Disneyland Paris!

Disneyland Paris. How can I put such a magical day into words? Just that, it was magical.

If you know me, you know that I love anything Disney. And that Disneyland is practically my second home since I live so close. And Chapman might as well just be Disneyland University. So Disneyland Paris was just like going home (okay maybe that’s taking it a bit too far). There are people worse than me I swear.

Before I left for Italy, I half-jokingly kept saying I was going to go to Disneyland Paris, not knowing how the heck I would get there. My goal is to visit every Disneyland in the world. So now I have 3 out of 5 checked off my list.

One of the first weeks I was here, my new abroad friends and I were discussing where we wanted to travel to. I thought to myself, hey let’s just throw out the idea, and I said Disneyland Paris. The fates aligned and one of my new friends liked my idea. With the convenience of Spring Break, there we were, finding ourselves going to Disneyland Paris, and I literally could not be more excited.

First of all there are 2 parks: Disneyland and Walt Disney Studios. There is also the Disney Village, which is their Downtown Disney, right outside of both parks. They were celebrating their 20^th Anniversary so online they had discounted tickets for both parks. The price of that ticket to both parks was cheaper than one ticket to one park at Disneyland California. It could not have worked out more perfectly.

This was one of those days you go to Disneyland right when it opens and leave when it closes. Unfortunately they had terrible hours for a Friday. They were only open from 10 am to 8 pm. I’m so used to midnight closings at Disneyland. But that wasn’t going to ruin my day; we just had to do as much as we could. Sadly that meant we couldn’t get to everything, but I got all of the major/important things that I wanted to do. Plus it was a little crowded so the lines were a little longer than I would like.

Our Paris hotel was pretty far outside of the city, but so is Disneyland! We were only 2 train stops away. So convenient. The train stop literally drops you off at the entrance. Right as I saw the word Disney I just wanted to cry of happiness.

We started off at Disneyland, because that was the most important. The entrance was already nice, and different from Disneyland in California (which a lot of things were). The hotel went over the entrance, which then were some really nice gates.

Hotel above the entrance

Waiting to get in

 The tickets we bought online were in Italian since we bought them in Italy, so when we entered the lady told us “Buon giorno!” We were Italians for the day.

Right as I walked in I was basically in Heaven. I was back on Main Street! For the most part it was similar to Disneyland. There was a City Hall and the Emporium on the same corner. The street was aligned with the same kind of shops including a bakery and an ice cream parlor. Behind all of the stores there was a long hallway that connected them.

And as you walk down Main Street, the castle is right there staring you in the face. It was so perfect. It was probably the most magical castle I’ve ever seen (and I’ve been to real castles now). I hate to say it, but it might beat the original castle at Disneyland, which they are both Sleeping Beauty’s castle, so it really doesn’t make much sense. But it’s just so gorgeous!!! It’s adorned with gold and the towers are quite whimsical. Even the little field around it, complete with a waterfall, nothing could beat it. The pictures of the Paris castle on Pinterest don’t even compare.

The castle!

Complete with waterfall

We were there around 9:30 am, half an hour before they opened, so I got a big chocolate muffin and went on the hunt for Mickey Ears. They had all of the same ears and souvenirs for the most part. Some things said Paris on them. And of course they had a Ratatouille chef hat, something you would only find in Paris. A little disappointed by the limited choices, we decided to wait to see if we could find anything better.

It was time for the park to open, and the plan was to start at Space Mountain. Their Tomorrowland is called Discoveryland, and it included Space Mountain, Star Tours, the Buzz Lightyear ride, Captain EO, and Autopia.

Discoveryland

The ride was called Space Mountain 2: Mission 2, and for reasons I didn’t figure out until after riding it. It seemed like a space mission for sure. The shape of the building is the same as Disneyland, but the inside it completely different. But one thing I must say is that Disneyland Paris is so detailed, and everything is themed so well. So is the original Disneyland, but this one just takes it to the next level. The line of the ride was themed in space obviously. When getting on there were bars that go over your head, like those on an upside down roller coaster, which made me a little nervous. And of course we got the first row, so now it was going to be crazy since I had no idea what to expect.

Space Mountain

About to board

You start off easy, and then you get to the bottom of this hill and it stops you. And BAM! You’re shot into space! The whole dome was dark, and there were planets around you. And this ride was cah-razy! There were loops and corkscrews that you couldn’t even see coming since you were in the dark. There was one part that looked like you were going into a planet, but the magic of Disney fooled you. It was seriously so insane! It could almost be a ride at Six Flags. When it was over I had to shake off the post-coaster feeling. It was quite a ride to start off with.

That was the only Discoveryland ride we got to go on since we needed time for so many more things. But there was a big Wall-E and Eva that was so cute, so I obviously needed a picture. And I took many pictures. I’m sure you’ve already seen them on Facebook.

Wall-E and Eva

And I got really excited that there was a Pizza Planet

We made our way to Fantasyland. We had to go in the proper way through the castle. I still will never get over how fabulous that castle is. When you walk in it gets even more magical. It’s almost dome-like on the inside, but surrounded by magical tree shapes.

Inside the castle

Then there’s a staircase that leads you to a balcony that wraps around the dome shape looking down on the castle entrance. On the balcony there are parts that tell the story of Sleeping Beauty, such as the spinning wheel. There’s a big stain glass window that has the 3 fairies on it. Then you can walk outside to another balcony that overlooks Fantasyland.

From the inside balcony

View from the outside balcony

 For the most part Fantasyland has all of the same rides. And I had to take a picture lifting the Sword in the Stone of course.

Still on the search for Mickey Ears, every place had the same ones, so we opted for the Sorcerer Mickey ears. There was a pair that was special for Disneyland Paris, but it had a Mickey holding onto it, which was kind of weird. But I can still wear these when I go home.

The only ride we went on in Fantasyland was Peter Pan’s Flight, which is one of my faves at Disneyland. It was exactly the same, except the stars were only lights on the wall, and not coming out like the ones at Disneyland. And the characters spoke in French, which I kind of forgot that we were in France, so that caught me off guard.

It was actually kind of cool, because everyone who worked there spoke French, but they also spoke English. So it must be a requirement to work at Disneyland Paris. At least they accommodate for tourists like me. The ride instructions were in French, but then translated to English. Thank goodness. As much as I wish I could speak French, it’s just not going to happen.

In Fantasyland there was a place called Alice’s Curious Labyrinth, which was supposed to be the maze in Alice in Wonderland. I wanted to go in so badly, but the line was too darn long. So we decided to come back for it.

But we did make the Mad Tea Party

We made kept making our way around the park and came across Pirates of the Caribbean, so we obviously had to go on. First of all the workers’ costumes were the best. They were in full on fancy pirate getup with big hats with a feather and everything. Just the way Orlando Bloom had dressed in the movie.

The line was basically a ride in itself going through what seemed to look like a ship. But it was quite a ways to get to the actual ride. It was dark, and it seemed like you were outside in the night, just like the original Pirates ride.

It’s still the same boat concept, and the beginning is all slow and swampy. And there’s a restaurant in this one too! Instead of the Blue Bayou, this one is called the Blue Lagoon.

The ride starts by going up first, instead of a drop. It’s all kind of backwards from the California one. There are a bunch of skeletons and such in the beginning, and then towards the end there is the skeleton with gold, and then you go through the ship battle and the town of pirates. And all the pirates spoke French. The Yoho song was still in English though. Even the part of “No, no, no Carlos!” was in French, and she might have said “No Pierre!” I’m actually not sure if she said that, I’m just being stereotypical, but she definitely didn’t say Carlos. For the most part it was pretty much the same ride with a different layout, but it didn’t really follow a story. And no Johnny Depp in this one. And besides the fact it was all in French, and the pirates looked a little different.

And walking around we came upon the Genie’s magic lamp from Aladdin! I was pretty excited. It really looked like we were in Agraba. The stores looked like little markets, and behind the lamp there were fake apples and such. There was an indoor thing you walk in with window displays of the story of Aladdin. Disneyland Paris is really good at making these things come to life.

In Agraba

And Genie's lamp!

We continued our way through Adventureland to Indiana Jones. The one in California is so high tech with crazy special effects, so I expected the same from this ride. Definitely not what I expected. It was called Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril (instead of Temple of Doom).

It was basically only a little roller coaster that went around a temple. I expected to go inside somewhere, but it was all outside. You get in these little cart-looking things which make up the coaster. There were a lot of turns, a few drops, and one loop. It was actually kind of crazy and jerky, and then the loop just hits you. It wasn’t my favorite ride, but it was completely different than the one in California.

Basically the whole ride

getting on

Then we went to Thunder Mountain in Frontierland, which was quite the western town. And it is called Thunder Mesa instead of Thunder Mountain. But the ride was closed! It was broken down for some reason, and there was no way I was leaving Disneyland Paris without going on Thunder Mountain. So we’d have to come back.

 Instead we went to Haunted Mansion, which was actually called Phantom Manor. And it looked like a legit house! But haunted of course. It’s the same concept; you go in the long elevator with the stretching pictures. But the scary voice over was in French, so to me it really didn’t seem scary. Then you go through another hallway to get into your “Doom-buggy”. Then it just got a little creepy.

Phantom Manor

The whole concept of the ride followed a creepy bride. And in the first part there’s a bride in front of you blowing in the wind, but you can’t see her face. It follows the same rooms like the Madame Leota in her crystal ball and my favorite room with all of the ghosts dancing. But then you get to the cemetery part and it was like you were going through a cemetery town. There were scary skeletons everywhere. One of them moved like it was tipping his hat to you, but it was his whole head. I found it a little disturbing. It was no ordinary cemetery. And then at the end you see the bride who is now a skeleton. I really didn’t understand the whole thing. And there were no hitchhiking ghosts, nor did they show up in the mirror at the end. It was quite an interesting ride, thus proving the fact that I still never really like Haunted Mansion.

We ate lunch at the Hakuna Matata Café. I mean, how could you not eat at a place with that title? I had a kebab sandwich and it was delicious!! Definitely something different from what I’ve usually been eating. There were really no French food places. They were all burgers, fries, hot dogs, and most of the same stuff you would find at Disneyland California. And they eat their fries with Mayonnaise, which is completely different. And they did not have churros, and I was really sad. They did have crepes, but I didn’t get one.

Hakuna Matata Cafe

 We were halfway through the day so it was time to head across to Walt Disney Studios. It was kind of a random park. Like they threw all things that wouldn’t fit into Disneyland in this park.

The theme was supposed to be similar to Universal Studios with a movie-making theme. The entrance was like a big studio you walk through, and then you’re supposedly in Hollywood. It’s similar to the MGM Studios park at Disney World, if you have ever been. But it was pretty small.

Studio Entrance

Inside the studio entrance

"Hollywood"

First we went on Rockin Roller Coaster, which is an indoor roller coaster featuring Aerosmith. You enter this recording studio, and Aerosmith is recording in there (well on a screen). It was different from the one in Florida. In Florida their concept is that you’re late for the concert, so you have to get there really fast on this limo, which is the roller coaster. Then it’s inside with bright street signs like you’re in LA flashing by you. Well the Paris concept is that Aerosmith is testing some new technology or something. You get on the ride and it’s basically just an indoor roller coaster with more loops and corkscrews. There were no flashing signs or anything to make you think you’re somewhere else. I was a little disappointed, but it was still fun.

Rockin Roller Coaster

There was a Toy Story Land randomly, which I thought was pretty cool. It’s similar to Bug’s Land at California Adventure, just themed for Toy Story. The rides were probably more for the yougins. They had a toy soldier parachute ride and a Slinky Dog spinning ride.

The best was the RC Racer, which is what we went on. RC is the remote controlled car from Toy Story. It’s a big RC Racer and the track is a big U-shape. And then you ride back and forth until the car reaches the top and you’re completely vertical. It was fun! And definitely something original.

RC Racer

We went on Tower of Terror, which was exactly the same as the one in California, and is my favorite ride! Even the drop sequence was the same, so I already had it memorized.

Tower of Terror

Lastly we went on Crush’s Coaster, which is Finding Nemo themed. And it was probably one of the coolest rides! Ever.

When you get inside it looks kind of like a fishing port. Then you get in these big turtle shells, which is what the coaster is. I expected like a slow ride showing the story of Nemo. But no! It was a fast little coaster! It was supposed to be like you were riding the EAC with Crush. It went really fast, then you get in this bigger room and there are all these drops and turns, and at the same time your little turtle coaster shell is spinning. It was so much more fun than I expected.

Riding the turtle shell

We were pretty much done with all of the exciting stuff at Walt Disney Studios, and things started to close since they closed earlier. So we headed back over to Disneyland to try to get back on Thunder Mountain.

When we got there the line was so long! And without any fastpasses, so we had to wait. And let me say, some of these Europeans have no sense of personal space. When we were in line there was a family behind me, I’m not exactly sure where they were from, but they weren’t French. But they were all up on me while we were standing in line. I did not like it. Every time I tried to move away, they would just get closer. That was definitely one cultural difference I did not enjoy.

And while we’re on the topic of cultural differences, let me just say that these people are also very pushy. There is no sense of taking turns. It’s basically a free for all. For example, we tried to get a picture with a character. Usually at Disneyland there is a line you wait in, taking turns. Not here. People just made a close semi-circle crowding around the characters, and you have to push your way to get one picture. We decided to avoid that disaster, so unfortunately we didn’t even get a picture with Mickey.

Anyways, back to Thunder Mountain. Once we finally got in, it was the same type of ride. The whole ride is on an island in the middle of the river, so you go through a dark tunnel underwater to get to the outside part of the ride. It was very similar to the Disneyland one, just the track of it was set up differently. There was a goat, bats, and you go through the same rock slide thing. I’m glad we got to on it.

The island of Thunder Mesa

We only had about 2 hours left before the park closed, so we tried to get to the little things we missed, like Alice’s maze. So we jetted our way back to Fantasyland. When we got there we couldn’t get in because they were closing early to set up for the firework show. I was so devastated. Just more reason to come back. But there was an island thing with Skull Rock and the ship from Peter Pan, so we got to go in that which was pretty cool. It was seriously Neverland come to life.

Neverland

We were basically done for the day since we didn’t get the chance to get to some of the little things. So we went souvenir shopping and waited until the fireworks started. Their souvenirs were expensive as all things Disney are. But I had to buy a sweatshirt, because how could I not? I needed something to remember this magical day. Plus I really needed a zip up since I didn’t even bring one here.

It was time for the fireworks and we were by the castle front and center. I saw commercials for it and I was super excited! It’s called Disney Dreams, and for good reason. The whole thing is projected on the castle. The concept is Peter Pan themed (for some reason in Europe Peter Pan is a popular theme). Peter Pan’s shadow causes trouble and spills all of the magic out of the second star to the right. Then it goes through almost all of the Disney movies, where Peter’s shadow continues to follow. The language bounced between English and French. Nothing was ever translated, but one character would speak English, and the other would speak French. The Hunchback of Notre Dame part was all in French, and it was cool because the song Quasimodo sings was is French, and everyone was singing along.

But it was awesome!!! Literally the best show I’ve ever seen. Words can’t even describe it. It definitely beats Fanstamic and World of Color at Disneyland. And that’s saying a lot. I might have almost cried because it was so amazing. My emotions were all over the place, especially when it got to the Tangled part. So good. 

I tried to upload some video I took but this thing won't let me. But here's the video on youtube to give you an idea what it looks like. But it definitely does not compare to watching it in person.

It was the perfect end to a perfect day and I did not want to leave. We just kind of slowly made our way out. I just wanted to live in there. But sadly all good things must come to an end. After taking some more castle pictures we really did have to exit.

I tried to take a jumping picture. But this portrayed my happiness well.

To make it last a little longer we walked down the Disney Village, which wasn’t very big. Just a bunch of shops and restaurants. They had a World of Disney store, but also a Disney Store. I really didn’t understand. Those were basically the only stores. And all of the restaurants were American places, including a Planet Hollywood. It really did feel like I was back in the US for a second.

I was really sad to leave. I wish that day could have been a lot longer. It was just so perfect and magical. Disneyland Paris really exceeded my high expectations. I feel so lucky to have been able to visit, and I’ll never forget it.