Knights and Lights May 29, 08

[stenogoddess]

I've just saved the date for the Knights and Lights tour for May 29, 2008.

I can't believe how excited I am, or how broke I already feel!

MJ, this is all YOUR FAULT! If you hadn't blogged about your trip, this never would have happened.

 

[MummyAW100]

Congratulations! You will have a wonderful time! Apart from getting there and the free time, ABD takes care of EVERYTHING. Here are some helpful tips:

1. When they give you freetime after the Tower of London tour, go the British Museum. It's full of ancient artifactslike mummies, parts of the Parthenon, and The Rosetta Stone.

2. We would have enjoyed the London Eye more at night or if it had been raining. The "bubbles" were hot, and it made it uncomfortable.

3. Madame Tussaud's is CROWDED. (We went on a side trip of our own.)

4. While in Paris, make sure to have a crepe. They are DELICIOUS!

5. You will have more free time in Paris than London. If you like shopping, use some of your free time on the Champs Elysee. There are shops everywhere you look.

6. Have the time of your life!

 

[jlou]

Hi Stenogoddess,

I think we booked on the same day. (not for the same trip though). I too can't believe how excited I am. I can NOT wait to get something from ABD, just so that I have something else to look at! I keep reading others' trip reports about the adventure, and it all sounds so wonderful. I'm driving my family nuts talking about this, and it's such a long way off!

It's nice to know there is someone else out there who sounds just as excited!



eta: Hi Mummy, I read your report. Thanks for all the great tips. I think my kids are going to have an awesome time.

 

[stenogoddess]

Hey Mummy and Jlou!

Thanks for the tips Mummy. You must have posted on one of those times with the disboards weren't letting me know about it. I'm so glad I've got your post though. I've added it to my ideas folder.

Jlou: It is exciting, isn't it! I've gotten a really nice book from ABD. It's a little out of date, but that didn't stop me from pouring through it. LOL I can't wait until May. I might even do a trip report when I get back! The ones I've read have been so helpful.

I'm actually considering flying in a day early so we won't be so hammered on the official start day, plus it would give us a little more time in London. I'm glad that we have time in Paris, but honestly there's so much I want to see and do in London I almost wish the time was flipped around. It's going to be great though. I cant' wait.

 

[jlou]

I'm sure there's tons to do in Paris as well, but I too have more of an idea of what I want to do in London. I was there by myself once, so there's a lot I want to share with my family. We are going a day ahead, and I want to see if I can somehow swing a trip to Stonehenge. I guess we just need to do some more homework on what to do in Paris. I know I want to go to the Musee d'Orsay, which is where all the great impressionist paintings are. My daughter will love that, not so sure about my son, but I think he'll think it's cool to see some of the works he's learned about in school. I'll have to read MJGirl's blog some more, and see what else they did.

I have got to stop thinking about this so much! I have a longer wait than you do!

 

[Pakey]

I'm doing Knights and Lights also, but in September 08. I just got off the phone with ABD because I wanted to do the hotel add-ons. I added one day in London so that we can adjust to the time change--had a terrible time on my last trip to Europe. Also added one day on the end because I have to go to Disneyland Paris.

Just so you know, the hotel costs for these was $550 per night in London and $419 per night in Paris. My total for the two night add on was $970.

I'm still thinking about adding 2 more nights (one on each end).

Anybody else doing this?

 

[PatriciaH]

I'm doing Knights and Lights also, but in September 08. I just got off the phone with ABD because I wanted to do the hotel add-ons. I added one day in London so that we can adjust to the time change--had a terrible time on my last trip to Europe. Also added one day on the end because I have to go to Disneyland Paris.

Just so you know, the hotel costs for these was $550 per night in London and $419 per night in Paris. My total for the two night add on was $970.

I'm still thinking about adding 2 more nights (one on each end).

Anybody else doing this?

We are probably doing Knights and Lights in September 08 (5th-12th) as well. I have it held. I am probably booking a post night on the end to do a day at DL Paris on the 12th. We had thought about staying at DL Paris but it is only a 35 minute train ride from Paris and we would rather not move for 1 night. We got the $420 quote too. Before Knights and Lights we are probably doing Viva Italia. I may book a pre night or two in Rome. I found a place that does day trips to Pompeii/the coast.

 

[PatriciaH]

We are going a day ahead, and I want to see if I can somehow swing a trip to Stonehenge.

That would be great!

 

[Pakey]

We are probably doing Knights and Lights in September 08 (5th-12th) as well. I have it held. I am probably booking a post night on the end to do a day at DL Paris on the 12th. We had thought about staying at DL Paris but it is only a 35 minute train ride from Paris and we would rather not move for 1 night. We got the $420 quote too. Before Knights and Lights we are probably doing Viva Italia. I may book a pre night or two in Rome. I found a place that does day trips to Pompeii/the coast.

We are staying the extra day on the end to do DL Paris also (still trying to decide if one day is enough). The day on the front is for my jet lag. Last year we did 2 weeks in Italy on our own but my first day I had to sleep all day (it was close to 20 hours from home to get into Milan). We did Pompeii/Amalfi coast while there too; that's a nice long jaunt from Rome. Italy far exceeded my expectations so I'm hoping Paris will too.

 

[stenogoddess]

I'm thinking about going in a day early too. Lucky for me, I've got a friend outside London that has offered his sofa for us for a night. I thought it might be a good idea to get a little acclimated before the official tour starts.

I'm dying to see Stonehenge as well. I've found this site that talks about arranging after hours tours of the circle so you can go behind the fence and really see the circle. Might be worth it I think. There's just so much I want to do!

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.1913

I know for sure, FOR SURE, that we're going to DLP. How many days yet is still up in the air. I'm not sure one is enough.

 

[MJGirl]

I know for sure, FOR SURE, that we're going to DLP. How many days yet is still up in the air. I'm not sure one is enough.

I was there for three nights and found this to be perfect. There are two parks there and both are worth seeing. The good news is that the parks aren't as crowded as they are at WDW. The bad news is it is expensive, but so is everything else in Paris

 

[stenogoddess]

Hi y'all! I was wondering if anyone had thought about taking a cell phone or renting a cell phone yet and had any advice/thoughts there??

Also, I've got my quotes on DLP from my TA. It's 1,530 to stay at the New York Hotel and 2,330 to stay at the Disneyland Hotel. That includes three days in the parks, VIP ticket services (whatever that means) and transport to the hotel and back to the airport. I asked to see if we could stay at the Newport Hotel and my TA is looking into it.

That's my new news!

 

[dingoballs]

Hi y'all! I was wondering if anyone had thought about taking a cell phone or renting a cell phone yet and had any advice/thoughts there??

Also, I've got my quotes on DLP from my TA. It's 1,530 to stay at the New York Hotel and 2,330 to stay at the Disneyland Hotel. That includes three days in the parks, VIP ticket services (whatever that means) and transport to the hotel and back to the airport. I asked to see if we could stay at the Newport Hotel and my TA is looking into it.

That's my new news!

How many hotel nights does that include?

 

[stenogoddess]

They say it's two nights and three days. What it really is is the day you leave Paris and check in is day one, then day two, and then day three is the day you check out of the hotel and leave. I think you get three days worth of tickets, but that last day heading to the airport I just don't think we would be in the park mood. Plus, I'm thinking by that time as much fun as I'm having I'm going to be ready to get moving towards home. And day one is really a partial day as you've just left Paris.

How many hotel nights does that include?

 

[dingoballs]

They say it's two nights and three days. What it really is is the day you leave Paris and check in is day one, then day two, and then day three is the day you check out of the hotel and leave. I think you get three days worth of tickets, but that last day heading to the airport I just don't think we would be in the park mood. Plus, I'm thinking by that time as much fun as I'm having I'm going to be ready to get moving towards home. And day one is really a partial day as you've just left Paris.

Okay, thanks. Based on how much time you actually get to spend at the parks and the hotel, I'm not really sure the cost is worth it...

 

[stenogoddess]

I think worth it is a relative term. Worth it in actual money, no, I would agree with you there. But then I bought DVC because I think WDW is crazy expensive, too. For me I really love the Disney Parks and would go all the way to Hong Kong if I could afford it, so in that respect it'll be worth it emotionally for me. The Paris castle has an actual dragon in the basement. It's probably not a $1,500 dragon either, but I CANNOT wait to see the stupid thing!

Okay, thanks. Based on how much time you actually get to spend at the parks and the hotel, I'm not really sure the cost is worth it...

 

[Pakey]

Hi y'all! I was wondering if anyone had thought about taking a cell phone or renting a cell phone yet and had any advice/thoughts there??

Also, I've got my quotes on DLP from my TA. It's 1,530 to stay at the New York Hotel and 2,330 to stay at the Disneyland Hotel. That includes three days in the parks, VIP ticket services (whatever that means) and transport to the hotel and back to the airport. I asked to see if we could stay at the Newport Hotel and my TA is looking into it.

That's my new news!

Hi. I'm just curious as to why you are making the decision to transfer from the Paris hotel that you'll be at for your ABD tour to the Disneyland hotel rather than just staying at the Paris hotel for an extra couple of days and taking the train to DL? Is it to immerse yourself more into the DL feeling there? I'm just asking because this may be something that I would want to consider doing also.

FYI--DH and I are already talking about the ABD that goes to DL Hong Kong for 09. There could never be too much Disney

 

[kdkhopper]

Stenogoddess, I'm right there with you about that silly dragon! We're doing the Knights and Lights tour May 2008 and adding on the DLP package at the end. We decided to splurge and stay at the Disneyland hotel for two nights. This will be the first trip to Europe for both of us (me and my 71 year old Mom) and maybe the only chance we get to go. Plus, there's a DRAGON IN THE BASEMENT OF THE CASTLE!! You can't get any closer to that action than the Disneyland Hotel!

 

[stenogoddess]

The reason I'm thinking we need to stay actually at DLP has to do with me. I know I'm going to want to see as much of the parks as we can in a limited amount of time, and I think we'll be able to do that better if we stay on property. Also, since this part is at the end of the trip, I know I'm going to be reaching the end of my good mood and I'm going to already be thinking about returning home. Riding on a train back to my hotel for 45 minutes after a long park day is just a reciept for a meltdown, for us now. Y'all might be great travelers! But if we missed our stop and got lost, missed the train, train broke down, I know I would probably lose my mind just because we'll have been away for so long and we don't speak French except to say, excuse me, do you speak English, please. So that's my thought process anyway. HTH

Hi. I'm just curious as to why you are making the decision to transfer from the Paris hotel that you'll be at for your ABD tour to the Disneyland hotel rather than just staying at the Paris hotel for an extra couple of days and taking the train to DL? Is it to immerse yourself more into the DL feeling there? I'm just asking because this may be something that I would want to consider doing also.

FYI--DH and I are already talking about the ABD that goes to DL Hong Kong for 09. There could never be too much Disney

 

[stenogoddess]

I just booked our airfare! I'm SSSSOOOO excited. I guess we're going for real now!