Disneyland Paris June/July 2017 Trip Report - Thursday 29th June, My 30th Birthday

"That's the funny thing about birthdays. They're kind of an annual thing." Rapunzel, Tangled.

 

My alarm went off at 6am, wakening me up from my sleep, not that I got much sleep but I managed to get some. Despite getting little sleep, I was excited about the day ahead and spending my 30^th birthday in Disneyland Paris. I showered and dressed at record speed, wearing my Princess name top, coral skater skirt and gold sparkly converse. I then did my hair and make-up before we had to go down for breakfast at 7am. Breakfast was in Cape Cod that morning with a large selection of yummy food on the menu for us. I had some mini pancakes, scrambled egg and bacon, washed down with apple juice. The food was so yummy and we had a lovely view of Lake Disney. After breakfast, Alison and I returned to our room so I could do Alison’s hair for her. I also filmed two of my videos as well. 

Moi on our balcony
 

We left our hotel just after 8am to go into the Disneyland Park for extra magic hours. Alison and I walked from our hotel into Disney Village then to the park. As we approached Fantasia Gardens, I got all emotional and sort of cried (on camera as well as I was filming at that time).

After we took a few photos, it was time to go into the park and I could have cried with happiness. All the 25^th anniversary decorations looked amazing, if not very blue. The park was quite busy already. Alison wanted to go into a shop but I was desperate to meet Minnie Mouse. The queue for Minnie was already quite long but we joined it anyway. The sun was out which I was happy about. We must have waited about an hour to meet Minnie Mouse and it started to get quite warm too. When it came to my turn I handed my Photopass card to the photographer and went to meet Minnie. She was so cute and gave me hugs. She loved my pink, sparkly ears and got excited over my birthday badge. I even did some twirling with her before getting a selfie with her. She also loved my Minnie phone case too.
Me with Minnie Mouse

Afterwards we went down Liberty Arcade and into a few shops so Alison could get a drink. We also decided on what we wanted to do next. I had a bit of a panic that our photopass photos hadn’t gone online yet but when I asked in one of the shops, the cast member told me that they usually take an hour. After visiting a few shops and making a few purchases, we sat near the bandstand and people watched. The weather was lovely so I didn’t mind. Our plan was to wait there until 11am and then join the queue for Daisy Duck as she is one of Alison’s favourites. We were treated to some music by the Liberty brass band and Chip n Dale dancing. 

  I couldn’t believe how busy the park was compared to when we were there in November 2015. Then again it was the summer holidays for parts of the world. When the queue for Goofy and Pluto’s joint meet and greet closed, we joined the queue to meet Daisy. There was only about 10 or more people in front of us which was good. This meant we didn’t have long to wait to meet her. She was so cute. I hadn’t met her before so it was nice to meet her. 

Then it was time to walk down Main Street to see the Castle up close and to visit Fantasyland. We had to walk through the beautiful castle to get into the very busy Fantasyland. We met up with Roland and Carol who were sitting at Auberge. We still had some time to wait before our meal at 1pm so I had a wonder around the little shops and watched the Happy Anniversary Disneyland Paris show from the side of the castle. While I was stood watching the show, Minnie Mouse, Suzy and Perla appeared from Auberge de Cendrellion. I didn’t see any princesses so I didn’t know who would be at my birthday dinner. The weather was so nice and sunny which made me very happy. While we waited to enter Auberge for our meal, we took some photos.

Being a princess outside Auberge De Cendrellion

 

I was excited about the meal but nervous too. Our reservation was for 1pm. We were allowed inside but had to wait to be seated. The restaurant was so beautiful inside and not at all busy. As we were about to go to our seats, I was asked whether or not I wanted chocolate or strawberry. Obviously, I wanted chocolate. We were seated right next to the fireplace which is where the princesses used to do their dance. A waitress came to take our orders. We were given the Prince’s cocktail which was non-alcoholic and tasted really nice. For starters I ordered the pumpkin and mushroom soup. The first characters we saw were Suzy and Ariel. Ariel was the first of four princesses. I was crossing everything that Rapunzel would be there. Perla also made an appearance. Both of Cinderella’s mice were delightful. I got them to sign my autograph book and then I got my photo taken with them. I did forget to get selfies with them though. Ariel was the first princess to come over to our table and she was so beautiful. Ariel said that she liked my hand writing when she was signing my autograph book. Ariel was so lovely. I got my photo taken with her and a selfie. 

Meeting Perla, Suzy and Cinderella

Aurora was next over to our table. I now knew of three of the princesses we were having and I was slowly loosing hope about getting Rapunzel. Then, in the distance I spotted a mop of blonde hair with flowers in it and I freaked out so much. I even ended up crying with happiness over spotting my favourite princess. Aurora came to our table next and she was beautiful and so lovely. She was followed by Cinderella. I knew we’d get Cinderella as we were in her restaurant and she’s always in it. She too was beautiful and lovely. I got loads of lovely compliments about my ears and because it was my birthday. I was seriously in my element. Rapunzel was the last princess to come to our table, saving the best until the last. She was utterly wonderful. 

Meeting Ariel, Aurora and Rapunzel

In the middle of meeting these amazing ladies, we got our food. The pumpkin and mushroom soup was so tasty with bread rolls dipped into it. For main course, I had the chicken supreme which was also tasty. I did manage to enjoy my food this time compared to when we visited Café Mickey in 2015. The atmosphere in Auberge was so lovely and relaxed. We weren’t rushed at all. The four princesses were amazing and continued to come over to us but without pestering us too much. Alison and I got to twirl with Rapunzel which Roland filmed for me. We had to do it twice and I was a little dizzy. Rapunzel accidently hit me with her hair but I didn’t mind at all. We also got a photo with her on Alison’s insta camera which totally amazed Rapunzel. She called it a magic camera and stayed with us to see the photo coming out. She spied her name on my princess top too which she loved along with my Rapunzel lanyard, or necklace as she called it. When Ariel came over I got her to do a little video message for Zoe. Our dessert came at some point too and I’m not too sure what mine was but it looked so cool. It looked like a red velvet cushion with a white chocolate slipper sitting on it. Carol had got the 25^th anniversary dessert which was blue. It was then time for my cake to come with the cast members singing happy birthday to me. Part of me was gutted that none of the princesses came with it but I was still very happy. The dessert was filled with very rich chocolate but we were all too full up to eat it sadly. If I’m being completely honest, I preferred Alison’s birthday cake she had back in 2015. Sadly, we couldn’t take it with us or it would have melted in the heat. I did wonder if we could have gotten it sent back to our hotel somehow.

My birthday cake

I think we left Auberge around 2:30pm. I could have spent so much longer in there but there was a whole park of fun left for us to explore. Our next stop was It’s A Small World which we didn’t get the chance to do on our 2015 visit due to it being closed for refurbishment. We only had to wait about 15 minutes then off we went. I ended up filming the whole ride. The song drives me mad but it was quite cute. Next we headed to Discoveryland to go onto Buzz Lightyear’s Laser Blast. I paired up with Alison while Carol and Roland went on together. I really did suck at the game so I didn’t do too well. My hand hurt from holding the laser gun as well. I can’t remember how many points I got.
I paired up with Alison while Carol and Roland went on together. I really did suck at the game so I didn’t do too well. My hand hurt from holding the laser gun as well. I can’t remember how many points I got.

We then went to get a space for Disney Stars on Parade which started at 5:30pm. There was already a large crowd forming so it was hard to find a decent space. We stopped near the entrance to Frontierland but in the hub area in front of the castle. I was quite content on sitting, chilling while we waited. I was in Disneyland so I wasn’t complaining at all. We moved closer to the footpath to get a better spot but it was very busy so I couldn’t really see. It then started to rain but thankfully it wasn’t very heavy. I put my rain coat on and put my umbrella up.
    The parade then started. I was a bit vary of the new parade because I loved Magic on Parade so much. The parade kicked off with a bunch of characters dancing on foot which included Mary Poppins, Alice, Mad Hatter, Aladdin, Genie, Tigger and Pinocchio. A float featuring the main characters; Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Chip, Dale, Goofy and Pluto followed. Their float was really cool, as were their costumes. The music was quite good too. The next float was the Toy Story one which had Buzz Lightyear sitting in a little spaceship on top of the Pixar ball. Woody was sitting on top of Slinky dog. I think Jessie was walking on foot along with the float and toy solider dancers but I can’t remember. In front of the Toy Story float has characters from the Jungle Book and The Lion King as their float was broken down. The next float was the Peter Pan one. Captain Hook was sitting on top of what looked like Skull Rock with Peter on a swinging ship. It looked quite scary. The floats were all huge which two sections to each of them. The Finding Nemo float followed. I don’t think Disneyland Paris has ever had a Finding Nemo float before. It was quite cute. Next up was the huge Maleficent dragon which was actually fire breathing. Prince Philip was on the ground with his sword which was cool. The princes and princesses followed this. Some of them were on foot, such as Rapunzel and Flynn, Aladdin and Jasmine, Tiana and Naveen and Ariel and Eric. There were two horse drawn carriages which were actually the ones used in Magic on Parade, which had Belle and Prince Adam and Cinderella and Prince Charming in them. I loved seeing all the princesses and princes but sadly I didn’t have a very good view of them. The last float was the Frozen one with Kristoff on foot. Olaf, Elsa and Anna were all on this float. Olaf was actually sitting on top of a huge Swen. There was fake snow and bubbles coming from the float which was cool. The parade was much shorter than Magic on Parade which was a shame.
    After it was over and the crowd cleared a little bit, I parted ways with Alison, Roland and Carol and dashed into Frontierland to see if I could get onto Big Thunder Mountain. I hadn’t been able to ride Big Thunder Mountain on my last two trips to Disneyland Paris due to missing our fast pass slot and it being closed for refurbishment. I was determined to do it on this trip. Sadly, it was broken down which was very unlucky for me. Instead, I rushed back into Fantasyland and went to meet Mickey Mouse at his meet and greet house. There was only a 30 minute wait which wasn’t too bad. It was so nice inside. The queue area looked like a mini movie theatre with old Disney short movies playing to keep everyone occupied. I was quite content in waiting and watching the little films. Finally it was my turn to meet the main mouse. The family in front of me were also from Northern Ireland which was cool. I had my camera all ready to film my meet and as I entered the room, I handed it to the lovely cast member. She took it from me and set it on the table for me. my interaction with Mickey was wonderful, so cute. He made such a fuss of me because of it being my birthday. We hugged and got kisses and he even tried to walk out of the room with me. His room was so cute too. Sadly, I hadn’t pressed the record button on my camera so it didn’t film which I was so gutted about. I did get some lovely photopass photos with Mickey though.

Me and Mickey
I then made my way through the busy Fantasyland to see if Thunder Mountain was working again. As luck would have it, it was working again so I joined the never ending queue. At the time of joining it was about 50 minutes but I was desperate to ride the wildest ride in the wilderness. The waiting was awful and I began to get cold. I had stupidly left my cardigan in the bag I sent back to the hotel with Alison. I did have my rain coat but it didn’t keep me very warm. I was so bored as well and I didn’t have much internet connection either to check out social media. I was worried about my phone battery dying too. I munched on some Skittles while I waited as I was a bit hungry. I think I must have waited well over an hour. I felt fine until I went down the stairs to board the ride, then the nerves kicked in. It didn’t help that I was on my own. I sat down and held on tight as we took off. Oh my goodness, it was crazy. I screamed the whole time I was on it as we sped around the track, going down drops and turning corners quickly. It was so much faster than the one in Walt Disney World. I came off feeling all weak and my heart pounding. I did enjoy it and would happily do it again. 

Me on Big Thunder Mountain

It was time for me to leave the park as I had been in it for over 12 hours and I was beginning to get tired. I was cold and hungry as well. Alison wanted me to get her a McDonalds so I called in there on my way through the Disney Village and took our food back to our hotel. Alison was already in her pyjamas. We chilled out for a little bit and Roland showed me where the ice machine was. It was the time for bed after the most amazing birthday. I honestly had the best day ever and the best birthday ever.

The vlog of my birthday can be found Here