Well time for another interlude from our posts on buying and running a gite and time to tell you about our trip to Disneyland in Paris. We have just spent 5 nights at Disneyland Paris and it was fantastic. We went on Monday morning and took the Eurotunnel from Folkstone. We had never been on the Eurotunnel but I must say it is brilliant. We planned to arrive in time for the check-in for the previous train, to give us time in case anything went wrong but it didn’t so we arrived at 7:30am. As we were in time for the previous train and there was space on it the check-in system gave us the option of travelling on this earlier train, which we obviously took and there was no extra charge. We boarded and it set off on time and we were whisked through the tunnel and in 35 minutes we had arrived in France, fantastic.

We then headed down to Disneyland and it took us just under 3 hours to get there. We were staying at the Disney self catering accommodation at Davy Crockett Ranch. We picked up our keys to our “log cabin” and our park tickets and we were soon settled in and having lunch. It was reasonably simple accommodation but very nice and clean and had most things you could want. The kitchen had two rings and there was a microwave but knowing this beforehand meant we brought some frozen meals we had made before that could be cooked on the two rings or microwave. We thought that eating Disney food for lunch and dinner for six days was just too much and we would be craving normal food in the evening!

After lunch we set-off for the park. which is about a 10 minutes drive from the ranch. It was amazing arriving in the bright sunshine to Disneyland and looking at the Disneyland Hotel at the entrance to the park. We headed in and arrived on Main Street which was incredible, with Sleeping Beauties Castle looking stunning in the distance. We went to Fantasyland, which is the main area for young children (the girls still being 3 years old), and went on a few rides and then headed back towards Main Street for the parade at 4:00pm. The parade was great and the girls were just amazed, seeing Buzz and Woody and Cinderella and Snow White, amongst all the others, and they just stood in awe for most of it. We went back for a few more rides and then headed back to the cabin.

The next day we got to the park and saw Mickey Mouse near the entrance, so we decided to queue so the girls could meet him. We ended up queueing for around 20 minutes and then they met Mickey. It was really good. The girls were amazed and turned quite shy but Mickey was very good and we weren’t rushed. The photographer even asked for our camera so he could take a group shot of all of us, and we didn’t need to ask which was really nice. Afterwards the girls kept talking about Mickey so I’m sure they enjoyed it. We then headed back to Fantasyland and went on some more rides. Fantasyland has quite a lot for small children: a Carousel, Dumbo the Flying elephant (which the girls loved), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (another favourite), Pinocchio, Peter Pan (the girls loved “flying” through the stars), the spinning Tea Cups (always a hit), the Alice in Wonderland maze, It’s a small world and a couple of other rides that were closed while we were there. We never had to queue more than a few minutes for anything (Dumbo being the largest queue along with Peter Pan but you can “FastPass” the Peter Pan ride), which is what you get for going during the week in January I suppose.

In the afternoon we headed over to Frontierland to see the Mickey Winter Wonderland show which the girls absolutely loved. We then went to see Woody and Jessie, as the girls love Toy Story and they were the only characters doing a meet and greet in the afternoon. Again the girls loved it and we had lots of time with them and they were so good.

On Wednesday we went to Discoveryland and we went on the Buzz Lightyear ride, which the girls ended up going on about six times that day as they loved it so much, the Star Wars ride and the car ride, which the girls could drive (even though they couldn’t really see over the steering wheel, Charlotte really is driving the car). I went on Space Mountain and that was brilliant, one of the best roller coasters I have been on. There was a Princess meet and greet at the castle so we met Cinderella and Prince Charming. We had booked the Cinderella restaurant for lunch, which is very expensive but we did have a great time. The girls met the mice from Cinderella (their favourite film at the time) and then met Cinderella, Snow White and her Prince and Ariel, from the Little Mermaid. The food was really good and the deserts were just amazing. Expensive but worth it for the total experience. In the afternoon we went to the Lion King show which was very good and the girls really enjoyed the songs.

Thursday we decided to go to the Studios which were very good but easily done in one day. We saw Minnie on the way in and so went to meet her, which again left the girls speechless. We then went on the children’s rides and then I went on Crushes Coaster, which is the longest thing I queued for and took 15 minutes but great. We then went to the Animagic show which was brilliant, another one the girls really liked.

After lunch I went on the Hollywood Tower of Terror, which had just opened and it was excellent, well worth a visit, and the Aerosmith Rock and Roller Coaster, very very good. The girls had gone on the Cars ride and the Flying Carpets ride and when I got back were meeting Chip and Dale and Clarice (the Chipmunks) and Donald and Daisy Duck. They loved meeting Daisy Duck, especially Daisy for obvious reasons. We all then went to the Stunt Show, which was amazing. The girls loved the stunts but they did get bored in the parts between the stunts but they behaved themselves very well but they were glad when we left.

On Friday we went back to the park to finish off the things we hadn’t yet done, the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and the Boat Ride. We also got to meet Winnie the Pooh, Alice in Wonderland, the Queen of Hearts and Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee. After going on the girls favourites in Fantasyland again, the Tea Cups, Dumbo, Peter Pan and Snow White we had lunch and headed back to Davy Crockett Ranch for a swim. The swimming pool was brilliant but we spent our entire time in the jacuzzi’s they had, which were three jacuzzis linked together and the girls had a fantastic time and we had a very relaxing time.

Saturday was our final day and we had to leave after lunch to head home. The park opened early for guests staying at the hotels and Davy Crockett’s ranch so we got there before 9:00am. It was a lot busier than we had seen it and we did the girls favourites straight away before the queues built. We then did Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland maze, which was done very well. We then went to see which princess was doing the meet and greet and it was Belle, who the girls hadn’t met so we started queuing. She left though and was replaced by Sleeping Beauty, who again the girls hadn’t met yet so we continued to queue. Just as we were about to see her Cinderella turned up to replace Sleeping Beauty, who the girls had now met twice. We asked if the girls could meet sleeping Beauty before she went as they really wanted to and they were very nice and Sleeping Beauty stayed to meet the girls. The queues were so long for things now, well for us as we hadn’t had to queue for anything, we decided to go for an early lunch and head home. As we were travelling on the Euro Tunnel we could catch an earlier train. We got there two hours early and caught the next train, brilliant.

It really was an amazing holiday, the meet and greets were fantastic for the girls, the park was just stunning, the shows were great and the rides were very good, both for the girls and for me. I would thoroughly recommend it. 

Brittany Gite – 2 Bedroom Self Catering Cottage / Gite near Dinan, Brittany, France

Buying, Owning and Running a Gite in Brittany Blog

©Derek Arkwright 2008