The Back-story
The time has come for another pre-trip report. Those who have followed our recent adventures will know that we took our last trip to Disneyland Paris while I was pregnant. We couldn't resist getting a second use out of our Annual Passes, and booked another trip while I was pregnant, for after the baby arrived. Baby Eloise was born on the 1st of September, and our trip is at the end of March, so she'll be almost seven months old when we visit.
We have also managed to coordinate our trip with the 25th Anniversary celebrations, which look very exciting, and better still, we happen to be visiting at the same time as a few of my friends. My friend Kim and her husband Gareth will be there with their daughter Izzy, and my friend Bethan will also be there with a friend. So, basically this is a very exciting trip for everybody, involving baby's first Disney holiday, 25th Anniversary celebrations, and meet-ups with friends!
The Characters:
ME!
This is me! The reason I haven't shared a Disney picture is because I look SUPER pregnant in all our most recent trip photos, but here is a fun one of me riding the Dumbos while pregnant on our last DLP trip.
So I'm Lauren and I'm 31 years old. I've been on several trips both to WDW and DLP with my husband over the last few years, but this is the first one with our baby! We are also planning to go back to the World this November, but DLP is closer to home for us, and MUCH cheaper, so we tend to do that as a fix until we can get back to the World. Anyhow, I'm from Glasgow, Scotland, where I live with my husband, Bob, 5 month old daughter, Eloise, and grumpy cat, Stella. I work as a Library & Learning Assistant, but I'm currently on maternity leave, and debating what to do when my leave runs out. I volunteer as a leader in training with Girl Guides (the UK version of Girl Scouts) and I enjoy journalling and scrapbooking at the moment. I'm vegan, and I have a lot of tattoos. I love animals, Harry Potter, unicorns, mermaids, shopping and DISNEY. My favourite Disney film is Beauty and the Beast, and my favourite characters are Minnie, Belle, Marie from Aristocats, and Tiana. My favourite parks at WDW are Magic Kingdom and Epcot World Showcase. My favourite WDW rides are Expedition Everest and Under the Sea, and my favourite DLP ride is Ratatouille.
BOB!
This is my husband, Bob, on our last trip to DLP. Bob is 35 and works in an office. He is from Edinburgh, Scotland, but we met at Glasgow University and live in Glasgow together. He is also vegan and has a couple of tattoos. He loves video games (especially Legend of Zelda), Star Wars and DISNEY. His favourite Disney films are Wreck it Ralph and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. His favourite characters are Megara from Hercules and Merlin from The Sword in the Stone. At WDW, he loves Hollywood Studios, and his favourite rides are Star Tours and Space Mountain. At DLP, his favourite ride is Tower of Terror, as he says the Paris one is more atmospheric than the Orlando one.
ELOISE!
This is my five month old daughter, Eloise Daisy. She was named Eloise after the children's book series, and her middle name is Daisy after Daisy Duck, because we were in WDW meeting Daisy Duck right before I fell pregnant. Eloise will be almost 7 months old at the time of travel, and this will be her first holiday abroad. Luckily, Paris is only an hour and a half long flight for us, and the parks are pretty small, so it shouldn't be too overwhelming for her first trip. Obviously, we'll only be taking her on the little rides, and using rider swap for the bigger ones. Eloise's interests include going out in her pram, and playing with her robot toy. She is a happy, smiley baby who loves everyone she meets. Eloise has only seen a few Disney films so far - Tarzan, Cinderella, Frozen and Zootropolis, and is obviously too little to make up her mind about a favourite, but she loves Minnie Mouse. Non-Disney faves include Dora the Explorer and My Little Pony.
The Setting:
We are staying in a hotel overlooking the lake at DLP for the first time ever, as I got a good discount with our Annual Passes. The name of the hotel we are staying in is Sequoia Lodge and it's rather nice.
As you can see, the hotel overlooks the lake at DLP, and is a short walk from the Disney parks, so it's ideal for us if we need to go back to the room for a rest with the baby at any point. We're taking Eloise's travel stroller, so it should be easy to go for walks around the lake.
The Plot:
We're trying not to over-plan this trip, as we know Eloise will probably have the most say in what happens. That said, my plans are very detailed but totally provisional. I know that they could change at any moment! We'll also be meeting up with friends at some point but have no strict plans as to when.
Sunday 26th March:
Get up and ready, leave money for the cat lady, grab some lunch either at home or at the airport. Flight leaves at 14:35 UK time, so we'll probably drive to the airport and check the car in there, before getting ourselves checked in. We land at 17:30 Paris time, and are hoping to catch the super fast train to Disney that only takes 10 minutes! When we get there, Eloise WILL be cranky, so we're going to get checked in as soon as possible, then Bob is going to head out and grab us some takeaway food from the village while I care for Eloise. We'll be putting the baby bed and getting up to start our holiday the next morning.
Monday 27th March:
Our Annual Passes are not valid on this day, so we're still weighing up whether it's worth purchasing a one park ticket for the day, or just going shopping. Either way, we'll be getting up and grabbing breakfast if there's time, though we often find that we don't get out till later because of baby. If necessary, we'll grab a Starbucks in the village, then we're going to get the bus to Val d'Europe shopping centre, to pick up some snack and lunch supplies for everyone. We're going to get lunch at a chain called Exki - we ate there before at Charles de Gaulle airport and it's soooo good. They do amazing sandwiches and have a good vegan/veggie selection. They'll probably have some wee veggies for Eloise to nibble too (we're doing baby led weaning, meaning she'll be eating little bits of what we are having). We'll have a wander around the shops, as it's apparently quite a nice shopping centre, and they even have an aquarium, so I think that will fill a fair bit of time. When we're ready, we'll get the bus back to Disney. Depending on what time it is, and whether we've bought tickets for that day, we'll either go to the park or just grab dinner in the village, probably at Annette's Burger place.
Tuesday 28th March:
We'll be getting up and heading to the main park whenever we're ready (if there's no time for breakfast, we'll have a snack in the room.) We have lunch reservations at Cafe Agrabah for 12pm, so we'll need to try and get into the park on time. We'll spend most of the day enjoying the main park, will probably spend a lot of time in Fantasyland with Eloise. I'm thinking the Dumbos for her first ride, or maybe It's a Small World. I'd quite like to try a character meet with her too, to see how she copes. They have baby care centres in the parks that I can head to when she needs some milk. If she gets tired, we'll go for a walk round the lake or take her back to the hotel, though she is good at sleeping in the stroller, so I'm hoping to do some ride swaps on grown-up rides (PHANTOM MANOR HERE I COME - every time I've been there before, it's either been closed or I couldn't go on because I was pregnant!). I'd like to catch the parade or maybe a show. At the end of the day, we'll eat in the village again. There's a new Italian place I'm eager to try out, or there's always Planet Hollywood.
Wednesday 29th March:
I think we'll probably head to the Studios Park on this day. I want to get a Fastpass for Ratatouille as soon as possible! There's less stuff for Eloise here, so we'll probably do some character meets, and maybe a show, then grab some sandwiches for lunch. If Eloise naps, we'll do some ride swaps on ToT, Rock 'n' Rollercoaster etc. Then we'll either head back to the hotel for a rest or maybe do some shopping in the village. In the evening, we've booked Inventions in the Disneyland Hotel. It's an amazing character buffet that I've never been to before, and there's no time like the present. We thought it might be nice for Eloise to get dedicated character time, plus buffets are a good option for veggie stuff and little snacks for the baby. I'm also totally getting a Glowtini or similar cocktail on this night! Then we'll head back to our hotel whenever we're ready.
Thursday 30th March:
We'll do any shopping we want to do in the village and then head to Disneyland Park to do anything we still want to do. We'll spend the day there and grab some pasta or something from Bella Notte for lunch. This will probably be a chilled day doing anything we want to do as it's our last proper day. We might catch a bit of the parade, then we've got dinner at Plaza Gardens, then we're keeping the baby up late for the last night to watch a bit of the fireworks (she might nap in her pram anyhow).
Friday 31st March:
Last day! 
It'll be an Earl of Sandwich in the village, and anything else we fancy, before heading to the airport. Our flight home is at 14:05, but that's okay, because we're totally going to WDW in November! YAY!
