The 'double surprise' TR.... Finished!

[Ware Bears]

Oh dear, that didn't go off to a good start at the DLH - I find it incredible that they couldn't have almalgamated your two bookings together next thing they'll be expecting you to change rooms!?!

Anyhow, onto more positive things your DDs are adorable and the look on their faces when finding their bags!!

Loving all your photos and looking forward to reading more .....

 

[DLPDreams]

Oh dear, that didn't go off to a good start at the DLH - I find it incredible that they couldn't have almalgamated your two bookings together next thing they'll be expecting you to change rooms!?!

Anyhow, onto more positive things your DDs are adorable and the look on their faces when finding their bags!!

Loving all your photos and looking forward to reading more .....

Thanks so much Elaine .

I find it hard to believe the DLH got it so wrong too - they didn't make us change rooms (which was surprising ) but they did lock us out on the last day of our first reservation - they turned off the card keys!! Needless to say I was slightly annoyed by this point .

However, the girls had such a fab trip, and although I was cross about the hotel, I can't say we didn't have a great trip overall .

More updates tomorrow hopefully .

I can't believe how quickly your trip is coming round - are you booking your meals soon - I always find that bit quite exciting .

 

[Ms Poppins]

Another lovely update

DLH slipping up is not on, not at the price they charge

Love the photos with you dd's, they look sooooo happy Great Captain Jack pic too

And well done on getting an early night, so tempting to be out all day long.

More please

 

[loladelorean]

I'm loving your trip report so far! Your daughters are gorgeous, and it looks like you're all having a great time.
MMmm I love Blue Lagoon those kids meals look pretty awesome! Fab photo with Captain Jack too.
I'm totally flabbergasted at the terrible service you received at DLH - for the amount you pay for DLH everything should be 100% perfect. Are you going to, or have you already, written to them to outline all the many issues that you had??
Disneyland are usually very good at responding to complaints - and i think in this case it sounds like its totally justified to highlight the issues to them. Well done for not letting it ruin your holiday or impact on your girls, but I'd still be seething if I were you!

 

[DLPDreams]

Another lovely update

DLH slipping up is not on, not at the price they charge

Love the photos with you dd's, they look sooooo happy Great Captain Jack pic too

And well done on getting an early night, so tempting to be out all day long.

More please

Thanks Julie - we loved Captain Jack - it was a mini scrum but not as bad as some I've experienced so we were pleased. Actually, everyone stood back a little so DH could take the photo - a first and restored my faith in human nature a little!

We managed the long days really well which surprised me. We tended to do one night early and one late for Dreams. Even then though our early nights were 9 pm ish which is very late for the girls. But we did have a nap each day - that is where the DLH definitely came into it's own due to room location. I was worried the girls wouldn't sleep in the day, too excited, but usually after about 10 mins they settled and slept.

 

[DLPDreams]

I'm loving your trip report so far! Your daughters are gorgeous, and it looks like you're all having a great time.
MMmm I love Blue Lagoon those kids meals look pretty awesome! Fab photo with Captain Jack too.
I'm totally flabbergasted at the terrible service you received at DLH - for the amount you pay for DLH everything should be 100% perfect. Are you going to, or have you already, written to them to outline all the many issues that you had??
Disneyland are usually very good at responding to complaints - and i think in this case it sounds like its totally justified to highlight the issues to them. Well done for not letting it ruin your holiday or impact on your girls, but I'd still be seething if I were you!

Thank you Lisa!

We did love Blue Lagoon but as I think I said in your TR, DH was most looking forward to it (it was the one place he asked to eat this trip), but having been sick that night he would take some persuading to return I think! I'm not sure it was the food as we had the same thing but he's convinced it was...?

Yes, it really was disappointing at the DLH. I think because I have stayed there on previous visits and apart from issue where our luggage was badly delayed (which we didn't complain about), we've had great service there.

I am going to write, I've drafted a letter which I hope to send next week. I think I'm going to send by snail mail, I might then follow up by email in a week or so, just to ensure they definitely have it. I have some positive points to write about as well as I do feel there was one character in particular who was really fabulous with the girls so I'm going to put that in too. I'm not bothered about getting something out of it for us, more that the issues are addressed with the hotel to try and stop it happening again. It has left me wondering about staying there in November but as it might be quite cold I'm not sure I like the idea of the walk around the lake each day (or fighting to get on shuttles) .

The thing that got me the most, on the day I went and complained (after being locked out) the CM said to me that if I expect very good service then I should stay in the Castle Club - as if paying the premium you do to stay in the standard rooms at the DLH isn't enough to warrant good service. It's a good job DH wasn't there when she said that, I think he would have blown a fuse . I thought it was quite an insulting comment.

 

[jothp]

Thanks for the reply Jo .

I think by that point, I was just disappointed full stop, so anything that didn't go right just made it worse . One of the biggest things I love about the DLH is the breakfast (and one of the main reasons for upgrading) - it's not just the food choice, it's the ambience of Inventions in the morning, overlooking Main Street and the Castle etc - it's magical. It's a small thing but it did really bother me. I didn't like beginning our stay (our first morning) in a room at the other side of the hotel overlooking nothing really. Probably because I have been so used to staying there in the past and almost taking it for granted I guess .

I really am normally not that bothered by these things but I think because I had encountered the issues the night before at check in, and then been promised fastpasses and easy passes that never arrived, it just made me feel . One thing though, I never let the girls see my disappointment - although they saw me mad when the DLH switched off our keys and locked us out of our room on the Thursday . Another story for another day I think....

I totally agree as soon as one thing goes wrong all the other little things that might not have bothered you otherwise become far more important. I don't think lack of sleep helps either. I agree the comment about castle club really is insulting and that sort of attitude towards guests in just unacceptable in my opinion

Captain Jack was on our to do list but we never quite made it sadly, I love the picture of Mary Poppins too.

 

[DLPdaft]

Your girls look so happy in the photos . I'm not surprised you got irritated with the service you received at the DLH, its just not good enough is it.

 

[loladelorean]

The thing that got me the most, on the day I went and complained (after being locked out) the CM said to me that if I expect very good service then I should stay in the Castle Club - as if paying the premium you do to stay in the standard rooms at the DLH isn't enough to warrant good service. It's a good job DH wasn't there when she said that, I think he would have blown a fuse . I thought it was quite an insulting comment.

oh I hope that's in your letter!! Disney won't be happy to hear that, I'd wager, that's the very opposite of their ethos. I don't have much of a temper but I doubt i could have kept my cool at that. It's my dream to stay at the DLH one day but the risk of being treated like that might put me off.

I hope it wasn't the blue lagoon that gave your DH a funny tummy, the poor thing! And poor you if he never lets you go back

 

[TheTizardFamily:0)]

Great update, i love reading them!

Have to say too your girls are gorgeous!

 

[DLPDreams]

oh I hope that's in your letter!! Disney won't be happy to hear that, I'd wager, that's the very opposite of their ethos. I don't have much of a temper but I doubt i could have kept my cool at that. It's my dream to stay at the DLH one day but the risk of being treated like that might put me off.

I hope it wasn't the blue lagoon that gave your DH a funny tummy, the poor thing! And poor you if he never lets you go back

Aw thanks for the advice Lisa .

I'm fairly sure it wasn't the food as I think I would have been ill too (I was ill on the next night - although not sick but felt it ). I'm sure he could be persuaded to go again in November .

 

[DLPDreams]

Great update, i love reading them!

Have to say too your girls are gorgeous!

Aww thanks Jemma - that is really kind of you to say so . They are my little Princesses, or monsters, depending on their mood .

 

[princessjodiebo]

Loving the trip report so far !!

Blue lagoon was a maybe for our trip but after seeing the pics its a definate now i think !!

I agree with everyone else your daughters are gorgeous

 

[DLPDreams]

Day Three

Before I begin, I forgot to post this photo DH took from the Queen of Hearts castle in the labyrinth. Our camera, while nothing fancy, has this nice panoramic feature where you take 3 photos and it automatically splices it together. We managed to get some great photos this trip with it so I thought I'd share this one - hope it works!

This morning we were up a little later as it was a special day - our VIP Fastpass day due to being lucky enough to become a Shareholder in time to be eligible for the offer .

We went to breakfast and Mickey & Minnie were at the photo point. DD2 squealed with delight as she had been desperate to see the Mouse as she adores him! We queued to have their photos taken when DH went into breakfast and found us a table. Today we were lucky not to be redirected to the conference room and ended up in the rotunda of California Grill which is lovely (sorry the photo is blurry!). I messed up a bit and realised I had left something in the room, in addition the camera needed charging, so I headed back while the others had breakfast. I then arrived back and had a bite to eat.

We were at Salon Mickey to get our VIP FP for 9.30 am but it took absolutely ages to sort out - I'm not sure what the issue was! DH got fed up so took the girls into the Park while I waited - it was 10.10 am before I left SM . I ran to catch up with them at Peter Pan - our plan had been to ride this first - but to my disappointment they wouldn't let us on with our FP until 10.30 am!!

Not to worry, we'd come back! We had a quick ride on the teacups which is a fave of mine then it was PP time . As we could, we FP on it twice. We decided that as we were near by and the queue wasn't huge, that we would do Snow White which was fine, although DD2 didn't know what to make of it as it can be a bit dark.

We then headed to our favourite family ride - BTM and rode it 3 times in a row . We had an early lunch booked at Cowboy Cookout BBQ today so didn't want to stray too far. I suggested doing the Jungle Book meet in Adventureland which only had a small queue. Baloo was almost finished as we arrived and then we saw Timon & Rafiki come which was brilliant as they were quite amusing . We did the obligatory photos/autos and headed to CBCO which the girls had no idea about. Up to this point DD1 had been saying how disappointed she was that we hadn't met many characters - little did she know that was about to change .

We arrived for our reservation at 11.50 am and there were already a few people in CBCO. I have to say we really enjoyed this meal although it did take about 30 minutes to order the food. It is counter service but the way it works is you queue at a cashpoint to give your order, pay and they give you a receipt. You then queue at the food service counter where staff pick your order and put it on a tray for you. When we arrived only one poor man was on the cashpoint so it took forever! As I queued for so long while DH stayed at the table with the girls, I did miss out on most of their interaction with the characters which was a shame, a few did come around twice though, during our meal which was nice.

Most importantly - the characters: we met Woody who was amazing with the children - playing hide & seek and dancing etc., Pluto - who was also great, Goofy - again funny and plenty of time for everyone and Donald & Daisy Duck who were nice. Daisy in particular seemed to take a shine to my girls and spent ages with them - I think she came to our table 3 times . The band also played on and off which was nice.

The food was good - warm and lots of it, it's not a la carte obviously but really was nice. I had the chilli to start, and ribs & wedges - the ribs were amazing, lots of meat and a nice sauce. DH had chilli and the angus burger and the girls had the children's cheeseburger with wedges. DH and I had the magnums for pudding - yum! And the girls had the strawberry yoghurt drink things which they both enjoyed . DH and I didn't eat much of the chilli but only because we were too full and wanted to eat our mains! The girls had orange juice with their meal and we had a soft drink each. I'll put photos on review thread .

The total was 79 euros as I forgot to hand over my Dream AP!! DH and I both thought this meal was one of the best character meals we had and good value for money.

After lunch we headed to the Studios to do some more fastpassing! We did Flying Carpets twice - the girls really liked this ride, despite the fact there really isn't much to it! We then decided to try Tower of Terror - silly me thought the girls might be OK on it as they seemed to be braving BTM so much. Needless to say both were scared and didn't enjoy it at all so it was written off for the rest of the trip - at least we gave it a go! Waiting here on ToT....

We then queued for 15 mins for Slinky Dog while over there as we hadn't yet been in the TSPL as it wasn't built on our last trip - it's a very clever place! The effects of a large lunch and the walking made us tired so we headed back for a nap as we were watching Dreams tonight .

After our rest we headed back to BTM again to abuse the VIP FP. We rode it another 3 times (so 6 times in one day - my girls are amazing at 4 & 7!!), then Peter Pan once. We then headed to Star Tours which DD1 was a bit apprehensive about but both girls loved it - it's now another favourite . While over that way we did Buzz twice. We were making good use of that FP!

Cont:

 

[DLPDreams]

Day three cont:

We had a reservation at 6.30 pm for Walts and I was hoping to get a window table for the Parade at 7 pm. I had called in earlier in the day to ask (as I had been told to do this when I booked it on the telephone) but they just told me they couldn't guarantee one . We arrived for 6.30 pm to find rather a lot of people milling around in the waiting area (which is gorgeous with lots of Walt memorabilia). We had booked the Dinner & Dreams meal as I had read that the VIP roped off spot was quite a good view and we liked the idea of arriving just beforehand rather than an hour or so before. DD2 here trying out the piano at Walts - she loves anything musical even at 4!

However, we waited 40 minutes for our table which was not so good . It was 7.15 pm when we got upstairs and despite the fact we had waited so long and had asked a few times, we were given a table at the back of the restaurant in Fantasyland - lovely room but a bit disappointing. I left DH to settle the girls while I went for a quick look around and I noticed a table had become available by the window in the Main Street area. I stopped the Manager as he went past and explained how we had waited so long for a table even with a booking and could he possibly see if we could change to the window table. He did sigh a bit rolleyes1) and then agreed that he would get a member of staff to sort it out for us . The parade was just coming up Main Street so we were just in time! We sat and the girls had a great view - they got some lovely character waves and kisses as well a tongue stick out from Peter Pan . Managed to get Winnie waving to us on camera....

I must admit, the Dreams menu is a little limited and I would have loved to have tried some of the things on the A la carte menu at Walts but we really wanted those wristbands! DH chose the parma ham & melon starter (as did I), and the sea bream with rice for main. I chose the lamb with red wine jus and ratatouille. The girls both had fish and chips as well as the salmon mousse for starter (all came out together). We all had the 20th desserts. DH had a coffee on the house - the waitress we had was so lovely and said because of our wait we could have it free which was really nice as we hadn't said anything about it to her . At the end of the meal our wristbands were put on us and off we headed. Our meal was 116 euros with SH discount - DH had one beerand I had soft drinks all round so I didn't use my AP. However here, unlike most other places, the beer wasn't included in the SH discount as alcohol isn't meant to be. Again will put photos on review thread.

By the time we left we had a little walk about and then went on Buzz again, had another 2 goes on BTM (8 goes and counting!) and then decided to head to the Dreams VIP area, it was about 10.45 pm at this point. A few cheeky people tried to sneak into the roped off bit but the CM was onto them quickly which was good! We had an amazing view of Dreams - DD2 was even able to sit in her pushchair and still see really well. I took video from this spot and it is amazing. I even took a photo of the techie guys in the control booth directly behind us DH was on camera again so no good photos lmao, the best ones are from our last night so I'll keep those for now.

Time for bed once again after a fun filled day .

 

[DLPdaft]

yey for VIP fastpass and 8 goes on BTM !

Your DD1 looks a little apprehensive on that pic in the ToT queue doesn't she ?

 

[Ware Bears]

Just caught up - you must be well on your way to winning the 'riding BTM most times in one day' award! Also, that's a new one on me about alcoholic drinks being excluded from SH discount during a table service meal I know you don't get SH discount if buying at a bar but we've always had it during a TS meal.

The thing that got me the most, on the day I went and complained (after being locked out) the CM said to me that if I expect very good service then I should stay in the Castle Club - as if paying the premium you do to stay in the standard rooms at the DLH isn't enough to warrant good service. It's a good job DH wasn't there when she said that, I think he would have blown a fuse . I thought it was quite an insulting comment.

Goodness, I think that's insulting too. IMO you should expect to receive good service wherever you stay, irrespective of whether it's a standard room at DLH or one at Santa Fe. You're not talking about service according to the star of a hotel like luggage porterage, gym facilities, or room service, or extra perks like Castle Club gives its guests, you're talking about good old-fashioned customer service where mistakes (which we all know DO happen) are rectified in a timely manner and where if things are promised they are followed through.

 

[Ms Poppins]

Oh, what a shocking attitude from staff at DLH

Love the VIP FP day - BTM is my favourite too Oh, bad mummy for taking your lovely little princess' on TOT....I hated it

Walts special viewing area does look good, just a shame the menu is limited. I'd have happily paid extra for our meal to gain access to the viewing area.

 

[jothp]

We must have been so close at the Rafiki and Timon meet because we were there just before lunch too. We were in Walts that evening too but a little bit earlier than you - amazing that we never managed to run into each other. We would have loved riding btm as a family but as Evie wasn't tall enough we will have to wait for the next trip for that.

I went on TOT this time with my oldest and both hated it. I think it felt worse for her because her feet didn't touch the floor. Never again.

 

[HappyPanda]

Another great update! Love the photo of Pooh waving to you from Walts. You must have felt a little smug sitting in the nice warm and dry restaurant while watching everyone outside with their umbrellas up!

That panoramic photo is beautiful!