Disneyland Paris 2012- Day two!

[josh.p.]

Our wake up call goes off and I can't quite believe that I'm at Disney! The trip came around so fast and without the usual dragging that comes before a holiday! We get washed & dressed and then it's off to Café Mickey's for Niamh's first character meeting!

However, 'The Big M' puts a stop to that as he's outside our hotel dressed like a Cherokee Indian! Niamh gets far too excited and starts laughing her head off that Mickey "has a funny costume on" We were worried how she'll act so Jade holds her hand but she soon lets go and gives Mickey a big 'squeeze.'

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Our breakfast reservation is for 9.15 so we have an hour in the parks. That is something I really love about DLRP.. you can go to a park for an hour and not spend the best part of another hour getting to the next park!
A few weeks back I told Niamh about the dragon under the castle at Disneyland. We watched it on youtube and looked at pictures.. she was obsessed with it! She asks why it was there and what it eats, what it's name was (George, and he eats Birthday cake and lettuce she concluded, in case anyone is wondering!) It was quite exciting for her to finally get to meet him, even though I think she was a bit scared. Anyone will tell you it's pretty near impossible to get a good picture of this dragon because of how often it moves and the long exposure required, so apologies for the blurryness!
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After spending a bit of time with the dragon, we headed to the Disney Village to have a look at some gifts etc and before we knew it, it was time for our reservation! As we got there, a very rude British lady (I have to say we encountered quite a few.. ) DEMANDING that they let her in for breakfast "WE'VE COME ALL THE WAY FROM ENGLAND, THE RIDES ARE CLOSED AND NOW WE CAN'T HAVE OUR BREAKFAST WHERE WE WANT? NOONE TOLD ME WE HAD TO BOOK IT! THIS IS @£@£%£$!"

We jokingly apologised on behalf of our nation and our seater gives us a nervous laugh- clearly she's seen it before. Niamh is far too excited for breakfast however I think she ate a nutella croissant or similar in the end.. but first: The Characters! First off is goofy who is accidentally scaring the child sat next to us. Goofy's size intimidated Niamh a bit but he was really gentle with her and got down to her level. Niamh's autograph pen didn't work so he ran off to another table to get one.. much to our amusement.
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In between characters, Joe and I set off to go and get something from the buffet. The buffet is 16 euro each for Disney Hotel guests, versus 25 for non-hotel guests. The food is mediocre at best but the character interaction can't be beaten.. I'd have gladly paid double the price for it Rather oddly, there is new potatoes in butter, scrambled eggs and a selection of pastries and breads. I know there was some meat on offer too, probably bacon and sausage but I don't remember. All I can remember is that I had scrambled eggs, new potatoes and a croissant for breakfast which was odd to say the least I really didn't mind though, It wasn't really about the food
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Next up was Pluto! Niamh absolutely loved Pluto and he got up to loads of silly things. The characters here really stayed at the table for quite a while. We didn't know what to expect as we'd never been for a character breakfast before and we were pleasantly surprised! The pictures of Niamh & Pluto are my favourite of the whole trip

Niamh was wondering how long it would take Mickey to change out of his 'silly feather costume' because she wanted to see him again. He eventually turns up and, as if by Disney magic he does seem to remember Niamh! We're not sure if he heard us talking to her, or if it was actually the (shhhhh) same mickey but he definitely is acting as though he remembers her He gives her another kiss, and she practically falls over laughing! Everyone is so happy at this moment because we were slightly worried Niamh wouldn't take to the characters. 'The Missus' is straight after and Niamh tells her all about Mickey's antics

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It's time to go to the parks for the day, but first Niamh needs the toilet. After about five minutes she comes running full speed back to our table shouting "UNCLE JOSH! JOE! MICKEY KISSED ME... AGAIN!!!!!!!" It turns out that on her way to the bathroom, Mickey had spotted her and given her another kiss. She truly was so excited about the whole thing!

We wave our goodbyes to the characters, and leave with smiles and our faces, headed for The Studios for the day.

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I find the entrance to the Studios very impressive The indoors part with the Hollywood sign etc is really good- I spot a few little references to the Hollywood Studios parks here and there which I think are a nice touch This is definitely my favourite part of the park, even though there is only a few gift shops and a fast food place in there.

As we start to explore, we see the Monsters Inc area and start taking a few photos, then. as if by Disney magic, Sully comes out to play! Monsters Inc is something Niamh has always liked so she is very excited! Niamh wants to give him a 'big squeeze' but he is so big that you can't see Niamh in the picture and I just look as though I'm giving him a big hug on my own

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It is absolutely freezing at this point... we all put our hoods up and as such the pictures aren't fantastic from this day.

Niamh, Jade & Joe go on the magic carpet ride. This one looked like fun for Niamh as you get to control the magic carpets up and down whilst Genie is shouting out stage directions. A really well themed ride, and because of the nature of it, the queue moved down really fast

We also visited the new toy story area which was really cool I have to say I do prefer Pixar Place at DHS, the reason for all the toys and stuff being there is a bit more obvious, where as the Paris Toy Story Land feels as though they had some spare space and wanted to get a few Toy Story attractions in The actual attractions were really well made and themed, but the area could do with a bit more Niamh loved it and the Slinky ride was one of her favourites We'd watched it on YouTube a few times and it didn't dissapoint. The queue is themed like a big box for a slinky dog.. in the cold weather it did act a bit like a wind tunnel though

Jade & I got to ride Tower of Terror whilst Joe and Niamh stopped for a quick drink. The beauty of going at this time of the year is that the queues for the bigger rides are really short, so it was easy to keep Niamh occupied whilst we wanted to go on a ride that wasn't suitable for her We practically walked onto the Tower of Terror.

After that, we were all getting a little chilly so we went over to Playhouse Disney: Live on Stage! Another one we've been watching on YouTube. I was really excited to see this as I worked at it's WDW this summer. The layout of the show is exactly the same, but they haven't gotten round to replacing Tigger & Pooh with Jake and the Neverland Pirates yet, but the rest of the show was the same. I was a bit disappointed in the lady who played 'Sammy'. She had a really strong Yorkshire accent but as soon as she sang it was a really nasally fake American one. I didn't mind but it did make me miss the 'Casey' that we had at Junior in WDW.

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After the show we went on another character hunt (A running theme throughout this holiday...) We met Buzz Lightyear. I was particularly happy about this because he is my favourite character, and every single time I have tried to get my picture with him at WDW, something has gotten in the way, whether it was rain or the parade, always something!

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After we met Buzz, Mickey was at the same meeting spot but Niamh opted not to meet him "in case he kissed her again" I can't remember what we did after this, but I know we happened to catch the parade going through. I loved this parade but because we were unprepared, we didn't get a very good spot so the photos didn't turn out too well. Niamh sat on my shoulders and saw the whole thing, though so that's all that mattered

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I did think that this was a very short parade.. six cars in total was all I could count and they were very close together so it only lasted about 10 minutes in total.

After the parade we headed over to the Disneyland Park so that we could go on the Buzz Lightyear ride. It was one of Niamh's favourites and by the end of the holiday we'd ridden it at least 3 times! After exploring the park a little more (we possibly went on the Pinnochio ride, too) we headed off for dinner at Planet Hollywood.

Dinner was mediocre. To be honest we all agreed that this place was past its prime and that it should either be closed or completely refurbished. Niamh enjoyed it though, as she got an ice cream and a Kinder Egg for her dessert!

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Straight back to the hotel after a very busy day, especially as Niamh only slept for an hour or so throughout. I fell straight asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow!

[Wendy]

Brilliant day 2 Josh, I can't believe how well Niamh got on with the characters, she absolutely loved them and the photos are wonderful.

It sounds like you had an amazing time

[Deafjeff]

I missed the dragon as it was closed when we were there GUTTED so we have to go back (not told Stephen yet!) simply to meet the dragon! what a perfect excuse!

Love your trip report Josh!


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[Skywatcher]

Thank you so much for sharing these mate - loving them

[catrancher]

Great report Josh!

And you're right, the pictures of Niamh with Pluto are priceless!

Tom (... bon... très bon...)

[uscwest]

Fantastic report Josh and the pictures are precious. I like Mickey in the Indian outfit. Sounds like Niamh had a blast.

[josh.p.]

I missed the dragon as it was closed when we were there GUTTED so we have to go back (not told Stephen yet!) simply to meet the dragon! what a perfect excuse!

Love your trip report Josh!


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The Dragon is really cool! As per usual, the little intricate Disney details really make it worth seeing! Every time I went back I noticed something new!

[Britchick]

She is so grown up! I love that she loves the characters!

[Beccaberry]

LOVE LOVE LOVE all the photos in this report!!! MORE!!!

[josh.p.]

LOVE LOVE LOVE all the photos in this report!!! MORE!!!

Wait until we get to the ones where she buys a minnie mouse dress. You'll get weepy