Bonne anniversaire a Disneyland Paris COMPLETE - Page 14 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
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We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
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If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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During the warmer months, the stage is used for the Tarzan Encounter show. It's got lots of artistry in it. I assume they don't have the show in the winter because the artists would be too cold - they only wear those tight leotards.
Thanks, Sabine! Too bad Andrew will be there in March.
Your nightime photos are beautiful, I love all the holiday decor. So glad you could enjoy a double ride on Pirates and find success on the retal side, too.
danielle
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~Shoot for the moon, if you miss, you will land among the stars~
Sunday 21 December – part one: how long are we going to stand in line today?
OK, my real birthday today, which meant it started with opening my cards, then we just took it slowly, finally leaving the room just after 10.00, which was perfect timing, as that was when the Val d’Europe shopping centre opposite opened, so we took every thing down to the car and then went to check out. When we saw the huge line, that was it, we decided to go straight to Val d’Europe in the hope that it would be quieter when we got back.
I quickly found a Disney shop in there, with a lot of the same merchandise from the parks and I found a new 15th anniversary fridge magnet, so I got one, but I was treated to one of the most painful lines ever. The woman in front of me kept picking new things that she wanted to buy and the Cast Member was wrapping everything individually. Nice, but it did mean a long wait.
A traditional French patisserie store
We quickly found Auchan hypermarket, which is why we had come here. I had a request from my mum on behalf of my dad to get him some of the wine that he likes. After a bit of looking, I asked where it was and the guy found us some that was on offer, buy two and get the third one free, so we got six. Armed with those, it was back to the hotel. The lines to check out were no better when we got there, so I got in line, while Mark took the stuff down to the car. When he came back, he joined the other line and his was faster, but there wasn’t much in it and the wait was 25 minutes in total. Crazy.
The hotel lobby – well, I had long enough to take photos of it!
Finally, we were set and had paid our parking (we weren’t going to stand in line a second time to do that) and headed out. It was over to the Val d’Europe centre again and here we could see where everyone was. It hadn’t seemed that busy inside, but the car park certainly was. We found a spot and walked over to the La Vallee outlet centre. We made the mistake of taking a photo of it from the car park and were told by security that no photos were allowed inside. They even have signs saying that. How pompous can you get?
It was a nice place, but obviously I can’t show you any photos. Having said it was nice, it was way out of our price league, with designer stores. Not the way the pound it right now against the Euro. :
We walked through and over to a flower place, which was nice enough, but again no photos and again it was very expensive. They were asking €10 for poinsettias and I can get those at home for half the price.
We walked back to the car and just about managed to get out of there in one piece, after some fool saw us going and made it clear that he wanted our space. He pulled up and practically stopped us getting out of our space. Very clever idiot. I quickly introduced him to some English sign language. I don’t know if he knew it before, but I’m sure he got the idea.
We drove over to the Newport Bay Club, where we were having lunch with Sabine and Manuel. However, our plan to park at the hotel backfired. Unlike Walt Disney World, where they will let you in if you’re having lunch at a hotel, they don’t do that here. You can only park at a hotel if you’re staying there, which seemed nuts to us. Basically, when they built these hotels, they didn’t build big enough car parks to go with them – at least that was our conclusion, as they were full. I guess the fact that there’s a nice multi-storey just down the road that they can make you pay for parking is also part of the reason that they won’t let you park here.
So it was back to the parking at the Disney Village and then we walked back to the hotel. Not great. Instead of walking back through the Disney Village, which we figured would be longer, we walked back up the road we had just driven along, and were finally there in about 10 minutes.
The Disney parking structure with Tower of Terror behind The entrance to the Newport Bay Club
We had agreed to meet at check in by the model of the Disney Magic, but couldn’t see Sabine and Manuel anywhere. The place was crazy again, with lots of people checking in and out, obviously a popular thing to do on a Sunday. We finally decided to go and find the Cape Cod restaurant, where we’d be eating lunch, so I left Mark down there and headed back to check-in, but I still couldn’t see them.
The lounge by the lobby
Check-in
Christmas tree in the check-in area
The stairs leading down to the restaurants
In the end, I texted them to say that we’d be outside the restaurant entrance and, just as I got back to Mark, he told me that he thought he’d seen them go upstairs and, sure enough, they had just got my text and we met on the stars.
Lots of people to deal with that morning, wow! Those french pastries look yummy!!! How strange about parking at the hotel. But the decorations look very pretty!
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Tanya
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Sunday 21 December – part two: I can’t believe he hit the car!
We checked in and we really didn’t need a reservation here, as the place was deserted.
We had a nice, but small, table by the windows and then went to investigate the buffet offerings. As I said to Sabine, there didn’t seem to be much at first glance, as one half wasn’t being used, but actually, they had a very good choice there. I started with cold items and then moved on to the hot items, followed by dessert, then some cheese and finally an ice cream bar. It had already become a standing joke between us that Manuel eats a lot and, when we met up with them, he said that he wasn’t that hungry, as they had just had breakfast. Of course, what happens? He still eats lots!
The buffet offerings What I sampled
A word here about the service. We had the most sultry sever known to mankind. Honestly, he shot Sabine some filthy looks when she asked if we could split the bill. He was just downright rude. I don’t think we left one tip in any of our meals, as we didn’t have good service from any of our servers, which is a shame.
During the meal, we gave Sabine and Manuel their Christmas present. We had found them a Christmas snowglobe and a Lady and the Tramp Christmas ornament, as it really reminded us of them. Honestly, they are such a lovely couple and so sweet together. They have been together for a long time now, but you wouldn’t know it. They are still so affectionate towards each other.
Cape Cod:
Appetisers 8½ 8½
Main course 8 9½
Dessert 9 8½
Service 5 7
Atmosphere 8½ 8
Value for money 7 7½
Average score: 7.92
Because we had such a sultry server, we first took a group photo of the four of us using the timer setting on Mark’s camera and it didn’t come out badly. We weren’t going to ask Grumpy to take our photo, as we figured that he’d probably cut our heads off! So we headed upstairs to the check-in and found a Cast Member to take a photo of us by the Christmas tree, although he misunderstood at first and thought that we wanted him to be in it.
We decided to walk back through the Disney Village, so that we could get some photos on the way and Sabine and Manuel walked back some of the way with us.
[b]Hotel New York/b] Newport Bay Club Sequoia Lodge
It was really sad when we finally had to say goodbye to them, but at least I will see them in May for the Decade of Dreams tour and hopefully Mark will see them soon as well. I’m sure we can meet up again in Walt Disney World or at Disneyland Paris or of course you guys could always come over to visit us in England, especially with how good the Euro is doing right now.
We walked back through the rest of the Disney Village taking photos.
Outside the Christmas market, we found these neat markers in the ground for all the other Disney parks around the world, all of which we’ll have visited by April.
Then it was back into the car park. We got back to the car and found that the stupid French idiot in the space behind us had parked so far back that he had actually hit us and left it like that. Fortunately a quick examination of our car showed that there was no damage. I cannot believe how stupid someone can be. I hate to say it, but from what we saw, there’s obviously something about the French and parking, as we then saw two cars coming the wrong way towards us. Fortunately one pulled over to let us through and the other backed up, but from what we witnessed today, the French and car parks do not go well together.
We were out on the road just after 3.00 and had a very smooth ride back to Calais. I don’t think we slowed much below the speed limit the whole way back, although we did stick to it and just as well, as we saw a couple of patrols out and about.
The back end of the Disney Village The Newport Bay Club
Soon we were at the Eurotunnel terminal again. No earlier train for us, as the next one they had leaving was ours, so we went into the shops and found some good bargains in there, getting 12 bottles of wine for €30, which wasn’t bad.
We took those back to the car and then went back inside and, almost immediately, saw that we had been called to board, so we headed out. We wondered why it was such an early call, but we soon found out. Let’s just say that the British customs were taking things very seriously tonight, with some very thorough checks, which was good to see, although we were straight through with no problems.
Almost immediately after going through that, our oil warning light came on, which wasn’t what we needed to see, but the owner’s manual gave the impression that we had some time before it became critical, so we decided to head home, as it was only another 30 miles drive and we just hoped that we’d be OK. What else could we do? After all, we had no oil with us.
When it came to boarding, they were going to put us on the top again, but we asked nicely and got the bottom floor, which was great, as I did feel a little queasy on the way out. It was a very smooth ride back, although we were a few moments late leaving, probably something to do with all the strict checks being carried out.
We got back home fine with no further problems over the oil warning light. As a footnote, we put some more oil in the next morning and that was fine, so obviously the levels just got a little low.
It had been a superb birthday weekend and I’m very glad that we headed off to Disneyland Paris. It’s interesting, but every time we visit, the place does grow on me a little bit more and, let’s be honest, Disney at Christmas anywhere in the world, is magical. The next time we’ll sample Disney magic will be at our final stop on our world tour of Disney parks – Tokyo Disney during our visit to Japan in March. I can’t wait!
The weather today was dry, but cloudy, with temperatures in the 40’s. The best thing today was the buffet lunch at Cape Cod. The worst thing today was the French idiots in the car parks and having to say goodbye to Sabine and Manuel. The funniest thing today was our very sultry server. Today we tried visiting the Val d’Europe shopping centre And the result was it’s not a bad centre, although some things there are expensive. The most magical moment today was seeing Sabine and Manuel’s faces when they got their Christmas present.
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all the great photos. The park looks so beautiful at night, especially the castle.
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Pixie Dust
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Claytrgtshooter (Minnie Lor's Hubbie)
= but "hit the car" has me worried!
Fortunately a quick examination of our car showed that there was no damage. I cannot believe how stupid someone can be. I hate to say it, but from what we saw, there’s obviously something about the French and parking, as we then saw two cars coming the wrong way towards us. Fortunately one pulled over to let us through and the other backed up, but from what we witnessed today, the French and car parks do not go well together. 
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