Disneyland Paris, wow! If someone had said that would be my response to what I thought would just be another theme park, I would have cringed at the very thought!
Well, from start to finish it was excellent! We left home at just after noon on the Sunday, taking a steady drive down to Dover, once we had checked into our Premier Inn and had an early meal it was off to bed ready for our early Ferry to Calais.
All Premier Inn's are a much of a muchness but lets not do them down, they are spotlessly clean and generally the staff are excellent.
Having arrived a good hour and a half early for our ferry we decided to see if we could jump on an earlier one, DFDS were very obliging and let us on the 06.00 to Dunkirk.
The journey from Dunkirk to Disney was steady and pleasant, the countryside was so well kept and clean and the roads put ours to shame! Very little in the way of bumps and holes, practically no rubbish strewn along the verges and quite surprisingly the whole time we were there we only saw one dead animal, who had fallen victim to a moving vehicle, at closer inspection all the major roads have wire fencing between them and the surrounding countryside, which obviously helps keep wildlife off the roads! What a great system.
Before arriving at our accommodation we visited a local shopping centre just to stock up on essentials.
The main store within the centre is called 'Auchan' what a brilliant store! I'm somebody who loves food and this place had just about everything imaginable, a huge array of cheeses, meats (both fresh and cooked) fish, fruit and veg like you've never seen, herbs, spices, dairy produce and so so much more, it makes our local ASDA look quite pathetic by comparison and in addition the place was extremely clean and very relaxed.
Once we had stocked up we made our way to 'Davy Crocket's Ranch'. Now 'Davy Crockets Ranch' is set in a large wooded area and all the cabins are basically static caravans that have been modified to look like wood cabins, each cabin comes with a car parking space and a BBQ! They are clean and comfortable and the surroundings lovely, on site there's a restaurant and bar (both very expensive), a very good free swimming pool, a little farm and various other attractions, our three children loved it.
Charlie our youngest child was completely unaware of where we we going when we set off for France, his older siblings had managed to keep it a secret from him as did his mother and I! So when we arrived and reality hit home the excitement was doubled, plus the next day was his birthday and our first day in the Disney Parks.
That evening the boys hunted Indians in the woods whilst their sister, their mam and myself prepared a BBQ! Bed time was filled with a mixture of excitement for what the morning was to bring and exhaustion from our long day travelling, morning couldn't come soon enough.
Finally the big day had arrived! Our first day in the Parks and Charlie's Birthday. As we were staying at a Disney accommodation we were allowed into the parks at 08.00! Two hours before anyone not in a Disney accommodation.
We arrived shortly before 08.00, although the walk from the car parks to the park is a little distance everything is colourful, there's appropriate music playing and with the excitement and anticipation building you hardly notice the walk.
Then there ahead lay the entrance to the magic! again the colours were amazing, the cleanliness, the buildings everything was just right.
Charlie's a big fan of 'Buzz Lightyear' so as it was his birthday he got to choose the days activities, so it was off to see 'Buzz' battling it out with 'Zurg'.
We subsequently spent the next five hours trudging around Disney's various attraction shops ect before booking a table at 'The Restaurant To The Stars' (not cheap but worth every penny) for Charlie's Birthday meal, on arrival we ordered a Birthday Cake to be presented after the meal, to our complete surprise the cake was not just presented but presented by all the staff who came out through the restaurant singing happy birthday, it was a great touch.
During our meal Charlie also got the chance to meat 'Remy' the rat from 'Ratatouille' and the Chef, which was equally brilliant.
A great first day and a Birthday to remember!
Day two and three found us back nice and early in Disney, this time the concentration was very much on Grace and Eddie! Eddie of course wanted to go on all the fast and furious rides, where as Grace being a lot more like her Dad opted for the more sedate.
'Thunder Mountain' was a favourite for Eddie who was accompanied by his reluctant mam, after which she looked somewhat dishevelled, I had to giggle and was secretly glad it was not me doing the accompanying!
As a familly we all enjoyed rides like 'Peter Pan' which was great and 'Buzz Lightyear lazer blast' which was equally as good!
By the end of the third day we were all pretty shattered but had had a great time, we spent our last evening enjoying a walk around 'Davy Crockets' and a few drinks at its on site bar before returning to our cabin for an early night in preparation for our journey home.
The next morning we were on our way, we had all enjoyed our time in France and Disney and all felt a bit glum about leaving, France was lovely, the people accommodating, Disney was fantastic, the accommodation great and I would recommend the experience!
Hopefully returning in September.
