Just Can't Wait to be King of the Swingers! DLP Sep 2019: Day 3

[Gill H]

<<<Day 2


So we woke on our second morning at the Ibis. We weren’t having breakfast there today, though, as we’d decided to have something light elsewhere. Our character lunch was booked for 11am so we wanted to make sure we were hungry!

Once out of the hotel, Peter decided it was a bit nippy so popped back for his sweatshirt. We’d dressed appropriately – my blouse had a vaguely Animal Kingdom Africa vibe, and his polo shirt had paisley swirls on for the India theme.

Just around the corner was a local bakery and cafe, Maison Marteau, which we’d read good reports of. So we headed in and ordered their breakfast deal – a croissant each with butter and jam, orange juice and coffee.

Yet again our attempts at French must have got mangled somewhere, because it ended up costing a little more than we expected. I think we got a bigger coffee than is usual with the deal. Anyway, it also came with a small sugared pastry ‘croque’ which was a nice touch.

To be honest I think this cost us only a few Euros less than the full buffet breakfast at the hotel would have done, but the croissants were really good. They also had some delicious looking cakes and patisserie, which I would have made a point of trying if we had ever been around at the right time – but alas, we never were.

Anyway, we were soon walking into the Studios for Extra Magic Time. It was really crowded today, you could tell it was a Saturday. Our Number 1 Rule of DLP is ‘never go on a weekend’, but sometimes rules have to be broken!

It didn’t help that so much is closed in the Studios now. At least they have made an effort by painting lots of characters on the hoardings, and it was fun to spot some as we walked past. We noticed that Crush’s Coaster already had an hour-long queue, so headed straight down to Ratatouille.

There was better news here, as the queue time was 15 minutes, so for the first time ever we went through the entire queue line. Usually we get FPs or do single rider, but today there was no need, so we could really appreciate the detail that has gone into the theming of this ride, even in the queue line.

We loved the billboard advertising Anton Ego’s newspaper column, and the various adverts for Chef Gusteau’s microwaveable ‘world cuisine’ products.

Of course the ride was as fun as ever, so we went back and did it again with single rider. Then Peter went on RC Racer as there was virtually no queue; meanwhile I logged into the Lineberty app once the time window opened, and for once I could have got a meet, but not till 10.30 am, which would have been too late as we needed to be in Disneyland Park by then. So we finished up our time in the Studios with a spin on Slinky Dog. I’m always surprised how quickly this ride goes round. OK, it’s still tamer than the Orlando version, but it does throw you around a little.

And now it was time to head to Disneyland Park, for our Lion King Festival-filled day. As we walked through Fantasia Gardens ‘True Love’s Kiss’ from Enchanted was playing, so of course we both burst into song. Hey, it’s Disney, no-one bats an eyelid. And once through the gardens we went straight to Salon Mickey for the first time on this trip. For those who don’t know, Salon Mickey is a little lounge for the use of members of the Shareholder Club (now just called ‘The Club’) and their guests. As we approached the door, a lady asked us something in French, and we eventually worked out she was asking if we would let her in as our guest. Er, nope, sorry! She was evidently asking everyone who came to the door. Bit cheeky really!

When I say Salon Mickey is ‘little’, I mean it. There are two sofas and a couple of small tables with chairs around them. Normally this is fine as there’s usually only a few people in there, but not today. It was absolutely packed! Never seen it like that before. We did eventually get to sit down and have our coffee, but it wasn’t the relaxing haven of peace we normally experience.

The best thing about Salon Mickey, though, is that when you’ve finished you are escorted out of the door and you’re in the park. No turnstiles, no queuing, straight in. It’s a small thing but it does feel very special.

[Gill H]

We strolled up Discovery Arcade, crossed Main Street and went through the Adventureland gate, making our way to Restaurant Hakuna Matata. We were a good 20 minutes early for our meal, but we didn’t want to do any rides at the moment, so instead we checked in with a CM who was looking after guests who had the special package, and then sat outside the restaurant to wait.

Soon we were joined by a chap called Andy from Bangor, Northern Ireland (as opposed to Bangor in Wales) and we chatted with him a little. We were then joined by a couple from the US called Cheryl and Paul, who ran a travel agency specialising in Disney called ‘Making the Magic Happen’. I have no personal experience of the agency but they were lovely people, so here’s a shout out for them!

One of the things we chatted about – and even gave them a badge for - was the podcast we had recently become involved in, “The Great British Mickey Waffle”. We’re a random bunch of Disney fans from various parts of the UK, and as I write we’ve recently celebrated our first birthday as a podcast. We even have our own section on the Dibb forums! If you haven’t heard us before, do give us a listen – available wherever you get your podcasts from. And if you’re going on a Disney trip, celebrating a birthday or anniversary, or just want a shout out, do get in touch with us. Advert over, now returning you to your regularly scheduled trip report…

Soon the restaurant opened and we trooped in. We had already explained to the CM outside that as Peter is allergic to bananas and plantain, the meal would need to be modified. He had made a note of it, but then told us to tell the CM inside. Which we did. She said to tell the person taking our order. Which we did. And in fact we had to tell several other CMs as well, as no-one seemed to know what on earth to do with the information. It was such a palaver and took a good 10 minutes to sort out. Eventually, though, we were given our food and went to find seats in the ‘Timon’ side of the restaurant where the character meal was.

The meal consisted of meatballs, a chicken dish, prawns, coconut rice and fried plantain (for me – there was no alternative for Peter, not even extra helpings of anything else). It was pretty tasty, though not particularly hot by the time we sat down.

The side salad featured beans and nuts with a peanut dressing, and was nicely refreshing.

Peter had a Coke with this and I had a bottle of water, purely for the snazzy Lion King label on the bottle.

During the meal, Rafiki and Mickey in his explorer outfit both came round several times. I have to say, the character interaction was superb and we had great fun with them.

Once we’d finished our meal we went up to collect our dessert. For me, this was the special dessert offered with the meal – a green swirl of banana and coconut flavoured ice cream in a cone, with a rather scared-looking chocolate Simba sticking out it. It was quite nice but definitely one for the Instagrammers – nicer to look at than eat!

Peter had to make do with an almond mini Magnum bar. I understand that the restaurant were only offering a very limited menu for this meal, but I do think they could have been a little more creative in their offerings – maybe offered some fresh fruit as an alternative, for example.

But to be honest the main draw of this meal was the characters. The cost of the meal would have been 39 Euros if we had booked it separately, which is incredibly expensive for what was really a counter service meal. But as part of the package, it was worth doing for a reasonably good meal with some unusual offerings, and excellent character interaction.

[Gill H]

Once we had finished our meal we wandered over to what is now called the Frontierland Theatre, which had been completely rebuilt since it was the Chaparral Theatre, and was now hosting the show “The Lion King: Rhythms of the Pride Lands”. As we approached the theatre we could see the queue snaking way back through Frontierland – we were told that it was currently over a two-hour wait and that this was fairly typical. We were so glad we had bought the package, particularly as it was now very hot once again. First we had a quick photo in front of the Simba and Nala topiary.

With about 20 minutes to the next show, we checked in and went to sit in a shaded area, where we again met Cheryl and Paul and chatted with them a little. Soon we were ushered in to the theatre, which had been beautifully done. Gone were those horrible pillars that blocked people’s view, and instead we found ourselves in an impressive space, being directed to our VIP seats in the front row.

Just before the show started, a couple of CMs came on stage to make some announcements. One of them asked us not to clap, but to wave our hands instead (in the same way you demonstrate applause in sign language). There had been some news stories recently where a Student Union had asked audiences at various events to wave their hands instead of clapping, to avoid causing distress to those with autism or sensory issues, and I wondered if perhaps there was a group of guests with special needs at the show and they had asked for this. We dutifully waved our hands – but within a few minutes, the CMs were back on stage counting down to the opening of the show and getting people to clap along with the rhythm! So I really don’t know what the point of the jazz hands was at all.

I won’t go into too much detail about the show, because it’s on again this year and I don’t want to spoil it for anyone. However, I do need to state that this is not like any other version of the show you’ve seen. It’s nothing like the version at Animal Kingdom, nor the show that ran at DLP some years ago. Neither does it resemble the long-running stage show. Instead it is something completely different – using the familiar music but also incorporating some of the numbers from the stage show. It is truly unique, and well worth checking out. DLP have generously streamed it on YouTube if you want to search for it - try looking for “Disneyland Paris Watch Parties – The Lion King: Rhythms of the Pride Lands”. But do bear in mind, nothing can compare to actually being there to see the show live.

Once we emerged from the theatre, we had about half an hour before our djembe drumming show was due, so we went to get a drink and came back. The show was just opposite the Frontierland theatre, and consisted of four African drummers, joined at one point by Rafiki who did a little dance!

The drummers were really good and engaged the audience well, even getting a couple of people up at one point. However, this was marketed as a ‘drum session’ which might have given the impression you would get a try at drumming yourself. In fact this wasn’t the case, it was definitely a show – but fun nevertheless.

Then we meandered over to Hub – where of course Jungle Book Jive was happening, as it always seemed to be when we wanted to get somewhere! We didn’t stop to watch this time though, but instead went through to Fantasyland.

We were early for the meet with Minnie, which we had managed to book on Lineberty. We’d used it to book the drumming show earlier also. I know people are not fond of Lineberty, as usually by the time you manage to log in, all the meets are booked up in seconds – but I have to say that for the package it was easy to book with, probably because there were a very limited number of people booking through it. However, our experience of actually using the app at the meet was a bit less positive…

Minnie’s meet was in the theatre usually used for ‘Meet Mickey’ – which was also still going on. Instead of entering though the main door, there was a separate door to the side for Minnie’s meet. Although we knew we were early, we did ask if it was possible to join the queue, but were told we should come back at the time indicated. This was a little tricky because it was showing ’10 people’ which we assumed meant 10 people in front of you – or maybe 10 groups? It really wasn’t clear, and as we watched, we saw lots of other people having the same problem. The poor CMs couldn’t tell them what time to come back, and were having to deal with being grumped at in an assortment of different languages.

Anyway, we decided to sit outside Toad Hall and wait in the shade – the restaurant was closed so no problem sitting there. Eventually it got to the time we had booked, but we still had to wait a good while – the system really does need tweaking. We met Andy again though, and gave him a pin badge for the Great British Mickey Waffle as we’d given Cheryl and Paul, so the wait wasn’t too bad. Once we got in, though, the meet was great and Minnie’s costume was very cute.

[Gill H]

By now we were very hot and my feet were aching badly, so we decided to try the milkshakes at Victoria’s Homestyle Restaurant. We had loved sitting in this quaint little place on our last visit.

However, it seemed that today everyone else had the same idea. Every table was full, though we couldn’t see food or drinks in front of any of them. The outside area was closed off so we couldn't sit there either.

There was quite a queue outside, which we joined, and every few minutes a CM would come out and say that they were closing, and everyone behind us would have to leave. But no-one put a sign out or any indication that this was the case, and so for the next 30 minutes or so, we had to explain to everyone who tried to join the queue behind us that the restaurant was closing and they wouldn’t be served. Of course, no-one believed us and most people were pretty huffy about it. We were only trying to save them the bother of waiting!

Meanwhile the parade started up, and everyone in the restaurant left their tables to look through the windows. We couldn’t shake the suspicion that some of them had only come in there to see the parade in the cool. By the time we got in, people who had been sat at their table for over half an hour were only just getting their milkshakes. I don’t know why the service was so slow, but obviously Victoria’s needs more staff!

Once seated, it was another 10 minutes before someone took our order, and 20 minutes or more before we were served. It was only because I was so hot and frazzled and my feet were hurting so much, that I didn’t walk out of there. Eventually our milkshakes arrived – a strawberry one for me and a cookies and cream one for Peter. They had sold out of the speciality Simba and Pumbaa ones (although frankly, the idea of a Pumbaa milkshake is slightly disturbing…)

The milkshakes were nice but definitely not worth the trouble, or indeed the cost. I do love Victoria’s but will only go when it’s quiet in there from now on.

I was seriously grumpy now as well as hot, not just because of the wait but because of the bad experience. We had a look in the Main Street shops and I bought some biscuits for work, and we used our gift vouchers for a fridge magnet and a pin, and a baseball cap for Peter.

[Gill H]

We left the park and went to sit on a bench near the Disneyland Hotel in the shade. By now my feet were seriously hurting, and I was totally fed up, so we decided to go back to the hotel for a rest. Even then it took a while, as we had to wait 20 minutes for an RER.

However, a good rest, a cold drink and a shower restored our equilibrium, and eventually we were ready to go out for our evening meal.

In contrast to last night’s brasserie visit, tonight we were going to a local burger place called Alfred Burger. This was a small place selling burgers and chips – think Five Guys. They didn’t open until 7pm and the queue was already out of the door when we arrived, but moved quite fast.

The burgers were freshly made and had a good variety of offerings. The menu board below shows the 'burger of the month' - get your Google Translate working on this one!

I had a ‘classique’ which was a beef burger with cantal cheese, caramelised onions, chives and the house sauce. It came with a generous portion of frites which were fresh and tasty, and a cold drink. (This picture was actually Peter's but the burgers looked pretty much the same!

Peter went for the barbecue burger, which had a different cheese (tomme de savoie), smoked pulled pork with barbecue sauce, and tarragon.

Just to reassure my readers, they did also offer just a plain burger with ketchup, and also chicken, salmon and veggie offerings, as well as chicken nuggets. This being France, wine and beer were also offered, but we stuck to Cokes. And although there was ice cream available for dessert, we were too full and decided to wander home instead.

Back at the hotel, we found something called ‘Secret Chanson’ (Secret Song) was on TV but there didn’t seem to be much singing. We soon fell asleep - but not before booking Restaurant des Stars for 3.30 tomorrow so we could have a decent late lunch before the train.

It had been one heck of a day – mostly good, in fact all the Lion King package stuff was great and we were glad we’d bought it. But we were also glad to put our aching feet up and get some rest that night.

Join me tomorrow for our last day, when I finally get on my favourite ride!

Day 4

INDEX

[BevS97]

I’m enjoying your report. We have never stayed offsite further than the hotels on the ring road.

How do you find the train? Can you buy a weeks ticket. Or is it by the trip? Just wondering if it adds much to the cost as there would be 4 of us.

[Gill H]

Originally Posted by BevS97

I’m enjoying your report. We have never stayed offsite further than the hotels on the ring road.

How do you find the train? Can you buy a weeks ticket. Or is it by the trip? Just wondering if it adds much to the cost as there would be 4 of us.

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We've never stayed at the hotels with a shuttle bus, as I don't want to be dependent on buses. RER runs every couple of minutes and is so much more pleasant than being squeezed onto a bus. I've often left the park at closing time, and 15 minutes later been in my hotel room.

A 1-way ticket is about 1.95 Euros. I don't think you can buy a return but you can buy a 'carnet' a pack of 10 tickets, slightly cheaper. So yes, with 4 of you it would add up - but then some of the hotels are much cheaper.

Alternatively there is a free shuttle bus to the Val d'Europe area, but you now have to be staying at certain hotels to use it - think it is the Hipark, Adagio and Elysee. However, it didn't run early enough for us when we last had occasion to use it.

[BevS97]

That’s great to know. £1.95 isn’t too bad if we factor it into a cheaper room rate.