.....................And then we were dragged home, kicking and screaming!!!!
Basically we had a blast, with a couple of iffy bits to make me cry (once) and get really annoyed (twice!!).
But apart from that, a great time!!
Condensed version of our outward journey - hours to wait in Heathrow, then the Paris flight was delayed, missed our slot and eventually arrived in Paris. Had a LONG walk from Terminal 2A to F - the overhead board said a 10 - 12 minute walk.
Yeah, if you were Usain Bolt, with no luggage, nor a boy to make sure didn't wander off in front or lag behind and weren't having to stop to ask people if you were going the right way!!!! (we did find out on our return journey that there was a shuttle bus!! Yeahhhhh)
We missed the bus, but luckily another family were there so we chatted.
At the hotel, there was an incident with me at the right room, but the wrong block - so I was trying to open someone else's room with my key!!! It wasn't till the 2nd time I went back to Reception and the girl came back with me that I realised what i'd been doing and I burst into tears. The girl was lovely and told me it was ok - It wasn't the worst mistake that had ever been made!
No - that was what we did next - going to the hotel restaurant for dinner. 54 Euros for dinner and a drink - I almost expected to see a highway robber serving the food!!! Given we have been to Disney before and we know roughly the prices, this was an outrageous way of getting money from us for food that wasn't exactly great. We have done the buffet before at other Disney hotels and usually they are pretty good value . Sadly not the case this time!!
But after a decent sleep and a good breakfast we went off to the park.
Got our special assistance pass, asked some questions................ the staff were great with Peter and he even blagged a free Mickey toy.
Man - I should let him pick my lottery numbers - I might actually WIN something. That boy could fall in the Clyde and come up with a bunch or doses and a bar of chocolate!!!!!!
I even ventured on Thunder Mountain. Not quite as bad as I remember, but still bad enough for a fearty like me!!! I think every God on the planet got an earful from me asking to calm me down!!!
We met Snow White, Saw the Mad Hatter and Alice and generally had a blast.
They have a Spring Festival just now and as we waited for the Parade, the music for the song Daisy, daisy was playing - I started singing it to Peter and the Cast Member who was beside us joined in. We had a good time chatting with her and other people who were beside us.
After dinner we headed off back to the hotel and some much needed SLEEPPPPPP!!!!!
Wednesday we spent in the Studio Park.
This same cast member was working in the info place and reminded us that when the characters were out, to use our pass the get to meet them a bit quicker than having to wait in the line.
So off we went to do some rides, a couple of shows, then we saw that the Princesses were out. I asked if we could meet Mulan, to be told NO - even tho I had shown the pass. I was so shocked I didn't even argue. I asked another cast member if we could meet another character and she told me that they had been told not to accept any special assistance passes to meet the characters that day - we would have to wait in line like everybody else.
I wanted to yell that I would LOVE to wait in a queue for nearly an hour to meet one character, but my son just couldn't cope with that and everybody would have a crap day if he decided to get antsy and annoyed when others invaded his space .
Oh, the joys!
At the parade, we met this young man who was there with his dad. We got chatting and it turns out that they have annual passes for Disney, go at least twice a year, have a camper van, so that helps cut down on some expenses. Carl was a lovely young lad and he and Peter seemed to get on well. The dad was a giggle as well and he told us that there have been a few changes at Disney over the past couple of years - not huge ones, but niggly little things and that I should get in touch to let them know I was unhappy.
The parade was good and after that we went to do a couple of other things, ten back to the hotel.
We had our Character Dinner that night. It was great - not as many characters as at the breakfast, BUT - they stay about for longer and come to your table 3 or 4 times you are there. We really enjoyed our dinner, much better value than the hotel.
We planned to go and see the Dreams show, but by 9.30pm, I knew Peter was gubbed. so we went back to the hotel.
Next day, back to the main park, more characters to meet and more importantly, more people to meet!! We met some lovely folk, and got some lovely Karma (too long a story, but I managed to tell this Spanish guy that his girls were lovely and that they were just being kids - he really appreciated that. The next day he saw us, passed on the vouchers they had for the afternoon treat since they were going home at lunchtime that day - how nice)
We were at the parade again and met the same cast member!! Did she ever sleep, I wondered - still had a smile on her face!!! She was furious about the staff in the other park and said it shouldn't have happened.
Friday came all to quickly.
Yes, we did have a good time, even with the hassles.
What surprised me was how I managed to deal with it all on my own with Peter.
ANd I am planning it as part of his respite again!!!
Our journey home was uneventful till we passed through the Eye Recognition bit and went on to the security . FOr some reason, Peter and I ended up in the Fast Track bit!!!! This guy came up behind us and asked if it WAS FT. I said yes, but that I din't think we should be in it. He laughed and said he didn't think he should be there either!!! I said we should just blagg our way thru - if we looked confident, they wouldn't notice!!!!
So we were chatting as we waited, started loading up our trays to put thru the x ray machine. He said "they'll check what you're reading on your kindle" My reply was that it wasn't 50 shades of grey - that was boring - the Karma Sutra was much better!! By this ppoint we were almost on the floor giggling. Peter looked at us as if we had lot our marbles!!!!
Ah - but that Karma again. Peter's stuff went thru the machine ok. Then my tray came thru, an alarm went off, a red light flashed and my tray ws pulled to the side. I started to panic, cos Peter ws merrily getting his stuff together and I knew he would panic if he turned round and saw I was gone. So I asked this guy if he could make sure Peter was ok. He said "Yes - i'll get him sorted and bring him round to where you are"(do you ever meet someone and just click with them? Well, it was like that)
So i'm getting asked if I have any liquids - yes, I bought Perfume and moisturiser at duty free in Paris.
Did I tell them that my end destination was somewhere other than London?
Yes, I did, but I wasn't sure if the woman had actually heard me.
Luckily, because it was 100mls of perfume, they wouldn't confiscate it, but they had to take that and the clarins moisturiser to be tested.
Ok.
By this time, Peter and the guy we had met were back with me - I was really thankful that he stayed and chatted because I think I would have been freaked a lot more is someone hadn't been with me. Peter had told him we had two cats and this guy had one - called Ninja who was the laziest, most un ninja like creature you could ever imagine - that made me laugh. I got my stuff back, sorted it and we said our goodbyes. But I think the guy was sent along behind us to help us.
We did have a good time and I will be booking again (Social worker just doesn't know that yet!!).
So i'm going to work on giving out more good Karma as thanks for a good trip and in prep for the next one!!!
