Say Please in French - A June and Sept. 2018 DLP TR *Updated 4/22

[mommaof3boys]

I'm here! Can't wait to read along

 

[SarahDisney]

I'm here and excited to follow along ... as soon as I can track down a chocolate croissant (because, really, that's the only kind there should be).

 

[paradesintherain]

I'm here, wouldn't miss it!

Absolutely love Evie's little outfit in her intro picture! Can't wait to read more!

 

[amazingact21]

Following!

Always appreciated!

I've been reading all your reports and don't usually comment.... but oh how I've missed those littles of yours! Can't wait to hear all about your trip.

Thanks so much for reading! I really appreciate it; sometimes I feel like I drone on for so long people must get tired of my ramblings.
It's hard to believe that the my little guy that I took the park at 8 months old is about to start kindergarten. Feels like just yesterday I was writing about his first Disney trip.

Yay! Glad to have another TR of yours to read

Thanks for hopping aboard, Alexis.

Yeah another Alicia report! I love watching your family grow and enjoy reading about your adventures. Can't wait to hear all about it!

Thank you so much! I really appreciate that. Sometimes, it's strange to think I joined the DIS back when Alex and I were dating and now we've got two kids- one school age and one toddler!

 

[amazingact21]

Joining in. I got to visit DLP once in high school *cough cough* years ago, so I have only very vague memories.

I'm sure some things have changed since your trip....but a lot has probably stayed the same. DLP has some amazing qualities, but keeping up with the times wasn't one of their strong suites I don't believe.

So I binged through your last TR to retain some small amount of sanity while at work. Can't wait to see what this one brings! Your family is so adorable

Thank you for reading my last report and joining in for this one! DLP was definitely different than WDW but it still made for a memorable trip.

I love reading your trip reports. So glad there is another!

Thank you so much for following along on another of my reports!

Following along too!


Hmm...I wonder who could show up?

Bet you'll never guess who the first guest is, either.

 

[amazingact21]

Can't wait to follow along!

I'm excited to start reading your report, too!

Can't wait to hear all about it! <3

Hi Cindi! Thanks for following me over here.

Following along for sure!

Yay! Thanks for joining me for another report.

Peek a boo!

Whoo hoo, Liesa's here!

 

[amazingact21]

Wow I managed to make it on page 1. looking forward to this TR

Thanks for joining and following along, it's great to see you here.

Joining in. I really enjoyed your last tr (it was the first one of yours I had stumbled across and read) so I am really looking forward to this one.

Thank you for following me over to this report. I'd like to say I'm going to make this one more concise than my last one....but I'd probably be lying.

I'm here (and my sister, niece and nephew are on their way there literally as I type).
Going back to read now

Yay! So happy to have you along.
Hope your family is having a great time at DLP!

I'm in!

Thanks for hopping over and following along.

I'm here and excited to follow along ... as soon as I can track down a chocolate croissant (because, really, that's the only kind there should be).

Chocolate croissants are the only kind I eat.
Thanks for being here, Sarah, it's appreciated.

I'm here, wouldn't miss it!

Absolutely love Evie's little outfit in her intro picture! Can't wait to read more!

Thanks so much for following me over here!

A former DISer sells dresses and Evie is obsessed with them! She literally threw a tantrum earlier this week because I wouldn't let her pick a dress because we were going to a park and she needed something better suited for dirt and climbing. Oh! And then last weekend when I asked her to change out of one because we were going over to a friend's house where the playroom was upstairs and I was worried about her tripping on the dress's hem as she went up, her reply was: "I have to wear a dress. I'm going to see my boyfriend."
I'm in biggggg trouble.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Looking forward to this report!

 

[DLHNYC]

I don't comment much but love your TRs and your family! I went to DLP once, for a day during a trip to Paris, and loved it. Beautiful park! Fun to compare it to Disney World and see what's similar and different. I went in early June 2015 and it was unseasonably cold and the crowds were so low, I was able to walk on a bunch of rides. There are so few TRs for DLP so I'm excited to read yours!

 

[DLo]

Popping over from your WDW report. Looking forwards to reading about your adventures

 

[amazingact21]

Looking forward to this report!

Thanks for following me over here!

I don't comment much but love your TRs and your family! I went to DLP once, for a day during a trip to Paris, and loved it. Beautiful park! Fun to compare it to Disney World and see what's similar and different. I went in early June 2015 and it was unseasonably cold and the crowds were so low, I was able to walk on a bunch of rides. There are so few TRs for DLP so I'm excited to read yours!

Thank you for reading! I can ramble a bit so I'm always appreciative of people who stick with my reports.
There really are! I struggled with finding information the very first time we went because barely anybody writes about DLP! However, I do think more and more people are venturing over to the European park now that Disney owns all of it, and so I think more reports will start to pop up.

Popping over from your WDW report. Looking forwards to reading about your adventures

Whoo hoo! Thanks for following me over here; I'm looking forward to writing about our Paris experience.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Yay! So happy to have you along.
Hope your family is having a great time at DLP!

They had an absolute ball!! They have been to WDW once, about 13years ago, and they enjoyed it but I think they enjoyed how compact everything was at DLP. My sister raved about the nighttime fireworks and shows and says to say thanks to you for all the tips. Big thunder was indeed their longest wait but they did really well with everything

Love your intro - not have those kids grown. You’ve certainly got wee personalities on your hands

 

[amazingact21]

They had an absolute ball!! They have been to WDW once, about 13years ago, and they enjoyed it but I think they enjoyed how compact everything was at DLP. My sister raved about the nighttime fireworks and shows and says to say thanks to you for all the tips. Big thunder was indeed their longest wait but they did really well with everything

Love your intro - not have those kids grown. You’ve certainly got wee personalities on your hands

Yay! I'm happy to hear they had a great trip. It is really nice having everything right next to each other, jumping from park to park is a breeze.

 

[cinderaimee]

Following along!

 

[amazingact21]

**Somehow, I thought it would be a wise idea to begin this Trip Report right before one of the busiest weeks of the year. Landon had a meet the teacher event last Friday, then a home visit this morning; still blows my mind that the little man I carried around the Magic Kingdom starts kindergarten next week! I've also had meeting after meeting with various sports coaches and club leaders, which has caused my normal schedule to be thrown out of whack a bit.
Add in various local festivals, birthdays, anniversaries, and the final leg of my half marathon training and I haven't had much time to hang out on the DIS. Hopefully, things will settle back down after Labor Day and I won't take as long between updates!**



Wednesday, June 13th, 2018 Part 1:

As most of our vacations begin, the alarm clock went off at an ungodly-early hour in order to rouse everyone into wakefulness. In the past, waking up on arrival day meant being a few minutes away from getting on the road and officially beginning our trip. Unfortunately, this time around Alex and I had several necessities to take care of before hopping on the autobahn.

The first of those being a short run around my village to kick-start my morning. I’m running the Disneyland Paris Half Marathon in September, so I had to make sure I got a training run in before leaving because I had a pretty good suspicion I wouldn’t run any while in Paris.

Spoiler Alert: I didn’t.

Impatience overtook commitment that morning, and I only knocked out two miles before returning home to shower and dress the kids. Once those two important little necessities were taken care of, Alex and I were ready to throw our suitcases in the car and leave the house.

We had to drop our dog off at the kennel as well as Alex’s car at the auto shop to get his winter tires switched to his summer ones.

Yes, yes, yes….we were only getting around to doing that in June. My car is the main family car, though, and you’ll be relieved to hear those were taken care of back in April. That has to take a little bit of the judgement off us, right? Just a tiny bit? Anyways, the car care center is attached to a gas station, so we decided to let Alex leave a few minutes earlier and drop our pup off, then me and the kids would meet him at the station so I could top off the tank and he could hand his keys over.

It worked out perfectly, and in no time at all we were….

Still not ready to leave.



We’re club members on our base and once a month they offer a free breakfast, and Alex suggested eating there in order to prevent an extra stop along the way.

So next up was a hearty breakfast full of eggs, French toast, fresh fruit, and parfaits:



All right, now that our bellies were full, surely it was time to start driving, right?

Wrong.


When we loaded into the car, Alex realized he’d forgotten the energy drink he was going to bring at the house. The autobahn entrance is only about two minutes away from where we live, so I told him to just go back and grab it really quick. It was a short detour, and finally – FINALLY – we were driving to Disneyland Paris.





It was about 8:30 in the morning when we started our journey and we drove without stopping until about 12:30. Then we stopped for a break and an opportunity to stretch our legs. The kids also ate a lunch of Uncrustables and animal crackers:




Back to driving: we didn’t make any more stops and were entering Disney property around 1:30. Alex and I were pretty excited as we drove past the Newport Bay entrance, the Sequoia Lodge turn off, and the Hotel New York area. We were one of the lucky folks who got to keep going until we reached the final resort in that loop.

The one and only Disneyland Hotel.



My husband and I made the decision to go to Disneyland Paris back when he was still deployed. We knew we wanted to visit the Paris parks again, and a great deal had been released that offered two nights free with a two night stay. When I approached Alex about the possibility, we both agreed that we had to try out the Disneyland Hotel. It would be a once in a lifetime splurge that would also coincide as a post-deployment gift for the family. We had been looking forward to staying at this resort almost as much as we were excited to visit the parks, and therefore pulling up to the lobby and officially beginning our stay was cause for celebration.

We were here!

Our bags were dropped off with bell hop, we parked our car, and then shuffled the kids through the security checkpoint at the entrance. No matter how many times we’ve been through airports and park bag checks, my kids still look utterly lost when they get to those metal detectors.

“What do we do?! Turn around, that seems right. Go back the opposite way? Run through and not wait for one of my parents? Sounds good.”


Alex and I walked over to the check in desk and got in line. The wait was substantial; I want to say it was close to twenty minutes before a Cast Member became available to us. At one point, though, a nice CM walked up and started talking to the kids. He commented on Landon’s Cars shirt and called Evie “princess” which both kids loved. He did a great job distracting the kids for a short while, which I appreciated.

Eventually, we were able to check in and heard the always good news that our room was ready. (Hooray!) The Cast Member who worked with us also gave us our complimentary Fastpass tickets for our stay.


Hold up…

What?

I had no idea what she was talking about.

“You said Fastpasses?”

“Yes, each member of your party with a ticket gets one Fastpass to use in the parks per day. You can’t use them between 1 and 4, and if you don’t use them on a specific day you can bring them here and we’ll issue you new ones.”

Excuse me while I pick my jaw up off the floor.

After we’d gathered our information packet and headed to our room (with a quick stop at bell services to drop off our room number ticket) Alex turned to me and went, “You didn’t know about that?!”

“Nope.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be the big Disney planner in the family? How’d you miss that detail?”

It sure beat me. You would think that would have been something I would have stumbled across in my research, but somehow it escaped me. Instead it ended up being one heck of a surprise.



Our room was located on the left side of the resort, closer to the exit of the park then the parking lot. We had only stayed at the Sequoia Lodge prior to this and so our expectations of the room were kind of low. Not that Sequoia is bad – that’s where we’re staying for the races – it just wasn’t as involved as we expected.


However, our room at the Disneyland Hotel was a pleasant surprise. It was much bigger than Sequoia’s, had more Disney details, and was very comfortable. Immediately, I sent Alex on a task to take as many pictures of the room as possible.


He began by the door and worked his way in, which meant the first shot was of the bathroom:
f1 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr

A double sink! (And I was doing my traditional clean down of the tub.)


Then there was the room itself:
f2 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr


A close up of the headboards:
f3 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr


And the dresser, which had the television and coffee pot behind the doors:
f4 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr

Landon was thrilled to see Peter Pan on the front.


Some wall décor:
f5 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr


And the view from our window:
f6 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr



We settled ourselves into the room, unpacking the suitcase when it arrived, and looking at our Fastpasses again:
f7 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr


During that time, I had sent a message to a fellow DISer that was also at Disneyland Paris at the time but hadn’t heard back from her yet. I was going to wait and see which park she was in before leaving the room, but the kids started to get antsy sitting around so Alex and I decided to head down to the lobby.


Outside of our room there was a cozy little reading area:
f8 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr

Ignoring the outdated furniture, it was a peaceful corner that added to the resort’s charm.




In order to get from our room (which happened to be on the “main floor”) we had to cross the bridge and walk past the merchandise shop and Innventions restaurant. It was a very pleasant walk and had little Disney gems sprinkled throughout. Like these clocks:




The sign is hard to read in the picture above, but it explained that the clock was set to Disneyland in CA’s time and next to it was some concept art of the park. I managed to find clocks for Walt Disney World in Florida, Epcot, and Tokyo Disney, and I’m sure if I hunted for more I could have found them.



Down in the lobby, Alex and I stopped by Concierge to see if there were any restaurants that had availability. I knew we could have booked a table sixty days in advance, but I was still on the fence about eating at any of the restaurants and decided to leave it up to chance. If there were any openings with a decent time, we’d take it. Otherwise, we’d make due with quick service locations.

As luck would have it, there was an Inventions dinner for six o’clock on Friday.

Sweet!

We booked it and turned around to get a good look at the lobby.

The chandelier was breathtaking:



And the Evil Queen in both forms were a nice touch:
f9 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr


Even the hotel’s advertising placement was done in a classy manner:
f10 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr

That’s the most sophisticated Incredibles poster I’ve ever seen.


I was still waiting to hear back from the DISer, so we all walked outside to get our first good look at the park entrance on this trip.



I couldn’t believe we were actually staying at this resort!


I snapped a quick selfie of Alex and myself:



Then a kind stranger walked up and asked if we wanted a picture with the kids.



The first Evie mean mug of the trip! A Disney vacation does not really and truly begin until Evie’s glared at the camera!



By this point, it had clicked in Landon’s brain where we were and he started asking to go on a particular ride. He was very insistent on it, and I had no good reason to tell him no. I crossed my fingers that the other DISer was in that park and headed off to take Landon on his first ride of the trip.



Up Next…Nothing Says Welcome to our Family Like Spilled Milk

 

[amazingact21]

Following along!

Thanks for joining!

 

[Karin1984]

I like your writing style! The FP are such a nice gift and I can't wait to use them when we are in Sequioa Lodge CL in September during the half marathon weekend

I love the idea of the mirror attached to Evie's seat, I had never seen it before, but it seems so obvious, you can still see and communicate with your child, while the reverse seat is a safer way to transport a mini-human.

Keep writing, I love American views on DLP!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I can't wait to see and hear about this park! The hotel looks really nice. And the location is amazing!

I know who the certain dis-er is... And I hope he/she shows up soon!

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

I’m running the Disneyland Paris Half Marathon in September, so I had to make sure I got a training run in before leaving because I had a pretty good suspicion I wouldn’t run any while in Paris.

Running on vacation is hard, doubly so with kids! I end up spending the whole run feeling like I'm taking away from the time we should be having as a family.

You would think that would have been something I would have stumbled across in my research, but somehow it escaped me. Instead it ended up being one heck of a surprise.

What an awesome surprise!

 

[amazingact21]

I like your writing style! The FP are such a nice gift and I can't wait to use them when we are in Sequioa Lodge CL in September during the half marathon weekend

I love the idea of the mirror attached to Evie's seat, I had never seen it before but it seems so obvious, you can still see and communicate with your child, while the reverse seat is a safer way to transport a mini-human.

Keep writing, I love American views on DLP!

Thank you!
I believe I've seen your posts around the DLP Half Marathon thread. Are you excited for the race? I'm at the point where I'm tired of training and am just ready for it to be race day! We're staying at Sequioa Lodge, as well, so perhaps I'll see you around at some point! (Most likely, you'll hear my kids singing in the lobby or arguing over who gets to push the elevator button.)

I love that mirror attachment. It's been so handy to have with both kids. And it's such a simple solution to having them rear facing, definitely something I'd recommend to all new moms.

I can't wait to see and hear about this park! The hotel looks really nice. And the location is amazing!

I know who the certain dis-er is... And I hope he/she shows up soon!

I couldn't believe how close we were to the park! It was such a treat, being less then a minute's walk from the entrance. I think if anybody is going to make the trip from the states to the Paris parks, they need to stay at the DL Hotel and get this experience.

Running on vacation is hard, doubly so with kids! I end up spending the whole run feeling like I'm taking away from the time we should be having as a family.


What an awesome surprise!

Exactly! And when it comes to Disney, I tend to wear myself out in the parks that I'm too tired to go log in extra miles at the beginning/end of any day. On vacation, I usually pick sleep and rest over exercise. And fortunately for me, it was still very early in my training that I didn't mess myself up by missing a few days.