Saturday 12 January 2013

Jenni and Matt’s’ Trip to DLP for the 20th on 12th April 2012


By Jenni Weightman

My husband Matt and I have a decouverte Annual Pass, which is the cheapest with lots of blackout days, however I was very excited when I found out that our passes were valid on the actual birthday of DLP.

We travelled to Marne La Vallee on the 11th and checked into an off-site Hotel just one stop away on the Metro. In an effort to beat the crowds, we had a pretty early start on the 12th and joined the already long lines from the gates. Then they started letting us all in. Unfortunately we hadn't quite got there early enough to get a view down Main Street and at 5ft tall I couldn't see a great deal.
The day begun with a talk by Phillipe Gas, unfortunately all in French so I couldn't tell you what he said but hen the excitement began! Matt, who at 6ft 4, could see everything, cast members started streaming into the previously empty Main Street and danced en masse to the music. I stood a bit further back and found the big screen where I got a great view and could dance along. Then, if that wasn't exciting enough, the red arrows appeared!! It was perfect. The weather was gorgeous and everyone looked so happy! To finish there was the ever popular Disney streamers and confetti that poured out from the rooftops and then we were allowed to walk down the massive purple carpet that had been laid down on Main Street.

Then after unsuccessfully getting one of the limited edition pins that had been released for the day we went to the Hyperion theatre for the presentation by Tony Baxter. It started with happy birthday being sung by the audience and then we learnt all about the creation of the park. I was literally at the edge of my seat, didn't want it to end! It was really interesting and his love for the park shined through. It was so nice to hear about the inspirations behind areas of the park. One of the best anecdotes though was the fact that he used to work as an ice cream seller at Disneyland California and met Walt Disney himself!

The rest of the day we just went on rides and then had dinner in Walt’s (including a bottle of the very nice anniversary wine) and then it was time for Dreams! Having now been to Florida this is still one of my favourite shows, although illuminations nearly wins but compared to what Paris usually gets it was incredible, I had purposely avoided watching any videos before I went and I'm glad I did. Although saying that I have seen it twice more since and it hasn't lost it's magic. My only problem was that there were lots of people also trying to watch it and I missed the images in the castle door due to people stood in front of me. 

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