More to come...
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Pre-Trip englanddg's - It's a New Year After All (2016/2017)
- Thread starter englanddg
- Start date
So, first trip to Europe for the kiddo, and first trip for me in a very long time. I've been playing with this setup for years, and now that she is 12 (or will be at time of travel), I think the age is right where I feel comfortable taking her outside of the careful bubble of WDW to something a bit more worldy and exciting!
Here is the general plan as stands:
We are going for Christmas, though we are coming in after the 25th. The Christmas celebration is still going on at DLP, however. So, same same (hence the video). New Years will be in London.
The general plan, at this point, is:
Dec 26 - Fly from Washington DC, layover in Iceland. Not sure if I'll make this a day in Iceland and fly to Paris on the 28th, or not. If we do overnight in Iceland, we'll do a Northern Lights Cruise that evening and hopefully get lucky!
Dec 27 - Land in Paris mid afternoon (assuming we do not stay in Iceland overnight). Take the Train and do the station hotel check in to New York Hotel. I figure this whole process (customs/imigration, train...which is something like 15 mins...with precheck done through Disney) will have us at the parks no later than 2p, but there's no rush. Do Disney until it closes (7p). Find something to do that evening (perhaps the Mickey Buffalo Bill show?).
Dec 28 - Disney
Dec 29 - Eiffel Tower early, with 3rd level access ticket, taking the RER/Metro from Disney. Lunch at 58 Tour Eiffel. Metro to Cite, taking a long route past the Arch de Triumph for a photo op, and do the walking tour of Notre Dame. Metro to Filles du Callvierre. See the late show of Cirque d'hiver Bouglione. This could change to a full day tour, but finding tours that do the whole city but also allow time to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower are scarce (the Disney sponsored tour, for example, does not allow this). And, going to the top is something the kiddo really wants to do. Take the RER/Metro back to Disney.
Dec 30 - Disney. Maybe venture back to Paris for a nighttime tour of some sort, maybe not.
Dec 31 - Early Eurostar Chunnel to London. Check into Hotel (haven't finalized a hotel yet, but I'm aiming for something around Waterloo Station). 3p Arsenal v. Crystal City game. Take the Tube back to Waterloo after the game and do various things for a few hours in the general area. Then make our way to a New Year's viewing spot. I'm going to attempt to get tickets from the Mayor's Office for New Years at Jubilee Park...but if that falls through there are other venues. They don't go active until the last week or so of Sept, so I have a few weeks to wait before I know the details for that.
Jan 1 - Possibly visit the London Zoo for a few hours early (they open at 10a). Certainly visit Hyde Park and watch at least part of the New Years Parade. Other things.
Jan 2 - Do a Bath/Stonehenge/Etc Tour. See Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that evening, if time allows (final showing is 9p, iirc, but I'd have to check the return time for the tour/trip to see if it's plausible, if not, no biggie, we'll see it the next evening).
Jan 3 - Find things to do for the daytime. Likely Tower Bridge (my personal favorite), London Eye (if we didn't do it earlier already), a Beefeater Tour of the Tower of London, and possibly Hamleys because...it's Hamleys. If there is time, see Les Mis that evening
Jan 4 - Mid day flight out of London back to DC.
She does not know about the trip, and will not find out until Dec 25 when she opens the ticket package left by "Santa". Currently, however, she is taking online tutoring courses in French. Watch, she'll speak it better than I do (I do one course a week with her, she's doing 3) before all is said and done!
Anyone been to DLP before?
Thoughts? Suggestions? I'm very much open to them!
Here is the general plan as stands:
We are going for Christmas, though we are coming in after the 25th. The Christmas celebration is still going on at DLP, however. So, same same (hence the video). New Years will be in London.
The general plan, at this point, is:
Dec 26 - Fly from Washington DC, layover in Iceland. Not sure if I'll make this a day in Iceland and fly to Paris on the 28th, or not. If we do overnight in Iceland, we'll do a Northern Lights Cruise that evening and hopefully get lucky!
Dec 27 - Land in Paris mid afternoon (assuming we do not stay in Iceland overnight). Take the Train and do the station hotel check in to New York Hotel. I figure this whole process (customs/imigration, train...which is something like 15 mins...with precheck done through Disney) will have us at the parks no later than 2p, but there's no rush. Do Disney until it closes (7p). Find something to do that evening (perhaps the Mickey Buffalo Bill show?).
Dec 28 - Disney
Dec 29 - Eiffel Tower early, with 3rd level access ticket, taking the RER/Metro from Disney. Lunch at 58 Tour Eiffel. Metro to Cite, taking a long route past the Arch de Triumph for a photo op, and do the walking tour of Notre Dame. Metro to Filles du Callvierre. See the late show of Cirque d'hiver Bouglione. This could change to a full day tour, but finding tours that do the whole city but also allow time to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower are scarce (the Disney sponsored tour, for example, does not allow this). And, going to the top is something the kiddo really wants to do. Take the RER/Metro back to Disney.
Dec 30 - Disney. Maybe venture back to Paris for a nighttime tour of some sort, maybe not.
Dec 31 - Early Eurostar Chunnel to London. Check into Hotel (haven't finalized a hotel yet, but I'm aiming for something around Waterloo Station). 3p Arsenal v. Crystal City game. Take the Tube back to Waterloo after the game and do various things for a few hours in the general area. Then make our way to a New Year's viewing spot. I'm going to attempt to get tickets from the Mayor's Office for New Years at Jubilee Park...but if that falls through there are other venues. They don't go active until the last week or so of Sept, so I have a few weeks to wait before I know the details for that.
Jan 1 - Possibly visit the London Zoo for a few hours early (they open at 10a). Certainly visit Hyde Park and watch at least part of the New Years Parade. Other things.
Jan 2 - Do a Bath/Stonehenge/Etc Tour. See Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that evening, if time allows (final showing is 9p, iirc, but I'd have to check the return time for the tour/trip to see if it's plausible, if not, no biggie, we'll see it the next evening).
Jan 3 - Find things to do for the daytime. Likely Tower Bridge (my personal favorite), London Eye (if we didn't do it earlier already), a Beefeater Tour of the Tower of London, and possibly Hamleys because...it's Hamleys. If there is time, see Les Mis that evening
Jan 4 - Mid day flight out of London back to DC.
She does not know about the trip, and will not find out until Dec 25 when she opens the ticket package left by "Santa". Currently, however, she is taking online tutoring courses in French. Watch, she'll speak it better than I do (I do one course a week with her, she's doing 3) before all is said and done!
Anyone been to DLP before?
Thoughts? Suggestions? I'm very much open to them!
MinnieM123
Premium Member
Although all your plans sound like fun, I'm intrigued by the possibility of you getting to stay a day in Iceland. I mean, how often does one get to Iceland? The idea of a Northern LIghts Cruise sounds wonderful, and I'll bet that none of your daughter's friends will have ever done that, or ever will. She will have some quite unique vacation highlights to share with her pals when she returns home; and she will also have many fond memories with you, that she will cherish for the rest of her life.
Oddly, flights from the DC area to Iceland are pretty cheap. We are going through Iceland to Paris regardless (taking Iceland Air). ~$400 to get to Iceland, ~$150 to get to Paris from there. Iceland itself is also rather cheap. With top tier hotels in the $150 a night range, and the cruise (with a 9 course meal before departure) coming in at about $200 a head.
And, due to the season we are traveling, we are in the peak viewing season for Iceland with respect to the Northern Lights.
If we do stay overnight in Iceland, I think I may toss out the soccer game on Saturday, and instead do another day in Paris and come into the UK on the first. The issue is, there isn't much officially "New Years" in Paris, and I'm not sure we want to do it at Disney or not...especially if I can swing a good spot in London.
Due to other family engagements, we can't leave until late on the 26th, and with New Years pegging down that Saturday combined with losing 5-6 hours due to time zone differences, it puts a firm stop to certain things...but, I tend to agree with you, it would be extremely unique.
The real question, I guess...is, having 1.5 days vs 2.5 days at DLP a reasonable thing. I suspect we won't want to or need to spend much time at the Studios...so that cuts off a whole chunk of time right there. Plus, I've heard it's only worth a few hours of entertainment anyway...the sort of thing you do in the morning, then slide over the Disneyland for the evening. So, I guess, getting there with about 4 - 5 hours of park time on the first day to do Disneyland and close out with fireworks, then the next day doing Studios and wrapping up Disneyland, it's a possibility within the current schedule limitations.
This is, however, something I have no experience with. Never been to Disneyland Paris...
One day will need to be touring Paris, at least seeing the things she wants to see (which, is pretty much limited to the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame, she has no interest in the Louvre or Versailles, and during what I expect will be a winter tourist season, neither do I). If we cut out the Cirque, it can get us another half day at Disney...but, the Cirque looks fun and unique (it's one of the longest running circuses in the world, specifically in that venue. Napoleon, for example, was entertained there).
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Zipadeelady
Well-Known Member
Wow. Sounds like a grand vacation. I hope you have a wonderful trip!
Thanks! I hope we shall! Quite a few things to be hammered out between now and then.
Currently, I am shopping for new luggage for us both. The luggage she has is going on 6 years old, and shows it. My primary 24" bag is also 6 years old, and needs to be retired. I have a 28" softshell that I bought for our cruise last year (SwissGear), largely to take, believe it or not, fish extender items in.
It...didn't last very well. It's got tears and rips already, so, I doubt it will survive a cross ocean plus multiple train trips sort of journey.
Due to the weather differences between even DC in the winter and Iceland/Paris/London, it will require a more unique wardrobe for both of us (I live in ATL, so...my annual wardobe is rather...light...to begin with). We'll both need solid winter coats, thermal layers, etc...etc...etc...
The general plan her mother and I came up with is that she will get one large package Christmas day, that will be her new suitcase, prepacked with her new clothes and accessories, with a card inside that has her tickets, a guidebook, and probably a scratch off travel map (see link below).
https://www.amazon.com/Luckies-Lond...9_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=W15XNHA3Y3GDRTMTPA7X
She meets me the next afternoon at the airport, and we depart that evening.
Well...flights are booked and paid for. So, now, some youtube stuff about the off brand carrier we are flying on....
And yes, we are planning a stopover!
And of course, as we travel outside the US, soccer...er, sorry, (insert your language word for foot)(insert your language ball) becomes more and more important...
(for me it is Fußbol, not futbol, not footy)
Die Mannschaft! (this will come up again later, as I attempt to share soccer with her)....and a World Cup isn't off the table...I was very close to taking her to Brasil....
And, yes, I decided we will overnight in Iceland, to experience what we can there as we adjust to the new time settings as well as try and see something memorable.
Things to think about...
And yes, we are planning a stopover!
And of course, as we travel outside the US, soccer...er, sorry, (insert your language word for foot)(insert your language ball) becomes more and more important...
(for me it is Fußbol, not futbol, not footy)
Die Mannschaft! (this will come up again later, as I attempt to share soccer with her)....and a World Cup isn't off the table...I was very close to taking her to Brasil....
And, yes, I decided we will overnight in Iceland, to experience what we can there as we adjust to the new time settings as well as try and see something memorable.
Things to think about...
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MinnieM123
Premium Member
This is beautiful. Reminds me of when I was a kid, and the family went on vacation up in northern Maine. A few nights we were able to see the aurora borealis.
MinnieM123
Premium Member
Good. Looking forward to reading your comments on this long, relaxing holiday weekend!
FlaggNL
Well-Known Member
So you are coming to Europe
Be aware that there are a lot of fences in DLP, at least until April 12th when they are celebarting 25 years!
So, my experience booking with DLP...
It...was terrible.
First, they don't have a number that US folks can call, so you are left basically either booking through a travel agent or booking direct.
I did the latter. Through the website...and it...was...terrible.
First, it crashed regularly (or should I say, it timed/stitched out)...but that is common in the Iger era.
(not the video those who know me would have expected...but same same)
Second, it didn't give me easy confirmations.
But, it's all booked up, we are there now at the New York hotel (which I'm sure is some garish representation of what Europeans think is New York)....so we shall see...
Today at 7a, I need to book the New Years through Mayor of London.
https://www.london.gov.uk/events/2016-12-31/london-new-years-eve-fireworks-2016
My kid still doesn't know...she is a few months into her French classes though.
Comme il faut, eh?
It...was terrible.
First, they don't have a number that US folks can call, so you are left basically either booking through a travel agent or booking direct.
I did the latter. Through the website...and it...was...terrible.
First, it crashed regularly (or should I say, it timed/stitched out)...but that is common in the Iger era.
(not the video those who know me would have expected...but same same)
Second, it didn't give me easy confirmations.
But, it's all booked up, we are there now at the New York hotel (which I'm sure is some garish representation of what Europeans think is New York)....so we shall see...
Today at 7a, I need to book the New Years through Mayor of London.
https://www.london.gov.uk/events/2016-12-31/london-new-years-eve-fireworks-2016
My kid still doesn't know...she is a few months into her French classes though.
Comme il faut, eh?