feeling OK at half term. So I had a bit of a trawl through the DLP sites (UK, Ireland, France, Spain, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands) and the Netherlands site were offering 25% off and free half board for the UK half term.

So I booked it in a "fit of pique" with about 10 days to go before we travel, added Buffalo Bill and we are off for 3 nights / 4 days, including HB, for 1300 Euros, which is about £1,050.

What we booked

3 nights/4 days including free HB (plus) from Friday to Monday at the Sequoia Lodge, our hotel of choice at DLP. Sadly no Golden Forest rooms available, as we'd have preferred this, so we will be "slumming it" in the main breakfast room, watching open mouthed as people set up their sandwich production lines, or pile their plates with enough food to feed the 5,000 and then leave it uneaten on their tables, (I've got a real thing about food waste, which probably came through in my WDW trip report too).

Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show for the Saturday night. 6.30 pm, standard seating. We've sat in the more expensive seats before when that was all that was available, but tbh we didn't find the view that much better. Probably the only perk was that they refilled our drinks more often.

Eurotunnel crossing on the Thursday night and an overnight at the Ibis Styles in the beautiful French town of Bethune, about an hour from Calais. Sorry, that was a bit of sarcasm creeping in there. Bethune is a mining town, and it's most visible feature from the motorway is the enormous slag heaps dotted around the town. However it's conveniently close to the motorway and is only for sleeping / breakfast. We travel to France a lot, and use the Accor hotels, so we used Accor points for this booking.

We've also booked a table for dinner at the Silver Spur Steakhouse on the Friday night. We wanted to book Chez Remy (well DS did, as he loves the ratatouille) for the Sunday night, but it's only open until 5 pm which is a bit early for us. We are thinking we'll take pot luck when we arrive on Friday and just see what's available for Sunday. We don't normally book ahead unless it's a really peak time like Christmas/New Year. There's always Annette's as a fall back.

Our Itinerary

We will not be making a detailed plan. Those of you that followed our WDW trip in my Second Time Lucky report have probably just fallen off your chairs in shock. Because we have been to DLP so many times, we will just go with the flow.

Due to my lung surgery, abdominal surgery, chemo, fatigue, pain etc etc etc I find walking and standing particularly can be difficult, so we will have a letter from my doctor and will get a DAS card. Last time we got a green one to go with our annual pass, so hoping they will do this again, but even with an orange one which technically only allows one companion, they tend to add one child as an exception. So first stop will be City Hall. I may also have to abandon DH and DS to go back to hotel for a rest in the afternoons, we'll play it by ear. I tend to have a lot of sitting down time while they go off and do stuff like Alice's Labyrinth. I think the DAS system in WDW is much fairer than in Paris, as you still have to wait, just not in the line. Paris seems pretty unfair to me, as effectively you just jump the queue, but I'm not going to apologise for using the system as it is designed, I didn't design it.

Star Tours is closed while we are there. So is BTMR (but DS is not at all disappointed, as he still refuses to go on it). Unfortunately it looks like two of our favourite QS places are closed too, Hakuna Matata and the Cowboy Cookout BBQ, so we'll be trying some different places for lunch.

We'll probably make the most of the morning EMH to get into the Disneyland park early, and we'll try to get to the Studios for opening at least once.

Edited at 11:09 AM.
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Old 17 May 16, 11:55 AM  
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princess allie
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Sounds like a great plan x
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Old 20 May 16, 08:17 PM  
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Sounds like a great trip and I love the 'fit of pique' description! Have subscribed to your index so I can follow along.
Sorry to hear about your health news - hope you're feeling well enough to enjoy the trip x
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Old 21 May 16, 03:41 PM  
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Sounds like a great & well deserved trip to me.

Look forward to reading about your trip, hope you have plenty of energy to enjoy it xx
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Old 23 May 16, 11:20 AM  
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Will be following as plan to go may half term 2017. Have fun and jump some queues.
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Old 17 Jul 16, 09:55 PM  
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Following your adventures. Good on you for booking! Sounds like a much needed holiday.
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