feralgeorge
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- May 31, 2005
Hi! We are back from our 3 week trip to France which included 3 days at DLP. It was a long trip but we did have a lot of fun. The one thing that I hadn't counted on was rain though! I guess it's because being from Australia where we are in a period of drought I'm used to it not raining, so I didn't pack anything appropriate and dh forgot to pack the rain cover for the pram. So we now own some of those very elegant yellow rain ponchos (at 7 euros a pop!) and a Mickey kid's umbrella (12 euros).
We arrived at CDG airport in the late afternoon and easily found the busstop for the VEA shuttle. It was a painless trip to our hotel (Movenpick) as luckily we got on the coach that stops at the selected hotels. For what we needed (place to sleep and a bath for the kids) the Movenpick was pretty good. The bunkbeds are a bit perilous for little kids though - ds found it hard to get down the ladder but as he was sleeping on the bottom it didn't matter too much. Both the hot and cold breakfast were really nice - if you go early (8am) there is hardly anyone there but even at peak times they replenish it fairly quickly. The food service in the bar however was pretty bad. We were with friends and decided to have lunch there one day and it took about an hour for them to get us two bowls of pasta and two caesar salads and even then they forgot one of the orders! Room service was good but slow too - plus it's not obvious that they actually have room service as you don't get an info folder for your room like in other hotels. We had to ask for a menu and the waiting time is around 45min to an hour which is a lot when you are jetlagged and have a complaining 6 year old! But all in all we liked the Movenpick. One thing that I didn't realise is how close the other selected hotels are - I also don't understand why the park shuttle skips the Movenpick and Holiday Inn after the Explorers and goes to the Kyriad first - perhaps it's something to do with the turning circle??
Getting to the parks wasn't too bad on the shuttle. Although I am surprised at how pushy and rude a lot of people are and how it is rare for anyone to offer you a seat even if you are have a baby and are trying to not fall over.
As we had already been to DLP once before it made it easier for us to know which rides to tackle first with the kids. We headed straight to Fantasyland and the maze which is ds' favourite thing. Then we went to It's a Small World (his second favourite) and the teacups. It was lunch time so we had pizza at the restaurant on the edge of Fantasyland and by sheer luck we picked a lull and were served straightaway. After lunch we went to Casey Jnr but it started raining as we were in line and by the time we got off it was quite wet and we went and bought some ponchos. We decided to head back to the hotel for a rest, narrowly missing a shuttle. At the hotel dh took ds to the pool downstairs which is good but not heated, or at least not heated enough to my liking. We headed back to the park in spite of the rain and it cleared just as we got off the shuttle. It was about 650pm as we entered Main St so we decided to stay and watch the parade at 7pm. We had a perfect spot and the kids loved it (although the song was pretty annoying after a while LOL). The bigger kids and parents went on Autopia while I stayed with the baby. Then we decided to split up and let one set of parents watch the kids so the other set could go on Space Mountain but (of course!) they had closed it to fix something so dh and I went on Star Tours. Then they were just about to open Space Mountain so we lined up with a crowd and were forced to run and got on one of the first rides. I love that ride! By this stage the kids were really tired so we decided to head home. We caught a bit of Fantillusion on the way out and I got pushed by some rude people on the shuttle bus.
The next day we decided to go to the Studios first. The kids got to see some of the characters and go on the Flying Carpets. Then we lined up for about 40 mins to go on the Tram Tour. That was a waste of time! One of the kids got frightened and the rest of it was pretty lame! After that we headed over to the Rock and Roller Coaster and it had a 5 min wait (even though the park was busy) so the adults took it in turns to go on. I quite liked it but it did seem short. We had lunch in Disney village and went into Disneyland. But my kids were tired and didn't last long plus it started to bucket down with rain so we went back to the hotel. We were planning on returning to Disneyland that night for dinner but my 6yo was so tired that he went to sleep and we decided to let him sleep and had room service and an early night.
On the last day my dh had to go to Paris for business so my friend and I took the kids to Val d'Europe and did some shopping for the morning. Once we got back to the hotel we decided to have lunch in the bar but it took forever so we didn't get back to Disneyland until nearly 530pm. We headed to Disney Village and went to the Rainforest Cafe for an early dinner - the hostesses at the door were really rude but our waiter was nice and the kids loved it. After dinner we did some souvenir shopping and then headed back to Disneyland. I took ds on Peter Pan and then dh went on the Pirates of the Carribean. By this time it was dark and they were closing off sections so we went to Adventureland and I went on Indiana Jones which now goes forwards. I don't know what was going on but it took forever for us to get going and I was on with a bunch of teenagers who were chanting something. After that we headed out and dh went on one last ride (Big Thunder Mountain) before we left just before the fireworks as both kids were asleep and we wanted to beat the rush to the shuttle.
So we had a good time in spite of the rain. We didn't get to do a lot of rides but that was mainly because we were with a group of friends and had small kids. Still it was pretty enjoyable
We arrived at CDG airport in the late afternoon and easily found the busstop for the VEA shuttle. It was a painless trip to our hotel (Movenpick) as luckily we got on the coach that stops at the selected hotels. For what we needed (place to sleep and a bath for the kids) the Movenpick was pretty good. The bunkbeds are a bit perilous for little kids though - ds found it hard to get down the ladder but as he was sleeping on the bottom it didn't matter too much. Both the hot and cold breakfast were really nice - if you go early (8am) there is hardly anyone there but even at peak times they replenish it fairly quickly. The food service in the bar however was pretty bad. We were with friends and decided to have lunch there one day and it took about an hour for them to get us two bowls of pasta and two caesar salads and even then they forgot one of the orders! Room service was good but slow too - plus it's not obvious that they actually have room service as you don't get an info folder for your room like in other hotels. We had to ask for a menu and the waiting time is around 45min to an hour which is a lot when you are jetlagged and have a complaining 6 year old! But all in all we liked the Movenpick. One thing that I didn't realise is how close the other selected hotels are - I also don't understand why the park shuttle skips the Movenpick and Holiday Inn after the Explorers and goes to the Kyriad first - perhaps it's something to do with the turning circle??
Getting to the parks wasn't too bad on the shuttle. Although I am surprised at how pushy and rude a lot of people are and how it is rare for anyone to offer you a seat even if you are have a baby and are trying to not fall over.
As we had already been to DLP once before it made it easier for us to know which rides to tackle first with the kids. We headed straight to Fantasyland and the maze which is ds' favourite thing. Then we went to It's a Small World (his second favourite) and the teacups. It was lunch time so we had pizza at the restaurant on the edge of Fantasyland and by sheer luck we picked a lull and were served straightaway. After lunch we went to Casey Jnr but it started raining as we were in line and by the time we got off it was quite wet and we went and bought some ponchos. We decided to head back to the hotel for a rest, narrowly missing a shuttle. At the hotel dh took ds to the pool downstairs which is good but not heated, or at least not heated enough to my liking. We headed back to the park in spite of the rain and it cleared just as we got off the shuttle. It was about 650pm as we entered Main St so we decided to stay and watch the parade at 7pm. We had a perfect spot and the kids loved it (although the song was pretty annoying after a while LOL). The bigger kids and parents went on Autopia while I stayed with the baby. Then we decided to split up and let one set of parents watch the kids so the other set could go on Space Mountain but (of course!) they had closed it to fix something so dh and I went on Star Tours. Then they were just about to open Space Mountain so we lined up with a crowd and were forced to run and got on one of the first rides. I love that ride! By this stage the kids were really tired so we decided to head home. We caught a bit of Fantillusion on the way out and I got pushed by some rude people on the shuttle bus.
The next day we decided to go to the Studios first. The kids got to see some of the characters and go on the Flying Carpets. Then we lined up for about 40 mins to go on the Tram Tour. That was a waste of time! One of the kids got frightened and the rest of it was pretty lame! After that we headed over to the Rock and Roller Coaster and it had a 5 min wait (even though the park was busy) so the adults took it in turns to go on. I quite liked it but it did seem short. We had lunch in Disney village and went into Disneyland. But my kids were tired and didn't last long plus it started to bucket down with rain so we went back to the hotel. We were planning on returning to Disneyland that night for dinner but my 6yo was so tired that he went to sleep and we decided to let him sleep and had room service and an early night.
On the last day my dh had to go to Paris for business so my friend and I took the kids to Val d'Europe and did some shopping for the morning. Once we got back to the hotel we decided to have lunch in the bar but it took forever so we didn't get back to Disneyland until nearly 530pm. We headed to Disney Village and went to the Rainforest Cafe for an early dinner - the hostesses at the door were really rude but our waiter was nice and the kids loved it. After dinner we did some souvenir shopping and then headed back to Disneyland. I took ds on Peter Pan and then dh went on the Pirates of the Carribean. By this time it was dark and they were closing off sections so we went to Adventureland and I went on Indiana Jones which now goes forwards. I don't know what was going on but it took forever for us to get going and I was on with a bunch of teenagers who were chanting something. After that we headed out and dh went on one last ride (Big Thunder Mountain) before we left just before the fireworks as both kids were asleep and we wanted to beat the rush to the shuttle.
So we had a good time in spite of the rain. We didn't get to do a lot of rides but that was mainly because we were with a group of friends and had small kids. Still it was pretty enjoyable
Isn't room service useful when you have small children!?! 
