DLP Jan 2017: The Birthday Trip! Day 5 - Crazy Monday queues and a rainy au revoir!

[Lisa_Lollipop]

Index can be found here

Monday 30th January
Steps: 20,148
Miles: 8.36

The alarm went off at 6:30am this morning and given such a busy day of birthday fun yesterday we were both feeling pretty pooped. So we now faced a dilemma, get out of bed now and make our 7am breakfast reservation or go back to sleep, miss breakfast and pick something up to eat later… can you guess what we opted for? Yep you guessed it, the alarm was re-set to go off at 8am and back to sleep we went! In reflection I think if we had paid for breakfast we would have been much more willing to get up and out but as it was included within our package we didn’t feel like we were really losing anything (and fair to say, should we re-book we certainly won’t be paying extra for breakfast to be included as no doubt we would still end up missing it!)

I finally made it out of bed at 8:15am feeling much fresher for that extra hour of sleep. After a shower and getting ready we set about packing up ready to leave as check-out was at 10am.

One last instalment of Disney socks of the day:

At 9:50am we were all packed up and ready to go and waving goodbye to our lovely room we closed the door for the final time. Like a pair of pack horses we made our way down to the reception with all our bags (remember that huge bag of snacks and drinks that we carried up on arriving? Yes, that was coming back pretty much as full as it was on the day we arrived!).

On getting down to reception I headed over to the departures desk to hand in the key, a very swift process as we had nothing to settle up on our bill. I then waited in the reception with some of the bags whilst Paul lugged the suitcases out to the car. On his return I quickly popped into Bay Boutique to pick up our Mickey Mouse photos that we had sent back yesterday (and had been back too late to collect last night).

With the photos safely tucked away in my bag we headed back out to the car to get rid of the last of the bags. On making it outside we found it was raining… quite a difference in weather than from when we arrived on Thursday (what happened to that beautiful blue sky?!)

Next on the agenda now all the bags were stowed away was working out how to fit the headlight adapters onto the car! For those of you not familiar with driving in France it is a legal requirement that if you are driving a UK car you must fit these adapters so not to dazzle oncoming traffic with your headlights (as you are driving on the other side of the road than you would be in the UK). Now we didn’t need these on our journey here as we travelled in daylight but we knew these would be essential for our return leg later that evening.

So it seemed the instructions were less than clear and after a few curse words Paul managed to get them on. To this day we aren’t sure if they were fitted correctly but we didn’t get pulled over so we managed to get away with it regardless!

With all that sorted it was time to make our way into the parks for the very last time *sob* (not before quickly changing my footwear, whilst it wasn’t quite wet enough to justify wellies I did opt for my old, battered Uggs that had already seen their fair share of rain over the years!).

On making it to Disney Village we headed towards Walt Disney Studios as this to be our first park of the day. On walking through we noticed the park markers that we had failed to spot before, I am interested to know when they will be adding Shanghai to these!

We made into Walt Disney Studios at 10:55am.

As the park had been open less than an hour we naively thought that we would head straight to Crush and finally ride it without a crazy queue, it was Monday now so surely the park would be much quieter right? Wrong! I don’t seem to have made a note of what the wait time was but if memory serves me correctly it was around the 70 minute mark already! Seriously, how does anyone get on this ride?! Fair to say we weren’t prepared to wait that long for it so we admitted defeat and promised ourselves that we would make it a priority for our next visit!

Leaving Crush we thought we would give ToT a try. On arriving we found out that had a standby time of 45 minutes already! Seriously, does no one in France work on a Monday? Where were all these people coming from?! Refusing to join the queue we opted for FPs instead with a return time of 1pm (damn, looks like I wasn’t going to get out of riding my nemesis!)

What was odd was that despite the long queue times the park actually felt very quiet so we decided to make the most of this and have a little mosey around. We found ourselves over by the tram tour area and I have to say this was one attraction I was really sad to have missed out on due to it being closed for refurbishment. We did have a sneaky little look over the wall though and caught a glimpse at some of the cars that are featured in the tour.

Our bellies at this point were starting to punish us for missing breakfast so it was time to hunt down some food. We noticed Cafe Des Cascadeurs nearby so had a wander over but found it closed, ah well it allowed for a good photo opportunity at the very least!

Our next option was over to Restaurant En Coulisse which thankfully was open. Although we were very soon regretting the decision to stop here as with only one till open it was a very slow moving queue! When we finally made it to the front we ordered two muffins (the closest thing they had to breakfast food), a hot chocolate for me and a Coke for Paul (hurray, another restaurant that serves fountain drinks!). We paid up and with receipt in hand headed up to the counter to collect our food… to then be told they didn’t have any muffins left and instead they gave us Star Wars cupcakes instead. Now it could have been last day grumps kicking in here but we were both pretty put out by this, neither of us wanted a cupcake and had they of told us at the till they didn’t have any muffins we would have gone elsewhere! But now they were paid for it seemed easiest just to get on with it and take them!

Well I would love to tell you that we were proved wrong with the cupcakes. We really weren’t, they were pretty dire. Imagine dry brownie-like cake with a heap of tasteless icing on top. Yes, we were regretting not getting up for breakfast right about now!

With drinks drunk and cupcakes thrown in the bin we headed back outside to have a walk through Toon Studio, the weather was pretty grey and drizzly still!

It felt like we had really rushed through this whole area on all our previous visits so it was nice to take some time to look at everything in more detail, I especially loved all the Cars theming.

From there we carried on making our way into Toy Story land, where unsurprisingly all the rides has ridiculous wait times so we didn’t actually ride anything, always nice to stop for more photos though (it did make me thankful that we had achieved so much on the Friday when it had been so much quieter!)

With some more time to spare before our ToT FPs opened up we had a wander around the shops but did manage to refrain from buying anything for once!

It had now hit 1pm and it was time to face my fate… ToT here we come!

As we had FPs we were through pretty swiftly, I don’t think I could do this ride through the standby queue, far too much time to work myself up into a frenzy!

Despite how much I dread this ride before riding, it always amazes me how much I actually enjoy it once I am on it, and the DLP version was no different! The build up certainly was lacking in comparison to it’s WDW counterpart, mainly due to the pre-show being in French (obviously completely fair enough) and the CMs didn’t seem to be getting quite as into character as they do in the US, which I think totally adds to the atmosphere and build-up! It was a great ride though and as always I screamed the whole way through! Paul was treated to a bit of a leg caressing from the girl sat next to him, in the fear of the first drop she grabbed his leg like some sort of security blanket!

With ToT ticked off the list and long wait times for everything else we decided it was time to wave goodbye to Walt Disney Studios and head over to Disneyland Park for one last time.

We made it across and was entering the park by 1:40pm, immediately it felt much quieter over here!

Unsurprisingly our first stop was Buzz Lightyear. We gabbed a couple of FPs with a return time of 2:10pm but as it was showing a standby time of only 10 minutes we decided to head in for an additional ride there and then. Sadly it was not meant to be though as on making it very close to the loading area it broke down. We were now faced with the dilemma of staying put and waiting it out or giving up and moving on to something else. We all know that if we had bit the bullet to leave then it would have been up and running minutes later. With that in mind we kept on waiting. And waiting. And waiting. By this time it had hit 2:10pm and our FP time had opened up yet the thing still was down! It was at this point that the CMs finally admitted defeat and started moving everyone out but we were given handwritten FPs that would be said for the rest of the day.

Well that was 40 minutes that we would never see again! Ah well there was only one thing for it to perk up our spirits… It’s A Small World! It was only a 5 minutes wait so before we knew it we were aboard the happiest cruise that ever sailed…

From Fantasyland we made our way into Adventure Isle and spent some time having a wander around. It was a shame that POTC was down but it was nice to see all the pirate theming in this area, that wooden bridge did make my knees go rather wobbly though!

As we were making our way round it dawned on me that today we hit double digits on our countdown for our West Coast trip in May! Nothing like the excitement of an upcoming trip to help offset the sadness of our current trip coming to an end (Shameless plug alert… for anyone interested the pre-trip report for this can be found here)

We soon found ourselves back over in Discoveryland and as Buzz has just opened back up we headed in using our handwritten FPS from earlier and were loaded straight on, that’s more like it! I was having a great round and beating Paul nearly the whole way round but somehow seemed to totally lose my mojo towards then end and he totally trumped me again!

It was fast approaching time for us to leave but the hunger pains were back in force so finding some food was a necessity. As we were still in Discoveryland we headed into Cafe Hyperion to grab some food. We both opted for the Jedi burger meal which came with a drink and a Magnum ice cream.

We found a table and quickly devoured our food (thankfully much more tasty than that shocker of a cupcake earlier!). As we were getting up to leave a Star Wars Jedi training show was starting down on the stage (apologies I made no note of it’s official name but there were wee nippers dressed up in Jedi outfits wielding lightsabers… you get the idea!). It was time for us to make a move though so we couldn’t stick around to watch for long.

Walking though the hub we said a ’ta ta for now’ to the castle, I was feeling most sad at this point, I hate having to say goodbyes!

Up Main Street we went, stopping along the way for some more photos and finally making it out of the park at 4:25 pm (we had said we would be away by 4pm so we hadn’t done too bad at keeping on schedule!)

Before making our way to back to the car I wanted to make a quick stop into World of Disney to pick up a few last bits. I knew what I was looking for so after a quick dash around I made my way to the till with my photo frame (€15.99), mug (€8.99), bowl (€9.99) and glass (€3.99).

As is always the way when you are in a rush the queue to pay was painfully slow and on finally making it to the front of the line I was faced with the chattiest CM known to man! Bless you Suzanne Po, an absolute credit to Disney and a joy to have met but when you are aiming for a quick in and out it was somewhat comical! She was having a marvellous time telling me all about herself, at 65 years old she loves to travel and prefers smart casual clothes, she also took the time to write down some classical music that she loves should I want to check it out, sweetest lady ever! In all the chat though she seemed to scan through the glass twice so we were then faced with a further wait for a manager to come over to void it off our total. Honestly you couldn’t have made it up! Ordinarily I would have been all for a lovely chat, I give as good as I get on that front but time was ticking and we really needed to get on the road!

With the extra glass taken off our total we settled up and waved Suzanne goodbye (and who says French CMs aren’t friendly?!) . It was then time to make our way through Disney Village for the very last time and back to Newport Bay to pick up the car.

By 5:20pm we were all loaded, strapped in and ready to go… let the drive back to Calais commence! We managed to make the whole journey without having to stop this time (no in-car drinking paid off!) and by 8:20pm we were at the Euro Tunnel check-in kiosks. Interestingly they just waved us through at the French border control, clearly not that worried who we were given we were leaving their country!

As we had a little time to spare we parked up and headed into the terminal for a quick leg stretch and toiler break. Like the one at Folkestone end, it was very much like a mini airport!

We were feeling a little peckish so we popped into Burger King to pick up a cheeseburger each (yes our second burgers of the day, please don’t judge!) and Paul also got a Coke. I headed over to Starbucks for one last hot chocolate on French soil!

Back in the car we made the short drive to the train and were soon loaded on ready for the 9:20pm departure.

It was a very uneventful journey and by 8:55pm we were arriving in Folkestone (back on UK time now, we hadn’t time travelled!). After a quick stop at the petrol station outside the terminal to top up on fuel we started the last leg of our journey back to Essex and by 10:15pm we safely arrived home, both feeling very tired and totally not looking forward to being back at work the next day!

So that brings us to the end of our first ever DLP trip! I can honestly say I absolutely loved it. I went with realistic expectations that it was never going to be WDW and I think that was key. We totally took it for what it was, a wonderful Disney fix closer to home! I loved being there in a totally different season to what we are used to, whilst it was absolutely freezing it added a whole new dimension to the magic and I truly wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Spending my actual birthday there was just wonderful and so special, this will hands down go down in the records as one of my best ever birthdays!

Thank you so much to all of you have followed this trip with me, both on here through this trip report and at the time with my posts on IG. It has been an absolute pleasure sharing it with you all and the comments really have been wonderful to read. So all there is to do now is carry on planning our West Coast Adventure that is now less than 10 weeks away (how did it come around so quick?!). Fingers crossed I will see some of you over on the West Coast trip report page in the summer! (Another shameless plug alert… the pre trip report can be found here)

[vics18]

Aw Lisa sad your report is over already

How on earth is that tram show still down for refurbishment? It was when we were there in Jan 2016! Unless it's been open and closed again in the meantime?

Ugh disappointing breakfast cupcakes. If you're going to eat cake for breakfast (totally acceptable on holiday btw) it should at least be good!

Love the Cars and Toy Story areas, so well themed.

Ah sad castle face pic - standard last day requirement.

"Quick trip into World of Disney" never achieved by anyone, ever!

Loved your report Lisa, looking forward to the west coast extravaganza already

[Redrach1903]

Now that is a fair hood you have there! Haha!

Shame you didn't get on Crush! Was there no FP option?

Oh that cupcake shenanigans! I would not have been happy either! Strange!

So glad you loved ToT despite the fear! good girl!

Had to laugh at the chatty CM! Like you say, always the same when you need to get a wriggle on!

Totally loved reading about your French adventures and I can't wait for the West Coast trippy it's like Disney school

Xxx

[Beaker7929]

A fantastic trip report! I've really enjoyed reading it

Looking forward to reading about your West Coast trip

[Lisa_Lollipop]

Originally Posted by vics18

Aw Lisa sad your report is over already

How on earth is that tram show still down for refurbishment? It was when we were there in Jan 2016! Unless it's been open and closed again in the meantime?

Ugh disappointing breakfast cupcakes. If you're going to eat cake for breakfast (totally acceptable on holiday btw) it should at least be good!

Love the Cars and Toy Story areas, so well themed.

Ah sad castle face pic - standard last day requirement.

"Quick trip into World of Disney" never achieved by anyone, ever!

Loved your report Lisa, looking forward to the west coast extravaganza already

See more...

I can't believe I have came to the end already! My 16 day TR in the summer is going to feel like a marathon after this short and sweet one!

Oh too true about World of Disney, no such thing as a quick visit... I could actually buy everything in there!

Thank you so much for reading along and for all your lovely comments, so glad you have enjoyed it

Originally Posted by Redrach1903

Now that is a fair hood you have there! Haha!

Shame you didn't get on Crush! Was there no FP option?

Oh that cupcake shenanigans! I would not have been happy either! Strange!

So glad you loved ToT despite the fear! good girl!

Had to laugh at the chatty CM! Like you say, always the same when you need to get a wriggle on!

Totally loved reading about your French adventures and I can't wait for the West Coast trippy it's like Disney school

Xxx

See more...

Nope no FP for Crush, which seems somewhat baffling when it is one of the headline rides! It's definitely on the must-do list for our next visit now!

I was thinking of you the whole time I was suffering through ToT, I couldn't let you down and bail out now could I?! We just need to convince H to ride in WDW in November now!

Thank you so much for reading my lovely and for the wonderful comments, I hope you enjoyed your first ever voyage into a DLP TR. I look forward to educating you all about DLR come the summer! xxx

Originally Posted by Beaker7929

A fantastic trip report! I've really enjoyed reading it

Looking forward to reading about your West Coast trip

See more...

Thank you so much for reading Rachel, I have loved re-living what was truly a fantastic weekend, I totally have the DLP bug now and am already ear-marking another trip for next year (although maybe in a slightly warmer month!)

[Stardust5]

Fab report, really enjoyed reading your French adventure!
Not good about the cupcakes, they didn't look very nice!
Can't wait to read your west coast adventure, we are thinking of heading there next year so will be interested to read about how you got on.

[Lisa_Lollipop]

Originally Posted by Stardust5

Fab report, really enjoyed reading your French adventure!
Not good about the cupcakes, they didn't look very nice!
Can't wait to read your west coast adventure, we are thinking of heading there next year so will be interested to read about how you got on.

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Thank you so much, lovely to know you have enjoyed it!

So excited to share our West Coast adventure with you... the countdown is really on now!

[candycat75]

Great report, thanks for sharing.

[Lisa_Lollipop]

Originally Posted by candycat75

Great report, thanks for sharing.

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Thank you so much for reading, so happy to hear you enjoyed it!

[Guest]

Great trip report 😊
I love DLP and I think you have it spot on, as long as you go there not expecting it to be WDW you are sure to enjoy it . We've been around 5 times now and have never had a bad trip .
Being a west coast fan too I'll be following your next trippie! Hope you have a fab time 😁