My latest trip

[cowza]

Hi all

I got back from Paris at the end of the week and had a very pleasant stay - it rained heavily once but that was the day we took the excursion to Paris and we were mostly undercover so it wasn't too bad! The excursion was pretty good although it got very tiring sitting on the couch, and on our return boat trip I swear there was like a whole french primary school onboard and lots of the children were messing around which was a bit irritating! It was so good to see the Eiffel tower though aswell as the Notre Dame cathedral which I think it was one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen.

Stayed in the Newport Bay Hotel this time... and I have to agree with Simon's book how there are a lot of areas that could do with a touch of refurbishment. We found a lot of the furniture in our room was worn and dirty looking; it was such a long walk to our room too which tired us out a lot! Generally enjoyed the hotel though - the restaurants and two bars were great - the nautical designery touches looked brilliant. As always great to have disney characters and a disney shop in the hotel. The Disney extras you get in the hotel are brilliant like the shopping service, charge card and the Disney toiletries are funny but a nice touch!

The parks were actually a lot busier than I expected - I thought they might be pretty dead like they were when I went in June 2001 but they were fairly busy - sometimes ride ques were topping 40 minutes; maybe this was because one zone of france were on holiday though. The new Lion King show in videopolis is very good - I preferred it a lot to the show that was previously there which I believe was 'Mickey's fun time' or something similar sounding! The new Space Mountain was absolutely fantastic - it was so fast and it did seem a lot smoother to me! I remember riding the original space mountain and coming out having pretty sore shoulders but I was completely fine this time - totally enthralled with the adrenalin lol! There seemed to be a lot more characters out and about this time I went - I came across characters in every single land with the exception of frontierland so it was good to see Disney improving this because that is what the kids like the most.

Not much new to report from Walt Disney Studios although there was a very comical Cruella De Ville show which took place on the street twice a day where they actually got members of the audience involved - a few new characters here including two of 'The Incredibles'. There was an exclusive backdrop where you could que to meet these characters which was all good and fair.

I guess I don't know what much else to tell you guys but if you have any questions ask away!

I enclose a few photos!

Ben

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[kaygela]

Great photos!! Glad you had a nice vacation.

 

[goofiiee]

Cowza, nice pictures!

Who did you use for your day trip into Paris? Would you recommend them?

Going end April-beg May, but haven't booked the day trip(s) yet, so I'd be interested in hearing about it..

 

[tallym]

Hi cow za! Do you know what time the cruella show is on?

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

Nice pictures cowza! Would you be able to add your favourites to the new DLP section on the DIS Photo Gallery? Details in this thread.

Regards

Rob

 

[Morveryn]

Great pics!
Did anyone notice the woman in the sleeveless vest top in the Phantom Manor pic? She is more-or-less in the centre just to the left of the Molly Brown. Everyone else is wearing jackets/fleece tops. Perhaps she doesn't feel the cold ! I feel it something terrible & am always amazed at the person we have in our town who wears shorts in winter!

 

[Cyrano]

Ben
great report, thanks for sharing
I'd second Rob's idea of posting photographs on our new photo slot in the gallery.

Reid

 

[diberry]

Great pictures cowza - thanks for sharing!! Could you just clear up a little question for me? In the last picture which one is Mr Incredible???

 

[Ware Bears]

Brilliant pictures, Ben. Did you go on the organised Cityrama Paris tour?

 

[Miffy2003]

It sounds like you had a great trip Ben - thank you for letting us know about it. Love the pictures!

I will add this to the Trip Report Index!



Karen

 

[cowza]

Hi all!

Sorry for my delayed reply - have been very busy back at university... Thank you for all your brilliant replies especially yours Di lol! I will go see about adding those photos now to the favourites.

We did the daytrip to Paris with cityrama - it was good in seeing all the sites but you don't get much time to explore for yourself if this is what you wanted to do... although they give you plenty of time to see the cathedral and Eiffel tower. It was generally pretty good but I know mum found it quite irritating with so many nationalities onboard making their presence known and the coach seemed awefully long... especially on the way back as we got stuck in traffic. If you know how to find your way around Paris I would have to advise you to go seek out all the sites for yourself as you'll get to see more. If you're scared of going lost though this tour will satisfy you enough for your first time visit of the sites!

Ben

P.S This tour can be booked through all the Disney hotels at the concierge desk. The day tour leaves every morning at 10AM from Hotel New York. There is a night tour but I don't know much about this I'm afraid!