Why the title you ask? Well all will become clear later on. If you are new here then welcome to the Vint-age blog where I will be discussing the good, bad, food and characters from my girlfriend Karen’s and my most recent trip to Disneyland Paris. This was our second trip to DLP and we had stayed a few days longer this time and of course as soon as you come home, you are looking to go again! People have their favourite holiday resort they go back to time and time again (heck the tv show Benidorm got 10 odd series out of it) and I’ve seen a lot of Disney pals go back time and time again! Its what people buy annual passes are for aren’t they? Anyway enough rambling. Let’s start off with the Bad. Now let me make this clear, that there was certain things out of our control so I’m just listing them here!
First off, was the weather. We were very very lucky to see the Frozen 2 An enchanted Journey parade on the Tuesday as the weather was quite sunny and it boded well for us not to get soaked as we did pretty much every other day. Thursday we got soaked and i mean soaked. We had to hang our trousers up to dry and pretty much every evening was horrible so we never got a chance to do the illuminations. We were pretty knackered by the evening time anyways and were fine with it. Would rather enjoy our time there and have a nice rest when you can. Also if you’re going here during the winter months, get an umbrella. I got mine from Poundland and it was superb!! Was able to bin it afterwards and so happy i brought one with me!
Second up is the collapse of Flybe! Again this was something out of our control and when it collapsed late Wednesday night, I was in Disneyland Paris and had to try and book a flight home for the Saturday. Luckily I managed to get a Premier Inn hotel near Heathrow Airport and a flight home a bit later than originally planned. Also managed to cancel my original hotel and not get charged for that which was good. I have like many other claimed my money back. I am thankful that this happened after I got to my destination rather than after it! We didn’t let this affect our holiday and got on with things as I had stuff booked for when we got back so that was alright.
Whilst the Cheyenne is a lovely hotel, so near the park with the help of the shuttle buses and it taking a few minutes to get there, they really need to sort a few things out. First off is the curtains. Get curtains that don’t let in any light. Was so hard to try and pull the curtains, position them to cover the windows. Oh and the bed was much worse than last time. You turned over and it creeked, then the duvet would go off you as it was like the towels, not made for you! That’s the only gripes about the hotel as its very nice and love the western theme outside and the Toy Story theme inside.
Oh and Buzz Lightyear laser blast was closed so that really ticked me off. I love that ride and missed it a lot!
Lastly the thing I would say is bad is the real lack of Frozen and Star Wars merchandise in every shop. You would think that because its the season of the force and the Frozen Celebration, there would be a lot more. Sadly the pins and tshirts/hoodies were few and far between there. Karen and I also wondered why there was no package to meet certain characters etc. Last September we did the Lion King experience package which was terrific but no such thing here for Frozen. You could have charged 99euros for a meet and greet with Olaf, a frozen inspired drink with tumbler, priority entrance to the Frozen Musical Invitation and a 15 euro voucher for example. Karen and I never saw the musical due to the queues being horrific. People were queuing about an hour/hour and a half before shows were due to start.
Ok enough with the Bad, onto the Good stuff now.
First off Karen and I both enjoyed the Frozen An Enchanted Journey Parade which we had a really got spot for. Both at the start when the float comes out and also when the stars are dancing on the podiums in the middle You can tell the kids (and big kids) enjoy singing along to the songs and seeing the parade in full flow. The songs are all the songs from Frozen 2. Even though I knew this, I was a bit surprised that Let it Go wasn’t featured since how overplayed it was when the first movie came out. The float that had Elsa’s horse Nokk at the front, had Anna sitting down with Olaf spinning around and Elsa at the very top of the float. I totally forgot that at the back of the float had Sven there who would move his head and ears and Kristoff would be talking to him as well. Really well done and I did manage to capture a few photos which I will put below. Karen did get quite emotional watching the parade and I know she was super excited to see this parade and I was too. We went to see Frozen 2 together and the music has a special meaning to us both. I have a funny feeling that Anna points to Karen and acknowledges her ears that she got so many compliments from throughout our stay.
The Star Wars show – Legends of a Galaxy Far, Far away was terrific. I managed to see it in English while Karen was waiting for Crush’s Coaster (more on that later) and then a day or two later we saw it in French when we met Chewbacca! The amount that is covered in the Star Wars show was terrific, from C3-P0 with R2-D2 to Rey with BB-8 and also Kylo Ren with Captain Phasma. I had a pretty good view for this and took some photos which I will do post below. The music really adds to it and I always find the John Williams soundtrack always gets me as I have so many happy memories of Star Wars watching it with my father and I think its only a matter of time before we see The Mandalorian as a meet and greet sometime down the line due to the popularity of the series.
I have uploaded some of the video highlights from Frozen An enchanted Journey Parade and the Legends of a galaxy far, far away incase you are interested to watch,
then you can click here!
Another good thing was the pin trading! Karen and I are new to pin trading but so many groups and a friend Victoria, were posting where the trading post was each day. We did manage to do it a few times but were unaware it was only 2 per person. Oops! The guy running it was funny but you could tell that he took this position seriously. I did head to Pueblo trading post which was near big thunder mountain. It is only open at the weekend and seems to have some pins there that you cannot find in the other shops in the park. There was a Frozen 2 group pin which we only saw in that shop as well. Did pick up a good few things such as the Pin Trading Folder and my wonderful girlfriend Karen gifted me one as well so one is near full and I have one to get to work on. Pin trading with people’s lanyards you find some are more picky than others. I did get refused on a few but it didn’t put me off doing this. I came home with a lot of pins I had bought and traded for as well! You can see below what I came back with!
Karen and I always travel across to DLP via the Eurostar and this again was very handy to do. This time we upgraded our seats to the Premier seats and had a little table in front of us. We were well looked after and the journey was pleasant and very speedy. Didn’t notice the time going in and we also booked Disney Express. This ensures that on the train you are given your passes for the parks with all your meal plans loaded onto it and given your photo pass token if you have paid for one. This also means that you can go to the Disney Express kiosk at the top of the station and your suitcases are taken to your hotel. This was super handy for us as we didn’t need to go and check in straight away. We went to the park for a few hours, had dinner in Inventions (more on that shortly) and then headed to the hotel. After the long wait last time (an hour and a half i believe) before we checked in, this time we walked straight up and got checked in and got a kettle for the room as I brought tea bags and lattes for the room.
Last up is Cafe Fantasia, which is in the Disneyland Hotel. This was on Karen’s list of things to do and she became addicted to the Olaf Hot Chocolate. It did taste nice but not something I would have drank. I did have a non alcoholic cocktail the first time we were there and it was ok, however the second time I had some pineapple juice which was lovely! Its a really lovely intimate setting with a few tables inside, we always went for the table near the window which gave us a lovely view outside. Some people prefer to sit outside as you can then sometimes see the characters coming through the hotel to go to Inventions. See the photos below of the cafe and the items we had to drink. If you are wanting to get out of the rain and want a reason to go to the Disneyland Hotel, I would highly recommend this. One thing to say is expect to pay a few extra euros for your drink because of the setting. This didn’t put us off going as we loved the quiet!
Ok let us more from the good to the food. One of the traditions that Karen and I have when going to Disneyland Paris is going to Inventions on our first night. This for people who aren’t aware is a buffet in the Disneyland Hotel, right across from Cafe Fantasia. We had a reservation for 6.15 and joined the queue slightly before 6 and the queue behind us seem to grow and grow! We were then put into the right hand room as you walk in and there was only us there! It made for a lovely setting as in a way we had the characters all to ourselves! Minnie took a while to arrive but we had great interaction with every character. Goofy tried to hide under the table and managed to get his trouser leg caught up on his shoe! Was something funny! Minnie noticed my Mickey Mouse hoodie and the Mickey Mouse phone cover I had. I guess it had to be a woman to be a bit more observant than Mickey! I was thrilled when we went in and sat down and heard the footsteps and it was only Donald Duck! As many of you know, Donald is my favourite Disney character and getting to have a chat with him before we even started our food was brilliant! All the characters give you a bit of time before they move on and if you are in two minds between Inventions and the character breakfast, I would highly recommend Inventions due to the time they give you. Much as I love the character Breakfast, it is a tad rushed for adults so they get some time with the kids which makes sense but hey, we are all kids at heart right? The food was good but not as great as last time in our opinion. Seemed to be a lack of meat variety, however the steak was nice as well as the sausage and ham slices. We used one of our meals from our meal plan and ended up paying 50euros extra as we had a few drinks and Karen had tea as well. Certainly something we always look forward to on every trip!
Next up we had two character breakfasts, one with the Princesses and one with the characters! We briefly discuss the characters one. The breakfast is in Plaza Gardens and again its a buffet breakfast. I grabbed a few waffles with maple syrup which was lovely and Karen got some bacon, french toast and a crossiant. The beautiful thing of the buffet is you can have as much or as little as you would like. Generally you get 5 characters and we met 3 as we had already met Tigger the night before and Eeyore the previous trip and Karen had a fast pass for Big Thunder Mountain which she was eager to go on again! We met Mickey and Scrooge McDuck who we had met the previous trip but a new one to us was Daisy Duck. She was brilliant. I said that I loved how sassy she was and she pretended to flick her hair back and strutted off. I really enjoyed the meet with her as did Karen.
Next up was a first for us which was the Princess Breakfast in Auberge de Cendrillion. You go in and check in and wait until you are called and then seated. Certainly a system that Plaza Gardens could do with as that is pretty much a free for all! You had a set menu to eat from and had some venison sausage I believe, a mickey waffle and an assortment of items given in a little glass. This for us was the best and inexpensive way to meet some of the princesses as the wait times in the Princess Pavillion can top about 2 hours. We had finished our breakfast and the princesses came round and talked to us. Was lovely to meet and talk to them. Aurora would have been my favourite from the 3 of them even though they were all lovely. You are asked if you have any allergies but can remove things from your breakfast like we did with the eggs if you so desire to.
We did eat in a few other places such for dinner such as Plaza Gardens, Chuck Wagon cafe (right near the hotel), Annettes which had some amazing burgers but the service in there was quite slow. We also had some lunch at Cafe Hyperion, Casey’s Corner and the sports bar in disney village which does a mean beef hot dog! The last place that I am going to talk about is Bistro Chez Remy. This was something that as soon as we had booked the dining plan we thought we would do. This was something I had seen in vlogs and was really keen to do it and it really did not disappoint either Karen or I. They take you to your table and because we had a booking it was pretty much straight away. the tiles on the floor go from small to big and you can see about the decor yourself how well imagined it is. We went for the soup and the steak. The soup (my god the bread was tremendous) and our waitress Siham was an absolute star. She even swapped the soup for the salad for Karen at no extra charge. I have never had this at any restaurant I have been in. We then got our steak with the chef sauce, which was like a mushroom kind of sauce and it wasn’t bad. Maybe if they have some kind of gravy sauce would have been great for me as I love my gravy. The steak was delicious and this for us was the meal of our trip. Karen even had a glass of wine and after we took the amount off from our meal plan there was maybe 18 euros left to pay which was most reasonable. I also mentioned to Siham’s management team about how attentive and how good a server she was. Oh and one last thing. If you go here, make sure to ask to get a napkin signed. As you can see, makes for a nice memento of your experience in there and I am positive that we will be dining in there again!
Ok so last up is the characters. I am not a big roller coaster person before you ask about where all that is but I can tell you that Karen fell in love with Big Thunder Mountain, thought Indiana Jones (the ride) was too short, Crush’s Coaster was nuts and always enjoys Hyperspace Mountain! We had a photopass so I will put Karen’s photos from her rides here. She was a bit annoyed that you can’t really see her in the first Big Thunder Mountain ride but you sure can in the second one!
Star Tours was good for me even though I thought I had lost my wallet…that had aged me 10 years but anyway, enough about that and lets talk about the characters we met.
I have still got a 100% success rate on Lineberty! I managed to get us Mickey, Olaf and Vampire Stitch (twice). The Lineberty app only works when you are on disney property and I always seem to hit it well round the exit of Hyperspace Mountain. This app is like a virtual queue system and notifies you of when it is near your turn and then when it is your turn. Its a very handy app and managed to get Woody and Buzz last year with it and I thought that Olaf would be the most difficult so I tried for him on the Monday knowing if I didn’t get him, I would have other days to do that! The reason we did Vampire Stitch twice was because our photos from the first time never appeared on the photopass. First up we will cover Olaf since he was our priority to meet. You went into the animation hall to meet him and went over to the lineberty cast members, showed them your number and they let you in. Kids of course were trying to join but were not allowed as the Lineberty meet and greets are only done through the app. I let Karen go first and Olaf loved her ears made by queen ursula uk and they had some nice photos together, I then got a warm hug from the snowman and then we had some photos together. The photopass photographer really captures the moment as you can see from some of the photos from our Olaf meet. Was a nice one to get done so early and was pleased that we got to meet everyone’s favourite snowman!
Next up we while go for Vampire Stitch. Before we went there was a Phantom Manor Mickey meet which we were both quite eager to do but when it changed to Vampire Stitch, we were fine with that as we had not met Stitch before. So meeting him twice was good fun and hes quite a cheeky character. He even said I was number 1 as he loved my impression of him and said to Karen to do it but sadly she can’t. He is very interactive with people and even took some kids Captain America shield which was funny! I think at the time of writing, this is the only way to meet Stitch in any way so it is handy and right beside phantom manor too!
Last up from Lineberty was the main mouse himself – Mickey Mouse. This was labelled as WDS character when i booked through Lineberty and when we showed up it was Mickey Mouse. We wanted to meet Mickey but at his normal meeting point, its normally one hour wait or so for him and this made it so much easier to meet him and get the meet done very quickly. We had a lineberty ticket for him the day before but had to cancel it as it clashed with something else but I explained to Mickey that we had to cancel it and he was glad we came back the next day to meet him. It is in the same spot where Buzz normally meets through Lineberty so we knew where to go to. Photopass photographer again did a great job as you can see here
Ok we will go on from one mouse to another, Mickey to Minnie Mouse. However Minnie was in her splendid cowgirl outfit. Thankfully we chose a day were the sun was out and that way she was in the outfit as we noticed if it was raining heavy, she was wearing her normal outfit. The guy had my phone to take some photos and my god he took a ton of photos. Don’t worry I am not going to post them all here but just a select few. Was really happy to meet her and the cowgirl outfit is very bright and colourful as you can see from the photos. Im also going to pop the Genie photos in here too. Karen is a huge Aladdin fan and wanted to meet the Genie for some time. He was good and the lady took a few photos for us. Right place at the right time and slightly before we met him, the heavens opened and we waited 5 minutes and got to meet him!
Next up is the Star Wars duo of Darth Vader and Chewbacca. We will go for Chewbacca first as he was a new meet for Karen and I. We did queue up for him one day but the queue didn’t seem to move so we went back another day. I would say that this is the longest queue we had been in to meet a character and was hoping that Rey would be with him but sadly she wasn’t. For some reason I thought it would be a photopass meet but it wasn’t. We still managed to get some amazing photos. One of which was when I said to Chewbacca that he had more hair than I did and then he put his hand on my head. Think I would suit a chewie styled wig. Darth Vader was another fun meet and I always find him very intimidating and the meet is just superb. Saying about my loyal service to the empire and I kept staring at him and he said it was “impressive”. We only had to wait about 10 minutes for him and the time flew by. Thing is that you are under cover so it kept us dry. Very happy to get the two Star Wars characters done!
Last characters we met where two on my list and they were Chip N Dale. We had queued for them one day but it was going to clash with meeting Stitch so we went back on Friday and again when we queued it was fine then after we met them, the heavens opened. These guys where very cheeky again. Chip said he was keeping his eyes on Dale as Dale is the worst behaved out of the two of them! They were great fun to meet and I was glad we rounded off the trip meeting these two cheeky chipmunks. This was a photopass meet so have some great photos which you can see here!
Lastly if I was to offer you one piece of advice is to say, wear comfortable shoes!! We did 38 miles in 6 days which is just over 6 miles a day! Even though I am home a few days, it is taking a few days to recover from all the walking. I wore waterproof memory foam skechers which were super comfortable and not once did my feet get wet! It certainly burns off the calories and makes sure you sleep at night with all the walking! The picture below goes from Sunday to Friday!! oh and a marathon is only 26 miles so we did a marathon and half in a way!
Thank you so much for reading my blog. Karen and I had the best week together and did so much stuff but I assure you that we are already looking to go back next year to what is becoming our home away from home!
Thought I would end the blog with some pictures of the castle and again thanks for reading and I have a few ideas for the next Disney blog! Enjoy whatever magic you have planned and until next time
The vint-age blog 