Tuesday June 14th 2005
Cast: Me (23) and my girlfriend Claire (25). In the photos, I'm the blonde with glasses, and she's the brunette.
NOTE: Click the little thumbnail images to see larger versions of the photos! I'm having to post the reports in sections as I have too many images! The board won't let me post more than 20 at once!
We were up for 7.10am this morning, which meant that <em>finally</em>, on our last day, we made it to breakfast on time. As we left the room, we found our invoice from the Express Check-Out service hanging on the door handle. This meant that we didn't have to go to reception to check out; instead, the charges we'd incurred (by using the hotel charge card to pay for meals and merchandise) were simply listed on a piece of paper and charged to the MasterCard. <em>Very</em> convenient, and there were no problems with it whatsoever, although I do recommend keeping a note of your spending in a little notepad if you're going to use this, so that you can quickly check that everything's in order before leaving! Also, you can't use it on your last day (or on your first day before arriving at the hotel), so make sure you take some Euros or credit cards as well!
We went to the Beaver Creek Tavern for breakfast again, as we prefer it. Our card was for 7.00-7.45, and we got over there for 7.35 - it's much quieter at this time of the day! As we were leaving, we spotted Tigger in the foyer and took a couple of photos. Then we headed back to our room to pack, where I started to feel very sick, stressed out, and sad. I had really bad tummyache and I think most of it was due to nerves about travelling, but it made me feel horrible. I cried quite a bit as I didn't want to leave and felt really stupid as a result. Luckily Claire was sympathetic! I had wanted to go swimming for the last time this morning, but neither of us really felt up to it and didn't feel like packing wet swimming stuff, so we didn't bother.
After making sure everything was packed, we made our way over to reception for 10am. Our bags needed to be checked into the Disney Express service before 11am (so that they could be sent to the train station), and here we handed them over and were given the little green stubs we'd need to collect them later. I will repeat what I said on day one and say that this service is fantastic. <em>So</em> convenient. They'd even put a little box on the wall next to the luggage room for people to post their room key cards in, which we duly did. We also posted the little hotel comments card in the box marked with the picture of Pluto.
We were then luggage-free and ready to head to the parks. We had made a brief plan for today, which we intended to stick to, so it was over to the Walt Disney Studios Park first of all. On the way, we bumped into a strange man who seemed to want us to pose together at the entrance to Disney Village. I am gullible and naive and sort of went along with it, thinking he just wanted a photo of two young ladies as a souvenir (because that would be fine, of course! What is WRONG with me, I ask!?) but Claire pulled me away and then told me he had a Polaroid camera, and was probably going to try to sell the photo to us. Honestly, I don't know where I'd be without that girl. We ran away from him.
We arrived at the park in time for the 10.30am Good Morning Walt Disney Studios parade, which seems to pass through Production Courtyard and then turn left outside Cinémagique. There are a few characters in this parade, such as Lilo and Stitch, Minnie Mouse, Cruella de Vil, etc. and it has different music to the main parade. It doesn't last very long at all and once we'd got to the Cruella de Vil car (and realised we'd seen it from this point a couple of days ago) we decided to go to Cinémagique for the 10.45am show. Claire pointed at a couple of seats in the front central area and suggested we sit in them, so we headed towards them and were "told off" by a cast member. I thought this meant that we couldn't sit near the front, so I headed for the back and promptly started to cry! I was really emotional today and I don't cope well with being told I've done something wrong, so it just set me off. Claire said that she thought the seats we'd tried to sit in were actually disabled seats, and that we could sit closer to the front if we wanted to. So I followed her (reluctantly) and we sat four rows back, in the centre. I was pleased we did this, as some of the special effects in the film seemed to affect only the first block of seats, though I'm not sure. In any case, we had a good view and really enjoyed the show.
The show was finished by 11.10am and so we wandered over to Animagique for the 11.30am show. Make sure you get here early if you want a good seat! We were there fifteen minutes early and the theatre was almost full, but we managed to get seats near the front (albeit quite far to the right). The show is very sweet, and we both enjoyed it, though it is primarily designed for young children. I think I would've died of embarrassment watching it as a teenager, but as an adult I could appreciate the cool special effects. It is very well done and I enjoyed the Little Mermaid scene, though I did wonder where the Monstro, Jiminy Cricket and Pinocchio scene was! You know, the one printed in all the brochures! I had been looking forward to that in a silly kind of a way.
The Lilo and Stitch Catch the Wave Party must've just ended, as Lilo and Stitch were signing autographs when we left Animagique at 11.55am. I had a quick stroke of the back of Stitch's head (the first and only character I touched during the entire holiday!) which was very soft, and then we headed over to Backlot to try our luck at getting into the 12.15pm Moteurs... Action! Stunt Show Spectacular. There were loads of people in front of us, and the queue was already moving when we got there, but we got into the arena and were directed to fairly decent seats, which were quite close to the back but had a good view. I was impressed with the way the set looked and amazed at the huge number of people there! The show itself was clever and some parts of it were very fun to watch, but there was far too much chit-chat, which made it a little boring for us, I'm afraid. Claire said it was a bit "boyish" (which is strange coming from her, as she's quite a tomboy sometimes!) and I know what she means. The benches do get quite uncomfortable and there's no back support, which I really need as I get quite a painful back sometimes. There is also a lack of leg room and I kept kicking the person in front of me by accident - oops! I don't mean to moan, but we'd heard such praise for this show and I suppose we were expecting it to be better. I don't know! Maybe we were just in a bad mood because it was our last day!
The show finished at 1pm and we headed straight for Armageddon: Special Effects, which was good and very clever, but I could've done without the pre-show! The cast member presenting it was very annoying indeed and I didn't really see why that huge introduction was necessary. They could've done that on a screen in the queuing area or something! In the little spaceship pod thing (not sure what to call it), we stood on the outer edge of the circle, near to a sort of vent. I said to Claire, "I bet something scary comes through there" and she didn't believe me... until a huge fireball exploded in it and we really felt the heat! I also hurt my neck a bit, but I can't remember how! There were several crying children by the end of the "ride", and I wouldn't really recommend it for under-fives. Some people had taken babies in there!
Cast: Me (23) and my girlfriend Claire (25). In the photos, I'm the blonde with glasses, and she's the brunette.
NOTE: Click the little thumbnail images to see larger versions of the photos! I'm having to post the reports in sections as I have too many images! The board won't let me post more than 20 at once!
We were up for 7.10am this morning, which meant that <em>finally</em>, on our last day, we made it to breakfast on time. As we left the room, we found our invoice from the Express Check-Out service hanging on the door handle. This meant that we didn't have to go to reception to check out; instead, the charges we'd incurred (by using the hotel charge card to pay for meals and merchandise) were simply listed on a piece of paper and charged to the MasterCard. <em>Very</em> convenient, and there were no problems with it whatsoever, although I do recommend keeping a note of your spending in a little notepad if you're going to use this, so that you can quickly check that everything's in order before leaving! Also, you can't use it on your last day (or on your first day before arriving at the hotel), so make sure you take some Euros or credit cards as well!
We went to the Beaver Creek Tavern for breakfast again, as we prefer it. Our card was for 7.00-7.45, and we got over there for 7.35 - it's much quieter at this time of the day! As we were leaving, we spotted Tigger in the foyer and took a couple of photos. Then we headed back to our room to pack, where I started to feel very sick, stressed out, and sad. I had really bad tummyache and I think most of it was due to nerves about travelling, but it made me feel horrible. I cried quite a bit as I didn't want to leave and felt really stupid as a result. Luckily Claire was sympathetic! I had wanted to go swimming for the last time this morning, but neither of us really felt up to it and didn't feel like packing wet swimming stuff, so we didn't bother.
After making sure everything was packed, we made our way over to reception for 10am. Our bags needed to be checked into the Disney Express service before 11am (so that they could be sent to the train station), and here we handed them over and were given the little green stubs we'd need to collect them later. I will repeat what I said on day one and say that this service is fantastic. <em>So</em> convenient. They'd even put a little box on the wall next to the luggage room for people to post their room key cards in, which we duly did. We also posted the little hotel comments card in the box marked with the picture of Pluto.
We were then luggage-free and ready to head to the parks. We had made a brief plan for today, which we intended to stick to, so it was over to the Walt Disney Studios Park first of all. On the way, we bumped into a strange man who seemed to want us to pose together at the entrance to Disney Village. I am gullible and naive and sort of went along with it, thinking he just wanted a photo of two young ladies as a souvenir (because that would be fine, of course! What is WRONG with me, I ask!?) but Claire pulled me away and then told me he had a Polaroid camera, and was probably going to try to sell the photo to us. Honestly, I don't know where I'd be without that girl. We ran away from him.
We arrived at the park in time for the 10.30am Good Morning Walt Disney Studios parade, which seems to pass through Production Courtyard and then turn left outside Cinémagique. There are a few characters in this parade, such as Lilo and Stitch, Minnie Mouse, Cruella de Vil, etc. and it has different music to the main parade. It doesn't last very long at all and once we'd got to the Cruella de Vil car (and realised we'd seen it from this point a couple of days ago) we decided to go to Cinémagique for the 10.45am show. Claire pointed at a couple of seats in the front central area and suggested we sit in them, so we headed towards them and were "told off" by a cast member. I thought this meant that we couldn't sit near the front, so I headed for the back and promptly started to cry! I was really emotional today and I don't cope well with being told I've done something wrong, so it just set me off. Claire said that she thought the seats we'd tried to sit in were actually disabled seats, and that we could sit closer to the front if we wanted to. So I followed her (reluctantly) and we sat four rows back, in the centre. I was pleased we did this, as some of the special effects in the film seemed to affect only the first block of seats, though I'm not sure. In any case, we had a good view and really enjoyed the show.
The show was finished by 11.10am and so we wandered over to Animagique for the 11.30am show. Make sure you get here early if you want a good seat! We were there fifteen minutes early and the theatre was almost full, but we managed to get seats near the front (albeit quite far to the right). The show is very sweet, and we both enjoyed it, though it is primarily designed for young children. I think I would've died of embarrassment watching it as a teenager, but as an adult I could appreciate the cool special effects. It is very well done and I enjoyed the Little Mermaid scene, though I did wonder where the Monstro, Jiminy Cricket and Pinocchio scene was! You know, the one printed in all the brochures! I had been looking forward to that in a silly kind of a way.
The Lilo and Stitch Catch the Wave Party must've just ended, as Lilo and Stitch were signing autographs when we left Animagique at 11.55am. I had a quick stroke of the back of Stitch's head (the first and only character I touched during the entire holiday!) which was very soft, and then we headed over to Backlot to try our luck at getting into the 12.15pm Moteurs... Action! Stunt Show Spectacular. There were loads of people in front of us, and the queue was already moving when we got there, but we got into the arena and were directed to fairly decent seats, which were quite close to the back but had a good view. I was impressed with the way the set looked and amazed at the huge number of people there! The show itself was clever and some parts of it were very fun to watch, but there was far too much chit-chat, which made it a little boring for us, I'm afraid. Claire said it was a bit "boyish" (which is strange coming from her, as she's quite a tomboy sometimes!) and I know what she means. The benches do get quite uncomfortable and there's no back support, which I really need as I get quite a painful back sometimes. There is also a lack of leg room and I kept kicking the person in front of me by accident - oops! I don't mean to moan, but we'd heard such praise for this show and I suppose we were expecting it to be better. I don't know! Maybe we were just in a bad mood because it was our last day!
The show finished at 1pm and we headed straight for Armageddon: Special Effects, which was good and very clever, but I could've done without the pre-show! The cast member presenting it was very annoying indeed and I didn't really see why that huge introduction was necessary. They could've done that on a screen in the queuing area or something! In the little spaceship pod thing (not sure what to call it), we stood on the outer edge of the circle, near to a sort of vent. I said to Claire, "I bet something scary comes through there" and she didn't believe me... until a huge fireball exploded in it and we really felt the heat! I also hurt my neck a bit, but I can't remember how! There were several crying children by the end of the "ride", and I wouldn't really recommend it for under-fives. Some people had taken babies in there!