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Old 1 Mar 16, 02:22 PM  
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#1
sallybunny
Excited about Disney
 
Join Date: Jan 15
DisneyLand Paris 2016: Two Trips!

I have been thoroughly Disneyed. After a Christmas 2015 trip to DisneyWorld, my boys and I have fallen in love with Disney holidays and we have started plans for a return trip to Florida in 2019 (I know, it’s a long time out, but we have to save and do things like eat and wear clothes!). In the meantime, we’re having two, yes TWO trips to DisneyLand this year!



So here we go at the next pre-trippie (and hopefully I’ll get the whole trip written up this time. Sorry about last time, but lack of photos and massive changes at home took the momentum out of it all a bit). I’m having a year of holidays this year and boy do I need them! There’s been a lot going on for the last year or so and I really need some time to kick back and relax a bit and spend some proper holiday time with the boys.

Introductions
Sally (36 – 37 when we go)
Not realizing how much I actually loved Disney for my whole life from Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan and Mary Poppins and Toy Story and my absolute favorite Robin Hood. I loved every single second of planning and going on holiday to DisneyWorld and can’t wait to get into the Disney bubble again.

Pete (6)
He loves the Disney magic and is very excited about getting back to Disney and is helping plan this trip picking out rides and places to eat. He’s a bit of a foodie and wants to try everything. He rode Everest with me NO HANDS at Christmas but has decided that’s the biggest coaster he’s doing. So that’s just about everything at DisneyLand!

Doug (3)
Crazy, loving, climbing Spider Doug. He loves the character meets and spent lots of time at DisneyWorld getting excited about everything (and waking up at 3am). His favorite bit was breakfast at Tusker House where he danced around the restaurant hand in hand with Daisy. He’s very much on the small side which is one of the reasons we’re going to Disney.


Background
This trip came about after lots of umming and ahhing and trying to decide what to do with a long weekend during term time. Pete’s school has a long weekend at the end of June which is perfect for a mini trip. I started looking at LegoLand and staying at the hotel but soon released that there wouldn’t be many rides we could do as Doug is only just over 80cm tall. And as Pete isn’t tall enough to ride on his own we’d be pretty stuck. Next up was Centre Parks and Butlins but they were both coming up too expensive. So I had a little look at DisneyLand. You know how it is. Just a little look, out of interest, just to find out how expensive it would be and then forget about it…. And of course I managed to make it work. We’re all going to Disney! Twice!

The Plan
After looking around for the best way of doing the trip I found that annual passes would be the best bet. I already had vague plans of returning later in the year so this made a lot of sense! Turns out we needed Dream Passes but it also means we can go in the holidays and especially Halloween.
We’re heading off early on Friday 24th June to take the 6.36am Eurotunnel to Calais. We live in Kent so it’s only a couple of hours to get to France and we should be at Disney in time for lunch. We’re staying at a Le Chen Gris campsite about 20minutes from the parks so we can come and go as we need to. Usually I’d be packing all our own camping gear but I’ve booked a prepitched fully equipped tent to save time in pitching and decamping. More park time! We didn’t see any of the fireworks or parades at Christmas as we were out of the parks by lunchtime with crowds and being tired so we’re going to take it a bit easy and definitely do some later evenings in the parks. There isn’t a definite plan yet, but I’m sure it’ll all start coming together soon! Lots of parks, bit of swimming and chilling and a lot of food for a few days and then back in the car on Monday afternoon to catch the 21.20 Eurotunnel home.

The Booking
Eurotunnel: £111 paid using Tesco vouchers. So really that’s free.
Le Chen Gris campsite (link): 149euros for 3 nights in the prepitched tent.
Tickets: £314 for 1 adult and 2 child annual Dream Passes through SuperTrips
Insurance: through bank account

To Do
Book Café Mickey for dinner
Make more detailed plans
Save spending money
Start packing
Carry on organizing the other holidays!
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Old 1 Mar 16, 03:14 PM  
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#2
sallybunny
Thread Starter
Excited about Disney
 
Join Date: Jan 15
Trip 2: 23rd – 26th October 2016

Background
Now, I may have mentioned that there are two trips to DisneyLand this year (plus a cruise, but that’ll be in another trip report!) and the second is in October half term to see the Halloween decorations and meet the baddies. It’ll the boys and I again plus my new partner in holiday crime Tim and his 13yo son Haydn. I’d been planning the Halloween trip when I saw how easily and reasonably cheaply we could have trips over, so when Tim and Haydn suggested they come along of course I said yes! And it means I can do the big rides because there’ll be another grown up to adult swap with. He knows this is the only reason he’s invited ;o).

The Plan
Planning isn’t quite so advanced with this one but we have booked to stay onsite at Davy Crockett Ranch. We’re so excited at staying onsite! The booking is a little bit complicated but we think we’ve got a pretty good deal. We’ve booked Tim and Haydn, Pete and Doug come free and we get the free DDP. I have the annual pass and we’ll be sharing the vouchers and using the AP food discount for extra bits. We decided to stay onsite as T&H don’t need APs but want the extra magic hours and with free food it was a done deal. And we get to stay onsite again!
We’ll be taking the Eurotunnel again (love those Tesco Vouchers!) and squeeeeeeezing the kids into the car. It works out far cheaper and means we can arrive early and leave late and make the most of the time in the parks. We’ll be doing more big rides, lots of buffets (love a buffet but a bit difficult with small children on your own) and definitely Billy Bobs Wild West Show.

The Booking
Davy Crockett Ranch: £727.09 including park tickets and half board dining plan

To Do
Book Eurotunnel with Tesco Vouchers. Early out and late back again.
Book meals (Plaza Gardens and Crocketts Saloon)
Book BBWWS
Go on June Disney holiday and August cruise!
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Old 22 Jun 16, 10:52 AM  
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#3
sallybunny
Thread Starter
Excited about Disney
 
Join Date: Jan 15
It’s 2 days until we leave! And we’re all getting a little bit excited. The single digit dance has taken place more than once and we’re almost there with the planning. Packing has started as next week is so busy but it’s a bit strange not having to pack enough for two weeks or any camping stuff. But so relaxing too! The planning for the parks isn’t particularly tight as I want to take things slowly and not have to race around for bookings. As we’re going twice this year (and possibly again next May half term!) I don’t feel the need to race about and do everything. So, the plan so far…

Friday 24th June
Leave for the Eurotunnel no later than 5:15am! The boys will be in their pjs and breakfast will happen in the car so we can catch the 6:30am train. We’ll arrive in France at 8:10am local time and so should be pulling into the Disney car park by midday. At which point we’ll all do a little squee and walk calmly and sensibly into the park….hahahahahaha!

We’re going into the Disneyland Park first to sort out annual passes, but before that we’ll be hitting Casey’s Cornerhouse for hotdogs. Then onto Discoveryland to exchange the passes and start the rides. I suspect we’ll be sidetracked with other rides and spectacles on the way there, but so long as the passes happen I’ll be happy. I thought we might go to Rainforest Café for dinner (I’ll pop in on my way into the park to make sure they have a table) before we head off to the campsite to check in and have a bit of downtime.

Saturday 25th June
An early start for extra magic hours today as we want to get some meet and greets under our belts. Again, it’s going to be a day of meandering and doing the bits that we fancy rather than racing around. I’d like to have lunch at the Lucky Nugget Saloon as the boys will enjoy the puppets and it’ll give me a bit of time to relax! In the afternoon we’ll head back to the campsite for a rest and some early food then back to the parks for the evening. Hopefully the queues will be shorter in the evening and we’ll get some more rides in before finding a spot for Dreams. I suspect the boys will be quite tired and will be asleep in the pushchair but I missed all the fireworks in Florida so really want to see some.

Sunday 26th June
A slightly more relaxed start as we’re heading to the Hollywood Studios today. The aim is to be there in time to get a decent spot in the queue for Ratatouille. Doug’s too small for Crush so we’ll leave that one until October when there’ll be a chance for all the big rides. After this it’ll be another day of meandering and either lunch on the run or Rainforest Café or Café Mickey, depending on how we’re feeling and availability. I don’t really want to book too much this holiday as I’d rather see how the boys get on. And I suppose that’s one of the bonuses of Paris over Florida – less pressure to make sure we hit everything as we know we’re going back soon! I’d quite like to stick my head into the DisneyLand Hotel for maybe a drink and a look around the shop so I’ll see how the boys are holding up. After a late night we’ll probably head back to the campsite earlyish for some downtime and sleep.

Monday 27th June
The last day but still a full day at the parks as the train isn’t until 9.30pm so no need to leave until about 5pm. We’ll be there for extra magic hours again to make the most of the day and then we’ll play it by ear again, revisiting favourites, a bit of shopping, some lunch at some point and pick up an EoS for the journey home. A visit to the hypermarche to stock up on French treats and wine will be taking place as Pete has a list of everything he wants.

This all sounds so vague! For Florida I had a day by day plan and bookings made 6 months out and I’m panicking a bit that we’re going to miss stuff if I don’t plan properly. But we’re back in October for 4 days and again next May so we’ll fit it all in! Must stop panicking and start packing.

Edited at 10:53 AM.
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