A Date with Monsieur Mickey

There was one thing that was pulling me in the direction that I was heading. They have a Spider-man meet and greet there. Although I am not really into Marvel, I figured that this is something a bit unique as none of the other parks has Spider-man and it would be a shame to pass this up. The line for this meet and greet is very confusing. Most of the line is inside of the sound stage where the meet and greet takes place. However, there is a bit of an outside line as well and the end of this has a rope across and periodically people are let inside. I waited maybe 10 minutes until I was allowed inside. Once I was inside, the line moved very slowly. I did not really mind. I read my book while I was waiting and as it was pretty cold and damp that day, it was actually nice to be inside.

Eventually it was my turn to see Spider-man. The cast member in the area asked if I had a phone or camera. I handed her my phone, as this seems to be taking better photos inside than my little point and shoot that I had brought. There was also a Photopass photographer present and I handed him my card. Then it was time to meet Spider-man. He took his time with me. He asked me if I liked spiders and then tried to explain to me why they are really neat creatures. I am still not convinced. I did however love the interaction with Spider-man and ended up with a bunch of photos.









After this, I headed back over to the other side of the park. I wanted to do the Ratatouille ride once more. This time the single rider line was even better. It said that the waiting time was 5 minutes, but in reality this was just as long as it takes you to get from the entrance to the loading platform. In the morning I had been paired up with two adults and that was somewhat cosy. This time I was with a gentleman and his daughter and this was a much nicer experience as we all had more space.

On the way back, I got in line for Cars Quatre Roues Rallye, which by then was only 15 minutes. I actually think it was quicker than that and I did enjoy the ride. Then I decided that I had done enough at Walt Disney Studios for one day and that it was time for some lunch. I wanted to check out if the line for Mickey and Minnie looked more manageable, but this looked even crazier than it did in the morning and even though they were still supposed to be out for nearly another hour, they already had cut the line. I had a quick look in the shop and then went to guest services to check what would be open for Extra Magic Hours the next morning and then I left.



I walked over to Disney Village for a bit of downtime and some lunch. I had a browse through World of Disney, which I did not remember from my previous visits. I then headed towards the lake looking at some of the little huts that had been added for the Christmas season as I walked along.
My destination was Earl of Sandwich. I had been meaning to try this at Disneyland the last two years and never got around to it. I was about to put this right. It was quite busy although it was well past the normal lunch rush. I was delighted when I spotted the Cannonball sandwich on the menu. I had heard that this had been discontinued in the USA. I went with the meal deal, which included the sandwich, a soft drink and a brownie. I also added a cup of tomato soup, which may well have been the best tomato soup I ever tasted. It was quite thick, very rich and absolutely delicious. I really enjoyed my lunch and best of all, it came to less than €15.











After my lunch, I had a look at the shops at the other side of Disney Village. Again, there was nothing really that caught my eye. This was a novel experience for me to be at a Disney park and not really finding anything I want to buy. I did enjoy the Christmas decorations and it was while I was wandering around Disney Village I finally heard more than just a few bars of "Chante, C'est Noel". This put a big smile on my face. By then I was ready to head back inside a park. I headed for Disneyland as I was hoping to watch Disney Dreams of Christmas that evening.



I spotted Minnie in a different kind of Christmas costume near the bottom end of Liberty Arcade, but her line was already closed. I decided to head over to Discoveryland to see what the waiting time for Buzz Lightyear Laser Blasters was and this did not look too bad. So I got in line. This time round I did a lot better than the day before. When I was finished and had my ride photo added to my Photopass card, I had a quick look around the shop. When I got back outside, I noticed that the waiting time had halved. This was too good to pass up so I got in line again. This time I did even better.













When I came out of the ride again, it was still over 2 hours until Disney Dreams of Christmas would start and I felt I had done more than enough for one day. So I decided that I would stay for the show the next day when the park was due to close a bit earlier. As I headed down Main Street, I suddenly heard the soundtrack for the A Christmas Fantasy parade from Disneyland. I nearly jumped out of my skin. I had not expected that at all. They use this as an introduction to their tree lighting ceremony that they do twice per evening. I was heading in that general direction anyway so I decided to hang around. This was rather cute with various Disney characters and Santa making an appearance. There were various Christmas carols and then the tree was slowly lit. I rather enjoyed this. I was not able to take any photos as it was quite crowded, but I managed to take photos of the tree all lit up on my way out.









Once the ceremony was finished, I headed towards the exit. Quite a few people seemed to have the same idea. However, the crowd control was pretty good and it did not take long to leave the park. Outside the park the situation was a little different. There are some areas boarded up for some kind of building project and this is creating some bottlenecks. Still, this added a few minutes at the most and I was in no hurry. When I got to the station, I once again was lucky and there was a train pulling in just as I got to the platform. I was back at the hotel in no time. I had a quiet evening in reading and catching up online before setting my alarm and having an early night.

Thank you for sharing your trip reports. It looks like you definitely had fun.

Also we have actually decided to go Oct 3/4, Mon and Tues, so it will hopefully be quieter.

Shame about the crowds on a French public holiday; but it looks like you got a bit done anyway.

I was intrigued to see the Spiderman M&G at the Studios. i know that's something that my boys enjoy doing when we are at Universal. Looks like the inclusion of Marvel into the Disney line-up at parks other than Orlando is starting to take shape.

I love eating at EoS. It's just a shame that I get such infrequent opportunities to do so!

Thanks for sharing.

What a fun day!!!! I am loving seeing and hearing about the different rides. Too bad the parachute one is crossed off the list.

The Ratatoille one sounds very similar to some rides at Universal. I had the same reaction, that they were among the best rides I'd ever been on. So immersive, it feels like you're in the action.

Glad the crowds didn't put too much of a damper on things. Sounds like the single rider lines saved the day.

KNovacovschi said:

Thank you for sharing your trip reports.

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You are welcome.

KNovacovschi said:

It looks like you definitely had fun.

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I did.

KNovacovschi said:

Also we have actually decided to go Oct 3/4, Mon and Tues, so it will hopefully be quieter.

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That sounds great. It should be quieter than the weekend and the Halloween season will also have started. I am hoping to catch this at some point this year, but probably towards the end.

PrincessInOz said:

Shame about the crowds on a French public holiday; but it looks like you got a bit done anyway.

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Once I was inside, it was not actually that bad and definitely nothing like the US parks are on a public holiday.

PrincessInOz said:

Looks like the inclusion of Marvel into the Disney line-up at parks other than Orlando is starting to take shape.

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I know that they have a whole new Marvel area at Disneyland on the top level of what used to be Innoventions now.

PrincessInOz said:

I love eating at EoS. It's just a shame that I get such infrequent opportunities to do so!

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I am sure I will be back. I am with you on the infrequent opportunity though. We had one in London, but that is closed now. So my closest is the one at Disneyland Paris. I appreciate that distance-wise this is a lot closer than your closest one would be, but it is still a fair way.

Pinkocto said:

I am loving seeing and hearing about the different rides.

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They have some really neat rides there.

Pinkocto said:

Too bad the parachute one is crossed off the list.

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Well, at least I tried it once.

Pinkocto said:

The Ratatoille one sounds very similar to some rides at Universal.

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I know that Spiderman at Universal combines movement with 3D technology.

Corinna

Day 3

This day I did better. I had set my alarm for 7:00 and got up and ready. I must have just missed a train, but the next one was not too far behind. Bag check was surprisingly busy considering that most people out and about at that time should stay onsite. Still, the line moved pretty quickly. The same could not be said for the line to get inside the park. I don't really understand what the hold up was. It was about 8:10 when I was eventually inside, which was not bad at all.

The first order of the day was getting a photo with Mickey and Minnie in their Christmas finery. The line already looked impressive, but nowhere near as bad as it had been the previous day. The people behind me were from the UK, too and we chatted throughout our time in line. It was so nice to be able to speak English. At one stage Mickey and Minnie briefly left, but even with that, I only waited for about 25 minutes. This was OK and I love the costumes that they were wearing.







Once I had finished with Minnie and Mickey, I decided to do some rides. During Extra Magic Hours at Walt Disney Studios essentially the whole of the right side of the park is I open with the exception of Art of Animation and Animagique. So that means that Toon Studios, Toy Story Playland and the Ratatouille Mini Land are all open. In addition, Tower of Terror and Rock'n'Rollercoaster are also open. I headed over to the right. First I had to stop to take a photo though. It was a foggy morning and as I stepped out of Studio 1, I saw Tower of Terror just about peeking out from the fog. This looked wonderfully creepy.



I had planned to see how many times I could ride the Ratatouille ride. On the way, I noticed that Crush's Coaster was down. This turned out to be a sign of things to come. I was not bothered as I had no intention to do this ride anyway as it freaks me out. Unfortunately things did not look better when I got to Ratatouille Mini Land. The line for the Ratatouille ride looked impressive and there was a rope across the single rider entrance. I asked a cast member in the area if the single rider entrance was not open and she advised me that the ride was down. She recommended that I would come back later. I decided to hang around for a bit as there was nothing I wanted to do at that time. I used the bathroom and had a look around the shop and then headed back to the ride. There was still nothing happening so I decided to move on.

I crossed over into Toy Story Playland. Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop looked kind of eerie in the fog and for a second or two, I wondered what it would be like to ride this in these conditions. Then I remembered how much I had hated it the previous day and dismissed the idea. I had a closer look at RC Racers, but decided that this is too thrilling for my liking. The third ride in this area, Slinky Dog Zigzag Spin, looked right up my street. This is essentially a Disneyfied version of my favourite fairground ride. So I was keen to try this. This is another ride where the access is very confusing. As I approached this, there was the sign and the display with the estimated waiting time so I got in line. I was a little surprised that they only let one family in at the time and there were people coming from another direction. It turned out that this was the disabled access. I was by far not the only person who had made that mistake as suddenly there was a mass exodus when a cast member mentioned this. I never did figure out where the normal entrance was. I have to make sure that I find this on my next visit.

I decided that I would slowly make my way towards the exit. I had planned to spend most of the day at Disneyland and I was hoping to get a return time for the Princesses so I needed a bit of a head start. On the way back, I checked out how long the waiting time for Cars Quatre Roues Rallye was. The posted waiting time was only 5 minutes, but the line looked a lot longer than the day before and nothing seemed to be moving so I passed. However, I did notice that Donald was out in his Christmas outfit and did not have much of a line. I only waited about 5 minutes to see him. Once I had my photos, I headed out of the park.





I have to admit that I am a little bit spoiled from the US parks where usually they let you into the park as far as the hub at least half an hour before the official opening time. There is no such arrangement at Disneyland Paris. The opening time was10:00 that day and this is when they started to let people in. Inevitably there were people with kids in buggies that did not understand the system at Disneyland Paris for access and other people with tickets that did not scan so it took me a good 15 minutes to get inside. I figured by the time I had made my way to Princess Pavilion, the return times would probably be gone. I am not too bothered about meeting princesses anyway, but I was more curious about the setup of this location. So I walked up to the info board to see what my best plan of action would be. I noticed that Pirates of the Caribbean and Peter Pan’s Flight were down at that time. They really were not having a good day that day. The waiting time for Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast was showing as 10 minutes so I decided to do this first. By the time I got there, it had actually gone down to 5 minutes and was in fact a walk on. When I had finished with the ride, there were a few more people around, but the posted waiting time was still only 10 minutes so I got straight back in line. By the time I had finished the ride again, it had got quite busy so I decided to come back later in the day and find something else to do.





Since we last went to Disneyland Paris, Space Mountain got an extensive refurbishment and I had promised Graham I would check this out before he joined me in Paris to make sure that this is still OK and had not been made too thrilling. So I figured that this was the perfect time to check this out. It really turned out to be as this was another walk on. I was not quite sure how I felt about this as the next thing I knew, I was on the loading platform and our rocket pulled in. I did enjoy it. As far as I am aware Space Mountain is the only version that features a high-speed launch where you are “shot” out of a cannon and also a loop. However, I could not tell you at which stage of the ride the loop is. The whole thing is really cleverly done and I did enjoy it. I even sort of smiled on the photo.




Once I had added my photo to my Photopass card, I decided to explore Discoveryland a bit more. I had read before I left that sometimes the Fab 5 in space suits and also Stitch hang out near the theatre in Discoveryland. Unfortunately there was nobody there that day and the whole area looked deserted. The fact that the theatre was closed for refurbishment, the restaurant in that area was closed that day as only some restaurants are open every day during low season and that Star Tours was down with technical issues did not help either.

I decided to head over to Fantasyland. I was ready to drink something and I had spotted the day before that some of the kiosks had a Speculoos hot chocolate. That sounded very tempting. I walked past the Princess Pavilion and of course all the tickets for the day at gone, but at least this time round it was still obvious were the line had been. I stored this information away and then headed next door where there is a kiosk selling hot drinks and snacks. This amused me somewhat. The kiosk is housed in an old mill. This used to be a ride called Les Pirouettes du Vieux Moulin, which was essentially a kind of Ferris wheel with buckets being attached to the blades. This was a very slow loader with a capacity of a maximum of 60 people per cycle and also very temperamental. During the winter months, they would not run this at all and turned this into part of the Christmas decorations by filling the buckets with presents. At some stage, the ride part was dismantled and the building is now used as a kiosk. As there was not much else open in that area, the line was quite long. Unfortunately just before it was my turn, the machine the use for making hot drinks broke down. I never did get my Speculoos hot chocolate that trip.

I decided to check out what the waiting time for Peter Pan’s Flight was. That was too long for my liking, but I spotted that there were still Fastpasses available for early afternoon. I got one and then crossed over into Adventureland. Pirates was still closed, but I decided to swing by Cafe Agrabah to check if this was open that day. It was and this would be lunch taken care of that day. I then moved on to Frontierland. This was actually quite busy that day and people looked somewhat lost, as there was nothing to do. Whereas the two days earlier most of the restaurants in this area were at least open, that day most of them were closed. I went by the area where Merida meets, but the line was too long for my liking and I had finally had the chance to meet her at Disneyland in September so I rather concentrated on the characters and costumes that are unique to Disneyland Paris.

The detour did however provide me with some information. There were rumours going on that something unscheduled would happen that day. I could not quite make out what this was supposed to be, but it was obviously linked to Frontierland and the cast members in that area confirmed that they had heard rumours, too, but that nothing had been confirmed. This intrigued me. I decided to keep my eyes and ears open. In the meantime I headed over to the opposite end of Frontierland to finally do what I was looking forward to the most before the trip: meet Jack Skellington in his Sandy Claws costume.

One of my favourite Disney attractions is Haunted Mansion Holiday. I have never watched A Nightmare Before Christmas and I am not even sure that I would enjoy it, but I love the Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay that is inspired by this film. During the season for Haunted Mansion Holiday, Jack Skellington is out for meet and greets nearby, but in his normal outfit. I always wished that at least during the Christmas season he would appear in his Sandy Claws outfit, as this is how he appears inside Haunted Mansion Holiday. So when I read that Disneyland Paris would have a Sandy Claws meet and greet, I was over the moon.

This is actually really cleverly done. The area is called Jack's Cemetery and is tucked away between Phantom Manor and the riverboat landing, part of which is used for the line. The theming of the meet and greet spot is superb and I really regret that I never came back to take some photos when Jack was not in residence. The line did not move particularly quickly, but it was not long. Quite a few people left the line, too so in the end; my wait was not too long. It was definitely worth it. Jack is a real character and I had a lot of fun.

I had another character that I wanted to cross of my list. During the mornings, Marie from Aristocats meets near the bottom of Main Street. I had met her a couple of times at the Magic Kingdom, but she has got into the Christmas spirit, too and would be a shame to not visit her in her hometown. I am so glad that I did. That day, Marie was a real rascal. She must have taken lessons from Stitch. She got up to all kinds of mischief and I kept laughing. I don't think I ever had so much fun standing in line. When it was my turn, the interaction was first class as well. Marie tried to make off with my Mickey ears.









While I was in line, I got an idea what the unscheduled event people were so excited about may be linked to. The Christmas season had started the previous Saturday, but there were three further elements that were not due to start until two days later. One was a show with the princesses on the stage by the castle and the other two were Frozen themed. Frozen: A Royal Welcome was supposed to take place three times a day ahead of the Christmas parade. There would also be a Frozen singalong in the Chaparral Theatre in Frontierland. While I was in line for Marie, they announced that there would be a sneak preview of Frozen: A Royal Welcome in a few minutes. I did actually get a decent view of this from the line and it just consisted of Anna and Elsa in a horse-drawn carriage. Based on the description on the website, there was something going on at the hub as well in conjunction with this so I decided that I needed to check this out in more detail on one of my remaining days.

When I was finished with Marie, the Christmas parade was about to start. I decided to stay and watch. On the first day, I had taken photos with my camera, but I had promised a Disney Facebook group that I belong to some photos so I decided to watch this again and take photos on my phone. I am glad I did. I found a nice spot about halfway down Main Street on the opposite side of the road that I had been on the first day. The parade that day was a completely different experience. Not only was my perspective different, but there were quite a few changes. There must have been some technical issues with the lead float as this was not part of the parade and the characters that are normally on that float were on foot. I actually preferred this. This time round it was also "snowing" on Main Street. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

After the parade, I was ready for some lunch. I headed over to Cafe Agrabah. I was quite surprised when I was asked if I had a reservation. I had never needed one of those before. This has always been a bit of a hidden gem. They were able to fit me in as a walk up, but the secret is definitely out. First there was quite a long line at the till and then an even longer line to be seated. Eventually I was escorted to my table. When I had previously eaten there, I was seated in the courtyard area, but this time I was out the back, which has been decorated like the inside of a tent. I really liked this decor, but it was quite dark and I did not manage to take any photos.











Cafe Agrabah is a buffet and one soft drink is included in the price. I had chosen sparkling water and also paid extra for some mint tea. Once my water had arrived, I headed for the buffet. The starters were pretty much all fancy salads. The one thing I would have liked in this area, the hummus, had temporarily run out. So I passed and headed straight for the main courses. I had some turkey meatballs, vegetable couscous, chicken shawarma with flat bread and some green beans. Everything was delicious. When I went back to check out the desserts, the hummus had been replenished so I tried some of this with some more flat bread. I am quite fussy when it comes to hummus as I have some really amazing hummus in Dubai and this was pretty nice. I did go back for some dessert. I had a saffron cookie, assorted Baklava and some green tea and chocolate cake. The Baklava was nothing special, but the green tea and chocolate cake was absolutely amazing. The highlight for me though was the mint tea. I had a little bit of trouble actually getting it, as after I got my water, I did not see my server again. Eventually I managed to attract somebody's attention and shortly afterwards I had my tea. This was absolutely amazing. It was actually made with fresh mint leaves and was strong and sweet. The only drawback was that it was served in a shot glass. I would happily have drunk more of this.







By the time I finally had my mint tea, my Fastpass window for Peter Pan’s Flight had opened. So once I finished my tea, I headed over there. I managed to enter the Fastpass line just before my window closed. At Disneyland Paris the Fastpass windows are only 30 minutes so if you get held up somewhere, you can be in trouble. Fastpass in this case was an exaggeration. I seemed to be in that line forever. Still, I am sure it was much quicker than the standby line. When it was finally my turn, I did really enjoy it.

I decided to head down Main Street again to see Minnie in her second Christmas outfit. On the way, I took a photo from the castle drawbridge that I rather like. Unfortunately getting a photo with Minnie was not to be or at least not that day. I got in line and few minutes after this, I started to feel unwell. I have had a chronic condition pretty much as long as I remember and it is pretty well controlled to the point that it rarely stops me from doing something. However, every now and again, it chooses to throw a spanner in the works and that day seemed to be one of those days. So I made a quick exit from the line and after a bathroom stop and a little bit of down time, I felt as good as new.



While I was sitting down, I heard some announcements that there would be a preview of the Frozen Singalong in English shortly. So I decided to take this in. I made my way over to Frontierland. Even though it was still a little while until the show, the line looked impressive when I got to the Chaparral Theatre. I got in line and shortly afterwards they let us in. I got a pretty decent seat considering that I was so far back. I ended up right in the middle about halfway up. The show was rather cute. The narration was both in English and French, but the songs were all in English. The story was that it is the Arendelle Winter Festival and the choir got stuck in a snowstorm so we had to become the new choir. All the main songs and characters from the film featured in the show and I had a good time.











[url=https://flic.kr/p/AL4yiH]









When the show was finished, we were directed to a little market area that had been set up. There was a little Frozen display, a kiosk with merchandise, a log cabin that I assumed would offer make overs once this was officially open and a kiosk selling drinks and snacks. I had a cup of mulled wine, which I enjoyed while sitting on a bench near the exit to this area.

Once I finished my mulled wine, I started to make my way towards Main Street again. I wanted to catch the main parade that afternoon and this was due to start in the not too distant future. On the way, I picked up a popcorn bucket that I had promised somebody. This caused some amusement. Not only do I not like popcorn, but I also did not want to send a used popcorn bucket to somebody so I asked for just the bucket without the popcorn. He did not really understand at first what I wanted and there may have been an element of something being lost in translation, but eventually I got what I had come for.[/url]

I then made my way down Main Street. This was a bit more crowded than the Christmas parade had been. All the curbside spots had been gone. Initially I stood behind one of the bins that was right on the curb so I figured that nobody would be in front of me. Then some members of the family on the curb in that area came back from the shops and the father who had been holding the place moved right in front of the bin. I initially thought that he would be moved as he was standing right in the road, but a few cast members went by and did not say anything. So I decided to move. I went slight further down and found a great spot behind a double buggy. I had a great view. The parade was well put together and had some rather unusual elements.

After the parade, I still had a fair amount of time until Disney Dreams was due to start. I headed for the info board to see what rides had the shortest waiting times. I noticed that Space Mountain and Phantom Manor were now down with technical difficulties. Pirates was open again now, but had a fairly long wait so in the end I decided on Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast. The posted waiting time was not bad at all, but the line looked quite long. Still, there was nowhere I needed to be and i got in line. By the time I had done the ride, the crowds had dispersed and I decided to do this again.





By then, it was nearly time for Disney Dreams. I headed towards the castle and managed to get myself a fantastic spot on the Discoveryland side of the castle. I had a very good view. This was not the standard Disney Dreams show, but a special show for the holiday season called Disney Dreams of Christmas. I did enjoy it, but I would not go as far as saying that this is the best nighttime show that Disney offers. I much prefer both the original version of World of Color and World of Color Celebrate. Still, this was still very enjoyable and I am hoping that I get the chance to see the original version in the not too distant future.































Getting out of the park was interesting after the show. Just getting from where I was to the hub seemed to take forever. Once we got to the top of Main Street, we were then directed down the Discovery Arcade, but traffic still did not flow very well. Eventually I was outside the park, but now the real fun started in getting to the station. There are some building works going on in this area as well creating some nasty bottlenecks. Unfortunately there were a number of people who had places to go and were not too worried about the people who were in their way. They essentially barged straight through people. I was glad once we were at Disney Village and the crowds started to disperse.

The station was nice and quiet. I had wanted to get myself some soft drinks to take back to the hotel, but the little convenience store in the station was already closed. Fortunately I managed to find a machine that sold soft drinks. I got a couple of bottles and then made my way down to the platform. Again I did not have long to wait until a train came.

When I got back to the hotel, I caught up online and was chatting with Graham for a bit via Facebook Messenger. For some reason FaceTime had disappeared of his iPad so we could not use this. The Internet at the hotel was a little temperamental that day so I soon gave up and went to sleep.

Just joining and catching up! Got day 1. What does it mean Corinna to fly stand by? Sounds like a good flight. Isn't that direct train the best! Of course for us in the south we get the train all the way from Ebbsfleet to DLP! Cool. Love your parade photos. Sadly re the Annual Pass if the Europeans can make it complex we will!

Love Mr and Mrs Potato head in the parade lol. Cute bunnies. I think in addition to POC being good in DLP Space Mountain is the best here too.

I'm here... Going to go back and read

How fun! So glad you let me know about this trip; I've been AWOL...

Your pics are so lovely! It sounds like you were perfectly set with your hotel location as well.

Paula Sedley-Burke said:

What does it mean Corinna to fly stand by?

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Flying standby is at the same time an absolute blessing and the bane of the life for airline staff. We can travel very cheaply on the basis that we only get on the flight if there are spare seats. Sometimes we only have to pay the taxes, but usually it is the taxes plus a small admin fee. When I flew to Los Angeles in September from Amsterdam, this only cost me £100 and a lot of nerves. I have flown more standby this year then in the previous 9 years that I have worked in the airline industry and I am about to fly standby again.

Paula Sedley-Burke said:

I think in addition to POC being good in DLP Space Mountain is the best here too.

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I agree and would add Big Thunder Mountain to that list as well. I can't wait until it has finished its refurbishment.

dgbg100106 said:

I'm here... Going to go back and read

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Welcome.

tiggrbaby said:

How fun! So glad you let me know about this trip; I've been AWOL...

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Welcome.

tiggrbaby said:

Your pics are so lovely!

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Thank you.

tiggrbaby said:

It sounds like you were perfectly set with your hotel location as well.

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We like this hotel. It is usually quite cheap, clean and comfortable and ideally located.

Corinna

Right caught up now! Really enjoyed it all. Great photos! I was wanting to read about your thoughts about Ratatouille because we would love to do this! Def on the list now. How silly Disney has no photograhers at the posts!

I love all the characters in their outfits! The parade looks great. Earl of sandwich yeah! It's so confusing to me now that Disney own some Marvel rights that both Universal and Disney have Spider-Man!

Dinner looked good. Really enjoyed your posts! Th holiday decorations are lovely. Frozen looks fun.

So much to comment on, I'm sure I'm going to forget. But what a fabulous day! The characters are so cute in their special holiday outfits!!! and how fabulous they finally had Sandy Claws out. I was absolutely shocked how much I enjoyed HM Holiday at DL. I made sure to go back again I enjoyed it that much. And the movie absolutely freaks me out.

Who is that female chipmunk with Daisy in the float?

I'm amazed how pretty and white Marie stays, she is just precious.

Fun that you caught the special Frozen events.

Too bad so much was closed that morning.

I love the picture of ToT in the fog.

Love the pictures of you and the characters. Marie is so precious!
What an amazing parade.
Looks like you did Buzz a few times with increasing success!

Lovely pictures of the castle.

Paula Sedley-Burke said:

Really enjoyed it all. Great photos!

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Thanks. I am glad that you are enjoying it.

Paula Sedley-Burke said:

I was wanting to read about your thoughts about Ratatouille because we would love to do this!

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It really is amazing. This was one of the main draws for me for another visit to Disneyland Paris and it did not disappoint.

Paula Sedley-Burke said:

How silly Disney has no photograhers at the posts!

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Photopass is still relatively new at Disneyland Paris so I am hoping that they will expand this over time.

Paula Sedley-Burke said:

I love all the characters in their outfits!

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I loved them, too.

Paula Sedley-Burke said:

It's so confusing to me now that Disney own some Marvel rights that both Universal and Disney have Spider-Man!

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It is a bit.

Pinkocto said:

The characters are so cute in their special holiday outfits!!!

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I have had the opportunity to meet Disney characters in their holiday outfits at Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disneyland Paris and on the Disney Magic. The ones at Disneyland Paris are he nicest followed by the costumes on the Disney Magic.

Pinkocto said:

and how fabulous they finally had Sandy Claws out.

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I was so happy about this. I hear he is also out at Walt Disney World during the Christmas parties.

Pinkocto said:

And the movie absolutely freaks me out.

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I have yet to see the movie.

Pinkocto said:

Who is that female chipmunk with Daisy in the float?

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She is called Clarice and apparently was a love interest for Chip and Dale in one short.

Pinkocto said:

Fun that you caught the special Frozen events.

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I was glad that I caught this as well.

PrincessInOz said:

Looks like you did Buzz a few times with increasing success!

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Yes, but I don't think I could ever do this often enough to make a real difference. This is one of the rides that I love, but I am not very good at.

PrincessInOz said:

Lovely pictures of the castle.

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Thanks.

Corinna

Day 4


After I did not achieve that much during Extra Magic Hour the previous day, I had decided that I would pass on this pleasure that day and head straight for Disneyland when it opened. I was quite happy about the thought of an extra hour or so in bed. I then got up slowly and headed out. Again a train turned up shortly after I got to the station and I was on my way. Bag check was not too busy that day, but the lines to get into the park were huge. However, they moved pretty quickly and soon I was inside.



After the success with this the previous day, I headed over to Discoveryland to ride Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast and this strategy paid off. I got to do the ride twice with next to no wait. As it started to get busier after this, I moved on figuring I could always come back later. I moved towards the hub where I wanted to take some photos of the decorations. While I was taking the photos, there was an announcement that Frozen - A Royal Welcome would be happening shortly. I had only seen this from a distance the day before and was quite curious so I decided to sit down on one of the benches at the hub and wait. It was less than 15 minutes to go at that point. Unfortunately just before this was supposed to start there was a further announcement that due to unforeseen circumstances, this had to be cancelled.













I decided to head towards Fantasyland. I visited the dragon in its lair first, but unfortunately the photos I took did not come out. It is just too dark in there. I then walked past Snow White's Scary Adventure first on the off chance that this had opened early, but this was still very much boarded up. I then headed down to the area where the Storybook Canal Boats and Casey Junior are. Both were essentially a walk on. I did Storybook Canal Boats first. I like the ride here better than the one at Disneyland and the boats are also nicer. I do however prefer the loading arrangements at Disneyland. Here you have a moving platform with nothing to hold onto and if you are in the front row, there is quite a big gap between the platform and the boat. I was not too keen on this, but the ride made up for it.































Once I got off the ride, I headed straight over to Casey Jr. I don’t think I ever have done this before. As I started to walk towards the loading platform, I noticed that there was a bunch of characters just by the exit. Some of them like Eeyore, Tigger and Donald are reasonably common. Others like Suzy and Perla are fairly rare and I had never seen Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum in any of the parks. I was in two minds if I should backtrack and go and see the characters first, but decided against it and headed towards the ride. I did enjoy it, but unfortunately by the time I got to the exit all the characters apart from Eeyore had left. I decided to head there first the next morning.

It was around that time that I received an email from Graham letting me know that things did not look promising for his flight. He was also flying standby and apparently the flight was rather full. He had been told to come back at 11:45 to check again. The flight was due to leave at 12:25. I went on their website and they still had seats for this flight on sale so I figured it would probably be OK. I also noticed that the next flight had still some really low fares available, which normally means that there are plenty of seats. So I was not too worried.

As I left the area, it started to rain. I decided that a ride with an indoor line was in order, preferably a long one. I headed for Pinocchio and the waiting time was about 20 minutes. I was hoping that by the time I came out again, the weather would have blown over, as it did not really look like it should rain. The ride was fun. Unfortunately it was still raining when I got out. If anything, it seemed to have got heavier. Initially a number of people including myself huddled in the porch by the exit, but a cast member came and started to move people on.

I headed to the closest shop and had a look around. I then dashed over to the castle and had a look around the shop there and then took shelter just outside of the shop. Fortunately it soon started to brighten up again and I decided to head over to Discoveryland to see if I could do Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast again. I noticed that there were Fastpasses available for about 20 minutes later. So I got a Fastpass and then got in the standby line. Once I came out of the ride, my window for my Fastpass was just about to open. I got another Fastpass, did my Fastpass ride and then got in the standby line once again. By the time I had done all of this, there was still a bit of time until the window for my second Fastpass was due to open and I decided that I had done this ride enough for one day.







By then it was 12:30 in the UK and I had not heard from Graham again so I assumed that he had got on his flight. I headed down Main Street and had a look in the shops there. There was nothing that really grabbed me, but I did get a Christmas pin for my collection. I then decided to check out if Minnie was out. Marie was still out and I did not mind seeing her again. When I got about halfway down the line, a cast member came by asking people if they wanted to see Marie or Minnie. Most people wanted to see Marie, but there was a family from the UK in front of me that wanted to see Minnie and I wanted to see Minnie, too. We were moved to the side and were advised that Marie would be out for another 10 minutes or so and then Minnie would come out. I got chatting with the family in front of me and time flew. Soon Minnie replaced Marie and shortly afterwards it was my turn to meet Minnie. Once I had said “hi” and had some photos taken, I decided I might as well head down Main Street to see Pooh. The family I had been talking to had the same idea and we carried on our conversation. It did not take too long until it was my turn to meet Pooh.









Once I had my photos taken with Pooh, I decided that I had done enough for one day. I actually had accomplished quite a bit. I checked my emails and I had two emails from Graham with a seat number. This made me think that he had arrived in Paris. On the way out I stopped at one of the carts that sells hot drinks and snacks and got a souvenir cup for somebody. Then I headed towards the exit. I stopped by City Hall on the way to pick up a birthday badge so that we would not have to stand in line the next day. At Disneyland Paris, they are not proper badges, but stickers. They are still very nice.

In the meantime, Graham emailed me to let me know that he had arrived in Paris and would take the TGV to Disneyland Paris. So I decided to head over to Disney Village until Graham was due to arrive. It had been more than 24 hours since I had last eaten so my first port of call was Earl of Sandwich. This time round I decided on the Philly Cheese Steak with crisps, which was also very nice. I took my time over my late lunch, but suddenly it started to get busy so I decided that it was time to leave. I had a look around the shop that has all kinds of collectibles and a shop that is a bit like Tren-D at Walt Disney World and then wandered through the Disney Store to the station. I checked where Graham’s train would arrive and then waited for him. It did not take long until the train arrived. I said “hi” to Graham and then we headed to platform for the RER to go to the hotel.

Graham was just as confused as I had been by how things have changed. He figured out what had happened. They had built a new ticket office and entrance. We walked over to the hotel and had a little bit of downtime before heading out for dinner. There is a really nice Chinese restaurant near the hotel so this is where we were going that evening.

When we got there, the restaurant was still closed. This was about 18:00. A member of staff who was getting the restaurant ready told us that they were due to open at 19:00. We went for a wander and landed in a little shopping centre. There was not a great deal there, but there was a rather nice looking bakery that some rather delicious looking macaroons. We were not tempted at the moment, but thought we would be back at a later stage.

We headed back towards the hotel and it started to rain. So we ended up going back to our room for a bit. Fortunately by the time we ventured out again just after 19:00 it had stopped again. This time the restaurant was open and we went in. We were offered a complimentary aperitif, but neither of our French is too good and the English of the person serving us was about on par with our French so we did not really understand what the options were and passed. Since we last had a meal there, they have added a buffet option and this is what we went for. This turned out to be a good choice. Graham had assorted salads and seafood to start with. I went with spring rolls, prawn toast and fried chicken for my first plate. Graham then had some mixed stir fried vegetables and a fish dish. I went with egg-fried rice with a beef dish and some sweet and sour chicken. I also could not resist the nice spring rolls and had some more of those. We washed our dinner down with some sparkling water and a nice bottle of Muscadet. For dessert I played it safe and had some lychee. This is just as well, because of what Graham thought may be pineapple fritters turned out to be banana fritters. We both had some espresso and we were also given some complimentary sake. It was a really nice meal.

Over dinner we spent some quality time just chatting about everything and nothing. Although Graham has worked locally since we returned from holiday, we have not actually seen that much of each other as I have worked a lot of late shifts. So it was nice to just spend some time in each other’s company. We also got talking about holidays and now have a few ideas for next year. I am pretty excited about all the possible options.

After about two hours, we decided to make tracks. We paid and walked back to the hotel. We both spent a short while catching up online and then decided to have an early night as we expected to have a busy day the following day.