diberry
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 5, 2004
Monday 4th October 2004
After the long countdown the day finally dawned and we were off on our long-awaited visit to Disneyland Resort Paris for Halloween. We left Nottingham at 9.30 and arrived via Eurostar 6¾ hours later at Marne-la-Vallée where the weather was amazingly warm with clear blue skies. We went straight to the Santa Fe hotel about 3 minutes by bus and checked in. Our room was on the ground floor and very near the main reception area, shop, bar and restaurant. Eager to make a start we set off straight away on foot to the parks. We knew we had to follow the course of the Rio Grande river which we did - but unfortunately in totally the wrong direction at first and came to the end of the river and a high fence!! - but thats par for the course with us!!! So we turned round and eventually got to Lake Disney and Disney Village then straight to the main park where there was no doubt at all that it was the Halloween season and we were, as always, very excited!!
As soon as we walked in we met lots of pumpkinmen real and models,
though it was sometimes difficult to be sure which was which as the real ones like to stand still and then pounce to make you scream which they succeeded in doing quite a few times during our stay!!
Hes real Hes not!!
The Halloween decorations were really good just about everywhere in Main Street. We had a hotdog géant at Caseys Corner, as is becoming our tradition, and then went straight to the railroad for a grand circle tour of the park. Frontierland had been transformed into Halloweenland for this month and it looked spectacular from the train. When wed been right round we stayed on until we got to Halloweenland again where we got off and had a look at all the new decorations which were really impressive. We had to go on Big Thunder Mountain first another tradition already!! - and it was as exciting as ever quite wild enough for us!! Then we decided to have a look around the Emporium as it was already 8.00 and the rides were shutting but the shops stay open for another hour. There are so many gorgeous things to look at and buy but we restrained ourselves as there would no doubt be plenty more to tempt us during the week!! Then we went to the Village and had a couple of drinks in Billy Bobs and listened to the Country & Western group who were playing. Then to Planet Hollywood for a meal Rhiannon managed to eat a whole calf plus several sackfuls of potatoes (veal & fries) but could hardly walk afterwards!! I had a very healthy chicken Caesar salad (and no beer after last times awful hangover!!!) Then a quick look round the hotel shop, bar and restaurant before going to bed to refresh ourselves for a busy day tomorrow!!
Tuesday 5th October
Rhiannon woke up during the night wondering why they were cutting the grass at that time but realised it was me snoring and doing a good impression of a lawnmower apparently!! Oops!!!
First we went to the hotel lobby to see which character was there and then we set off for our Fantasyland breakfast. According to the weather forecast before we left it was supposed to be 26º today but it certainly wasnt! Unfortunately it was overcast and chilly but we didnt let that dampen our spirits!! As soon as we got into the park we spotted Mickey in his little car who obliged us with a photo!!
On our way up Main Street we had lots of spooky encounters! The pumpkinmen are extremely interactive and are always delighted to meet Rhiannon and dance with her, put their fingers in her ears (slightly suspect French custom presumably!!) etc. Anyway that gave me lots of opportunities to take photos and generally enjoy her embarrassment!!
We also saw the Trick or Treat characters Minnie, Pluto, Chip and Dale, Demon Donald, the Sheriff of Nottingham and a variety of pumpkinmen in a car who throw sweets out to the children.
We went through Fantasyland where there are loads of characters in the mornings. They come out of a little door just opposite the entrance to the Mad Hatters Teacups which is a good place to hang around if you are as sad as we obviously are and love meeting the characters!!! We met Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Tigger, Suzy and Perla (the mice from Cinderella), Robin Hood (quite appropriate as we live in Nottingham!)
and Rafiki. We then went to the Chalet de la Marionnette where we had our usual breakfast of bread rolls, croissants, cheese, ham, cereal, hot chocolate and coffee. After that we decided to go on Peter Pan first. It was enjoyable as ever but we can never quite work out why its so popular and merits a Fastpass. Anyway we then went into the Castle which is always incredibly impressive. We had a look around including finding the window which changes from 2 doves into a rose. Then had a look around the shops the one that sells Christmas stuff all year round looks absolutely gorgeous. Then went across to Discoveryland and walked through Nautilus which was fairly unremarkable (it was closed last time we came). Decided to go on Orbitron but after feeling a little giddy on that we decided the corkscrew rides were maybe not for us after all!! We had a walk down through Discovery Arcade where we met the Queen of Hearts the characters going to Central Plaza come out of a little door near the toilets at the Plaza Gardens end of Discovery Arcade so thats a good spot to get a photo before theyre surrounded by hundreds of small children with autograph books!!! When we came out of there we saw the pumpkin policeman!!
Rhiannon took a photo of me with him but her camera took so long that she got a telling off and a tap on the head which amused me no end!!!
These characters do love her!!! We went back to the hotel briefly to get warmer clothing and decided to put our witches hats on for the rest of the day.
We got some funny looks and amused comments from various people!! We got the railroad round to Halloweenland and met some friendly strawmen and girls as we got off the train. We had lunch in the Cowboy Cookout Barbecue where our hats got put in our bags as they kept blowing off!! Then a ride on Phantom Manor which was as good as always. When we came out of there the Batboys were performing on the Spider Web Stage. Decided to have another look round some shops and then walked across to Adventureland and went on Pirates of the Caribbean which is one of our favourites. We had a wander round Adventureland and then went to have a look at the Indiana Jones ride. Wed already decided we werent brave enough to go on it as wed heard its very rough and also goes backwards and upside down!! As we were coming out of there we met a load of characters and of course had to have our photos taken with them. While Rhiannon was taking a photo of me, Brer Fox crept up on her and scared the living daylights out of her!!! But I thought it was very amusing!!! Had a look round more shops before trying to get tickets for the new Legend of the Lion King show in Videopolis. There was a huge queue of people waiting for tickets for a later show and then you have to queue up again later to actually get into the show so we decided to try getting into the café side of Videopolis later which proved to be very successful. There are also models of various animals having some fast food too!! We got a snack and managed to get seats right at the front of the café area which overlooks the stage so we had an excellent view without any queuing!!! The show was very good indeed. When we came out of the show at about 6.00 it had started raining so our glamorous yellow ponchos came out!! We decided to go on Pinocchio and Snow White and then went back to Halloweenland where we saw the Pumpkinmen playing Disney tunes on steel drums on stage.
After another go on Big Thunder Mountain we went over to the Village where we looked round the Disneystore and then had a lovely meal at the Rainforest Café. By this time we were absolutely shattered and Rhiannons pedometer said wed done 12½ miles. Our feet certainly felt like it but wed had a great day!!
After the long countdown the day finally dawned and we were off on our long-awaited visit to Disneyland Resort Paris for Halloween. We left Nottingham at 9.30 and arrived via Eurostar 6¾ hours later at Marne-la-Vallée where the weather was amazingly warm with clear blue skies. We went straight to the Santa Fe hotel about 3 minutes by bus and checked in. Our room was on the ground floor and very near the main reception area, shop, bar and restaurant. Eager to make a start we set off straight away on foot to the parks. We knew we had to follow the course of the Rio Grande river which we did - but unfortunately in totally the wrong direction at first and came to the end of the river and a high fence!! - but thats par for the course with us!!! So we turned round and eventually got to Lake Disney and Disney Village then straight to the main park where there was no doubt at all that it was the Halloween season and we were, as always, very excited!!
As soon as we walked in we met lots of pumpkinmen real and models,
though it was sometimes difficult to be sure which was which as the real ones like to stand still and then pounce to make you scream which they succeeded in doing quite a few times during our stay!!
Hes real Hes not!!
The Halloween decorations were really good just about everywhere in Main Street. We had a hotdog géant at Caseys Corner, as is becoming our tradition, and then went straight to the railroad for a grand circle tour of the park. Frontierland had been transformed into Halloweenland for this month and it looked spectacular from the train. When wed been right round we stayed on until we got to Halloweenland again where we got off and had a look at all the new decorations which were really impressive. We had to go on Big Thunder Mountain first another tradition already!! - and it was as exciting as ever quite wild enough for us!! Then we decided to have a look around the Emporium as it was already 8.00 and the rides were shutting but the shops stay open for another hour. There are so many gorgeous things to look at and buy but we restrained ourselves as there would no doubt be plenty more to tempt us during the week!! Then we went to the Village and had a couple of drinks in Billy Bobs and listened to the Country & Western group who were playing. Then to Planet Hollywood for a meal Rhiannon managed to eat a whole calf plus several sackfuls of potatoes (veal & fries) but could hardly walk afterwards!! I had a very healthy chicken Caesar salad (and no beer after last times awful hangover!!!) Then a quick look round the hotel shop, bar and restaurant before going to bed to refresh ourselves for a busy day tomorrow!!
Tuesday 5th October
Rhiannon woke up during the night wondering why they were cutting the grass at that time but realised it was me snoring and doing a good impression of a lawnmower apparently!! Oops!!!
First we went to the hotel lobby to see which character was there and then we set off for our Fantasyland breakfast. According to the weather forecast before we left it was supposed to be 26º today but it certainly wasnt! Unfortunately it was overcast and chilly but we didnt let that dampen our spirits!! As soon as we got into the park we spotted Mickey in his little car who obliged us with a photo!!
On our way up Main Street we had lots of spooky encounters! The pumpkinmen are extremely interactive and are always delighted to meet Rhiannon and dance with her, put their fingers in her ears (slightly suspect French custom presumably!!) etc. Anyway that gave me lots of opportunities to take photos and generally enjoy her embarrassment!!
We also saw the Trick or Treat characters Minnie, Pluto, Chip and Dale, Demon Donald, the Sheriff of Nottingham and a variety of pumpkinmen in a car who throw sweets out to the children.
We went through Fantasyland where there are loads of characters in the mornings. They come out of a little door just opposite the entrance to the Mad Hatters Teacups which is a good place to hang around if you are as sad as we obviously are and love meeting the characters!!! We met Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Tigger, Suzy and Perla (the mice from Cinderella), Robin Hood (quite appropriate as we live in Nottingham!)
and Rafiki. We then went to the Chalet de la Marionnette where we had our usual breakfast of bread rolls, croissants, cheese, ham, cereal, hot chocolate and coffee. After that we decided to go on Peter Pan first. It was enjoyable as ever but we can never quite work out why its so popular and merits a Fastpass. Anyway we then went into the Castle which is always incredibly impressive. We had a look around including finding the window which changes from 2 doves into a rose. Then had a look around the shops the one that sells Christmas stuff all year round looks absolutely gorgeous. Then went across to Discoveryland and walked through Nautilus which was fairly unremarkable (it was closed last time we came). Decided to go on Orbitron but after feeling a little giddy on that we decided the corkscrew rides were maybe not for us after all!! We had a walk down through Discovery Arcade where we met the Queen of Hearts the characters going to Central Plaza come out of a little door near the toilets at the Plaza Gardens end of Discovery Arcade so thats a good spot to get a photo before theyre surrounded by hundreds of small children with autograph books!!! When we came out of there we saw the pumpkin policeman!!
Rhiannon took a photo of me with him but her camera took so long that she got a telling off and a tap on the head which amused me no end!!!
These characters do love her!!! We went back to the hotel briefly to get warmer clothing and decided to put our witches hats on for the rest of the day.
We got some funny looks and amused comments from various people!! We got the railroad round to Halloweenland and met some friendly strawmen and girls as we got off the train. We had lunch in the Cowboy Cookout Barbecue where our hats got put in our bags as they kept blowing off!! Then a ride on Phantom Manor which was as good as always. When we came out of there the Batboys were performing on the Spider Web Stage. Decided to have another look round some shops and then walked across to Adventureland and went on Pirates of the Caribbean which is one of our favourites. We had a wander round Adventureland and then went to have a look at the Indiana Jones ride. Wed already decided we werent brave enough to go on it as wed heard its very rough and also goes backwards and upside down!! As we were coming out of there we met a load of characters and of course had to have our photos taken with them. While Rhiannon was taking a photo of me, Brer Fox crept up on her and scared the living daylights out of her!!! But I thought it was very amusing!!! Had a look round more shops before trying to get tickets for the new Legend of the Lion King show in Videopolis. There was a huge queue of people waiting for tickets for a later show and then you have to queue up again later to actually get into the show so we decided to try getting into the café side of Videopolis later which proved to be very successful. There are also models of various animals having some fast food too!! We got a snack and managed to get seats right at the front of the café area which overlooks the stage so we had an excellent view without any queuing!!! The show was very good indeed. When we came out of the show at about 6.00 it had started raining so our glamorous yellow ponchos came out!! We decided to go on Pinocchio and Snow White and then went back to Halloweenland where we saw the Pumpkinmen playing Disney tunes on steel drums on stage.
After another go on Big Thunder Mountain we went over to the Village where we looked round the Disneystore and then had a lovely meal at the Rainforest Café. By this time we were absolutely shattered and Rhiannons pedometer said wed done 12½ miles. Our feet certainly felt like it but wed had a great day!!
