Lauren and Bob's Disneyland Paris Anniversary Trip Report COMPLETED

We will take a million pictures. Yeah, I was considering the Musee d'Orsay too and I am still thinking of going. Our plans may change when we get there. I don't think we'll be going to Remy, mainly because no one seems to know if their tofu dish is vegan! It's a real shame because I did really want to go, but we'll still go on the ride and explore the area. I'd love to hear about Disneyland USA too! It's a big goal of mine to see every Disney park. We go to Paris on the 21st, but we don't go to DLP until the 24th. I'm really excited! Just over a week till Paris!

Awesome, I've never been to Paris so this is my first time. Bob's been to Paris but he didn't do much there and he's never been to DLP. In a way it's a quick fix till WDW, but I'm also really excited to see Paris in general. Hanging around the French pavilion at Epcot a couple of years ago got me really into the idea of doing Paris. It's just so full of magic and romance.

Eeeeee good to hear you have had good experiences at DLP. I am very excited about doing the hotel bar tour, and just seeing Disney from a French perspective. We go to Paris next Saturday! Can't wait - so excited!

We may do the D'orsay instead of the Louvre depending on what we fancy. I have a list of vegan/veggie places in Paris on my happy cow app, and there is a vegan cafe within a twenty minute walk of our hotel, so I'm well prepared and not too worried about finding food.

Thank you! It sounds fab, I'm really looking forward to going. I've never been that bothered about trying DLP until the last year, because I always had it in my mind WDW is better. But having looked at a bunch of trip reports and seen what's on offer at DLP, it seems right up our street.

Hey all! We are back from Paris! It was totally amazing and I'm really excited to get the trip report typed up, but we're still sorting through all the photos (we have like 600 and that's after cutting them down!) I'm going to start on it today and should hopefully have lots up by the end of the day. I'm really excited to tell you all about DLP. We really enjoyed ourselves but I think that's because we didn't go expecting WDW - it's a very different experience to WDW but definitely worth a visit if you happen to be in Europe. We live in Scotland so it's much more convenient for us than Orlando, but I wouldn't make the trip from the US for JUST DLP - go for Paris and maybe do some other European cities at the same time, but don't miss DLP. The centre of Paris really stole my heart. We will be going back to Paris/DLP sooner or later, but we're going to do WDW again next!

Anyway, incoming trip report. Enjoy. x

Day 1: Travel and Paris:

My cat could sense we were going away the night before our trip and decided to climb on our suitcase to prevent us from packing. We managed to get packed but I was extremely nervous about leaving my cat, Stella for a full 6 days. We got her in October, rehomed from someone who could no longer keep her. Stella is five and she hates everyone except for Bob and myself, so I was a bit worried she'd attack the cat sitter who was going to be coming into our home to feed and play with her. Nonetheless, I knew it would be much better for her happiness than going to the cattery, and I was reassured that the cat lady was experienced with cats of all temperaments.

Anyway, once we were done packing, we had a wee glass of wine, watched some TV and went to sleep, so we could get up early for our flight. We woke up super early and caught a taxi we had booked in advance from our house in Glasgow to Glasgow Airport. The journey to the airport was quick - about 20 minutes, and as we were in plenty of time for our flight, we stopped off in Starbucks for a quick coffee.

We both ordered my favourite Starbucks drink - soya hazelnut lattes, and Bob got a vegan snack bar. I had eaten some toast for breakfast at home so I skipped on a snack. I feel its important to mention our vegan diet here, as it's an important feature of our trip. On our last trip to WDW, I was pescetarian, and Bob was an omnivore, but we went vegan this January for Veganuary and loved it so much, we decided to make it a permanent lifestyle change. Going to Paris, I was anxious that we wouldn't find suitable food for our diet, but I must say we ate extremely well on this trip mainly due to extensive advance research about available vegan options. For anyone going to Paris on a vegan or vegetarian diet, I definitely recommend doing some research in advance, but please do reassure yourself that it is possible to eat well on a veg diet in Paris and even DLP. I'll be demonstrating some of the amazing options available through my trip report, but for Paris, I recommend the Happy Cow mobile app, which we used to find most of the vegan cafes we sampled - there are LOTS of vegan/vegetarian cafes in Paris, and DLP is more of a challenge, but as long as you research the options in advance, you will eat more than just salad and fries. I've babbled enough about food now so here are some photos of us enjoying our coffee in the airport.

I've already done a bit of an introduction above but for anyone unfamiliar with us, this is me! My name is Lauren, I'm 29 and my three biggest loves in this universe (except for my husband) are Disney, travel and food. If you supply me with these three things regularly I will never want for anything. I'm very passionate about politics, feminism, animal rights etc, and have a strong set of moral values that often make me pig-headed and stubborn, but I'm also very warm and loving to the people I care about. As mentioned above, I'm vegan and I work as a Learning/Library Assistant; just about to start a new job in a local college. My favourite Disney film is Beauty and the Beast, and my favourite character is Marie from Aristocats. When we go on holiday, I do all of the advance planning because I love planning trips. I'm definitely the more energetic and outgoing of the pair of us, so there are always more photos of me than Bob. I'm a bit of a fantasist and daydreamer, and don't always live on planet earth, but Bob helps to ground me.

This is my husband Bob. He's 33 and a commercial property researcher (basically he's really good at spreadsheets). Bob also loves Disney, films and good food. He's also a big video game nerd. He never travelled very much before he started seeing me as it made him nervous, but I think he loves travelling now because he knows I'm an experienced and knowledgeable traveller, and that we have had a lot of successful trips. When we go away, he's very much my compass. I tell him what the plans are and he finds the best way to get everywhere. He's also our official holiday photographer. Bob is more down to earth and rational than me, but he's also more shy and doesn't talk as often as I do! He often describes himself as the sober yin to my raging yang. His favourite Disney film is Wreck it Ralph and he loves Megara from Hercules.

Anyway, moving swiftly onwards to the main body of the trip report. Sorry, I'm quite verbose! So we got through security swiftly, and then purchased some vegan sandwiches from Boots to give us something to eat for lunch on the other side. I bought a novel about the four wives of Ernest Hemingway because I'm obsessed with 1920s jazz age Paris (and it was nice and apt for our trip.) The flight went quickly, thought there was a big group of rude Frenchmen behind us who were kicking the back of our chairs and playing loud mobile apps. Fortunately, we were in Paris before we knew it!

After picking up our cases, we paused in the airport to munch our sandwiches, which were these tasty houmous, carrot and coriander ones from Boots.

We headed down to get the RER train, and experienced some confusion because we couldn't work out where to buy tickets. We felt a bit stupid when we worked out that there were signs on the machines saying it was free travel for the whole weekend (hurrah!) We got two RER trains to our hotel and checked in. The receptionist was lovely and very helpful. She told us that the reason for the free transport was that the pollution had been so bad, the government were encouraging people to use public transport. Of course we felt bad about the smog, but happy that we were saving on transport this weekend! Oh how shallow we are!

Our hotel room was tiny but lovely. One of the reviews online had said that this hotel was clearly made for hobbits, and we laughed at this as we are both pretty small people (I'm about 5ft3 and Bob's about 5ft7). The room was definitely small but perfectly suited our needs for the three nights. It was also very centrally located five minutes walk from Saint-Lazare metro - not the fanciest area but convenient and nice enough. After a quick look around our room, we changed and walked to the metro station.

This was the area surrounding the metro station.

This clock statue was quite quirky. We caught a couple of metro trains to the Marais, and snapped some photos of the Arts et Metiers station en route because it was all steampunky and cool!

We were starving by the time we arrived in the Marais, so we walked straight towards this restaurant called Hank's Vegan Burger that Bob had found for us, getting a photo of this weird artwork on the way.

Hank's vegan burger was awesome! They had four different varieties of vegan burgers, and they offered a great deal which included a burger, chips (fries) or salad, a drink and a dessert.

We both got the deal and chose organic colas for our drinks.

My burger was called Tata Monique and it had black olives and tomato sauce on it. It was epically tasty, and the chips were really good too.

Bob's burger was called La Catcheuse and came with mustard on it. He said it was nice but a bit heavy on the mustard. We both finished our meal off with a slice of vegan carrot cake.

This art compared each burger to a character, making me an old cat lady (not entirely inaccurate) and Bob a sexy lady superhero.

After a really satisfactory meal, we headed to the Centre Georges Pompidou for a wander. We went around a couple of shops. The bookshop was amazing and had lots of interesting adult colouring books. I wanted to buy one but there were too many to choose from so we headed back out onto the street and got a few photos of this random artwork.

Once we were done with the Pompidou Centre, we realised that we were getting pretty exhausted and decided to get the metro back to Saint-Lazare. We popped into a place just next to our hotel called Terrasse Saint Lazare, and got a drink.

Bob had a beer, I had a white wine and they brought us some nibbles (crisps and nuts). After one drink, we were shattered and called it a night. We went back to the hotel and lay in bed watching a strange French cartoon about some kind of hyena, shark and a mermaid. We crashed out pretty early ready to start our first full day tomorrow.

Day 2: Montmartre, Amelie walk and Notre Dame:
We got up and took our time getting ready, before heading out to grab breakfast. Our hotel offered a breakfast buffet but as it was 12 euros per person, we opted to eat breakfast at a cafe down the road each day. We headed to a nearby cafe where we each ordered toast and jam with a medium black coffee.

The coffee was amazing and gave us just the buzz needed to get going. We went and caught the metro to Lamark-Caulaincourt for the Amelie sightseeing walk.

I carried the guide to the walk that we had printed off the internet, and Bob carried the map, so I played the tour guide while Bob led us to each point on the map. We took a ton of photos and totally fell in love with Montmartre. It's like something out of a storybook, and this was the Paris I had come to see.

First selfie of the holiday!

This is actually next to a public toilet haha, but we liked seeing the cherry blossoms just coming into bloom. If we'd come in April, they would have been in full bloom, but it was much cheaper to visit in March.


This is a bust of the singer Dalida. As we approached, we heard a tour guide say that people like to squeeze her boobs, hence the following photo.



One of the oldest remaining windmills in Paris.


Dalida's house.



Me outside the grocery from Amelie.


We paused in Abesses to buy some presents for our Mums. I got my Mum a Le Chat Noir purse, and Bob got his a music box in the same style.

This is Abesses metro station, which has a beautiful original Art Nouveau sign outside. We stopped in a wee cafe for a drink to think about our next move. Bob got a coffee and I got a coke but we didn't take pictures.


Finally we were at Amelie's cafe. I freaked out completely. We had originally been planning to grab lunch somewhere else accommodating, but upon noticing they offered a vegetarian salad, we decided to see if we could get a table. We lucked out and got a table without waiting. Bob had been planning to order the tofu burger but when he asked for it without cheese, the waiter asked if we were vegan, and informed us that the tofu burger was fried in egg! We were very impressed that the waiter was so informed and we elected to have two vegetarian salads instead.


These salads were utterly delicious, huge, raw and topped with balsamic vinegar. We were very satisfied after the meal, and it was about average cost for a Parisian lunch.

I geeked out in the cafe and was totally trying to play it cool while bursting with excitement.


We snapped a quick selfie on the way out.

Then Bob got a photo of me outside the cafe.

The shops around Abesses are really interesting and different.





The steps at the end of the walk were packed with people and there was a guy playing guitar.

Selfie from the top of the steps.


We walked down the steps, then back to Abesses to visit a vintage shop a friend had recommended. Afterwards, we hopped the metro back to the hotel and chilled for a bit before heading back out. While we were at the hotel, I got a follow on instagram from a vegan cafe in Paris called the Gentle Gourmet Cafe. We took this as a sign and decided to try this place for dinner.

We got changed and headed back out. I insisted on lift selfies. Bob refused to look at the mirror.


We stopped into the place we had eaten breakfast for an espresso. Then we got the metro to Hotel de Ville.


We took our time enjoying the atmosphere by the Seine.

And then we walked to Notre Dame.

I found it difficult to believe it was real.

It was almost 6pm, so we hung around waiting for Quasimodo to ring the bells. He rang them right on cue. Afterwards, we began the walk to the cafe at Bastille, via the bridge with all the locks on it.


The locks all say the names of different couples, and you're meant to kiss on the bridge to ensure eternal love. So we did, and we took a photo.

We had a long walk to the Gentle Gourmet Cafe, and when we got there, we realised it was super fancy! We actually worried about not having enough money on us to pay for our meal, so we got two courses instead of three, and just a small glass of wine with dinner.

Bob is veggie burger mad so he had the portobello mushroom burger (spoiler alert: Bob had a lot of burgers this holiday). It was like the poshest burger ever.

I had raw vegetable spaghetti because I am for pasta what Bob is for burgers. It was also gluten free and soy free.


Afterwards we shared the raw lemon cheesecake, which was delicious. We had a good giggle at everyone who had told us we'd never find good vegan food in Paris, because we'd eaten better than we would have at home. On the notes for this meal, Bob has written 'Ohh so fancy' and 'next time imma wear a tie'. He felt underdressed in a t-shirt but most people were pretty casual so I think it was fine.

After dinner, we caught the metro to the Latin Quarter for a drink. I took out an extra 20 euros because of the expensive (but amazing) dinner.


Latin Quarter, where Hemingway and his pals used to hang out and live destructively.

We went into a wee grungey bar up a side street, called Chameleon. It had signs saying 'jazz' inside but it was playing random music like the Scissor Sisters. They had a happy hour on so the drinks were cheap. I ordered a Margarita and Bob got a Bloody Mary.



Then I got a Tequilla Sunrise (Bob refused to order me a Sex on the Beach because he's weird) and Bob got a Cosmopolitan. Once we were done with our drinks, we got the metro back to the hotel and slept.

Day 3: Eiffel Tower, Louvre and Moulin Rouge:
We woke up early but pottered about for a while getting ready, before heading to the same cafe as yesterday for breakfast. After breakfast, we caught the metro to the Eiffel Tower, because we couldn't come all the way to Paris without seeing it. I made some silly comments as we approached, like, 'It's quite big' and 'It doesn't look real. I've only ever seen rubbish pretend versions in shops before!'



I always think Bob looks really cute in this teal t-shirt. It's such a nice colour.

Of course we took selfies, utilising the selfie stick my Mum had bought us for our holiday.




We queued for a little while to use the stairs - there was no way I was queuing for longer and paying extra for a lift when my feet work perfectly fine (I know, I'm so Scottish). Bob said 'Are you sure you want to climb this thing?' but he should have known by now that once I've decided I'm doing something, there's no way I'm backing down because I'm ridiculously competitive.

This is us queuing under the tower.

It cost 5 euros each to use the stairs. Once we had paid up, we started climbing!

By the time we reached level one, our legs were pretty sore and we needed a break. We got some shots of the view.


Fortunately there's a cafe on level one, so we stopped for a bottle of water and a sit down.

When we'd had a wee rest, we resumed climbing the stairs to level two. When we reached level two, I shouted 'woo' because I was glad there were no more stairs!


This was cute.

View from level two.


Looking up from level two. We contemplated going to the top, but it was too busy and there was a huge queue to get up, so we decided we'd had enough, and both being pretty hungry, climbed back to level one, followed by some loud German children. We got the lift to the bottom to ease our aching legs.

I'd got the idea in my head that we would go to the Marais for falafel. This involved three metro trains and was a pretty long journey, so by the time we got there, we were starving! We walked to L'as du Fallafel, where the best falafel in Paris could supposedly be obtained. There was a queue but it went quickly. When we got to the front, Bob asked for no cream because we didn't know if it was milk-based, but the guy jovially informed him that there was 'no milk here my friend!' So we got the cream, and then he asked if we wanted it spicy, to which I replied 'yes, spicy' and the guy winked at me. Bob and I smiled and agreed that everyone in Paris so far had been really friendly.

We got our falafel. It is possibly the best thing I ate all holiday. I'm still thinking about it. We ate and walked our way down to Place des Vosges, where we had a sit down in the square.



We contemplated heading to the D'Orsay museum, but the guide seemed to say it was closed on Mondays, so we opted to tackle the Louvre. We got the metro out to the Louvre, which was very busy at this point in the afternoon. We had to make a toilet stop and the toilets were really weird - you had to pay to use them and the lady was shouting at people.


We queued in the big line and got in quite quickly. We wandered aimlessly for a long time, and saw lots of paintings. Our legs were very sore at this point as we'd really done too much walking for one day. Our last stop was to see the Mona Lisa but it was too crowded with tourists taking photos so we just took a quick snap and moved on.

The Louvre is intense, big and encapsulating, and by the time we wanted out, we began to get frustrated because it took so long to get to an exit.

The museum itself is a masterpiece but there's no way you could see everything in a day, never mind an afternoon, so you need to pick and choose what you want to see. The sun was hot when we got out and I got tired and emotional.

We realised we were both wiped out so got the metro back to Saint Lazare and collapsed on our bed for a rest. After a short break, we changed and I took an outfit selfie. I dressed like a ballerina today because it was our last night in Paris and I wanted to wear something pretty.


We had a quick espresso at the cafe down the road and then got the metro to Abesses for dinner.

I popped into a quirky gift shop and bought this compact mirror as a memento of Paris.

Then we stopped into this vegetarian cafe we had passed yesterday on our travels. It was really eclectic and colourful inside.


Bob wore a shirt since it was the last night in the centre of Paris.

We ended up having a big veggie feast made up of lots of different bits. Bob had the vegetable tart and I had the houmous.


Dinner was really tasty and filling. We skipped on dessert and walked down to the Moulin Rouge, via lots of crazy sex shops. The thing that amazes me about Paris is the juxtaposition of contrary districts with distinct personalities. You walk down from Montmartre which is like a fairytale town, and suddenly you're surrounded by sex shops and strip clubs. It's a fascinating city; fast-paced and compelling, but full of magic, and I really recommend people visit it at least once in a lifetime.

We arrived at the Moulin Rouge and I was in complete disbelief. It didn't feel real. It's over 100 euros for a ticket so we didn't plan to go in, but we got some photos outside.

After we'd got a couple of photos, we went across the road to a little sports bar called Bar Oz, where we each got a cheap pint of beer. They were playing amazing music ranging from the Stones, to ACDC to Muse, and Bob was loving it.

We had a big long chat about the last five years we'd spent together and how much we'd done with them, going from casually dating, to getting serious, travelling, getting married and buying a house. In the last five years, we'd been to Prague, Brighton, WDW Orlando, Barcelona, Cornwall, London, Durham, Yorkshire... and now we were in Paris. We talked about why we loved travelling together, because we make such a great team, and about our plans for the future. It felt really romantic and special even though we were in this cheap bar drinking Carlsberg opposite the Moulin Rouge. We had a wee toast to five years together, two years married, and then when we were both feeling merry, walked to the metro via a sex shop (I dragged Bob in for a giggle but I was giggling like a loon inside the whole time), and got the metro back to the hotel.

As we walked home, I was hit with mixed emotions. I had fallen deeply in love with Paris and its distinct arrondissements. I felt at home here, as I rushed between metro stops, taking in the little cafes and quirky scenery. Everyone mistook me for a French lady, and tried to speak to me in French before they realised I was British. I always got greeted with Bonjour and Merci, whereas Bob got Hello and Thank you. He says he thinks I look more European than him, with pale skin, dark hair and my Roman nose, but I don't know; maybe it's just that I feel comfortable in Paris, like I belong there. I didn't want to leave Paris because it had been so spectacular and we'd experienced so much joy, but at the same time, I was looking forward to Disneyland the next day.

Day 4: Travel and DLP:
We got up, had breakfast at the usual place, and checked out of our hotel early to give us time to get to Disneyland. We caught two RER trains to DLP. The journey was very quick from the centre of Paris and it was quite a novelty since WDW is so spread out.


The train pulled in and we were instantly in Disneyland, just like magic! In Paris, the Disney Village is right next to each of the parks, so there's just one bus stop for all of them, which we really liked because it made park hopping really easy. The balloon was in the air as we waited for our hotel bus.

The bus to Hotel Cheyenne pulled in and we got on. We were amused by how short the journey is - just a couple of minutes by bus, compared to about twenty from the parks to value resorts in WDW.

We arrived at Hotel Cheyenne - a cowboy themed hotel that really sticks to its theming throughout, and we were very impressed. We were able to check in right away even though it was only midday. The cast member who helped us was called Oksana and she was very friendly and helpful, giving us all our meal vouchers and some advice on reservations.

Our room was huge and really comfortable. The bathroom was massive but we didn't take a picture.

I put the TV on straight away so I could watch Disney Sophie while we planned what to do for lunch. She's so enthusiastic and it got me in the mood for the parks!

The view from our hotel room.

We didn't waste any time before leaving to go to Disneyland Park, taking some resort photos along the way. We were in the Wild Bill Hickok section.

The grounds of the Cheyenne. It's quite vast.

Chuck Wagon Cafe.

And the Red Garter Saloon.

We made a quick stop in the General Store to browse before catching our bus to the parks.

The main entrance to Disneyland Paris!

We made a quick stop in the Village for lunch, and made a beeline for Earl of Sandwich.

We had to make some substitutions to ensure we had something we could eat, but this was no problem. We both ordered the Caprese and substituted the mozzarella for avocado (it was 99cents extra but this was no big deal!)

By the time our sandwiches came, we were famished!


Caprese minus mozzarella, plus avocado. We both got the Earl's meal deal with crisps.

After we had eaten, we walked back through the village, checking the menus outside Rainforest Cafe and Annette's.

Outside Rainforest Cafe.

We made one last stop in World of Disney to buy me some new mouse ears as I had managed to leave all of mine at home. (OH NO I WILL JUST HAVE TO BUY ANOTHER PAIR WHAT A SHAME, THOUGHT I.) I fell in love with this little Remy and wanted to take him home. I'm a big Ratatouille fan - it's my favourite Pixar film and we had watched it recently in preparation for our Paris trip. There was a lot of lovely Remy merchandise in the parks.

Bob gasped when we walked into World of Disney because he said it was just like being back in WDW. The store was glorious, and as Bob said, it 'just smelled like Disney'.

After we had run about like children squeeing for a bit, I picked out some sparkly pink mouse ears. It says on the notes 'Lauren had a moment'. I think it was just all the emotion of being in Disney again. I had to take a minute to calm down!

With no more stops to make, we made a beeline for the bigger Disneyland Park, snapping photos of the spectacular pink Disneyland Hotel through which the park entrance is located.

Suddenly we were back in a Disney park, and all these wonderful feelings and memories came rushing back. It was a strange experience, because it wasn't WDW but it still felt familiar and magical.



Main Street was glorious, not an exact copy of the one in WDW but with some incredible features and details that made me feel like I was home and yet still witnessing something new. All the Spring decorations were up and we loved them.

This is my manic excited 'I'm in Disney' face.

We could have spent hours on Main Street, taking in all the little details. The thing that's really lovely about it is that despite being a Disney park, Disneyland Park maintains a strong Parisian vibe, making it distinctive and unique. I cannot reiterate enough how beautiful we found Main Street. I know this might be a controversial opinion but I think I might have liked it more than the one in WDW, because of all the cute French details.

Castle!

We caught photos of all the Springy Disney characters.


You can just see my homegirl Marie in the background.


There are a lot of really detailed features in the Sleeping Beauty Castle that make it spectacular. I have to admit I'm a sucker for a big pink castle!

Castle selfie!

Of course our first stop had to be underneath the castle to meet the dragon. He was really cool.


And then it was upstairs to look at the Sleeping Beauty story on the windows.

I'm a bit of a Maleficent fangirl.





Shot of Fantasyland from the balcony of the castle.

And the storybook. When we went outside, we tried to get a picture of Bob at the sword in the stone, but just as he was about to pose, two tiny girls dressed as princesses ran up and started posing with the sword. It was quite funny and they were adorable so we just let it slide. We tried to get a photo of Bob with the sword all holiday, alas to no avail. This was something that bugged me about DLP. People with children often seemed to think this entitled them to push in front of adults for everything. It was something I hadn't really experienced at WDW and it took me by surprise despite warnings. We were on the receiving end of some EXTREME rudeness over the course of our stay, which I will cover later in our trip report, so this was just the tip of the iceberg. Nonetheless, we tried to ignore it and not let it ruin our holiday. It was still Disney after all!

It was at this point that we realised we'd been in Disney for ages and not been on any rides yet. It's really easy to get caught up in the little details of DLP and forget to try attractions!

So we went straight for Snow White. This ride means a lot to me as it's one of the ones of which I have really vivid memories from WDW as a child. I was devastated when I learned it wasn't there anymore, and thrilled when I found out it still exists at DLP! Bob was stoked as we got a Grumpy car. This ride is really quite scary - I can see why it frightened me as a child, but it was really good.

After Snow White, we went straight on Pinocchio. This was even scarier than Snow White, especially the bit with the donkeys! I didn't want to go on this ride again this holiday - once was definitely enough! We agreed to go on something less scary next!

We snapped a picture of the Cheshire Cat on our way past Alice's Curious Labyrinth. At this point, the rain started and we decided to take shelter and warm up in the Cable Car Bake Shop, where we each ordered an espresso.

I had my Frozen t-shirt on, and there was an adult girl at the next table in mouse ears with a Disney t-shirt, and she kept smiling at me. It's always good to see other grown-up Disney obsessives on your travels!

Bob in his Yoda tee. Once we'd warmed up and dried off, we decided to head to Discoveryland to do some indoor rides. It was still raining so we went on Buzz.


Just like in WDW! Bob beat me at Buzz (yes I know, surprise surprise! One day I will beat him!) but we both got Level 3. I got higher than most of the people around me but some kid got Level 4. I proclaimed to Bob that I will always win at KNOWLEDGE even if he is better at shooting things.

Snapped a picture of the ride photo. I look like I'm concentrating really hard!

It was annoying that this section of the park was blocked off so you couldn't see WALL-E or EVE properly. Space Mountain was closed for the duration of our trip unfortunately, as was Phantom Manor, but we didn't mind as it just meant we'd need to come back!

Predictably, it was time for Star Tours, one of Bob's favourites.


We enjoyed Star Tours. One thing I really like about it is that it has the old school robot like the one before they refurbished the WDW ride. He spoke in French too, which was great. I really loved that a lot of the rides were in French because it just felt right. It took me right back to Star Tours as a child, and made me all nostalgic. I had to give Bob my mouse ears between rides so I could put my hood up, making Bob official ear holder.

We practically ran onto Captain EO after Star Tours. I'd waited since I'd seen the trailer on my Little Mermaid VHS in the 90s to get on this.

Amazing cheesy Captain EO poster.

We loved this attraction. There are really no words to describe it until you've experienced it. It's cheesy and silly and full of hilarious dated special effects but there's something very charming and nostalgic about it that I just can't put my finger on. I joked after that it was the best thing I'd ever seen.

By the time we got out, the rain was pretty heavy.

It was about quarter to five so we figured it was a good time to make a dash for Annette's in the village and beat the crowds. I wasn't worried about leaving the park too soon as I knew we still had two full days left.

I love that Annette's replicates the 50s diner feel of some of the WDW restaurants. I've always loved 1950s kitsch styling in general and when I was a kid, one of my dreams was to be a rollerskating waitress (way to dream big, Lauren!)

We assumed this was Annette.

Turned out we'd picked the perfect time to leave the park because we got seated immediately, and ordered drinks. Bob got a cherry Sprite and I got a cherry Coke (these are drinks mixed with cherry cordial rather than actual flavoured soda, if that makes sense, but they were great!)

The little decorative jukeboxes on the tables were a cute touch.

Both of us ordered the veggie burger, which is a mix of various vegetables with tofu, more of a layered sandwich than a burger but very good indeed! It doesn't come with cheese as standard, which is good, though we did have to leave the coleslaw and sauce. We also ordered a side of onion rings (I wasn't sure if these were vegan but I was starving so we just hoped for the best!) The food was so good and both of us ate till we were stuffed! We were on the standard half board meal plan (which we got included for free with our package), and although the vouchers are meant for buffet service, they can be used at other restaurants if you cover the extra cost. Amazingly, with our vouchers being worth 26euros each, there was no extra cost and we got the entire meal for free! Considering how much we ate, this was an achievement. I will be eating at Annette's every time we visit from now on!

We jumped a bus back to the hotel and dried off a bit, before changing to go out for a drink.

I finally got to wear my sky blue brogues I'd been saving for a day when we weren't walking far!

And I popped in my Frozen hairclips for a wee Disney touch.

We headed to the Red Garter Saloon for a drink. Both of us laughed at this Disneyfied version of another cocktail on the drinks menu. I loved the Saloon! It's not as fancy as some of the other hotel bars but it's got some good theming and it's really comfortable. I was totally comfortable just popping in here for a cup of tea or glass of wine. There were a lot of unruly kids at certain times but there's just something special about a Saloon bar I guess.

Bob got his favourite, and most manly of cocktails, a Pina Colada, and I got a Cosmo.

Bob enjoying the finer aspects of Disneyland Paris.

After a cocktail, we realised we were having fun and wanted another drink but as we couldn't afford another cocktail, I got a white wine and Bob got some kind of weird Viking beer that was flavoured with vodka. He wouldn't admit to it but this got him drunk.

After drinks, I got the mad idea to stroll over to Santa Fe in the rain. Bob was disgruntled about this. We had originally planned to get a drink in all the hotel bars, but I have to be honest and admit we couldn't bring ourselves to get a drink here because we were not very taken with the hotel or its theming. It was very busy, and I wasn't in the mood to fight my way to the bar. The bar was all lit up - no mood lighting or anything, and it was packed with noisy children. I'm sure this would be a fine hotel option for people with children but for us, it wasn't very inviting, so we just took some photos and ran away.

When we were done at Santa Fe, we decided to call it a night, headed back to the hotel room and crashed out.

Aww so sorry to hear about your lovely cat. Stella is my BFF; she's a primadonna but very sweet and loving. She's been so cute and affectionate since we got home! x

Day 5: Second Day DLP, Agrabah Cafe and Studios:
We got up early and headed down to breakfast at Chuck Wagon Cafe. Unfortunately the earliest we could get for today was 8.30am and the restaurant was packed full. We had to queue to get in. Fortunately we had 7am vouchers for the next two days!


We battled the crowds to obtain ourselves some fruit, toast and jam, coffee and fruit juice. I always get orange juice and strawberry jam; Bob always gets apple juice and apricot jam. I had suggested skipping breakfast for the crowds but Bob said, 'Sorry love, there's not much I won't do for a free breakfast.'

We walked to the parks, and went straight to Disneyland Park and onto Peter Pan. We managed to get about half an hour of extra magic hours so there was only about a 15 minute wait for Peter Pan.


We got a boat with black sails, which pleased Bob, but I had wanted a green and pink one. Boo! Peter Pan was really magical and my favourite ride so far. Slightly different to the one in WDW but I loved it just the same!


We came out and made a dash for Small World. It was amazing and a bit crazier than the one in WDW. There were more Scottish pipers, which was great, and some Irish leprechauns too! After Small World we headed to Frontierland to try and get on Thunder Mountain.

On our way we snapped a photo of some ducks.


There was a 25 minute wait so we just joined the queue. There were some horrible pushy English girls who cut in front of us while we were letting a little girl and her Mum get on. We giggled because we ended up getting the front seat on the ride. Slow and steady wins the race!

Big Thunder Mountain was seriously mind-blowing. Lots of rushing around in the dark which made it feel more like a thrill ride than the one in WDW. I think it was also smoother and less bumpy. I really enjoyed it! We were very cold afterwards so we popped into a shop to warm up, before heading to Adventureland for Pirates.

I had my Disney princess leggings on so had to take a picture.

We found Pirates and went for a spin. Not sure it's as exciting as the one in Florida but we both agreed that the best thing was NO JACK SPARROW.

Afterwards we found this terrible Jack Sparrow toy in the shop. IT DOESN'T EVEN LOOK LIKE HIM! We were freezing to death so we went to Agrabah Cafe for our reservation slightly early, which was fine and they gave us our table.


It was really quiet but the buffet was incredible. We could eat practically all of the entrees and appetisers! I'd heard it was good for vegans but it really blew my mind.



It was so tasty and perfect for us, we both went back for seconds!




After Agrabah, we popped into the Aladdin walkthrough and took a bunch of photos.






When we came out, the sun had finally decided to appear and we accidentally turned up outside the castle just in time for Goofy's Garden Party. This felt like a total magical Disney moment.











I was so excited when Minnie came close!

She pointed right at me, and at that point everything felt magical and wonderful. I cried a little bit after the show because I was so excited to see Minnie. Then we popped back in to say hi to the dragon.

After all of that, we decided to give Alice's Curious Labyrinth a try because the weather had brightened up. It was lots of fun! We ran around lots!









Queen of Hearts was pretty ominous!




View from the top of the Queen of Hearts' castle!

For our final stop of the day at this park, we headed onto Le Pays des Contes de Fees, which was lovely and quirky and sweet.







The ride paused for a few minutes just as we were about to go through the tiger's mouth, so we took photos.




Pretty soon we were off again.



Beast's castle.

I freaked when I saw Wizard of Oz!

This was our cute little boat.

We popped into Cable Car for an espresso and had a look at the Studios map, before heading to the Studios for the rest of the afternoon.

Day 5 Continued in next comment, with Studios and hotel bar hopping!

Day 5: Second Day DLP, Agrabah Cafe and Studios continued:
We finished our coffees at Cable Car, and went to head to the Studios. I've just realised I have some more photos of Cable Car I forgot to share in the last comment, so here they are!

I loved this place because it perfectly captured the essence of a French patisserie.


The little alley next to Cable Car.

We walked over to the Studios.


Bob freaked out over the architecture because he loves Art Deco. I do too, so we liked this park. There are parts of it that look a little rundown but the main entranceway is breathtaking, as is the Ratatouille section.

Traditional shot of Walt and Mickey.


Of course I had to pose with Boo's door!



We headed straight for the Ratatouille ride. There was a 40 minute wait but we were both desperate to get on it so we joined the queue, which turned out to take less than 30 minutes.


I got excited when I saw the sign for Gusteau's! The ride was fantastic, really involving and I had never really seen a ride like it. It combined the elements we loved about Soarin' in Epcot with classic 3D, and it was truly spectacular. This was one of my favourite rides from the whole trip!

Afterwards we popped into Toy Story Playland. Please ignore the random child here - he's not ours!

We decided to go for a wee spin on Slinky Dog.


I was freaked out by the look of the Parachute Drop because I'm not great with plummeting rides, and Bob didn't fancy RC Racer because he thought his glasses might fall off, so we headed over to check the wait time for Crush's Coaster.

The wait time was 45 minutes but we just decided to do it anyway.

It was a long wait, but it was worth it. We both loved this ride. It was honestly one of the best Disney coasters I've been on, though it did make me feel a little nauseous! It was intense and probably my favourite ride overall.

It had started hailing outside so we pondered getting our free coffee with our tea time treat vouchers but the place that does them was way too busy and we decided we couldn't be bothered waiting, so we just headed back to the hotel for a cup of tea. I'm not sure the film advertised above is appropriate for a Disney audience so we had a bit of a giggle about that en route.

When we got back to the hotel, we went straight for Red Garter Saloon, getting some photos of the indoor areas on our way.

Empty Chuck Wagon Cafe!

This was the Red Garter Saloon in daylight. We really liked this bar - I know I've mentioned it before but it's worth mentioning twice.

We got a cup of tea and some barbecue crisps, and the nice cast member who served us noticed Bob's camera and offered to take a photo, so of course we said yes. It was a novelty to have a photo of us together that wasn't a selfie! After our tea, we went back to the room for a rest and to get changed, before getting the bus to the village for dinner.

We ended up opting for Rainforest Cafe, as we'd used our half board vouchers earlier at Agrabah. We thought this tree was kinda creepy.

Fish!


I ordered the Natural Pasta without parmesan. It was really delicious and filling, with tons of tasty veggies in it!

And guess what Bob got?! Yep, he got the veggie burger, ordered without mozzarella. We were both really happy with our horribly predictable meal choices.

After dinner we were so full, we decided to begin our hotel bar crawl at Newport Bay to allow for a walk around the lake. We figured that as we'd already done Cheyenne, and were skipping Santa Fe, we would do the three around the lake tonight, and save Disneyland Hotel for the final night.


We took some photos of the village at night.

And then Bob got some pictures of me in my Tangled dress by the lake.



Newport Bay was covered in scaffolding, but we still managed to pop in for a drink.


We went upstairs to Fisherman's Wharf, where we both ordered a glass of red wine, and they brought us snacks, which we tried to force down despite being full from dinner because they were good!



We had a detailed hotel comparison discussion in here. Both of us felt that although Newport Bay was the fancier, more expensive hotel, we preferred Cheyenne. Newport was a little too clean and we weren't sure the theming was right for us. That's not to say we didn't enjoy our drinks, and in fact, the service was so good, we were tempted to stay for another, but we had to get onto Sequoia Lodge!

I liked the anchors on the carpet in Newport.

By the time we left Newport, it was properly dark and everything was lit up, which was wonderful and lent itself to some really pretty lake shots.


We headed into Sequoia Lodge, which seemed a pretty stark contrast to Newport with its dark colours and cabin theming.

The bar was spacious and warm, with a large roaring fire in the centre.


Bob ordered a half pint of 1664 and I got a Red Mountain cocktail. Our server was really smiley and lovely so we gave her a generous tip at the end. We agreed that we like Sequoia, though we were put off by the cow hide in the foyer, and Bob said it was a bit 'man cavey', but we thought we'd stay here over Newport Bay.

When we were done at Sequoia, it was onto the highlight of the night, and the hotel I'd been most looking forward to: Hotel New York!

The fairy lights on the trees outside were lovely.

We both loved the Art Deco theming around this hotel.


The lobby was very inviting and invoked the feeling of being in New York for real.


We spent some serious time drooling over the figurines.

Then I was instructed to stand here.

Eventually we got to the bar, which we adored. I got a Fred Astaire and Bob got a Blue Flip. This was my favourite drink of the holiday. The popping candy was such a special touch. Being so impressed with this place, we agreed that cocktails here would forever be part of our DLP plans.

When we left, we got a photo of the yellow cab. If money were no object, I would stay in this hotel as my first choice. It really blew me away, even more so than the Disneyland Hotel which we visited the next night.

On the way back to Cheyenne, I was a bit tipsy and giggly, and kept saying silly things. I saw the sign for Disney University and decided I wanted to go there to get a PhD in Disney, then I made up a ridiculous anthem for them.

We got back to our hotel room and went straight to sleep, ready for our final full day tomorrow.