Zawadi
12-24-2010, 01:58 PM
Before continuing the diary I need to revisit a few things:
The temperature ranged between 26F and 39F but the wind-chill dropped the temperature to around 15F. I said that Big Thunder Mountain was an island. The Mark Twain riverboat (Liberty Bell in WDW) sails around Big Thunder Mountain but on Saturday morning, the Mark Twain was tied up whilst an ice breaker sailed around the lake.
I omitted a scene from Animagique. Donald meets Sebastian and Flounder in a scene very similar to the “Under the Sea” scene from WDW’s “Voyage of the Little Mermaid” but here it was sung in French.
I had mentioned the security for Disney Village but what is different to the WDW security is that in the evenings, when the number of security staff reduces, the Paris team use airport X-Ray scanners instead of manual searches.
On the Friday night we saw the Tree Lighting Ceremony.
Sunday 19 Dec
Woke up to discover over 4 inches of snow and it was still snowing. At 9:45am we braved the snow and walked to Disney Studios avoiding a snow plough that was clearing the walkway through Disney Village. At Disney Studios, which was due to open at 10am, everybody was standing in the open waiting for the turnstiles to open. Studios finally opened about 10:20 due to a lack of CMs making it in and those that had made it were clearing snow. Once we made it on to the front lot, the first shows of both Animagique and Cinemagique had been cancelled due to staff shortages, whilst the Backlot Tour and Lights Motors Action were closed due to ice. So, with what was left open, we managed:
2x ToT
Armageddon – guests are extras on a special effects set based on the Russian space station that was destroyed by the meteor in the film.
Cinemagique – a walk through cinema history set in a movie theatre which started a bit like the montage sequence at the end of The Great Movie Ride but then the magic started. At the start a CM states the rules of no photo/video and turn cell phones off. Then the movie starts showing a silent film of a damsel (played by Julie Delpy) being rescued from a wizard by a knight. At that point a cell phone goes off in the front row of the audience and the owner answers it, stands up and the CM tries to get him to turn if off and calls for Security. The man runs away, on to the stage in front of the screen still shouting into his cell. This disturbs the actors in the film and the knight tries to punch the man only hitting the screen. The wizard then mixes a potion and puff, the man is transported from the stage into the film. The remainder of the film is about the man’s, called George played by Martin Short, attempts to get back to the real world using clips from Star Wars IV, Monsters Inc, Hunt for Red October, Pinocchio, A Fish Called Wanda, The Pink Panther, Harold Lloyd, Laurel & Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, The Good Bad & Ugly, Exorcist, Silence of the Lambs and loads more. The best scene is the role reversal in Star Wars IV where George turns up on the Death Star to see the small droid doing the U-turn just after Chewbacca roared at it. As Darth Vader appears George is pulled into a side passage by a storm trouper who turns out to be character played by Julie Delpy. The pair then try to escape to the point of where the light bridge is destroyed and it is George who kisses his rescuer and says “Good luck!” Lookup Cimemagique on Wikipedia for more information.
We then left Studios for Disneyland Park and had lunch at a counter service place called Hyperion Café. This place was packed with long lines at each of the 18 service points (a mixture of lunchtime, the cold and it was still snowing). After going on IASW and PoTC we headed back to the hotel to dry off (mainly the boots).
The snow finally stopped and after having diner at Annettes, a 1950’s style diner in Disney Village, we went back into Disneyland Park where the CMs had worked wonders as they had cleared the parade route. After going on 3xBuzz, Space Mountain, Phantom Manor, BTMR, PoTC and watching the Fantillusion parade it was 10pm and we were kicked out of the park
Monday 20 Dec
We had our usual breakfast buffet at 7:30am then completed the packing, checked out and left the cases at the bell desk. We entered Disney Studios at 10:10 and walked over to the new Toyland area that aims to make visitors feel like the size of a toy. The entry to this area is “guarded” by huge Buzz Lightyear that came out with all sorts of sayings. The most seasonal one was “Attention! Your new mission from Space Command – Have a good new year!” This area has an 81ft simulated (green soldier) parachute drop, a RC Racer that runs in a 75ft half-pipe and revamped caterpillar ride that is in the form of Slinky Dog all of which were snow covered and out of action. We then went on ToT and watched Animagique. We could have gone on RnRC but our previous experience of it in 2008 left us with the impression of it being very second rate to WDW version so we didn’t bother. The Backlot Tour and Lights Motors Action were still closed.
It was then over to the Disneyland Park for the final time to ride on IASW (mainly because it’s warm in the building) and PoTC before watching “Mickey’s Winter Wonderland” ice show. It was then across to Phantom Manor, where we encountered our longest line – 30 minutes to enter the manor. Just as we had got into the entrance hall, PM broke down and we stayed there for 1 hour whilst they got it up and running again – didn’t mind too much as it was nice and warm!
It was now approaching 4pm so we said farewell to the parks and headed back to the Disney Village to have dinner in Annettes. We then walked back to the hotel to collect our cases then walked to Marne Le Vallee station to catch the 7:45pm Eurostar back to London.
We entered the station just before 6pm. The area outside the Eurostar check in was packed (approx 750 people). The check in was due to open at 6pm. However 6pm came and went and the check in remained in darkness. By about 6:30pm we found out that the Eurostar had been cancelled due the bad weather in Northern Europe. This we didn’t understand because the Eurostar from London had made it. We were told to go back to the hotel and check in and that Eurostar would pay for the accommodation over night. In the morning we were to return to the station for 9am. It’s a good job that Paris is 1 hour ahead of the UK as we had to telephone the cattery to say that we weren’t able to collect Nala in the morning. Off we walked back to the New York hotel where we check in again. After a short delay whilst the staff confirmed that Eurostar was indeed paying the bill we were allocated a room, dumped our cases and headed straight back into the Disneyland Park. Between 7:30pm and the 10pm park close, we managed to go on Star Tours, Space Mountain, Snow White (the queue at midday had been 95 minutes), PoTC, BTMR, Phantom Manor, Buzz as well as watching Fantillusion. What a bonus!
Tuesday 21 Dec
This time we had breakfast at 7am and got back to the Eurostar check in at 8:15am. There was no Eurostar representative around, only a Disneyland CM who on the quiet admitted that he was sick of doing Eurostar’s dirty-work. A public announcement was made to say that the Eurostar desk would not be opening and that we were to wait in another part of the station. Three SNCF staff turned up to take family names, date of travel (as the Eurostar on 19 Dec had also been cancelled), number in party and class of travel. The unfortunate SNCF employees were swamped by the travellers. We were then told that Eurostar was running a special train to the Gare de Nord Eurostar terminal in Paris. Why run a Eurostar to Paris and move us around there instead of running one straight to London? This question was never answered. The Eurostar turned up at 10:30am and we left for Paris. At this point we had to text a friend to lookup some telephone numbers for us as we had an appointment as well as an internet grocery shop being delivered later in the day and that we were not going to be back home in time.
We arrived in Paris to be escorted directly to the Eurostar check in where we were allocated new seats. About an hour later we boarded the special Eurostar to London. IT WAS THE SAME TRAIN THAT HAD TAKEN US TO PARIS!!!!! :crazy: We got back to London at 3pm (UK time) and headed back to Paddington Station. We had non-transferable/non-refundable tickets for a train home the previous night so we went to the booking office and told them about the Eurostar cancellation. On confirming that we had been delayed due to a cancellation our tickets were endorsed for the next train home.
We finally got home at 5:20pm and telephoned the cattery. After clearing the snow from the car and driveway we collected Nala at 6:30pm and finally we were all home safe and sound.
Would we go back again at this time of year? DEFINITELY! The crowds were less than we had anticipated and after 8pm the parks were very quiet. On one of our late night PoTC journeys we were asked “Encore une fois?” (One more time?)
The temperature ranged between 26F and 39F but the wind-chill dropped the temperature to around 15F. I said that Big Thunder Mountain was an island. The Mark Twain riverboat (Liberty Bell in WDW) sails around Big Thunder Mountain but on Saturday morning, the Mark Twain was tied up whilst an ice breaker sailed around the lake.
I omitted a scene from Animagique. Donald meets Sebastian and Flounder in a scene very similar to the “Under the Sea” scene from WDW’s “Voyage of the Little Mermaid” but here it was sung in French.
I had mentioned the security for Disney Village but what is different to the WDW security is that in the evenings, when the number of security staff reduces, the Paris team use airport X-Ray scanners instead of manual searches.
On the Friday night we saw the Tree Lighting Ceremony.
Sunday 19 Dec
Woke up to discover over 4 inches of snow and it was still snowing. At 9:45am we braved the snow and walked to Disney Studios avoiding a snow plough that was clearing the walkway through Disney Village. At Disney Studios, which was due to open at 10am, everybody was standing in the open waiting for the turnstiles to open. Studios finally opened about 10:20 due to a lack of CMs making it in and those that had made it were clearing snow. Once we made it on to the front lot, the first shows of both Animagique and Cinemagique had been cancelled due to staff shortages, whilst the Backlot Tour and Lights Motors Action were closed due to ice. So, with what was left open, we managed:
2x ToT
Armageddon – guests are extras on a special effects set based on the Russian space station that was destroyed by the meteor in the film.
Cinemagique – a walk through cinema history set in a movie theatre which started a bit like the montage sequence at the end of The Great Movie Ride but then the magic started. At the start a CM states the rules of no photo/video and turn cell phones off. Then the movie starts showing a silent film of a damsel (played by Julie Delpy) being rescued from a wizard by a knight. At that point a cell phone goes off in the front row of the audience and the owner answers it, stands up and the CM tries to get him to turn if off and calls for Security. The man runs away, on to the stage in front of the screen still shouting into his cell. This disturbs the actors in the film and the knight tries to punch the man only hitting the screen. The wizard then mixes a potion and puff, the man is transported from the stage into the film. The remainder of the film is about the man’s, called George played by Martin Short, attempts to get back to the real world using clips from Star Wars IV, Monsters Inc, Hunt for Red October, Pinocchio, A Fish Called Wanda, The Pink Panther, Harold Lloyd, Laurel & Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, The Good Bad & Ugly, Exorcist, Silence of the Lambs and loads more. The best scene is the role reversal in Star Wars IV where George turns up on the Death Star to see the small droid doing the U-turn just after Chewbacca roared at it. As Darth Vader appears George is pulled into a side passage by a storm trouper who turns out to be character played by Julie Delpy. The pair then try to escape to the point of where the light bridge is destroyed and it is George who kisses his rescuer and says “Good luck!” Lookup Cimemagique on Wikipedia for more information.
We then left Studios for Disneyland Park and had lunch at a counter service place called Hyperion Café. This place was packed with long lines at each of the 18 service points (a mixture of lunchtime, the cold and it was still snowing). After going on IASW and PoTC we headed back to the hotel to dry off (mainly the boots).
The snow finally stopped and after having diner at Annettes, a 1950’s style diner in Disney Village, we went back into Disneyland Park where the CMs had worked wonders as they had cleared the parade route. After going on 3xBuzz, Space Mountain, Phantom Manor, BTMR, PoTC and watching the Fantillusion parade it was 10pm and we were kicked out of the park
Monday 20 Dec
We had our usual breakfast buffet at 7:30am then completed the packing, checked out and left the cases at the bell desk. We entered Disney Studios at 10:10 and walked over to the new Toyland area that aims to make visitors feel like the size of a toy. The entry to this area is “guarded” by huge Buzz Lightyear that came out with all sorts of sayings. The most seasonal one was “Attention! Your new mission from Space Command – Have a good new year!” This area has an 81ft simulated (green soldier) parachute drop, a RC Racer that runs in a 75ft half-pipe and revamped caterpillar ride that is in the form of Slinky Dog all of which were snow covered and out of action. We then went on ToT and watched Animagique. We could have gone on RnRC but our previous experience of it in 2008 left us with the impression of it being very second rate to WDW version so we didn’t bother. The Backlot Tour and Lights Motors Action were still closed.
It was then over to the Disneyland Park for the final time to ride on IASW (mainly because it’s warm in the building) and PoTC before watching “Mickey’s Winter Wonderland” ice show. It was then across to Phantom Manor, where we encountered our longest line – 30 minutes to enter the manor. Just as we had got into the entrance hall, PM broke down and we stayed there for 1 hour whilst they got it up and running again – didn’t mind too much as it was nice and warm!
It was now approaching 4pm so we said farewell to the parks and headed back to the Disney Village to have dinner in Annettes. We then walked back to the hotel to collect our cases then walked to Marne Le Vallee station to catch the 7:45pm Eurostar back to London.
We entered the station just before 6pm. The area outside the Eurostar check in was packed (approx 750 people). The check in was due to open at 6pm. However 6pm came and went and the check in remained in darkness. By about 6:30pm we found out that the Eurostar had been cancelled due the bad weather in Northern Europe. This we didn’t understand because the Eurostar from London had made it. We were told to go back to the hotel and check in and that Eurostar would pay for the accommodation over night. In the morning we were to return to the station for 9am. It’s a good job that Paris is 1 hour ahead of the UK as we had to telephone the cattery to say that we weren’t able to collect Nala in the morning. Off we walked back to the New York hotel where we check in again. After a short delay whilst the staff confirmed that Eurostar was indeed paying the bill we were allocated a room, dumped our cases and headed straight back into the Disneyland Park. Between 7:30pm and the 10pm park close, we managed to go on Star Tours, Space Mountain, Snow White (the queue at midday had been 95 minutes), PoTC, BTMR, Phantom Manor, Buzz as well as watching Fantillusion. What a bonus!
Tuesday 21 Dec
This time we had breakfast at 7am and got back to the Eurostar check in at 8:15am. There was no Eurostar representative around, only a Disneyland CM who on the quiet admitted that he was sick of doing Eurostar’s dirty-work. A public announcement was made to say that the Eurostar desk would not be opening and that we were to wait in another part of the station. Three SNCF staff turned up to take family names, date of travel (as the Eurostar on 19 Dec had also been cancelled), number in party and class of travel. The unfortunate SNCF employees were swamped by the travellers. We were then told that Eurostar was running a special train to the Gare de Nord Eurostar terminal in Paris. Why run a Eurostar to Paris and move us around there instead of running one straight to London? This question was never answered. The Eurostar turned up at 10:30am and we left for Paris. At this point we had to text a friend to lookup some telephone numbers for us as we had an appointment as well as an internet grocery shop being delivered later in the day and that we were not going to be back home in time.
We arrived in Paris to be escorted directly to the Eurostar check in where we were allocated new seats. About an hour later we boarded the special Eurostar to London. IT WAS THE SAME TRAIN THAT HAD TAKEN US TO PARIS!!!!! :crazy: We got back to London at 3pm (UK time) and headed back to Paddington Station. We had non-transferable/non-refundable tickets for a train home the previous night so we went to the booking office and told them about the Eurostar cancellation. On confirming that we had been delayed due to a cancellation our tickets were endorsed for the next train home.
We finally got home at 5:20pm and telephoned the cattery. After clearing the snow from the car and driveway we collected Nala at 6:30pm and finally we were all home safe and sound.
Would we go back again at this time of year? DEFINITELY! The crowds were less than we had anticipated and after 8pm the parks were very quiet. On one of our late night PoTC journeys we were asked “Encore une fois?” (One more time?)