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DLP April 2016

P

peep

CF Legend
Yep, another trip report from Disneyland Paris (you love it really). :P

Saturday 16th

The day started at the ugly time of 4:30, in time for our 6:18 train from London to Paris. It was gross but the nap I got on the train gave me life and I was ready for a day of crazy. Our journey from Paris to Disney went by pretty quickly and before I knew it we had dumped our bags at the concierge and we were back in Disneyland Paris.



We were greeted by the awesome Spring band, which was nice. After grabbing a dining reservation for later Goofy's Garden Party was due to start so we grabbed a spot on Central Plaza and enjoyed the fun show. I was going to say little but the size of the cast is actually ridiculous. The music is great and is pretty much the same show from the last few years.















We paid a little visit to the castle's dragon who was looking in great shape before grabbing a bite to eat at Toad Hall in Fantasyland. I had a rather great chicken burger where the bun was actually an English muffin. Yum.



We nearly queued to have our photo taken with Alice, the mad hatter and the white rabbit but they were taking so long with each guest it was going to take forever so we moved on to Pirates of the Caribbean. It was in pretty much the same condition as my last visit in Feb, some missing characters here and there but the pirate with ALL of the hats was back so that was something.

We then headed over to Frontierland for Forest of Enchantment. On our way we saw several character meet and greets with crazy queues (really felt like characters and shows were more popular than the rides) and the African drummers were also out. They're fab and their audience interaction is always amusing.



So back to Forest of Enchantment. The first time I saw this it was in a very early preview so it wasn't perfect, the cast had certainly found their feet by the time I got to see the show again. I enjoyed it so much more. However they've made Pocahontas sing in French and Colours of the wind just doesn't work in French, like, at all. A shame as it is rather distracting. Oh and I'd heard that Tarzan had an accident at one point and gained a bruise, yeah, they weren't lying. He had several bruises and they looked really painful. Time for a mass of photos, yes?























We then headed back to Central Plaza for Minnie's little spring train. They've given the Casey Jr train parade yet another make-over and given it a very, very, catchy tune from Tokyo. So, being from Tokyo it has a dance routine to go along with the amazingly catchy tune and in the middle of Central plaza they have 4 dancers teaching the crowd the dance to create a sort of flashmob. Not only is it fun but it gives the whole area a really great atmosphere. Now, something we weren't aware of before we did this trip was that it landed on Dapper day, a fan made event where people dress up. Turns out most of these peeps were taking part in the flashmob when we happened to be there, it was rather amazing.







I found a youtube video...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zm-MVCcTOU[/youtube]




Well after all that excitement we decided to head into Discoveryland for some Space Mountain action. Frustratingly the on board audio was non-existent and we got the impression it was the case for all the trains. There was a random main light on in one area so not sure if they were having a big technical problem over the weekend or something. Still, it's always sad when the audio doesn't work.



The new construction walls around Star Tours is rather fab...







Far too excited about this :P





We then decided to go on Its a small World.







We then randomly chose to queue to meet Mickey Mouse. I love the queueline and theming inside this meet and greet location. At least there's lots of classic Disney toons to pass away the time.







It was then time for our reservation at Blue Lagoon. Our waiter, Ronnie, was absolutely amazing - to the point of us filling in a compliment form at the end of the day! We were mainly highly amused by him uttering the line "and for you Sir, babe" as he gave Patrick his piglet dish. It was such a subtle joke but we kept being amused by it all weekend. OH and obviously we got our fab free annual pass cocktails <3 and Nic and I had the coconut mousse which is by far the best dish in the entire resort. Might just casually pop in there next time purely for the mousse :P





We had another ride on Pirates, it seemed rude not to :P



We then randomly did Pinocchio in Fantasyland before moving back into Adventureland for Indianna Jones which randomly had no queue. It was then down to Frontierland for Phantom Manor which had re-opened after the incident a few weeks prior to our visit. The two characters that sit on top of the chandelier in the dining room were back, not seen them in ages which was good to see. Oh and the queue makes for a great viewing platform for the Big Thunder refurb, just what are they doing over there?











We then did Buzz Lightyear laser blast because there was like a 15 minute wait! I think I got a fairly decent score...





Patrick and I got another ride on Space Mountain before we went to grab a spot for Dreams. The random Nature month presentation before Dreams was nice, if a bit unusual. Apologies for the wonkyness of my pics, they looked fine when I was taking them :/









The two side water screens weren't in operation as one is being refurbed so the projections were on the castle instead... (burdenous lamps)























We then made our way to the hotel. We stayed at the newly opened B&B hotel which is a next to the other partner hotels like the Explorer and Dream Castle. It's a massive hotel but some reason there was no info on where you have to catch their shuttle bus. Weirdly they didn't join in with the other partner hotels so it turns out they have a coach which you catch from the car park (which is silly) so we just got a bus to Explorers and walked from there.

The hotel was nice and modern but it felt like the whole thing was rushed to get it open. The shower unit is really poorly designed as maybe a small child could stand under it, not an adult though, maybe it had to be short so the water didn't escape through the giant gap above and to the side of the glass panel. *le sigh* Why do hotel designers find it so hard to build a functional bathroom?

Anyway end of rant.


Thanks for reading. I'll get day 2 up soon.
 
Good stuff, making me really excited for my trip down there in June.

I PRAY the on board audio for Space Mountain is working when I go otherwise it'd almost ruin it for me :?. I'm way more hyped for that ride than the average enthusiast, I always marveled at it as a child and the Jules Verne inspired theming is so much better and more beautiful than the basic ass generic white domes over the US ones (though I appreciate they're like 40 years old).

On a scale of a brand new B&M to Grand National at the back, how much roughness am I going to be in for on Space Mountain? I'll keep in mind that I think Infusion is an "alright ride" towards the front.

Also what was the incident with Phantom Manor?
 
In terms of roughness it depends on who you ask. I wouldn't say it's rough but has a few jolts which can throw your head into the restraints. So just try and brace yourself and you should be ok.

Yeah I would have thought the audio would be fixed by then but I really don't know. I've never known all of the trains to be off. Its going down for another long refurb in the Summer so double check it is open for your visit!

I haven't read the details but it sounds like an engineer died after an argument with electricity. So it was closed for over a week while an investigation went on.

Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk
 
The audio worked for us one ride and didn't another when we went the week before, so it's just luck at the moment.
 
I probably need to give DLP another chance at some point after not really getting too much out of it before. I've only been once though, and it was years ago now.

On-ride audio for Space Mountain was f**ked when I was there as well.
 
Ben said:
The audio worked for us one ride and didn't another when we went the week before, so it's just luck at the moment.
Click to expand...
Normally I'd agree but for all of them to be off over two days seemed really unusual.

The whole resort is really stepping it's game up, once this avalanche of refurbs is over its going to feel like a new place.

Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk
 
peep said:
The whole resort is really stepping it's game up, once this avalanche of refurbs is over its going to feel like a new place.
Click to expand...
Key point right there, I haven't been for 9 years now, but am putting our visit with the kids off until everything's complete.
It's interesting to read the reports though, so thanks :)
 
Great report. I definitely have a soft spot for DLP, even though it does have its flaws. Hopefully next year will be a good one for them.

The Space Mountain audio is a big problem that really needs a permanent solution. Most times I've ridden it the audio has been working but wayyy too quiet or crackly. Apparently Rock 'n' Roller Coaster's audio is a bit temperamental lately too. It's a shame because it adds so much to the experience and turns two mediocre coasters into two good ones.
 
^ RNRC is down though so I don't get how it's got problems lately? It'll be getting fixed I can imagine.

Space Mountain has one train with audio apparently, so it's just pot luck if you get it or not, even when we did you could barely hear it.
 
I can imagine the speakers in the trains being both very dated and worn out (hasn't it been using the same trains since 95? I'm think they were just repainted for mission 2). I'm sure the new trains will have crisp high quality audio.

I hope they remake the queue which went through the mountain itself and allowed you to watch the ride in its first 10 years!
 
When I went in Jan SM had no audio at all and the RNRC audio was also broke, it was playing really loud out of the train in the station which was weird then stopped as soon as it launched :lol:

Isn't Space Mountain due to receive new trains in the next major refurb? Hopefully all audio should be working well then and hopefully be much smoother..

Enjoyed reading the report. That little island that they have built in the river around BTMR is strange..
 
Thanks for all the comments so far!


Sunday 17th April

We woke up at a semi-decent time and headed down to our free breakfast! Such a rarity we actually book a hotel with free breakfast. Nothing too exciting though, a fairly standard line up of breakfast foods. We then made our way over to the Studios. We were shocked to find the park open early and Crush had no queue! However that was just because it wasn't open yet, oh well!

We then realised that Tower didn't have a queue and was open so we headed in for something to really wake us up. Love a bit of Tower in the morning.





With no Rock n Roller we, for some stupid reason, ended up waiting for Armageddon. This has the worst throughput of any attraction ever, urgh. Then there's the burdenous pre-show of dullness. Still it is all about the main room with loads of amazing effects. Not sure if it was because of where we were standing but it felt like there were a few bits missing. At least the fire wasn't missing, fire is always good (unless in my house or on my face).

We then went over for some Ratatouille, bypassing the massive normal queue for the more friendly single rider queue. I really do love this attraction, it's just fun and some of the 3D effects are very cool.

One of our main objectives of the day was to watch Cinemagique and that was next on our list of activities. Love this show so much, never get tired of it.



For the lolz we decided to watch Disney Junior Live next. The pre show room is amazing (prob better than the show). Jake (sans Netherland Pirates) was going mental and just dragging kids about like "you WILL have fun" which was rather entertaining.


Lovely blurry photo as he wouldn't stand still, oh and burdenous Sofia the first is photobombing in the back

The show hasn't changed at all since I last saw it, still has a burdenous section with Handy Manny (no Bob the Builder that's for sure). Overall it is a cool little show though and kids always seem to get involved (a lack of hesitation compared to most), even Nic turned 6 again when the fake shiny leaves were released.


Little Einsteins are fab







*sigh* :P

We were highly entertained for a good 5 minutes after the show watching a woman walk around with one of the show streamers dangling from her hood. It wasn't until she saw a weird reflection in the ride time board that she was aware of it. Simple things amuse us the most.



After lots of immature laughing we headed over to the Disneyland Parc for more Spring time shenanigans. Remember the flash mob style dance on Central Plaza? Well we decided to take part...



It was hilarious to participate, there was an older guy in front of us who clearly knew the routine inside out too which tickled us. Totally exhausted but on a high from the crazy atmosphere we headed for lunch. We headed to Fantasyland to track down one of the Spring special burgers. This was in the Pinocchio restaurant and was a lamb burger which was absolutely delicious. Very nom, a shame it isn't a normal menu option.

It was then to Frontierland for Forest of Enchantment again. The cast were so much better for this performance, made it an even better show. I took a few photos...





















So fun story about Merida. When running from one point to another she proper faceplanted. The audience gasped, a few performers giggled and once she made it to the top of the podium (above picture) she showed her Brave face and just laughed through the situation.







Fun game time! How many crazy dark bruises can you spot on Tarzan?



After the show we decided to fill up on far too much sugar from the Spring market outside. I got a green apple slush and it was ridiculous...



Some of the other treats on offer...







We then bumped into AJ who was looking after Merida. Good to catch up with him. We then went over to watch Goofy's garden party show again.











We then popped over to Discoveryland for Space Mountain. Same story as the previous day in regards to audio.







The orp lady was clearly bored as she decided to put astronauts in the row behind us.



We then ended up in Fantasyland for Its a small world. Randomly we opted to go on the Carousel next. So much faff to onload and offload this thing and people are so faffy.



It was then over to the castle stage for the Mary Poppins spring show. They've made a few more changes to this show again, I think it works better now? It's essentially a mix of the main tunes from the film with a lot of dancers jumping all over the place.





After the show we faffed around in many shops, went into the Village for an Earl of Sandwich sandwich and then got on the train to Paris where we eventually caught the Eurostar back to London. We got on the new fancy trains too which was nice. I love the interiors but I thought the seat wasn't very comfortable for such a long journey. Oh and the wifi only really works with their in-browser special stuff (a few magazines, tv shows etc).

And that was the end of yet another little weekend trip to Disneyland Paris. It looks like we might be back late Summer for the new show in the Studios which is exciting.

Thanks for reading!
 
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