Ok, so I just couldnt wait around for lady luck to smile on my lottery numbers so I raided every piggy bank in the house and came up with enough to splash out on a 3 night trip to Disneyland Resort Paris. Luck was definately on my side because they were renovating the outside of the Disneyland Hotel and this meant they were offering discounts for their standard rooms. So, before I had the chance to hesitate I was on that there phone and a'ringin that number. Thursday, 2nd June we were all awake at the ungodly hour of 5am - we didnt have to leave until 8am but those pesky excitement bubbles just wouldnt leave us alone!! Taxi came and whisked us to Ashford Eurostar where we saw a scarey notice about delays and French train strikes for today. Typical!! Lucky for us we were only delayed by 20 minutes due to an operations (!!??) failure at Waterloo as the strike was for the TGV's only. Phew!! My bladder cant take as many coffees as it used to k'now and in a crisis a body needs caffine!!
So our coach was no.18 - a 20 mile hike (ok ok a slight exaggeration - 10mile hike) down the complete platform. Seats were 41, 42 and 46 around a table. We were told at information that no-one was sitting in the other seat but once on board I saw a nice young man (just what an old fogey like me requires!! - a captive fella for 2 hours whose knees kept bumping into mine - ahhh bliss!!) sitting in the spare seat. Well, he was more handsome than the black holdall I had planned to dump in the seat so it was with great pleasure that I plonked myself down next to him. His nose was buried in the financial section of a newspaper and he didnt even glance up. We left the station at 10.56am and nearly 3 minutes later the quiet hum of peoples chat was drowned out by a small boys ear piercing scream. Yes, it was "Bailey" - the child with the 80 decibel yell!! He screamed for everything, happy or cross, hungry or snotty nosed. Yes, "Bailey" screamed for England!! And he kept it up for, oh, I'd say, about two thirds of the journey. Folks, if you have that awful build up of earwax, I recommend a "Bailey" - works wonders!!! My hunky chunky fella with the cute knees and the financial section of the paper eventually gave up all hope of living and scurried off to pastures new - I believe he was last seen running towards a hypermarket in Calais screaming for ear plugs and a vasectomy (obviously didnt have us girls stamina for kids and their, er, little ways!!)
We arrived in Marne La Vallee at 1.55pm french time and phew! it was hot hot hot. So glad as the weather forecast for the 4 days is for thunderstorms and rain. Quelle Surprise!! Sunshine and a mini heatwave!! Oh, and about 20 thousand people!! It was busy!! And, guess what - they were all heading into the parks - now how unfair is that!!!
All the way here my two boys think they are going to a b & b outside the parks. When the staff on the train asked my name I managed to mumble it and Disneyland Hotel without them hearing (thank heavens for Gameboys!!) I was informed that our tickets etc would be at the reception of our hotel. He he he!! Surprise still intact!! Out of the station, bypassing the Disney Express (well, it seemed silly to put our bags there when we could walk them to the hotel in 5 minutes!) we went into the luxury that is the Disneyland Hotel. And a taste of things to come - yep the dreaded queue!! 15 minutes later I finally squeezed past the bald headed man with the sweaty armpits (thought id share that with you all!! - well I had to put up with it - lucky its not smellyputer!!) having deposited the kidlits on a nearby settee so they couldnt hear what I had to say. They still thought that as our b & b was so far out they kind agents had arranged for our park passes to be collected here!! My bubble didnt last much longer. The nice man at reception informed me, no sorry no tickets here for you, where is your letter giving details? I showed him the only thing id been sent apart from the Eurostar tickets, which was my confirmation. No, the paper you need to give me to gain your tickets etc he said. Blank I said!! He spoke more slowly (it didnt help - he spoke better english than me but I still didnt understand) We have no tickets or booking here for you - did - you - give - your - letter - to - the - staff - on - the - train - madam? No, I said and explained theyd said tickets at reception of hotel yada yada. It is their mistake he replied. You need to go back to the station and see the Disney staff there. "expletive" I thought once or twice. I left the boys in the hotel and stomped back up to the station and the Disney Express. Sitting on a shelf behind all the luggage racks I could see a white envelope. Yippee!! It was all my tickets and confirmation letter for the hotel. I raced back and claimed my place in the every increasing queue for reception once again. Luckily the boys were busy arguing so theyd not seen me come back. Another 10 minutes or so and I was once again being dealt with. Ah, I see you found your letter madam. It wasnt worth arguing the point so I simply smiled. Ok, you may leave your luggage at concierge but we cannot allocate a room until after 3pm....Next!! Hang on buddy - ive already lost an hour of park time - gimme gimme gimme a room - please!! Seeing I was onto a winner I played the single mum with two children card and he said for you madam I will make an exception. Easy peasy - we were in!! We were housed in the West Wing room 3149. Up to the second floor in the lift, over the bridges/indoor walkways past the restaurants and shop and posh Castle Club entrance and into another lift and down to floor 1 (one up from the pool). The room was wonderful. We could just see the conservatory building that housed the pool through the trees and despite the scaffolding and white protective netting it was great to be in Disney!! Threw all the things in the drawers (I unpack sooo carefully y'know!!) whilst the boys christened the toilet (isnt it amazing- I pay all this money to bring them to a fantastic place and they get excited about whose gonna go first on the loo!!) Went back to concierge and booked Silver Spur for dinner tonight, Cafe Mickey for tomorrow and Buffalo Bill for Saturday at 6.30pm. This one cost me 139 euros - 53 per adult and 33 for child . Skipped into the park at precisely 4.05 pm.
It was busy but not as bad as id first thought. Yes, there were a lot of people but also quite a bit of space. Wandered into Frontierland and the Silver Spur. We could only get a 4.30 slot but as we'd not eaten since morning we were ready for a feast. There were only 6 others tables being used (they closed early apparently). It was rather obvious they wanted to close as they were sweeping and emptying bins. But at least the staff were attentive! I had the Sherrifs menu for 23 euros (chose prawn cocktail starter, steak with jacket and creme brulee for pud). The boys bothe had Little Cowboy menus of burger chips drink and an icecream. My oldest had the chicken rather than burger and each set meal cost 10 euros. The chips were stone cold so I sent them back much to my kids embarrasment!! When they brought them back they were red hot - and my horrible boys only ate half of them before declaring themselve full up (but still managing to eat their puddings!!) I also had a large water 4.60 euros and a non alcoholic cocktail for 5.50 euros. When ordering the meal I tried my hand at french and ordered the jacket potato as "potato au chemise" what! WHAT! Have you never had a shirted potatoe - people youve not lived!!!! I made a mental note not to try french for at least another decade!! My kids just noted me as mental!! Came out of the restaurant just before 6pm. BTM was a 60 minute wait so we went on PM (walk on). Through into Fantasyland which was crammed full of small children and buggies - it was like a preschool outing!! There were also loads of teenage french school groups and spanish and english school groups too. Most of the rides were between 15 and 55 minutes wait so as we were all bloated from our dinner we went back to the hotel and nosed around the shop. Once in the room I stripped down to my knickers (sorry if your eating!!) and tried on one of the two complimentary towelling robes left in the room. Mmmmm very swish and fluffy. The staff came in and turned down the beds - a peculiarly old fashioned tradition which I found strange watching - like having your own servants. We normally just get into bed dragging the sheets around us so to watch someone neatly turn down the top cover then arrange the pillows just so with a chocolate coin on each was, well weird! Wasnt sure if you were meant to tip them for this but as I intended to leave a tip each morning for the cleaners I chickened out and let my oldest show them out!! By about 8.30 we got peckish and strolled up to the Village. We watched a lady juggler and a cowboy called Junior something or something Junior - I forgot due to being entranced by his adept handling of his whips!!! There were loads of people using the facilities around the lake and the atmosphere was very relaxed with people winding down at the end of the day. Both the Ludwig and the Rainforest were queues out of the door with the Cafe Mickey a close third. Lots of spanish men were trying their hand (and their buttocks) on the bucking bull ride and the balloon had a steady stream of victims willing to rise 100 feet in the air for 3 minutes of clinging on for dear life and looking straight ahead. Oh, im sure most of you would love to do this but I couldnt get up the nerve to try!! Wandered around the shops and found the money flowed freely from my purse - so many new items to buy, so little time!!! I really loved the fresh green design of Mickey under a Tree with falling leaves around on the tea cups, saucers, place mats, plates and teapot. Bought a cup and saucer for my display shelf as a memento. Oh and a placemat 'cos it looked so sweet. Finally went back to the hotel at 10pm tired and hot. It was still a lovely mild evening and the chatter and music followed us all the way to the land of nod....
I came to their rescue!!). Wandered back down Main Street for some shopping. Back to hotel room around 2pm (still not been cleaned). Went to main lounge area and watched the crowds going towards Main Street Station. Of course, I had to also go back into the cafe and try one of those yummy cocktails - just to make sure theyd not gone off you understand!! Clouded over again and became cooler with most people wearing sweatshirts. Went for a swim around 3pm for an hour. Then back for a rest. Went into Studio for Animagique and Armageddon. Not crowded at all. Plenty of places to sit down and no real queues. Went up to Village and watched the world go by before heading to Buffalo Bill for the 6.30pm show. We were part of the Blue Moon gang and proudly wore our too big hats that flattened our hair and made our ears stick out!! As we went into the place we had to queue up to get our alloted seats and hats. The man checking the tickets asked me if I wanted a grope - well, I thought that was what he said (yeah in my dreams). Hed actually asked me if we were with a group as theyd split the queue into three sections inside the turnstile area - ordinary people, thomas cook guests and GROUPS. Just as I thought - my luck doesnt last forever!!!! Oh well, I guess itll just be me and my teddy bear when I get back to the room them...... The show itself was very good. I still get a chill up and down my spine when the buffalo come in - I challenge anyone not to get sticky out hairs at that point!! Didnt find the food very thrilling - its hard to try and find the meat off the ckn bones in the dark and it wasnt exactly hot but we came really for the show anyway. Once it was over (around 8pm) we went back to the village to watch the tribute to U2 band called J2 (how original!!) Very loud and the base was way up (chest thumping). I love watching all the hip young things swaying to the beat - and find all the older chaps and chapesses funny to watch when they sing along - and get the words wrong!!! Very busy in here tonight. Cant get a seat anywhere - every space has a derriere on it!!The weather is dry and warm. Decided at 9.30 to go back to hotel and find that bar again!! My son had a Pianoman (not literally - its a non alcoholic cocktail!!) and swore he was drunk!! Poor thing - hes got it all to come!! Noticed it had begun to rain - thatll teach all those people to shove each other in their quest for a seat - now they are sitting in the rain and im sitting in my hotel with a long cool drink in my hand watching the lights from the open doorway - heaven!!! Back to the room around 10.15. Snuggled down just after 11 with teddy and dreamed of the barman .......
Too quick!! Its been relaxing and tiring at the same time. We chose not to rush around doing too much and probably didnt do as many rides as we could but wed decided to take this trip at a leisurely pace and not to queue endlessly. Having the pool was a definate bonus although I still love the Cheyenne despite it not having a pool (unless you count the urine in the dip at the end of the horses arena!!) Being so close to the entrance and especially the exit of the park was another bonus. And an even greater bonus was the yummy cocktails at Cafe Fantasia complete with swarve barman with the tight buttocks!!
Enjoyed the report Widget, well done for prioritising writing the trippie over the washing, ironing etc!!
