Disneyland Day 1

So we went to Disneyland Paris for a couple of days last week. We left on Monday evening. Duncan was rather worried about flying. Shortly before we left he explained his fears; "aeroplane not go upside-down, aeroplane not go side to side!" I was able to confirm that indeed, we would not be doing any stunts during the flight.

While passing through airport security, Duncan dashed over to one of the security staff and lifted up his identity badge to peer at something. I rushed to intervene and explain; you don't mess with airport security these days. It transpired that the man had a tiny Noddy zip-pull figure clipped on behind the ID tag around his neck. I explained Duncan's autism and love of all things Noddy. The man was very understanding and explained he'd been given the Noddy for contributing to a cancer research charity. A minute later, as I was gathering up my bags and putting my boots back on, he came over and handed the Noddy to Duncan. How kind was that! Duncan was delighted. Even better (for him) in the airport shop where he spent much time as we waited to board, he spotted yet another Noddy toy. I bought it for him, so for the next 3 days, he went everywhere with Big Noddy, little Noddy and his Big Ears toys.

Gordon's mum E. was with us on the holiday. She sat beside Thomas and Lady on the plane while Gordon and I stayed with Duncan. He was still a bit nervous, but excited. He kept pulling my arm around him as tight as he could and burying his head in my shoulder. He was repeating his worries about the flight, and his wish that the plane not go too fast, and I explained many times that we would be safe, we'd not got too fast, the person flying the plane is called a pilot and is very good and safe and clever. As we took off he shrieked a bit in excitement, but was happy. He was a bit bothered when his ears started to hurt but followed my instructions to yawn or have a drink. All in, the flight and airport parts passed as well as hoped.

We landed in Paris a bit early and since we had no hold bags, were through passport control and in the terminal very quickly. I had booked a taxi to take us directly to Disneyland, the same service I'd used last year. While then, the driver had been waiting for us with my name on a card, this year we had to wait for almost 30 minutes for him to arrive. I was not happy. Then on the way, he pulled into a petrol station. I thought he was a bit disorganised to need fuel while on route with customers, but instead he left us on the minibus for 10 minutes while he went into the bloody shop! Disgusted and knackered was I. His tip prospects were well and truly vamooshed.

Eventually, at about 10.30 French time, we reached the hotel and after a rather lengthy check in procedure, we went to our rooms. These were in a great location, on the ground floor, close to the reception and restaurant. We had 2 connecting rooms, and soon the children and E. were in bed, with the ajoining doors open, while Gordon and I headed to the bar for a cocktail and a few crappy snacks. (Thus, the standard of food for the duration was set.)