Points make Paris... TRIP REPORT COMPLETED 6/29 - Page 28 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Sunday 1 May – part thirteen: Mark has a bit of a one-sided conversation!
We headed into the park with barely any wait – one of the perks of going in so late. We made our way up Main Street, marvelling at how beautiful that and the castle looked all lit up…
I do think this is one of the most beautiful castles at any park in the world. Disneyland Paris definitely has some plus points to it, but once again, we were about to find out the downsides of this park.
We walked up towards the hub, and stopped by the information point. It wasn’t too crowded here, and we had lots of room around us with 10 minutes to go, so we figured we’d be fine here. Before the show started, a couple of people showed up and stood in front of us, and we either moved to one side, if we could, or politely asked them to step aside, as we had kids with us, and they did. It was once the show started that we ran into real problems.
I don’t know what it is with people, but we seemed to have loads of people who decided halfway through the show that they were going to head out of the park. Ok, I get that can happen, but what do most sane people do when it’s the fireworks? You head for the pavement or, in the case of Disneyland Paris, you can also head for the arcades that run behind Main Street, but this lot didn’t. They seemed to think it was acceptable to literally barge their way through the watching crowd, trying to push people out of the way, or ram you with their strollers. No, I’m sorry, that is not acceptable behaviour to me, or I would imagine, most people. I said something to one woman who had rammed me with a stroller, and was about to do it again, and she just stared at me. She just didn’t get it and had no comprehension of what she was doing wrong. Honestly, from our experiences this trip, I genuinely think there are some people who should never be allowed out of their own homes, as they just don’t know how to behave in public.
Anyway, that out of the way – how was the show? It was very neat, and despite our scepticism, it did go on for the 20 minutes that the Cast Member had earlier told Tom it would last for. There weren’t that many fireworks, although there was a lot of illumination and special effects on the castle to make up for it, and there’s no doubt it’s a very well constructed show, featuring lots of much loved films along the way. I would certainly recommend it if you’re going to Disneyland Paris, but to me, it doesn’t come close to Wishes or Disneyland Foreverin Disneyland California. Still, it’s worth a viewing all the same.
One other thing I will say is that most of these shots had to be shot by hand with my camera above my head. Why? Because you can probably see in some shots that everyone else had their phones held up. It’s one of the most annoying things these days at shows, and I can see why Disney Cruise Line banned photos. It’s such a shame people can’t just pay for a decent camera, and do their shots through a viewfinder. That would make everyone’s lives so much nicer.
Once it was done, of course just about every single person in the park was heading for the exit, so we made our way across to the Liberty Arcade. Sara made me laugh when she said “that was a really good idea”. I just turned around to her and said “I have been here a few times and have learnt a few tricks on the way.”
We were going to walk out of the park with them, but on the way, I found a shop selling outfits for Duffy the bear. I had seen these before, but I figured other places would be selling them too, but I hadn’t found anywhere, and I really wanted to go some new costumes for my cow May. I liked the Olaf outfit, so I got that, and when I went inside, I also found a Marie outfit, along with a Tinkerbell one, which both seemed perfect for a little girl cow.
When we walked in though, I got the shock of my life, as I was greeted by this – a massive Duffy bear whose head moved from side to side.
Mark even tried to have a conversation with him, but it was a bit one sided!
Purchases made, we headed back to the hotel, very glad that we were staying here and literally had a two minute walk from the park exit. As soon as we entered the hotel, I turned round to Mark and said we’d take the stairs, as there was a massive line for the elevators, so we set off the way I’d seen them previously, and made our way up that way. It’s like going backstage with the lack of theming here.
Once we got back to the room, neither of us lasted much longer, as it was fast approaching 11:00pm, and we had breakfast booked for 8:00am the next day, so it would be another long day…
The weather today was sunny, albeit a little cold for much of the day with the wind, but with temperatures reaching The best thing today was enjoying the parks with Mark’s family. The worst thing today was the appalling behaviour we witnessed from people at the first spot we staked out for the parade. The funniest thing today was Mr. Tom from England, who’d escaped from space prison! Today we tried watching Disney Dreams And the result was it was worth staying up for! The most magical moment today was seeing Eeyore!
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Very cool photos of the castle projections!
Too bad you encountered so many rude people. It's a shame that some people just don't know how to respect others.
Looks like a neat show. Sorry it was marred by rudeness.
Funny, when I saw the teaser yesterday about a one sided conversation, I assumed one of Mark's nieces fell asleep during the fireworks. I never suspected a gigantic Duffy!
Rudeness strikes again. But - during the show?! That's odd. How did these people not realize there was a show going on? Seems like common sense. Ugh.
Nice shopping in the store. I imagine Mark's conversation was pretty deep stuff.
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Very cool photos of the castle projections!
Too bad you encountered so many rude people. It's a shame that some people just don't know how to respect others.
Looks like a neat show. Sorry it was marred by rudeness.
Funny, when I saw the teaser yesterday about a one sided conversation, I assumed one of Mark's nieces fell asleep during the fireworks. I never suspected a gigantic Duffy!
It was an exceptionally surreal moment and a bit shocking to see him at first - not what you expect to see when you walk into a shop!
Ugh - more rude people! The photos from the show were great! The pictures in the evening on Main Street - was the sky really that shade of blue?? It was SO pretty - it almost didn't even look real!
Ugh - more rude people! The photos from the show were great! The pictures in the evening on Main Street - was the sky really that shade of blue?? It was SO pretty - it almost didn't even look real!
I had to show DD the photos of the parade with the Queen of Hearts and the card soldiers as she loves anything to do with Alice in Wonderland.
The buffet at dinner looked amazing and you really had great character shots, especially with Eeyore! Loved the photos of the castle during the show, can't wait to see it myself.
I had to show DD the photos of the parade with the Queen of Hearts and the card soldiers as she loves anything to do with Alice in Wonderland.
Oh my goodness, she would love Alice's Curious Labyrinth then, that's so much fun. We didn't do it this time, but I know I have photos of it from previous trips...
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The buffet at dinner looked amazing and you really had great character shots, especially with Eeyore! Loved the photos of the castle during the show, can't wait to see it myself.
Monday 2 May – part one: who just tried to hurt my donkey?
I first woke up about 5:00am, panicking that it might be a lot later than that, given we hadn’t set any alarm clock. I would use my cell phone, but I wasn’t 100% sure which time zone it was operating on, given it’s been constantly displaying two since we’ve been over here…
After discovering what time it was, I crawled back to bed and slept for another hour and a bit, before getting up again to check the time, and deciding perhaps I should get up after all. I caught up on some of the trip report, and we both got going, ready for our meeting with the others over at their hotel.
We weren’t quite sure where and when we were meeting them. We had agreed that we’d meet at the hotel, and we knew breakfast was at 8:00am, so we suggested we’d be there at 7:50am, and luckily apparently that’s exactly the time the rest of them had already agreed to meet. Don’t you just love it when you’re all on the same sheet?
We got there, and found them straightaway, and we headed out towards the Disney Village. We cleared security easily enough, although it wouldn’t be the same story a bit later on…
As you can see from the photos, it was a beautiful day, and a lot milder today, as the wind wasn’t as fierce as the last couple of days. I was literally in my T-shirt and my light long sleeved top that I bought last night, and that was it. It was probably in the high 30s, but with no wind and a lot of sun, it felt warmer than that.
We all wondered how long it would take Daisy to twig what was going on, as she had no idea that we were going to do the character breakfast at Café Mickey for her birthday. I did think she’d find it a bit weird that we’d shown up at their hotel, after not having done so the last two mornings, but she didn’t bat an eyelid at all.
Barb headed inside Café Mickey, and Daisy and Evie just followed her. Again, no reaction whatsoever from her. What was going on? We were starting to get worried that perhaps she’d worked it out already, but no, it apparently just hadn’t registered at all. When we went up and said we had a reservation, Daisy finally twigged and this was the reaction!
We headed in, and had been given a tiny round table, with three chairs on the other side. We were going to put the kids in the chairs, so it would be easier for the characters to get to them, but suddenly we realised that meant five adults would have to squeeze round the other side. that’s not going to happen! It just wasn’t nearly big enough, so we asked for another table, and thankfully they pushed a couple of tables together, and finally we had enough space.
There was no sign of any characters when we first arrived, so we all headed up to sample the buffet. We quickly came to the conclusion that the food here was the same as at both of our hotels, as all the meat eaters were complaining about how spicy (and I think quite disgusting, judging by how many people left them…) the sausages were, and apparently it was the same in both hotels. I have to say the selection was probably either exactly the same as in our hotel, or possibly slightly less food wise…
But then again, you don’t exactly come here for the food. You come for the characters, and they must’ve appeared about 15 minutes after we were seated. I quickly realised the reason we were given two times, of 8:00am or 9:30am is because they must do two seatings here, which makes more sense, as everyone sits at the same time, and then you can ensure the characters rotate accordingly and get around every table.
When they came out, I couldn’t believe my eyes, as a little grey donkey once again put in a starring appearance! It was obviously my lucky day!
I did let Daisy have some time with my buddy, as I can share… sometimes…
Then it was my turn! I really was blown away by the fact that I got to see him a second time – I was so not expecting that. It’s lovely to see Disneyland Paris putting Eeyore to such good use, especially given how appallingly he’s been treated at Walt Disney World. I mean, where can you find him in the parks these days? The only place I know that I’m now guaranteed a donkey sighting is at the Crystal Palace. At least they still love you here buddy…
Even Sara got in on the action at one point…
As I was standing there, getting the last of my photos with Eeyore, I heard a thud and felt something hit Eeyore’s back. I instinctively looked around to see who was attempting to hurt my donkey, and was a bit shocked to find out it was a mouse of the Mickey variety! Oh boy… when he came over, I chastised him for behaving that way with Eeyore and ensured he apologised… you see, I know how to look after my donkey buddy!
We explained to Mickey that it was Daisy’s birthday today and he definitely got into the birthday spirit, trying to count her age on his hands!
How exciting to see Eeyore again! Good that you were there to set Mickey straight when he was attacking poor Eeyore! The pictures of him counting out Daisy's age with her are so cute!
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We made our way up Main Street, marvelling at how beautiful that and the castle looked all lit up… 
Disneyland Paris definitely has some plus points to it, but once again, we were about to find out the downsides of this park. 
this lot didn’t. They seemed to think it was acceptable to literally barge their way through the watching crowd, trying to push people out of the way, or ram you with their strollers. No, I’m sorry, that is not acceptable behaviour to me, or I would imagine, most people. I said something to one woman who had rammed me with a stroller, and was about to do it again, and she just stared at me. She just didn’t get it and had no comprehension of what she was doing wrong. 
Honestly, from our experiences this trip, I genuinely think there are some people who should never be allowed out of their own homes, as they just don’t know how to behave in public. 
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It's a shame that some people just don't know how to respect others.
Alaskan Mom aka Bonnie
We were starting to get worried that perhaps she’d worked it out already, but no, it apparently just hadn’t registered at all. When we went up and said we had a reservation, Daisy finally twigged and this was the reaction! 
that’s not going to happen! 
I really was blown away by the fact that I got to see him a second time – I was so not expecting that. 
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