A French Disney home for the holidays…. COMPLETED - Page 12 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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The buffet looked delicious! But I get it - sometimes it's best to just stick with what you know.
What fun with the characters! Eeyore!
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Tanya
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The Ratatouille ride looks like a lot of fun! DLP looks so beautiful all lit up at night and especially with the Christmas decorations. Like you said, the entrance to Disneyland Park is quite spectacular.
Some nice photos from within your hotel. The buffet selections look quite good and glad you had a good time with the characters and especially Eeyore!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
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The Ratatouille ride looks like a lot of fun! DLP looks so beautiful all lit up at night and especially with the Christmas decorations. Like you said, the entrance to Disneyland Park is quite spectacular.
Some nice photos from within your hotel. The buffet selections look quite good and glad you had a good time with the characters and especially Eeyore!
Thursday 13 November – part twelve: Eeyore adopts us!
Now here’s where the problems started. We’d already had Chip and Dale round once, and they did most of the room, but missed us out. Instead of picking up where they left off, we just didn’t see them again. When they did return, they started to do the parts of the rooms which they’d already visited, so we asked whether they’d come and see us, and the Cast Members confirmed they would, but this wouldn’t be the last time we’d have a conversation along these lines.
Captain Hook turned up shortly afterwards, and I was really looking forward to seeing him interact with Mark, as he always has a ball with him. Well, guess what? He circulated around about half of the room, not including our half (surprise, surprise) then they went on their break. Of course, he then didn’t return.
I had a word with one of the character handlers, and explained that we hadn’t seen Captain Hook or Pluto, as we knew he was doing the rounds, and he looked really surprised and told me they’d been in this room. but not in this section. He told me he’d sort something out. Ok…
The next thing we knew, a bundle of grey fur has arrived back in the room, and again he started to circulate around the outside. Ok, so I’ve already seen you, but I’m not giving up my chance for a second meet and greet with you!
We managed to catch his attention, although I do wonder whether he was heading our way next anyway. Remember, I’d asked our server about Eeyore, and he’d made sure he came over to see us. I wonder whether, after complaining about Chip and Dale, Captain Hook and Pluto not seeing us, someone had words and figured if they sent Eeyore my way, I’d be happy… well and Of course I’m anxious to see my donkey boy again, as I haven’t seen him since last November (I know, a whole year but of course my donkey doesn’t have sea legs, so he doesn’t cruise – one of the down sides of cruising for me ), but it certainly didn’t get them off the hook for the other characters…
However, we did the most amazing time with him. As well as getting a couple of photos for starters, Eeyore seemed to decide to adopt us, which is what makes me think he was sent over to us. He sat himself down at our table….
He was flapping his ears at me (obviously a sign of love, don’t you know? ) and kept taking me hand and giving me hugs and kisses.
Then I got a photo of my two favourite boys…
… and Lauren, our new-found friend, got a photo of the three of us together..
All in all, he must’ve been with us for about five minutes, and during that time, he showed no interest in anyone else. It was a truly magical experience.
Not long after Eeyore finally departed, and interestingly, he left after seeing us, another reason I think he was sent out to see us, Captain Hook arrived. Now I could tell from the body language of him with his handler that he was told we hadn’t seen him, so did he make a beeline for us? Did he heck! He set off around the exterior of the room again. We figured that he’d head to see us last, but he left the room.
That was it – that was so happening to us again. I immediately headed over to find a character handler, and I bagged myself one. Very politely, I explained this was twice now that Hook had managed to miss us, and we really wanted to see him. Well, Hook was standing right by us. The handler did no more than grab him and tell him off for missing us out and said that he was to “follow that woman”, so I marched back to our table, with one Captain Hook in tow, much to Mark (and Lauren’s) delight. Don’t mess with me – I’m telling you! Don’t get me wrong, the food had been great, but at the end of the day, we paid a lot of money for it (€55 each or $69) and I wanted to see all the characters for that price, and by goodness, I was going to as well!
Well, let’s just say that Mark certainly made the best of the opportunity with Captain Hook. As soon as he arrived, he started taunting him saying “tic toc”, which as you can imagine, didn’t exactly go down great. It was a superb interaction, a lot of fun, and well worth me ensuring he got dragged over here so that we could enjoy it.
Now in some of these photos, you might be able to see a woman standing behind Mark. That’s because she was basically trying to get her two kids to push in to see Captain Hook. Well, I think by now the Cast Members had got the message that I wasn’t to be messed with, because you may also see a Cast Member in shot, and he was ensuring they were kept away, which is good to see. Sadly, this is something Disneyland Paris often falls down on.
With that, we got the cheque, which came to €126 ($158), including drinks. I paid up, and we headed out, saying goodbye to Lauren. I hope she got to see Pluto eventually, but to be honest, it was now 9:50pm, and we’d been there over two hours, and I wasn’t going to stay any longer, as we were both starting to get tired. That long to see all the characters really is insane, and much as I adored the character interaction we did get during our meal, it shouldn’t have taken me to say something to Cast Members so many times. They need to get their circulation sorted out at meals, and ensure that they don’t miss anyone out, as you’re paying a lot of money, and everyone should have the option of getting the full experience.
As for the food, everything I had was superb, and I really couldn’t fault it, although I have no doubt that I really didn’t get my money’s worth here, given all I ate were (admittedly a lot of…) prawns, cheese, and desserts. Still, I was happy and that was the main thing, and Mark certainly sampled a lot of the entrees, and I heard no grumbles from him.
Inventions
Appetiser 9½ 9
Entrée N/A 8½
Dessert 9 8½
Atmosphere 10 9
Service 8½ 8½
Value for money 9 9½
Average score: 9.00
We made our way out…
… and headed back to the room. It had been a long day, but already one packed full of magic. Now if the rest of the vacation is anything like this, my goodness, it’s going to be one to remember!
The weather today was dry and sunny with temperatures in the low 50s. The best thing today was Eeyore and the Ratatouille ride! The worst thing today was the amount of times I had to speak to Cast Members about characters not coming to see us at dinner. The funniest thing today was Mark with Captain Hook! Today we tried the Ratatouille ride And the result was it was just amazing! The most magical moment today was my time at dinner with Eeyore.
I can understand your frustration with the characters, Chez. Unfortunately, DLP doesn't seem to handle this as well as WDW does. And people over here just don't understand what "wait your turn" means sometimes Geez. I think the problem is that most "non-Disney-addicts" don't understand that adults may want to enjoy some character interaction as well, not just kids.
I can understand your frustration with the characters, Chez. Unfortunately, DLP doesn't seem to handle this as well as WDW does. And people over here just don't understand what "wait your turn" means sometimes Geez. I think the problem is that most "non-Disney-addicts" don't understand that adults may want to enjoy some character interaction as well, not just kids.
I know. What I don't get is given that the Brits are the biggest visitors to DLP (as I understand it anyway), why they don't do something about this, as nothing is going to annoy British holidaymakers than people cutting in line or there not being a proper line. We keep hoping that with Disney taking more of an interest in the park financially that maybe things like that will be addressed to bring it more in line with the ethos of the American parks....
Great pictures from your dinner! I'm glad Hook finally made it round after you spoke to them! That was definitely pricy, but sounds like a great time in the end!
I will say that I didn’t have the best night’s sleep last night. It took me forever to go to sleep, which is really unusual for me, especially given that I take tablets to help me sleep with my chronic fatigue. I know we went to bed around 11:00pm, which is late for us, but then again, France is an hour ahead of the UK when it comes to time, so that actually is about our usual bedtime – 10:00pm. I heard a family crash in, well I don’t know when, but I’d guess after midnight, and my goodness, they really did crash in. I think they were quite a way down the corridor, as when I heard the door slam, it seemed quite far away, but I could certainly hear them clearly from our room.
Eventually, I must’ve gone to sleep, and I guess it must’ve been late, as the first thing I knew today, it was 9:00am, which is really late for us to sleep in. I got up, and got going, and headed down to the lobby to get my first set of eye drops for the day. There was a line at concierge, so as all I was asking for was my drops, I asked at the luggage desk if they could get them for me, and they could, so that sorted, it was back to the room.
We set off to breakfast shortly afterwards, and it was nice to be able to see the views from the walkway over to the park for the first time in the daylight. By now, it was about 9:35am, and there were already quite a few people lining up for the parks, which were due to open at 10:00am today.
We headed into Inventions, and were seated at a table that definitely had a fantastic view.
A Cast Member asked if we wanted tea, coffee or chocolate, and it was at that moment I realised that I’d left the tea bags in the room. Oh well, I’m sure they’ve got something decent on the table. Oh how wrong you can be! There was nothing I liked the sound of, so I told Mark, who’d already headed up to the buffet that I was going back to the room to get the teabags. Well, that was certainly a workout, but worth it for a nice cup of PG Tips.
Once I’d done my workout, I headed up to the buffet, and there was a really good selection…
I ended up sticking with the melon, which was just as good as when I get it in Florida, and bearing in mind how good it is there, that’s high praise in deed, and the croissants which were just deliciously light. All in all, it was a good spread, and something that Disneyland Paris definitely does better than the resorts in the States – including your breakfast in with the price of your room.
Tummies all satisfied, we headed back to the room, and I saw this on the way back…
This is actually for sale – and here’s the price!
We eventually headed out to the parks at around 10:30am, with me picking up my eye drops on the way. We were waiting at concierge, and there was a line there, and at baggage, where I’d been going, so I asked a Cast Member who was walking around plumping up cushions on the chairs in the lobby if she could help me. She basically told me and pointed me back towards the concierge desk. So much for Disney magic!
We headed outside, and had to get our waterproofs on, as it was now raining. It’s fair enough, as that’s what the forecast had said all along, but it had certainly been nice and dry earlier, and now it wasn’t. The rain was still light, but it was definitely persistent. Unfortunately, as a result, some of the photos in this selection do have rain dots on them, shall we say?
Even though it was interuppted, your sleeping late sure sounded like a good thing.
That does look like a fantastic breakfast - and included in the rate too. Very nice!
How annoying with the eye drops and concierge though.
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Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
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Like you said, the entrance to Disneyland Park is quite spectacular. 
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but not in this section. He told me he’d sort something out. Ok… 
), but it certainly didn’t get them off the hook for the other characters… 
He set off around the exterior of the room again. We figured that he’d head to see us last, but 
Sadly, this is something Disneyland Paris often falls down on. 
Geez. I think the problem is that most "non-Disney-addicts" don't understand that adults may want to enjoy some character interaction as well, not just kids.
There was nothing I liked the sound of, so I told Mark, who’d already headed up to the buffet that I was going back to the room to get the teabags. Well, that was certainly a workout, but worth it for a nice cup of PG Tips. 
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