(Formerly?) Jet-Lagged Toddler Update
Yep, you read that right. Wahoo! Max slept all night long. We awoke feeling like brand new people; and he was the usual much happier version of himself, too. It is a wonder what sleep will do!
Unsuspecting Kids
Sunday night the kids asked, as they do everyday, "What are we doing tomorrow?" We said "It's a surprise." Well of course then they REALLY wanted to know, but we stood firm and said "We'll tell you at breakfast." The second I got back from the bakery with the breakfast goodies they were all over me "Ok, can you tell us now? Now? Now?!" We all sat down to eat and we said "We're going to...Disneyland!"
Nicole's expression was priceless. It was clear she was thinking "Huh? Um, Disneyland is in California..." LOL! So thank you to those of you who knew we were indeed going to Disneyland Paris (or even knew that there WAS a Disneyland Paris) and kept mum on the matter. They literally had no idea that such a thing existed, and were elated when we assured them that yes, we were seriously going to Disneyland! Yay!
The Parks
Disneyland is about 75km outside Paris so we once again got to take one of the larger RER trains out there. So much of it feels just like being in Disneyland in CA, but there are definitely some differences! For example many of the "lesser" Disney characters get top billing on souvenirs and in the fireworks show. Like Remy (the rat from Ratatouille), Lumiere (from Beauty and the Beast) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. But of course, ils sont tous francais!
They have many of the same rides, though of course the talking is mostly in French. We went on It's A Small World (Max LOVED it!), which was already decorated for Christmas. The music alternated between "It's A Small World" in French and "Jingle Bells" in English! We also did Star Tours (in French), Pirates of the Caribbean (all dialogue in French, but the Yo Ho song in English), Peter Pan (in French) Dumbo, and rode the Carousel (which had way fancier horses than in our Disneyland).
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| It is the 20th anniversary celebration this year |
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| In the entrance plaza |
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| Just inside the main gate, in front of the train station. You can see it is all decked out for the 20th anniversary AND for Halloween! |
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| More Halloween decorations at the gazebo |
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| In front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle |
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| Alice in Wonderland is Nicole's favorite ride at Disneyland so she was disappointed that they don't have it here, but instead they have Alice's Curious Labyrinth. |
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| In line for It's A Small World, Josie's favorite ride. And now, Max's, too! :) |
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| Ok, so this is the best picture in Small World, but since Josie is blurry in it, here is another one where you can see her. |
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| The Castle from the back side. They have really beautiful stained glass! |
Le Spectacle
One major difference was in what they call "Le Spectacle" (the show). It is not just fireworks like we have seen them at Disneyland, but rather a show involving some fireworks, and lots of images projected onto the castle (which is supposedly Sleeping Beauty's castle, but looks WAY different from the Disneyland CA one!), and a bunch of water effects from the moat around the castle, a little bit like World of Color in California Adventure. It was very, very cool. If you're a Disneyphile I highly suggest you check out this video of the show that I found on YouTube. If you watch nothing else, at least check out the Genie's song (from Aladdin) part that starts at about 6:50 and lasts a little over a minute. In person I think it was seriously the coolest effect I've ever seen in a show at Disneyland.
Cool YouTube:
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| The castle at night, waiting for the fireworks show |
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| Max (wearing his new Disneyland Paris hat under his hood) pretty much just loved everything about the day! |
Next Time
We'll have one more day there near the end of our trip, at which
point it will theoretically be decorated for Christmas!!! I can't wait!
There are actually two different parks, Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney Studios. We only made it into Disneyland this time, but will try to hit the other park next time too, where they have The Tower of Terror, a big Aerosmith-themed roller coaster (yes, you read that right), a Toy Story Land with several rides, and a Cars ride.
Lol
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