Rachandgarry
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2011
Day 4 - Saturday 11 Feb
Another leisurely start to our day, despite our pondering the previous evening if we might try to 'make it for EMH'. Yeah, like that was gonna happen
Not a chance!!
On our way to breakfast, we found Winnie the Pooh...
The official photo we purchased:
We had breakfast at the Hunter Grill this time, but (much to the dismay of several people around us) we took Matthew's portable DVD player with us, and had it on very quietly at breakfast. It just meant that he could sit still long enough to eat something and let us both eat something too.
Mickey Mouse had taken over from Pooh on the way back to our room. I love the way he is cuddling Mickey - such feeling in that cuddle. Maybe that's because I know Matthew though...
Matthew loves sitting on his lap, you can see him just pulling his arms around him, hoping Mickey will squeeze him (he loves the deep pressure sensory input):
We also purchased this official photo, too:
We drove to the park, and went to Salon Mickey. Matthew sat and drank his bottle of milk (he's 5 1/2 now, but still has a bottle of milk, due to his difficult diet) whilst we had a hot chocolate and a cookie each. The nice lady from the Baby Care Center yesterday was working in Salon Mickey today, and was really sweet again, and said "hello Matthieu!" (of course, Matthew ignored her, being as completely oblivious as he always is lol)
We then went out to the Studio, hoping to catch the characters there, since we had still only seen Pooh, Mickey and Goofy the entire time we'd been in France lol! On my previous trips, the Studio front lot was full of characters like Stitch, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale etc but this morning there was just Minnie. Still, one character better than no characters! Matthew was very excited to see her, but couldn't understand that the big black limo wasn't her car. He kept trying to take her hand, and make her get in the car LOL! It was so funny. She was a good sport, and tried the doors for him and held her hands up as if to say "oh, its locked! we can't get in..." Such a sweet moment for him...
See how tightly he's holding her? There's not an ounce of him that wants to sign his book, have a photo taken, or even realises that we are in a theme park, he genuinely cares for her and just wants her to stay with him. It breaks my heart (but in a good way, lol)
Next up was a ride on Crush's Coaster... This, he loves!
Then it was time for the Cars Race Rally:
After this, we all went on the Margic Carpet ride. We realised in the queue line that Matthew needed a nappy change - putting up with the smell made that the longest ride I've been on, lol!! It was nearly time for the parade, so we found a spot and I waited with the buggy while Garry took Matthew and the nappy bag off to the toilets. After a few minutes they came back, but Garry had an odd look on his face...I wondered what was up - but his next sentence answered my question: "Were you half asleep when you packed the rucksack this morning? There're no nappies....." OMG!! Matthew was stinking to high heaven, and we had no nappies! Poor Garry had to walk all the way back to the Sequoia Lodge to get some nappies then come back. I felt sorry for him, and I felt sorry for Matthew having to sit in the buggy in a dirty nappy. I felt awful, what an idiot, I think I just assumed there was still some in there from the day before.
The parade was ok, although now it is just a few floats and there is no show or character interaction at the end, it seems a bit short and bland. You can tell it was designed differently to how it is run now. I tried to take Matthew in to Playhouse Disney but he threw a wobbly when we got through the first door with the big tv screen. No idea why, but he ran back out so I charged after him and we just played around the area outside Cinemagique until Garry got back, which was really quickly bless him, and then order was restored to Disneyland Paris with a well-overdue nappy change!
We didn't want to do the whole Art of Animation because Matthew wouldn't have been able to sit through it (same way he can't sit through Animagique or Cinemagique ) so we went in to the interactive area at the end of the tour, and Matthew really enjoyed painting on the screens....
We walked out of the Studios, over to the Disneyland Hotel, and just after we got there, Tigger, Geppeto, Mickey, Chip and Dale came down the stairs. Matthew was beside himself with excitement!! We didn't get any piccies, but we do have it on video, which is great. He did some wonderful bouncing with Tigger!
We popped in to the main park for a ride on Its a Small World - but it was broken. It was nearly time for the parade, so with Matthew in his buggy we waited just outside on the corner near Fantasia Gelati. He really enjoyed watching the parade, until Pooh and Piglet got there. Once they got went passed, he broke down in to uncontrollable crying because he just wanted to follow Pooh and Piglet, but obviously we couldn't. We had to take him out of the area as so many people were getting distressed because of his kicking and thrashing. Its so heartbreaking when this happens as he appears to be behaving so badly, but its not really his fault, he has severe learning disabilities and genuinely can't understand why he can't cuddle Piglet during a parade. Its hard to know whether to take him to these things, and expose him to the risks that this will happen, or just stay at home where there is no risk of disappointment, but also no opportunity for magic.
Luckily, as we walked away from the parade, in to Fantasyland, Its a Small World opened up! Phew! This at least took his mind off things for a short while. Many rides were still closed; Snow White, Dumbo, Pinocchio etc. but in a change to the scheduled programme Casey Jr was open! Wow! So excited, as Matthew has never ridden this and absolutely loved it. It was so quiet, so we rode for 3 turns in different carriages. Marvellous! Next we took Matthew on Peter Pan, which he also had never ridden before. He enjoyed this, but it was really jerky. I'd never experienced it being that jerky, and I made sure to have my hand on the bar in front of Matthew's chest and my arm around his back.
Then we rode Pirates again, which was as fab as ever. From there, Matthew asked to go on 'the fast train' so we poodled round to Frontierland and found that Big Thunder was down . We wandered around a bit, and then it re-opened woo hoooo!! Garry and Matthew went on, bringing the smile back to Matthew's face.
We were all getting hungry by this point, so decided to eat at Videopolis, so we trekked across to Discoveryland; its so pretty at night with Space Mountain lit up so beautifully. We noticed Autopia was open, so thought we might have a go on this when we'd finished dinner. We both had cheeseburger and fries, and shared a drink; another £20 gone - its so amazing how much food costs at DLP! We changed Matthew's nappy and started our walk out to Autopia... Matthew was insistent on driving and kept pushing Garry's hands away when he interfered hahaha! When they came off the ride, I asked Garry if he had Matthew's Mickey Mouse plush - it wasn't on the buggy anymore, which I'd been sat next to. He didn't have it, so we thought we must have left it in Videopolis...Garry went back, but couldn't find it anywhere and no-one had handed anything in . We searched everywhere we'd been, but it had gone. I felt awful, as it wasn't Matthew who'd lost it - it was us. It was one his grandparents bought him back from Orlando when he was a baby and they went with his cousins. We didn't tell Matthew yet, we hadn't decided how to handle it.
We went on Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, then on Autopia again and then walked back up Main Street and headed out of the park. We told Matthew that Mummy and Daddy were very sorry but we'd lost Mickey Mouse, would he like a new one? He totally didn't understand what we were saying, noticed some parked strollers and ran off to play with them. After nearly running over a dozen tired guests walking sleepily out of the park, we curtailed his stroller-wheeling antics and led him in to the shop under the Disneyland Hotel, where he chose a new Mickey Mouse and a Smarties Mickey Mouse dispenser too. We went back to the hotel. By the time we got to the room, we were all too shattered to consider packing for the morning's departure home so we decided to just deal with it when we got up!
Lights off, time for zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........
Another leisurely start to our day, despite our pondering the previous evening if we might try to 'make it for EMH'. Yeah, like that was gonna happen
Not a chance!!On our way to breakfast, we found Winnie the Pooh...
The official photo we purchased:
We had breakfast at the Hunter Grill this time, but (much to the dismay of several people around us) we took Matthew's portable DVD player with us, and had it on very quietly at breakfast. It just meant that he could sit still long enough to eat something and let us both eat something too.
Mickey Mouse had taken over from Pooh on the way back to our room. I love the way he is cuddling Mickey - such feeling in that cuddle. Maybe that's because I know Matthew though...
Matthew loves sitting on his lap, you can see him just pulling his arms around him, hoping Mickey will squeeze him (he loves the deep pressure sensory input):
We also purchased this official photo, too:
We drove to the park, and went to Salon Mickey. Matthew sat and drank his bottle of milk (he's 5 1/2 now, but still has a bottle of milk, due to his difficult diet) whilst we had a hot chocolate and a cookie each. The nice lady from the Baby Care Center yesterday was working in Salon Mickey today, and was really sweet again, and said "hello Matthieu!" (of course, Matthew ignored her, being as completely oblivious as he always is lol)
We then went out to the Studio, hoping to catch the characters there, since we had still only seen Pooh, Mickey and Goofy the entire time we'd been in France lol! On my previous trips, the Studio front lot was full of characters like Stitch, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale etc but this morning there was just Minnie. Still, one character better than no characters! Matthew was very excited to see her, but couldn't understand that the big black limo wasn't her car. He kept trying to take her hand, and make her get in the car LOL! It was so funny. She was a good sport, and tried the doors for him and held her hands up as if to say "oh, its locked! we can't get in..." Such a sweet moment for him...
See how tightly he's holding her? There's not an ounce of him that wants to sign his book, have a photo taken, or even realises that we are in a theme park, he genuinely cares for her and just wants her to stay with him. It breaks my heart (but in a good way, lol)
Next up was a ride on Crush's Coaster... This, he loves!
Then it was time for the Cars Race Rally:
After this, we all went on the Margic Carpet ride. We realised in the queue line that Matthew needed a nappy change - putting up with the smell made that the longest ride I've been on, lol!! It was nearly time for the parade, so we found a spot and I waited with the buggy while Garry took Matthew and the nappy bag off to the toilets. After a few minutes they came back, but Garry had an odd look on his face...I wondered what was up - but his next sentence answered my question: "Were you half asleep when you packed the rucksack this morning? There're no nappies....." OMG!! Matthew was stinking to high heaven, and we had no nappies! Poor Garry had to walk all the way back to the Sequoia Lodge to get some nappies then come back. I felt sorry for him, and I felt sorry for Matthew having to sit in the buggy in a dirty nappy. I felt awful, what an idiot, I think I just assumed there was still some in there from the day before.
The parade was ok, although now it is just a few floats and there is no show or character interaction at the end, it seems a bit short and bland. You can tell it was designed differently to how it is run now. I tried to take Matthew in to Playhouse Disney but he threw a wobbly when we got through the first door with the big tv screen. No idea why, but he ran back out so I charged after him and we just played around the area outside Cinemagique until Garry got back, which was really quickly bless him, and then order was restored to Disneyland Paris with a well-overdue nappy change!
We didn't want to do the whole Art of Animation because Matthew wouldn't have been able to sit through it (same way he can't sit through Animagique or Cinemagique ) so we went in to the interactive area at the end of the tour, and Matthew really enjoyed painting on the screens....
We walked out of the Studios, over to the Disneyland Hotel, and just after we got there, Tigger, Geppeto, Mickey, Chip and Dale came down the stairs. Matthew was beside himself with excitement!! We didn't get any piccies, but we do have it on video, which is great. He did some wonderful bouncing with Tigger!
We popped in to the main park for a ride on Its a Small World - but it was broken. It was nearly time for the parade, so with Matthew in his buggy we waited just outside on the corner near Fantasia Gelati. He really enjoyed watching the parade, until Pooh and Piglet got there. Once they got went passed, he broke down in to uncontrollable crying because he just wanted to follow Pooh and Piglet, but obviously we couldn't. We had to take him out of the area as so many people were getting distressed because of his kicking and thrashing. Its so heartbreaking when this happens as he appears to be behaving so badly, but its not really his fault, he has severe learning disabilities and genuinely can't understand why he can't cuddle Piglet during a parade. Its hard to know whether to take him to these things, and expose him to the risks that this will happen, or just stay at home where there is no risk of disappointment, but also no opportunity for magic.
Luckily, as we walked away from the parade, in to Fantasyland, Its a Small World opened up! Phew! This at least took his mind off things for a short while. Many rides were still closed; Snow White, Dumbo, Pinocchio etc. but in a change to the scheduled programme Casey Jr was open! Wow! So excited, as Matthew has never ridden this and absolutely loved it. It was so quiet, so we rode for 3 turns in different carriages. Marvellous! Next we took Matthew on Peter Pan, which he also had never ridden before. He enjoyed this, but it was really jerky. I'd never experienced it being that jerky, and I made sure to have my hand on the bar in front of Matthew's chest and my arm around his back.
Then we rode Pirates again, which was as fab as ever. From there, Matthew asked to go on 'the fast train' so we poodled round to Frontierland and found that Big Thunder was down . We wandered around a bit, and then it re-opened woo hoooo!! Garry and Matthew went on, bringing the smile back to Matthew's face.
We were all getting hungry by this point, so decided to eat at Videopolis, so we trekked across to Discoveryland; its so pretty at night with Space Mountain lit up so beautifully. We noticed Autopia was open, so thought we might have a go on this when we'd finished dinner. We both had cheeseburger and fries, and shared a drink; another £20 gone - its so amazing how much food costs at DLP! We changed Matthew's nappy and started our walk out to Autopia... Matthew was insistent on driving and kept pushing Garry's hands away when he interfered hahaha! When they came off the ride, I asked Garry if he had Matthew's Mickey Mouse plush - it wasn't on the buggy anymore, which I'd been sat next to. He didn't have it, so we thought we must have left it in Videopolis...Garry went back, but couldn't find it anywhere and no-one had handed anything in . We searched everywhere we'd been, but it had gone. I felt awful, as it wasn't Matthew who'd lost it - it was us. It was one his grandparents bought him back from Orlando when he was a baby and they went with his cousins. We didn't tell Matthew yet, we hadn't decided how to handle it.
We went on Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, then on Autopia again and then walked back up Main Street and headed out of the park. We told Matthew that Mummy and Daddy were very sorry but we'd lost Mickey Mouse, would he like a new one? He totally didn't understand what we were saying, noticed some parked strollers and ran off to play with them. After nearly running over a dozen tired guests walking sleepily out of the park, we curtailed his stroller-wheeling antics and led him in to the shop under the Disneyland Hotel, where he chose a new Mickey Mouse and a Smarties Mickey Mouse dispenser too. We went back to the hotel. By the time we got to the room, we were all too shattered to consider packing for the morning's departure home so we decided to just deal with it when we got up!
Lights off, time for zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........
. I recall meeting Pluto & Mickey in Cafe Mickey when my DD2 was 6 months old and they both stuck their noses right in her pushchair so that she could pull them and Pluto's whiskers too. Mickey even made his nose vibrate (as it does vibrate if he wants it too) so don't feel too bad about Matthew grabbing them 
.
.
. How wrong I was. Managed to get a few bags packed before breakfast, which we had in the Hunters Grill again. Before going down, we stopped off at the character meet where Goofy was on station this time.
) and carefully trundled through reception. It has always bothered be that the Sequoia Lodge reception area is designed with uneven flag stones the one thing you do not want to run over with a fully laden trolley as the bags have a habit of making a bid for freedom. Managed to get the car loaded and checked out (only 45 mins late) and then off to the park for the last time.
Aww thanks hun, that's such a nice thing to say. I just hated the feeling that we'd let him down with so few characters. You know that feeling when you've booked something for a group, and you've really bigged it up and made a massive fuss about how brilliant it is - and then it misses the mark and you look (and feel) like a right idiot; I think thats kind of how I felt. I just wanted it to be so perfect, and it just so wasn't. 
)
, we took a wander towards Casey Jnr only to find that it was closed (again) 
. The food was a good portion (we did the single fish meal and a double fish a la carte) and not at a too extortionate price. DS settled for his spaghetti and sausages (not on the Disney Menu 
. (OK, the one they keep closed for about 90% of the time). Its a really funny place to walk down as almost no-one was using it and it felt like the park was all ours. DS really enjoyed the queue line for Star Tours no, not the droids and spaceship part......... try the low level concrete walls outside, that is waaaaaaay more fun 
), it was back onto Autopia where Daddy got to be passenger (again). No chance of sharing the steering, NO DADDY! NO! He really loves the cars and this is a great safe way for him go driving.
. Typical though, just as I started to warm the food, the shuttle was called and by the time I got to the car, it was like a ghost town outside. Still, we made the shuttle with plenty of time to spare and we got a quick rest before the onward leg.
Hopefully in June you'll have lovely weather and lots of characters!
