Trip Report Birthdays are better at Disney! 2 continents, 2 Disney parks, 1 week

amjt660 · Sep 27, 2017

Following along

Max

AuburnBelle919 · Sep 28, 2017

amjt660 said:
Following along

Max

Welcome along-hope you enjoy it!

AuburnBelle919 · Sep 28, 2017

September 16, 2017
The two weeks leading up to the trip were dominated by Irma and her aftermath. It was pretty stressful watching her churn towards Florida and hoping that she wouldn't hit the state too hard. However after she passed through, it looked like my trip would still be a go. I was a little concerned about the prospect of driving from Tallahassee to Ft Lauderdale the day of my flight (my initial plan) because of potential traffic from returning evacuees and potential closure of I-75S from flooding which might result in significant delays/detours. I decided to travel down to Orlando the day before my flight to make the trip down to Ft Lauderdale the next day a little less stressful. Disney hotels were basically filled up when I looked for a room for Saturday night, but Universal had rooms. I got one at the newest hotel Sapphire Falls and headed down. I arrived at in Orlando at 6pm and checked into my hotel.

I really liked the colors they chose for the rooms! And my view was nice!

I played with idea of going to Halloween Horror Nights that night but I wasn't excited to pay money for an additional ticket and I would not get the full night since it had already started. So I took the boat to CityWalk and went to see the new Reese Witherspoon movie Home Again. It was cheesy and just what I was in the mood for. Then I came back and ordered a little room service, which was pretty average and went to bed ready for the real start to my trip tomorrow.

AuburnBelle919 · Oct 3, 2017

September 17, 2017
I started the first full day of my trip with plans to spend the day at Universal to get some use out of my AP and butterbeer was calling my name! I packed up first and checked out of the hotel and then took the boat to the parks. I started at Universal Studios since it was closing early for Halloween Horror Nights.

The best thing about Universal is the single rider lines. I can basically ride all the rides I want in both parks in one day if I am by myself. Wish Disney had some more of them! I started at Rip Ride Rockit and rode it twice. I love this ride because I am a thrill ride junkie and it feels so long compared to other roller coasters. I really wanted to do the new Jimmy Fallon ride but I had to figure out the virtual queue. Apparently you get a return time through the Universal app (a little like a Universal version of a fast pass). I had time to go ride The Mummy.

I thought this ride seemed a little smoother this time-maybe they have done some work to it because the last time I rode it there was a very abrupt and mildly painful stop at the end towards the exit.
Back to Jimmy Fallon

There is a downstairs waiting area and an upstairs waiting area and they take you in groups to the ride. I thought the double waiting area was confusing but at least upstairs there was a lot of room to sit down and rest my feet. The ride itself was a little blah-probably won't ride it every time I come but enjoyable. Then I wandered over to my favorite part of Universal Studios as a Harry Potter fan-Diagon Alley!!

I love the theming here and being immersed in the Harry Potter world for a little while. I was seriously craving a frozen butterbeer (my favorite version though I haven't tried the butterbeer ice cream yet).

So good!! Especially on a warm September day
I followed this up with a trip on the Hogwart's Express to Hogsmeade where it is always nice and snowy.

I think I got tired of taking pictures here but I rode The Forbidden Journey and Jurassic Park (my first time riding that because I wasn't sure how wet you get and I'm never a fan of walking around soaked). Jurassic Park basically felt like Splash Mountain with dinosaurs. Fun and I didn't get soaked. I finished my day riding The Hulk-I think this is the most intense ride at Universal since the refurb. I don't have back problems but I could definitely feel it in my lower back when I was riding.
I wanted to grab dinner before heading on the road to Ft Lauderdale but I wasn't really feeling the options at City Walk so I checked for reservations at Disney Springs. I found a reservation at a restaurant I have wanted to try-I'll tell you about it in the next post since I have reached the photo limit in this one.

amjt660 · Oct 4, 2017

Sounds like a short but efficient day at USF and IOA

But where did you go for dinner??
Inquiring minds what to know

Max

AuburnBelle919 · Oct 5, 2017

September 17, 2017 Cont.
I left off heading to dinner at Disney Springs. I wanted to try a new restaurant tonight so I parked in the Orange garage and proceeded to...Bongos Cuban Cafe! I love Cuban food so this seemed like a win to me. I started with bacon wrapped maduros (sweet plantains).

Delicious!! Plantains are my favorite part of eating at Cuban restaurants and bacon truly does make anything better. The sauce that came with it was a barbecue sauce which accompanied it nicely. Great start to the meal. For my entree I didn't want something too big since I had a 3 hour drive and 8-hour flight ahead of me so I went with crispy pork bites-mojo marinated crispy pork bites topped with grilled onions and mojo. It came with 2 sides so I decided to be traditional and go with black beans and rice.

Sorry I forgot to take a picture before I started eating . This was good but not excellent. The beans didn't have much seasoning/taste. The pork did have really good flavor but I couldn't finish it. I was surprised to find out that they have live entertainment every night-my table gave me a pretty good view.

Overall I liked the meal and would go back, but there are a lot more restaurants I want to try at Disney before I return here.
I then got onto the turnpike and headed down to Ft Lauderdale to catch a 11:15pm direct flight to Paris!!

Totally worth it to pay a little more to upgrade to premium class for this flight! My birthday trip had officially begun.

Ariel1986 · Oct 6, 2017

Loving this! Can’t wait to read more. And yes I know what you mean about premium class- I’m from the UK, those 8-9 hour flights are looong in economy!

AuburnBelle919 · Oct 9, 2017

September 18, 2017
This is my last non-Disney post I promise. My flight landed at Charles de Gaulle at 2pm and I spent the next 2 hours getting through customs and using the metro to get into the city. I stayed at a small boutique hotel-the Hotel de Seze on the Rue de Seze which was very close to a convenient metro stop. After checking in I put my bags in the room and headed out into the city. My plan was to go to a museum I had never been to before which was an easy walk from the hotel-the Musee de l'Orangerie. This museum has amongst other things two rooms of enormous Monet water lily landscapes.

The museum was only open for about an hour when I finally got there so I spent most of the time looking at the Monet landscapes and then quickly saw the bottom floor which had some more Impressionist paintings.
I wandered around the outside of the museum in the Tuileries Garden after the museum closed. I loved seeing the changing leaves for fall-in Florida that is not a common sight.

For dinner I found a cafe and had a tartine with sun-dried tomatoes and pancetta-sorry no picture! I then went back to my hotel and went to sleep so I could be well rested for the next day-DISNEYLAND PARIS DAY!!

AuburnBelle919 · Oct 10, 2017

September 19, 2017-My Birthday!!
I love Disney birthdays, so what better place to spend my birthday than Disneyland Paris! Because I was staying in Paris, I couldn't do EMH so I needed to maximize my time at the parks. Therefore I decided not to do any table service meals (as much as I wanted to try Chez Remy's because I have heard lots of good things). I had taken advantage of a promotion for the 25th anniversary and got a 1-day, 2 park ticket for the child price. I woke up early because I was so excited to visit a new (to me) Disney park. I took the metro to the Gare de Lyon and changed trains to the line that would take me to Disneyland Paris. I also picked up breakfast in the train station.
I arrived at Disneyland Paris around 9:30 and the parks opened at 10. I used my time to take pictures of the entrance.

It's Disney time!! I entered the park with one goal-get to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and get a fast pass since this always seems to have a long wait based on my stalking wait times on the app and there is no single rider line. However I had to take a few pictures on the way.

Look who I ran into as I was taking pictures-I like to think they are wishing me a happy birthday

They look so cute in their special anniversary outfits! I took a few more pictures of Main Street and the castle.

Some parts of the park looked so similar to the Magic Kingdom, especially Main Street. They even have Casey's facing the castle on one side and an ice cream parlor on the other corner. I love that the castle is on a hill-it makes it unique in a world of Disney castles.
My Disney birthday has just begun-more to come later!

Courtney6682 · Oct 11, 2017

They really do look very similar!! I've never really seen many pics of DLP, and that pic of Main Street made me smile!

Do you speak any french?

AuburnBelle919 · Oct 11, 2017

Courtney6682 said:
They really do look very similar!! I've never really seen many pics of DLP, and that pic of Main Street made me smile!

Do you speak any french?

I know a decent amount of French from school and I have been brushing up on it over the past few years. The cast members at DLP are required to speak 2 languages I read somewhere and the majority speak English as their second language. It was very easy to get around because so many of the cast members spoke English.

sheriffwoody · Oct 12, 2017

Loving this! I plan to visit Paris sometime, and obviously Disneyland Paris will definitely be on the agenda

Looking forward to reading about the rest of your day there!

AuburnBelle919 · Oct 12, 2017

September 19-cont.
I left off heading to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad to pick up a fast pass.

By the time I found my way over there the park had been open for about 10 minutes. The fast pass return times were already almost 1pm! These fast passes go early in the morning for anyone who plans to visit DLP-go here first.

Mission accomplished! I planned on spending the rest of the morning at Walt Disney Studios-the 2nd park at DLP which is a short 5-minute walk from the entrance of Disneyland. This park reminds me of Hollywood Studios-it even has an Earffel Tower.

My plan was to ride 2 rides first that aren't in Florida-Crush's Coaster and Ratatouille. Off I went to Crush's Coaster which already had a 40 minute wait for the single rider line (I think the regular line was about double the wait time). This ride is awesome-you ride in a turtle shell and it has parts where you feel like you are in the world of Nemo combined with a dark roller coaster. I wish I could have ridden it again but since I only had one day, there was no time for re-rides. Guess I'll just have to go back someday!

I went over to the area where Ratatouille is and found a fun surprise-they were having a mini version of Food and Wine Festival for the month of September because of the anniversary. There were 6 booths with food and wine from various regions of France. Since I had no plans for lunch, I figured this would work perfectly.

But first I wanted to ride Ratatouille before the line was too long. Wait time was about 15 minutes in the single rider line.

The ride is a 3D-screen ride where you feel like you are Remy running through the kitchen. It's hard to describe but it was so cute. I'm really happy they are bringing it to Epcot-I think it will be a great addition!

AuburnBelle919 · Oct 15, 2017

After checking out Ratatouille, I picked up some lunch at the food booths. I went with a raclette cheese and cured ham sandwich, croustade d'escargot, and a glass of wine.

SO yummy-it was a fun birthday lunch! Also there were a lot more tables to eat at compared to Food and Wine Festival-no trash can pics!
After lunch I strolled through Toy Story Land...

...on my way to check into a quick hotel stay.

This ride is one of my favorites at WDW but I've ridden that version so often that I don't get nervous on it anymore. I was anxious to ride a new version and it was different enough on the ride part so that I didn't really know what to expect. It was a lot of fun to basically get to re-ride it for the first time again!
I really wanted to ride Rock N Rollercoaster before leaving but I had to head back to Disneyland for my BTMR fastpass. Maybe I could run back over later in the day-we'll see if I make it. I had a fun ride through the wildest ride in the wilderness-this version seemed a little more intense than the WDW one. Plus it had a little surprise for me-

Next to BTMR was Phantom Manor, which didn't have a very long wait.

Something happened with the stretching room so we had to come out into the foyer again. We were stuck in the foyer for about 15-20 minutes, which negated the short wait time for the ride. They finally fixed whatever issue there was and we were able to repeat the stretching room before getting to ride through the mansion. I always love touring a haunted mansion.
I continued counterclockwise around the park to another Disney classic.

The scenes were very similar to the one at WDW and they had just done a refurb and introduced Jack Sparrow into the ride.

This was the only decent pic I took on the ride. After this I had to head back to Main Street for the afternoon parade. Stars on Parade was new for the anniversary so I really wanted to see it. Festival of Fantasy is one of my must-see things at Magic Kingdom, but it's always fun to see different characters. I didn't get a great spot for the parade to take pictures but I tried anyway. Next post will be basically only parade pictures.

AuburnBelle919 · Oct 15, 2017

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AuburnBelle919 · Oct 15, 2017

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AuburnBelle919 · Oct 18, 2017

After the parade, I stopped at the ice cream parlor. What is a birthday without ice cream?

I strolled through the castle and visited the dungeon underneath the see the dragon of the castle. Pretty unique for Disney castles as far as I know!
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The second floor of the castle has stained glass windows themed for Sleeping Beauty, but it was being refurbished so I continued into Fantasyland. This area of the park closes earlier than the front of the park because of the fireworks I think so I wanted to get through a lot here before it closed. I toured Alice's Curious Labyrinth...
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This seemed deceptively easy-I got lost in here for about 30-45 minutes until I finally found my way to the Queen of Hearts castle. The castle had a narrow stairway to climb up but once I got up to the top, the view of the park was pretty great.
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The dome in the above picture is the top of Space Mountain
After I escaped the maze, I continued the Alice in Wonderland theme and rode the Mad Hatter's Tea Cups. This ride seems like a combo of DL and WDW versions-it has a roof but the roof is glass so it feels open.
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Next up was It's A Small World-not my favorite ride at WDW because the song gets stuck in my head but it isn't a Disney trip without at least one ride.
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AuburnBelle919 · Oct 20, 2017

The end of my day at DLP:
I ended up hopping back over to Walt Disney Studios to ride the last ride I wanted to get to at that park-Rock N Rollercoaster. I love this ride at Hollywood Studios, unless I get stuck in the back of the car (it is too rough a ride for me in the back and I usually end up with a headache).

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Very fun, but this version is also a pretty rough ride in the back!
I really liked this pic I snapped on the way out with Sorcerer Mickey in profile.
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Back over to Disneyland-I had a few more rides to hit up in Fantasyland.
Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs:
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Pinocchio:
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I struggle with dark ride photos sometimes and none of the pictures I took during the ride turned out but I really liked this mural at the end of the ride.
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By now, most of the rides in Fantasyland were closing down for fireworks so I headed over to Discoveryland. I only had time to ride one ride before the park closed and the firework show so my choice was obvious-Hyperspace Mountain. They did the hyperspace overlay for the anniversary-it is usually themed around Jules Verne.
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