Disneyland Paris

It is very hard to get used to these European school terms. 3 terms for the school year, and half way through each term, there is "half term holidays" for a week. I think the longest they are at school before a break is about 6 weeks. I don't know how families where both parents work manage this? We have about 4 more weeks of holidays here than we would in Australia.

This half term we decided to take the kids to Disneyland Paris. We have been promising the kids that we would go there once they were old enough. After some research on the internet, we thought once Cameron turned 6, he would be able to go on most of the rides. 

About 6 weeks before we left for Disneyland, I did my homework. I checked the website for the park, and wrote down all the rides and which movies they related to. Thankfully my friends Chantal, Sonia and Michelle came to the rescue and let us borrow their Disney dvd's and story books that we didn't have. We got the kids to watch Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio, The Lady and the Tramp, Aristocrats, Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan and so many more before we headed off to Paris. We had lots of the "modern" dvd's, like Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc, but none of the "classics" This proved to be really helpful, as we went through the different rides, the kids knew the characters and the story lines of each story. It made the rides more relevant, and they were able to point out a lot of the characters.  I was really pleased that the hard work before the trip paid off.

The Disney hotel we stayed at was called Sequoia Lodge.. For anyone interested in Trivia Nights, here is a fact Alexander worked out himself . 

"Mum, the word Sequoia has every vowel in it" 

The hotel was quite nice, and it's themed as the Wild West. It was very comfortable. At breakfast each morning a couple of different characters would wander over to each table for photos.This is where we got to meet Eeyore, Goofy and Pluto. 

Sometimes you have to get the boys to pull a silly face, before they sit still for a "nice" photo!Thank goodness for digital cameras, and I don't have to pay money to have these silly pictures developed. just hit that delete button! :)

 

Here is a photo of Phil and the kids outside the front of Disneyland. Mickey Mouse is made of shrubs and bushes of different colours. Unfortunately the very front of the building of the main Disney hotel was under renovations, hence the lovely grey fabric over 2 sections of the hotel.