Long Weekend to DLP – June 2017

An early start on Friday morning after a few hours parked on Marine Parade, Dover, our long weekend at Disneyland Paris started – it’s a long way for a weekend but worth it……..

The drive down to Dover always seems better when your heading away from home, it must be the excitement of the journey and what awaits us at the other end and at £70 return, it was really good value.

An early crossing, actually, very early, means only one thing BREAKFAST! to keep us awake and at 3am, it wasn’t too bad at all but not something i would do that often especially with P&O meal prices.

A good crossing and efficient unloading saw us on our way to Disneyland Paris, again.

Everyone was happy & looking forward to arriving at DLP mid morning but the eyes started closing and we had no choice but to pull over into a rather nice, new, rest area for a couple of hours.

This is the first time we have ever done this and whilst not ideal, it was better to be safe than sorry.

What a difference it made, 2 hours sleep and the journey recommenced with an arrival still on the cards before lunchtime .

Before we knew it, we were negotiating, what we think is the worst part of the journey, the A104 around Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport but all this was forgotten when we saw the signs for Marne le Vallee & those gigantic Mickey Mouse roadsigns – I’ll never grow up!

We arrived safely and it was as though we had never been away.

Our usual parking space, right at the back of the motorhome parking area, nice & quiet and away from those who, despite the instructions issued (in all languages) still insist on using a petrol generator or playing a game of ” how many motorhomes can we hit with a football”

Some would call it unsociable, I would just call it sensible especially when travelling with an autistic child (not so child like at nearly 16 years old) and a simple method in preventing a “meltdown”

There’s no need to tell you what happened next as you can guess, rides, rides and even more rides was the order of the weekend and with the adrenaline gushing through our bodies, we all forgot about the tiredness and had a fantastic time as you can see below.

All good things have to come to an end and we departed, with a mixture of happiness & sadness but I unfortunately, had to be back at work on Tuesday.

We encountered a terrible drive back, long, stressful and tiring but would we do it again – yes, of course we would and we will add our future adventures soon.

Advertisement

Cycling in Brugge & DLP- May 2017

Having had our usual crossing from Hull, expensive at approx £800 return, but well worth it when visiting Belgium without the need to drive all the way down to Dover or the Channel Tunnel, we parked up a what is becoming a regular home from home for us.

Camping Memling and at approx 40 Euro’s per night for us all, it’s not the cheapest but you do get the use of some excellent facilities including showers, toilets, free wifi, useful information points and attentive wardens who are only too happy to assist you should it be required.

With bright blue skies and our family in tow, we headed for another visit to one of favourite places on earth – Brugge.

Not sure what it is about this place but we never seem to get bored with it and theres always something new for us to do & see.

Whether you see the sights by foot, carriage, bus, cycle or even a segway, this is one of the most beautiful cities you could ever visit and with Hot chocolate to die for, what could be better?

Having been many times before, all without bikes, we decided that enough was enough, and we would throw the bikes on the back of Rio and cycle on some of Belgiums excellent purpose built cycle ways.

HELLO UK – we could learn a thing or two about the successful integration of all modes of transport!!!!

The journey from our campsite towards Kruispoort and then along the canal before an ice cream at “waffles on wheels” which is located at the Coach tour drop off point and just a perfect place for a short break before continuing on our way – cycling was never this much fun as a kid………

6 Nights at Camping Memling, Brugge with lots of walking & cycling, one day, all of this exercise might actually pay off!

 

With new aches and pains we left Brugge behind and headed for the next phase of our somewhat predictable vacation, Disneyland Paris.

Routine is the order of the day for our family and a must when travelling with autism however as we get more inquisitive about what else is out there our plans are changing but we always plan and do things as a family, for now anyway…………

I think we deserved a nice pizza after the journey and what a place to sit back & enjoy it.

Big Thunder Mountain looking and running fantastic after major refurbishment prior to the 25th Anniversary Celebrations – this is our favourite ride here, well mine at least!

No matter how old you are, theres always something here which will make you smile and our grins usually go from ear to ear.

As night falls, the park takes on a whole new appearance and WOW, what a show.

We will be back later in the year, making the most of our Annual Passes before we have to renew them – A Bientot Disneyland.

 

 

 

 

 

Another visit to DLP……..

It’s been a while since our last post, work seems to get in the way but here goes.

After  a great time in Brugges we headed to Paris and more importantly, Disneyland,

Despite it being cold – what else would you expect in December? The weather was fantastic with bright skies and strong sunshine which was good news for the solar panels.

Really in the festive spirit by now and what better place to do it.

As usual, great rides, great company and for us, a great location, nice & quiet with a view of Disneyland when we wake up.

The dark nights gave us plenty of time to use our new LED lighting and wow, how effective was it. Coloured LED lighting in the cab giving it a little extra festive feeling with a soft & clear LED’s in the living area and kitchen.

We purchased these from Carrefour and they are battery operated (3AA) and very easy to fit, self adhesive strips with battery pack neatly stored in the front of the cupboard. We will be getting more of these when we see them, simple, effective and very cheap.

Our December vacation had to come to an end and we ended this as we started with an overnight sailing on P&O enjoying the facilities of the Club Cabin and as anyone with 2 growing boys knows, the all you can east buffet in the Kitchen restaurant was a must before a really good nights sleep.