Candyfloss & Dreams

Tag: Disney Characters

Disneyland Paris – Travel Diary Day 4 and 5

As you know we’ve just returned from a fantastic time away in Disneyland Paris. We travelled light and spent four nights and five days over in France making sure we took in some of the sights of Paris before heading home. If you want to take a look at the whole of our trip take a look at my travel diary day one with tips on how to get to Disneyland Paris from Paris Gare du Nord. You can also check out my video of the Disney Princesses dancing when we had lunch with them and read all about days two and three which have loads of great pictures of our time. If you’re interested you can also read all about the perks of having a Golden Forest room in Sequoia Lodge.

Day 4 – Final Day In Disneyland Park

On our fourth day we rushed into the park for the extra magic hours at 8am and headed to the first character meet and greet queue to meet Minnie Mouse! Luckily Mickey was there too so we got a picture of both of them together which was great. We then headed over to meet Goofy and Pluto who quickly became a firm favourite of my daughters as he gave her a lot of hugs and kisses.

After that Adam braved Space Mountain alone and said it was a great ride, if a little dated, but I think that’s the charm of the ride. It’s pretty old now and is due for refurbishment next year in honour of the 25th Disneyland Paris Anniversary. During that time Mini Kat and I headed around the some of the stores in Discoveryland looking at all the fantastic merchandise. You could literally spend a fortune here – stay strong!

We braved a few more rides as it was nice and sunny including It’s a Small World before heading back to our hotel as my partner was feeling a little rough and suffering with toothache. It was also really cold that morning so I took the chance to have a lovely hot bath and we spend a bit of time relaxing before heading over to the Rainforest Cafe for a late lunch. We did have to wait for about fifteen minutes to get a table but there’s so much to look at in the shop before the restaurant and the environment itself. Mini Kat loved watching the fish swimming in the pillars and over the entrance. Afterwards we spent a little time grabbing souvenirs and finishing of Mini Kat’s spending money on Lego in their fantastic lego store in the Disney Village. We then headed over to Ratatouille with our fast pass, watched the parade and went back for an early night.

We actually spend a little bit of time in the bar before heading up to our room and I got to sample a delicious Blue Glowtini which comes with a glowing ice cube that you can keep. It’s a vodka cocktail and is €14.95. Childrens versions are also available but Mini Kat wanted a rainbow slush puppy.

Day 5 – Checking Out and Wondering Around Paris

Check out is at 11am so we had a late breakfast, finished packing and were at the desk for eleven. We decided to head into Paris for a bit before our Eurostar connection rather than spend the last few hours in the park so we will definetly be going back next year for the anniversary celebrations, more rides and lots more character meet and greets. Next time we are going to look at staying at Newport Bay or Hotel New York with a Premium Meal Plan so that we can book tables again at ADC, Inventions Character Brunch and Cafe Mickey in the Disney Village. I love the character dining experiences as you can sit down whilst waiting for the characters so it means we can then queue for others we hadn’t had the chance to meet. We also want to go back when Big Thunder Mountain has reopened because I loved that ride as a child.

As we were travelling on a Tuesday we got two Mobilis tickets and one child Paris Visite as they allow you on all modes of transport in Paris. We got off at Charles de Gaulle to take a peak at the Arc de Triomphe first before walking over to the Eiffel Tower. The walk took around 40 minutes but it was a lovely sunny day and it was great to take a chance to walk around.

We then got the metro from Champs de Mars over to St Michael Notre Dame where we found a little cafe aptly named Cafe Notre Dame for lunch. I tried French Onion Soup for the first time which was really warming on a cold day. I also tried pickles and found out I quite like them, especially with ham. Mini Kat was happy with a Pain au Chocolat.

Getting home took a while but it was a fantastic holiday. There’s a few things I would do a little differently. I would consider upgrading our Eurostar seats just to make it a little more comfortable and booking a later train into Paris and an earlier train home. I will always book a club room with Disneyland Paris hotels because of the ability to get free drinks and I will book a meal plan next time so the money we save for Euros between paying off the holiday and actually going can be used on spending money for us all. I would have loved to get all the Lego sets available over there as well as a cuddly toy or two or a snowglobe. That being said, we came back with €100 so I don’t think we did too bad and we didn’t scrimp on anything.

February 20, 2016
Disneyland Paris – Travel Diary – Day 2 and 3

Day 2 – Saturday – A very wet and windy morning at Disneyland Paris

If you’re following on from my Day One travel diary then thank you for coming back. Day two and three fell over the weekend for us and the official start of half term for us Brits which meant on the Saturday it as absolutely heaving. If you can visit midweek then I think you’ll be able to enjoy so much more. It was also incredibly wet on the Saturday raining all day which I think caused my daughter to be quite sick that evening with a raging temperature. I would strongly advise taking painkillers, calpol, nurofen or any other medication that you may need just in case someone gets sick. It can get very busy and hectic in the park and it’s noticibly colder. There’s also nowhere on site you can buy any form of liquid painkiller for children and the nearest chemist is Val d’Europe which is around 5 minutes on the train and closed on a Sunday.

In an emergency the hotel can call a fireman over to address the situation and call paramedics if necessary or there are a few small medical centres on site which, in an emergency, will give out painkillers. We didn’t use any of these services so I can’t comment on them, however, I’ve heard that there is no charge, but my word is not gospel!

Day 2 – Disneyland Park, Extra Magic Hours & Parade

We didn’t really have a plan for getting around the park as it was our first time there but next time I think we’ll attempt a few more things and plan a little better so we see some of the shows. On the second day it rained a lot and my daughters shoes were soaked through by 9am so off we searched for wellies. We found a gorgeous pair of Minni Mouse Wellies in Disney Clothing Store on Main Street for €25.99 – expensive but necessary. I think a lot of children either already had these wellies or bought them there too because we saw these red boots everywhere we went.

The extra magic hours are great for those staying in a Disney hotel as it means you can get into the park from 8am and meet a few characters. On the first day we saw Chip and Dale who were great. They loved my homemade autograph book and made a big fuss as well as gave us some really cheeky photo’s. My daughter found them really funny! We were also able to get on to the carousel and have a good wonder around. We attempted to ride Rataouille and queued for around 30 minutes whilst waiting for the ride to be fixed only to have our fast passes returned to us and asked to come back later. It’s a fantastic ride, very innovative but very, very technical and because of this it does break down quite a lot. Still if you use a fast pass you get it again which is great as it means you can go back later and still not wait ages in the queue. This includes fast passes from the machines and the hotels.

Entrance to Ratatouille in Walt Disney Studios Park

After that we headed over to Annettes Diner for lunch which was brilliant. Food was tasty and some of the waiters were on roller skates which made it look like a really fun place to work. I admire their talent, I can’t even ride a bike let alone roller skate carrying food and seating people! Really worth a trip though and for three of us it only cost around €60 which included drinks and a three course meal for my daughter.

After heading back to the hotel we went for a swim in the Sequoia Lodge Swimming pool which was heated but felt very cool. There is a slide in the pool which my daughter loved and went on with Adam a couple of times. The pool also has a jacuzzi and steam rooms which really helped warm me up and I had the steam room all to myself. It’s probably key to note here that men don’t have to wear speedos at Disney! They can wear regular swimming shorts in the Disney hotel pools. However if staying off site and there’s a pool like Explorers hotel, you’ll need your speedos! We warmed up with some hot chocolates, tea time treats and then headed back to the park for the parade at 5.30pm.

Mickey Mouse in the Parade on Main Street

Day 3 – Disney Princess Day

Meeting Ariel at ADC Restuarant

You may have already seen my post about the Dancing Disney Princesses and the video to go with it! Take a look if you haven’t. It’s one of our biggest highlights. Before heading off for lunch my daughter had her face painted which was just under €15 next to our chosen Cinderella’s Restaurant where we had a table booked. We booked with our holiday which cost £145 for the three of us and included two drinks each, three courses and a bread basket. During lunch we met Cinderella & Prince Charming, Ariel and Snow White at Auberge de Cenderillon which was a very rich but very tasty french cuisine restaurant. The Princess interaction with my daughter was just amazing and they all gave my daughter a huge hug and lots of waves. She had a great time seeing them all. Why not take a look at our full Disney Princess lunch experience?

We then headed over to Princess Pavillion and queued for around 30 minutes to meet Sleeping Beauty and she was completely perfect. She spent so much time with my daughter and loved the book we made. We didn’t feel rushed at all which made it a very memorable experience for us.

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February 19, 2016