Malin's DLRP Trip Report

[Malin]

Day 1

24th of September 2007

The day started at 5.30 where my taxi picked me up bright and early from the Jury’s Inn just outside of Heathrow. I had a early flight for 7.30 so made sure I was at the Airport in plenty of time. After checking in through one of the self check in points I made my way through departures into the lounge and brought a paper to read on the plane. During the flight we were handed bacon rolls and soft drinks. After arriving at CDG airport in Paris I made my way to the outside to catch the VEA shuttle to the Resort. Despite the convenience of the service it can be quite hectic during a busy period with everyone trying to off load there luggage and fighting other people to get on the bus. Journey was short due to Terminal 2 being the last on the list and we were on our way. The shuttle chose to drop of at every hotel except Santa Fe until last.

Arriving at the Santa Fe check in was a be busy and I had to endure a 20-30 minute wait to check in. I was located in building 58 room 17. After dropping of the bags I grabbed the video camera and headed out towards the free shuttle bus to the parks. Bus came quite quickly and we were on our way. I chose to visit the Studios first as it was coming up to 12.30 and I wanted to grab a bite to eat and get a decent spot to film the Cinema Parade. As I was entering the park I could clearly see the mighty Tower of Terror structure in the background.

Lunch was a bacon cheese burger meal from Studio 1 which was quite bland. After lunch I entered the main park and walked over to new area Toon Studios to see what the new area looked like. Crush had a 50 minute wait, so I had no plans to go on that today. I got a good spot for the parade. Interesting to note the parade didn’t include the usual parade stop and was actually quite quick going through the park. Good thing really as seconds later the heavens decided to open up on the park. Feeling quite wet I made my way towards Studio 1 before leaving the park altogether. On the way out the rain was really starting to pour and wet signs were flying across the front lot due to the severe weather. I braved the rain and left to go to Disneyland Park.

Once entering the park I visited the some of the shops on Main Street to see check out the new 15th Anniversary merchandise. I than walked through Discoveryland and rode Star Tours and than made my way into Fantasyland to ride it’s a small world, which sadly was in a terrible state. Mould was clearly visible from the water, while the sets were covered in dust. Many of the AA’s were also not moving correctly and some were just turned off. it’s a disgrace to see such a beautiful attraction like this in a state of disrepair like this. It made me realise that the maintenance issues had become worst since my last trip as many of the buildings in Fantasyland were in desperate need of work.

I made my way over to Main Street to get a decent place for the parade. I stood towards the exit and had a great view of the Mickey float, which stopped right in front of me. As for the actual parade I loved it, certainly a refreshing change to the previous one. My only concern is that many of the floats having moving parts and I’m a bit concern to how long its going to take before these start to break and don’t get repaired. Also the parade could of done without spacing the floats so far apart and added more performers.

Next it was time to do more attractions including Pirates, Phantom Manor and Big Thunder Mountain. After riding Buzz in which my score was 45300 I made my way over to watch Candlebration. Cute show by the way. It was 7.00 and the park was about to close but due to staying at a Disney hotel I was entitled to extra magic hours and went to city hall to pick up my tag. More turns on Pirates, Phantom Manor and Big Thunder Mountain as well as riding Pinocchio and Peter Pan. I also checked out the castle and enjoyed the candles all lit up. It was getting late so I left the park and made my way over to Disney Village and had a meal over at the Rain Forrest Café which I enjoyed more than the one in Tokyo. After dinner I left the village and got the bus back to the Santa Fe.

[Malin]

By the way for those of you who enjoy this trip report you may line to check out the TDR section for my trip report to Tokyo. http://www.micechat.com/forums/showt...07935&posted=1

[GUYNYC]

Nice report. Sorry about the rain. Did everything come to a halt? Or do they keep things open. I'm preparing to head off next week for DLRP. I'm hoping that they get around to fixing up some of the issues with Small World before I get there. I saw on their website that it's got a scheduled closing right before the end of my stay. So if it reopens as planned, I'll let you know if they fixed it up or not. Any advice in general? I've been there before when it was Euro, but never to Studios--sadly I know, that's the whole reason for my trip is to see that park, as it is the only Disney theme park that I haven't been to. But what an excuse to get to see Disneyland Paris too.

[fizzog]

One doesn't need an excuse! Nice report so far Malin, I look forward to reading the rest

[mikeland]

Thanks for the report! How was the shuttle bus ride to and from the hotel? I hear they can be quite hectic.

[StrongStyle]

Malin, you must have a lot better eye for these problems than I do, i only noticed 2 broken AAs in Small World and didn't notice the dust either; and we rode it 5 times. I've been thinking about getting my eyes checked, maybe the problem is worse than I thought.

[pussnboots]

Originally Posted by StrongStyle

Malin, you must have a lot better eye for these problems than I do, i only noticed 2 broken AAs in Small World and didn't notice the dust either; and we rode it 5 times. I've been thinking about getting my eyes checked, maybe the problem is worse than I thought.

If you rode It's a Small World five times, you might want to get something else checked too, haha.

[fizzog]

Brilliant comeback Puss haha. I did it once on the first day to get it over with, not again. I have to say, it didn't look brilliant, but I always hated that you could see the roof

[nathan detroit]

Good report.

Let's have the rest then!

[Malin]

Originally Posted by GUYNYC

Nice report. Sorry about the rain. Did everything come to a halt? Or do they keep things open. I'm preparing to head off next week for DLRP. I'm hoping that they get around to fixing up some of the issues with Small World before I get there. I saw on their website that it's got a scheduled closing right before the end of my stay. So if it reopens as planned, I'll let you know if they fixed it up or not. Any advice in general? I've been there before when it was Euro, but never to Studios--sadly I know, that's the whole reason for my trip is to see that park, as it is the only Disney theme park that I haven't been to. But what an excuse to get to see Disneyland Paris too.

Yeah rain was a bit of a downer but atleast it wasn't to heavy. All attractions were kept open and all shows went ahead but I did see a alternative version of Candlebration where the guys with the flags were no where to be seen.

The work on Its a small world shouldn't take much to fix. Its just more or less cleaning up and repainting the sets and removing the mold from the bottom of the water as well as fixing some of the AA's. This is why I'm so angered by the neglect because the issues I found could be easily fixed. I was actually very tempted to volenteer my services but I was on vacation.

Rest is on the way

[Malin]

Originally Posted by mikeland

Thanks for the report! How was the shuttle bus ride to and from the hotel? I hear they can be quite hectic.

Yeah they can be very hectic at times, its best to avoid certain times of the day for sure. Europeans will have no probs shoving you out the way. I also during my trip caught a family lifting a stroller above there heads and keeping it they some they could get on the bus. Main reason why I'll never stay at the Santa Fe again just to far from the parks.

[Malin]

Originally Posted by StrongStyle

Malin, you must have a lot better eye for these problems than I do, i only noticed 2 broken AAs in Small World and didn't notice the dust either; and we rode it 5 times. I've been thinking about getting my eyes checked, maybe the problem is worse than I thought.

I'm kind of happy you missed most of the neglect I saw StrongStyle as it would of taken away from your vacation.

[StrongStyle]

Originally Posted by pussnboots

If you rode It's a Small World five times, you might want to get something else checked too, haha.

LOL! I should probably add, it wasn't completely by choice. Unfortunately my son still isn't a huge fan of the dark rides with the exception of Buzz and although tall enough Thunder Mountain didn't get 2 thumbs up either, but we thought we would take him on Small World this trip (we ushered him away from it on 2 previous trips) and he loved it and constantly asked to go back on it.

In a way we were lucky to only have to go on it 5 times, imagine he loved it as much as Buzz, we could have been in double Small World digits.

I did notice the flooring in the outside pools, some of it is mould, some of it coins; i have to say that it doesn't grate on me the way it does others, i saw worse water damage from the Dumbo queue and the rock pool to the right hand side of Discoveryland entrance is plain green. I didn't notice the need for either dusting or repainting, what actually stood out more to me was the way the warehouse style ceiling has never been hidden.

[nathan detroit]

The nauseating nature of iasw is somewhat lessened when accompanied by a spell-bound toddler.

[StrongStyle]

Originally Posted by nathan detroit

The nauseating nature of iasw is somewhat lessened when accompanied by a spell-bound toddler.

And made quite funny when its a spellbound toddler with a Buzz Lightyear gun going through the attraction shooting the AAs. I'm sure he thought the broken AAs were through his marksmanship abilities.

"Quick Gage, there's China, get them!!!" and so on.