Photomagique! April 2013 Day 3

[Alison]

Saturday 6th April

We were definitely planning for a gentler day today. I was still chockful of cold and was getting bad sinus pain. Nigel was still not 100% so we just needed to go at a slightly gentler pace!

We had a lie in, dragged Stephen out of bed and headed off to the Disneyland hotel for a late breakfast. We had never been in before - in fact, it took us a few minutes to locate the entrance! It really is beautiful inside and the atmosphere is so much calmer and quieter.

We headed up to Inventions and asked if we could pay for breakfast - no problem at all. We were quickly seated and enjoyed a delicious hot buffet breakfast. Stephen was especially impressed with the jam and maple syrup coming in little jars!

Off into the park - it was very busy by now.


Main Street by limegreenlife, on Flickr

A quick look at the information board showed us that Pirates and Space Mountain were both down - there's a surprise!

As we walked in, we saw some characters on their way to a meet and greet – Stephen wouldn’t play, though! We also saw the 20th anniversary train – always a great opportunity for photos.


Tiana by limegreenlife, on Flickr


Tweedle by limegreenlife, on Flickr


Choo choo! by limegreenlife, on Flickr


Clarice by limegreenlife, on Flickr


Donald by limegreenlife, on Flickr

We headed into Discoveryland and I went into Videopolis while the boys headed off to Star Tours.


Wall-E and Eve by limegreenlife, on Flickr


Space Mountain by limegreenlife, on Flickr


X-wing fighter by limegreenlife, on Flickr


On their way, Space re-opened so they walked straight on.

They are showing Pixar shorts in Videopolis now but, while I was waiting, a band started to set up as part of Disney Performing Arts. It looks as though groups from around Europe can come to perform.

I didn't get to see the band however as they returned and we went and had a look around Nautilus. So much good theming in here - totally underrated.


Captain's Quarters by limegreenlife, on Flickr


Squid attack! by limegreenlife, on Flickr

We were due to have our guided tour at 1pm but I was still feeling pretty rubbish. Nigel popped to City Hall to see if there was any chance of changing it to the next day but, unfortunately, the English language tour was fully booked. It was getting busier now - as we expected on a Saturday in the Easter holidays - so we decided to get a hot chocolate from the Cable Car Bake Shop.


. by limegreenlife, on Flickr


. by limegreenlife, on Flickr

We then headed over to City Hall, paid and met Robbin, our tour guide. We were the only people doing the tour – we were not sure whether they only book one group on a tour at a time or whether they put other people with you. I'm not going to go into any detail about the tour here as I don't want to spoil it for other people who may wish to do it but, suffice to say, I would highly recommend it. I was a bit worried Stephen would be bored but he loved it, too. It's pretty fast paced and we covered most of the park in the two hours. Robbin spoke fantastic English and showed us so many details we had never noticed, despite many previous visits to the park.

Just a couple of scenic shots!


Stained glass by limegreenlife, on Flickr


Cash by limegreenlife, on Flickr


Dapper Dan's by limegreenlife, on Flickr


1401 Flower Street by limegreenlife, on Flickr


Birdcage by limegreenlife, on Flickr


Walt's by limegreenlife, on Flickr

[Alison]

After the tour, I needed a sit down - I was getting so fed up of feeling rubbish by now. We had ended the tour in Discoveryland so popped into the Cafe Hyperion. I was seriously thinking of buying my own seat in there - I spent so much time there this trip!

Stephen announced he was hungry (what is it with teenage boys?!) so he had a burger while we had drinks. There was an English Dance Academy from Stourbridge performing on the stage this time and the whole place was absolutely jam packed. We managed to get a table, though and it did empty out once their set had finished.

Nigel went on a FP hunt to see what he could find. Predictably, BTM was down and Peter Pan had run out so he picked some up for Buzz and then we headed off.


Paddle boat by limegreenlife, on Flickr

We decided to take the train around the park and joined the queue. It is a really slow loader but it wasn't too cold and we were happy to wait. Stephen was really interested to see the bit where it went through Pirates - he didn't remember it and had never noticed it from the ride.


. by limegreenlife, on Flickr


Steam train by limegreenlife, on Flickr

We got out at the Fantasyland station where Stephen decided he needed candy floss - it was the size of his head!


. by limegreenlife, on Flickr

True photographer's son - he didn't eat any of it till he got back to us so that we could take a photo!

We bumped into the people from church outside Peter Pan and then wandered up to Pirates.


Caribbean by limegreenlife, on Flickr


We want the redhead! by limegreenlife, on Flickr


Pirates by limegreenlife, on Flickr

And then Buzz.


Buzz by limegreenlife, on Flickr

Hidden Mickey!


Hidden Mickey! by limegreenlife, on Flickr

So cross I got the focus wrong on this but love it anyway!


. by limegreenlife, on Flickr


Zurg by limegreenlife, on Flickr


Aliens by limegreenlife, on Flickr

We were a bit early for our reservation for Agrabah but it didn't seem to matter anytime during the trip - as long as you had a reservation, they seemed to give you the next available table; at least in the restaurants we ate in.

With the buffets, you are given a drinks list and you choose your drinks and pay for your meal at the beginning.

Unfortunately we had quite a long wait to get in, due to a family of 12 spending nearly 15 minutes choosing their drinks. The staff were really apologetic but we did notice that everything was so laid back on this trip. Shows seemed to start 5 minutes or so late; time didn't really seem to be an issue!

Anyway, we ordered a couple of beers and they brought us water as well. We really liked the food here. Stephen was a little apprehensive at first but was soon tucking in. They had a wonderful salad bar with all sorts of different salads and hummous. Nigel quickly found the kebab section with a range of salad, pitta breads and sauces. The lamb was carved in front of you and was delicious. Stephen enjoyed that too as well as the meatballs and pasta. There was also fish, moussaka, chicken and a whole range of tagines, vegetables, rice and couscous.

The desserts were similar to those at other buffets - a range if cakes, mousse, fruit and crepes, with the addition of Moroccan style pastries.

We really enjoyed this restaurant - the theming was great too - and waddled out. Several people were trying to get in to eat but it closed at 7.30. This was a feature of our trip - lots of the eating places were closed, particularly by early evening. I was surprised as it was a Saturday.

We were done in now and decided to head back via the new World of Disney. Interesting to see how they re-route everyone past here in order to leave the parks!
We were surprised to see that it wasn’t bigger, though.


World of Disney by limegreenlife, on Flickr

Lots of lovely goodies but not everything from the shops in the parks, so don’t count on being able to get it here. Stephen bought himself another Star Wars vinylmation and was much happier with this one – he got Princess Leia. We bought him a pack of Haunted Mansion / Nightmare before Christmas playing cards as a souvenir and I bought a 20th travel mug for school.
Shopping done, we headed back to the hotel room for a few games of cards and some drinks and nibbles. For some reason, neither the TV nor the heating were working – brr. We decided to leave it until the morning and just put on lots of layers before snuggling into bed!

Day 4 here

[Floridasun]

Great report. I love reading these and must do one myself. We arrived on the 6th and headed into videopolis for a late lunch while that dance group from stourbridge were on doing a Grease number. Great fun. I wish we were still there!

[Armanaleg]

Really enjoying your reports. Great photos. Is it just the timing of your photos or were the parks fairly quiet? I always thought Easter and weekends were really busy times.

[Andi]

Great report and fantastic photographs.

We will be going to DLP for the first time in July and I showed my daughter the photo or Stephen with the candy floss. She would love to know where he got it and if it was nice?

[Guest]

Enjoing reading this and seeing your fab pics. Nautilis is on my mst do list never done it before, it looks quite interesting

[Guest]

Really enjoying reading your trip report. Your photos are fab.

[plutofan1]

Great photos
And loving reading your trip report

[Guest]

Lovely pictures, thanks for sharing!