Paris and Dreams - 17-21 August 2013

[sarahb74]

Hi, I’m Sarah, 39 (yikes!), type-A planner, Disney nut and your guide for our whistle stop tour of Paris and DLP. Joining me along the way are DH (52, don’t tell him I told you!) not keen on anything fast or spinny (but more of that later), loves photography so that’s his main thing on our trips. Also we have DS (12), still excited about Disney, loves BTM, & parachutes, and DS (7), would stay on IASW all day if he had the chance and loves a cuddle with the characters. This is our 5th trip to DLP but first in August (previously did Easter, Feb half term, Christmas and May half term) and first opportunity to see Dreams! The boys have been keen to go into Paris to see the Eiffel Tower so we decided this would be the time. I am a bit short on holiday from work this year, so the trip was planned from Saturday to Wednesday, giving us 2 travel days, 1 day in Paris and 2 days in the Parks. As we knew it would be busy and probably hot, we decided to splurge on 1 night at the Castle Club, with nights before and after at off-site hotels to keep the cost down. So, here we go……………………

DH & I worked all day Friday, but I had the cases packed and ready a few days before, so on Friday night we just packed the car ready to leave at 9am and made sandwiches for the journey. Saturday morning I was awake at 5am, excitement I guess! I pottered around, sorting out our picnic and waiting for the others to wake up. DH and DS7 were up around 6.30am, but I had to drag DS12 from his bed at 8am. We had breakfast, set up the dvd players in the car and set off for the tunnel at 9.06am (the precision is there for a reason !). The journey was largely uneventful, but there were 2 sets of roadworks, they didn’t seem to slow us down too much but as we got nearer I saw that we were quite tight to time for our crossing. In fact we pulled up at the ticket machines 2 minutes before our check in closed! Luckily there wasn’t a queue. We checked our letter and followed the signs, no time to stop at the shops we were waved straight through. When we got to the boarding lanes there was a man holding a piece of paper with “10” on it – most cars were ignoring him and went in the closest lane, we headed for lane 10, and as we drove down noticed the barrier was up. We went through the barrier and I noticed that they closed it behind us. We drove straight on the train, they closed the doors and we left, on the train before ours!! Result – only 15 minutes difference but there was no sitting around waiting.
Once we were moving we got out the picnic, we always do this as it kills the rather boring time in the tunnel and saves us having to stop again. The journey the other side was uneventful – for those keeping an eye on potholes, they are still bad around Charles de Gaulle, but other than that I didn’t notice any problems (particularly the sliproads). We arrived at our hotel, the Elysee around 4.15pm, parking and check in were easy and we headed up to our room. This really exceeded our expectations, the room was large and well laid out as well as in excellent condition – and we got a great deal in a flash sale!

I did some unpacking and we all freshened up for dinner – we told the boys we were going to have a drive around to find somewhere to eat, it took them a while to notice that we had driven into the carpark at the Disneyland Hotel for the reservation I had made for Inventions!! As we were only going to be in the parks for 2 days and DS7 is character obsessed, I thought it made best use of our time to fit in a character meal on our arrival day so he wouldn’t be so bothered when we finally got to the parks. It worked really well, we had a lovely meal and saw Snow White, Tigger, Eeyore, Minnie, Goofy and Pluto. It was really quiet, I think the parade being at 7pm probably meant less people were there at the start, we arrived at 6pm and stayed until 8pm and it was starting to get busy as we left. We also had a fab table with a great view of the park entrance so we could watch the hordes of people leaving after the parade! We headed back to the Elysee and got a good night’s sleep in, ready for our day in Paris.

 

[sarahb74]

We woke bright and early (as we usually do) – the weather forecast was grey and drizzle so we weren’t in any hurry to rush off as we had tickets for the Eiffel Tower at 5pm. We headed down for a leisurely breakfast – cold meats, cheese, yogurt, fruit, breads, croissants, pastries, toast and the usual selection of hot drinks and fruit juices. We all enjoyed this, it was fresh and really tasty. We took the 2 minute stroll to the RER station where I fought valiantly with the ticket machine and lost. I had to go and ask at the information desk as I couldn’t find the children’s tickets anywhere – turns out they are on the second page, under “more tickets”. Total cost was about 40 euros for 2 adult Mobilis and 2 ticket Jeune, so we had unlimited travel all day. The train arrived quickly (they run every 15 minutes, even on a Sunday) and the boys (yes all 3 of them!) were excited to see that it was a double decker train. We obviously had to sit upstairs, with DS12 asking if I was counting it as a ride! The train was clean and the journey pleasant, apart from the beggars (who, to be fair, did move straight on if you said no) and the buskers (who were just a little too loud and enthusiatic!) I had don’t my research and we got off the train at Chatelet les Halles – ok clearly not enough research, as it took ages to find our way out of the station and then to work out where exactly on the map we were and which direction to head in. In my defence, the shopping centre was closed (being a Sunday) and there are major works going on so it was a little confusing, and it started to rain to add to the complications, but once I had got my bearings we headed off to Notre Dame. As this was the boys first trip to Paris my intention was just to get them round the “big 4” of Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur/Montmatre, Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower – I know it doesn’t really do the city justice but it would be all we could fit in without exhausting ourselves before our Disney days. Everyone was impressed with the stained glass windows and the boys were fascinated that a service was going on with tourists wandering around the edges.

Next stop was lunch – I had decided against winging it to look for something more authentic and we headed to Republique to the Buffalo Grill a chain which we know well and always has something for everyone. It was typically tasty and reasonably priced. From there we headed to Pigalle and the funicular railway to the Sacre Coeur where we all enjoyed the view and watching the artists at work.



We headed back to the Metro and to the Arc de Triomphe, by the time we emerged from the subway the sun was shining and it was getting very hot, so we took some pictures and headed back down the tunnel!



Final destination was the Eiffel Tower. We stopped for drinks and sat people watching for a while as we had half an hour before our ticket time. They boys had seen the length of the queues for the lifts are were very impressed when we bypassed the lot and got straight on the first one. We only went as far as the second floor and the view was outstanding. It was a lovely way to end our day in Paris and we headed back on the Metro and RER to Val de Europe.





All in all it was a whistle stop tour, but we all enjoyed the day and it was really worthwhile. My original plan had been to head to the Musee d’Orsay to see the Monet collection, but I had decided a few weeks before the trip that it was probably too much and I think I made the right decision – I hope to head back there on another trip, either without the boys or when they are older. We grabbed a quick sandwich at the café opposite our hotel and went back the room to chill out and watch cartoons in French!

 

[sarahb74]

I was awake bright and early on Monday morning, and spent half an hour finishing off the packing before gradually making a bit more noise and opening the curtains the get the others to wake up! By the time they were dressed I had loaded up the car and we headed down for another lovely breakfast. Check out was as easy as check-in, I was very honest and told them that we needed to pay for the carpark (10 euros per night) and we were on our way to the Disneyland Hotel just after 8am. The boys knew where we were staying but I had left out one vital piece of information. We unloaded our bags at the door and DH went to park the car. I sent the boys to look at the fountain and had a quiet word with the man who was labelling our bags to say that we were checking into the Castle Club but that the children didn’t know. When DH returned we all followed the man up the lift, along the covered walkway, towards the centre of the hotel. DS12 was saying, “is our room near the restaurant, I hope so” (!) – when we turned into the Castle Club lift area he turned around with a massive grin on his face and I had to explain to DS7 what was going on! While I checked in the boys wandered around, looking down over the balcony to Inventions and admiring the ornaments on display. We were given our park tickets and a key to use for the lift and asked to come back after 3pm for our room keys. We took the lift down to the gates, as it was still EMH we had to go round to the side entrance, but even so, popping out of the lift right by the turnstiles was amazing! We skipped (literally!) into the park and headed in the direction of Buzz. By now it was 9.10am.



We walked almost straight on to Buzz so decided to head straight round again. There was a bit of a queue this time, but not much. After Buzz we walked through to Fantasyland and headed for the teacups. There was no queue here either so we did that twice as well! By that time Casey Junior had opened, so we went on that twice (getting to be a theme here) then on to Pays de Conte de Fees (twice!).



We strolled back towards It’s a Small World (DS7’s favourite ride), I was amazed at the queue to get tickets for the Princesses – so glad we don’t have to go through that! There was a 5 minute or so wait for IASW, but we did it twice anyway, so as not to break the pattern! Next stop should have been Peter Pan – as we had VIP fastpasses I thought we could do that a couple of times before lunch, but then there was a change of plan.

Now, I should explain that DH and DS7 don’t do fast rides. For a while now we have been nagging them to give Big Thunder Mountain a go, and finally DS7 had agreed. DH decided he would be brave too, and after a brief discussion we decided that it was either now, or after lunch had time to settle. I thought they may back out after lunch, so decided we ought to go straight away. The fastpass queue was about 15 minutes, I could see they were apprehensive so I pretty much talked the entire way through the queue! When we got to the loading area we could see a lady who had just got off the ride with 5 members of medical staff. To be honest she looked pretty dreadful, and I could see it was bothering DH. Then the next train arrived and we were on it. I was holding DS7 tight as we took off, and I remembered that I had forgotten to mention the tunnel – oops, with hindsight that was a bad move! DS gripped my arms so hard I had bruises and I think I may have heard a “bad word” from DH behind me! For the first time ever I couldn’t wait for the ride to be over, poor DS & DH both looked ghastly and were very shaky. I felt so guilty, when I was sure that no-one was going to be ill, I left them to walk slowly across to the Plaza Gardens for lunch, while I ran to Constellations to buy the Sorcerer Stitch that DS had fallen in love with earlier that morning.

 

[kizzabel]

Fab TR!! Looking forward to the next installment.
I used bad words on RC Racer! LOL So is BTM off the must do's list for your DS and DH now?
Lovely pics of Paris. We had debated going up to the 1st platform on the Eiffel Tower but I am very bad with heights and having seen your pic from there I'm delighted I didn't go up.
Did you take any CC pics? Would love to see what the rooms or lounge are like!

 

[sarahb74]

Fab TR!! Looking forward to the next installment.
I used bad words on RC Racer! LOL So is BTM off the must do's list for your DS and DH now?
Lovely pics of Paris. We had debated going up to the 1st platform on the Eiffel Tower but I am very bad with heights and having seen your pic from there I'm delighted I didn't go up.
Did you take any CC pics? Would love to see what the rooms or lounge are like!

Thanks for reading along! DH is still working out what I owe him for BTM, and yes, that will be the last time! We took a few CC pics - some in my next post, but not as many as I meant to. We seem to get a room in such a tip so quickly, and the lounge photos were really only of the characters..... maybe next time

 

[sarahb74]

Sorry for the delay, don’t you hate it when life gets in the way of trip reports!

So, we all had a good lunch at the Plaza Gardens – I always think of it as a reliable sort of buffet, you know there will always be plenty there to please everyone and we make a point of going there every trip. After lunch, DH and younger DS were still feeling a little green, so they headed down Main Street to browse the shops, get a photo with Duffy and ride the Disney Railroad – that was the longest wait of the trip, over an hour to get on the train! Older DS and I decided to head first to Peter Pan, which with the help of our fastpasses and the fact that they were looking for a 2 to make up numbers, was a walk on. After that we headed to Pirates (about 25 minutes wait), then to Big Thunder (twice – yay for Fastpass!) and to Phantom Manor. I texted DH and they were just approaching Main Street Station so we walked across and met them in the shops. It was after 3pm by then so we strolled back to the hotel (using the “easy access lift”!) to get our room keys.

We were shown to our room (2325) and WOW! It was fab. I know that in essence they are the same as the standard DLH rooms, but we had got lucky, 2nd room off the atrium, with 2 small balconies (as we were in one of the “hexagonal-type” rooms and a view of Fantasia Gardens! I hadn’t dared to hope about a view as I have seen people get rooftops, but this was brilliant. We could see Tower of Terror and the new World of Disney store.





We decided to relax for a bit as it wasn’t time for afternoon tea, so we kicked off our shoes and the boys leapt on the beds – then I threw them off as I had forgotten to take pictures, so sorry about the wrinkled sheets! They found the “top 10 things” channel on the TV and were happily engrossed in that while I started unpacking a few bits. Then there was a knock at the door – I opened it – room service, cue long conversation with me saying we hadn’t ordered anything and the man from room service trying to explain that it was complimentary – you can tell I don’t stay in this sort of luxury on a regular basis! That sorted out, he went to the table (which I had completely covered with our junk already!) to lay out fruit, chocolates, bottles of water for the boys and champagne for us! Having recovered from that we decided to check out the tea offerings in the lounge. It was lovely, lots of little sandwiches, fruit, cakes etc. Hot and cold drinks, and the lovely view of main street station and the castle beyond. We enjoyed the view (and the food!) for a while, then decided we should think about getting organised and going back into the park for the parade.

We had been told by the concierge to view the parade from near Bella Notte and at 6.15pm we found ourselves a front row patch of concrete to sit on while we waited. I craftily checked out the rope positions and worked out which bit would give us an unobstructed view and the time passed pretty quickly.





The parade was wonderful, we hadn’t watched the old one for quite a few years and thoroughly enjoyed this one. What made it even better was a CM who crouched on the ground near us whose name was Bat, and is obviously hugely popular with his fellow CMs, so we had fairies blowing him kisses, cuddlies bounding over to see him and lots of fun and games with the pirates!

After the parade we strolled round Fantasyland, had a ride or two on IASW and wandered into Chalet de la Marionette for a quick snack to top us up before Dreams. Older DS and I went to Star Tours while DH and younger DS did Buzz again, then we decided to get a spot for Dreams. This was the one thing I had been worried about, where to go to get a good view for the boys. I looked around and found a space behind some railings pretty central to the castle and with a flower bed in front. I thought this would be good and we sat down to wait at 9pm (for the 11pm show).

Our spot, before Dreams!


Now, I went on about this in my highs and lows report, so will try not to do so here again, but half an hour before the show starts people started climbing into the flower beds. Anyway, I eventually told the boys to climb over the fence (but to keep off the flowers) and they both had a fantastic view. I got up close and personal with a lamppost and had a reasonable view. DH couldn’t climb over the fence so held the camera over his head and watched on the screen – you can see the view he got from the photos! Not bad, but maybe not worth a 2 hour wait! Anyway, the show was simply amazing.





It took a while to make our way out of the park, and I was glad that we were just a short lift ride away from our room and we were all soon fast asleep.