A Magical Christmas
I promised a post all things Disneyland and although it's been over a month, it's here and it's amazing! (I hope) I thought I would basically give you a bit of advice about the best places to eat, best place to stay, and things to do in the park, other than the obvious meet and greets and rides.
We tried food from other places in the park this time rather than staying safe with the places we know! We never found a struggle to get vegetarian food. And we loved it, first of all, the restaurants in Disney Village really surprised us! We visited three new ones this year, but four total. We went to Rain-forest Cafe one night for our tea and this is one of the pricier restaurants to eat at but completely worth it. If you were to only eat small portions, then one meal can easily be split between two people, as the sizes are pretty big, if that doesn't sound tempting, the food is delicious! Very full of flavour and a huge variety.
In the studios park we found the Mickey Waffles, and had to try them, we actually ate more than just one on this trip. You can have a sauce on them or powdered sugar or have them plain. They are amazing. If you see them, get two. We got ours from the food stand opposite Art of Animation.
We also tried out Annette's Diner one morning for breakfast, as our hotel had only continental breakfast (I'll come back to that) and it was super yummy. From what we could tell the only option for breakfast here was a full breakfast, made up of; bacon, sausage, eggs, toast, pancakes, hash browns, tea or coffee and orange juice or apple juice. Being vegetarian we simply asked them to take off the meat and they were happy to do so. This was a rather delicious breakfast, and filled us up right until lunch time, and for what you get the price was amazing! It was €13.99 but I am sure our bill was cheaper as we had no meat.
This picture was taken of me in Annettes right before breakfast. I prefer the photo I had of my boyfriend but, you're stuck with this one of me.
The last place we tried for food was Buffalo Bills Wild West Show, and if you haven't heard of this it's a show, that tells you all about the Wild West and the cowboys and Indians and they have live cattle and they are also joined by Mickey and Friends, (I won't say which friends though, I wouldn't want to spoil it) The whole night was incredible from the moment you get in til you leave. We booked our tickets for the latest showing which was 8:30pm and we were told if we have any dietary needs or allergies to explain this when we hand in our tickets. We arrived an hour early as they have entertainment before the show and it was so fun and had the best atmosphere. Once we arrived we explained we are veggies and they handed us a green ticket, and then we were handed a cowboy hat with a yellow band around the top, this told the performers which state we were representing. Team Texas!
We sat down and were given free drinks, with a choice of water, Coke-a-cola or beer. Each state had there own section of the room, so we were basically in teams. The show began and we were given corn bread for starters and as a first time trying it, I loved it! I won't lie, it tasted like cake, who doesn't love cake?! Then they brought out the biggest plate of food I have seen. The plates we had were full, and I mean full, of veggies, potatoes, sweetcorn, ravioli, tomatoes and a bowl of vegetarian chilli! If you aren't vegetarian, you don't have the green ticket, therefore you get your cornbread and then waiters come out and place, steamed vegetables, potatoes and chicken legs onto your plate. And they keep coming with more until you're full. Dessert was a bowl of apple pie and custard! Which was incredible. The show was also amazing, they have audience interaction and it was just one of the best nights I have had on holiday.
Quickly, the last place I wanted to mention, isn't a new place, but it's our favourite so I had so mention it. The Sports Bar, the food is cheap, delicious, the staff are super friendly and it has an all round great feeling in there. Yes, it's a sports bar, yes there is football on a lot of the time but it's also family friendly and in the day time when the park restaurants are filled to the brim and the food stands have ques longer than Peter Pans Flight does, then this is the perfect place to go! If you like quiet when you are eating and fancy breathing for a second after a chaotic morning in the park then visit the Sports Bar at lunch time.
The picture below is the grounds outside the back of Vienna Dream Castle from our first trip.
I think going into the park and sort of having 'no plan' as your plan for the day works really well. For example, myself and my boyfriend, will head into the park right after breakfast and we'll check out the wait times either on the ride boards in the park or we'll check on the Disneyland App, then we head towards the rides with a shorter wait time that we want to do. If there is a ride in particular that has a super long wait time, for example, if Ratatouille has a 45 minute wait, we'll run over there and grab a fast past and then walk on over to Tower of Terror, ride that, and then head over to Aladdin's Magic Carpets, and then by this time our fastpass would be ready. We always notice that when we are in ques or waiting for a fastpass, that there are shows on just before our fastpass is ready. So going to watch a 15 minute show always works out too.
In the main park we do the same, grab a fastpass for one of the longer wait time rides and then go and que for some of the other ones. Personally I think some of the rides are worth the normal que, and then I also think sometimes there's no point in a fast past. So on our last trip we grabbed a fast past for Tower of Terror but we have also stood in the normal que for this and I didn't mind that. It's one of my favourite rides so maybe that's why I don't mind the ques. Another time, we grabbed a fastpass for Buzz Lightyear, and we didn't get ahead that much as the whole outside area of the Buzz que was empty, so we basically didn't think we needed a fastpass then, but this is why I do think they are great, because a lot of the time Buzz is rather busy, and it's usually from around 4pm till closing that the ques pick up a bit for Buzz Lightyear.
I don't think it's possible to ever go and never be in a que all day longer than 5 minutes, it's a huge park and there are a lot of people there. So ques are expected, all day. You will find that some rides you walk right onto, and then others you que a long time for. Once you have been once, you know which are your favourite rides and which ones you don't mind missing out on.
I know a lot of people visit Disneyland because, erm, it's Disneyland who doesn't want to visit? I know people like to go for the feeling, some like to go for the characters, and others like to go for the rides, and then you have myself and my boyfriend who go for everything. Other than the characters and the rides, there are other things to do. There are plenty of shows on, I believe there are a few more during the festive period, but there are still a lot on! Disney Studios have indoor shows on, so if you were to go when it's rather chilly outside, these are great fun and you get to sit down, and get warm for 20 minutes or so. In the Disneyland Park, there are a lot of outside shows to see, there is a parade, there is a Princess Waltz, and there is also a firework show. I have only been during the festive period, but I do know they have shows on throughout the year. Also, there a plenty of places to eat! I haven't tried nearly half of them, and the shops are stunning. I have to have a little look in the shops regardless if I want something or not, they are just amazing. This is one of the reasons to me, that Disneyland isn't just a theme park, there is literally something for all of the family, whether you prefer to become best friends with Mike Wazowski, fight a galatic battle on Hyper Space Mountain, fill that rumbly in your tummy, or shop like a princess, Disneyland HAS IT ALL FOR YOU.
This photo of myself was taken on Main Street, and if you have never taken a second to have a look around, I highly recommend that too, there are so many hidden treasures! Not only are there cute photo opportunities, there are fun things to try and find and listen out for! If you listen closely on Main Street, in one of the side roads you can hear Minnie Mouse inside one of the houses. It's pretty fun to find these. Also, I didn't get a photo as there wasn't a lot of light and using flash would have ruined the setting, but inside the Arcade walk through (if you don't know what this is, it's basically an easier way of getting through Main Street, without being outside) there is a little room, and there are a bunch of statues stood in there, but it looks like a bunch of people watching a show, or a play and it's rather scary at first but it took a few looks to see what is actually was. Also inside here you can also find a lot of the Disney Coin Machines, I'm not sure how many in total there are, but they are all over the park and are nice things to collect, there was just a Mickey 90 Party design, but they have other characters as well.
I didn't get a chance to have a meet and greet with that many characters on my first visit to Disneyland, I managed to meet, The White Rabbit, Spiderman and Marie, I loved it, and said we had to meet more the next time, which we did. We managed to meet a lot more, we met a lot in the parks, and would que for a little while to meet them, but the most amount of Characters we go to meet was in Plaza Gardens at breakfast.
We got to meet Mickey, Scrooge, Daisy, and Eeyore, Tigger also happened to be there, but forgot to come back to us, haha but that's fine. Even at 26 and 22 years old we absolutely loved the whole breakfast meet and greet, they don't simply just take a picture and leave they interact with you by picking things up or pointing at things, for example, Scrooge was making the money gesture with his hands and trying to get a tip from us, and Mickey and Scrooge both ended up at our table at the same time and one of them tripped on the other one and looked like they were "fighting" to get to us first. I know they do this for children but the fact that they are the same no matter the age of the guest just makes it even better in my opinion.
For the minute that is everything I wanted to go through regarding, food, hotels, and things to do at Disney. I am planning another blog post on Disney, but I didn't want to keep this too long and bore you guys!
I hope you guys have enjoyed this! I am so sorry it took me quite a while to get it up. But, it's here, and I would love to know what you think, leave a comment down below or leave me a comment on my latest Disneyland Instagram post @ohshanslife and tell me there!
If you prefer Disney blogs let me know, or if you like the mix up. Hope you all had a lovely week, or are still having a lovely week and have the best weekend!
Lots of love,
Shan x
All photos are my own. Collage in first picture was made using Pinso.
"What could be more important than a little something to eat?"- Winnie The Pooh
We tried food from other places in the park this time rather than staying safe with the places we know! We never found a struggle to get vegetarian food. And we loved it, first of all, the restaurants in Disney Village really surprised us! We visited three new ones this year, but four total. We went to Rain-forest Cafe one night for our tea and this is one of the pricier restaurants to eat at but completely worth it. If you were to only eat small portions, then one meal can easily be split between two people, as the sizes are pretty big, if that doesn't sound tempting, the food is delicious! Very full of flavour and a huge variety.In the studios park we found the Mickey Waffles, and had to try them, we actually ate more than just one on this trip. You can have a sauce on them or powdered sugar or have them plain. They are amazing. If you see them, get two. We got ours from the food stand opposite Art of Animation.
This picture was taken of me in Annettes right before breakfast. I prefer the photo I had of my boyfriend but, you're stuck with this one of me.
We sat down and were given free drinks, with a choice of water, Coke-a-cola or beer. Each state had there own section of the room, so we were basically in teams. The show began and we were given corn bread for starters and as a first time trying it, I loved it! I won't lie, it tasted like cake, who doesn't love cake?! Then they brought out the biggest plate of food I have seen. The plates we had were full, and I mean full, of veggies, potatoes, sweetcorn, ravioli, tomatoes and a bowl of vegetarian chilli! If you aren't vegetarian, you don't have the green ticket, therefore you get your cornbread and then waiters come out and place, steamed vegetables, potatoes and chicken legs onto your plate. And they keep coming with more until you're full. Dessert was a bowl of apple pie and custard! Which was incredible. The show was also amazing, they have audience interaction and it was just one of the best nights I have had on holiday.
Quickly, the last place I wanted to mention, isn't a new place, but it's our favourite so I had so mention it. The Sports Bar, the food is cheap, delicious, the staff are super friendly and it has an all round great feeling in there. Yes, it's a sports bar, yes there is football on a lot of the time but it's also family friendly and in the day time when the park restaurants are filled to the brim and the food stands have ques longer than Peter Pans Flight does, then this is the perfect place to go! If you like quiet when you are eating and fancy breathing for a second after a chaotic morning in the park then visit the Sports Bar at lunch time.
"A most gratifying day, for the first time in 16 years, I shall sleep well" - Maleficent
I've only ever stayed in two hotels as I've only been to Disneyland Paris twice, but I have things I have loved in both. First of all, I stayed in the Vienna Dream Castle Hotel which was amazing, I couldn't fault that at all. The breakfast had a mix of hot and cold foods, from potatoes, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, and then fresh bread, baguettes, pastries, with a variety of jams, and spreads, and last of all, fruits and yogurts, tea, coffee, and fresh fruit juices. The rooms were very clean and tidy and you had an option of room service and if you chose not to have the room cleaned you would get a little bag of shower/bath goodies to have and they were all L'occitane, which is a bonus.The picture below is the grounds outside the back of Vienna Dream Castle from our first trip.
The second hotel I stayed at was the B and B Hotel and even though it doesn't have some of the same things as Vienna Dream Castle, it was still a good hotel. Their rooms were smaller, but still just as clean, the breakfast was only continental but we filled ourselves up on baguettes, pastries, fruit and yogurt, and they had a lovely bar, and they served food in the restaurant if you decided not to eat in the park, or in the Disney Village. If you are interested I can go into a little more detail, about the hotels, but I do think this would be better after I have stayed in another of the Disney Partner Hotels such as Kyriad, Vienna Magic Circus or Explorers Hotel. Maybe even a comparison of the Disney Partner Hotels and one of the Disney hotels, such as Sequoia Lodge, Hotel Cheyenne, Newport Bay Club, Hotel New York, Santa Fey, Davy Crockett Ranch or the Disneyland Hotel would be interesting, let me know!
"It is my wish to delight all members of the family, young and old, parent and child"- Walt Disney
I think going into the park and sort of having 'no plan' as your plan for the day works really well. For example, myself and my boyfriend, will head into the park right after breakfast and we'll check out the wait times either on the ride boards in the park or we'll check on the Disneyland App, then we head towards the rides with a shorter wait time that we want to do. If there is a ride in particular that has a super long wait time, for example, if Ratatouille has a 45 minute wait, we'll run over there and grab a fast past and then walk on over to Tower of Terror, ride that, and then head over to Aladdin's Magic Carpets, and then by this time our fastpass would be ready. We always notice that when we are in ques or waiting for a fastpass, that there are shows on just before our fastpass is ready. So going to watch a 15 minute show always works out too.
In the main park we do the same, grab a fastpass for one of the longer wait time rides and then go and que for some of the other ones. Personally I think some of the rides are worth the normal que, and then I also think sometimes there's no point in a fast past. So on our last trip we grabbed a fast past for Tower of Terror but we have also stood in the normal que for this and I didn't mind that. It's one of my favourite rides so maybe that's why I don't mind the ques. Another time, we grabbed a fastpass for Buzz Lightyear, and we didn't get ahead that much as the whole outside area of the Buzz que was empty, so we basically didn't think we needed a fastpass then, but this is why I do think they are great, because a lot of the time Buzz is rather busy, and it's usually from around 4pm till closing that the ques pick up a bit for Buzz Lightyear.I don't think it's possible to ever go and never be in a que all day longer than 5 minutes, it's a huge park and there are a lot of people there. So ques are expected, all day. You will find that some rides you walk right onto, and then others you que a long time for. Once you have been once, you know which are your favourite rides and which ones you don't mind missing out on.
I know a lot of people visit Disneyland because, erm, it's Disneyland who doesn't want to visit? I know people like to go for the feeling, some like to go for the characters, and others like to go for the rides, and then you have myself and my boyfriend who go for everything. Other than the characters and the rides, there are other things to do. There are plenty of shows on, I believe there are a few more during the festive period, but there are still a lot on! Disney Studios have indoor shows on, so if you were to go when it's rather chilly outside, these are great fun and you get to sit down, and get warm for 20 minutes or so. In the Disneyland Park, there are a lot of outside shows to see, there is a parade, there is a Princess Waltz, and there is also a firework show. I have only been during the festive period, but I do know they have shows on throughout the year. Also, there a plenty of places to eat! I haven't tried nearly half of them, and the shops are stunning. I have to have a little look in the shops regardless if I want something or not, they are just amazing. This is one of the reasons to me, that Disneyland isn't just a theme park, there is literally something for all of the family, whether you prefer to become best friends with Mike Wazowski, fight a galatic battle on Hyper Space Mountain, fill that rumbly in your tummy, or shop like a princess, Disneyland HAS IT ALL FOR YOU.
This photo of myself was taken on Main Street, and if you have never taken a second to have a look around, I highly recommend that too, there are so many hidden treasures! Not only are there cute photo opportunities, there are fun things to try and find and listen out for! If you listen closely on Main Street, in one of the side roads you can hear Minnie Mouse inside one of the houses. It's pretty fun to find these. Also, I didn't get a photo as there wasn't a lot of light and using flash would have ruined the setting, but inside the Arcade walk through (if you don't know what this is, it's basically an easier way of getting through Main Street, without being outside) there is a little room, and there are a bunch of statues stood in there, but it looks like a bunch of people watching a show, or a play and it's rather scary at first but it took a few looks to see what is actually was. Also inside here you can also find a lot of the Disney Coin Machines, I'm not sure how many in total there are, but they are all over the park and are nice things to collect, there was just a Mickey 90 Party design, but they have other characters as well."A little consideration, a little thought for others, makes all the difference"- Eeyore
I didn't get a chance to have a meet and greet with that many characters on my first visit to Disneyland, I managed to meet, The White Rabbit, Spiderman and Marie, I loved it, and said we had to meet more the next time, which we did. We managed to meet a lot more, we met a lot in the parks, and would que for a little while to meet them, but the most amount of Characters we go to meet was in Plaza Gardens at breakfast.
We got to meet Mickey, Scrooge, Daisy, and Eeyore, Tigger also happened to be there, but forgot to come back to us, haha but that's fine. Even at 26 and 22 years old we absolutely loved the whole breakfast meet and greet, they don't simply just take a picture and leave they interact with you by picking things up or pointing at things, for example, Scrooge was making the money gesture with his hands and trying to get a tip from us, and Mickey and Scrooge both ended up at our table at the same time and one of them tripped on the other one and looked like they were "fighting" to get to us first. I know they do this for children but the fact that they are the same no matter the age of the guest just makes it even better in my opinion.
For the minute that is everything I wanted to go through regarding, food, hotels, and things to do at Disney. I am planning another blog post on Disney, but I didn't want to keep this too long and bore you guys!
If you prefer Disney blogs let me know, or if you like the mix up. Hope you all had a lovely week, or are still having a lovely week and have the best weekend!
Lots of love,
Shan x
All photos are my own. Collage in first picture was made using Pinso.
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