Another Park Visited - Day 2 ~ Disneyland Park (LOTS of photos)

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Although extra magic hours started at 8:00 this morning the aim of this holiday was to take it relatively easy so we were not up until 8:00 and after getting washed and dressed we were out at 8:50.

We wandered round to Discoveryland first and went on Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast where it took me a while to discover that my Orlando tactic of “Keep your finger on the trigger and aim at everything” doesn’t work here because the gun stops firing so I ended up with a woeful score that I’m not even going to admit to. From there we had a wander around before going into the castle

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And then under the castle to see the dragon.

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By now it was 10:00 and the rest of the park was open so we wandered round to Pirates of the Caribbean, which we were on within about 15 minutes, most of which was spent getting the crowd through the queuing area. From Pirates we wandered around Adventureland and Frontierland just taking in the scenery.

By around 10:50 we were ready for a drink but as we couldn’t find anywhere open we went back to Main Street where we went in to Casey’s Corner where I had a hot dog, fries and Coke and Dad had a hot dog with cheese sauce, fries and Coke. After eating we had a look round the shops, stopping to take photos of the All Star Express going down Main Street.

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We saw a few things that we wanted to buy later but at 12:25 we left the park to go back to the hotel and get our sweatshirts as it was getting a little bit chilly in just T-shirts.

We stopped off in the hotel car park to look at our car tyre and as it didn’t seem to have gone down any further we decided to ask at the Concierge desk if there was anywhere nearby to go and pump it up. Our first request was met with a blank stare and apology but thanks to a bit of pigeon French the Cast Member finally understood what we needed and pointed us in the direction of Val D’Europe Commercial Centre about 3km away.

We decided to go round to Val D’Europe straight away and once we got there we followed the signs for the Centre Auto where we found an air hose and pumped the tyre up with no trouble and free of charge.

By 1:40 we were back in Disneyland Park where we quickly polished off It’s A Small World and Phantom Manor and then made our way round to the Frontierland Railway Depot. We arrived just as a train arrived but, just like a London rush hour, we couldn’t get on it because it was too full so we ended up waiting 15 minutes for the next one. We stayed on the train for almost a complete lap of the park, getting off at Main Street USA where went back to the covered arcade and ordered some crystal items that we had seen earlier. We were told that we could come back at 5:00 to pick them up so we grabbed some drinks and sat on a bench in Town Square to people watch.

We had happened to pick a spot that was right opposite where the parade started at 5:00 (or so I thought) so we decided that we would wait, watch the parade, collect the crystal and then go off to the 6:30 Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show for which I had tickets. It got to 5:00 and they announced that the parade would be starting in 10 minutes and I commented to Dad that it was going to be late. They then made an announcement with 5 minutes to go and we agreed that Dad would go off and collect the crystals and come back to meet me to save a bit of time after the parade.

Around 5:20 the parade music started and despite the fact that we were sitting directly opposite the gates that the parade should be coming out of nothing happened. I then suddenly realised that the parade was obviously running in the opposite direction and sure enough when I turned to look at Main Street everybody was looking up towards the Castle. Time was now getting tight as the advice was to arrive at Buffalo Bill’s one hour before show time to get in and enjoy the pre-show but there was nothing we could do now as the parade was coming round between us and the exit so all we could do was stand and enjoy the floats.

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The parade finished, we left the park, dropped the crystal off in the room, picked up the Buffalo Bill’s tickets and we were still there by 5:45 - one of the joys of staying in the Disneyland Hotel and everything being so close together. We were in time to see the pre-show which consisted of a juggling act, a country & western trio and a special guest.

After the pre-show we went into the main arena and took our seats and enjoyed the show together with a dinner of chili, various meats, corn on the cob and corn bread all washed down with beer and followed by apple pie and ice cream.

I had read quite a few negative comments on another forum about the characters being introduced to the show and, although I haven’t seen the original show, I didn’t find it too bad as the main part with the characters in was when we were eating and not watching anyway. I think there were a couple of times where they were wheeled out unnecessarily but as I said to Dad I suppose it is something to keep the children entertained during the show.

After the show we went back to the bar in the hotel where Dad had a 1664 and I had a Remy Martin, we followed up with a Remy Martin each and then went back to our room where I typed up the trip report.

We were in bed by 10:30 with plans to visit Walt Disney Studios park tomorrow.

Day 3

 

[disney_princess_85]

Great reporting David, looking forward to more.

 

[thelittlemermaid83]

You took some fab photos David! Thanks for the BBWWS pics, looking forward to seeing the show in October.

 

[tennisfan]

Another great day David. Love the photos

 

[Cyrano]

Did not realise that part of Main St was getting refurbed

Love your photos of the windows and tapestry's. This is one of the treasures of DLP IMHO.

By the way I think your dragon photos are some of the best I have seen. What was your settings ?

 

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By the way I think your dragon photos are some of the best I have seen. What was your settings ?

Auto point and shoot. Looking at the EXIF tag it was an aperture of F/2.8, shutter speed 1/64 sec, ISO speed 800 and focal length 8mm with flash if that helps at all.

I'm not entirely sure what the refurbishments were as the shops were still open - putting in new windows on the second storey maybe.

 

[natalielongstaff]

Great photos, weather looks nice as well

 

[mulan1]

great stuff, thanks for sharing!

 

[Ware Bears]

Fantastic photos

so I ended up with a woeful score that I’m not even going to admit to.

Spoilsport!!

 

[Mum to Belle]

Great photos!! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Nubbedy]

Lovely photos Ddavid, it really is a beautiful park. Would love to give Buffalo Bills a try when we go back to DLRP, think my kids will be glad to see the characters there. Would love to know just how low your Buzz score was. I have also been caught out by the 'hold-your-finger-on-the-trigger' technique not working in Paris!

 

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Would love to know just how low your Buzz score was. I have also been caught out by the 'hold-your-finger-on-the-trigger' technique not working in Paris!

I didn't even write it down so it's lost in the mists of time. Let's just say I limped over 1,000.

 

[mark&sue]

you managed to fit loads in today.

great photos


susan

 

[jjk]

fab photos