Our April 2013 TR..days 2, 3 and 4 added - TR complete

[Aussie Wendy]

OT-I love the bird print on the T Charlotte is wearing.

 

[Charlotea]

Another lovely day with some great photos!

Thanks I am glad you like the photos, I brought a new camera just before our trip and was very excited to use it!

 

[Charlotea]

OT-I love the bird print on the T Charlotte is wearing.

Thank you I was just glad to not have to wear a coat, it seems the week we went was the beginning of the good weather

 

[Christieand]

Next we headed to Adventureland to go on Pirates which had a short wait of about five minutes,





followed by a walk to Fantasyland where Nan sat by Toad Hall because it wasn’t open and Charlotte and I went to explore Alice’s Curious Labyrinth, which I think I may have enjoyed a little too much for 19 year olds! We took pictures at the photo point to resemble the ones we did 8 years ago on our first visit:







When we eventually found our way out we joined Nan for a while



..and then walked to Small World where we were just in time to see the little display from around the 'clock' area if anyone knows what I am talking about?

Then Nan stayed sitting by the wall on the parade route and we battled pre-parade crowds to get to ride Big Thunder Mountain, armed with pin badges and Vinylmation to swap!

The wait was about 15 minutes, despite displaying 25 and when the time came we took the left hand side unlike the majority of the queue, including a man who was desperate to get in front of us and then chose the right hand side…



Afterwards we walked back to find Nan, going all the way through Adventureland because of the parade!



She had moved to a bench near the stage, so after a few minutes of confusion whilst we looked for her we moved to our spot for Dreams. It was only about 7:30 so we were very early but it meant that we got the coveted bench in front of Plaza Gardens. Nan said she really didn’t mind just waiting around so we went to ride Orbitron which was a 15 minute wait and very uncomfortable ride experience.



Feeling slightly dizzy, we headed to Star Traders in the hopes of trading my Vinylmation but there were no cast members free so we left it and got a portion of chips to share from Café Hyperion which was all but deserted.

Back with Nan we ate the chips and after a while her and Charlotte went over to the Frontierland shop to get a couple of little gifts whilst I caught up on writing my diary. Whilst they were gone, another family decided they would squeeze on to the bench which was almost as uncomfortable as Orbitron especially because I was alone and we did not speak the same language…

When they arrived back, Charlotte headed to Casey’s to get some chicken nuggets and a couple more portions of chips. She was gone for ages and after my levels of concern had risen tenfold she eventually appeared with nuggets, two portions of chips, a hot chocolate, coffee, and two brownies, which were all lovely and gratefully received.





By this time it was about 9:40 so Dreams started soon after and it was even better than the previous night because the temperature was mild and we had the perfect view- I didn’t even need to stand up.



When it was finished we stayed sitting down for a little while which was really nice because it meant that it wasn’t really busy at all by the time we decided to leave.



In the village we went in the Planet Hollywood shop for a quick browse,


We thought this was cool; it was from the opening of Disneyland in America I believe?

then back in our hotel we got ready for bed and went to sleep begrudgingly because we knew that when we woke up we would have to get ready to leave!

 

[Christieand]

Thursday 19th April



After ignoring our alarm, we got up at 6:30 for breakfast at 7:30 in Hunter’s Grill this time, where I managed to sit on the right table for the duration of the meal!


Thought this might be useful for anyone who wants to see the hot breakfast options



When we were suitably full, we went back up to our room to pack up our things and were quite surprised when we managed to fit everything in.




"I distinctly remember you doing this last time" said Charlotte, in response to my "I don't want to leave" protestations.



By about 9 o’clock we were finished so after we had double-checked the room we went down to reception and queued at check out. After a few minutes a cast member appeared and started loudly informing everyone that we needn’t queue and could just put our key cards in the box. This we knew; we wanted to ask where to pay for Disney Express and it took a few minutes before she registered our question and sent us over to Concierge.

Unfortunately, the cast member there wasn’t much more helpful but we made our payment and took the cases over to baggage store. Thankfully, we had a better experience there where we were helpfully provided with another ticket, as we had to check a little bag we had tied to the top of one of our cases separately.

The shuttle arrived just as we had finished, so we caught that and went straight over to the Studios because we wanted to get in the queue for the Tram Tour again.



It was only about 9:40 though so we were too early and decided to head for Toy Story Playland. We couldn’t go in but we stood around and were 2nd in the queue for Parachutes when it opened.




Spot Nan!

Then we went over to Tram Tours where we asked to swap queues so that we could be near the front in an attempt to get a carriage where the TV screen worked-it did, but only intermittently.




It appears that both Charlotte and I have no eyes on this photo..hmm..

We decided to go in to the shop in Studio 1 where there was a badge I liked but it was in a cabinet with a “Pin Trading” sign above it – but the CMs said that they don’t trade from it.

In the main park we went in a few more shops to pass some time before the character train, which of course never came because it was 12 o’clock and doesn’t start until 1! So we walked to Star Traders where I swapped my treehouse Vinylmation for Woody and Ham for one from the Urban Series 5 which I will probably swap again at some point.





We went to ride Pirates again next which was showing a 15-20 minute wait but we decided to queue anyway (notice a theme with the queuing today?) and because of the pleasant queuing area it went quite quickly.



By the time we had finished it actually was time for the character train so we went to sit on a bench by the castle.




Waiting in Liberty Arcade


We caught the train on its way back down Main St

Then we went to the Cable Car Bakeshop, where Charlotte queued to get some carrot cake and Nan and I went nextdoor to Gibson Girls where we queued to get waffles. This took quite a long while because there was one poor Cast Member serving drinks, ice cream, waffles and operating the till – everything! Charlotte actually thought we had gone to a different place we were waiting for so long, but eventually we were reunited and enjoyed what we had chosen.









Next we decided to go to Frontierland to go on Molly Brown which was a lovely experience.









Continued in next post...

 

[Christieand]

After that we just went for a wander and ended up in Adventureland watching a heron try to catch some fish (he was unsuccessful) and then it was time to head out.



Charlotte and I redeemed the free drinks vouchers we got from our food at the bakery at Casey’s and then we had a slow walk up Main Street through a few shops.



Then I saw a CM with a Kevin Jonas badge which I had to swap to give to our best friend due to a previous phase of ours we now affectionately refer to as the “Jonas Brothers Years” between 2007-2010!

Then, after a few photos, we headed for Earl of Sandwich for the final time. I had the BLT, which was nice and we shared a fruit pot which wasn’t, but it was good for some nutrition!





Afterwards it was time to reluctantly head to the station. At first we thought that, for some reason, Disney Express hadn’t opened yet so we sat down to wait.



Then Nan noticed a sign and we discovered that it was open, just further down the corridor, which was a little strange. It was about 4:15 by this time and check-in was due to open at 4:45 so we rearranged our hand luggage from what we had been carrying around to what we wanted on the train and then joined the queue because we wanted to try and secure a luggage spot actually in our own carriage!

Passport control and baggage check was fine, and then as we went round the corner we all had to line our bags up for a sniffer dog to check.



This was fine, but put a spanner in the works for our plan of trying to be the first in our carriage! We ended up having to wait quite a long while for others to put their bags down but eventually we were allowed (all at once!) to collect them and we headed down the escalator. This wasn’t very easy because unfortunately, a little girl had just fallen down on them so they weren't moving. We were speaking to her Grandma, though, and she didn’t seem very distressed so we don’t think the girl was hurt.

Then we had to wait at the top of the next escalator to get down to the actual platform! However, luckily we managed to be quite near the front and made it to our carriage to load the luggage on without any further problems.


Action shot?

We were then sat on the train for a while but that was fine, as was the rest of the journey. Pretty much as soon as we arrived back in England we noticed it was of course raining!



I think we arrived in St Pancras a little early so although we had booked a carriage near the front of the train so that we wouldn’t miss our connection we didn’t have a problem. However, it was very good because we were the first in to passport control and didn’t have to queue at all. We had a nice chat with the man who checked our passports and had to laugh when he couldn’t tell which passport belonged to Charlotte and I- despite the fact that he had our photos to guess with!

Then we had quite a long wait until our train home. Charlotte and I waited with the luggage whilst Nan went to enquire about us getting the earlier train but the answer was a definite no unless we wanted to pay.



It turned out that the wait was quite nice because we wandered in and out of a few shops before going to Pret a Manger (where Charlotte managed to put salt in her tea) and I had a tasty cheese and pesto toastie.



After that we went in to WH Smiths and then went to wait on a bench until our train arrived. We took advantage of the free Wifi to catch up with our friend who came to Disney with us last time.



When it was time, we went up to our platform and gave the tickets to the attendant (we had printed them off at home and thus far had had no luck at all trying to get the machines to register the codes on them..) and we probably could have gotten away with getting the earlier train because he barely looked at them.

Anyway, I mostly slept on the way home, and we received drinks and biscuits this time which was lovely.



Then we were picked up at the train station by our Pops (Grandad!) who met us on the platform and then after a chilly walk to the car we went back to their house for a good night’s sleep!

 

[DLPdaft]

i completely missed this TR until now! Thanks so much for posting it, we are at DLP in mid-April this year, so its lovely to read this .

 

[Charlotea]

i completely missed this TR until now! Thanks so much for posting it, we are at DLP in mid-April this year, so its lovely to read this .

Glad you found it! It was a nice time to visit, the weather was surprisingly lovely.

 

[Christieand]

i completely missed this TR until now! Thanks so much for posting it, we are at DLP in mid-April this year, so its lovely to read this .

It was really nice, hope you get good weather like we did thanks for reading!

 

[dhidra]

Thanks for the report! I'm learning something from each one I read

 

[Christieand]

Thanks for the report! I'm learning something from each one I read

Yes they are probably the best way to learn about DLP!