Mummies Waiting: Trip Reports

We had an amazing time on our Disneyland Paris trip this March, lot of fun, laughter and plenty of amazing memories! We rode so many rides and spent time watching shows, every second was fantastic and we can't wait to be back. Our trip report is below, we hope you enjoy it and find it useful. Don't forget to check out our other Disney posts such as ' What to Pack - Toddlers' and ' Planning a Disney Holiday - with Toddlers!'.

Toddlers sitting in front of Disneyland Paris Castle

Disneyland Paris Holiday Details

Holiday Date: 7 March 2016 - 11 March 2016

Party: 2 Adults, 2 Infants (Aged 1 and nearly 3)

Hotel: Disney's Santa Fe

Transport: Eurostar

Extras include: Half Board Plus (Including Princess Dining) and Café Mickey Breakfast.

For our vlogs in the park, please check out our YouTube channel Mummies Waiting

Booking our package

We booked our package through Travel Magical while the '2 free nights' deal was on. (Which means whether we decided to go for 2,3 or 4 nights it would cost the same!) We paid £590 including our transport (Eurostar) and we then added express luggage, a character breakfast and the half board plus dining plan onto our booking.

Living so close this year we decided not to book a hotel for the night before in London, instead we contacted 'BRBOB' and booked our early morning train tickets for £15 an adult (saving us over £100!) because we already had the Eurostar booked.

Traveling

We got up at 6 am on Monday morning ready to travel to Disneyland Paris! We got dressed and grabbed our already packed (awaiting by the door!) bags and made our way to the train station. We boarded the 7:28 train from Ely to London Kings cross and made it there in approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes. The train at Ely was insanely busy! I had to stand balancing a buggy with one hand while holding the youngest (screaming) toddler in my arms and the other one grabbing hold of my legs all while Ryan (who had been split up from us), stood the other side of the carriage juggling all our luggage. It was a stressful 20 minutes to Cambridge and I'm still in absolute shock that no one offered us a seat! We got to Cambridge and the train cleared a lot allowing us to sit down with our stuff and the girls, from there it was plain sailing to London.

From London to France!

We got off at London and quickly grabbed a Mc Donald's from right outside. We then walked straight into the Eurostar station where we very quickly went through security. (Absolutely no queues and they were all very helpful!)

We were in!! We had 45 minutes to wait for our Eurostar which was just enough time to eat our food and have a quick toilet break!

Sitting at the Eurostar station, eating breakfast

We boarded the Eurostar relatively fast and stowed our buggy and luggage above our heads. We were off!! The journey was quick and pain-free, we only had 2 seats for the Eurostar, but no one was sitting behind us so we used them too giving us much more space.

As we arrived out the other side of the tunnel into France a Disney Cast Member came around and gave us our Disney Express Luggage labels, our form for check in, park tickets and explain what we needed to do.

Once we were off the Eurostar (which is as easy as getting off any other train!) we dropped our bags off in the express luggage area and headed for the park! (We were first off the Eurostar so we're in the park within 15 mins!) As soon as we walked outside it was snowing, it was clearly crazy March weather!!

Day 1 In The Parks! We Made It To Disney!

Monday (weather: beautiful/warm in England, freezing/snowing in Disney!)

At 1:30 we were in the park! The snow had stopped, but it was really cold, we headed straight into City Hall to sort out our disabled passes and then went outside to take in the breathtaking views. The girls had fell asleep just before getting on the Eurostar and they were still asleep for what felt like ages in the park! Me and Ryan took the opportunity to do a few shops and buy my Minnie ears and Lanyard.

Disneyland Paris castle picture main street

We started to take a walk around the park and stopped at the top of Main Street to watch Goofys garden party, Ryan woke Kairi up which was a total mistake because she was then very grumpy! It started to snow again so along with the rest of the park, we rushed into the Constellations shop (next to Buzz Light Year, which was closed our entire trip!)

Both girls were now awake so we decided to head to our first ride, which was 'it's a small world'. There was no queue for the ride, but we had to wait 15 minutes in the disabled access area (as they can only have a certain amount of people who have disabilities on at a time). It was awesome and the girls loved it!

Waiting at It's a Small World Disneyland Paris

We did a few more rides in Fantasyland including Casey Junior, Tea Cups, Snow White and Ponocchio before heading to Adventureland where we went into Aladdin, Cave of Wonders, rode Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean.

At 6 PM we had a reservation at Blue Lagoon so we went straight there after riding Pirates of the Caribbean. By the time we came out it was 8 pm and dreams was starting so we had to walk all the way around the park (and through the cast member entrance!) to get out, it was a nice walk seeing everything lit up. We beat dreams out and then did some shopping in World of Disney and other stores in the village before walking back to our hotel.

Disney's Santa Fe

We got to the Santa Fe in approximately 15 minutes and we checked in. We entered our room excited to see the 'Disney Welcome' that we had been promised (I had spoke to Disney about a small issue last year and they guaranteed a Disney welcome this time) however we walked into our room to find just that, our room. Its a nice room, the Disney's Cars theme is nice and the beds are comfy, but its very simple. There are 2 double beds, a bed side table with a phone, a dresser with a mirror and television, built in wardrobe, chair and a bathroom. Santa Fe has no tea and coffee facilities already available in their rooms. We had an awesome day and were totally knackered so we put the girls straight to sleep, set up their 'Mickey Presents' (Which is a gift left from Mickey, usually on the end of their bed, for them to find in the morning) and went to bed!

Beds at Disney's Hotel Santa Fe in Disneyland Paris

Day 2 In The Parks!

Tuesday (weather: very cold, but dry)

We were up early and ready to go, the girls found their presents from Mickey (A 'Minnie Buggy' for Naminé and a 'Be Our Guest Tea Set' for Kairi). We headed straight out and walked to the Disney Village where we had breakfast at Café Mickey.

Meeting Pluto at Café Mickey Disneyland Paris

After breakfast, we walked over to Magic Kingdom (5-minute walk) where we made the end of the Extra Magic Hours. Naminé was asleep (of course!) so we headed over to tomorrow land where Ryan rode space mountain and I grabbed a fast pass for later. Just before 10 we walked straight over to Fantasyland and queued up for princess pavilion tickets. Ryan grabbed a ticket for 12:50.

As we had a while to wait, we headed back to Discoveryland (it was 11:20 by the time we got there!) where I used my fast pass, Ryan rode Autopia with Kairi and I took some time out to Vlog and live stream!

Astro Orbitor in Discoveryland at Disneyland Paris

Once Naminé was awake, we all went on Orbitron and then walked back over to catch our reservation at princess pavilion where we met Rapunzel and got a few lovely pictures.

When we came out it was 1:20 so we headed over to studios (and Naminé was asleep again!). We entered studios and went on Slinky Dog, Ratatouille and Parachute drop before going to grab our Pause Gourmande in Studio 1.

After what felt like a quick break we went to do Cars and Parachute Drop again, I rode Crushes Coaster and we took a few pictures and went to scream in the scream canisters!

Monsters Inc Door in Walt Disney Studios at Disneyland Paris

At 5 pm we had a reservation for Bistro Chez Remy in Disneyland Paris, so we hopped onto Ratatouille just before eating our meal! When we came out we frustratingly lost one of Naminés shoes :/ and it didn't turn up! It was cold and we didn't want her bare foot to freeze so we went back to our room for the night and turned on Disney Channel.

Day 3 In The Parks!

Wednesday (weather: freezing, wet and miserable - heavy rain that didn't let up, yes, its March!)

We got up early for extra magic hours and had breakfast in the hotel. It was raining so we caught the bus (which we will NEVER do again because it was packed and horrible!) and went into a few shops to buy some new clothes for us and also shoes for Naminé so we stayed dry. We were all poorly so Ryan and Naminé took a seat in the cafe in Fantasyland and had a cup of tea while me and Kairi did Carousel, Snow White, Pinocchio and Pirates of the Caribbean.

We had a reservation for Auberge De Cendrillon (Princess Dining) for Thursday lunch but as it was quiet we decided to try for then instead. We got straight in! (we've blogged about it more on our other post!)

Disneyland Paris lunch with the princesses Snow White at Auberge De Cendrillon

After lunch we went straight back to our room, the girls and Ryan napped and we all felt absolutely terrible. (Sore throat, banging headache etc) After a good sleep everyone awoke feeling much better so we decided to go back to the park for the evening.We took some lovely photos using the Gorilla Pod and us with the Castle.

We only managed to ride Haunted Mansion and then we went and watched Dreams! (We managed to get the secret bench that no one sits on but has a fab unblocked view!!) After an amazing showing of Dreams! we walked back to our hotel stopping only to grab dinner from Earl of Sandwich on the way. We put the television on and watched Disney channel for a bit in bed before going to sleep.

Day 4 In The Parks!

Thursday (Weather: sunny and warm, with a cool breeze)

We slept in and missed hotel breakfast, which made us feel ready to go (and we don't enjoy the hotel breakfast anyway!) We decided to leave the buggy in the room and took the carriers which was so much easier! Again we walked to Studios. On our way through the village, we grabbed Mc Donald's which we then sat and ate outside studio 1 in the sun.

We stopped for a while and grabbed some pictures in the sun and the girls had a play, we felt much better but decided to still take it easy. By this point we had only done 1 half of studios so we decided to try the other side, we went and watched Mickey Mouse Club House (which has an AMAZING pre-show with Sofia the First and Jake from Netherlands Pirates). Once it was finished we went straight into Stitch: Live! (Which was also fantastic, why had I not done this for years!!) After watching the shows we decided to do Studio Tram Tour, it was Ryan's first time and it was so funny to watch him get wet! We headed over to Toyland where Kairi wanted to ride parachute drop. (She also got upset because she wasn't tall enough for RC racer!) We hopped onto Ratatouille and went into the Remy shop nearby, but unfortunately didn't find anything we wanted!

We left studios and went back to the Disneyland Park where we grabbed our Pause Gourmande at Casey's Corner, the wait was long because everyone was doing the same thing! We walked back towards City Hall where we found a perfect spot for Disney Magic on Parade. Kairi waved to Cinderella, the prince saw and told Cinderella so she blew Kairi a kiss which made Kairi so happy and me cry! (#emotionalmum)

We then went straight to Fantasyland where we FINALLY rode Dumbo!! (It was closed last year and had been raining, snowing or awful up until now!) We had a reservation for Blue Lagoon in Disneyland Paris again but unfortunately didn't have enough time to ride Pirates of the Caribbean before eating so decided to do it after, however It broke down while we were in there and everything was closed by the time we came out, so we took our lovely long walk around the park to make our way out (again beating dreams!)

Day 5 In The Parks!

Friday (Weather: perfect, sunny and warm)

We got up early for Extra Magic Hours, dropped our cases off to be sent to Eurostar and then ate breakfast in the hotel. We took our final walk from the hotel to the parks, enjoying the sights along the way, and stopped off to get some Earl of Sandwich brownies and shopping on the way.

We entered the Disneyland Park making the most of EMH by grabbing lots of pictures In front of the castle. We headed over to Fantasyland and me and Kairi rode Dumbo again (she loves the Up, Down, Up, Down), we also rode the Carousel after they wouldn't let Ryan on without an 'Adult'. (Poor choice of words!)

After we switched parks to studios to ride Ratatouille, Tower of Terror, and Parachutes again. We went into Art of Animation where Ryan took part in the drawing class after seeing the show and then we popped into the shop in studio one on our way out.

We entered the Disneyland Park for the last time and after popping into another shop for a quick browse, we grabbed Casey's Corner for lunch. When walking round the park after, we bumped into the Cast Member who was painting (with water) on the floor which was awesome and we also managed to catch the spring train, Goofy's Garden Party and the It's a Small World clock chiming! We visited the Dragon Under the Castle, rode Haunted Mansion, grabbed our last Pause Gourmande and took some more pictures on Main Street before saying by to the castle, buying a few more purchases and then leaving.

In front of Disneyland Paris castle on main street

Traveling home

The journey back was simple, we walked straight into the Eurostar station, grabbed our bags from floor 2 and went straight to check in. The queue in France was very long (as usual) and made me feel really poorly to stand up that long. Once through security, we boarded the Eurostar and again there were 2 seats free behind us, so we grabbed them too! (Which was perfect as Kairi was asleep!) We got off the Eurostar first and rushed through passport control within 5 minutes, we were out and on our train really fast and even though we stopped off at Tesco once back in Ely, we were still home by 8:30!

Photopass+ vs Photopass

We decided not to buy the Photopass+ at Disneyland Paris as soon as we got there this March and instead grab the free paper Photopass card. Last year we got over 60 ride and character meet photos with the PP+ and it was fantastic value for money, however this year many of the rides that have the PP where closed for maintenance and the girls just we rent interested in meeting the characters. On our last day when we went to look at our pictures (and upgrade to the PP+ if we wanted) we only had 6 pictures and decided it would be a silly deal as we only liked 1 of them!

Security

The security was hit and miss depending on the day and time. There was 1 guard at the Santa Fe, he just stood at the entrance looking and never said anything. To get into the parks and Village you had to go through security, every day our bags were scanned and we were wanded over (except the first day there was no wanding). On our last 2 days they decided to let us through without wanding us, they also gave me my bag and decided not to put it through the scanner. I thought this was very strange and I wasn't impressed, who else where they letting through without checking!

I hope you enjoyed reading my post and found it helpful, don't forget to check out our other Disney Posts and videos on Youtube!

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Deciding whether to take out the Half Board Plus meal plan this year was a total no brainier - It had to be done! We tried it last year and enjoyed every meal (Walts, Café Mickey, Blue Lagoon and Silver Spur Steakhouse) so with my meal plan review in mind, I was excitedly planning and counting down the days to this trips good food and writing this post! (Which at the time didn't realise it meant I would be 'home'!)

Firstly, If you are going to take out a meal plan and you want to save money then check out DLP Guide for plenty of information, but most importantly all the menus so you can make a decision on the places you would like to eat and find the best plan for you. Next up head over to their Meal Plan page to work out which meal plans most of your restaurants fit into (remember you can top up if needed, as I will mention later in the post!). As a rough guide, the Hotel Plan is great if you just want to eat in your Hotel, the Half Board is fantastic if you just want to have Buffets, The Plus is great If you like Sit Down Meals and the Premium only really saves you Money if you want to dine in Interventions (posh character dining buffet) or Auberge de Cendrillon (Princess Dining) every single day! (Cafe Mickey Lunch/Dinner which is also characters is included in the Plus plan!). The last thing you need to do is decide whether you would like 2 meals a day (Half Board - Breakfast AND Lunch/Dinner) or 3 (Full Board - Breakfast AND Lunch and Dinner). For us the Full Board is a waste, we just don't have time to eat 3 meals a day at Disney!!

So after discussing where we would like to eat (Café Mickey, Auberge de Cendrillon, Blue Lagoon and Bistro Chez Rémy) we booked Disney's Half Board Plus Meal Plan and rang 60 days before our trip to book our restaurants.

Each Half Board Plus (the plan we chose) voucher entitles you to a Starter, Main, Dessert and a soft drink, usually off a set menu and every sit down restaurant will serve you bread rolls while waiting for your food (At ADC these are exchanged for cheese puffs).

Blue Lagoon

On our first and final nights, we used our Half Board Plus Vouchers to go back to the Blue Lagoon (I say back because we visited for the first time last year and it was amazing!). Blue Lagoon is the restaurant inside the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' Ride. Its set in the first scene as you get on the boat. The restaurant theme is fantastic and you get a chance to sit buy the 'river' and watch the boats and riders pass (The great thing is that you are close enough to enjoy the rides, but far enough away that you don't feel they are dining with you!).

We entered the waiting area and approached reservation desk, which is next to a beautiful open fire, I told the lady my name and she asked us to walk through to the main area. A waiter attended us as soon as we walked in, seated us at our table (The first night we were right next to the river, where I had always wanted to sit!) handed us our Caribbean Themed Menu (our vouchers gave us the ocean treasure menu) and gave us time to have a look. After enjoying our meals last year, we were quick to order.

On Monday Night I ordered the Buccaneers Cocktail - Coconut-Ginger Shrimps served with pickles vegetables

Ryan Ordered the Fish (Including Shellfish) Soup - Which was served with Curry Bread and condiments.

On Thursday I ordered the Caribbean Salad - Romaine lettuce, avocado, pineapple, kidney beans, baby corn, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and mango vinaigrette.

We ordered the girls the Chicken fillet and gravy - It came with dipping vegetables with a fromage fraise and chive sauce for starter and potato disks (usually the fragrant rice, we accidentally swapped this out!), a wooden pot of gravy and sauteed vegetables for main. All served on a Mickey plate with Disney's signature ketchup tubes on the side (signature because they seem to turn up with every children's meal!)

Ryan ordered the Crayfish and scallop ravioli for his main - which arrived with marinated peppers and a shellfish coulis.

I choose the Caribbean chicken colombo - served with fragrant rice and roasted plantain.

For dessert the girls were given a chocolate mouse - which had popping candy on the top.

Myself and Ryan both ordered the Mango Delight for dessert both nights - which came with (soft and unexpected) gingerbread, raspberry coulis, cream and a type of 'cheesecake'.

Our Food came out fast and with a smile. It was very well presented with condiments that would usually be in bowls instead in 'bowls' that had been hand crafted out of leaves and everything had that extra touch like the drizzle of raspberry coulis. Ryan told me his Ravioli was the best ever and could definitely eat the Fragrant Rice, Plantain and 'Gingerbread' again (Honestly I could eat that meal every day and not get bored!) The girls ate theirs all up and by the looks of it, it was their most favourite meal of the holiday.

As a trial on the first night, we also ordered a 'baby chef kit' - a meal for children 1-3, however when it turned up, it was puree so we gave up on this idea and the girls shared ours!

With the Baby Chef kit also came a free dessert - Ice cream topped with sauce and chocolate 'Smarties'.

Overall the meal was a success, we've been 3 times now and of course it's on my list for next trip!

Café Mickey

Café Mickey was the best place for children that we ate in all holiday. The characters were all great and came round at intervals so you had time to eat in between and the food was really nice. If you are staying at a hotel that doesn't include a hot breakfast then Café Mickey is worth every penny!

From Sausages, Scrambled egg and beans to toast, yogurt and croissants there is something to suit everyone. You are seated at your table and then can go up as many times as you wish.

Fruit Salad

Cooked Breakfast Choices

Bristo Chez Remy

Bristo Chez Remy was next on the menu, the restaurant is well set out with so many of those little Disney touches that we all know and love. Again we decided it was best to order a kids meal, this was a fantastic decision because the girls ate all the food up and really enjoyed it!

For the girl's starter, they shared a salad of mozzarella balls and cherry tomatoes with breadsticks.

For us adults, we received a Mixed leaf salad with cheese and an olive oil, balsamic and sesame vinaigrette, it was nice, but salads are not my favorite so this was a little disappointing! (I would have never paid for salad!)

For the girls main they shared a Skewer of beef meatballs, homemade ratatouille and French fries.

Myself and Ryan both went for Cut of grilled beef, homemade ratatouille, French fries and the chef's sauce, which tasted amazing (Especially the sauce!)

For the girls desert, they had Remy's chocolate and hazelnut éclair.

Ryan chose the Apple Tartlet.

and I'm sure mine was Brie de Meaux (Rothschild Estate - Trente Arpents Farm) with vine peach jelly and fruit bread.

Auberge De Celerion

As it rained all day on Wednesday, we got a last minute spot in ADC (Princess Dining!). Unfortunately, this was by far the least favorite meal of the trip. The food wasn't really child-friendly at all and it wasn't the WOW that we were expecting as adults either! The princesses were nice, but for the price, you don't really get much time with them and due to the servers rushing about our children were misses out when they got the kids up to see the princesses dancing. However, the food was presented really well and the service was good.

Upon being seated we were all given a non-alcoholic cocktail and a plate of cheese puffs to share.

Fairy Bites (Salad) was the children's starter.

Myself and Ryan both decided on the Soup which was incased in a bread top!

Cream of pumpkin and porcini mushroom soup

Kairi has the pasta (which was actually spaghetti and she didn't touch it!)

I choose Chicken breast in a creamy truffle sauce
with a trio of purées (potato, vitelotte potato and sweet potato) and sautéed vegetables

Ryan choose Roast veal stuffed with chanterelle mushrooms
pumpkin tart and roast potatoes

For Desert, Kairi received Cinderella's Slipper.

Myself and Ryan both received the Chefs Desert (We both wanted the slipper! and did not enjoy this!)

We left early because we really didn't enjoy this meal, we had to top up by nearly £100 and felt like it was a total waste of money!

Pause Gormende

The Pause Gormende came in really handy throughout our trip. We would use it early every day (around 3pm) to tie us over from breakfast to dinner. PG can be redeemed between 3pm and 6pm (at certain food outlets) Each voucher entitles you to a hot or cold drink and either a magnum or doughnut. When checking our receipts we had saved roughly 12 Euros for 2 of us, that is nearly 25 for a family of 4!

Other Snacks

Earl Of Sandwich is one of my most favorite places to eat in Disney, the sandwiches taste amazing and are great value for money. Not forgetting always ending off with a brownie!

Mc Donald's is a good deal if you want a quick snack and can be great to grab for an early morning treat if you've missed breakfast!

Caseys Corner is again a really nice treat to have, the hot dogs are amazing and totally worth every penny! Although it's on the more expensive snack end, it's more of a lunch.

Hotel Breakfast

The hotel breakfast is very simple, there is fresh fruit, toast, croissants and cereal. You can make a hot drink or have water, fresh orange and apple juice. Its very basic but unlikely different to what you would have at home. It gets very very busy, so its best to rush down as early as you can and then make the most of the extra magic hours or you could be queuing for at least 45 mins!

If you have a favorite place to eat that I have tried or you have any questions, let me know in the comments below! If you are interested in more Disney posts then head on over to our Disney with kids! Section of the blog or Check out our Youtube channel!

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After managing to stay clear of all spoilers about Disneyland Paris' 25th Anniversary and the new show on the castle Illuminations, it's safe to say I was very excited to see the new show. Dreams was absolutely amazing and I would try to catch it a couple of times every trip we went on. (Even if this meant having a late dinner) so with newer technology available now, I just could n't wait to see what Illuminations would be like.

We managed to get a great spot for Illuminations, close to the front, but not too close and centre too, no tall people in front of us and the girls were asleep which meant we could just relax and enjoy it. Unfortunately, we left the Disneyland Parc that night feeling deflated, it wasn't anything like I thought it would be and I wanted to really think about and touch on the points why.

The sections seamed promo ‘look at what film we want to push now’

Me and hubby both said the projections were slightly off and it just made it look blurry/funny

There were too many fireworks at times when you were supposed to be focusing on the castle, so the firework light blocked out the projection

The music and French to English balance just isn’t as well done as dreams and even when it is, the English is cover artists (though this I can overlook but throw in old well loved stuff, not just new!)

The top half of the castle just wasn’t used enough

There was no story (that we could see)

Embers flying towards us and the crowd, really not so fun!

To balance it out a bit, here are a few things I loved:

The way they used smoke/dry ice to create new effects that’s is not seen them use before.

Star Wars and POTC were 10x better than I thought they would be and both made me want to watch the films again. (Which are 2 that I’m not a massive fan of)

The new layout of areas to watch in, it really makes the atmosphere nicer because it’s harder for people to push in front of you

They made a very similar intro

I hate to be negative about DLP because I love it so much, but positivity all the time gets you nowhere! What did you think of the new show? Let me know below.

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