Counting Down the Days...

We have all been there. There are countless threads on every Disney fan site dedicated to them. People from all over the world participate. Several websites are dedicated to creating graphical interfaces so you can share them with others.  Some people have several of them going on simultaneously. There are even apps for your phone for them.They are Disney countdowns, and we have a couple going on right now.

59 Days until our next trip to Disneyland Paris. 
76 Days until we are back in Disney World. 

These are not just your typical Disney countdowns however. The first one also co-insides with the date we leave the country of Romania, and the second one marks the day when we begin a two month stay in Florida. Just minutes from Disney World!

Our trip to Disneyland Paris is a kind of farewell (for now) to the resort. It will be our third trip to DLP this year, and there have been some ups and downs, but we have enjoyed our trips. Plus, we need to make sure we get plenty of good use of our Dream annual passes!

Just a couple weeks later we will have the awesome chance to get to live next door to the mouse! We have rented a vacation home in nearby Reunion, and will be reaping the benefits of living so close to the most magical place on earth! We'll be trying new restaurants, experiencing new adventures, and just having a lot of fun as a family! Be assured that I will be sharing as many of these new adventures with you as I can, but there might be too many!

So do you have a countdown to your next Disney adventure? Share it in the comments section if you do!   

 

Staying Fit at Disney

I want to start this post with a little confession... While I make my living teaching people to play tennis, and have spent the better part of my life competing as a player, I am in no way a fitness nut. I am not the person who feels bad at the end of a day when I didn't "hit the gym." And I am not that guy that you see running from Beach Club across the Boardwalk towards the International Gateway before breakfast. That person would be my wife, and she will frequently get up early to get in a quick run before we hit the parks. She loves it, and counts these runs as a highlight of her vacation. She also loves running along Deck 4 of the Magic and Wonder while the rest of the family sleeps off the feast of the night before! I am trying to embrace running, but doubt that it will ever become a part of my vacation routine.

When we go to Disney (especially the cruises) I tend to indulge. Regular Coke instead of Zero, steak instead of chicken, a burger instead of a turkey sandwich, a turkey leg instead of, well that one pretty much speaks for itself! I also tend to eat a lot more sweet things. My favorites are Dole Whips, Butterfinger Muffins, and Carrot Cake cookies. The funny thing is, at least with our visits to the parks, I don't gain weight. In fact I tend to drop a couple pounds. 

I wondered why this was, and I initially came up with a couple of ideas... The first was that even though I was indulging, in reality I wasn't eating as much. When we are really hitting the parks we rarely eat three full meals a day. We will usually eat one large meal a day, and kind of have a couple mini meals along the way. For example, if we do a character breakfast, we try and schedule it as late as we can so we can essentially knock out breakfast and lunch in one meal. Since most of the character breakfasts are buffets, everyone getting enough food to hold them over until dinner is no problem! 

The second thought I had was that Disney really is taking their healthy food initiative seriously, and they are serving zero calorie food and beverages! Wouldn't that be some real Disney magic?! Since this probably wasn't the case, I came to the third thought... 

Is it possible that we do so much walking while we are vacationing in the parks that I am actually able to burn off the extra calories I am consuming? So I decided to do a little Disney experiment, or a "Dis-speriment" if you will. 

Thanks to Apple's Generation 1 iPod Nano recall program, we had two brand new generation 8 iPod Nanos, with built in pedometers and Nike+ fitness apps. For a couple weeks I used the iPod to measure my average number of steps in a day. On an average day I would take between 6-7,000 steps (about 3 miles). On days when I would teach a lesson or two the total would go up to 9-10,000 (roughly 5 miles). These might be a little higher than some people, I tend not to take elevators if I can avoid them, and with two kids under 5, I am rarely immobile for very long! The next part of our "Dis-speriment" would be to see how many steps we take a day on a Disney park vacation. 

The testing ground would be a five night vacation to Disneyland Paris. During this trip we would be spending 4 full days in the parks, and one day visiting that big tower thing that they have downtown. For the first time ever, on any Disney trip, we would be staying off property, at the Dream Castle Hotel, just outside the resort proper. Since this was a Dis-speriment, I would only measure our steps on park days. This would be interesting. Behold the results... 

Total steps during four days of touring the parks: 97,455

Total distance covered: 47.24 miles 

Honestly, I was pretty shocked by the numbers! I didn't think that we would do that much walking at Disneyland Paris, where everything is so compacted together, but I think it would be about the same at Disney World where everything is more spread out. Again, we tend to walk more than the average park guest. At Disney World we almost never take the trams from the parking lots. Usually this is because we don't like having to stop and fold up the stroller, but also we enjoy walking. During this trip to Disneyland Paris, we frequently walked to the parks from the Dream Castle Hotel, and almost always walked back. It was about a 25 minute walk, which we found much preferable to waiting in line for the shuttle back. Unfortunately there are only a few resorts at Disney World where you can walk to the parks, that might lower our step count there, but I'm sure we would make it up somewhere. We'll find out for sure when we go back late this year. 

So there you have it. My secret for staying fit on a vacation at Disney... Eat what you want, and walk you tail off! 

Disneyland Paris Annual Passes: 365 Days of Magic... Almost!

With only one day before we leave for our second trip to Disneyland Paris, I wanted to talk about something that we purchased on our first trip, that we will be using on all future trips - or for at least until February 21, 2013 - our Dream Annual Passes! If you are looking to purchase an annual pass for Disneyland Paris there are a lot of options, but I'm not going to go into all of those options, I'll leave that to DLRP Magic's webpage on AP's. They do a great job of breaking down all of your options, including blackout dates, benefits of each category, and of course pricing.

When we were researching which AP to purchase, we eventually decided on the Dream Pass, which is the top level of annual pass. We chose the Dream for two main reasons; no blackout days, and a 35% discount on Disney resort rooms. Another nice benefit of the Dream Pass was that since we were buying 5 of them we got a 20% discount on the passes! Boy I wish that Disney World would institute this!

So on our first day at the resort, we walk up to the ticket booths at the Disneyland Paris Park and take the first step towards Dream Pass ownership, purchasing them. now at Disney World when you buy an annual pass that is allyou do.... You go to the booth, pay your money, and get your pass. You can also pre-purchase your AP, get a voucher and redeem it at WDW. At Disneyland Paris it's not quite that easy! After paying for your passes at the park (there is no way to pre-purchase), you are given a pass to enter the park for that day, and while in the park you are required to go to the "Bureau Passport Annuel." This is where Dream Pass ownership becomes a little less magical!

After entering the park we walked to the Bureau Passport Annuel, to take the next step. Upon arriving at the Bureau, we were greeted by a queue that stretched well outside the door of the office. We decided to go have some fun and let the

line die down a bit. Each time we walked past the Bureau we checked to see if it diminished, and it never did. Finally we reached the point that we could wait no more. The park would be closing soon, and we would not be able to enter the park tomorrow if we didn't finish the process.

This was the longest queue of our day, and we waited 45 minutes for Dumbo, and rode Buzz Lightyear without FastPass! This was also particularly difficult with a 3 and 5 year old, who didn't get the pay off of an actual ride at the end of the line! Finally, we get to the end of the line, and finish the process of Dream Pass ownership. what took so long you ask? Well they have to get some extra information from you - like your address - and take your picture.

Now I like that they put your picture on your pass, but why couldn't all of this be done during the first step of the process? Several years ago we bought "annual passes" at Colonial Williamsburg, and they were able to get all of the same information, and take your picture in a matter of minutes! Not the best introduction to 365 days of Paris Disney Magic! I'll trade the picture on the pass for the biometric ID system that WDW uses for the sake of efficiency! I just think that because there are so many options for annual passes at Disneyland Paris, that just about everyone purchases one, and because of that the lines at the Bureau gets insane! I really think that they need to streamline this process!

The benefit of the Disneyland Paris passes are that you get an actual plastic card, with a clear protective cover to store it in! for those of you familiar with the passes at Walt Disney World you understand why I say this. At WDW your annual pass looks no different than any other day pass, just a paper pass. I was always a little miffed that despite spending close to $500 for an annual pass I couldn't even get a plastic card, like my Key To The World Card. Oh well, I only had to replace it once, and that was my fault...

So while I did not enjoy the process of getting our Dream Passes, I have very much enjoyed using them. And when I walk by the Bureau Passport Annuel, my heart will go out to the poor souls using up part of their magical day, but not for long, because there is a candied apple at a 10% discount calling out my name!

Disney Dreams! - Initial Thoughts

I just finished watching the delayed premier of the new Disney Dreams! castle show from Disneyland Paris, and my first reaction is WOW! The show combines different aspects from several different Disney shows, and then takes them to the next level! You can't call it just a fireworks show, or a projection, or dancing fountains, or lasers... It is all of these things, put together to form an epic event that plays out in front of, and on the already beautiful Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland Paris. I can't wait to see this in person!

The effects are amazing! There are projected scenes on water-spray screen like Fantasmic!, water shooting hundreds of feet in the air like World of Color, beautiful projections that transform the castle like The Magic the Memories and You, and low level fireworks like Illuminations and Wishes. All of the scenes are tied together with Peter Pan, but during the show we visit some new and old classic films such as: Jungle Book, Mary Poppins, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Beauty and the Beast, Ratatouille, Rapunzel, and others. The characters projected on the castle are huge! Much larger than any of the projection shows we have seen up until now. The use of projections has become my favorite effect in any of these nighttime spectaculars, and this is no exception. It is amazing how they can transform the castle, and change the way we see it!

Only Disney can do something like this. I am so glad that I am going to be able to see this in person soon. I am sure that like other shows, seeing it on video can not compare!

I'm going to make a prediction here, right now. Disney Dreams! (maybe not exactly in this form) will be the replacement for Wishes in Walt Disney World within a couple of years. Probably when the Fantasyland renovation is completed. If it does replace Wishes, it will be a worthy replacement. Disney will want this show in their flagship park, where the most people will see it.

I'm not sure how long this link will be good, but for now you can watch it here...

DisneyLand Paris : Le grand show du 20ème anniversaire Vidéo disneyland-20ans sélectionnée dans Evènement

Amazing!

Epic!

Thats all for now. Good Night!

Disneyland Paris 20th Anniversary: Here We Come!

I can't imagine that it will come as a surprise to any readers of this blog, but we have booked our next Disneyland Paris vacation! Announcing that we bought annual passes was probably not the best way to build suspense for future posts I guess.... But surprised or not come April 18 we will be on our way to take part in the 20th Anniversary celebrations at Disneyland Paris!

We learned a lot from our first trip last month, and we have already been putting our new DLP knowledge to work with a few changes this time around.

You might remember my review of the Sequoia Lodge from a couple weeks ago, where I wasn't that impressed with the resort. Despite our disappointment in the resort, we were willing to give another Disneyland resort a try, and planned on booking at the Newport Bay club. Well, that didn't happen....

This is another example of how different the Disneyland Paris resort from the Walt Disney World resort. When we were annual pass holders at Disney World we frequently were able to get great discounts (even at Christmas) on room only reservations. This was also true of our first time booking a room only reservation for Disneyland Paris, but not this time! The room only rate (no AP discounts available) was actually more expensive than the complete package, including tickets! This seemed really backwards to me, but I had heard that room only reservations were a huge hassle at Disneyland Paris. Since all of us are Dream annual pass holders, there was no reason to pay for a package that included tickets, so we did something that we would never even fathom at Disney World.... We booked a room off property!

Like Disneyland in California, Disneyland Paris has a group of hotels that are preferred off site resorts (you can even book them from the official DLP website), and we will be staying at one of them, The Dream Castle Hotel. We passed by this hotel on the way to our resort on the last trip, and we all thought it looked really cool! From the pictures it looks like the level of theming (not Disney) that we have grown accustomed to from our stays at Disney World. Rest assured that you will get a full review of the resort when we get back, and for now we all have high hopes for it!

Also since this will be a longer trip we will be venturing into the "City of Lights" to take the kids to see the Eiffel Tower, and other important cultural thing-a-majiggers!

All in all it should be a great spring getaway! More to come soon!

Stacey vs. Sophie: Disney Resort TV Showdown!

One of the things that we really enjoy whenever we return to Walt Disney World is watching Stacey and the Must Do Disney show. For those who are unfamiliar with it, Must Do Disney runs on a continuous loop all day and all night on Walt Disney World Resort TV. The show has had many editions, and hosts, but the current version runs for 15 minute, and uses a lot of green screen intros. Our family preferred the version before the current one, the Top 7 Must Sees, that featured a lot more park footage and ran around 30 minutes. The show takes you to all four parks, plus the two water parks, Downtown Disney and Disney Quest. About the only things missing are the two miniature golf courses! Must Do Disney uses a lot of the same footage from Top 7, but is missing a lot of our favorite Stacey-isms like "yummy, yummy, yummy" when describing the food options in Epcot's World Showcase. Regardless of which edition it is, we always make sure that we watch Stacey at least one time, start to finish, each time we visit. For those who haven't seen the latest edition of Must Do Disney, here it is!

As we were on our way to Disneyland Paris we wondered if they would have their own Stacey, and as it turns out they do, Sophie! Sophie is British and her show, 10 Things to

Know Before You Go, more closely resembles the longer Top 7 Must Sees from Disney World. Even the animated intro is very similar. From what I have read, this version is a few years old, so that could be why. Sophie takes you around the entire resort as well, but since there are only two parks, she has to throw in some resort stuff to fill out the 10 things. In Paris this show actually does not run continuously, in between they throw in a couple of Disney related commercials before Sophie comes back on. So in a 24 hour time frame, you get less of Sophie than you do Stacey. Is that a good thing, or a bad thing? I'll let you decide that! Here is Sophie's 10 Things to Know Before You Go, courtesy of our friends at Dedicated to DLP, who by the way have a really great Disneyland Paris Podcast!

So there is the info, but this is a shhowdown! Who should hold the crown as the ultimate Disney Resort TV Spokesperson? Let's find out...

Round 1: Energy Level

Both Stacey and Sophie bring it in this category. I'm betting there is no decaf lattes being handed out at their shoots. Straight double shots of espresso baby! Both of them are running around, riding attractions, sharing (and shouting) their excitement for their respective resorts for all to enjoy. In previous editions of her show, Stacey had energy and excitement to spare, but in the new edition they have really toned her down. There are still clips of her prancing and high fiving characters, but it is broken up with green screen shots of her introducing the Must Dos in an almost local news format. Sophie has not been toned down yet, and she is still all over the place at DLP. If this were three years ago, I would give the edge to Stacey, but for today. Sophie takes Round 1.

Round 2: Fun Level

Whether you are talking Walt Disney World, or Disneyland Paris, you are there to have fun! The resort's spokesperson should really sell how much fun you can have at the resort. Stacey looks like she is having a blast on every attraction from Teamboat Springs ("you could throw your whole family in that puppy!"), to the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail, where she sees a gorilla that reminds her of her Uncle Phil. Sophie brings the energy, but I just don't get the feeling that she is having as much fun. In Sophie's defense, Walt Disney World has a lot more fun things to do compared to Disneyland Paris, but the result here is pretty obvious. Round 2 goes to Stacy!

Round 3: Re-Watchability

Yeah I'm pretty sure I just made that word up, but lets be honest. There isn't a lot else on Disney Resort TV worth watching except for Sophie and Stacey (although I have read reports of a big upgrade coming to the channels at Disney World). Which of these women would you rather watch over and over (and over) through out your vacation. For us, we got a little tired of of Sophie early on, and didn't venture back to that channel as much as our stay went on. With Stacey, we frequently will watch her every day, and while we prefer her earlier shows, we don't ever really tire of her. In fact we quote her very often when talking about Disney thing we enjoy. Round 3, Stacey.

Round 4: Information Delivery

For many of us watching Stacey and Sophie is for entertainment at this point. We might see them as just another perk of staying on Disney Property, or as one of those things that make us feel at home. For families visiting for the first time these shows can be a great way to introduce you to your vacation. This was true for us years ago at Disney World, and weeks ago at Disneyland Paris. While there is no shortage of information online about Disney World and Disneyland Paris, sometimes you just have to have it shown to you (repeatedly). In my opinion both Stacey and Sophie accomplish the goal here. They do a great job of presenting their respective resort to the vacationer, in their own style. Round 4 is a push.

So who is the ultimate Disney Resort TV spokesperson? In my opinion the winner is...

STACEY!!

Honestly, this wasn't really that close. My family loves Stacey. It was nice to see that Disneyland Paris had a similar show, but it can't compare to the Disney Must Dos. Stacey does a great job getting everyone excited about the adventure they are about to embark on at Walt Disney World, and even if Disney edited her down, and cut the time of the show in half, we still love watching it, and always will! So thanks Stacey for helping make so many of our trips to Disney World more magical!

If you get the chance stop by Stacey's website and see what Stacey does outside of Disney Resort TV land!

Resort Review: Sequoia Lodge

It's hard to believe that it is almost two weeks since we left for our trip... But, here is the first post reviewing Disneyland Paris! This is our review of the Sequoia Lodge. This is also what I posted on Trip Advisor. As you will read, we weren't too impressed with the resort. I'm still trying to recover the photos off of a corrupted memory card, so sorry for the lack of pictures...

Where's the Magic?

We chose this hotel because we really like Wilderness lodge in Walt Disney World and heard this was themed like it - maybe 20 years ago! Our room, which overlooked the water (beautiful) was adequate - but not what I have come to expect from Disney. The room was VERY worn, the blankets actually had holes in them, there was more than a little mold in the bathroom, and the wallpaper was pealing. We were in room 4275 - the view was great, so we

just stuck our heads out the window a lot to avoid the room.

The Staff: no magic here either. Housekeeping was terrible, we never got clean glasses, they never vacuumed (evident in the crumbs left on the floor by my 3 year old) and the tissue was never refilled after we ran out the 1st night. Regarding the front desk staff, I rang to request a late check out (we had a late flight), I was told that it was "not possible." I called the day before check-out so I knew this couldn't be right. So I walked to the front desk and inquired again - request granted. Why couldn't my phone call have been sufficient?

The hotel itself looked like a place that with a little love could be great - but there was no love. The lobby on our floor consisted of one, lone sad table discarded in the corner, giving the space an abandoned feel. The front desk/reception area is nicely themed, and had areas that took me back to Wilderness Lodge and the view of the hotel from the water is beautiful, but never made me feel as though I had stepped into the mountains of North West America. If you've been to Wilderness Lodge, you know that it is possible, it is just that Sequoia Lodge doesn't accomplish that.

The breakfast, again, was just adequate - the croissants were amazing, but this is France, surely our room - hard to put a price on that - but Sequoia Lodge put a high price on it. The proximity the the parks and the village was great. With two little ones, it was easy to return to the room for an afternoon nap or get a quick bite to eat in Disney Village. Also, the character interaction at the hotel was great - nothing like turning around to see Mickey Mouse giving a hug to your they can get that right, oui? I'm glad to hear that breakfast won't be included in the rate anymore as we wouldn't have eaten there if given the choice.What was magical? The view from

daughter.

So, why rate the hotel poor - because I wouldn't return. My husband and I checked out the Newport Bay hotel, and believe we will book that hotel when we return.

We're back!

Well we are back from our first trip to Disneyland Paris! We had a great time, and can't wait to go back! There were some truly magical moments, some frustrating ones, and I'll be sharing a lot of both with all of you.

I took hundreds of photos, and lots of video, but a memory card error has stopped me from sharing them. Hopefully, I'll be able to recover them soon, but rest assured, I will still have plenty of stories, tips and comparisons for everyone.

So in the very near future you'll be seeing this content right here at 3 Dis Kids, but if you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment, and I'll be happy to try and answer them the best I can. even though this was only our first trip to Disneyland Paris, we learned a lot, and I can't wait to share it with everyone!

Just One More Thing...

Seven hours from now (11:50pm Romania time), I'll be on a plane, on my way...

See you in a few days!

3DK

Exploring New Disney Frontiers

Sorry for the delay in a new post, but as some of you may know, we have recently made a little bit of a move... About a month and a half ago my wife and I packed up our 3 Dis Kids, all of our stuff, and moved to Bucharest, Romania! We will be here for the next two years while my wife works at the American Embassy.

With any move there are new things to learn and explore... Things like driving in a major foreign city, ordering unknown food in a foreign language, and feeling like your last minute on earth might be in this taxi! These are all fine and good, but this is a Disney blog! The real question is, how will this move affect my Disney vacation habit? Well there is good news, Disney is a world wide company, and there are opportunities to vacation with them all over Gad's Green Earth!

Since I am currently located in Europe, and this is MY blog, I'm going to write about what our family is doing to quench that constant thirst for "The Happiest Place on Earth." At this point in time we have several different Disney vacations in the works. Some are more concrete than others, but they have all been discussed, and are at different planning stages.

1) 7-Night Mediterranean Cruise aboard the Disney Magic: Summer 2010

Ever since we started sailing on Disney Cruise ships this has been my dream itinerary. We were very close to booking one last summer, but the dates just didn't work out. I'm not letting it slip through my fingers this year. My parents coming to Europe for the first time is the perfect excuse, and since inner Europe airfare is so cheap, a big part of the expense is lightened for us!

2) Disneyland Paris: Dates TBD

Last year we were Annual Pass holders at Walt Disney World for the first time. I fully plan on doing the same at Disneyland Paris sometime this year. DLP AP's are a great deal in comparison to WDW AP's, plus there are some really great benefits that go with them. Hotel discounts year round, extra magic hours, dining discounts, and discount tickets for guests are just some of the advantages! As I said before inner Europe airfare is pretty cheap, so we should be able to sneak away to the "City of Lights" for a few long weekends in the next 24 months. Heck, I might even let the kids see the Eiffel Tower!

3) Hong Kong Disneyland: ???

One of the best parts about being in the US Foreign Service is that you get to know and make friends with other people in the Foreign Service. In other words, you have friends all over the World! We are planning on visiting one of these friends in Hong Kong at some point in the next 2 years, and you can bet that we will have at least one day at Disney's most recently opened theme park!

So that's what we have planned Disney wise in the near (and not as near) future. Do any of you have plans to visit a Disney Park outside of the United States or your home country? If you could visit any Disney Theme Park in the world, which one would it be?