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Old 16 Jul 19, 12:35 PM  
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Beaker7929
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The Long Overdue Mother and Daughter Trip - July 2019 - Day 1 'It's Disney Day!'

Oh my goodness, IT’S DISNEY DAY!

As with all nights before travelling to Disneyland Paris I didn’t sleep brilliantly waking up around 4.20am and then struggling to get back to sleep! I finally admitted defeat and got up at 6.30am, 15 minutes before the alarm was due to go off, and put the kettle on.



I sat in bed for a little while with my cuppa, savouring the excitement of what lay ahead!

After a little while I got myself up and into the shower, then gave Chloe a nudge to get herself moving.

So you may recall back in January I did a ‘Sweatshirt of the Day’ photo….well on this trip I am treating you to a ‘T-shirt of the Day’ photo….you lucky people 😉

Today’s number was a Minnie t-shirt courtesy of Asda (this won’t be the last mention of Asda, I love them for a Disney clothing bargain!)



I would also like to make an apology at this point in the trippy, I’m afraid, dear reader, that you are going to be subjected to many photo’s of…my legs! Now under normal circumstances my legs never see the light of day, hence their almost translucent quality, however we were already forewarned that it was going to be hot hot hot in France so shorts had been purchased and anyone within a 5 mile radius of me would need their sunglasses on for fear of being blinded by the reflection….

So dressed in our Disney best, and bags packed, we were ready to go!





What’s that I hear you cry? No Premier Inn breakfast!?! Nope! We decided to slum it and grab something at Ebbsfleet while waiting for the Eurostar to save ourselves £20! Now if Chloe was still classed as a child we might have made a different decision.

We set off from the Gravesend Central Premier Inn around 8.20am and made the 10 minute drive to Ebbsfleet International, even during Monday morning ‘rush-hour’ it was still super quick getting to the station.

We parked up the car in Car Park D (which I had booked online a few weeks before). Car Park D is just over a 5 minute walk to the station (down a hill and up a hill) but it is well worth the cost-saving, it was only £29 for the 5 days whereas I think the car parks nearer to the station were over £50.



We were straight through passport control and security in less than 5 mins with no issues and found ourselves some seats near Café Nero.



Chloe went off to choose her breakfast while I guarded the cases, on her return I took her order and went off to choose myself something. I had been hoping for an Almond Croissant but sadly they didn’t have any left so I ordered myself a toasted teacake and Chloe had a bacon roll. No photo’s though as all the tables were taken and we had to balance our breakfast on our knees, not ideal for photography

While we were eating I glanced up at the board with the train times on to see that the Paris and Brussells trains were delayed….and yes, so was our train to DLP it was showing a delay of 30 mins so not too bad.

To kill the time I had a wander around WH Smiths and ended up buying a Kriss Kross puzzle book, something my Nan always used to do, but I hadn’t done for ages. Chloe thought this was hilarious, but was soon engrossed in the puzzles herself. I also ended up buying some Pringles as I was getting peckish, possibly the most expensive Pringles I’ve ever purchased at £3.49, ouch!

Thankfully there were no further delays to our train and we were called down to the platform shortly before 11am, with our train arriving a few minutes later. Once on board we stashed our luggage with ease and took our seats. We were on our way by 11.05, just 31 minutes after we were scheduled to leave.



The train made it’s usual stop at Ashford about 15 minutes later where there was quite the kerfuffle as the passengers boarding had no room for their luggage! In the end they had to leave suitcases and pushchairs in the buffet cart.

As I had booked the holiday package and Eurostar separately I was expecting to collect our paperwork at the Disney Express counter on arrival at MLV, however a Disney representative came down the train and stopped at our seats.

This is where I had a mild panic, if you remember from my pre-trippie Chloe had no idea that we were staying in the Sequoia Lodge, as far as she was aware we were staying in the Cheyenne. Thankfully though at no point did the Disney rep mention the hotel, phew! He talked me through the key cards, and that the cards showed that we had Billy Bobs booked (denoted by a cowboy hat) and the character breakfast (the Mickey sundae and coffee cup) I’d not seen this before on the key cards, it’s very clever!



He gave me the luggage tags, which I quickly hid, although I needn’t have worried, they also don’t name the hotel in full they just have an abbreviation, in this case ‘SL’ and are colour coded, Sequoia Lodge is green, but Chloe wasn’t to know that

With the pack handed over he was on his way and I breathed a sigh of relief, that was the first hurdle over! Now I just had to get through dropping the bags at Disney Express without Chloe noticing which hotel I was dropping them for!

The journey passed without complaint, I carried on with my puzzles and Chloe had a nap and before we knew it we were on our approach to MLV! Knowing the bun fight that is getting your bags and yourselves off of the train I got Chloe moving and we grabbed our bags and were waiting at the doors of the train with 5 minutes to spare. The train pulled up, the doors opened and we had arrived! Annoyingly though we had arrived at the part of the platform without a working escalator, doh! We walked further down the platform to find our way out, finally finding a route and headed all the way up to Disney Express to drop our bags.

Because we’d moved so quickly we were well ahead of the rest of the passengers and there was no queue to drop our bags. I told Chloe I would take the bags (remember I’m trying not to let anything on!) and took them over to the Sequoia Lodge section….Chloe followed me, not quite having understood my instructions luckily the guys taking the bags didn’t say anything and we were free to go…my secret was still safe! I couldn’t quite believe it!

Out of the station we went, with a spring in our step and headed for the Disneyland Paris entrance, obviously stopping to take a photo!



Once through security we were beyond excited and stopped to take lots of photo’s.





You may remember from my pre-trip report that we were on a mission to re-create photo’s from trips when Chloe was little, her first trip when she was 4 and her second when she was 7. This was our first opportunity to take one of those photos…

Chloe then…



Chloe now...



We strolled through Fantasia Gardens, soaking up the atmosphere and made our way to the turnstiles…



It was then that a thought occurred to me, the key cards say Sequoia Lodge on them, argh! With this in mind I did a whole song and dance about how I should scan Chloe through the turnstiles this first time just in case there are any problems, it worked and we were through with me still holding onto the key card

Cue more photos!





As we arrived we could see people sitting along the parade route, but with it being too early for the daily parade I guessed this must be for the Jungle Book Jive which takes place several times a day. We knew that we would see this later in our trip so weren’t worried about taking up position, and Chloe spotted that Pluto was meeting outside the Boarding House where Minnie usually meets. We joined the end of the queue which didn’t look too long but quickly realised that we were standing in direct sunlight (something I was going to have to get used to as the trip went on!) and that it was very very warm. I mentioned to Chloe that with all the character dining we had booked chances were we would see Pluto without having to wait. With that in mind we left the queue, which was handy as I need the toilet! We popped over to my favourite toilets at the top of Main Street, to your right as you look at the castle, and after a comfort break I felt much more prepared to hit the park

Because the parade was imminent it wasn’t possible to walk down the middle of Main Street so we walked down Discovery Arcade instead, as we reached the bottom of the arcade the parade had started and we caught a glimpse of what we would see later.

Obviously there was no other choice for our first ride, it always has to be It’s a Small World

The queue was showing 15 minutes, which was fairly accurate, once on we remembered that this was another opportunity to recreate an old photo! This time from back when Chloe was 4 and took her first ever ride around the world!

Chloe then...



Chloe now...



Once off of IASW we took a stroll through Fantasyland clocking just how busy (and hot!) it was. We thought we’d take a look at the queue line for Meet Mickey but at 45 minutes gave it a miss, plus, like with Pluto, there was a good chance we would meet him at our character meals.

After that we weaved our way through the crowds to Pirates taking photo's as we went...



But Pirates was also showing a 45 minute wait, the park was clearly busy!

Feeling a little challenged by the crowds I decided to pull my trump card in the form of our hotel fast pass (because we were staying Golden Forest Level at Sequoia Lodge) but remember Chloe has no idea, so I just said ‘ooh as part of the package I booked we’ve got a special fast pass, shall we use it for Big Thunder Mountain?’ she totally bought it without any questions so that was where we headed next.

There was hardly any fast pass line so we were on in no time and it was brilliant! I’ve only ever ridden it in the cold, it’s quite different in the heat! You can actually enjoy that final tunnel back under the water rather than thinking your head is about to fall off with the cold and who knew that there was water at the top of the first lift hill!?! Not me, that's for sure!







After BtM I suggested we head over to Phantom Manor which finally re-opened in May after possibly the longest refurb in history! I had been closed on my last 2 visits so I was dying to see the changes made.



It was definitely worth the wait, it was fantastic, from the Vincent Price dialogue in the stretching room, to the amazing effects on the paintings as you walk through to the doom buggys (makes sure you hang back to see these!), the story is clearer now and easier to follow and some of the animatronics were so realistic they actually freaked us out, especially the demon in the graveyard!

On exiting Phantom Manor we thought we’d join the queue to meet Thunder Mesa Mickey (he has a new outfit and is no longer Phantom Manor Mickey who I met in January) but annoyingly his queue closed at 4.30pm, we had just missed him.

Given that it was getting quite late in the day we decided to head out of the park, via the shops, stopping to take the obligatory castle with blue sky photo first



Chloe was after an autograph pen so we wandered through the emporium but found that all the pens in there had really grubby ends, it looked as though it was from ink leaking out. We gave up in there and popped over the Harrington’s, I love this shop so much! Chloe treated herself to a gorgeous glass Mickey statue to add to her collection and I spotted a really cute Cheshire Cat pin which I dithered over until Chloe told me to ‘just buy it’, she’s a very bad influence



I also got myself one of the super cute reusable bags, the smallest one is only 90 cents and perfect for carrying my lunches to work in.



Still seeking out a non-grubby pen, we went into the Storybook Store at the top of Main Street and finally found one that wasn’t all inky. Purchases made we headed out of the park to check in at the hotel.

We walked through the village and passed security at the other end. We paused momentarily to sit on the steps at the end of Lake Disney to take in the view (and take advantage of some shade). I couldn't resist a couple of photo's.





As we walked past the boarded up Hotel New York I started to explain to Chloe about how we would have to cross the bridge and follow a different path to reach the Cheyenne because of the New York refurb, as we got to the path I said ‘and this is the path that we need for the Cheyenne…..IF we were staying there, but we’re not! We’re staying at Sequoia Lodge!’ her face was an absolute picture and she didn’t quite take in what I’d said initially until we carried on walking to Sequoia Lodge.



Once inside the hotel I then continued explaining that we weren’t just staying at Sequoia Lodge, but we were staying Golden Forest Level, which meant a special check in area, access to the lounge, daily hotel fast passes….she was quite blown away by all this!

We went to the Golden Forest check in area and checked in, they were lovely as always and under instruction from me Chloe nabbed loads of the dark chocolate coins

After checking in and leaving our bags with them I asked Chloe if she would like to take advantage of the afternoon tea that was included in our package, silly question really!

On entering the lounge Chloe kept saying, is this all free? Are the drinks free? Is all this food free? I think the size of her plate, and the look on her face sums up how happy she was with this arrangement



Once full of all the lovely food I grabbed a cup of tea and Chloe grabbed a refill of coke to take back up to our room with us. Note that they have now changed the soft drinks set up in the Golden Forest lounge, sadly you can no longer take cans away with you, they now pour you a drink from bottles on request. You can still take bottles of water away though thankfully.

We headed up to our room, I was a little nervous as I’d put in a special request by email asking for a central room with a good view (I’d booked Lakeside) in the past I’ve had rooms with amazing views, but also one room with a not so great view and wanted to be sure the whole experience was amazing for Chloe. I needn’t have been worried, our room was right by the lifts on the 6th floor and had the most awesome view of Tower of Terror, Disney Village, and Sleeping Beauty’s Castle through the trees.

They also left a little note in the room saying happy birthday….ok her birthday was back in March but hey, if your birthday is within the 6 months before or 6 months after your trip it counts right!



Obviously I took photo’s of the room!





And the view!



Chloe was very excited to have a double bed all to herself



Our bags had arrived while we’d been in the lounge so we set to unpacking and making ourselves at home. Finding the perfect location for our ears 😊



Our safe had been left open, but with the bolts out which meant I couldn’t close it to set it up so I made a call to reception and within 10 minutes they had sent someone up to sort it for us, very good service!

It was now around 6.45pm and we decided it had been way too long since we last ate and that we should go out for dinner! We already knew that tonight’s dining choice was Rainforest Café and headed in that direction. Unlike my other visits here we walked straight up, with no queue and were seated immediately! Clearly arriving much earlier in the evening (we got there at 7pm) has it’s benefits!
We decided not to order a starter as nothing really took our fancy, and as good as their garlic bread is it wouldn’t have compared to the garlic bread the night before! So we ordered our drinks and mains, each choosing burger.

While waiting for our food we took the opportunity to create another photo from a previous trip...

Chloe then...



Chloe now...



We didn’t have to wait too long at all for our food to arrive, and it looked fantastic!





I’d gone for the veggie burger which included an onion ring and a wedge of avocado, I was in heaven! Especially as Chloe didn’t want her onion ring, or coleslaw so I ended up with double, woo hoo

Prior to our mains arriving we’d been mulling over the puddings as they looked incredible, but on finishing our burgers we were absolutely stuffed and there was no way we could manage dessert, I know, such amateurs!

I settled the bill, which was a rather eye watering 53 euros (for one course and one drink each!)

As it was still early we thought we would head back into the park, via a mooch around World of Disney! We eyed up some items that looked like likely purchases for later in the trip, in particular I saw a mug that I’d already seen a friend had bought on their trip earlier this year that I knew was ‘the one’! But as we were going into the park, and it was way past the time-slot to send back to the hotel I took a photo as a reminder and we left the shop.

Back into the park we went, and headed straight for Buzz as the app, and the sign outside was showing just a 30 min wait, not bad for Buzz! However they lied! There were so many people with fast passes that the stand-by queue moved incredibly slowly, I swear that they had given out too many fast passes as in the end we queued for an hour

This was made more stressful by the fact that I was due to speak to Gerard at 9pm (8pm UK time) and was very worried about how he was going to be on the phone as it was the first night phone call back in January where he went into complete meltdown about missing me, and wanting to be in DLP. I was stressed, I’m not going to lie.

Thankfully we made it on to Buzz at about 8.50pm and were off just before 9pm….the relief that I was off the ride in time for him to call was immense!





Shortly after getting off the ride, while we were making our way back up Main Street he called. We chatted a little bit about what we’d done today, playing it down as much as possible, at one point he asked me to ask Chloe if she was having a good time, she obviously said yes, to which he replied ‘I don’t care!’ oh dear….however, that was as bad as it got, there were no tears or tantrums so I was happy with how the phone call went and glad that for him it was one phone call closer to us coming home.

We made our way slowly through Disney Village and back to the hotel, getting back around 10pm, just in time for this stunning sunset over Disney Village.



I made myself a cup of tea while Chloe got ready for bed. We stayed up for a little while chatting and checking social media, posting on Instagram etc before realising that it was approaching 11pm and that Illuminations would be starting soon!

I pointed out to Chloe that because of our view we would be able to see it from our room! So we turned the lights out and took up position at the window to watch the fireworks. Unfortunately only one of our windows opened so we couldn’t quite hear the music, but watching the fireworks was enough. It was the perfect way to end the day in the comfort of our room.

So with the room phone alarm set for 6.30am the following morning we finally got to sleep around 11.45pm!
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Upcoming Hols *July '19 Sequoia Lodge Golden Forest*August 2020 WDW Coronado Springs*

Previous Hols *Jan '19 Sequoia Lodge Golden Forest*Jan '18 Sequoia Lodge Golden Forest*Oct '17 Cheyenne*Jan '17 Sequoia Lodge Golden Forest*Jan '16 Sequoia Lodge Golden Forest*March '15 - Cheyenne*Nov '13 - Cheyenne*Feb '12 - Newport Bay*April '08 - Santa Fe*March '05 - Santa Fe*


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Old 16 Jul 19, 01:04 PM  
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Melanie R
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So glad you had a lovely first day, and that you managed to keep the secret!
Great room too - you do realise Chloe will now be spoiled for any other hotel 😂
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Old 16 Jul 19, 01:08 PM  
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cornishfrogboy
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A great first day. I really enjoyed your report.
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Old 16 Jul 19, 01:45 PM  
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Beaker7929
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Originally Posted by Melanie R View Post
So glad you had a lovely first day, and that you managed to keep the secret!
Great room too - you do realise Chloe will now be spoiled for any other hotel 😂
She totally will... just like her mum

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy View Post
A great first day. I really enjoyed your report.
Thank you for reading! So glad you enjoyed it
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Upcoming Hols *July '19 Sequoia Lodge Golden Forest*August 2020 WDW Coronado Springs*

Previous Hols *Jan '19 Sequoia Lodge Golden Forest*Jan '18 Sequoia Lodge Golden Forest*Oct '17 Cheyenne*Jan '17 Sequoia Lodge Golden Forest*Jan '16 Sequoia Lodge Golden Forest*March '15 - Cheyenne*Nov '13 - Cheyenne*Feb '12 - Newport Bay*April '08 - Santa Fe*March '05 - Santa Fe*


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Old 16 Jul 19, 03:18 PM  
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Lisa_Lollipop
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What a wonderful travel day, and well done on keeping the Sequoia Lodge upgrade a secret for so long... it certainly wasn't made easy for you!

Loving the 'then and now photos', so wonderful to be able to recreate those wonderful moments with Chloe now she is that much older!

And I love your t-shirt! Asda are the best for Disney clothes! Excited to see more 'Disney t-shirt of the day' photos as the trip progresses (I did similar with Disney socks in my 2017 DLP report!)
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