Well, this year is Disneyland Paris' 20th birthday and, as the song rightly says, its been 20 years of joy and laughter; two words that were so not synonymous with my personality before I went away. I think work had just all got on top of me, so a break to the Happiest Place on Earth was exactly what I needed! Here's the song from the parade so you can get in the spirit!
Sooo, on with the tale! 17th September: Ashford Int'l > Lille Europe > Marne La Vallee Chessy (Disneyland Paris Eurostar Station) and we're in to Day One...
So yep, half of this day was spent on the train; 5.30am train to Ashford, Eurostar to Lille, TGV to Paris where we arrived around lunchtime, dumped our bags and set off!
We'd planned to do something low-energy, so we decided to do the Hotels. I love the Disney hotels (I've only ever stayed in the 2 cheapest ones, but if you ever want to make me love you forever take me to Sequoia Lodge!!). They each have their own character, theme and - most importantly - shop! As well as Cast Members ready to pin trade!! So we went Disney's Hotel Cheyenne > Disney's Hotel New York > Disney's Sequoia Lodge > Disney's Newport Bay Hotel (and a couple of days later went to the Disneyland Hotel). Basically our mission was to pin shop, pin trade and have a long-awaited look at some of these rather snazzy hotels.
Sequoia Lodge is now my favourite and I have my eye on it for a future stay; it was so peaceful there! Lush greenery, soothing music, rustic feel - perfect! I could go on for quite a while but I won't. Needless to say, we had a nice afternoon, easing ourselves in and also occupying ourselves before check in at the hotel.
Everything was good about our hotel, the Kyriad and if you want to hear more about it, see my TripAdvisor review: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g664935-d487413-r140866970-Kyriad_Disneyland_Resort_Paris-Magny_le_Hongre_Marne_la_Vallee_Seine_et_Marne_Ile_de_France.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT
Otherwise, its on with the show, arrival day now gone we had 2 full days in the parks and another half day before the train home...
Day 2: We spent the morning in Walt Disney Studios, investigating all around, seing all the new stuff they've added!! We went on the Backlot Tour - I still love seeing all the movie props and Catastrophe Canyon is thrilling each time! There were so many other things I wanted to go on: Crush's Coaster (based on Finding Nemo), a cool Cars version of the teacups and a whole play area based on Toy Story complete with a Slinky Dog Ride!!! Totally lots of scope for next time!! We ate lunch mere feet away from the Tower of Terror; listening to all of the screams :) Then it was time to head over to the main Disneyland Park!
Sadly a couple of our favourite rides were closed, so definite need for a return visit methinks. Anyone wanna come along?? Nevermind, we headed for Frontierland, sussed it out for the following day and covered all the shops and lanyards! Then it was on to Adventureland where we rode Pirates of the Carribean twice(!) and Flying Carpets over Agrabah (based on Aladdin). We checked out the restaurant where you eat inside the Pirates of the Carribean attraction, but decided it was too expensive! We ended the day in Fantasyland: riding Its A Small World and then going through Sleeping Beauty's Castle on our way back to Main Street.
We took our places right in front of the Castle, getting ready for the fireworks!! Now this, I was hyped for! In celebration of its birthday, Disneyland Paris (DLRP) welcomes this year DREAMS. A spectacle of water, light and music, DREAMS tranforms the Castle into a backdrop for a great musical show. I videoed the whole thing and may upload it later, it was well worth it!! Well worth the nearly 2 hour wait in the cold to get a good spot, still I got a hotdog to pass the time-it was almost like Bonfire Night!
Whew! On to Day 3: We were back in the Disneyland Park, to cover the rest of its many areas! We began where we left, in Fantasyland, riding all the other rides we missed the day before; The Carousel, Snow White and the 7 Dwarves, The Dragon's Lair (under the Castle). Then we moved on to Discoveryland - home of a French C-3PO the Little Green Men!! Here's one, incase you've never seen Toy Story :P
So of course, we then rode Buzz Lightyear's Lazer Blast and Star Tours. Love seeing all the LGM and Star Wars merchandise. Did not go on Space Mountain as that's enough to give me a heart attack! We had luch back on Main Street and were pleasently suprised to see a couple of major French pin traders has set up shop behind the Pin Cart. We did a trade in very basic French, but a trade nonetheless! Happy days! I then ordered our Ben and Jerrys in French too. Trying to cling to the last remnants of my Franglais... :( We watched the Celebration Train come past; having a little boogie in the street in the process!
The afternoon was spent in Frontierland and I finally got to go on my favourite ride Big Thunder Mountain! Love it! I could go on it every single day. Back in Adventureland we walked through an Aladdin storyboard before circling back to Main Street to get a good position for the 5pm parade-Magic Everywhere! Oooh I love a good parade! There's only so long you can sit and watch before you cave in to pure excitement and start waving at your favourite characters! Seeing all the Princesses with their Princes is just amazing-I'm not gonna lie! You forget that in your humdrum, 9-5 existance you wear a pinstriped suit to work and sit at a desk all day and you're a kid again; meeting all your favourite heroes!
We were in 2 minds about what to do next: do we attempt to exit the Park at this point and fight the massive crowd or do we go to the shops for a while and attempt to fight the massive crowd?? We opted for the shops and bumped in to some folks we'd met on the bus that morning and had a nice chat with them as well as bagging a few more bits!
:( end of our last full day in the parks :( but we were tired and happy and had acquired most of the pins and other bits we needed. So we spent the evening packing :/
Our last day in Paris, we had breakfast and stocked up once more for the day ahead. We checked out of the hotel, took our bags with us and squished on to the bus. Dumping the bags at the Left Luggage Lockers again we were free until 2pm. We'd decided that since we were without the wheelchair that we'd use the Disneyland Railroad to get around and to see the Park once again, so we boarded at Main Street. This is where we met our favourite Cast Member of our trip. Since I've worked in the hospitaility/leisure industry I always make a point of recognising superior service when I see it; far too many people only complain these days. So when we got back, I made a point of emailing Disney and thanking them-and him-for superior service.
We rode the train around to its last stop, Discoveryland, I rode Star Tours again, and then we walked back on to the train, took it around to Frontierland and rode Big Thunder Mountain again. Talk about oing the highlights on the last day. So we were taking a very slow stroll back out to Main Street for a last look at the Castle and everything when something large and black caught my eye! Oh yeah, there was a pin board outsie the Pin Cart on Main St, so we just had to take a look. And we did maybe 5 or 6 trades off of that board and it was nice to talk to a Cast Member who enjoys his pins and actually knew his fakes! So full of our last-minute pin trading success; we took a last, slow walk out of the park gates and I was marking off the last glances as I saw them. Last look at the Castle, last look at Main Street, at the entrance, at the grandiose Disneyland Hotel, at the entrance to Walt Disney Studios and then our last look at Disney Village before we entered the station.
We had a pocket of coins and so I went in to the tabac at the station and bought some of France's finest exports: Dragibus and Schtroumpfs
Who wouldn't want Smurf-shaped sweets?? Then it was time to board the train. We were unfortunately sharing a carriage with a young couple and their friends who were all very loud and excited and who had bought several large Disney ornaments to use a centrepieces at their forthcoming wedding. They were full of joie de vivre all the way back to Ashford!
Back to Ashford and back to Earth with a bump-I've decided I'm going to be a professional holidaymaker from now on (shame I'm not a lottery winner eh?). Seriously, we are considering going back next year, just need to find a good time to go. I'm also trying to keep a wee bit of magic inside me, so I don't get down in the dumps anymore. Until then, I have my photos, my pins, my memories and YouTube!
All together now: "Yeah, yeah, yeah! Celebrate the magic! Magic Everywhere!"
