Disneyland Paris

[Rach]

About 7 weeks ago, the opportunity to go to DLP came about with college. However, this was a little different as the trip was intended for 2nd years rather than 1st years. But seeing as the places couldn't be filled, the trip was opened to some of us 1st years.

In total, 21 students and 2 lecturers spent Tuesday - Thursday in Disneyland and Paris. This trip was a little special for me as I had never been to a park outside of the UK due to not holding a passport before November last year. So it was a completely new experience for me!

Our little package included a 2 day pass for both parks and two evening meals; one in Buffalo Bills and the other in Planet Hollywood along with accommodation in the Thomas Cook Explorers Hotel (served by the shuttle bus) and coach and ferry transport.

The trip was long with lots of hours being spent travelling, but this didn't phase me.

Tuesday

I was willing myself to stay awake on Monday night, the coach was due to depart college at 3:30 and take approximately 12 hours to get to the hotel outside Disney. So I didn't really see the point in going to be.

I couldn't keep myself awake that night, by midnight I was yawning my head off, so turned my laptop and Up off before getting 90 minutes sleep. I was up at half 1 finishing my packing and getting ready for an exceptionally long journey.

I had a taxi booked for half 2 on the Tuesday morning to get me to college in plenty of time. I was ready by 2:10 and spent the last 20 minutes before I left excited.

The taxi came and we were off. My college is on a main road in the centre of Birmingham, so the driver was a bit bewildered as to why I wanted to be dropped off on the road. When I got there, I was the first person there. Shortly afterwards, others began to arrive and we all bleary eyed but very excited started to assemble ourselves ready for the coach.

I had seen the coach (quite distinctive with a name like Jeffs!) but had lost it again. It had parked outside the Uni building rather than on the road where all the coaches stop. Anyway, after a 40 minute wait, the coach, the lecturers and all but 3 people were there!

It was freezing out (but what do you expect at 3:15) so when Jeff (the driver) opened the luggage compartment on the coach, we all dumped our bags and hurried on the coach. Eventually, everyone was there and we left college 5 minutes later than planned ready for a long journey to Dover.

Sleep was a common past time on the way down, but for some reason I could not fall asleep at all! We were running really early in the end, we had cleared the M25 by just after 6 so we were likely to not experience any traffic - which we didn't.

Seeing as we were running early, we had an half hour stop over at the services in Maidstone before continuing down to Dover. Aside from the toilet and coffee break, we all watched in amazement as a bloke won £450 on a machine with just 80p!
We got back on the coach and continued down to Dover. Since the Isle of Wight, I've become petrified of boats and had been absolutely dreading the crossing, so much so I was dosed up with calming tablets and Rescue Remedy.

We were early arriving into Dover, we were booked onto the 9:15 sailing, but seeing as we were so early, the guys at P&O squeezed us onto the 8:30 one leaving us more room the other side. We had another quick wee break before getting on the ferry.

We were on the Pride of Kent on the way over and the journey was actually really pleasant. It took a while for me to calm down, but eventually did! The crossing was peaceful with me explaining about Th13teen and Saw and then messing around with phones. Before we knew it, it was 9:45 and we were due to dock in 15 minutes, so we took a quick trip onto the deck, pleasantly greeted by the lovely smell of sewage as we docked into Calais.

Once we'd had a quick nose around the deck and took a few photos, we left and got back on Jeff ready for the next 4 hour journey. We were travelling on an executive coach so we had a DVD player and was told to bring some DVDs with us. So now we were awake, it was time to put these on.

We only watched one on the way to Disney which was the Hangover. No persuasion needed, the DVD went on. I am a massive fan of the Hangover, but no sleep had caught up with me and I spent all but 20 minutes of the film curled up in a ball fast asleep.

The remainder of the journey seemed to drag with Jeff pointing out the signs for Disney (32KM) and I spotted one for Parc Asterix. Eventually, we spotted Disney in the distance and the excitement was there again!
After an 11 hour journey (including the 1 hour time difference) we arrived exhausted into the Explorers Hotel and began to check in.

Check in was slow! They eventually sorted everything and printed the breakfast vouchers and sorted the cards out. We were then lead down to the rooms where we had an hour to chill before meeting and going into Disney Village.

After an hour in the rooms which was basically spent exploring the rooms and cleaning ourselves up a bit, we went and met in reception and decided on going to Disney Village for an hour opposed to using the extra day on the tickets for the parks.

I wanted to get a bit of shopping done so I didn't have to worry about it on the Wednesday. So we had a good explore of the Village and I ended up buying a bag, keyring and over priced drink.

The hour we had in Disney Village was a nice hour to get to know the area and get used to the Shuttle Bus (read squishy bus) and a nice chance to relax before going to Buffalo Bills later that evening.

We caught the bus back to the hotel (after finding out the number and the correct stop) and got ready for Buffalo Bills. We had just over an hour to get ready which gave me time for a lie down (I was exhausted) and a shower (to try and get rid of the tiredness)

Eventually, the time came and we left for Buffalo Bills, this time having to run like dickheads for the goddam shuttle bus - this became a common occurrence over the trip.

We got to Buffalo Bills at about 10 past 8, meaning we had a good 20 minutes to wait until they let us into the bar area. Some of the group went on the bull outside the restaurant, whilst the rest of us stood inside keeping a space in the queue.

Half 8 came and the guys let us in. We went through the turnstiles in which I lost my wick with a family of queue jumping French bastards that were attempting to get through the turnstiles despite us being there in a group. They naturally got barged out the way as we were let through.

We were then into the bar area. As we were one of the first groups through, the bar was empty when we got there. But it soon got so packed you could barely move in there.
We all posed for photos with our cowboy hats, then the cowboy Mickey saw we were a group and came and jumped in the photo too!

A little show started after with some blokes and Goofy! I honestly had no idea what was going on (and nor did anyone else) thanks to them jabbering away in French.

Once that little performance was over, the blokes told us where to go stand dependent on the colour of your hat! We were the blue group so had to wait until the yellows had gone in.

Eventually we were let in and entered into a massive arena. We had a seat allocation together and we were spread over 2 rows near the back.
There was some bread (stale) and nachos on the table when we got there, then the staff come round and collect your table tickets.

I had gone for the Veggie option seeing as I really didn't fancy the normal menu (not as if anyone was told what the actual products were when they arrived) so all cutlery was taken away.

The show started and yet again I was a bit confused as to what the bloody hell was going on, but by now, they were starting to bring round the food and drink.

Drinks came first, coke or something else (which could've been alcohol, but not sure) so we were all left with the coke option in this case. Then the starter came.
The room is very dark and you can barely see what you're eating, the phones and torches were a lifesaver here.
The normal menu had chili whilst the veggie option, I haven't got a ****ing clue as to what it was! Whatever it was (it looked like soup) was avoided. I can't eat soup as it makes me ill, so I'm very glad I left that!

About 20 minutes later, the starter is removed and the main course comes along. Yet again, I had no idea what the ****ing hell the main course was. But using a mates torch, I managed to make out a LOT of cheese (which is another thing I can't eat) so that was also avoided.
By now, I'm starving, I have no ****ing idea what I'm supposed to be eating as all that is said is that there is a veggie option available. No names of any products.

There is quite a lengthy gap between the main and the desert in which there is lots of participation with the show. I was in a pretty bad mood as I was starving, so weren't in the mood for it.

That was our mascot and he was a complete and utter BELLEND! He really got on my nerves. He got the crowd going well, but he was really just an embarrassment.
He did try and marry my lecturer and did kiss her hand much to the amusement of us all, which was the highlight of the show.

Eventually, the mains went and was replaced by the desert. The deserts were actually quite nice. Ended up being some gorgeous ice cream and apple tart which was too hot.

Once everyone had had desert, there's more crowd participation with the winning group - which was us! Random people are taken away from the group and go and take part in the show. Sadly, it wasn't any of us.

The end of the show was really good and made up for the shoddy performance in the food department. It was soon time to leave and head back to the hotel for a good nights sleep!

We had a quick wee break while others brought the photo with Mickey from the shop in the Village before having to run like dickheads for the last bus again! Crammed onto it like sardines and soon enough we were back at the hotel.

I was exhausted and on top of that had a awful stomach ache/cramps which was down to exhaustion, lack of food, sitting on a coach all morning and being a girl. Told lecturers about stomach, who thought it was just down to lack of food, who in turn phoned mum who ended up telling them it wouldn't just be that.

I had some biscuits before curling up in bed for the night and trying to sleep the pain off. Though it did wake me up again in the early hours of the morning.

Overall verdict for Day 1...
After a long journey, I didn't really know what to expect from Disney as a whole. I thought the Disney Village was very clean and tidy, but the bottled drinks were stupidly priced. Which I came to expect from Disney.
The show at Buffalo Bills was excellent in places and pretty lame in others. The food let it down big time with not being able to see what you are eating or being told what you are eating (for the veggie option). You'd be pretty stuffed if you were allergic to a certain food substance and not knowing what the hell you are eating.

I'll post day 2 tomorrow which is the day we spent in the park.

 

[Ian]

A lovely detailed report so far, I hope the actual park report is as detailed!

 

[peep]

Interesting report Rach. Shame about the food at Buffalo Bills. What do you think of the Explorers hotel?

Looking forward to the rest of your report.

 

[Martyn B]

Lol, the bottled drinks are ridiculous at Disney! You should have just popped to McDonalds for a drink!

 

[Rach]

What do you think of the Explorers hotel?

I was really very impressed by the hotel. It didn't look like much on the website, but I was really surprised as to how big it was, how clean the place was and how friendly the majority of the staff were.
It was a good hotel for us due to being a group. We were in rooms capable of holding up to 6 people. (1 double, 2 singles and a bunk - the bunk room is separate from the main room).
There was plenty of space for everyone as well which was a nice added bonus.
Would strongly recommend the hotel to anyone!

Wednesday - Day 2

It was nice to lie in an actual bed rather than across two coach seats. I woke up early for some reason, but soon fell back asleep. The alarm rang at 7:30 and we were up and getting ready for our day in Disney.

We had roughly an hour to get ready before heading down to breakfast and to meet the rest of the group. It only took us 45ish minutes, so we left early and went to get a big table in the restaurant (once we had found it).

I was starving and really looking forward to breakfast and some decent food. I was not disappointed! There was a great choice including croissants, pain au chocolate, cereals (loads to choose from), toast, fruit, cheese and yoghurts!
I absolutely LOVE croissants and pain au chocolates, so had one each of those and some fruit. It was ****ing lovely!
Now suitably filled, we headed back to the room where we were told to meet in reception in half an hours time ready to go to Disney. A lot of people were running a bit late, so after lots of shower borrowage, everyone finally assembled in the reception 15 minutes later than planned.

There was another group in the hotel (scouse lot) who were right pains in the arse! And also the cheekiest little ****s I've ever seen. (More on this later) and unfortunately, they had left the hotel the same time as us and were waiting at the bus stop. Nothing was said, but it looked like we were in for a squishy ride to the park.

The bendy bus came which was already full after being to the other 3 hotels. There must've been a good 75 people at the bus stop waiting to get on the bus and I have to say not one person was left.
It was one hell of a squish to get everyone on that bus, but we somehow did it. I ended up squashed against the door and trying not to kill people every time the bus accelerated or turned a corner. The only accident was me accidently standing on my lecturers foot as the bus went round the roundabout tightly!

Finally, the bus got to the park and we all breathed a sigh of relief as we got off (or rather fell off) the bus. We all reassembled and headed over to a meeting point between the two parks.
It was agreed that we would meet at 1 for lunch and be told a time to meet up later that afternoon.

We decided to stay with our lecturers who didn't mind for the day in Disney. So once everyone had gone, we made our way over to the Studios. None of us really knew what we wanted to do, so we came to the decision that we'd do stuff as we wanted.

Not my photo - but used with permission.

So after a mini queue to get in, we found maps and were on our way. We started by going left out the main entrance to the Studios and worked around that. I knew that if we wanted to get on Crush's it would be best to do it then as the park was fairly busy - but no one was really bothered so we left it and went left.

None of us really knew what to do, the only thing I wanted to do was ToT. But our first stop was the Armageddon special effects show!
I had no idea what to expect from this or what it even was, but I was willing to go along with anything, so didn't bother me!
There were lots of bargey french people about, so in order to not lose each other, we grabbed on. Luckily we were all wearing our jumpers with names on the back which helped a little.

So onto Armageddon. The pre show bit at the start really confused me. I managed to find the subtitles in English, but it still really confused me. I weren't the only one looking a bit puzzled.
I managed to make out that it was some sort of special effects show before entering into the room.
Looking at the floor in the main room, I had a sneaky suspicion that the floor would move, but seeing as we were at the back of the crowd, we were left to stand in the middle with only each others arms for support.
Was still a bit confused about what was going on, but the effects were really good!
Then it got interesting with the floor moving and jumping and us lot getting sprayed with water and mist! Really enjoyed that and the screams told me that I weren't the only one that wasn't expecting that.

Following that, it was show time. We were undecided on whether to do RnR or the Moteurs Stunt Show. We decided on the later. I'd seen videos and pictures of this before, but was absolutely blown away by it!

Lots of tire squeal is always a good thing! It went on a bit, but despite some of it being in french, we still managed to make out a bit of what was going on. We were only really there for the cars and motorbikes though!

The finally was really good as well, felt like your eyebrows were being singed off with the cloud of fire.
It was quite manic getting out, we ended up getting split up and dosey Rach managed to drop her lens cap (got it back though). Thankfully, our brightly coloured hoodies helped us identify each other really easily!

Our intention was to go on RnR next, but the sign informed us that it had a 45 minute queue and the next fast track wasn't until 2pm, in which we'd be in the other park.
So we decided on the Tram Tour, which was closed!

As we were near ToT, I went over and had a look at the fast track, which was 1:15 to 1:45. However, that was when we were going to be having lunch. However, the sign informed me the main queue was 15 minutes!
Seeing 15 minutes, we jumped into the queue. I thought there was no way that queue was 15 minutes, and I was right, though we did stay in it!
It moved fairly slow in places and fairly quickly in others. The 1 meet up was beckoning, but we stuck it out!

Eventually, after a hour and 15 minute queue, we were ready to be batched through into the pre show. One of the people in the group was quite nervous about it, which was strange for me being so used to going around with CF! I lead the way into the room as we were in the front.
Pre show was good, despite getting deafened. The nervous person had grabbed onto one of the lecturers arms who had screamed loudly next to my ear.
All good fun!

We got into the bit where you get batched through to the elevators and were greeted by a 5 minute queue. We were already late for the meet up, so it didn't really matter.
The nerves had begin to set in with most people, but I honestly couldn't wait! I had never seen a video of ToT, but all I knew was it was supposed to be very good!

My ****ING god, I was totally blew away by it! It was incredible and as to be one of the best rides I've been on! The drops were fantastic, the floater was AWESOME and the screaming was making me laugh!
I absolutely ****ing loved it! I don't think the person who was nervous liked it much though!

I was on such a high after it. Incredible experience! The photo turned out really well as well, so decided to buy it! €15 for one, or two for €20. One of the group wanted a copy, so we got two.

I'll post the rest of the day at Disney later. The afternoon was spent in the main park.

 

[Ben]

You missed *both* creds? :O *dies*

 

[nealbie]

HAHA, Ben! Rach learned from the good book

 

[tks]

Contrary to sad belief there's more to theme parks than getting credits..

Nice report Rach! I miss DLP now! The car action show thing is pretty cool and I definitely felt the heat way close when I saw it!

 

[Ian]

Rach, are your friends aware of your coaster hobby and did they kind of expect you to lead the way around the park?

 

[Martyn B]

^ Lol, I get that a lot!

Oh, and Rach, missing Crush, BAD! :evil:

 

[Gavin]

Contrary to sad belief there's more to theme parks than getting credits..

Yeah, but NOT at Disney Studios.

 

[Rach]

Rach, are your friends aware of your coaster hobby and did they kind of expect you to lead the way around the park?

They are partly aware of it. They know I enjoy visiting parks and often go to them (especially Alton) but they don't know the full extent of it, like they don't know that I could name who builds the rides etc.
They didn't expect me to lead the way around the park. If they wanted a question answering about some aspect of it, then they would ask me, but that was it.

Wednesday - Day 2 - Part 2

So after buying the photos from ToT, we headed back outside the park to meet with the rest of the group. However, as we were 20 minutes late (better late than never), the rest of the group had gone.
We got a phone call and found them all in the McDonalds in Disney Village. So we headed up there, had a quick catch up before buying some food ourselves.
We had 40 minutes until we met the lecturers back at the meeting spot before heading into Disney. I didn't have much to eat again (just chips), but looking back, I wish I had bought a bloody drink from there.
We went and sat outside the Sports Bar and I went in search of a bottled drink. I like to keep a supply of drinks on me when in parks as I can get dehydrated easily and prefer to be able to drink when I want to.

The Pizza place at the front of the Village was closed () where I bought a bottle from on the Tuesday for €2.60. So I ended up in the Sandwich shop where I paid €3.75 for a bottle of COKE! Absolute ****ing rip off!

We saw our lecturers heading down to the meeting place (the hoodies were far too obvious) so caught up with them and headed into the main park.
The bag screening is certainly a good idea, so we got through that and headed down to the park.

Stunning buildings from the entrance and so we posed for a photo outside the park.

After a quick photo break, we headed down to the park. I had turnstile trouble as the ticket wouldn't go in the machine, but it was me being the fool as usual.
The castle really took my breathe away as we walked down Main Street into the park. Stunning! And is something you really need to take a photo of whenever you go to Disney.

The parade was due to start, but we continued to Phantom Manor as this is what people wanted to do! I honestly didn't care what we done, I was just happy to take in the atmosphere.

The queue said 15 minutes for Phantom Manor which was reasonable. The queue didn't actually stop moving, so it felt like we were in the attraction in less than that.
The room at the start was cool, trying to work out what was moving was the past time of the lift. The car ride was no where near as **** as the one in Madame Tussauds, and it passed the time nicely.
Quite an enjoyable ride.

We wanted to do Big Thunder Mountain next, but after it being stopped on the lift, we thought it would be closed. We asked some bloke for directions as we were a little lost he informed us that the ride had recently broken and would likely be down for some time.

We headed in that general direction and ended up at Indiana Jones. This was something I wanted to do and some did the lecturers, so it was agreed that we would get in the queue. It said the queue was 30 minutes, but yet again it done another Phantom Manor and didn't stop moving.
One of the group asked me what the ride does (having not been to Disney before, it was a little hard) but I said it rattled you about a bit and went upside down once.
As the loop was hidden, I was not believed, until the car went through the loop and it could be viewed.

We were on in about 20 minutes really, we took over the first part of the first train and so we ended up with front row. You could really do with somewhere to put your bags on the rides. I had offered to turn into a bag lady again and had more maps (I left the park with 10 maps in my bag!), glasses, water and phones stuck in it. Before securing it around my ankle like I do on any ride that requires you to take your bag on.

I was braced for pain as it did look quite painful and quite painful it was. I had the front row with one of my lecturers and a good dose of ear bashing was received by both of us. There was screams of pain issuing from behind as well, so we were not the only ones having our ears handed to us on a platter at the end of the ride.
The ride itself was ok really, just a bit too much ear bashing for my liking.

We yet again had no idea what to do. We thought about heading to Pirates of the Caribbean, but we bumped into some of the rest of our group who said it had a long queue and was pretty lame. So we gave it a miss.

We then decided that we should head over to It's a Small World as the music drives me and one of the lecturers mad! Thankfully for both of us, the queue was ridiculous (90 minutes) so gave that a miss and had ice creams instead.

We had decided on Space Mountain next, but got distracted by the need for a wee break. So we went and hunted the toilets down behind the Buzz Lightyear shooty thing.
We went and had a look at the queue for Space Mountain which was about 30 minutes, but if this was the case, we would miss the parade which some really wanted to see.
The fast track time was really good, we basically had 15 minutes to wait so decided on getting that. A bit of faff with the machines was had as some of the tickets were now a bit creased and didn't work. We all eventually got the tickets sorted and went to set up camp outside the fast track entrance.

I have to say, the area around Space Mountain is gorgeous, really a nice place to hang around for a while. While we were sitting there, some of the lads in the group came and joined us. They got fast tracks as well and we ended up sweet talking the woman on the fast track to let us all in together. Bless her, she did as well.

4:45 came around and we headed onto the ride. One of the lecturers bag ladyed whilst the rest of us went on. There was now 11 of us rather than 6, so one person had to sit on their own.
We queued about 15 minutes in the fast track queue which was better than the main queue. We were soon in the station and we sorted out who was sitting alone.

I had no idea what to expect from Space Mountain (common theme here), so was nicely surprised by it. It didn't hurt, but did try and rip my earring out. There was lots of whooping and cheering as we went around, the inversions took a few people by surprise, but I did thoroughly enjoy it.

It was parade time next. I was quite looking forward to seeing it, but after buying photos, we sort of jogged to main street to view the parade. I got stuck near the back and ended up getting a sore arse sitting on the fence for too long.
Thankfully, with a decent zoom on the camera, I got a few shots of the characters - but we hadn't seen any all day (wrong place at the wrong time).

<3

Was overall impressed of what I saw of the parade. Even though we were stuck at the back, it was still enjoyable.
By now, we had done everything we really wanted to do and so it was time to make our way back up to the top to meet with the rest of the group.

My friends had abandoned me, so was stuck with the lecturers. One of the other students found us and saved me, but we just ambled up Main Street and back out the park.
We were there 10 minutes early for the meet up, so sat on the floor. The vibrations from the trains at the train station were not pleasant after a while, and generally quite annoying.

There were some girls offering Free Hugs much to the bemusement of the majority of us, some of the lads took advantage though.
We sat and waited for ages, eventually, one of the lecturers headed back to the hotel with most of the group, while some of us hung around for the two late comers.

Eventually, half an hour late, the two late comers had got back (lost bag) and so we ended up walking over to the bus stop together. Yet again, a bus was in so despite legs refusing to want to walk, we ended up running like dickheads for the bus again.

We got back to the hotel to find the key cards refusing to work in our door. One of the people in my room had got a new key (as I had ours) and had over wrote the existing cards. So back down to the reception, were I was told the cards would be sorted later providing I could get back in the room.

Got back to the rooms to find arguments breaking out between our group and the scouse group. Such rude little ****s they were. Not wanting to get involved, I just went into the room and got ready for Planet Hollywood.

My body wanted to give up now, but after a shower (the ones at the hotel were really powerful), I was ready to face Planet Hollywood. It was one of the groups 18th birthday that day, so we all dressed up for the occasion.

We had about 15 minutes until we needed to be in reception again. So ended up running around the hotel. First to give a camera back and then heading to do some shopping in the hotels Disney shop.
Ended up spending €22 on a Donald Duck teddy, Mickey cup and Mickey and Friends key ring.

Dumped the stuff back in the hotel before heading down to reception to meet the others. Everyone was really dressed up despite being knackered.
This was the last time we caught the pink bendy bus of squishyness and yet again we ended up running like dicks for it!

The good old 54 that got us to Disney and back and in one piece (just)!

The bus emptied at the other hotels and so we all got a seat. We then headed to Planet Hollywood.
We had a reservation for half 8 and were there just 10 minutes before. We were seated and was soon brought drink and had our orders taken. We also had our photos taken, which I bought as it looked really nice.

I'd got quite a bit of money left over, so didn't mind paying €10 for the photo.
We had a choice of 4 things, ham, cheese or chicken burger or pasta. I had the pasta which was far too tomatoey, so half of that was left as well. We had to wait ages for our desert, so ended up making our own entertainment by singing and dancing to the YMCA and other cheese-tastic songs.

We ordered a birthday cake for the birthday girl and sang happy birthday to her before eating the cake. There was just enough for everyone as 3 people didn't have any (me included).

We were then brought ice cream which was awesome and that was it at Planet Hollywood. As we left, we done the conga despite no music!
We had another half hour before the last bus, so if we were over 18, we could have a drink or if we were not (most of us weren't), we were left to wander around the shops and arcades.
I wandered off on my own (I'd gone into my little world again which I usually do towards the end of trips) and ended up wandering aimlessly around the Disney store and bought a Mickey statue next to the Eiffel Tower.

I eventually found one of the group also wandering around on her own, so we both ended up pissing about in the arcade for the rest of the time we had.
We then together headed for the bus stop and for once didn't end up running like dicks for the bus!

Eventually, we all got there and were on the bus on the way back to the hotel for the last time. I was gutted the trip was almost at an end (still got an afternoon in Paris) and so sulked my way back to the room.
I got changed and was out like a light! Fell asleep on top of the bed lol!

Overall verdict on day 2!
Disney is one hell of an amazing place! Truly phenomenal! ToT was the highlight of the park ride wise, but the park is certainly more about the atmosphere than anything else!
I had a fantastic time taking it easy walking around the park and doing things as we wanted to. Beats rushing around any day!

Looking back now, I certainly want to go back this year and spend a good couple of days there! If any CFer is going this year, and don't mind me coming along, then could you please let me know! I desperately want to go back to Disney as it was such an incredible experience that I want to go and do again!

I'll post Paris in this topic tomorrow which will be the last bit!

 

[peep]

I always find it interesting to read other people's trip reports of DLP. Shame you missed so much of what the parks have to offer but it sounds like you enjoyed yourself which is defo the main thing.

Nearly 4 euros for a bottle of coke? Not seen that before and it's not like I'm a stranger of buying drinks at DLP. I thought they were about 2 euros when I went, I doubt they would have gone up that much since my last visit. Strange.

 

[Martyn B]

It must have been frustrating being with a group! With how they were changing their minds, I think I would have just gone off on my own!lol

Great report though, you did miss out on so much!

 

[Anonymous]

cool looks the same as when i went with my college in 2003, think we did Space mountain about 10 times and Rock n Roller coaster about 2-3 times. Rock n Roller coaster was great best ride at the 2 parks. Havent been back since.

 

[Rach]

I wanted to get the last part of this done last week, but college work has yet again put a stop to it!

Anywho, I've got a bit of time now, so here's the last part.

Thursday - Day 3 - Paris

This was our 3rd and final day. We would be home in the early hours of the Friday morning, but first, it was a day out in Paris.

The alarm ungratefully rung at 7 that morning, but no one wanted to move! Movement began to occur at half 7, but lazy me remained in bed until 8. I'd already done most of my packing, and all I had to do was pack the last few bits and get ready for the day.

We had to meet for breakfast at half 8 again, but I was no where near ready by then. I'd woken up with a delightful backache and earache, what a fantastic way to start your final day!
By half 8, I'd managed to have a shower and that was it! I lobbed some clothes on and meandered down to breakfast looking like the best place for me was bed.

I weren't as hungry as what I was the day before, coupled with the fact my ear was throbbing, I weren't in the mood for breakfast. I managed to get some fruit, a croissant and a couple of glasses of orange down me. Sadly, the pain au chocolate may have made a reappearance if I had eaten it, so was avoided.

We went back to the hotel to finish packing and getting ready. By now, the hair was done and I didn't look like the best place for me was bed. We had about an hour to make sure everything was packed and the room tidy before a room check was done.

We were done in no time at all and spent the last half an hour dozing on the beds and talking about what an amazing time we had had. I still felt groggy, so this was the best course of action for me!
The only one negative point about the hotel was that there was little light in the room. Despite the large window, very little natural light was getting in and the room lights were useless. We decided to prop the door open to get some light in, thankfully, my mates mum had given her a huge packed lunch full of perishables which made the bin strong enough to hold the door open.

After more shower borrowage and me generally tidying up. We were ready to leave. The half an hour we had soon passed and the room check was upon us.
Room was spotless, much to my surprise seeing as 40 minutes before it looked like a bomb had hit it. We were given the all clear and was told to check out!

I had taken 3 bags with me, but was leaving the hotel with 5! I'm useless when it comes to the number of bags.
It was quite a mission to get out the door, but we all did in the end and headed to the reception area to check out. Express check out ftw!

We must have waited a good 15 minutes in the lobby until everyone had assembled there. It was then time to load Jeff up and head for Paris.
Our departure time from the hotel was set at 10:10 and for the first time over the entire trip, we were on time!

Paris is roughly an hour from the hotel, but we were there by 11.
Jeff took us through bits of Paris that we wouldn't be seeing on our 'short' walking tour.
We were to be based around the Eiffel Tower and in that general area, so on our way there, Jeff pointed out some of the landmarks.
Jeff also made it very clear that he wanted us to remain seated whilst driving around Paris as the drivers were often idiots and pulled out in front of you.

First views of Paris - the Seine.

First landmark - Notre Dame.

All of us seemed a little depleted on the way to Paris, probably as the trip was coming to an end and we were all pretty knackered! But as we started to see bits of Paris, we all generally perked up a bit.

Our journey into Paris continued. We made friends with another coach from Europe which was fairly amusing.

Mini group photo lol!

No idea what the purpose of this was

Or this

Seine

Forgot what this is lol

First proper sighting of the Eiffel Tower

Another building I forgot the name of, but was told

We'll be down there in a minute getting harassed by people selling Eiffel fugging Towers!

Almost there!

Finally, we arrived in Paris!

Jeff had to run back to the hotel (or drive), but he gave us some pointers about Paris before getting off.
He warned us that there may be some Hungarian gypsies roaming around that would drop a coin next to you and then tell you that you have dropped it and then want money.
He also told to us to watch the people selling the Eiffel Tower keyrings and statues. That if we wanted one, haggle for them, but otherwise avoid them.

They were onto us like a swarm of bees! Their eyes must've lit up as a coach load of English tourists arrived. Around 7 straight away came and surrounded us, shaking their Eiffel Towers at us and saying 3 of 1€. The amount of times I said no was unimaginable. In the end, I just ended up walking around the group to avoid them!

We had around 4 hours in Paris to see some of the sights and do a lot of walking! Our intention was to walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Place de la Concorde, then up the Champs Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe, then back to the Eiffel Tower with the possibility of going up it.

So our walk began.
Lots of touristy photos of the Eiffel Tower were in order!

We had our first experience of the lovely Parisian drivers as we crossed the first road. I'd quite like to go home alive!
Some people were already complaining of hunger and walking, so we stopped at a small kiosk for food and drinks before continuing on our walk.
Whilst standing around waiting, more people trying to sell Eiffel Towers came shaking their keyrings at us. And we also had another person beg us for money as a relative of theirs was killed. These people were quite distinguishable from everyone else, and after seeing them heading our way, I made a hasty escape round the other side of the group only to find another keyring person annoying the group!

Thankfully, the group was all now reassembled and we continued onwards. We crossed over the Seine and headed for the Place de la Concorde.

As soon as we crossed that bridge, the keyring people vanish and the whole experience becomes a lot more interesting as you're not so fearful of your life or your bag!

I am a city girl and love wandering around cities with the camera! Which is why I loved our little tour of Paris. The walking never bothered me once and once away from the Eiffel Tower, it becomes so much more pleasurable.

Tourist times!

We eventually got up to the Place de la Concorde. I was steadily becoming more terrified of crossing the roads in Paris as now we had nearly had a couple of accidents where drivers no not understand that red means stop! It was mainly motorbikes that attempted to kill us.
By now, I was taking to running across the road!

We had a quick talk about Concorde before being given half an hour to go explore around the back.
We didn't venture very far, but we were all in search of a toilet and a place that sells food! Thankfully, we found a place that done both! A small café on one of the side streets.
I was gagging for a drink, I'd left mine on the coach and I needed to take a hayfever tablet seeing as it kicked up something chronic in Paris.
Brought one for 2€ and then headed back to Concorde for the rest of our tour.

Trying to cross the roads around there was a nightmare. Utter nightmare. The traffic was so disorganised you didn't know when you could cross or not. Some drivers also quite like the pavements and as a consequence, a couple of us nearly ended up being hit.

We all met up at Concorde and continued our journey to the Arc. Some were now complaining of walking and in the end, the group ended up splitting up for the walk up the Champs Élysées.
We started off as a group as we continued walking, but got distracted by a kiosk and ended up stopping for pancakes.

We lost some of the group as they were on a role and went ahead of us. One of the lecturers took that group, whilst the other stayed back. Once everyone had got pancakes, we continued walking.

We walked on for about another 25 minutes, when a few people asked to stop in one of the perfume/make up shops along the road. When this occurred, the group split again. With some continuing to walk ahead.

I stayed back again as I was toasting like a sandwich (dark colours and hot weather is never a good combination) and my eyes were stinging and watering like a cow! (Thank god for sunglasses, but Hayfever can do one).

We were now about 2/3rds of the way up to the Arc and now we were in 3 groups. Whilst waiting outside the perfume shop, my lecturer got a phone call from the one who had gone ahead. They were in Maccies just about to walk the last 5 minutes.

About 5 minutes later, the people who had gone in the shop emerged and we continued. 6 of us brought up the rear of the groups and onwards we went.
Another wee break happened at the McDonalds, but I went and investigated the Paris tat shop as I wanted one of those I <3 Paris hoodies you seem to see everywhere. (Not at 30€ though!)

We carried on and eventually we arrived at the Arc and met up with the rest of the group who had already been up there quite some time.
We had a quick 5 minute breather, before heading back to the Tower.

It was now getting on for 2 and we needed to be back on Jeff for 3 to make it to Calais in time for the ferry. So onwards we went.
I was baking like a tomato now and was in need of something to eat. Hello irritableness and lack of wanting to be near anyone.

We walked on and on in the most direct route possible back to the Tower. But we ended up stopping twice more on the way to the Tower, firstly for a quick snack stop so that we had stuff to munch on on the way back and also for drinks.
That break took about 10 minutes as a toilet was also needed to be found. Hurrah for handy cafés.

We ended up stopping again for another toilet break about 10 minutes later. I was quite happy walking on my own (I now had invested in an iPod to accompany me) and so carried on a bit and stopped at a set of seats. One of the lecturers had also carried on with a person from the group.

We carried on and everyone met up again at a road junction and by now we were behind the Eiffel Tower again. It was now 10 to 3 and there was no way we would be back at the coach in time.
As we got back to the Tower, the ****ing keyring people were on us like bees again!

We stopped for about 5 minutes for photo times as it is a great place to stop to get photos of the Tower.
Avoiding many more '3 towers for 1€' we managed to successfully take photos!

We even got a group photo without interference!

Our tour of Paris was now pretty much over. All we needed to do now was walk down to the base of the Tower, go under it and turn right then get on Jeff.

Almost there now!

It was now about 10 past 3 and we were running slightly late to get back on the coach. I was now up the front of the group, but still wandering around on my own and looking forward to a bloody good sit down!

Some of the group were trailing behind as they had stopped for photos and stuff, but they knew where to go.
We got to the other side of the Tower, turned right and there was the coach! I was quite relieved to see it again (even knowing that there was a mammoth journey ahead of us!)

It was now quarter past and everyone was on the coach (or so we thought) until we done a head count and everyones phones were ringing like no tomorrow!
We realised we had lost someone in the process of walking under the Tower. This person had missed the turn right at the other side of the Tower and carried straight on to where the coach had dropped us off.

Thankfully, she hadn't gone too far and we were soon all reassembled on the coach and ready to head home!
With everyone now suitably accounted for, the journey home began.

You could tell that we had a lovely coach driver as rather than taking the most direct route out of Paris, he went through Paris and showed us some of the other sites we had missed, this time from the comfort of a seat!

We drove by the tunnel where Princess Diana died and Jeff informed us about the memorial and what pillar she hit. We then headed to Concorde again, where (like a tour guide) Jeff pointed out the original Arc (to the right) and then to the left for the one everyone knows and the Cube.

All I seem to remember from here onwards is a lot of traffic and idiotic Parisian drivers trying to kill everyone!
He pointed out a few more landmarks including the Sacré Coeur from the road (even told old which alleyway gives the best view).
The next thing I seem to remember is driving past the Moulin Rouge and someone asking whether we were in the Red Light district! (Clearly, the road was nothing but sex shops!)

We were in what felt like never-ending traffic for AGES. I must've fell asleep as I don't recall anything apart from a lot of cars for that part of the journey.
The final thing that Jeff pointed out to us was the Gare de Nord! I remember thinking WTF when he came over the mic as it had been so long!

That was our tour of Paris and it was now the long, mood depleting journey back to the delightful city of Birmingham!

We eventually hit the motorway around half 4 and we were due on the ferry departing Calais at 20:40. So we had quite a bit of time to get there.

I don't remember ANY of the journey from Paris to Calais. I went out like a light on the coach! Yay for travel cushions and jackets making handy blankets.
The next thing I remember is being woke up by my mate who had just returned from the back of the coach. I remember being awake for 15 minutes then being told we were stopping for a wee and snack break and so we could get passports and hoodies out the hold if need be.

I looked like I had been dragged through a hedge backwards by the time we stopped. My face was red, my eyes were also a similar colour and my hair was all over the place.
First stop was the toilet, which had a lovely queue! Great!
Once that was done, we had a quick wander around the shop. They had Paris bags which I saw in Paris and really wanted one, but didn't get a chance to buy. So with the opportunity there, I got one.
I was happy now, I had something with Paris wrote on it!

We got back on the coach and got ready for the journey to Calais. We had about an hour to go until we arrived at the port, which gave me more time to sleep.
I curled up yet again in a little ball, but now had the sun pissing me off. The curtains were useful, but not when it was coming through the windscreen and through the gap in the chair in front! Stupid sun.

I was getting a bit edgy about the ferry again. And to calm the nerves, munched on a packet of crisps. I hadn't even realised that we were at the port until Jeff said to put shoes on and get passports ready.
Another new experience for me! First time I've been through customs. We all had to get off the coach while they had a quick scout about it and go through the building before re-joining Jeff on the other side.

Once all back on, we were down to check in. We were informed the ferry we were booked on was running 20 minutes late and so headed for the lanes.
There was a ferry in port and there was clearly room on it.
Jeff got off the coach and ran over to the blokes loading the ferry and asked whether there was room on the earlier one. They said there was they let us on!

That saved us some time of sitting on the lanes waiting! We were now on the 8pm sailing and on the Pride of Dover. The nerves were in full swing yet again and my legs felt like jelly!
As we got off the coach, the guys were preparing the ship for sailing and the noises and all that **** really **** me up. Not nice.

My mate (bless her) got me up on the deck quickly and soon enough the nerves calmed. We were all to sign a little book for Jeff to show our appreciation of all his driving and trying to write in that was a nightmare, I couldn't keep the pen still!

I was starving before getting on the ferry, but now on it, I really weren't hungry. We went up to the Food Court so we could get something to eat and I ended up just pinching food off my friends to keep me going. Walking through the food court was awful, the boat was a bit bumpy and I felt so pissed, walking in a straight line was a nightmare!

We spent a good 25 minutes in the Food Court before I clocked a lad looking like he was going to throw up! I ran out the Food Court pretty pronto after that. Emetophobia can be cruel.

The remainder of the journey passed quickly. We had a wander around Duty Free and I ended up with perfume (for £15) and a phone charm. Before I clocked a lovely sunset over Dover!

I wandered off on my own for a while and took a few photos. I only had my compact on me.

We were on a mission to go out on deck, but had no idea where to find it! We bumped into the rest of the group who were still signing the book, before we left and tried to find the top deck.
In the end we just went onto the smoking quarters.

By now, we were about 10 minutes from docking and were hanging around the stairs ready to be let down. We went and found Jeff and gave him his little book before chatting to people before heading down.

Eventually, we were let down onto the coach and within 10 minutes were disembarking!
I was gutted to be home, the trip had been phenomenal!

It was about 20 to 9 by the time we disembarked and so we were ready for the journey home to Brum.
The idea was to put a film on, which did happen. This time it was Shrek!
I done another Hangover and fell straight asleep! I was so knackered it was unreal. I spread myself over 4 chairs (yay for spare seats opposite) and was out like a light.
Though I fell asleep hugging my Donald Duck teddy, so I looked like a right child.

I woke up when a lecturer needed to get to the back of the coach and jumped over my legs which caused a draft. I was still half asleep as I rolled over and rolled off the chair! Lol!

Fell back asleep and woke up as Shrek 2 was being put on. We had to stop at the services as we were all bursting for a wee and the onboard toilet was full. Jeff agreed to a quick wee stop, but said we would be stopping again in half hour as he was dangerously close to exceeding his driving allowance.

After the quick wee break, we were on the road again. Had a bit of traffic around an average speed check, but made it to Northampton services with a couple of minutes to spare.

There was lots of noise made for Jeff as he left us and we were introduced to a new driver who would take us the rest of the way. We had about an hour to go until back in Brum.

The rest of the journey passed quickly , I was yawning my head off but not falling asleep. Soon enough we were back in Brum and off the motorway. We aren't far from the motorway really and we got back just before 1am.

Everyone looked like the best place for them was bed! I got home about 1:15 after having a lift home from my mates mum and was out like a light! Home by quarter past, asleep by 20 past!

What an absolutely incredible trip, there's nothing I would change about it and I'm so grateful and glad that the opportunity came about in the first place!
It has opened my eyes to European parks and cities and has given me such a beneficial experience! Disney is one hell of an incredible place with the most amazing atmosphere!
Paris is a stunning city and I would LOVE to go back and take some time to look around some of the shops and see a few more of the landmarks up close.

I want to and must do it again sometime!

Cheers to everyone that has taken the time to read this rather lengthy report!