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Old 8 Mar 15, 08:31 PM  
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CreakingStool
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Join Date: May 11

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Wow, it really is Magic - Purchases, Final Thoughts and Future Plans

A couple of links

Introductions

Index

Purchases

Not a huge amount of purchases but thought people might like to see what we bought. I think the Euro was in our favour, if it wasn't then prices would probably be higher than say the Disney store although, of course, some things wouldn't be available.

The children had 70 euros each. We gave them 50 euros and they had some from family too. We have found that giving the children a set amount to spend stops all the 'can I have' irritating conversations and I think its good for them too. Zach at 8 now really thinks about what he wants to buy, Imogen at 5 isn't so restrained

Imogens Things



Zachs Things



My Pin and fridge magnets



Mine and Hubbys Mugs



Light Up's and cups from Kids BBWWS drinks



Travel

We got a Virgin train from Manchester the evening before our trip and did the same journey home immediately after the Eurostar. We had about 40 minutes to change stations on the way home and managed to do this and get Burger King for tea at Euston but only with seconds to spare! I would get the next train along if I did this again but we had some limitations on the seat reservations this time (see Day 0)

We stayed at Euston Travelodge overnight before the leg to Paris. This hotel I would not recommend as per my trip report.

We got the direct Eurostar from St Pancras to MLV at 10.15. I love this journey, its just so easy and I prefer it to flying but it is a shame that in all the years its been running they haven't linked it up to other parts of the country as the journey to London adds on time and costs. If the price and times were right I would fly I think but I would also do the Eurostar again with no qualms.
We got the indirect Eurostar home via Lille. Very easy, don't worry about doing this 2 stage journey. Not much going on at Lille Europe train station but then you aren't there for very long.

Cheyenne Hotel



We all loved this hotel. The bunkbeds and double bed were perfect for our family. We ended up in the Wild Bill Hickok block very close to the amenities although I don't think our booking was for here specifically. If we stayed here again (and we would) I would choose the blocks close to amenities if possible (paying the premium) as it was handy for nipping to the Red Garter Saloon and taking a drink back to our room once the kids were asleep. It was quiet and peaceful and warm.

We never had breakfast at the hotel, one morning we ate at Cafe Mickey and the others we made a choice to buy croissants at the train station on the way in. I'm sure its perfectly fine but it looked busy and we wanted to get in the parks for EMH. Maybe if we had got there bang on 7am we would have done but our kids were just tired and needed the extra rest.

We used the buses all the time and found them to be excellent. We never waited more than 5 minutes for a bus and didn’t find them to be overly crowded. The only night it was very busy was on the Thursday after Dreams but it wasn’t horrendous. Our tactic was to wait near where the back of the bus was and don’t worry about queuing, nobody else does!

Weather

February is COLD! I would visit again at this time as we got a great deal on our stay but my advice is to be prepared. Its no fun if the kids are cold and wet but if you wrap up and put waterproofs on you will still get a lot done. We had one day that was horrible weather but the other days we fine, arrival day and leaving day (typically) were the best. We still had a great time though so don't let this put you off. The other benefit if you have small children is that the Dreams show is on at 8pm midweek, I doubt we would have got to watch it if it was on much later than 9pm.

I would also recommend snowboots for the children and warm shoes for adults. The children also had trainers but they just weren’t warm enough especially when they got wet., we didn’t have a dingle complaint about cold feet once the snow boots were on.

Final Thoughts

All in all we had a great time. I reckon we spent about £1700 all in (hotel, travel, spends) which is a lot for 4 nights away from home but not that much compared to what I thought it would cost. We will be going again (See future plans)

If you've read my trip report you will know that we didn't 'do' many character meets. Everyone just wanted to get on rides. I think if/when we went again we would do some as we'd be feeling less like we had to rush from place to place. We'd also explore a little more. Maybe if we hadn't been washed out on Friday we'd have met some characters Saturday and Sunday but we didn't feel like we'd done everything we wanted to and the rides won out!

Ratatouille and Buzz Laser blast were big family favourites. DH and I loved Big Thunder Mountain and we all enjoyed the shows too.

My top tips would be use fast pass for Ratatouille, getting to the studios gates at least half an hour before opening time and also watch the parade near/in Fantasyland for less crowds and the ability to get onto rides etc once it passes.

Future Plans

Well our first trip to Disney has definitely been a success with our family. I already wanted to go to Florida in 2017 (and had done for some time, its why I found and joined The Dibb) but I think DH is more sure now too and so May/June 2017 should be our 'Once in a Lifetime' holiday to Orlando and I already have a rough idea of what form that will take. I'm paying lots of attention to the threads and the prices for 2016 as they progress this year to work out the best plan of action for booking (please let free dining continue!)

Before then though we are planning on to return to DLP (Yay). We have a touring caravan and want to go to France sometime so I think next August (2016) we will do this. We will combine a week in the Normandy area with a week near Paris and get our DLP fix hopefully with weather opposite of February At the moment the plan would be annual passes and then visit anytime we fancy over a week and also to visit Paris. I reckon BBWWS will also be on the cards again as we all loved it. Of course if we DO have annual passes there’s nothing stopping another visit and I’d love to go at Christmas time…………….

For the rest of this year we will be out in our caravan visiting places in the UK, we really enjoyed it last year and have 45 nights away planned including the Snowdonia area, Blackpool, South Lakes, North Devon, York, Filey, Lincolnshire and Clumber Park. We are hoping to do lots of Geocaching this year, last year we had Merlin passes and did as many attractions as we could so this year will be a bit different.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my first trip report and that some of the things I’ve written about will be useful to others as I've certainly found other peoples reports really helpful to read and also lots of fun.

So long, Partner
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Edited at 08:37 PM.
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Old 10 Mar 15, 12:49 PM  
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Disneyloverz
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Great trip report, thanks for sharing

Glad to hear you've got lots more holidays planned
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Old 11 Mar 15, 02:10 PM  
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collybird
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Thank you for sharing your visit with us. I loved your pictures of Cheyenne; I really like the theming of the resort.

Your future plans sound very exciting, I hope you'll start a pre-trip report for your 2017 WDW trip further down the line.
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Old 11 Mar 15, 06:18 PM  
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Floridasun
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Looks like you had a great time. We went Feb half term 2014 and it was cold but we had lots of fun as we dressed for it. I am also planning to get AP's again probably in late August so we can sneak a few trips in and if we holiday in France again next year then we can tag some DLP time onto it.
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Old 11 Mar 15, 10:51 PM  
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CreakingStool
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Originally Posted by Disneyloverz View Post
Great trip report, thanks for sharing

Glad to hear you've got lots more holidays planned
Thanks for your reply. I love having things planned and we are off for our first 2015 trip int he caravan this weekend.

Originally Posted by collybird View Post
Thank you for sharing your visit with us. I loved your pictures of Cheyenne; I really like the theming of the resort.

Your future plans sound very exciting, I hope you'll start a pre-trip report for your 2017 WDW trip further down the line.
Thanks, we really enjoyed the Cheyenne. I've enjoyed writing this report so when the time comes I'll definately do a report.

Originally Posted by Floridasun View Post
Looks like you had a great time. We went Feb half term 2014 and it was cold but we had lots of fun as we dressed for it. I am also planning to get AP's again probably in late August so we can sneak a few trips in and if we holiday in France again next year then we can tag some DLP time onto it.
Great minds eh Will be interesting to hear how you get on with the annual passes.
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Old 12 Mar 15, 10:50 PM  
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Have enjoyed your trippie...and also really appreciate the "purchases" instalment. Am I a bit weird for wanting to see what other people buy at Disney?

Watch out for that "once in a lifetime" holiday to Florida...we planned one of those back in 2012, then just HAD to go back last year...and I'm q-u-i-e-t-l-y planning a December 2016 trip, too.

Many thanks for the work you put into your TR!

April
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Old 21 Mar 15, 09:47 AM  
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CreakingStool
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Originally Posted by GopherLass View Post
Have enjoyed your trippie...and also really appreciate the "purchases" instalment. Am I a bit weird for wanting to see what other people buy at Disney?

Watch out for that "once in a lifetime" holiday to Florida...we planned one of those back in 2012, then just HAD to go back last year...and I'm q-u-i-e-t-l-y planning a December 2016 trip, too.

Many thanks for the work you put into your TR!

April
Thanks for your kind comments. I'm quite partial to a nosy at the things people buy too

Yeah, one thing I'm noticing on this forum is these 'Once in a Lifetime' trips are repeatable
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Old 21 Mar 15, 11:32 PM  
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Gill H
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Thanks for writing, it was a great trip to read.

Do bear in mind that traditionally everyone in Paris goes on holiday for the whole of August! Our first holiday there was in August and most things were open, but some of the smaller shops and restaurants were closed. It was searingly hot (much too hot for me) and on our first ever trip to DLP we found it very crowded and very hot, although we did enjoy it.

Glad to hear you are saving up for Florida too!
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Old 22 Mar 15, 06:55 AM  
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Noodle500
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Fab report, my DS got his own spends this time
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Old 22 Mar 15, 04:16 PM  
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I think it's a great idea to allow your kids to manage their own money whilst they were in DLP... Genius!
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