First but not Last, Day 4

[spencem]

Day 4 Sunday June 25th 2017

So those breakfast vouchers we got last night, well they were more trouble than they were worth! We wanted to spend the morning in the Studios so having read the back of the vouchers and seen they were apparently valid in the hotels, ‘selected outlets’ in the Village and the parks we got the bus up to the parks and tried to use them in Annette’s. Luckily I got Sandra to ask if they took the vouchers before we ordered as it turns out they don’t. We asked where they were accepted in the Village and got told “no idea”.

Rather than wandering the Village we thought we’d go into the park and eat there instead.


Quite busy this morning.

As we entered the park Sandra asked where we could get breakfast, to be met with a more polite version of “no idea”. This time they suggested she try Guest Services, while she did I took some pictures around the entrance area.


Isn’t he cute? The baby broom, not the random child in the background.

Sandra returned from Guest Service with news that the quick service place in Studio 1 ‘should’ take the vouchers, but they weren’t sure and it was almost time for them to swap over to their lunch menu. We went inside to find there really was just one option for breakfast and so joined the back of the slow moving line. Then they ran out of rolls, then they wanted to know why we were using the vouchers here and not at the hotel, then they wanted to know what we wanted instead of a roll. Eventually we got an orange juice, a coffee, a roll and a croissant each, for a €30 voucher each! As I said the vouchers were far more trouble than they were worth.

Kind of fed we made our way into the park proper and on to the reason we were here this morning, Crush’s Coaster.


Always a long line.


Not at all a standard Mack spinning coaster, honest.


The well themed load station.

Crush’s Coaster is just a standard spinning coaster, but by putting in a building and theming it they have made something special. You really do feel like you’re spinning in the ocean currents, especially as you can’t see the track at all, just the watery projections.

Since we were on that side of the park we took a trip into Paris to see the rat next.




Such a good ride.

I think we went to watch Mickey and the Magician again now, but have no pictures to back this up. I do have a gap in the pictures and I’m pretty sure we went in there each time we were in the park the show was so good.

After our amazing breakfast experience we were ready for some lunch and I think we went back into the Blockbuster Café for some more of their fantastic croque monsieurs.

Since the line was nice and short Sandra and I left Julia and Brian in the café and went to ride Rock’n’Roller Coaster.


Please excuse the cardboard cut out façade.

Bit of a geek moment from the queue. This is obviously supposed to be some sort of recording studio set up and indeed most of the kit is old analogue sound processors and the like, but the main desk is actually an old school lighting desk.


One of these things is out of place.

The track layout of the Paris ride might be identical to the WDW version but the theme is very different. With the pre-show being in French I’m not overly sure what is supposed to be going on, it looks like a ride around a stage setup or music video I’d guess.

As we came off I looked at the tee shirts as normal and finally after 4 days of searching found one I like in a size that would fit.

Just after we came off the ride and while some of us were in the restroom a patrol of Storm Troupers had passed by.


Don’t you need to be in Florida in half an hour? I guess it helps to have a spaceship.

We were almost done with the Studios park for the day, but couldn’t leave without a ride of Tower of Terror.


Not sure I want to stay here, no matter how many reward points they are offering.


The hotel’s garden could do with a little work.


Time to check in.

After settling Brian into a spot with the wheelchair to wait for us Sandra, Julia and I went off to ride. We might not have been able to understand a word of the Twilight Zone introduction in the library, but it still builds the atmosphere just as well as in the US.


Waiting in the boiler room.

Tower of Terror is such a great ride, that perfect combination of theme and thrill. It is always better when there are some first time riders on it with you to see and hear their reaction. This time there was a non-English speaking family behind us who were obviously new to the ride, one of them was very vocal indeed. As we came off the mother asked her young daughter something like “shall we ride again?” You didn’t need to be a linguist to know the answer was a very definite NO.

The Studios is a great park, it just needs to be bigger and have a few more attractions to fill a whole day. As it was we were ready to move across to Disneyland park by around 4pm.


A view of Studio 1 while restroom breaks were taken.


Continued Below

[spencem]

I love how close together the parks are here in Paris, only a couple of minutes after leaving the Studios we were walking under the Disneyland Hotel.



We were in need of some sugar to keep us going, there was no nap planned for today, and so our first stop was the ice-cream parlour. Again I don’t remember what we all had, but I do remember we all enjoyed it.

Very good ice cream indeed.
Suitably fortified we took a walk across the hub to Phantom Manor.


Another amazingly well themed ride building.

There was talk of Big Thunder, but Julia vetoed that, not wanting to see her ice cream again so soon. Instead we took a slow wander up through Adventureland, past the sadly shuttered Pirates, through the castle and onto Buzz.


We took a wander around the ship and caves on the way.

I seem to remember Buzz being busy and us having to wait a while, which was not a problem at all. On all of these rides where disabled enter up the exit you wait for a Cast Member to come and get you. These CMs have to take a guess at what language you speak to great you. A few times they opened in French and we would reply to their greeting also in French. Most times they picked up our appalling accents and switched to English, but on this occasion however the CM continued on in French explaining the boarding procedure, which at Buzz is quite involved. Embarrassingly we had to stop him and say we only had ‘petite Francois’.

Once the galaxy had been defended it was time to explore it and so we set off for Star Tours, via the incredibly impressive looking Café Hyperion. I had been wondering what this was all weekend and was sad to see it is simply a huge counter service restaurant with a stage. There was nothing happening on the stage, but it looks like this is where they do their Jedi training in Paris.


Looks amazing, not much there, I’ve met people like that.

Coming out the other side of the café we saw Wally and Eve randomly in a flower bed.


What are you two doing up there?


Odd place to park your spaceship.

Julia is not at all keen on simulators or 3D, so since Star Tours is both she decided to sit it out. Sandra, Brian and I joined the agreeably short line for our trip around the galaxy. I can’t remember all of the elements of our trip but I think we went to the Wookie home world and possibly had one of the new segments as well.


Pre-flight checks seem to be an issue.


While the rest of us were foregoing our naps Julia had other ideas.

Apparently we took a recently opened path next, to Julia and I the whole place was new, but this bit was new to everyone. They have opened a path up from next to Star Tour to Small World.


The view of Fantasyland as you come down the path.

I think there might have been a restroom break here, but for whatever reason we paused and watched in amazement as a family put their kids the other side of a fence to play on the grass and to have their picture taken. This was something we saw many times, parents letting or even encouraging their kids to play in places that they really shouldn’t have been. I don’t know if it is a cultural thing, but the culprits did seem to be mainly southern European. A few Cast Members made some half-hearted attempts to stop them, but most ignored it altogether.

We walked past Small World escaping the house of horror, for now.



We were off to experience the kiddie rides again and release our inner children for a few minutes.


The waffle hut was open, now it wasn’t breakfast time.


Beast’s castle from the canal boats.


Everyone’s favourite child friendly devil.


Very realistic modelling, this was about 6 inches high.


Forget Gaston, Belle needs to be worrying about the 9 foot bird!


Time to ride the kiddie train again.


Yes, they wedged us in one of the covered waggons at the back.


Someone’s colourful castle from the train.

Sandra really wanted to fly on Dumbo next and since the line was short and we bypassed it anyway that is what we did. Here we had an excellent interaction with the young lady looking after the exit and the disabled. She was French and keen to practice her English. It wasn’t that she did anything special for us, she was just so friendly and engaging for the few minutes we were waiting. She asked about our trip, about England and helped us with our appalling French.


Beware of low flying elephants.


The park looks great from up here.


Always happy to be with elephants, even fibreglass ones.


The view ahead.

It looks like we headed back into Adventureland after Dumbo and I suspect this is when we rode the incredible Big Thunder today. We could even have ridden Phantom Manor again, there is certainly a big enough gap in my pictures for both.


The pirate ship looks fantastic.


Adventureland or Epcot’s Morocco?

Whatever it was we did in this hour or so we were playing a dangerous game, it was getting late and we hadn’t eaten. Places were locking their doors for the night and Sandra wanted us to backtrack to Fantasyland where she had her heart set on some roast chicken from Au Chalet de la Marionnette. The first couple of doors we tried were locked, but thankfully the main entrance was still unlocked, all be it closed. We were among the very last to be served for the night just before 9pm.



€15 got us half a roasted chicken, fries, an ice cream and a drink and the chicken was excellent, it was succulent and just fell off of the bone. Although we were the last to be served they didn’t rush us out at all. They had closed areas of seating off and were cleaning, but not in a way that made us feel like we were holding them up at all.

When we came out the setting sun was producing lovely light on the top of the castle.


Love the little wooden knight.


The back side of castle.


Sunset over Dumbo.


Sandra spent a lot of time in here, her favourite ‘attraction’.

The clock was still wrong on Small World, we watched the 10pm show at 8 minutes to before walking straight onto the ride. I don’t understand, my wife won’t come to Halloween Horror Nights but keeps coming back on here. These dolls are far more scary than anything at Universal.


The march of the dolls begins.

Having only just escaped with our lives again from the dolls we took a walk back through Discoveryland and into the hub to get our spots for the anniversary show. Once again Sandra and Brian had to take a spot outside the rope of the disabled viewing while Julia and I went inside. The Cast Member on the rope did say they could come in just before show start if it was still quiet, but they were happy with their spot and stayed where they were.


So well lit at night, Discoveryland looks amazing.


Still daylight at 10:35, the joy of travelling mid-summer.


Waiting for the show to start.


I thought 25 years was silver, not gold?


Crush, or Frozen I can’t really tell.


This was my clearest view yet.


All the Catherine Wheels spinning for once.

This was the last night seeing the show and things did get a little emotional toward the end, the fireworks might have got some ash in my eyes. Show over Sandra and Brian re-joined us and after waiting for the rush to clear we took a last night time walk down Main Street, again an emotional experience.


The buildings of Main Street are so well lit at night with thousands of individual bulbs.

When we got down to the railway station we had one last treat for the night. The Main Mouse himself was there to say goodnight to us. He was speaking in about a dozen different language and very cleverly making people believe he was talking directly to them.



We watched for a while before moving on up the hill to the bus station. Again we only waited a few minutes and while the bus was crowded it wasn’t stupidly so and it is only a couple of minutes back to the hotel.


Link back to the index.

[Teacherdork]

Thank you - I'm making a long list ready for my trip next week. My daughter will want to try the half chicken!

[Emma1987BTL]

Very good detailed trip report I've enjoyed reading ty xx

[spencem]

Originally Posted by Teacherdork

Thank you - I'm making a long list ready for my trip next week. My daughter will want to try the half chicken!

See more...

The chicken was very good, hope you have a great time next week

Originally Posted by Emma1987BTL

Very good detailed trip report I've enjoyed reading ty xx

See more...

Thanks, one more day to come...

[Emma1987BTL]

Originally Posted by spencem

The chicken was very good, hope you have a great time next week



Thanks, one more day to come...

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Will look out for the last day coming

[clochette]

Love your photos of the evening g show. I tried last week when we were there, but they were embarrassingly bad and so will not be making an appearance on the Dibb.

[spencem]

Originally Posted by clochette

Love your photos of the evening g show. I tried last week when we were there, but they were embarrassingly bad and so will not be making an appearance on the Dibb.

See more...

Thanks

[Gill H]

Never mind the dolls, I'm scared of that BROOM! I saw Fantasia in the cinema when I was 4 years old (and apparently sat silent and enraptured) and wasn't at all afraid of Chernabog et al - but the brooms, brrr! In fact when I met Sorceror Mickey in Hollywood Studios, I told him I wasn't able to do any housework because his film had made me scared of brooms!

Ah, breakfast. It really is such a confusing system. It's all very new, and seems to change week by week. From what I have been able to gather, if you have the 'grab and go' vouchers, you can use them in the bar of your hotel (or Starbucks at the Cheyenne), at New York Style Pizza in the Village, at Market House Deli or Cable Car Bakehouse on Main Street, and at Restaurant En Coulisse in the Studios. The vouchers are worth 9 Euros, and at all those places you get a hot drink, OJ and a pastry. However, you can also use it in Cafe Hyperion where you can either get a roll, butter and jam as well, or an omelette with bacon in a burger bun as well.

Basically, because everyone is either eating breakfast in their hotel, or using the vouchers, nowhere else really needs to be open for breakfast in the parks.

Speaking of Cafe Hyperion / Videopolis, it's been many things over the years. It used to house the wonderful Lion King show, and also had a great Mulan show at one time. Currently it houses Jedi training (which looks a superb show, much more elaborate than WDW's offering). However, that probably won't be on in December. You'll probably get the Jingle Bell Boys - a Glenn Miller style band playing Christmas songs. Videopolis is a nice place to sit with a drink and chill for a while.

Peter is reminded of his last ride on ToT - he was surrounded by a party of screaming Spanish schoolgirls!

I do agree Studios is something of a half day park unless you want to do the stunt show. However, you do still have Stitch Live to do which is a favourite of ours. Much funnier than Turtle Talk with Crush.

One thing you will find different in December - people won't sit down for Illuminations! In fact I have never experienced that as we tend to go off season. We have to fight for our place among pushers-in, people who stick their ipad in our faces and people who put their kids on their shoulders, just like at WDW. I think that disabled space will be well worth it in December!

[spencem]

Originally Posted by Gill H

Never mind the dolls, I'm scared of that BROOM! I saw Fantasia in the cinema when I was 4 years old (and apparently sat silent and enraptured) and wasn't at all afraid of Chernabog et al - but the brooms, brrr! In fact when I met Sorceror Mickey in Hollywood Studios, I told him I wasn't able to do any housework because his film had made me scared of brooms!



Speaking of Cafe Hyperion / Videopolis, it's been many things over the years. It used to house the wonderful Lion King show, and also had a great Mulan show at one time. Currently it houses Jedi training (which looks a superb show, much more elaborate than WDW's offering). However, that probably won't be on in December. You'll probably get the Jingle Bell Boys - a Glenn Miller style band playing Christmas songs. Videopolis is a nice place to sit with a drink and chill for a while.



I do agree Studios is something of a half day park unless you want to do the stunt show. However, you do still have Stitch Live to do which is a favourite of ours. Much funnier than Turtle Talk with Crush.

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Sorry to hear about your Broomphobia, must be hard to not enjoy the delights of housework.

Thanks for the tips about Videopolis and Sticth, we'll have to check them out in a few weeks.