Happy Birthday 30/55 - March 2022: Pre-Trippie

[Gill H]

I’ve only just finished the trip reports from our November trip (which are here if you haven’t seen them)...

Tri-City Tour November 2021 - Index

... and Peter has only just finished editing the videos.

Tri-City Tour Box Set

And yet here we are again with a pre-trippy!

The background for this trip is actually rather a sad one. Peter’s mum passed away in February, after suffering with various health issues, and Peter had to spend some time with his sister in Preston, dealing with all the things that need doing at a time like this. When he came back home, almost the first thing he said was ‘I need a Disney fix’. I know that everyone here will understand the comfort that our familiar happy places can bring in difficult times. So we started planning.

We had already booked some time off work in early March, and had planned to spend a couple of days in Hereford – mainly because it was somewhere we hadn’t been, that we could get to on the train fairly easily! We’d booked a B&B but hadn’t yet done anything else, so we decided we would cancel the booking.

A day or so later we were sitting in a café when we heard an advert on the radio for Vueling flights from Cardiff to Paris. This was news to us – we had previously flown from Cardiff with FlyBe (which shows you how long ago it was) but until recently, indirect via Amsterdam had been the only option from Cardiff. So we looked up Vueling, and discovered that they flew into Paris Orly, which is not the nearest airport to DLP, but perfectly doable. There were only a few flights a week, and the most cost-effective option was to fly out on Tuesday 8 March and then back on Saturday 12 March. We booked the cheapest option (underseat luggage only) and then paid to add on one piece of cabin luggage each. This also gets us priority boarding – which might not be much of a benefit in Cardiff but could be nice at Orly.

The next thing was to find accommodation. I took a look at some of the self-catering options near DLP such as Hipark, Adagio and Residhome. While I’m sure these are all fine usually, recent reviews gave a rather bleak picture; perhaps they have been suffering from the same staffing and supply problems we have here at the moment. Instead we chose somewhere we’ve stayed before – the Ibis Val d’Europe. This is literally a few steps from the back entrance of the Val d’Europe RER station, and you can be at the park within minutes. The hotel is clean, the beds are comfy and although the accommodation is basic, it has all you need for a few nights. And to add to that, the staff were lovely last time, and the breakfast unexpectedly good for a budget hotel. So the Ibis it was.

That left park tickets. Our annual passes (bought in September 2019) had managed to last until November 2021 because of the park closures. However, we had decided not to renew them, as we needed to save up for our forthcoming Orlando trip and next year’s planned Japan holiday. Indeed, we had even discussed not going to DLP at all this year. Yeah, right, that was going to happen…

We priced up the various annual passes, but in the end decided on just getting two 3-day tickets, which we ordered from DLP’s website. One advantage of buying dated tickets was that we didn’t need to make park reservations, which is helpful. We will miss having Extra Magic Time, though, but I’m sure we will make the most of the time we have in the park.

So finally, a quick call was made to the Hereford B&B owner, explaining that we needed to cancel, and promising that we would stay there in the future (and we will – it looked a lovely place).

And that’s it really. The cat sitter’s booked, I’ve done a big shop for my parents so they won’t run out of things while we’re away, and we’ve done all the preparatory stuff such as uploading our vaccine passes and passenger locator forms.

This week DLP announced that, following the relaxing of restrictions in France, masks would no longer be mandatory (although still advised for crowded places such as parades and shows). They then revealed that characters could soon be hugged again! It is so encouraging to see things like this happening. Although the restrictions didn’t spoil our November trip at all – and in fact the masks were a help in the cold weather – it will be so lovely to see everyone’s smiles again.

I should explain the title of this trippie. Firstly, you may have noticed that Disneyland Paris has just kicked off the celebrations for its 30th birthday. There are new additions to park décor, new costumes for the characters, a special show, and of course plenty of related merch. And they’ve even announced that two US favourite snacks will be available at DLP soon – the Premium Mickey Bar and, wait for it … the turkey leg. Yes, really. Of all the snacks they could have brought over…!

Still, the turkey leg isn’t the worst thing. My favourite ride is closed for a refurb. That’s right – no It’s A Small World this time! I will have to do Phantom Manor twice to compensate for the disappointment. Maybe I can get another photo like this one...

Anyway, the 30th isn’t the only birthday celebration happening. Peter’s birthday is the day before we go, and he’ll be reaching the grand old age of 55. It’s not so bad really. I did it in December so I should know. Anyway, we’ll be celebrating his birthday at home with my parents, and then all over again in DLP.

So, watch out for a trippie that should be full of birthday celebrations. And for now … a bientot, see ya real soon!

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[Bondy007]

Sounds good. Happy birthday to Peter and have a great trip.

Enjoy a turkey leg or 2...

[Cutiepie]

Have a great trip and Happy Birthday to Peter🥳

[Lizzim]

I’m sad to hear about Peter’s mum but glad to see you both going on another trip! Have fun and I hope Peter has a fantastic birthday!

[DisneyDaffodil]

So sorry to hear about Peter’s mum xx. I’m looking forward to following along with your trip and very interested in how the flights from Cardiff go for you. I’m considering our first ever DLP trip for September this year, and had thought EasyJet from Bristol was our nearest airport but Cardiff would be really good.

[Gill H]

Vueling were fine, would use again. Cardiff Airport was a breeze. Orly was confusing and frustrating but we managed.

[DisneyDaffodil]

Originally Posted by Gill H

Vueling were fine, would use again. Cardiff Airport was a breeze. Orly was confusing and frustrating but we managed.

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That’s really good news, shame about Orly, but good to hear that Cardiff/Vueling worked well

[Peter H]

Yep we had he’s d several discouraging things about Vueling but they were ok. Not wonderful not bad but perfectly fine