Show No Fear! DIS Exclusive Viva Italia+DLP TR Sept 2014*COMPLETE* New TR link added 7/3

[amazingact21]

There's a dragon in the castle?! That's so cool!! Oh my goodness, that walk through looks awesome. My brother and sister in-law live in Germany and I've been hounding them to go to DL Paris for a year. And Alex and I are actively pursuing orders for Europe. Seeing all your pictures of the park gives me a little bit a breather that there will still be a nice Disney park to visit during the 4 years we'd be stationed there. Although, all the rides at the Studios might always be closed...

 

[marDgreen88]

I LOVE small world. There, I said it. But seriously, it's just so cheerful, it's hard not to love it!

Wow, thanks DLP for that stunningly accurate portrayal of American culture. It is appreciated. I'm so glad there is a doll roasting a hot dog over the fire. America. What on earth, that is hilarious!

AHHHH I hope yall had better luck this time!

 

[Dugette]

All caught up!

It was hands down the most amazing and beautiful nighttime show I have ever seen in a Disney park.

Wow. Just completely amazing. The pictures were incredible!

Eventually, we were actually escorted out of the park because we were the last 2 guests!

You troublemakers, you.

Please tell me how it gets any better than that!!

I don't believe it does.

I don't know if it was the time of year we were there or what, but there were less than 20 people there, I might even venture to say less than 15.

Well, maybe it DOES get better. That's so bizarre that nobody was there.

I really wanted a picture of us in front of the castle with no one around, so luckily we were able to spot a CM to take one for us.

Very nice!

This version of the ride is a lot more like the Disneyland version than the WDW version, but it also incorporates the insanely fast launch that Rock'n'Roller Coaster has!

Oooh, that sounds interesting!

But it wasn't a total waste of footsteps because they had these cute statues of EVE and Wall-E nearby!

Adorable!

I forgot to post this picture with my last update, DH riding Space Mountain with a really lively group of fellow park-goers...

Love it!

I really hope you get on those rides at the Studios!

 

[khertz]

That dragon is really cool! I can see kids getting pretty scared of it though!

That really sucks that basically every good ride at the studios was down! They almost should refund money when it is that bad.

That sucks that the Blue Lagoon was closed too. I get shutting down some of the smaller counter service places during slow periods but you'd think they'd keep open one of the main table service spots Seems like it worked out in the end though as your lunch looks good - and definitely filling!

It's a Small World looks really cute there - I like some of the different scenes. Does make you wonder what people who come from other countries think of their part of the ride if you found the Americas part so funny. I mean, I know if I am not playing football I am cooking a hot dog over an open fire. I guess to be more accurate and current they could just have a bunch of figures staring at their smartphones

Sounds like a fun time just taking in some of the more classic rides - love the canal boat type ride and agree about having the little figures in there is a nice touch.

The dragon is so lifelike, I could definitely see how it would scare the heck out of some smaller kids. But without a little one to worry about, we were just in awe of how COOL it was!!

It was totally frustrating to have wasted all that precious time going over to the Studios only to find every single attraction we wanted to do not working. Especially when we only had one day!! The restaurant being closed was also a disappointment, but not nearly as much as the attractions. I guess because we hadn't really had our hearts set on eating there in the first place. Just would have been a nice bonus.

I kind of always knew in the back of my mind that the representations of the different countries are totally stereotypical but it didn't really sink in until seeing that America portion! lol Starbucks in one hand and smartphone in the other would be a good alternative.

There's a dragon in the castle?! That's so cool!! Oh my goodness, that walk through looks awesome. My brother and sister in-law live in Germany and I've been hounding them to go to DL Paris for a year. And Alex and I are actively pursuing orders for Europe. Seeing all your pictures of the park gives me a little bit a breather that there will still be a nice Disney park to visit during the 4 years we'd be stationed there. Although, all the rides at the Studios might always be closed...

The dragon was just about the coolest thing I have ever seen in a Disney park. I couldn't believe how lifelike it looked!! That would be so cool to spend a few years living in and exploring Europe!! In 4 years time, you might get to experience the headliners at least once. lol!

I LOVE small world. There, I said it. But seriously, it's just so cheerful, it's hard not to love it!

Wow, thanks DLP for that stunningly accurate portrayal of American culture. It is appreciated. I'm so glad there is a doll roasting a hot dog over the fire. America. What on earth, that is hilarious!

AHHHH I hope yall had better luck this time!

Not gonna lie, I really enjoy Small World too! It was cool to see how it compared to the U.S. versions, and we got that great treat of seeing how we Americans are thought of. lol Weenie roasts & football!!!

Wow. Just completely amazing. The pictures were incredible!

DH really & truly outdid himself on those photos. They came out so great! And they are about the best representation of seeing the show that I can think of besides getting to experience it yourself.

You troublemakers, you.

I know!! Haha We are total Disney rule breakers. It was definitely a strange experience to close down the park, especially now that all of our trips in recent memory have involved a little one where we could NEVER do that.

I don't believe it does.

Well, maybe it DOES get better. That's so bizarre that nobody was there.

Definitely bizarre, but SO cool!!!

Oooh, that sounds interesting!

It was quite the twist on the ride we are used to at WDW. I didn't think much could be better than Space Mountain at Disneyland, but DLP outshines the rest!

Love it!

I really hope you get on those rides at the Studios!

It was quite the surreal experience to be the only ones on so many rides that morning!!

 

[khertz]

Day 11 Continued: Thursday September 25th

Here comes an enormous update, because I am ready to wrap up this TR and move on to our most recent Disneyland trip!

When I left off, after a quick stop at the hotel room, we were on our way over to the Studios to give those headliners one more try. As annoyed as we had been with the park earlier that morning, we just couldn't pass up the opportunity to get on the rides we had heard so much about, so we wanted to give the park another chance. So with fingers crossed, we headed inside.

DLP 2-218 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DLP 2-219 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We stopped at Crush's Coaster first, but it had a posted wait time of 40 minutes standby and 45 for single rider! How is SR MORE than the standby?! So we kept walking over to Ratatouille. The posted standby was 50 minutes, so we grabbed a FP for later and tried the single rider line, which said only 5 minutes.

DLP 2-221 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DLP 2-222 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
The loading area​

We waited more than 5 but less than 10, so that was a win in my book. DH and I actually ended up in the same ride vehicle, just different rows.

So the premise of the ride is that you're one of the rats in the restaurant, hurrying around so as not to be seen. It uses lots of movement and HUGE 3D screens that make you feel enveloped in the scene. It was really amazing!

DLP 2-223 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

I guess that's the only one DH managed to get inside the ride. It did kind of whip you from scene to scene so it was probably a tough one to photograph.

Here's a few more of the beautiful exterior...

DLP 2-224 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DLP 2-225 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
That is an actual restaurant! Would have been cool to eat at had we been in this park for lunch.​

We checked back with Crush and it was still posted at 45 minutes, with a long single rider line, so we decided to just wait it out. Ordinarily, I would have a hard time stomaching a wait that long when we only had a day to try both parks, but it reinforced that we had made a good decision in spending the afternoon and evening in the park the night before. It gave us the opportunity to do a lot so that we had just a little less stress on our full day. That made it a little easier to digest a longer wait.

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The queue was pretty boring, just a lot of switchbacks outside, then you get into the attraction building where you can see the loading platform.

DLP 2-228 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DLP 2-229 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

After about 40 minutes in line, we boarded. The ride vehicles seat 4 in the same way that TSM does, with 2 pairs sitting back to back but in a turtle shell. For the beginning slower part of the ride, DH and I were moving backwards the entire time. Then you get to the part of the ride that's the EAC and everything just goes crazy! It's like a regular rollercoaster track, but the turtle shells spin all around at the same time so you can never figure out which direction you're going in!! I love rollercoasters, and this definitely tops the list! It was so different from anything I have ever ridden before, and definitely the best of any Disney rollercoaster I have ever tried! DH and I both agreed it was worth waiting 40 minutes not to miss such an amazing attraction.

We decided to go check the wait at Rock n Rollercoaster before heading out. On the way, I couldn't help but love this...the Sorcerer hat with Peter Pan and Wendy flying around it!

DLP 2-230 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
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RnRC only had a 20 minute wait, so we decided to give it a go.

DLP 2-233 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DLP 2-231 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Despite being one of my favorites at WDW, it was totally not worth the wait here. There was no music, or anything lighting up like its WDW counterpart. Kind of lame after the launch! According to Wikipedia, there are supposed to be both, although the story is slightly altered from the WDW version, trying to help the band make a music video instead of trying to get to their concert. At the time, I figured that was the case, but we didn't feel like waiting to try it again and see if it was all working right. We were ready to go back over to DL for the rest of the day.

DLP 2-234 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Walt!​

Before we headed out though, we were ready to use some of our teatime credits and get the souvenir mug that they had at the Studios featuring Ratatouille. What are teatime credits? Kind of like snack credits in WDW, except that they could only be used for certain hours in the afternoon. We each had one credit for both days, so we had 4 vouchers sitting in our pockets. We went to one of the counter service restaurants and used one voucher to share a chocolate cake and a bottled Coke. With the voucher, we only had to pay the difference to get the souvenir mug, so we were able to get it for only 3.5 Euro. We shared our snack, then decided to stop in the room to see if we could Skype with DS for a bit.

DLP 2-235 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
So amazing to walk past this to get to our hotel!


DLP 2-236 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Felt so fancy having to use my room key to call the elevator!


DLP 2-237 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Our room​

Our attempt to Skype with DS didn't work, so we took a few minutes to relax after our late nights and early mornings. We also started plugging in our devices so that everything would be charged and ready for our departure home the next day. By the time we were getting back into Disneyland, it was about 4:30.

Again, our first stop upon arrival back inside the park was...

DLP 2-239 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We stopped at a shop first so DH could look through some t-shirts he had seen the night before and pick which one he wanted to buy. Then DH suggested riding Phantom Manor again since we were right there. The posted wait time was only 5 minutes.

DLP 2-240 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DLP 2-241 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


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Big Thunder Mountain from the queue


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Continued in next post...

 

[khertz]

Day 11 Continued: Thursday September 25th

DLP 2-256 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


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Since it wasn't raining this time when we exited the ride, we spent a little time exploring the tombstones and such outside after exiting.

DLP 2-265 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


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​

After the ride, we decided to go use some more of our teatime credits. Each CS had different choices for the snack, so we checked a couple of different places to see what they had. Most had the same chocolate cake we'd had over at the Studios, or some other kind of pastry. Eventually, we came upon Colonel Hathi's in Adventureland that had caramel & nuts Magnum ice cream bars so we each got one of those and a drink.

DLP 2-277 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DLP 2-276 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Since we were already in Adventureland, we decided we wanted one more ride on Pirates, so we made our way there after finishing our snacks. Hope you're not tired of ride pics yet!

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Continued in next post...

 

[khertz]

Day 11 Continued: Thursday September 25th

DLP 2-295 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
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After our ride on Pirates, we were ready to grab some dinner. Kind of ridiculous after all those snacks, but what can I say? We ended up at the equivalent of Pinocchio's Village Haus, called Au Chalet de la Marionette Restaurant.

DLP 2-296 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DLP 2-297 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DLP 2-298 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
How cute are these highchairs?


DLP 2-299 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Since we weren't extremely hungry, we decided to split a cheeseburger meal and used our last teatime credit on a sweet pretzel and a drink to share. After all of that food, we were pretty stuffed!

We walked through Fantasyland and over to Discoveryland for our next adventure.

DLP 2-302 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DLP 2-303 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


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We had pretty much ridden everything we had set out to do, but there was one more thing DH was interested in, Les Mystères du Nautilus. It's similar to the original 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which I had never experienced as a kid, but DH did. Only instead of a ride, it is a walk through attraction.

DLP 2-307 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


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Not really knowing the story, it was still an interesting walk-through attraction. And unknown to us, this would end up being our final attraction of our stay at DLP! We tried to go over and ride the train last, but it wasn't operating. Instead of going to find something else to ride, we decided to go over and check out the DLP version of Downtown Disney called Disney Village.

DLP 2-317 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Our beautiful hotel at sunset


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We looked around World of Disney, but weren't grabbed by anything we hadn't seen inside the parks.

DLP 2-323 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Just found this funny! Cowboys and Wild West seemed pretty popular around here.​

Actually, we didn't find much in any of the stores we peeked into, except some cute displays!

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DLP 2-329 by
disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Continued in next post...

 

[khertz]

Day 11 Continued: Thursday September 25th

We spent quite a bit of time in the art store, as we usually do, pining after the expensive pieces we will never own.

DLP 2-330 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
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We weren't in Disney Village long before we decided to go back to Disneyland for the evening.

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The sky was just beautiful as we made our way up Main Street!

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DLP 2-337 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We stopped inside the glass shop on Main Street and saw one of the glass blowers at work. While it was nothing like the demonstration we saw in Venice, it was still cool to stop and watch him work for a few minutes.

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As we got closer to the castle, we could see that the hub area was WAY more packed than it had been the night before, and there was still 45 minutes to go before Disney Dreams! We decided to go ahead and find a spot to stop and set up so that we wouldn't be way down the street if we came back later. It was kind of nice after a day of nonstop walking and moving to just sit and chill for awhile. DH got his tripod set up and took a couple of photos as day transitioned into night.

DLP 2-341 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DLP 2-342 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


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UP NEXT: One More Disney Dream

 

[Dugette]

move on to our most recent Disneyland trip!

Can't wait to hear all about that!

How is SR MORE than the standby?!

Bizarre!

So the premise of the ride is that you're one of the rats in the restaurant, hurrying around so as not to be seen. It uses lots of movement and HUGE 3D screens that make you feel enveloped in the scene. It was really amazing!

Sounds really fun!

I love rollercoasters, and this definitely tops the list! It was so different from anything I have ever ridden before, and definitely the best of any Disney rollercoaster I have ever tried!

And that sounds great too!

There was no music

So odd. No rock 'n' rollin' in there.

How cute are these highchairs?

Adorable!

Love seeing all the sights and hearing all the details of your time at DLP!

 

[missangelalexis]

YAY I'm glad you were able to get to ride the headliners in the other park! I'm glad Crush's Coaster was worth the wait, sounds like a fun ride! Sorry RnR was disappointing though.

Disney Village is themed so nicely! Love all the pics.

And those last shots of the castle are gorgeous!

 

[khertz]

Can't wait to hear all about that!


Bizarre!


Sounds really fun!


And that sounds great too!


So odd. No rock 'n' rollin' in there.


Adorable!

Love seeing all the sights and hearing all the details of your time at DLP!

I'm hoping to get it started sometime this week! Just waiting on DH to start editing the pics so I can upload them.

The Ratatouille ride is SO fun! It would be totally fun if they added something similar to the France pavilion in Epcot. And I wouldn't mind a replica of Crush's Coaster finding its way to WDW either.

RnRC is not nearly as fun and exciting without the music blaring in your ears! I never realized that as much as I did this time.

Thanks!

YAY I'm glad you were able to get to ride the headliners in the other park! I'm glad Crush's Coaster was worth the wait, sounds like a fun ride! Sorry RnR was disappointing though.

Disney Village is themed so nicely! Love all the pics.

And those last shots of the castle are gorgeous!

We were so glad we didn't have to leave without ever getting to try them. They were so awesome!! RnRC was a bummer, but that was really just an add-on. We were most excited about Ratatouille and Crush, so getting to experience both of those was great.

Disney Village was so nice to walk around and not as crowded as DTD tends to be.

Thanks! It's so hard to take a bad pic of that beauty.

 

[hokieinpa]

So glad you got a chance to experience a few big rides at the Studios! The Crush Coaster does sound really cool!

I just can't get over all the details at Phantom Manor! And that queue is amazing!

I remember riding 20,000 Leagues back when I first went to Disney World when I was 9 or so. I don't remember much but it's nice to see a form of it still around!

Excited to see some more great pictures of the nighttime show!

 

[Imagineer5]

Wow, so wonderful to come back from my DIS hiatus and see so many great pics from DLP!! EEK! you had such a productive day, I can't believe how much you accomplished! The earlier jaunt into the studios was disappointing but glad you made it back inside to ride - Assuming the CM's ALLOW me on ratatouille, i'll be most upset to miss Crush's bc that sounds so cool. Too bad you weren't able to eat at the Blue Lagoon, though we aren't planning on eating there (the menu doesn't really excite me) but we ARE planning on Chez Remy's so excited about that

 

[afwdwfan]

Here comes an enormous update, because I am ready to wrap up this TR and move on to our most recent Disneyland trip!

I'm definitely enjoying this one.... but as long as you have another TR coming up, I guess we can speed through the rest of it.

We waited more than 5 but less than 10, so that was a win in my book. DH and I actually ended up in the same ride vehicle, just different rows.

Seems like it worked out well. I think it would be a fun ride to try and I'm glad you finally could do it.

After about 40 minutes in line, we boarded. The ride vehicles seat 4 in the same way that TSM does, with 2 pairs sitting back to back but in a turtle shell. For the beginning slower part of the ride, DH and I were moving backwards the entire time. Then you get to the part of the ride that's the EAC and everything just goes crazy! It's like a regular rollercoaster track, but the turtle shells spin all around at the same time so you can never figure out which direction you're going in!! I love rollercoasters, and this definitely tops the list! It was so different from anything I have ever ridden before, and definitely the best of any Disney rollercoaster I have ever tried! DH and I both agreed it was worth waiting 40 minutes not to miss such an amazing attraction.

Sounds like an incredible ride! I'm glad it justified the wait!

Despite being one of my favorites at WDW, it was totally not worth the wait here. There was no music, or anything lighting up like its WDW counterpart. Kind of lame after the launch! According to Wikipedia, there are supposed to be both, although the story is slightly altered from the WDW version, trying to help the band make a music video instead of trying to get to their concert. At the time, I figured that was the case, but we didn't feel like waiting to try it again and see if it was all working right. We were ready to go back over to DL for the rest of the day.

Yuck. I'm sorry it was such a disappointment. That ride would definitely be an entirely different experience without the music and effects. I think I'd still enjoy the coaster for what it is, but it would definitely be lacking that little bit extra that makes it so special.

Hope you're not tired of ride pics yet!

Of course not! And they're great, as usual.

We ended up at the equivalent of Pinocchio's Village Haus, called Au Chalet de la Marionette Restaurant.

Is there some kind of Disney corporate rule that there has to be some kind of variation of this restaurant in every park they build?

We had pretty much ridden everything we had set out to do, but there was one more thing DH was interested in, Les Mystères du Nautilus. It's similar to the original 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which I had never experienced as a kid, but DH did. Only instead of a ride, it is a walk through attraction.

Looks like a fun attraction. Although I think I'd prefer riding in the subs.

DLP 2-326 by disneymom1024, on Flickr

Um... do I see DuckTales and TaleSpin references?????

Why does Disneyland Paris get the cool stuff?????

 

[marDgreen88]

Yay! So glad you were able to get on all the rides you wanted to ride in Studios after all. And more importantly that they were all great rides! (Besides RNRC, I suppose. Darn.) I can't quite get a feel of how Crush's coaster works with how the seating is, but it does sound really cool!

Seeing all those skeletons on Phantom Manor reminds me of Pirates! Haha

Once again, your DH took some beautiful pictures and I am in awe of how pretty everything is.

 

[MEK]

Wow - that was a picture-a-polouzza update! Impressive!

As much as I enjoy looking at the pakr pictures I am still blown away by the Phantom Manor photos. They are so awesome. Did you post some like that in an earlier update. My DIS time has been so spoardic lately that I really can't remember.

Boo that the skyping did not work. That had to be disappointing, but at least you were going home the next day to see your little guy!

Crush's Coaster? Did I read that right? Sounds pretty darn cool, but I'm shocked the RnR fell short.

Anyho - please send me the bat signal when you start your next TR. I don't want to miss it.

 

[khertz]

So glad you got a chance to experience a few big rides at the Studios! The Crush Coaster does sound really cool!

I just can't get over all the details at Phantom Manor! And that queue is amazing!

I remember riding 20,000 Leagues back when I first went to Disney World when I was 9 or so. I don't remember much but it's nice to see a form of it still around!

Excited to see some more great pictures of the nighttime show!

It was great to finally be able to get to experience them, because Crush & Ratatouille definitely lived up to the hype!

Phantom Manor is pretty awesome. I like that it's totally different from the US versions of the ride with still a few scenes that are the same or at least familiar.

I never did get to experience 20,000 Leagues, so it was cool to see something similar even if it was just a walkthrough.

Wow, so wonderful to come back from my DIS hiatus and see so many great pics from DLP!! EEK! you had such a productive day, I can't believe how much you accomplished! The earlier jaunt into the studios was disappointing but glad you made it back inside to ride - Assuming the CM's ALLOW me on ratatouille, i'll be most upset to miss Crush's bc that sounds so cool. Too bad you weren't able to eat at the Blue Lagoon, though we aren't planning on eating there (the menu doesn't really excite me) but we ARE planning on Chez Remy's so excited about that

It definitely helped the we had such low crowds to be able to get so much done. Seems like we went at a great time of year! Plus the weather was great, if not just a little too cool in the morning on the second day. I'm SO glad we had a better experience the second time at the Studios because those two rides were totally worth it!

It will be a bummer to miss out on Crush, but it's for a great reason. Chez Remy's looked amazing from what we could see as we exited the ride! But we just weren't over there for meal time so we didn't even try it out for a walk-up. Hopefully it's as good as it looks!

I'm definitely enjoying this one.... but as long as you have another TR coming up, I guess we can speed through the rest of it.

Seems like it worked out well. I think it would be a fun ride to try and I'm glad you finally could do it.

Sounds like an incredible ride! I'm glad it justified the wait!

Yuck. I'm sorry it was such a disappointment. That ride would definitely be an entirely different experience without the music and effects. I think I'd still enjoy the coaster for what it is, but it would definitely be lacking that little bit extra that makes it so special.

Of course not! And they're great, as usual.

Is there some kind of Disney corporate rule that there has to be some kind of variation of this restaurant in every park they build?

Looks like a fun attraction. Although I think I'd prefer riding in the subs.


Um... do I see DuckTales and TaleSpin references?????

Why does Disneyland Paris get the cool stuff?????

The Ratatouille ride was really interesting because it was trackless, so when you were moving around, it felt really fast and kind of wild! Crush was in a league all its own...just an all around amazing roller coaster! So glad we were able to get on them both on our second try at the Studios.

The coaster was surprisingly just okay without the music and effects, probably because it was something I was expecting and disappointed not to see.

Never having ridden 20,000 Leagues, I think it would probably be a lot more fun in ride form, but the walkthrough was still pretty interesting.

We loved seeing all the Disney Afternoon characters in the stores!!

Yay! So glad you were able to get on all the rides you wanted to ride in Studios after all. And more importantly that they were all great rides! (Besides RNRC, I suppose. Darn.) I can't quite get a feel of how Crush's coaster works with how the seating is, but it does sound really cool!

Seeing all those skeletons on Phantom Manor reminds me of Pirates! Haha

Once again, your DH took some beautiful pictures and I am in awe of how pretty everything is.

RnRC was a disappointment, but the other two were definite hits! And Crush was totally worth the wait. Here's a pic I pulled off a Google image search that shows the ride vehicle.

039_212 by disneymom1024, on Flickr

It goes straight for awhile, but when you get to the EAC it starts spinning around in circles!

The end of Phantom Manor felt very much like a Western version of Pirates!

Wow - that was a picture-a-polouzza update! Impressive!

As much as I enjoy looking at the pakr pictures I am still blown away by the Phantom Manor photos. They are so awesome. Did you post some like that in an earlier update. My DIS time has been so spoardic lately that I really can't remember.

Boo that the skyping did not work. That had to be disappointing, but at least you were going home the next day to see your little guy!

Crush's Coaster? Did I read that right? Sounds pretty darn cool, but I'm shocked the RnR fell short.

Anyho - please send me the bat signal when you start your next TR. I don't want to miss it.

DH took SO. MANY. PICTURES! It was pretty hard not to photograph everything though because who knows if we will ever get a chance to go back.

I did post some Phantom Manor pics in an earlier update, but I think this more recent batch came out a little better.

I'm glad that if there was a time Skyping didn't work, it wasn't until the day before we left. That would have been really bad during the beginning of the trip! Thank goodness for technology so we could still feel connected to our little guy even from so far away.

Crush's Coaster was freaking amazing! That is something I wouldn't mind seeing coming to WDW!

I definitely will.

 

[khertz]

Day 11 Continued: Thursday September 25th

When I left off, we had found a spot for Disney Dreams. It was a lot more crowded than it had been the night before, maybe because the weather had been so nasty the night before. But I'm glad we had decided to see it the night before because we had been so close to the Castle with nothing obstructing our view. Tonight it was a little more obstructed, but it was okay because it was like a bonus viewing. We had about 45 minutes to wait until the show started, but once it did, I swear it was even better on the second viewing!!

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Continued in next post...

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[khertz]

Day 11 Continued: Thursday September 25th

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Once the again beautiful show ended, we were ready to head back to the room because we had a super early wakeup call the next morning! Unlike the night before when it was only us and a few CM's on Main Street as we exited, there were, shall I say, quite a few more people headed to the exit with us.

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Despite the huge mass of people, we were still back in our room a little after 9 to finish packing as much as we could and get ready for bed.

We didn't take any pictures on the last day, so I'll just do a quick recap of departure day here in this post instead of making a separate one.

Day 12: Friday September 26th

The next morning we were up at 5 am to throw our last minute things in our bags and head down to the lobby to meet our driver, who was already there, so we left even earlier to get to the airport than we had planned. Passport check and security went super fast. We grabbed a little something for breakfast, then went to wait at our terminal. Unfortunately, our flight kept getting delayed, not by much but enough that our already short layover was looking to be shorter and shorter!

We didn't board until 30 minutes after our original departure, and then it seemed to take forever to take off. Of course I was stressing like crazy, but there wasn't much that could be done. We had 9 hours ahead of us until we would get to Atlanta. I watched a couple of movies, napped, and DH and I took out his laptop to start looking through pictures from our trip. We had only an hour by the time we landed in Atlanta until our next flight. Luckily border control was totally automated, so it didn't take long at all. But we still had to collect our bags and go back through security before we could go to the next terminal. That had me a little panicked, but it was actually pretty quick.

We made it to our next gate just in time because they were already boarding, but we didn't have time to stop for any food, so we were getting pretty hungry, but we only had an hour flight to New Orleans so we figured we could make it. As soon as we landed, we had a message from Delta that one of our bags didn't make it onto the flight. UGH! We went to baggage services and were told it was on the next flight that would be landing at 3:30 and by then it was already 2:40, so we decided just to wait for it there instead of having them have to ship it home to us. Of course by that time we were STARVING, so we went looking for something to eat, only to find that in all the renovations they were doing, all of the fast food places were closed! Well, at least we wasted some time just walking around...

Once we finally had our bag, we went to track down my car that my dad had been nice enough to bring to the airport and park for us so that we didn't have to wait on anyone to come pick us up. We got some food on the way to my parent's house. We had originally planned on picking up DS and driving the 2 hours home since it was still mid afternoon, but we were just too exhausted so we ended up spending the night.

DS was so happy to see us when we got there and of course, I was thrilled!!!

I swear, the three of us were all in bed by 8:30 when DS went to bed.

Here's my little guy the next morning, still happy to see us home.

Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr
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We got home to our own house by 10 am the next day, and when we started unpacking, we saw a notice in the suitcase we'd had to wait for that it had been chosen for extra inspection by the TSA and that's why it hadn't made it onto the plane! So annoying, but it was nice to be home with all of our stuff.

And that's the end! I already kind of did a wrap up of our ABD Viva Italia portion of the trip, and I would absolutely recommend this trip, and do it again and again if given the opportunity! We haven't planned our next ABD yet with the baby coming and all, but I know this trip won't be our last ABD experience.

As for Disneyland Paris, I'll just say that I was definitely hesitant to add on even more days that meant being away from DS, and DH really had to convince me to do it. But it was such an amazing and incredible experience, and there were several times over that day and a half in the parks that I would look at him with a smile and say, "Thank you so much for making me do this!" It was a must as a Disney fan, and one of the most gorgeous Disney parks I have ever been in. The fantastic upgrade to the beautiful Disneyland Hotel didn't hurt, of course, but I would have loved it even staying at our original resort. It was a perfect way to cap off a long and amazing vacation. It was both of our first times in Europe, and it was truly a trip to remember!!

Thanks so much to everyone who has followed along from day 1 of this monstrous Trip Report. It is definitely the longest one I have ever tackled!! Whether you commented or not, I appreciate you taking the time to take a look at this labor of love of mine that I was determined to finish!

 

[OKW Lover]

Thanks for the wrap-up Kristy! and thanks to Dustin for the great pictures.