Disneyland Hotel Castle Club Trip Report (sooo late!)

[Cass]

Noel and I have been to WDW Orlando several times and we love it there!! I told myself that I wouldn't keep comparing DLP to WDW when we were there, but I couldn't help myself!

I was surprised that DLP was actually BETTER in some ways like Space Mountain was better/more fun in our opinion, and also we liked Big Thunder Mountain, Phantom Manor better as well. The castle which you could explore and go under to meet the dragon.

DLP has some very cool & unique features.

Inside the Castle

Noel was impressed they had a window dedicated to me

View from Castle

Under the castle

The Dragon!

 

[Cass]

Fun in the park

 

[Cass]

Our weather ranged from raining and cold to tropical! lol the sun came out one afternoon and we were stripping off our coats and hats.


Look at that blue sky!

 

[Cass]

The heat wave was short lived however and we were soon back to cold wetness and cloudy skies.

 

[Cass]

I forgot to tell you about the crowds... well, there wasn't any really - it was pretty quiet in the parks for a few of our days, getting a little busier on the 6th. We had VIP Fast Passes which we really didn't need to use - but we did!


Look at the lack of crowds at Phantom Manor, there was only 5 of us in the stretching room. Vewy vewy quiet in the parks. So I would recommend the first week of December for travel at DLP.

 

[Elroe63]

Wow! Fantastic room and fantastic photos. I guess it must have been chilly at times but I don't think you can top DLRP on a cool sunny day. My favourite.

 

[Cass]

For all the positives, there were a few negatives... I found the CM's indifferent, not unfriendly just robotic, no smiles, no chatting and there were a few unpleasant ones in the shops and counter service restaurants. Also on the odd occasion we were in line for something we felt the people behind us would crowd us, push and try to pass us. I had to scowl a few times get them to back off Noel said that a woman kept poking her hard in the back on the stairs at Crushe's coaster.

Oh and we saw a rat!! (and I don't mean Mickey or Ratatouille) We were having a little rest on a park bench in Frontierland when a great big dirty black rat crawled out from a grate in the ground and scurried under a popcorn cart I couldn't get my camera out fast enough to get a photo!


We also went to Disney Studios and enjoyed Rock n' Roller Coaster, Armageddon, and Crush's Coaster which is a terrific and fun ride.

The 'real' rat we saw was not as cute as this guy!

 

[thelittlemermaid83]

wow what a wonderful trip report with beautiful photos.
Thanks so much for sharing.

 

[Cass]

Disney Village was ho hum, I wasn't impressed but to be fair I don't like downtown disney at WDW either. It probably would have been a lot more enjoyable in better weather, with trees and flowers in bloom. At this time of the year it was pretty bleak.


So we shopped and walked and ate a few times, Disney Village is super close to the DLH and 2 parks.



Noel the Shopper

We had a meal at the Rainforest Cafe that was very good food and service (I had ribs, Noel had a pasta dish)

Noel annoyed they gave her crayons and a kids menu

we also had some tasty food at Annette's Garlic bread, cheeseburger, avocado burger and sundaes (that I forgot to take pics of)

 

[Cass]

We came across this poor Mickey balloon one day

Random photos

French Ducks or canards as we call them

DLH

Hotel Lobby

This is the morning we were leaving, that's why Noel looks sad

DLH at night

Concierge desks for the Castle Club

Castle Club floor

Noel in the lounge, quite often we would come back to play cards and have a rest in the afternoon

We loved our view

 

[Cass]

There were day and night parades, and they were different from each other. Very well done with lots of nice costumes and music and dance. Parade time was really the only time I noticed the crowds, other than that it was very quiet at DLP (compared to WDW)


Day

Night

 

[Cass]

Park at night - sometimes I forgot where I was, main street usa is so much like WDW and so pretty with the Christmas decorations. Noel kept seeing her name everywhere "Noel" it was cool for her.

Worst photo ever! LOL

 

[Cass]

We enjoyed our 4 nights at DLP, the parks were fun, the hotel was comfortable and beautiful, the food was very good, we had no problem with the language barriers and we were able to do everything we wanted to do

You live and learn though, and if we went back I would stay Castle Club in a non park view room because you really don't have to pay for the view when you can see it from the lounge every day. Also the issues with the strong lamb & fish smell and the park noise would have been avoided (I think!) plus saving some money.

We were both feeling a little blue the morning we departed DLH, our holiday was coming to an end, we only had one more night in Paris and then it was over.

I hired British Tours for a prvate transfer/tour from DLP to Paris. We didn't like our guide, I can't really put my finger on why, but it was a disappointment allround.


The traffic was atrocious to Paris, and the first stop was Notre Dame.

Then we went to some Basilica up on a hill with a view of Paris

Noel was not impressed she wished we were back at DLP riding Big Thunder or Space Mountain and her mood was foul... she went from my sweet polite teen daughter to something from the exorcist

Honest to God, she was just Nasty with a capital N, rude and I had to have mother-daughter 'words' with her.

She was ruining our last day with her attitude after almost 3 weeks of such a nice time together.

Our next stop was the Louvre

and then the Eiffel Tower

I asked Noel if she wanted to go up and this was her reaction

Holy cow, she was just terrible I was embarrassed in front of the guide and totally annoyed at her. I asked our guide to take us to the hotel and cut the tour short. We were supposed to have him from 9:00am to 6pm and he dropped us off at the hotel at 1pm. (he seemed very relieved too!! )

 

[Cass]

We were staying at the Ritz and thankfully our room was ready at 1pm

Decorations outside the hotel on Vendome Place

Ritz Lobby

Noel waits for me while I check in

 

[Cass]

Our Room

View from the room

Welcome treats in the room

DLH bathroom was nicer

But I did love the swan taps

 

[Cass]

Noel lay down on the bed and fell asleep... strange, she hasn't slept in the day time since she was 3!

I had a hot bath and prayed her attitude would improve so I wouldn't have to kill her here in Paris and maybe we could have a nice afternoon.

She woke up at 3:30pm and was starving... in fact we were both hungry as we hadn't eaten anything since DLP this morning. She was in a marginally better mood but still out of sorts.

The concierge gave us a map with directions on how to walk to the Champs Elysée and to the arch de triumph. I have been to Paris a few times and knew there were lots of restaurants along the champs.


Paris streets

Window shopping

Soon Noel spotted Pino Pizza and dragged me inside, I don't know what it is about us and Italian food, but it was a very good meal.

With our bellies full we continued our walk to the Arch de Triumph

She looks a little happier now

The sun set and the lights on the Champs Elysée, sparkled. It started pouring rain though, but we made the best of it.

 

[Cass]

We stopped in the Disney Store on the champs, and the Haagen Daaz Ice cream shop for a treat, later I bought a cappuccino and Noel a hot chocolate as we made our way in the rain back to the Ritz



My camera started acting up

Yes, this is the Eiffel tower

and here's 2 of them

Noel is home sweet home at the Ritz

 

[scampbunny]

holy cow!!!!!!!!
what a time u had, no wonder its taken this long, such a concise report, i felt like i was there too!!!!!!!!!!!!
gorgeous pics tho, and its made me so excited to be going, although we are in the 'lowly' hotel cheyanne lol
thank u so much for sharing - it sounds like an amazing time, even with a dd from exorcist!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Cass]

We were in the room by 10pm and we bought a movie on the Ritz TV channels... Unaccompanied Minors. The beds were sooo comfortable, the sheets and pillows heavenly.


The next morning we had breakfast in the Lobby Restaurant (a tad fancier than DLH Castle Club )

There was a pretty sunrise as we left the hotel for the airport. I bet it was a gorgeous day in Paris, with no rain or clouds.

This was the last photo I took as we pulled away

Our flight was with Air Canada, 8 hours 47 minutes back to Toronto. We were flying in Executive first class so it was super comfortable, but there was a screw up with our seating. Noel sat alone and I sat with this guy his bright blue socks were soooo distracting.

Noel laughed her head off at me the whole flight, this guy had his shoes off before we even left Paris (I took that pic when he fell asleep!)


So that's it for our trip... I hope you enjoyed the photos and commentary. If you have any questions, please ask!



.

 

[DLPdaft]

Fabulous - pics and commentary .

Elaine