Sneaky Halloween at HNY - Day 4

Ms Poppins

I'm sure I'm very affected by all this Disney talk
Joined
Mar 14, 2009
The Cast:
Me - Julie (41)
DH - John (45)
DD - Abbey (19)
DS - Lewis (12)

Pre-trippie
Day 1 - Travel
Day 2
Day 3

Day 4

Thursday 20 October

We had all slept ok and I woke with the alarm going off at 7am - normally I'm awake waiting for it to ring so I must have been in a deep sleep. I'd done most of the packing the night before so got everyone up and organised and we were ready to check out at 7:45.

Dropped our bags at the left luggage counter in the hotel and made our way through the Village to the park.

It wasn't as cold this morning as yesterday and thankfully it was dry :)

We were in the park just after 8am and already there were queues with all the characters in Town Square, same as yesterday.



Into Fantasyland the Carousel looked lovely



We headed toward Peter Pan but again it was down the tech problems. Dumbos was our first ride.



We came off this and glanced over to PP but it was still down, so over to the teacups we went



By the time we'd finished we noticed that PP was up again so we headed over. I noticed that Carousel wasn't running yet this morning either.

Peter Pan was great again and Abbey and DH enjoyed it too :thumbsup2

Carousel was up and running by the time we came off, but we didn't stop.

Next we made a wee visit inside the castle. I love it in here when it's nice and early without other visitors :love:

















Such lovely views over the rooftops of Fantasyland





The shortcut to Discoveryland was closed off again



Back through the castle over to Discoveryland to have our last go on Buzz



Buzz was a walk on and was great fun as ever



When we came out of Discoveryland there was a Main St motor just arriving in front of the castle so we jumped aboard









The Studios was open at 9am this morning and Crush was re-opening today so we made our way over at 8:50 for opening to try and get on without too much wait.

Queues were already building at the gates but we were soon through and joined the queue for Crush. We were on and off in about 25 minutes which I thought was ok.



I forgot how fast this was and really enjoyed it, DH and I were in the backwards seats, so funny :rotfl2:

Today was our last hope at getting to see Mickey and the Magician and had to be back at our hotel for 1pm so the 11:45 show was the only one we'd catch. So we decided to spend the rest of the morning at the Studios.

It was a lovely sunny morning



It was now or never for Tower of Terror :eek: so we headed over





Wait time showed 20 minutes so we joined the queue. I really wasn't looking forward to this but didn't want Lewis to be swayed so I just went with it.....Well, it was just as bad as I remembered and did not enjoy it at all. I don't know why because I actually really like the theme but I feel like I just cannot breathe on it. Anyway, Lewis wasn't too keen either. DH just laughed at us :faint: you can't really see it from the picture but he was trying to cheer us up :rotfl:



Abbey wanted to do Aerosmith next so we went over, 15 min wait and we waited for her in Blockbuster cafe and enjoyed a hot chocolate. She was out quickly and we still had some time to kill before Mickey so went for a stroll to see if Abbey could do RC Racer. Wait time for single rider was 25 mins so she didn't bother as we knew we had to start queuing for the show at about 11:15. A wee look at Ratatoullie and single rider for this was 20 minutes so was busy there too.

 


Everywhere seemed really busy this morning in the Studios. We joined the queue outside the theatre at around 11:15





Cars was showing wait time of 25 mins.

Abbey and DH had a look around the shop inside Art of Animation whilst Lewis and I waited. When they came back Lewis and DH went for a nosey around the Monsters Inc area





A short while later a CM came to the front of the queue to say that the show had been cancelled as the 'train from Paris had been cancelled'. No arguments from me that it had been cancelled, these things happen, but I did think it was an odd thing to say in front of children.......

Anyway, Mickey and the Magician was not to be on this trip. I was disappointed, not just in not seeing the show, but the time we wasted trying to be in the right area for it. This morning we would have done Crush, ToT and then probably just went back to the main park. I think that coupled with the time wasted yesterday made me feel like we hadn't made the most of the short time we had on this trip.

Rather than hang around the Studios we decided to spend our last hour in the park and waved goodbye to the Studios



Back into the park, the sun was still shining :cool2:



We thought we'd give Phantom Manor a try so went through Liberty Arcade and into Frontierland. The kids had a browse in the shops and I took some photos of the lovely pumpkin heads.









Wait time was 30 mins so we didn't bother and headed to Adventureland. Abbey spotted Baloo at the meet point beside Hakuna Matata which wasn't too long so she and Lewis joined and DH and I had took a very welcome seat.

I spied Kaa and Zazu in the bushes



We waited for about 15 minutes and then Baloo had to go off for a wee rest.



15 minutes later the CM came back to say that Baloo was going to be delayed by at least another 15 minutes, which would take us past our time to leave so we had to leave the queue. Time was not on our side today :confused:

I like the scenery in Adventureland :thumbsup2





I wanted to pop into the Cable Car and pick up some more of that amazing fudge on the way out, but the parade had just started so I couldn't get across the street - next time ;)

We left the park and took a final look at the lovely Disneyland Hotel



Final stop for today was the Earl of Sandwich for our much awaited toasted sandwich. For the first time ever Abbey actually had one too!







It was delicious as always.

We finished here and then had a quick look in the art shop in the Village.



Then it was time to go back to the hotel.







We collected our bags and Ezyshuttle were waiting for us outside.



The airport was busy at security and it took a while to get through. Soon we were waiting for the flight and were on our way home :(

We had booked into the same Travelodge but decided just to drive home that evening and finally landed home at approx 10:30 UK time, 11:30 Disney time. DS Mark was waiting for us and it was lovely to see him :love:

We did have a really good time, but I felt that 2 nights just wasn't long enough for us. I think if we'd managed to do Mickey show on that first night, we'd have spent the whole of the next day in the Disneyland Park and saved a lot of hanging around time.

I just love the parks during halloween, the decorations and sounds in Main St are amazing and the castle still takes my breath away after all these years :cloud9: I love Dreams, EMH and just being in the parks. Hotel New York was good again too and I really don't see the 'tired look' that others have noticed. I like it for the proximity to the park and the larger rooms. On this occasion it could have been warmer and if I'd noticed it earlier I'd have asked to be moved.

Now that we have AP I'll be searching out cheap flights and if it means we might get more trips I'd be more than happy to stay at another hotel if needed. Lewis would love to see the Star Wars stuff going on at the beginning of next year so we might look at a very short trip in February just to see that.

Thank you again to everyone on the Dis - these boards are much quieter than they used to be which is sad, but it's where I got all my tips from all those years ago which I'll always be grateful for. I think the Dis has some of the nicest people on it. :disrocks:

Photos of the swag to follow.....:goodvibes
 
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Lovely to hear about your trip despite its frustrations! Have a look on expedia for February trips, they have some very tempting prices at the moment!
 
Lovely to hear about your trip despite its frustrations! Have a look on expedia for February trips, they have some very tempting prices at the moment!

Yes we did enjoy it. I've already looked at Expedia and it is tempting. I may well be calling AP line today :rolleyes1
 


Some swag. We didn't buy much on this trip.

Abbey's Tsum Tsums. They're much more expensive in DLP, 5.99E - only £3.99 at home.



Lewis's pin. He'd almost bought this last year and as soon as he seen it again he had to have it



Abbey's mug



Dish towels that are hanging in my kitchen now and can't bring myself to use :rotfl:



Abbey's Genie t-shirt



Minnie fleece that Abbey and I both got, it's so cosy and has the same Minnie print that's on a lovely ceramic jewellery tray that Abbey bought for me.



Resort Pen I got because I forgot to put one in my bag and needed it to write up my trip report!



And finally, 2017 Calendar - we have this year's in our kitchen and I glance at it every day to have a bit of Disney :teeth::teeth::teeth:





That's all folks :wave2:
 
Thank you for your trip report. You have given me butterflies for next week, our first ever halloween trip. You're pics are great. The boards are gone very quiet, I normally read, and tend not to post too often. I shoud probably change that :)
 
Thank you for your trip report. You have given me butterflies for next week, our first ever halloween trip. You're pics are great. The boards are gone very quiet, I normally read, and tend not to post too often. I shoud probably change that :)

I'm guilty of that too :sad2:

Glad you enjoyed reading along, I hope you have a lovely Halloween visit :goodvibes
 


Thank you so much for your fabulous report! Our first DLP trip (and first European trip) next summer is starting to actually feel real. Your pictures are absolutely beautiful, and make it so easy to pictures myself there. :goodvibes

A calendar is my favourite holiday souvenir ever. There's nothing like a simple glance at it to bring the magic of a vacation flooding back. :thumbsup2
 
Thank you so much for your fabulous report! Our first DLP trip (and first European trip) next summer is starting to actually feel real. Your pictures are absolutely beautiful, and make it so easy to pictures myself there. :goodvibes

A calendar is my favourite holiday souvenir ever. There's nothing like a simple glance at it to bring the magic of a vacation flooding back. :thumbsup2

Thanks for reading along, glad you enjoyed it :thumbsup2 Hope you have a great visit to DLP :goodvibes
 
Great trip report. So excited for our trip in 10days not long now. Ive been reading trip reports to get me more excited lol. I noticed the board is not as busy as I remember but have to say that since they disabled the app I for one have not been on as much because I find the full page quite hard to navigate. Maybe this is the reason. Not as many trip reports either :( yours really got me in the mood,r the pictures are great. We did Halloween last year, I think the photos in frontierland are fantasic, lovely colours. I'm counting the days now and really looking forward to the Christmas season
 
Great trip report. So excited for our trip in 10days not long now. Ive been reading trip reports to get me more excited lol. I noticed the board is not as busy as I remember but have to say that since they disabled the app I for one have not been on as much because I find the full page quite hard to navigate. Maybe this is the reason. Not as many trip reports either :( yours really got me in the mood,r the pictures are great. We did Halloween last year, I think the photos in frontierland are fantasic, lovely colours. I'm counting the days now and really looking forward to the Christmas season

Thank you, glad you enjoyed reading along. Hope you have a lovely time :goodvibes
 
Loved reading your TR Julie. I think you did seem to manage to get quite a bit done, but I think you tend to dwell on the things you really wanted to do that you didn't manage (I know I do that!). I've heard great things about the Magician show but not sure it's returning as it stops in January - presumably because of Star Wars?

Loved the tsum tsums, my girls collect them but tbh we don't get that many as it's really order online as there isn't a Disney shop too near us. They will be looking forward to stocking up - when they eventually know we are returning (I haven't told them yet!).

Had to laugh about your tea towels - I have about 7 Disney ones now that I don't use lol! Can't bring myself to it.

So, a trip early next year? Sounds great - I'll be watching the Star Wars stuff with interest as we are buying APs for 3 of us for our May trip, so we might manage a February half term trip in 2018 (so long away). I hate the cold, so it would need to be good to persuade me to go then lol!
 
Loved reading your TR Julie. I think you did seem to manage to get quite a bit done, but I think you tend to dwell on the things you really wanted to do that you didn't manage (I know I do that!). I've heard great things about the Magician show but not sure it's returning as it stops in January - presumably because of Star Wars?

Loved the tsum tsums, my girls collect them but tbh we don't get that many as it's really order online as there isn't a Disney shop too near us. They will be looking forward to stocking up - when they eventually know we are returning (I haven't told them yet!).

Had to laugh about your tea towels - I have about 7 Disney ones now that I don't use lol! Can't bring myself to it.

So, a trip early next year? Sounds great - I'll be watching the Star Wars stuff with interest as we are buying APs for 3 of us for our May trip, so we might manage a February half term trip in 2018 (so long away). I hate the cold, so it would need to be good to persuade me to go then lol!

We did have a lovely time and actually it was no big deal about Mickey, it was more about wasting time. I like to be organised and plan where we're going so to waste a few hours over two days was a tad annoying...The show did look great and I've heard that it may return next year after the Star Wars theme ends, so fingers crossed we'll get to see it one day.

Abbey is obsessed with the Tsum Tsums....it's like she's a 5 year old :rotfl:She gets a lot from Clintons too so your girls could try there to stock up.

Still not confirmed on February but got some good prices again from the AP line so might be tempted to just do it. There are lots of indoor places if we get cold and I don't need much of an excuse for the hot chocolate at Disney, it's sooooo nice :love:

Thanks for reading along :goodvibes
 
Oh that's good to know - that the show might return - fingers crossed it's on when we go end of May.

Yes, they have a few from Clintons but obviously they don't stock as many as Disney do. I'm sure we'll end up with a few for each of them on our trip. We haven't bought any new pins for ages either - we bought very few in WDW last year, for some reason we always buy a good handful in DLP.

Every time I've rang the AP line, I've always been given poor prices - sometimes it's even more expensive than a one adult package!? Must be our dates. We will be getting APs for the 3 of us for next May. I don't know if we'll get back again next year (plan had been originally to do another trip in the summer holidays but DH doesn't want to). So, I might stick out for Feb 18 if the Star Wars stuff seems good!

Agreed about the hot chocolate - it's lovely!
 
I've come to this a bit late but absolutely loved reading along. Your TRs are always great and as our last trip covered the period you're writing about it has brought my own memories to life again.

Love to see the socks of the day too, my DS has Disney socks which he has to choose and lay out each night ready for the next morning EVERY day of the year. :laughing:

I do use my Disney T-towels, if I'm going to have to use a T-towel it might as well be a Disney one!

Hope you get to use those APs again soon. :goodvibes
 
Your kids are getting so big, your wee boy is not so wee anymore! lol
Love reading your trip reports, I'm surprised you remember all the wait times, i would forget.
seeing all the halloween things is getting me excited for our halloween trip next year, just so long to wait.....
 
I've come to this a bit late but absolutely loved reading along. Your TRs are always great and as our last trip covered the period you're writing about it has brought my own memories to life again.

Love to see the socks of the day too, my DS has Disney socks which he has to choose and lay out each night ready for the next morning EVERY day of the year. :laughing:

I do use my Disney T-towels, if I'm going to have to use a T-towel it might as well be a Disney one!

Hope you get to use those APs again soon. :goodvibes

Thanks for reading along. The Disney socks cheer me up and I love wearing them at home too :rotfl:

I plan to get loads more tea towels and then I'll have to use them :thumbsup2

Hope you had a lovely trip too :goodvibes

Your kids are getting so big, your wee boy is not so wee anymore! lol
Love reading your trip reports, I'm surprised you remember all the wait times, i would forget.
seeing all the halloween things is getting me excited for our halloween trip next year, just so long to wait.....

Thanks for reading along. Yes Lewis is huge, :rotfl2:

Wait times are a big part of our day, we don't wait for much, lol.

Hope you have a lovely trip, It'll come around in no time :goodvibes
 
Lovely to see that your family is still enjoying trips to DLP together! I can't actually believe the size of Lewis though - scary.
You managed to do so much in 3 days, well done!! Brilliant that you've got APs now and will be doing more trips - I know you usually fly but I highly recommend taking the train too, the Eurostar direct from London to Disneyland is a brilliant experience, I pretty much always travel to France by train now. We have family and friends in London so it's always nice to spend time there on the way down.
I'm back on the boards because I've just booked the Newport Bay for my mum's surprise birthday trip in March - so excited! My sister and I will probably buy new APs, because we'll need to go back and see all the anniversary stuff. Then in early 2018 my sister and cousins are planning my Disneyland hen do - not sure how I'll cope with not being involved in the planning at all! Argh! I'm not bridezilla but I might be Disneyzilla.....
 
Lovely to see that your family is still enjoying trips to DLP together! I can't actually believe the size of Lewis though - scary.
You managed to do so much in 3 days, well done!! Brilliant that you've got APs now and will be doing more trips - I know you usually fly but I highly recommend taking the train too, the Eurostar direct from London to Disneyland is a brilliant experience, I pretty much always travel to France by train now. We have family and friends in London so it's always nice to spend time there on the way down.
I'm back on the boards because I've just booked the Newport Bay for my mum's surprise birthday trip in March - so excited! My sister and I will probably buy new APs, because we'll need to go back and see all the anniversary stuff. Then in early 2018 my sister and cousins are planning my Disneyland hen do - not sure how I'll cope with not being involved in the planning at all! Argh! I'm not bridezilla but I might be Disneyzilla.....

Thanks for reading along - yes AP's just sitting in my purse doing nothing makes me want to go every weekend :rotfl:

We only recently started flying to DLP and always went on Eurostar before but it means a full extra day added at either end of the holiday for travel. If we lived nearer I'd definitely choose the train first every single time as it's just so easy.

We are close to booking again, hopefully early February so might not be much longer to wait.

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding - you MUST have your hen do at Disneyland, that'll be fantastic :thumbsup2
 

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