This is Hallowe'en.... Trip Report FINALLY COMPLETE!

dhidra

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
PTR here
Blog here


The Cast

Me: aged 32, 8th trip to DLP
DS1: J, aged 7, 4th trip
DS2: N, aged 4, 3rd trip
My two friends, F & A, first trip!
Joined later by friends S & K and their DD, M, aged almost 6.

Where
Hotel Cheyenne

When
Fri 30th Oct - Tues 3rd Nov

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I was up very late packing (always the way), but our flight wasn't until midday so thankfully we didn't have a very early start. We collected F and then met A at the airport. It was all quite uneventful but the kids were very excited and hyper! I had packed goody bags full of treats, sticker books etc. for the plane but as usual they didn't even get through half of the stuff! I'll never learn!

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We were collected by Ezyshuttle (great service as always) and it wasn't long before we arrived at Hotel Cheyenne. No queue for check-in and we got our rooms straight away. We were in Wyatt Earp, right beside reception, and F&A had interconnecting rooms in Doc Holiday, not too far away. I was quite impressed with the theming of the hotel and the rooms. The boys loved being in the 'Wild Wild West'.

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We walked to the parks, through Disney Village, which was bubbling with atmosphere. Lots of nice photo opportunities along the way.

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It was quite warm so I checked in a bag without coats at Baggage Storage. The queue was very slow moving and I was quite impatient as I really wanted to get into the park! Finally, we made it into Magical Main Street.

As we came in, I realized that the parade was about to start. I had forgotten about this when making plans for our first evening! F&A stayed at Town Square to watch it while myself and the boys battled our way through the crowds to get to the AP Office so we could get J's Priority Pass. It was so busy, it was quite difficult, but eventually we made it through! We had to go around the castle and through Fantasyland, where we caught our first glimpse of Maleficent's Brambles.

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The AP office was very busy but there was a separate queue for the Easy Access and Priority Passes so it didn't take too long.

The boys spotted the Royal Castle Stage all done up with brambles and pumpkins (it really looked great!) and decided to park their bums at the front for the next Villains Show.

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It was half an hour away but they had a snack while sitting down and didn't seem to mind waiting. There were a lot of people at the show; I had expected the parks to be busy but I was a bit taken aback by the crowds.
The show was short but good. The Villains were very in character.

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After the show, they came down to meet&greet the crowd. There were no queues and the villains just picked people out of the crowd at random. Dr Facilier was near us and we really wanted to meet him, but after 15 minutes of standing patiently I was getting anxious that after waiting so long we wouldn't meet any villain. Thankfully he picked out the boys and they got autographs and a photo. Phew! I wasn't keen to go through that again.

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We were hungry by now so we made our way to Frontierland to the Lucky Nugget Saloon.

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I had never been there before. We only waited for about 5 minutes before ordering and being seated. The food was tasty, I had ribs and twisty fries, and I thought it was good value for what we got.

Next up was Big Thunder Mountain. We had never been on it in the dark before and I have to say t was a brilliant experience! N had been a bit scared the last time he went on it, but he loved it this time! (You can't see his face in the photo though)

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We made our way out of the park to meet some friends for drinks in Billy Bob's. Unfortunately I couldn't find them there! And I had no coverage on my phone and couldn't get onto the Village wifi so I couldn't contact them. We still had our Glowtinis (F&A were keen to try them for the first time) and I was delighted to see they only cost €11.49 there! (They're €18 in the DLH). The boys had milkshakes in cocktail shakers, which were overly sweet so they didn't finish them.

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True to form, as soon as we decided to leave, I found the gang. Typical! I said a quick hello but we headed back to the hotel as we wanted to be up for EMH the next morning. It was our only chance to do it as EMH was going to be in the Studios on the other days.
 


I had set my alarm for early so we could be at breakfast at 7am, but it didn't go off and I only woke at 6:47! I had it set for 'weekdays only'. Doh! Miraculously, we still made it to breakfast for 7:05am where F&A were waiting for us. (Thankfully, I had the clothes laid out and backpack ready from the night before so that helped a lot!)

We got the bus from outside the hotel and by 7:50am we were waiting at the gates of the Disneyland park. There were a lot of other people waiting too!

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The Hallowe'en decorations looked great.

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Mickey & Minnie were doing a Meet & Greet at Town Square so we met them, got their autographs (and some kisses) and some nice photos on my Photopass+

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Our first ride today was the Carousel, where we managed to bag a carriage (my first time!). We followed that with Peter Pan, Dumbo, the Tea Cups, and Alice's Curious Labyrinth (where we didn't get lost, yay!).

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We moved on to Discoveryland for Buzz's Laser Blast and Star Tours.

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It was now time to make our way to Frontierland to meet our favourite Skeleton, Jack Skellington. We joined the disability queue and were given a time to return later. We decided to go grab a cup of tea and a snack while waiting. It was a good few hours since breakfast! The closest place that was open was the Cable Car Bake Shop on Main St. The queue was ridiculously long and very slow moving; there was only one person working there. I had a quick scoot around Main St to see if there was anywhere else open but there was only one other and it had a long queue aswell. Anyway I queued up while the others say down to wait. By the time I got the drinks and snacks we had to go, so we brought them with us.
It was our first time using the Priority Pass for a Meet & Greet so we weren't sure what we had to do. There was a couple ahead of us do we sat down to wait. They had our turn but we were left waiting. After a while I approached the CM who said we were too late for our slot! I said we were on time but didn't realize we had to show our ticket straight away! Sometimes CMs aren't patient when it's your first time doing something. :-/
Anyway he let us meet Jack and he was fantastic. So much fun. He loved all our little NBC things - the boys had t-shirts and autograph books, I had ears and nail art. He LOVED the nail art and insisted the CM took a photo of it! We had fun doing our scary Halloween poses.

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Right beside Jack's Cemetery, there was a CM carving pumpkins. His work was amazing, and he did it so fast!

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Next up was Phantom Manor, well it was Halloween after all! Then another trip on Big Thunder Mountain. We had to give it a go in daylight too. Plus it was due to close for over a year so we needed to pack in as many rides as we could. In the photo you can see that scary faces were becoming a bit of a theme for the trip!


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It was coming close to the time for the Halloween Cavalcade so we decided to try get a good spot. We got a spot and a bench at the gates beside Small World. Thankfully it wasn't busy there. F&A stayed with the boys while I queued at Fantasia Gelati for a drink. I had to wait 25minutes. There was only one person serving. I can't understand why there was so few CMs working on a Saturday during school holidays! I made it back to the others just in time. The Cavalcade was really enjoyable. Great music, costumes, colour, energy and atmosphere.

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After the cavalcade we walked back towards Main St and saw that the Villains Show was due to start. We decided to give it another go from a different spot. We watched it from the right hand side this time and the Tremaines came over after the show. They were very funny to watch. We got to meet Lady Tremaine, who said that she would consider my boys as candidates for her daughters, subject to their approval! :-D

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We went into Fantasyland then to see if we could meet Maleficent. I asked the CM if there was a facility for the disability pass but there wasn't. The queue went all the way around the brambles and looked quite long so we gave it a miss. J was a bit disappointed as he really wanted to meet her but he wouldn't have been able for the queue. We got a few photos of her anyway.

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Seeing as they were beside us, we had a go on Snow White and Pinnochio. It was getting close to our reservation at Blue Lagoon so we made our way to Adventureland. We had enough time to go on the Pirates of the Caribbean before our meal.

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Our meal at Blue Lagoon was really good. I had the 'Antilles Extravaganza' for starters, which was all very nice apart from the Caribbean sausage, and Surf n'Turf for mains, which was fabulous, and sorbets for dessert, which went down very nicely.

It was around 5pm by now so we went back to the hotel for a rest before the Halloween Soiree. Back at the room, we found that we had been left some Pixie Dust! The boys got Thumper and Eeyore soft pencil cases, bottles of water and chocolate coins, and there was a pack with tea, coffee and biscuits. No kettle though, which I found very funny!

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The boys fell asleep and I had a lot of trouble waking them! They were not impressed! I got them ready (lots of layers under their costumes) and we met F&A before heading back to the parks for the Soiree.
 
Love your meet with Jack - brilliant photos. Great to get some surprise pixie dust too. Looking forward to seeing your soiree photos. :goodvibes
 


Catching up with your trip - I've been waiting until I had time to sit and enjoy it!

Love all your photos and your boys are so cute :love:

I agree with your observations on staff at the CS - a bit annoying when all you want is a quick drink/snack.

Photos with Jack are fantastic - we didn't meet him this time but have a few times before and he always took a lot of time to chat to everyone :thumbsup2

Thanks for posting - look forward to more popcorn::
 
Thanks! Next installment coming tomorrow. Work has gotten in the way this week. :-(
 
Apologies for the delay! I promise the rest of the updates won't be so long in coming!

Day 2 Part 2 - The Halloween Soiree


We dressed as Batman, Robin and the Riddler.

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We walked through the Village and couldn’t believe how packed it was. Every restaurant had a queue out the door and the crowds seemed to be walking towards us and it was quite difficult to get through. About half way up, I realized I had forgotten my lanyard with the APs and Photopass so had to (literally) run back to get it! The others waited for me in the Lego Shop and when I got to them we realized that J (Batman) was missing his cape! Not a good start to the night! Luckily we found it behind the counter at the Lego Store.
We had planned to meet some friends (same ones as the previous night) for a photo and Trick or Treat for the kids outside Walts on Main St. It took us a while to get there, between the crowds, several ticket checks and traffic/walking restrictions around Main St and we barely made it on time! Everyone had brilliant costumes and the kids loved all the treats that they got. We saw a lot of fantastic costumes that night, it was great to see the efforts that everyone went to.

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The Soiree had kicked off by now so we headed off into the park to see what was happening. J had spotted the ‘Villain’s Pavillion’ sign earlier in the day and wanted to go in so we went there.





We joined the disability queue, which was very very long! It didn’t seem to move much either, so after half an hour we abandoned it to see if we could find another Meet & Greet. We tried Peter Pan and Wendy but all the disability slots were gone. We tried Aladdin too but it was the same story there. We were starting to feel very disappointed. Rhythms of the Jungle was close by so we tried there and got lucky. We got a slot for 10:15pm.
Minnie’s Pirate Academy was due to start then so we went to watch that. It was great fun, very interactive, and we enjoyed it. The boys loved doing the Pirate ‘moves’.

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When that was over, we went to Discoveryland to the Disco Dance Party and hopefully catch a glimpse of Stitch being a DJ. We were in luck!

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I tried to see if we could get a slot to meet the Star Wars characters but again, nothing left. The queue looked very long!
It was time for our slot for Rhythms of the Jungle but what I hadn’t realized was that the Halloween Cavalcade was on at the same time! The crowds around Central Plaza were shocking. I never saw anything like it. It was very stressful. We couldn’t get through so we had no choice but to stay and watch it instead. Luckily, myself and the boys managed to get into the disabled viewing area but had to separate from F&A. We couldn’t get our phones working afterwards and actually didn’t see each other again that night. They went back to the hotel soon afterwards.

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(I added in the second photo there to give an idea of the crowds!)



After the Cavalcade, we went to the M&G to see if they could fit us in, even though we had missed our time slot. A very lovely CM called Sarah let us meet Baloo and King Louis. J had gotten a big overwhelmed at this stage and refused to meet them, which was a pity as he loved meeting characters and had never met these before. The CM minded him while N & I got our photo taken with them. (With all the stress I never got a chance to ask for autographs)

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It was almost time for Dreams, so we went back to the disabled viewing area and watched it there. Again, it was very busy, so we were glad of the extra little bit of space in the section. The boys were tired so we left about 5 minutes before the end, which suited anyway as it meant it would be a bit easier to get out.
All in all, we didn’t get much from the Soiree. It was extremely busy. We paid extra but the only ‘different’ thing that we saw was Minnie’s Pirate Academy. I’m sorry to say that we wouldn’t do it again.


The Village was still really crowded! Took us a while to get back to the Hotel. We had a little look around the Hotel shop, and the boys got new lanyards and pins. They had gotten a bit of a second wind so we went into the bar to have a drink. They had the kids cocktail cups and lights there but not the Tinkerbell ones the boys were looking for. :-(

It was after 12 when I got the boys to bed, I thought they did very well to last so long! We weren’t going to do EMH the next morning, and we planned to take it easy.
 
Day 3 - Sunday 1st November



No Extra Magic Hours for us this morning while we all had a lie-in. I woke at around 8 and the boys about an hour later. We took our time getting ready and we met F&A for breakfast. They surprised me with a Merida Animator Doll that I have been coveting for a long time! She's so cool, I just love her. She's never coming out of the box!



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We were going to get the bus to the parks but there was a lot of people waiting so we walked instead. It was a nice day so we got some photos at the iconic spot in front of the Mickey flowers at the entrance. I was Disneybounding as Minnie today and the boys wore their Peter Pan and Pirate Costumes.





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The first thing on our agenda was to get a time slot to meet Stitch in his Halloween costume. There were a lot of people queuing. We had to wait a while but we got a slot no problem. I was able to pass the time chatting to a FB friend the chairs outside Casey's were close by which was handy. It was a lovely warm day. I met another FB friend there too and we had a Halloween nail selfie!



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I had been getting text messages from my friend S who was on her way to the park and I was very excited to surprise the boys with the arrival of their friend, her daughter M. I texted our location on Main St. and we waited for them to come. The kids were all delighted to see each other, it was lovely. I had plans but they parked their bums down on the kerb to wait for the Halloween Cavalcade. they got lovely hugs from Pooh and Piglet. M's face was priceless. Myself and S got all emotional! A magical start to the day.





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We didn't have much time before our slot with Stitch so we had a quick look around Sleeping Beauty's story in the Castle and the lovely views of Fantasyland.



We went to meet Stitch and got some more great photos on the Photopass. Lots of fun doing Halloween poses too. I was glad we got to meet him as he is a firm favourite in our house.



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Next up was Big Thunder Mountain; our last go on it before the closure. Brilliant as always, and thankfully M loved her first go on it as much as the rest of us.


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This was a 6th birthday trip for M so our next stop was City Hall for Birthday Sticker. A lovely CM there brought her into a room for her phonecall from Mickey, and she gave all the kids some name badges too.



It was nearly time for our reservation at Inventions for the Halloween Sunday Brunch. Ah, the Disneyland Hotel, such a fabulous place! I just love walking in there and taking in the smell. We went up to Cafe Fantasia and asked about the kids cocktails. They didn't have them :-/
We were a little early for our reservation but they let us in anyway. Sitting at the table next to us was another FB friend :-). Se gave us some Fastpasses she had left over as they were going home after Brunch. Most of the others I thought we might see were seated down in California Grill! Lots of people at Brunch today!



The food, as always, was spectacular. There were some Halloween themed dishes which was a nice touch. I had my usual selection of seafood and re most amazing beetroot crisps with fresh guacamole. For mains they had some cute mini burgers and hotdogs which were surprisingly tasty. And the desserts were gorgeous as always, although they had stopped replenishing some of them by the time I got to them. There were still plenty of the red haribo sweets so I was happy. ;-)


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Character-wise we met characters in their Halloween costumes. Mickey, Minnie (who was most impressed with my disneybound Minnie outfit!), Goofy, Pluto, Dale, Hook, Scrooge and Duffy. There were a few others that we didn't see but we were happy enough.




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It was very very warm in Inventions (I always find this) and the boys were a bit overdressed and not feeling great. We decided to have a drink and a rest in the Lounge outside the restaurant while I stripped the boys of some of their layers! I managed to catch up with a few more friends as they came out of Inventions which was great. S, K & M went back to their Hotel (New York) to get their room key and have a nap before coming back later for Dreams!



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After our little rest (and a Glowtini) in the lounge, we headed for the Studios.



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The first stop was Ratatouille but it was a bit too busy so we decided to try again later. We went over to Stitch Live! instead. We love this and it was slightly marred by some disruptive guests, but all was well once again when little N got picked out by Stitch for his brilliant Monkey face. <3

Back over to Toy Story Playland for a go on Slinky Dog. Ratatouille was looking a bit quieter so we finally had a ride on that. Brilliant as always and I noticed things I hadn't before. :-)

S, K & M had woken from their nap and they met us at Crush's Coaster. It was due to close the next day for refurbishment. We went on via the exit using the Priority Pass. (M was too scared so she went on Flying Carpets with her Dad instead. It had no queue). A couple came in after us, with what looked like a personal guide. There were a few families in front of us and we had quite a wait. The couple behind got very inpatient and the CM with them approached the CM at the loading area and got them straight on! Money talks!!!

Anyway we went on Crush and it was little N's first time. He loved it! He is turning into a little thrill-seeker!

It was almost 7pm and the Studios were closing so we went back to the Disneyland Park. S, K & A headed for Space Mountain with the Fastpasses we got earlier while F & I brought the kids to Fantasyland. They chose Peter Pan. When we came out of that, they were starting to close Fantasyland for Dreams, so we had to go the long way around by Small World to go back to Central Plaza. On our way, we met Drizella Tremaine (Ugly Sister) and she gave us all some sweets. We had a bit of a chat (I asked her which sister was prettier and she said that was a silly question!) but then she very politely said she had to go but would be out at Town. Square at 8:05! What a stroke of luck!

We were passing by the Royal Castle Stage and saw that the Villains show was just over and some of the Villains were doing the M&Gs. Gaston was nearby and didn't have many people around him so we chanced our arm and luckily got to meet him! He's a great character, so much fun!


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We met up with the others again and headed up towards Town Square to wait for the Tremaines. I was starting to doubt myself but luckily out came lots of Villains a few minutes later! Jafar, Cruella, the Tremaines and I can't remember who else. We went straight for the Tremaines and there was just one group in front of us. They were very slow with their photos etc. and the sisters were so impatient, it was very funny! They shouted at everyone who tried to get in at the sides and sent them to the back of the queue too. They didn't need any CM helpers!!! Someone was Skyping on their phone and of course the three ladies had to investigate. They couldn't figure out what was going on and were saying 'Are they IN there?'


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M was next and she told them it was her birthday. Lady Tremaine conducted the sisters singing 'Happy Birthday', which was hilarious as they were so out of tune! Anastasia made fun of the Irish accent too.
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My two boys were next and they got quizzed on their eligibility as bachelors - did they have a castle? horses? They loved J's Villains shoes but he wasn't impressed with them when the said they didn't care about Cinderella.


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I got in for a photo too and Drizella spotted my Alice in Wonderland shoes and picked my leg up to have a better look at them. She started called people over to see them! Meanwhile, I was losing my balance and had to hold on to Lady Tremaine so I wouldn't fall!!




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F went next and she had a bit of an altercation with Drizella, who refused to get in a photo with her!

Sorry for going on about it but it really was our best character meet. The Tremaines are my new favourites!

We had time for one more ride before watching Dreams! so we went on Buzz's Laser Blast. Unfortunately we only got one of the four photos. :-/


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We got a spot for watching Dreams! to the left of the Royal Castle Stage. It wasn't a straight-on view but we could see most things, including the Castle door, and the kids had a good view. We munched on some trick or treat goodies while waiting. Dreams! was fabulous. We sang and danced along to the whole thing and I really enjoyed it a lot more than I had the previous night at the Soirée. I realized that I was so much more relaxed today.

We made our way out of the park, stopping on the way to get a replacement buggy (the one we had disappeared earlier that day!). The main reason I got the buggy was for walking to/from the hotel and it was a Godsend. Both boys fit in it, one on the others knee!

We were all getting peckish by now. S&K had full board vouchers so they went to La Grange at Billy Bob's (which they really liked - I must try it sometime), while the rest of us went to Cafe Fantasia. Earlier on, we had left behind an autograph book and a pair of Minnie Mouse ears. We got the autograph book back but not the ears. The book was more important - the ears can be replaced but that can't!

We had a lovely relaxing hour in CF. I had wine and cheese, which hit the spot nicely, and the boys had hot chocolate and crepes. I love coming here for a drink and snack, it's such a peaceful place!

A quick stop in the Disneyland Hotel Boutique, where I picked up the wonderful Cogsworth.

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I had been debating whether to buy him or not but I'm so glad I did.



Off to bed then, after a really magical day, ready for EMH the following morning.
 
Finally caught up!!! Fab TR - can't wait for the next installment!

How much was Cogsworth if you don't mind me asking??

C x
 
Day 4 – Monday 2nd November

To save a bit of time this morning, the boys and I skipped breakfast. We just had some breakfast bars I had brought from home. F&A checked out, and we met them at the bus stop at 7:40am. We made it to the Studios before 8. It was quite foggy and very, very cold! I couldn’t believe the difference from yesterday. The first character we saw inside was Donald, who we had missed at the Brunch yesterday, so we waited to meet him and got some nice photos. I was Disneybounding as Princess Anna from Frozen today, and my ears were from Queen Ursula.



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I had never been in the Studios for Extra Magic Hours before and was very excited about it, but it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. Crush’s Coaster was closed for refurbishment. Flying Carpets were closed. Ratatouille and Cars both had technical issues. We went back to these a few times before we got to go on them. There were no shows on until after 11am.

A was very keen to go on Tower of Terror. F wasn’t, so she brought N to do a bit of shopping instead. It was a walk-on. I was quite nervous, I don’t know why! Maybe because the last time I brought J on it, a year and a half ago, he HATED it. But once it started, both he and I really enjoyed it. It was strange when the doors opened and we couldn’t see anything because of the fog! We didn’t get a photo, I’m not sure why, maybe because of the fog.

A was enjoying the thrill rides, so she went on RC Racer using the single rider queue while F, the boys and I went on Slinky Dog. We tried the Cars ride again and luckily it was now up and running.

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Things were looking up, as now Ratatouille was working again too. As soon as it opened, the queue time showed as 120 mins! And this was before 10am! :-O If J didn’t have the disability pass, I would have had 2 very disappointed kids! It was just as enjoyable as I remembered it to be. So clever, great for all the family.


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A wanted to try Rock n Roller Coaster, and so did my brave boy J! I wasn’t sure if he was tall enough but he was, and he loved it! Little daredevil!


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I was keen to book a slot for J to do the Jedi Training Academy so we left the Studios and went over to the Disneyland Park. It was still very cold out but the fog was lifting. Thankfully, I was able to pick a time that suited us for the Academy, and I picked 5pm. We had a few things on our agenda before that!

We got some tea and hot chocolate in Cable Car Bake Shop to warm us up. I actually put extra layers of clothes on N as he was freezing in his Darth Vader costume! I was glad I had brought a change of clothes for him for our lunch with the Princesses.

Merida was due to do a Meet & Greet in Frontierland so we made our way over there. S, K & M met us there. They had had a slow morning and were just getting to the parks. There was no one at the M&G! I checked the park programme and silly me had the wrong time! There was a M&G scheduled for Alice & friends in Fantasyland so we went there instead. We waited for a while but no one showed up. The kids were kept entertained for a while by the mouse popping out of the big teapot, but we didn’t want to miss Merida so we went back to Frontierland. We were given a time slot to come back at 12:15 (or so we thought! more on that later).


At this point it was time for F&A to go and get some lunch before being collected to go to the airport. They went to Annette’s to use their last meal vouchers and I think they enjoyed it.

The rest of us decided to go to the Swiss Family Treehouse. I love this attraction. The kids flew through it though, I prefer to take it at a more leisurely pace!


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Back to meet Merida, where the CM told us that our slot was actually 12:50 and not 12:15!!! That was going to clash with our lunch reservation! But luckily there was another lovely lady there who had a slot that she wasn’t using and gave it to us. So nice of her. Merida was lovely too. She gave M lots of birthday attention, asking for a photo with just her and letting her hold her bow.


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We had time for one ride before lunch and we went on the carousel as it was right beside Auberge De Cendrillion. We managed to get a carriage again! The kids went on horses beside us.


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Day 4 continued....

Time for lunch with the Princesses at Auberge De Cendrillion! The boys had their Knight costumes on and M changed into her princess dress. I was really excited to see her reaction to meeting the princesses.

We met Suzy and Perla, who were great fun. Lots of lovely interaction, tickles and joking around.


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We also met Cinderella, Aurora, Snow White and her Prince. Cinderella and Aurora gave the kids a lot of time, chatting to them about their trip and all things princess-related!


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The food was OK. The kids actually ate most of theirs which was great, but the adult starters and mains weren’t fantastic. It was better on my two previous visits. The Cinderella’s slipper dessert was lovely though (as was the kids’ dessert).


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We asked Cinderella if she could bring out M’s birthday cake it she said she wasn’t allowed. She did come to the table when the cake was brought though, which was nice of her. The cake was ice-cream and meringue and it was delicious!


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I met the lovely Ellie Steadman, and her friends Chelsea and Steph while we were there. The boys love watching Ellie’s vlogs now that they know a famous person! :-D (Ellie also has ears from Queen Ursula on in this photo)

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The meal was a lovely birthday treat for M, and we all enjoyed it. That said, we’ll probably skip it on the next trip, as it’s very expensive and IMO there isn’t enough variety of princesses. (In 3 visits we’ve met Ariel twice, Snow White twice and Aurora twice. Never Belle, Jasmine, Rapunzel or Merida.)



I wanted to do a bit of sneaky Christmas shopping so S&K took the boys off for me. I got some lovely Christmas decorations plus a few small things for the boys. On my way back through the Castle, the fountain show was on, and there was a lovely rainbow! It was gorgeous, really magical.


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While I was gone, the others had been on Dumbo, the Teacups and Alice’s Labyrinth (without getting lost!). We had a few pause gourmande vouchers to cash in (F&A hadn’t used any of theirs!) so we got some bottles of water in Cafe Hyperion.

It was then time for the Jedi Training Academy. J was very excited and N & M didn’t seem to mind that they were too young. N had changed back into his Darth Vader costume and was happy enough with that. I asked if he could have his photo taken with one of the Jedis and they said it wasn’t allowed.

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J did really well at the training, the practice at home really helped! Just as the show was about to start, an announcement was made that it was cancelled! A lot of confusion from the CMs and crowd but a few minutes later we found out that it was going ahead. Thank God!

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The show was brilliant. I had seen it in the summer and really enjoyed it, but it’s so much more special seeing your own little Jedi defeat Darth Vader! Proud Mammy moment!

Next up was a go on Autopia. We had missed this on our last trip.

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K was itching to go on Space Mountain again, so I went on with him while S took the kids on Star Tours. It broke down while they were waiting but they got on eventually! The boys love this ride, I haven’t told them yet that it’s closing down for good, but I’m sure they’ll love the new version when it’s open.


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While we were waiting for them, K & I did a bit of shopping in the Star Wars shop. When the others joined us, the boys got ‘build your own Droids’ which they loved.

It was dark now and nearly time for our reservation at the Steakhouse. We did a little bit more shopping in the Village on the way. There was some fab stuff in the Disney Fashion shop but it was fairly pricey!

There was a queue to get a table in the Steakhouse so we were glad of our reservation. I had never eaten here before. The decor is nice. I decided not to have a steak as I was planning on having one the next day at Bistro Chez Remy, so I had fish instead. It wasn’t great, I was a bit disappointed. Everyone else was happy with what they got though so I think I was just unlucky. I had a lovely Creme Brûlée for dessert, which was lit when it was brought to the table. We were just having our dessert when we heard the Bonfire night fireworks starting outside. K brought the kids out to watch it while S & I sorted the bill and all our bags etc. We watched the fireworks from outside the Steakhouse for a few minutes, and then moved around to watch them from in front of Hotel New York. There was music but we couldn’t hear it very well. But it was still really enjoyable and it was lovely to see the lake all lit up.

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We all had a drink in the bar in HNY before calling it a night. The kids were still a bit giddy but they all slept well once they went to bed.
 
Day 5 - Tuesday 3rd November

We didn't do Extra Magic Hours this morning as I had to pack, check out and leave our bags with baggage storage. I had trouble fitting everything into the bags, I had to use two backpacks I had brought as spares! Thankfully I managed to get everything to baggage storage and we made our way to the park for 10am. S, K & M were in the Studios but we had a few last things we wanted to get done in the main park. Unfortunately it was raining this morning but not too heavy.

I had arranged to meet a friend briefly at Town Square but when we got there we found it to be all boarded up! The Christmas tree was up and lots of other Christmas decorations were going up too.
J had lost his new Villains lanyard and pins the previous day so our first stop was City Hall to see if it had been found. Thankfully they had it!

We made our way down to Fantasyland to see a certain Mouse. We had never been inside his Pavillion to meet him before and I thought it would be nice to get some photos on the Photopass.
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After that, had a quick go on the Storybook boats and Casey Jnr. The boys loved Casey, N hadn't been on it before and J didn't remember it.

We went to the Princess Pavillion then and managed to get a return slot for after lunch. The boys had been asking to go to Skull Rock so that was next on our agenda.

We explored all around Adventure Isle, over 'rickety bridge' and finding lots of places we had never seen before. It's a nice spot for kids to explore, especially when queues are long, or its hot or raining outside.
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While coming out of Adventureland, we saw that Timon was doing a meet & greet. He usually has Rafiki with him but he was on his own today. We got his autograph and a photo and went on our merry way.
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We wanted to meet the characters from Alice in Wonderland so we walked towards Fantasyland. While walking past the gates of It's a Small World, we spotted Pinnochio and Gipetto doing a M&G, and behind them, ALL SEVEN DWARVES! What luck! There were no organized queues, which I find difficult, but we managed to meet 4 of them in about 10 minutes before they left for a break. We had great interaction with all of them, especially Sneezy and Grumpy, who were every bit of their respective names! Great fun.





We had arranged to meet S, K & M in the Studios at 12:30 to watch Animagique before our lunch reservation at Bistro Chez Remy. They had been in the Studios since 8am and had gotten loads done! M had been very brave and had done Tower of Terror, and loved it! The kids adored Animagique, they've been singing the song ever since! It will be interesting to see what's next for this theatre as I think it's due to close soon.

Time for Bistro Chez Remy! The boys love this restaurant and we're excited to show it to M. It's worth visiting here even just to see the decor and theming. You are shrunk down to the size of a rat and everything is oversized! We got a table near the back, where you can see people getting off the Ratatouille ride.
Unfortunately we didn't have a good waiter. He was very impatient and wasn't interested in listening to anything we asked for. It was a real shame as it did affect the meal a bit, but we tried to just get on with it and enjoy the experience. The food was good. J had pasta and N had meatballs and chips (pity they don't give the option to have meatballs and pasta though). I had the premium menu, with pâté to start, fillet steak for mains, and chocolate mousse for dessert.





After eating in Remy's restaurant, we had to had to have a go on the ride afterwards! Brilliant as always!

J & M were keen to have another go on Tower of Terror, so they went on with S & K while myself and Nick did a bit more shopping. I really like the ToT shop, it has a great selection.
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It was time for our slot at Princess Pavillion so we made our way over to the main park. We were hoping it would be a princess we hadn't met yet but it was Aurora. It was our 4th time to meet her, and M's second, but we weren't too disappointed as she is J's fabourite and she was really nice.





After the Pavillion we went on Pirates of the Carribbean.
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Then on to Discoveryland as the boys had been asking to see Nautilus. S went to use some Pause Gourmande Vouchers while K & I brought the kids. They flew though it - I didn't get much of a chance to look around properly! Then we sat outside Cafe Hyperion to have some Magnum Ice-creams.

It was time for the parade now. We were a bit late to get a good spot so we decided to split up. We were due to go home afterwards so we said our goodbyes to S, K & M. We watched the parade from the disabled area at central plaza. We didn't have the best view but the boys were happy enough.
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After the parade we made our way up Main St, doing our last few bits of shopping. (We actually got a bit carried away!) Then we said goodbye to the castle and the parks. I wasn't too sad as I was harbouring the secret that I have another trip booked for next year that the boys don't know about!

We stopped off in Earl of Sandwich in Disney Village to get something to eat at the airport, then walked back to the hotel. I had to go into the hotel shop to buy a bag for all the stuff we had bought that day! :-O

Our Ezyshuttle transfer was waiting for us - it was a driver who had collected us twice before, and it was nice to see a familiar face.

And so another magical trip was over. We were VERY tired but it was so worth it. Can't wait for the next trip. :-)
 
Fabulous! Sounds like a fabulous trip! We've done the Cendrillion only once and met Cinderella, Aurora and Belle! I don't think Merida or Jasmine ever go there - I've seen pics of Rapunzel there recently though. We've been trying to meet Rapunzel and Snow for years - for one reason or another we've never managed it! Until this trip! Along with Tiana! Not sure we'd rush back to the Cendrillion again though.

Love your photos!

C x
 

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