Originally Posted By u k fan THE EPILOGUE or BOY WAS QUASI FIT!!! Ok, so we last time we met Em and I had just left DL Park for the last time. We decided to head up to Disney Village for dinner, with Annette’s being our restaurant of choice. They had a pretty long queue so we decided to see what else was on offer. Em had mentioned The Rainforest Café earlier in the trip, but that was also very busy so we decided to check out Planet Hollywood. The wait for a table was about 25 mins and we could at least sit and wait so we stayed there. The wait actually turned out to be longer than 25 mins, but ho hum! We decided to split the Chicken Crunch starter, which was nicer last time I had it in London – and you got more. And Em had the child’s pasta and I had beef and chicken fajitas. You certainly get a lot for your money with the fajitas, although my beef was quite tough. Em decided to try a pasta fajita so the waitress bought us some extra tortillas. Our waitress was actually really nice and a lot of fun, for those of you in the UK she was just a couple of notches down from the Catherine Tate waitress (I’ll do the jokes!). I didn’t have a dessert as I was too full, but Em had the Vanilla Ice Cream (I told you he was a no frills man)! After that I did a couple of last minute bits of shopping including a copy of Didier Ghez’s book (sadly in French) for the bargain price of 25 Euros. It’s a shame that my French translation won’t be good enough to catch the finer points of the text, but who cares when the pics are that good – I figured it will tide me over either way at that price! We then headed back to the room and Em fell asleep quite quickly and I watched a program about the Queen on BBC1. The next day we had a lie in and got up around 8:30ish. Packing was fun – those last minute purchases were enough to fill my case to capacity and I now have either a zip to fix or a new case to buy! We checked out of the Holiday Inn only to find out that they hadn’t charged me yet for my stay – on the rate I was on I was required to pay for the whole stay before I checked in. Even after I paid the bill it took 2 days for the transaction to go through. I could’ve given a fake card number and been well away! As our train wasn’t until the evening we had decided to head into Paris and dump our bags and then go exploring. We joined the line at the train station and bought 2 Paris Visite cards, again I’m not sure they’re the cheapest option, but it was easier than messing around and they come in a cool little wallet that makes a nice souvenir! At Gare du Nord we found the lockers easily enough, but there were no lockers large enough for all of our bags. The pre printed sign saying that they were all full smacked of trying to extort money from tourists who would be forced to pay for two smaller ones, but that’s just my (conspiracy) theory. Anyway, I decided to get 2 so I put the largest of our 3 bags in a locker and paid. Then in a moment of misguided brilliance I decided that I could carry our smallest bag and put 2 in together under the (sadly incorrect) notion that my first locker was reusable up until a certain time, at least that’s how it read, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. So once I’d opened the first locker I then had to pay for it again! So now I’d paid for 2 lockers and was still forced to carry a bag! Oh well! With this disaster under our belts we then went on to see if we could find anymore! I really wanted to check out Notre Dame, I’ve only ever driven past it before and Hunchback is my favorite Disney movie, in fact it’s my favorite movie period so I couldn’t pass up the chance to have a proper look. The first thing I’ll say is it’s much shorter in real life than in the Disney movie. That scene where it rises majestically out of the clouds must have been on a really low cloud day. Don’t get me wrong it’s tall, but not like in the movie! We checked out the inside first and all I can say is WOW! It’s amazing, it’s so peaceful and the atmosphere inside is beyond description. Even with all of the tourists around it’s so spiritual and I can see how it would be the perfect place to seek sanctuary. I’ve been brought up to respect everybody’s individual religious beliefs and the fact that we were in a church was very important to us. It was a very spiritual visit. We then decided to tour the towers and joined the queue outside, which although it was long was moving steadily. I don’t really know what happened after we got in line, but the queue just suddenly didn’t move at all. After about 30 mins of standing in a queue in an open square with a brisk northerly wind whipping around us Em needed to visit the toilet (if you’re TDG please substitute toilet with loo!) As we were getting nearer to the front of the line I asked Em if he could hold it and I’d take him inside and he said he would. We eventually got in after another half hour in line and by this time Em was desperate, but he was really good about it! Anyway, we got in and pretty much ran up the first spiral staircase and into the gift shop. I asked where their toilet was only to be told they didn’t have one, but once you’re in it’s kind of a one-way system. It was all or nothing so Em was really brave and decided to carry on so of we went at lightning pace. I have honestly never felt closer to death than when I finally made it to the top! The sign says that there are 440+ steps to the top and I felt every single one as we all but ran up the stairs (me carrying a heavy bag). Without a word of a lie I was really concerned I may never make it to the top! I pretty much got to the top, moved out of the doorway and flopped down on a step, complaining very loudly about how heavy my bag was to try to save face as I gasped for air. Once there, I took a couple of pictures to prove I’d been, said “Hi†to a Chimera, they’re NOT Gargoyles just so you know and then we headed off. You could actually go higher again, but A) Em was about to burst and B) I don’t know if I’d have made it so we crossed the roof and started to head down. One thing I will say is that on the part of the roof I was on there was barely room to swing a rat let alone a Hunchback so I think Disney may have taken a few liberties there as well! So we ran down the stairs and out on the square, our whole trip lasting at the VERY most about 5 mins! Luckily there was a toilet in the square so we didn’t have far to go. Once I’d finally stopped as I waited for Em I got a real taste of what jelly legs were all about. After all of that dashing up and down my legs were really shaking! I don’t know how I stayed upright! We then had a walk around for a bit, stopping by the Pompidou Centre for a rest (to let my legs get back to normal) and then we just kind of strolled around. There was a CD I wanted to buy that had only been released on mainland Europe so we hopped on a train to the Champs Elysee. We got off a stop early and had another walk by the Seine. We had a quick look in the Disney Store, but after being at DLP it was very uninspiring so we left quite quickly and then I went to the Virgin Megastore for my CD. Ok, I’ll confess, it was Melanie C, y’know Sporty Spice. I’ll admit it; I’m a big fan! After that we stopped at QuickBurger and shared a meal and I treated Em to a shake to say thank you for a great trip! By this time it was coming up to our time to head back to the station so we joined the evening commuters on a train to the Gare du Nord and collected our luggage. The rest is fairly standard we did the whole passport thing, with the guy from UK immigration saying that I should have had a letter of permission to take Em away with me, oops! We used up some change on a couple of drinks and a Twix to share and that was that. We boarded our train and headed back to blighty. Something I forgot to mention earlier is that I recently bought a Disney embroidery machine, so I’d made Em some patches with Mickey and Co on that he could earn like Scout badges. There was one for each land that was kinda boyish (Adventure, Discovery, Frontier) there were 2 “Thrillstar†badges for completing thrill rides, one for riding SM:M2 and a culinary appreciation badge. What’s cool is that you can add your own text so they can be personalised. Anyway, needless to say Em earned all of his badges and I want to take this opportunity (I know he’ll read this) to publicly thank him for a wonderful trip. It was one of my best ever and one I’ll never forget (if my Swiss cheese brain lets me). I’d like to end with something that I saw a couple of days ago at work that fits here. It was on one of those emails of inspirational quotes that you’re supposed to pass on to 4 other people. It says: Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened!!!
Originally Posted By u k fan I'd also like to say thank you to you, Dear Readers. This has been a great way to make the whole experience last longer!!!
Originally Posted By avromark Heh you're welcome, but if I ever do a trip report expect something a tenth the length, and only one post
Originally Posted By TALL Disney Guy No no u k fan, PLEASE ramble! Long detailed trip reports are the BEST! And yours is AWESOME! Thanks for sharin' it with us, I'm so glad you and Em had a terrific time! Ya hear that, Em? I'm happy you got to have such fun in the parks! And u k fan, what a GREAT idea about the Disney "scout badges"! Jolly good fun, old bean!!! (and way to go Em for earning them all!)
Originally Posted By avromark I ramble too, but i'm not a trip reporter. Do you really want to know what I did at the parks? I doubt it.
Originally Posted By avromark Heh not mine Went to park, observed Byron squirting ketchup in mouth, saw miss candice hold scooby doos hand, not interesting
Originally Posted By chickendumpling <<We decided to split the Chicken Crunch starter>> phrases like that just make me nervous. <<Then in a moment of misguided brilliance I decided that ...>> LOL! How many times could I start a sentence this way! You honestly made me lol with this. I love the way you write. << barely room to swing a rat let alone a Hunchback >> LOL again! You are killing me with this Kieran. I love your patches idea. You, my friend, are a genius. And Emerson! What a great guy to hang with! Well done you two.
Originally Posted By u k fan Thanks for all the compliments chickendumpling! I'll try not to let it go to my head. And avromark, I enjoyed your trip report very much!!!
Originally Posted By u k fan Here's a little something from Em, folks! Hi My Name is Emerson and I went on Holiday with my Uncle Kieran. Who I call Kiz. My mum told me he has told alot of people on the internet about our trip, at first I was a bit confused (mum says thats normal) My mum read some of the stuff to me and we thought it would be fun to say hello as well. I do not have much to say, except Buzz was great we went on it 4 times and I beat Kiz alot. The pin man told me where to find a secret target and I got it once. I went on Space Mountain and it was the best thing ever. I want to go again so I can take my mum on it (Note from Mum: I don't think so) My mum asked me to score my trip and I said it was a 9 out of 10 but only because I missed my sister. Im off to school now. Thanks Kiz Now that Em has gone I can have my say (Mum again) Emerson cried when we read about the whole growing up part of Kierans report, mostly because he could not understand why Kieran had said Soccer Emerson has no love for Soccer. I know that deep down Emerson Loves his Uncle Kiz ALOT but he is just to 9 to say it. I hope that Kieran will understand when I say " You're his scarecrow and no amount of growing up will ever change that" Thank you for taking Emerson to DLP I know that he can be a bit bouncy!! This trip will always be special to Em because it was the first "Boys Trip" and also it was the trip that saw him beat his fear of Space Mountain. He did not shut up for hours when he got home! So there you go, it seems a shame that this thread will die now. I've really enjoyed it!!!
Originally Posted By chickendumpling To Emerson: Thank you so much for telling us about your trip. I loved the part where you tell about Buzz and beating Kiz a lot. I think its cool that you found the secret targets and I'm glad you had a fun time on your trip. And, just so you know, I think Space Mountain is awesome too and I'm glad you went on it! To Em's Mom: Awwwww! What a neat kid you have! This was wonderful to read. Thank you for taking time to share this with us. I love trip reports and this one was very cool. To Kieran: A good trip report that could make me smile was just what I needed right now. Thanks for posting it.
Originally Posted By TALL Disney Guy Dang it, chickendumpling beat me to it, lol. ;-P Yes Em, I too am so glad you had a WONDERFUL time! Way to go conquering your fear of Space Mountain, buddy! Your uncle *does* love you VERY much, and this trip means so much to him too. Em's mom, thanks for letting your little boy have this "Boys Only" trip with your brother. It sounds like Kieran went out of his way to make it the most fun, memorable, terrific trip he could. And Kieran, you are just the best uncle a little boy could have. I'm so glad you got to have this special trip with Em and really have a great bonding experience with him in the magical air of Disney. And now, for some personal favorite snippets from Em's report: <at first I was a bit confused (mum says thats normal)> Lol! It happens to us all, Em! <I want to go again so I can take my mum on it (Note from Mum: I don't think so)> Lol! <My mum asked me to score my trip and I said it was a 9 out of 10 but only because I missed my sister.> Aw, that's sweet, Em. I just love Kieran and his whole family!
Originally Posted By avromark Glad you had a wonderful time, I haven't been to DLP but would love to, I have done both parks in the States and Tokyo though. I hear you guys have the best Space Mountain version.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Way to go UKFAN, Emerson and Leisle. I am so jealous. I have often wanted to take my little brothers and my parents don't want them leaving the country without them! Glad you had a great time. And Kiz, I should have warned you about Notre Dame - I kind of freaked out when I went up into the towers - I don't do heights well - particularly in Medieval buildings. Glad you had great times.
Originally Posted By barryb "So there you go, it seems a shame that this thread will die now. I've really enjoyed it!!!" This thread should be bumped often to remind us what life and Disney is all about! Very special post indeed! BarryB.
Originally Posted By u k fan Thanks for all of your comments guys (I like the idea about bumping this topic!) I know that Em has seen them because when I just came here it said there were no new posts on this thread, but I hadn't read them so it must be him logged in as me on his mum's PC! I may have one more thing to add, but I need to check something out first!!!
