A Jolly Holiday Trip Report, August 2015 COMPLETE!

dhidra

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
PTR here
Highs & Lows here

Cast:
Me, age 32, 7th trip
Mam, age undisclosed, 3rd trip
Kids: left at home! :-O

When:
15th & 16th August 2015

Where:
Flew from Dublin to Beauvais with Ryanair
Stayed at Hotel Santa Fe (Got 60% AP discount)

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Day 1 (Saturday)

Didn't sleep very well, as I'm always anxious the night before an early flight that I'll miss it! Up before the birds at 3:30am. I had paid extra for priority boarding and seats in row 2, which I was glad of, and thankfully we had an uneventful flight. The weather was looking a bit miserable which was disappointing as it had been quite hot in previous weeks. RS Transports picked us up and we shared the minibus with a couple and a mother with her 5yo son. We chatted about Disney and before we knew it we could see Space Mountain. The journey took a little under an hour and a half and we arrived at Hotel Santa Fe at 11am. As expected, the weather wasn't great; some rain and a drop in temperature from previous days.

Check-in took about 45mins. The CM at reception was very nice - was laughing at my enthusiam. I was disney bounding as Elsa had sparkly Elsa Mickey Ears. Our room wasn't ready, but he gave us our meal vouchers, breakfast time slot and hotel easy pass and we left our luggage and walked to the parks. I was pleasantly surprised at how short a walk it was; within 10 mins we were at the top of Disney Village, where Cafe Mickey is.
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It's a lovely walk along the river with lots of trees and you can see all the other hotels along the way. We had a look in some of the shops in the Village and I got my Annual Photopass (€40) in World of Disney. Not all CMs know about it so if you're looking for one and aren't having any luck, keep trying!

We went into Disneyland Park and got that wondrous, joyful feeling you can only get as you walk down Main Street and see the castle.
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I love the music, the shop fronts, the smell, the signs, the windows, all the little details on Main St. It's my favourite part of the parks. We had said that this trip wouldn't be about rides, and the only one we both really wanted to do was Ratatouille. Of course, by now Mam mad changed her tune and decided that she wanted to do Peter Pan, Pirates, Big Thunder Mountain etc. etc! So before our lunch reservation at Walts, we went down to Peter Pan and got Fastpasses for later.

The last time I had been to Walts was almost 10 years ago so it was lovely to be back. The theming here is fabulous; so much detail, and you really feel like you've gone back in time and are in Walt's home!

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I asked for a table by a window and we got one in the 'Frontierland' room. The view from the window was lovely and it we enjoyed looking out as we ate our meal.
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We had 'plus' meal vouchers and ate from the Market Street set menu, with a free drink and also a free non-alcoholic cocktail with my Dream AP. I had Caesar Salad to start, which was very substantial and not drowned in dressing as Caesar salad often is. For mains we both had the cod steak which was very nice. Dessert was warm chocolate fondant which was absolutely delicious...exactly how choc fondant should be. A very enjoyable meal and reasonably priced for what you get.
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It was about 2:30pm at this stage so we decided to do a bit of shopping as we could have it sent to our hotel if we bought it before 3pm. We went a bit mad, got a set of Inside Out Figurines for my DS1, Elsa dress for my niece, and lots of other bits and pieces.

I was dying to check out the new Frozen area so we went there for a look around, stopping on the way for Fastpasses for Big Thunder Mountain.
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I think they have done a lovely job in the theming of the Frozen area. They could have added a few more market stalls but overall I was impressed.


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We got a lovely photo in the sleigh, taken by a CM called Sergio. He was great fun. I saw him later working at the parade, and I think I've come across him on previous trips.
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The next sing-along show in English was at 3:50pm and people were queuing long before that. We sat down on a bench to wait rather than standing in the queue as I knew that the theatre had a large capacity. They started letting people in at 3:30. We got a seat close enough to the centre, about 6 rows back.
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I was really looking forward to this and I was not disappointed. The set is fantastic. I loved the costumes, hairstyles and energy of the performers. As soon as they started singing the first song, I came over all emotional and had to hold back the tears! It seemed like Anna was miming but you could clearly hear each of the other performers singing. From there on I continued to enjoy it. I sang every word of every song, possibly louder than any of the kids there! I found the finale to be spectacular, even though I knew it was coming from watching it on YouTube! I was totes emosh once again!

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Something I noticed during the sing-along was a lot of people videoing it. I know it's lovely to have a video to look back on after your trip, but I think it really affects the audience participation. You're not likely to sing is you're too busy with your camera. It would be even more enjoyable if everybody sang. That's just me being persnickety but I am a big fan of crowds singing together. :-)
 
Lovely start - I agree with you completely about Main St - I could spend my entire trip there.

I love your ears! The whole Frozen area looks beautiful, I'd really have loved to have seen it but it'll probably be gone by the time we get there in October.

Look forward to hearing more popcorn::
 
I love your ears! The whole Frozen area looks beautiful, I'd really have loved to have seen it but it'll probably be gone by the time we get there in October.

Look forward to hearing more popcorn::
Thanks! Frozen summer fun finishes mid September. I think the singalong is returning at Xmas. They would be silly not to make use of the theatre by continuing the show. It's really large capacity and Frozen is still huge - it seems to have pulled in the crowds this summer anyway.

My ears are 'Anna' on the other side, so I'll get more wear out of them on the next trip!
 


Day 1, Part 2!

It was time to use our FPs for Peter Pan so we walked back through Frontierland towards Fantasyland. We came across a band playing near the Molly Brown, so we stopped to listen to them for a while, they were very good.
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On to Peter Pan, which was enjoyable as always, although I missed having my two boys with me to shout at Captain Hook and call him a codfish!

We were conscious that our Pause Gourmande Vouchers had to be used before 6pm so we checked the map to see where was the closest place we could use them. The vouchers state that you can get a drink and a snack (tea, coffee, water or juice and a sugar donut or Magnum ice cream bar) and also lists the places that take the vouchers. We used them at Marionette and sat outside to have our drink and snack. The weather was much nicer by now. I had the Magnum which was really yummy, even though I don't like nuts that much.
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I ran over to Indiana Jones to get a FP, and then we headed for Pirates as I knew it wouldn't have a queue because of the parade. I was right! It was a walk on! It was great, Mam loved it, and we got our first photo on my Photopass. Her face in it is priceless!

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I noticed that there were quite a lot of people in the disability queue, and I also noticed this at BTM. With people becoming more Internet-savvy, are the disability passes being requested more? I've heard that they're getting stricter on handing them out, I wonder is this why? Anyway, I digress, it was just an observation.

Next up was Indiana Jones, which I hadn't done on my last few trips so I was looking forward to it. Mam wouldn't go on it because it goes upside down. It was pretty much a walk on, apart from a bit of a hold up when a child at the top of the queue was too short and the adults with him argued with the CM and held up the queue and two carriages had to be sent off with no one in them! The ride wasn't as thrilling as I remember, it's not terribly fast, and although I do really like the theming of it, I much prefer BTM.

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I thought Mam would like the Swiss Family Treehouse, as she enjoys seeing all the theming and little details around the parks, so we went up there next. I think this is a great attraction, quite underrated! It tells the story of the family, and there are lovely views of the park from the top of the tree.

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We went in search of more FPs, but alas, all were gone for the day. By chance we happened to be passing the castle when the Frozen fountain show was on. I had read about this but forgotten it was on. It was simple but very effective; we were glad we had caught it!

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Rachael (ILOVEDLP) had texted earlier to say her twins were taking part in the Jedi Training Academy at 7:20pm so we made our way over to that. The stage was nicely themed, with a moving R2-D2. There were about 20 kids taking part. They looked great in their Jedi costumes, and they all did really well with their light sabres. I don't want to give too much away but I thought the show was very well done, and enjoyable for all viewers, whether they had kids taking part or not.

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We hot-footed it over to BTM as our FP time was almost up. Such a great ride in every way. It will be interesting to see what they do with it during the refurbishment. Another funny photo for my Photopass; Mam enjoyed it but was glad her dinner was well digested before going on!

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The queue for Phantom Manor showed 5 minutes so we went on that, but we were on in less time than that. Afterwards, we had a look around 'Boot Hill', where there are lots of gravestones and tombs with humorous inscriptions. I love how you find something new on every trip. I could keep visiting for the rest of my life and still notice new details.
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Day 1, Part 3!

We made our way towards the Disneyland Hotel for some snacks and drinks in Cafe Fantasia. Of course, we did a bit of shopping on the way. We did a lot of shopping, we're quite dangerous when we get together! Walking into the DLH is almost as good a feeling as walking down Main St. I love it there. That smell! In CF I had a Glowtini cocktail and crepes.
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and Mam had a selection of cheeses and bread with a glass of wine.
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I also had a Bacardi Royale; it's not on the menu but they will make it for you if you ask. It's an expensive menu, but it's such a nice place to sit and relax in, it's now a tradition for me to do it once on each trip! We were joined by some Disboards friends in the bar and had a lovely chat.

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It was now time to go for Dreams! The parks weren't as busy as I expected during the day, but they all came out of the woodwork for the show. The place was heaving! Some people were sitting on the ground and others were standing. We got a spot to the right of central plaza, with a decent enough view. They had the Frozen fountain show on again at 10:40pm, but with lights on the castle aswell. It was very impressive. Dreams was fabulous as always, and I enjoyed the Frozen section, which I hadn't seen before.

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We walked with the crowds down Discovery Arcade and out of the parks and decided to walk to the hotel rather than chancing the bus. By now we were starting to feel tired, but I was glad I had made it this far after a very early start!

We collected our baggage and shopping and queued at reception to collect our room key. It was around midnight by now. We got a key and map and headed off to find our room. We found it ok, put the key in the door, opened the door.....to find three people inside the room!!!! They were in various states of undress and very shocked to find us coming into their room late at night so unexpectedly! We were very embarrassed. Back to reception we went, where we had to queue again. We were allocated another room, with no apology forthcoming. With it being so late, and after having such a long day, we didn't kick up a fuss as we just wanted to go to bed. Our room was in Sally, Block 54, 2nd floor. It couldn't have been any further away from reception. The room itself was fine, two double beds as usual, flatscreen TV and a ceiling fan. We hit the hay, after a long and busy but fantastic day in the park, albeit with a very strange ending!


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I love all your updates and I think you've answered some questions I had about the Pause Gourmande vouchers :rotfl2:

Your photos are amazing, so clear. I love the ones around Adventureland. We plan on going to Cafe Fantasia again too this time. Love in in there :thumbsup2

What a carry on with your room! I don't know what i'd do if that happened to us.....not good at all.

Look forward to your next update :goodvibes
 


All the info is written on the PG vouchers. just be careful to use them before 6pm as they are strict with the time. But you can use more than one on one day if you don't use them another day. That make sense?

Photos are a combination of iPhone and DSLR, some taken by me, some by my mam! I didn't mean for the report to be so pic heavy but we did get some good ones, actually even better ones coming on day 2!
 
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Thanks for the vouchers info. We will need to use 2 in one day because we arrive late and leave early on the last day. Hopefully the doughnuts come in a wee bag to save for later otherwise I'll take some bags of my own ;)
 
Day 2!

Alarm went off at 6:30am after just 4.5 hours sleep. We were keen to make EMH so had asked for a 7am breakfast slot. We went to reception to check out before breakfast and found that there hadn't yet been a shift change from the night before, so we decided not to complain at that time. The luggage room doesn't open until 7:30am so we had to bring our bags to breakfast. This wasn't a major problem, we just took turns going up to the buffet. It was fairly quiet at 7am but by 7:30 it was a lot busier. The buffet was the usual cold meat, cheese, rolls, fruit salad, croissants and pain au chocolat. The fruit salad was lovely and fresh but I was disappointed there was no brioche! I had been looking forward to having some!

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I was Disneybounding as Mary Poppins today.

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It was a lovely sunny day. We walked to the parks again and were there by 8:10am. We saw Minnie and Donald doing M&Gs at town square. We made our way down a very quiet Main St and saw Chip & Dale outside Casey's corner with almost no queue. We waited less than 5 minutes and had great fun with them. I was a bit disappointed there was no Photopass photographer there but a CM took photos for us with our camera.

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A quick castle selfie, then we headed into Discoveryland and walked straight onto Buzz's Laser Blast. Great fun as always and another photo for my Photopass.

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Over to Fantasyland and on to the Teacups, again with no queue. We had a cup each!
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We queued a few minutes for Dumbo, but not long. Great views from this ride.

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The carousel was next, with just a short wait there too. I love Extra Magic Hours!

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It was around 9:30 by now so we made our way to the studios for a date with a Rat. The gates were already open. We had a look around Studio 1 (more shopping) and then walked to the Ratouille area. There was a queue all the way back to the entrance of Toy Story land. We walked past the queue to see if the single rider queue was open and it was! We walked straight onto the ride! Nobody else was in it! What luck!
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I just love this ride, I sat through the whole thing in awe, it's just so clever. When we got off we said we'd try the SR queue once more, and again we walked straight on to the ride! We both ended up in the same Rat with a family of 4, who sat 3+1 so we could sit together, which was very nice of them. Unfortunately this was where our luck ended, as the ride had some technical difficulties and there was no animation or sound! We didn't mind too much, it was an interesting experience, but I felt bad for the family with us as it was their 4th attempt to go on the ride and their first time actually getting on! At the exit they gave us handwritten Fastpasses to return any time that day. We didn't get to use it so I gave it away.

We went on Slinky Dog next, which had a queue of about 10 minutes. I wanted to go on RC Racer as I hadn't been on it on my last few trips, but Mam declined and went in search of coffee instead! I joined the single rider queue...by the way, I love how the queuing area here is a racetrack!
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There were only a few people ahead of me but I had to wait a while to get on as the ride is in rows of 4 and most people were in groups of 2 or 4. I had forgotten how scary this ride is! I screamed my head off! Thankfully it was over fairly quickly! A great thrill all the same.

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We went back to Ratatouille to see if it was working again and it was. The Fastpass queue looked fairly long so we tried Single Rider again. The queue was out as far as the door so I decided not to stay as I wanted to go back to the main park to watch the Frozen singalong again at 11:20. Mam stayed put but she didn't get on the ride for a while and missed the Stunt show that she had wanted to see at 11:15. She went to see Cinemagique instead, which she really enjoyed. Meanwhile, I made my way out of the Studios, with a bit more shopping on the way. I saw a cart the the top of Studio 1 selling apples and bananas. Nice to see some healthy snacks on offer for once!

The Caparral theatre was only half full, compared to the 3:50pm show the previous day which had been full. I got a good seat near the centre about 4 rows back. I had a drink and snack while waiting for the singalong to start. Two CMs were getting the crowd going. Again I thoroughly enjoyed this show. It was just as good the second time around.

When I came out of the Frozen area I spotted the queue for Merida, which was quite long, but I decided to join it as I still had over an hour until our Brunch reservation.

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I queued for half an hour, and it didn't seem like the queue was moving at all, apart from when people left it! A CM came along and closed off the end of the queue. I asked how long the wait would be and he said at least another hour and 15 minutes. I had to give up as I would have been late for Brunch. I did get a sneaky photo of Merida though.

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I walked over to Adventureland, finding a photo opp I'd never seen before! Selfie time!

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Then I spotted the Rhythms of the Jungle M&G....it was Rafiki and Timon, so I joined the queue there. It moved along quite well, but just as I was near the top of the queue, they went on a break. I waited a few more minutes but again I was going to be late for Brunch so I had to leave. I did get some photos though and Timon did a few poses for me!

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Just then, I spotted Genie and Abu walking past. I ran after them but by the time I got to them a large queue had formed. Another sneaky photo and I was happy enough.

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Great update - all the photos are fanastic and how lovely see the Genie and Abu at the meet and greet area!

The single rider line at Ratatoullie is my new best friend
 
There do seem to be lots of characters out and about Dee. Looking forward to pictures of Brunch. :thumbsup2
 
Brunch photos to follow this evening; We got some great ones!

Neither the Timon&Rafiki nor the Genie&Abu M&Gs were in the park programme, but I think they're there fairly regularly.
 
Day 2, Part 2 - Brunch!

I made my way to the DLH for Brunch with some forum friends; Rachael, her twin boys, Jill, her son and niece. The theme was Mary Poppins, and I was bounding as Mary, Jill as a penguin and the twins as Burt. Rachael also had a cool Mary Poppins t-shirt. All the characters were most impressed with our efforts! We saw Mary, Bert, two penguins, Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Chip and Dale.
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The food was fabulous as always. We had a glass of champagne (or orange juice) to start. I had two helpings of starters, skipped mains and had two helpings of dessert! And of course, lots of the lovely red haribo sweets, my favourite.

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Rachael and I were going to have another glass of champagne, until we found out it was €17.50 a glass! For that price we said we'd have a Glowtini instead. They had them on the drinks menu but the waitress said they didn't have the ice cubes so if we wanted those we would have to go out to the bar and get them ourselves! So we didn't bother. Check out our bill without cocktails or extra champagne! :-O (And that was with AP discount!)

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After brunch we went down to the DLH Lobby to meet some more forum friends. It's always nice to meet these 'virtual' people in person! We got some group photos.

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I couldn't stay long as I was meeting two people to sponsor for APs. They were lovely and we chatted away as we walked down to the AP office and queued there. The queue moved fairly quickly and we were done and dusted within about 30 minutes, just in time for Anna & Elsa's parade.
 
I'm back all !!!!
Missed me much ???
Dee didn't we have a jolly holiday mrs ???
Let's do it all again what do you think to a big Cali plan in a few years ??
 
Great update, wonderful pics of you all. How lovely to meet up with everyone :goodvibes

My eyes are watering at the bill :eek:
 

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