We're No Cowboys, but We'll Say Howdy to You - A Sept. 2016 DL Paris TR *Complete and New TR Link

Poor Evie with the parade.

I love all the castle photos

Crazy guest experience in DLP?! Never :rotfl2: We've been to three different Disney parks now and the rudest craziest guests are always in Paris :rotfl2:
 
What a fun parade, but poor Evie! Darn Rafiki!

I think the castle is beautiful! <3

And What?! I can't believe those people just went IN the carriage! Guess there were no CMs around!
 
That parade looks really cool. Although the Rafiki thing is weird. Sometimes the characters don't get a good read on the kids who are not super interested in interacting and it can get kinda awkward.
I love all the castle pics! It's a nice castle. It may not be Cinderella Castle, but I'd call it an acceptable substitute.

What is up with the people climbing into the carriage? Seriously? I don't understand people's behavior sometimes.
 
Poor Flyn and Rapunzel. Always underappreciated. They get an inadequate float in Paris and a restroom in Orlando.

Ouch... decades old? Did we have to go there? Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella... those are decades old. The Lion King came out when I was in 6th grade. It is only 23 years old! It isn't decades old! :rolleyes1

I always thought the movie is more popular than the Disney parks give it credit for. I wish it had its own attraction-like space like Enchanted Tales with Belle or Under the Sea. And, actually, Disney could do something with Flynn, because I think he's one of the few guys in princess movies the boys enjoy watching. I know Landon loves him...

Welllll, technically a decade is ten years. And so if the movie is 23 years old that means it's two decades. Ergo, multiple decades.:rotfl2::rotfl:


That is awesome that you were able to find a curb spot! Definitely not something that would happen at WDW so soon before a parade.

I love parades myself so it's nice seeing photos of a different one! Poor Evie, she just wanted to be left alone!

I'm glad the skies cleared up so you were able to take more photos! I'm definitely not sick of seeing the castle :)

I understand what you mean; I've combed through so many photos of Paint the Night when it was at DL. It's really neat to see what new floats and costumes Disney imagineers have come up with. (I'm looking forward to seeing the 25th Anniversary parade at DLP now and the new fireworks show.)


Poor Evie with the parade.

I love all the castle photos

Crazy guest experience in DLP?! Never :rotfl2: We've been to three different Disney parks now and the rudest craziest guests are always in Paris :rotfl2:

I hate to say it, but the craziest guests in Paris doesn't surprise me. I could not believe some of the things I saw happening around me! It definitely made the people who ram strollers into heels and put kids on shoulders during fireworks at WDW seem like nothing!


What a fun parade, but poor Evie! Darn Rafiki!

I think the castle is beautiful! <3

And What?! I can't believe those people just went IN the carriage! Guess there were no CMs around!

Yep. Climbed right up inside it. That was the mentality for a lot of people in the parks, and when you combine that with the lack of organization on Disney's part it made for some crazy moments. That was one thing about the Paris parks that I did not care for...


That parade looks really cool. Although the Rafiki thing is weird. Sometimes the characters don't get a good read on the kids who are not super interested in interacting and it can get kinda awkward.
I love all the castle pics! It's a nice castle. It may not be Cinderella Castle, but I'd call it an acceptable substitute.

What is up with the people climbing into the carriage? Seriously? I don't understand people's behavior sometimes.

They do, and ultimately I am appreciative that the character at least made an effort. It's always nice to get some character attention, and it made for a fun story later on.

Some of the guests in Paris were crazy! I don't think I'll ever complain about a rude guest at WDW ever again after visiting DLP.
 


That was a fun couple of chapters! the parade floats aren't nearly as elaborate or detailed as others I've seen by a long shot, but it looks like you still had fun. Except Creepy Rafiki. Ew.

I dunno, maybe putting Tink at the end makes sense. A little pixie dust and they all fly away. ;)

Yes, cute carriage spot. But... :scared1:

Hello, are they morons? :sad2:

I love that castle and I've never even seen it. I'd like to someday, but it could be a long, long while...
 
That was a fun couple of chapters! the parade floats aren't nearly as elaborate or detailed as others I've seen by a long shot, but it looks like you still had fun. Except Creepy Rafiki. Ew.

I dunno, maybe putting Tink at the end makes sense. A little pixie dust and they all fly away. ;)
Yes, cute carriage spot. But... :scared1:

Hello, are they morons? :sad2:

I love that castle and I've never even seen it. I'd like to someday, but it could be a long, long while...

I agree, that floats looked very simplistic compared to the Festival of Fantasy parade, but it was still nice to see the characters and hear a new soundtrack.

That's true, the pixie dust at the end makes sense. Rounding out the show, and all...

I wish all major Disney fans could see this castle in DLP. It's gorgeous and more intimate than the WDW one; both have their own unique qualities that makes them worth a visit.
 
September 15th, 2016 Part 7:

After the carriage incident my mom, Alex, the kids, and I began to stroll into Fantasyland. Since we had kind of flown through the area earlier that morning in order to take advantage of Extra Magic Hours, we wanted to take a closer look around.

In Paris, it was Lancelot’s carousel:




But just like in the Magic Kingdom, there was still a wishing well located behind the castle.

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That Landon had to throw a coin into:

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Alex and I asked my mom what ride she wanted to go on again. Odds were good that we would be back with the kids within the next few years, but this was probably my mom’s one and only visit. We wanted to make sure she felt like she’d gotten the full Disneyland Paris experience.

Small World was the only attraction she wanted to repeat and that was mainly because of how much Landon loved it.

Anything to make the grandkids happy…

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Once again, our trend of having the park virtually to ourselves was continuing. There was barely a soul in sight back there by Small World.



It might have rained most of the day, but the evening turned out beautifully.



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Right as we were walking through the ride queue, the Disneyland train approached; its track passing right in front of the Small World building. I tried my hardest to grab a photo of it, because it looked so quintessentially Disney, but there was a lady trying to do that same exact thing and I just ended up with a bunch of photos with her as the focal point.



Small World and the Disney train…throw in some fireworks in the background and you’ve basically got the beauty of the parks in a nutshell.


Lucky for us, Evie was awake this time and took in all the sights and sounds of the ride.

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As you can see from the empty boat in front of us, we practically had the place to ourselves.

It was better that way…less people to hear Landon and me belting out the famous lines to the song.

We had no shame in our Small World game.


Eventually, we reached the final room, which looked almost identical to the WDW version.

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Then we grabbed our stroller from its parking spot and headed towards the attraction that Alex really wanted to go on again.

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I thought for sure I had taken some photos of the land this time around, but I was mistaken. I have none!

However, I did grab a couple off Alex’s facebook page that he took while we were waiting for that crazy Peter Pan meet. This will hopefully give you all an idea of how fantastic the place was.

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I think we all enjoyed the second ride through of Pirates even more than our first, because we were able to look at all the scenes a little bit closer and take in more details. Alex and I couldn’t get enough of this version of Pirates. In the Magic Kingdom, Alex is all about the Haunted Mansion, but here at Disneyland Paris, Pirates was definitely his favorite.

This is how good the attraction was: This past spring, Alex and I toyed around with the idea of taking a quick overnight trip to the parks. It wouldn’t have been that big a challenge, but when I told Alex that Pirates was under refurb his comment was, “Oh, let’s just wait ‘til I get back then.”

The attraction has reopened since then, and now I am keeping my fingers crossed the Blue Lagoon will be open so we can dine in the restaurant. That would be a fun experience, and I think Landon would get a kick out of seeing the boats pass by. (Of course, the downside to that would be he would be too distracted to eat any of his dinner. Kid has the worst time focusing when it comes to eating…)


Nightfall was just starting to hit when we exited Pirates; the last thing we all wanted to ensure we did at Disneyland Paris was see the nighttime fireworks show, Disney Dreams. (There’s actually a new show that premiered for the 25th Anniversary named Illuminations.) And because it was high on our priority list, we decided to go ahead and find a spot on Main Street to wait for the show, so we headed that way to grab some seats.


Continued in Next Post:
 


Continued from Previous Post:


We found an open stretch of sidewalk right inside the hub against a railing. Our thinking was that with a patch of grass being blocked off by rails right in front of us, we would eliminate anyone standing in Landon’s way. Obviously, there were guests on the other side of the circular garden, but we hoped they were far enough ahead that it wouldn’t be an issue.

It was a logical assumption.

Hopefully, this photo shows you all what I mean about having a gap between us and other people:



But we really underestimated the level of craziness during Paris’s fireworks show.

Dreams - the fireworks that are no longer there – was narrated by Peter Pan and Wendy with Peter speaking in English and Wendy in French. I thought that was a brilliant move on Disney’s part, because so long as guests were fluent in one of the languages it was easy to follow the story.

The show began with a magical star:

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Whose magic was stolen from it when Peter’s shadow escaped.

That sneaky shadow…

Peter then has to chase after it and ends up going through several classic Disney films with him ultimately taking the shadow back from some Disney villains who captured it.

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The best thing about Dreams was its attempt at combining every unique feature from the states’ shows. Keep in mind, our trip took place in 2016 before Happily Ever After was even announced, so for us this was our first experience seeing lasers incorporated into a nighttime castle show. Dreams had the water features like World of Color, lasers, projections, and fireworks in its show.

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Using all the different special effects was amazing; it added a new level to storytelling and made me want to see World of Color out in DL even more than I already wanted to.

There were just two HUGE negatives about this nighttime show.

Remember that garden area I talked about parking ourselves behind?

Yeah, well apparently, nobody else got the memo that a fenced off patch of grass tends to imply one should not go there. A dozen girls and guys began climbing over the railing halfway into the show and standing right on top of all the flowers.

Just trampling those beautiful petals into the ground.

And if that wasn’t shocking enough, a handful of them came up and sat on the rails. Right on top of where mine and Alex’s hands were.

They just said forget it, I need a better vantage point.

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In the photo above, those heads in the frame were girls sitting on shoulders IN THE GARDEN.


I could not, hard as I tried, get over the blatant disregard for other people’s space and for destruction of property. I love me some Disney shows, but never in a million years would I go to those lengths to watch one.

What really shocked my mom was the fact that there were no Cast Members around serving as crowd control. In fact, we didn’t see another CM the rest of the night. If there were any on Main Street at the start of Dreams, they were hidden to us. The members obviously could’ve cared less that guests were literally standing on fences and shoving their phones in front of strangers’ faces.

My Disney World friends, this chaos made the worst Wishes night seem tame. I will never, ever, EVER again be shocked by people watching Happily Ever After. Because nothing could be crazier than that night in Disneyland Paris.

Poor Landon was crying because he couldn’t see anything and the magic of the show was completely gone for my mom who was so put off by the rudeness. Alex had tried to be polite and not block anyone’s way, but he reached a boiling point and said, forget it, and he picked Landon up and held him up.

The rest of the show had lost a bit of its shimmer and shine for us.

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In case you were wondering, Peter did manage to nab his shadow and Tinkerbelle returned the magic to the star and a burst of fireworks closed out the story.

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I know a lot of people loved Dreams; they thought it was the perfect blending of projections and fireworks and water cannons.

But Alex, my mom, and I?

We turned around afterwards and went, MEH.


It was good, don’t get me wrong. Certainly better than nothing.

But it was no Wishes.

It wasn’t even a runner up to Wishes, in my book.

And the reason I felt this way was because there were barely any fireworks and the finale was no bigger than the ones that went off in the middle of Wishes. So that massive, fill your ears, feel the booms in your chest explosion of light never occurred, and that’s what I go to a nighttime show for.

Dreams heavily relied on projections to carry the show, and because the castle wasn’t very tall it was extremely difficult to see what was going on behind all the other guests. And the thing about that is the fact that we were pretty close to the castle. We could only imagine the guests standing farther back on Main Street were probably seeing glimpses of the projections here and there.

And that rubbed me the wrong way.

The great thing about Wishes was that you could be virtually anywhere and still enjoy the show. All you needed was the soundtrack piped in and your eyes to the sky and you got to be a part of the magic.

This was not the case with Dreams.

(And for another show I have seen recently, but we’ll get to that in my next report…)


Overall, I’d give Dreams a 6 on a scale of 1 to 10 stars.

Fortunately, there’s a new show at Disneyland Paris now – Illuminations – and Alex and I will go into that experience armed to the teeth and prepared for all sorts of different displays of humanity.

Fool us once, shame on you. Fool us twice, shame on us.


Up Next…How is our Time Almost Up?
 
I'm loving all your updates and photos. Funny how time and distance makes our memories fade-I'd forgotten how people at Disneyland Paris tend to blatantly ignore rules, little things like roped off areas and railings, and then the not so little things like small children needing to see too!!:headache:
Part of the reason we've never been back is because we felt there was such a lack of good old human decency and good manners especially when we compared it with WDW. A part of me would like to go again just to see all that's changed and, let's be honest, to get my disney fix. Maybe one of these days I'll persuade the others in my family :confused3:goodvibes
 
Your photos really show how empty the park was! Must have been cool having a semi private ride on Small World!

I am so sorry your Dreams experience was tainted by those rude guests, and that you weren't too impressed with the show as it was. Hopefully Illuminations will be way better!
 
I was suffering from caffeine deprivation, too.

I've suffered from this before.

However, down in Town Square there were still plenty of open spots right on the curb – something downright impossible to find at WDW.

I can't even imagine. We normally have to stake out our spot an hour before.

My family sat down and let the kids play around in the street.

Like all good parents would.

My Disney veteran son knew what we were waiting around for:

He has been trained well.

Evie wasn’t sure what was going on.

She does look perplexed.

And 90% guilty for putting my poor daughter through that kind of torture. Because she screamed and buried her head in Alex’s arms and refused to turn around for the rest of the parade.

I would have done the same thing. I hope she gets over her fear before your next trip.

Sleeping Beauty’s Castle was stunning in the evening light.

Yes it is.

Evie was feeling a tad restless from the parade and wanted to practice her walking skills. She was only taking a few steps here and there at that point, but with Alex’s assistance she was strolling around the hub like a Disney champ.

She looks like she had a great time trying out her walking. It still amazes me how not crowded the park was.

It was a cute little carriage (although showing its age, a little bit) and made for a nice photo spot for the girls in the group.

What a neat little touch.

Right after we took this picture a family walked up and climbed over the chains and INTO the carriage.

Shocking! If you were in WDW a cm would have corrected this.
 
But just like in the Magic Kingdom, there was still a wishing well located behind the castle.

You got a really great perspective on this picture.

That Landon had to throw a coin into:

Danielle went through a faze where she had to do this at every fountain. It was really cute.

Anything to make the grandkids happy…

Yes, anything to make them happy and share a memory.

Lucky for us, Evie was awake this time and took in all the sights and sounds of the ride.

I hope she enjoyed it too.

But we really underestimated the level of craziness during Paris’s fireworks show.

I hate to hear this. I love the nighttime shows and would hate to have it ruined.

The rest of the show had lost a bit of its shimmer and shine for us.

Totally understand this. I hope this next visit goes much better.
 
I wish all major Disney fans could see this castle in DLP. It's gorgeous and more intimate than the WDW one; both have their own unique qualities that makes them worth a visit.

Someday... someday....

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Lovely shot!

Anything to make the grandkids happy…

Well of course!


I really love this rendition with all the color! The white and gold one at DLR is really striking, but this one is really gorgeous in its own right.

As you can see from the empty boat in front of us, we practically had the place to ourselves.

It was better that way…less people to hear Landon and me belting out the famous lines to the song.

We had no shame in our Small World game.

And perfect for having no shame in taking flash photos. ;)

Dreams - the fireworks that are no longer there – was narrated by Peter Pan and Wendy with Peter speaking in English and Wendy in French. I thought that was a brilliant move on Disney’s part, because so long as guests were fluent in one of the languages it was easy to follow the story.

Ok, that IS a cool way to do it. Genius!

The best thing about Dreams was its attempt at combining every unique feature from the states’ shows. Keep in mind, our trip took place in 2016 before Happily Ever After was even announced, so for us this was our first experience seeing lasers incorporated into a nighttime castle show. Dreams had the water features like World of Color, lasers, projections, and fireworks in its show.

I think I'd really enjoy all those elements combined in one show! ROL comes close, but not enough fireworks.

My Disney World friends, this chaos made the worst Wishes night seem tame. I will never, ever, EVER again be shocked by people watching Happily Ever After. Because nothing could be crazier than that night in Disneyland Paris.

What a horrific bummer. Sounds like they need WAY more security and enforce the sort of Disney decorum expected to make a nice experience for everyone.
 
Wow, that Dreams situation is pretty horrific. I understand that there are some significant cultural differences between customs & behaviors in the US and in France, but ... how do people think it's okay to hang out in a fenced-off area? That can't possibly be something normal there. And how were there no CMs there controlling the crowd. What??
These DLP guests are really aggravating me. And I wasn't even there. I can't imagine how you guys felt.
 
Right as we were walking through the ride queue, the Disneyland train approached; its track passing right in front of the Small World building. I tried my hardest to grab a photo of it, because it looked so quintessentially Disney, but there was a lady trying to do that same exact thing and I just ended up with a bunch of photos with her as the focal point.
Well, I applaud the effort anyway!

It was better that way…less people to hear Landon and me belting out the famous lines to the song.

We had no shame in our Small World game.
:rotfl2::rotfl::lmao:

This is how good the attraction was: This past spring, Alex and I toyed around with the idea of taking a quick overnight trip to the parks. It wouldn’t have been that big a challenge, but when I told Alex that Pirates was under refurb his comment was, “Oh, let’s just wait ‘til I get back then.”
That certainly says a lot about it!

(Of course, the downside to that would be he would be too distracted to eat any of his dinner. Kid has the worst time focusing when it comes to eating…)
That's pretty much standard at a Disney meal anywhere.

Yeah, well apparently, nobody else got the memo that a fenced off patch of grass tends to imply one should not go there. A dozen girls and guys began climbing over the railing halfway into the show and standing right on top of all the flowers.
:headache:

And if that wasn’t shocking enough, a handful of them came up and sat on the rails. Right on top of where mine and Alex’s hands were.
:furious:

But it was no Wishes.

It wasn’t even a runner up to Wishes, in my book.
Sounds like HEA... :rolleyes1

The great thing about Wishes was that you could be virtually anywhere and still enjoy the show. All you needed was the soundtrack piped in and your eyes to the sky and you got to be a part of the magic.
::yes:: ::yes:: ::yes::

(And for another show I have seen recently, but we’ll get to that in my next report…)
Hmmm... wonder what this might be.

Fortunately, there’s a new show at Disneyland Paris now – Illuminations – and Alex and I will go into that experience armed to the teeth and prepared for all sorts of different displays of humanity.
So you're going to be greasing the hand rails, right?
 
I'm loving all your updates and photos. Funny how time and distance makes our memories fade-I'd forgotten how people at Disneyland Paris tend to blatantly ignore rules, little things like roped off areas and railings, and then the not so little things like small children needing to see too!!:headache:
Part of the reason we've never been back is because we felt there was such a lack of good old human decency and good manners especially when we compared it with WDW. A part of me would like to go again just to see all that's changed and, let's be honest, to get my disney fix. Maybe one of these days I'll persuade the others in my family :confused3:goodvibes

I agree completely with what you're saying. Guests at Disneyland Paris are nuts. I was baffled by the behavior I saw, but I do hope with Disney taking complete ownership of the park that will change in the future. I hope so, at least.
Oh, hopefully, you'll be able to make it back to DLP. While it's no WDW, it has a lot to offer and makes for a nice vacation. Not to mention, it's closer for you guys!



Your photos really show how empty the park was! Must have been cool having a semi private ride on Small World!

I am so sorry your Dreams experience was tainted by those rude guests, and that you weren't too impressed with the show as it was. Hopefully Illuminations will be way better!

I loved that empty park; I think it kind of spoiled me. I mean, could you imagine nowadays going to WDW for the first time and feeling like you had the park to yourself? I'm sure the next time we go back it won't be that empty, and I'll miss this first trip's experience.



I've suffered from this before.

I can't even imagine. We normally have to stake out our spot an hour before.
Like all good parents would.
He has been trained well.

She does look perplexed.


I would have done the same thing. I hope she gets over her fear before your next trip.


Yes it is.

She looks like she had a great time trying out her walking. It still amazes me how not crowded the park was.

Shocking! If you were in WDW a cm would have corrected this.

If there's one thing Landon knows, it's Disney. The boy can school the best of us adults on attraction locations and storylines...

Spoiler Alert: Evie is somehow NOT the Disney fan her older brother is. I don't know where I went wrong...

I loved the empty park, it was such an awesome way to experience DLP for the first time.
 
You got a really great perspective on this picture.

Danielle went through a faze where she had to do this at every fountain. It was really cute.

Landon has only gotten worse with the fountains since we went to Rome and let him throw coins in all of them there. Of course, he learned he can't just dig through Mom's change purse and throw one in whenever he wants after he decided to pick the 2 Euro pieces out and toss them...Kids.


Someday... someday....


I really love this rendition with all the color! The white and gold one at DLR is really striking, but this one is really gorgeous in its own right.

And perfect for having no shame in taking flash photos. ;)

Ok, that IS a cool way to do it. Genius!

I think I'd really enjoy all those elements combined in one show! ROL comes close, but not enough fireworks.

What a horrific bummer. Sounds like they need WAY more security and enforce the sort of Disney decorum expected to make a nice experience for everyone.

I feel like a broken record, but I can't say enough times how beautiful everything was at DLP. From Small World to the castle to the Jules Verne Space Mountain, it was all so well done!

No flash on the ride, it was just that bright inside the attraction!

I loved the concept of combining the water jets, lasers, projections, and fireworks but I think the castle was too small for this to work. And hopefully with Disney taking over ownership of the park, Cast Members will be out to enforce the rules in the future!



Wow, that Dreams situation is pretty horrific. I understand that there are some significant cultural differences between customs & behaviors in the US and in France, but ... how do people think it's okay to hang out in a fenced-off area? That can't possibly be something normal there. And how were there no CMs there controlling the crowd. What??
These DLP guests are really aggravating me. And I wasn't even there. I can't imagine how you guys felt.

I have no idea what was going through peoples' minds during the fireworks show. It was madness. And I can't speak for France, but here in Germany people are unbelievably friendly. I can't tell you the number of times that parents have stopped their kids from cutting in line at parks or offered to lend me a hand with one of the kids. So I don't know where all these rude folks sprouted from. I don't want to experience it again, though, that's for sure.


Well, I applaud the effort anyway!

:rotfl2::rotfl::lmao:

That certainly says a lot about it!

That's pretty much standard at a Disney meal anywhere.

:headache:

:furious:

Sounds like HEA... :rolleyes1

::yes:: ::yes:: ::yes::

Hmmm... wonder what this might be.

So you're going to be greasing the hand rails, right?


Yeahhhh, I feel like I might get shunned after my review of Happily Ever After. Oh well...

I don't know what we're going to do the next time we see fireworks at DLP. Get battle ready, that's for sure.
 
Plane tickets bought! That's exciting! My friend and I are in early talks about doing an Ireland trip with our families in November, which would mean we would need to push our DLP trip back. June sounds like a good time to do that! Once I'm back home I'll look at my schedule more closely and let you know if June will be feasible for us. For what it's worth, I'd love to visit/meet you all at DLP! I think the kids would get along well.
Sorry, I haven't been on the boards very much lately, so just getting back to this: we ARE booked now, DLP will be June 14th-18th, 2018 (the first and last are travel days, so mostly those middle three days). Let me know how things look as your schedule comes together. :goodvibes

Well, I kind of failed at checking in here during the rest of my Disney trip. It was harder than I expected it to be, going to Disney with the two kids at peak summer season. That's not to say we didn't have fun; we made a lot of memories and came away with some good stories.
But to be honest, the trip kind of bummed me out. Every spouse has one point in their loved one's deployment where they hit a rut and just want their normal lives back. Well, being at Disney reminded me how much I missed Alex, and everything reminded me of past trips with him. It wasn't the same without my Disney partner. Evie kept asking for Daddy, and Landon constantly wanted to take pictures to send to him. The trip was supposed to distract us from Alex's absence but I'm afraid it had the opposite effect.
Sorry you had those challenges during your long-awaited WDW trip. Glad you still enjoyed it, but that's gotta be hard. :hug:

Free reign to move the stroller around? Plenty of time to check out the shirts? No line at the checkout counters?

Yep, we were definitely not in Walt Disney World.
Haha, definitely not! :eek:

Park hopping is a huge part of Alex’s and I’s normal touring style, but with little kids it’s so difficult to do without taking a long break in between locations. Toddlers don’t have the patience to wait for a bus and then go through a second bag check and ticket line; that’s too much time spent doing nothing.

So with Disneyland Paris, being able to plop them in the stroller and make it to the front of the second park before their little brains could even process what was happening was amazing.

Alex, my mom, and I were instant fans.

And now we REALLY want to check out Disneyland in California to see their setup.
Yes, you need to get there! Certainly one of my favorite things - so easy to just walk between parks, hotel, Downtown Disney, etc. :thumbsup2

Overall, it was a cute attraction and a nice interpretation of the Slinky Dog toy, but no way would I ever wait in a line longer than 10-15 minutes for it. Barnstormer has more “thrill” than Zigzag Spin, and we all know how short THAT ride is.
Good to know - I didn't have much info about this ride.

We were a lovely bunch for a little awhile. Me, waiting for the medicine to kick in and the lightning between my eyes to diminish. My mom, just about Disney’d out. Alex, energetic but alone in his enthusiasm. And the kids, wondering what the heck they were going to do next.
:sad2: We can't all be perfect all the time. :goodvibes

The ladies were having a blast trying different poses and looking back on this picture, I hope Evie took in their carefree attitude. My daughter is as shy as they come; it wouldn’t hurt her to see more people embracing their happiness and living a “hakuna matata” life.
Well, if we do meet up, just let her hang around Izzy a bit - maybe Evie will rub off on Izzy and tone her down a bit. :scared: (I have no idea how I ended up with such a gimme-the-spotlight kid!)

It was better that way…less people to hear Landon and me belting out the famous lines to the song.

We had no shame in our Small World game.
Haha, love it!

I could not, hard as I tried, get over the blatant disregard for other people’s space and for destruction of property. I love me some Disney shows, but never in a million years would I go to those lengths to watch one.

What really shocked my mom was the fact that there were no Cast Members around serving as crowd control. In fact, we didn’t see another CM the rest of the night. If there were any on Main Street at the start of Dreams, they were hidden to us. The members obviously could’ve cared less that guests were literally standing on fences and shoving their phones in front of strangers’ faces.

My Disney World friends, this chaos made the worst Wishes night seem tame. I will never, ever, EVER again be shocked by people watching Happily Ever After. Because nothing could be crazier than that night in Disneyland Paris.

Poor Landon was crying because he couldn’t see anything and the magic of the show was completely gone for my mom who was so put off by the rudeness. Alex had tried to be polite and not block anyone’s way, but he reached a boiling point and said, forget it, and he picked Landon up and held him up.

The rest of the show had lost a bit of its shimmer and shine for us.
Um, you're scaring me. :scared1: I've heard it's different there - smoking, general behavior, respect, etc. I do hope maybe things will improve by the time we get there, but not getting my hopes up. If people break the rules, though, I guarantee Izzy will loudly state that they shouldn't be doing that. My little rule-enforcer. :rotfl:
 
Glad to be back and caught up once again! I can NOT believe the guest behaviour you experienced here!! That would absolutely detract from my experience. I just can't imagine what goes through people's heads sometimes...
 
Sorry, I haven't been on the boards very much lately, so just getting back to this: we ARE booked now, DLP will be June 14th-18th, 2018 (the first and last are travel days, so mostly those middle three days). Let me know how things look as your schedule comes together. :goodvibes

Well, if we do meet up, just let her hang around Izzy a bit - maybe Evie will rub off on Izzy and tone her down a bit. :scared: (I have no idea how I ended up with such a gimme-the-spotlight kid!)

Um, you're scaring me. :scared1: I've heard it's different there - smoking, general behavior, respect, etc. I do hope maybe things will improve by the time we get there, but not getting my hopes up. If people break the rules, though, I guarantee Izzy will loudly state that they shouldn't be doing that. My little rule-enforcer. :rotfl:


I will definitely keep you in the loop as to our plans. My sister in-law is getting married at the end of April, so we have to go back to the states for that. Which has caused all our tentative 2018 trips to kind of be paused. However, DLP is so close to us that I'd be amazed if we didn't sneak down there for a day or two while you're there. And even better, Landon's last day of preschool is the 7th of June, whereas everyone else gets out the 14th, so we can hopefully beat the crowds by going when school is still in session.

Haha, I understand the confusion of having an outgoing kid. Landon and Izzy would do just fine together...they both seem very friendly.

Europe definitely has a different culture. It's not bad, per say, it just might surprise Americans. Smoking can be done anywhere and everywhere. People here literally smoke right in front of the entrance doors to the hospitals. (The irony in that cracks me up every time.)
Alex hates the smell of cigarette smoke and so this is always a hard pill for him to swallow, but he understands that smoking sections just aren't a thing over here.


Glad to be back and caught up once again! I can NOT believe the guest behaviour you experienced here!! That would absolutely detract from my experience. I just can't imagine what goes through people's heads sometimes...

It was shocking to see people acting that way, but I guess now I know what to expect and can be a little more prepared in the future. And with any luck, Disney taking over complete ownership of the company will put an end to that fiasco.
 

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