Next Stop- The Happiest Place on Earth?
No, I’m not going to Finland, although it was on the list. Our next stop was Disneyworld Paris another bucket list item. Each park is different so I was curious as to how different a non U.S. park would be. There are some great documentaries about Disney Park rides and how they were designed and changed for each park. I decided (since I’m not a roller coaster enthusiast) to ride what I consider the trinity of Disney Park rides: It’s a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Haunted Mansion.
First we arrived at the train station and realized that we were tired and just wanted to catch some famous Disney Transportation to out hotel. Ummm… we took an overpriced taxi since we could figure out where to catch the bus.
After checking in we headed to get lunch. Our hotel was “off property.” I thought about getting a package and staying at a park hotel, but their packages were two days at the park and one night accommodation. I wanted to do the opposite- two nights and one day. We were bc walking distance to a mall which had a number of restaurants… including the “Indiana Cafe.”
Back Home Again?!?
Nope- the Indiana Cafe had nothing to do with basketball, race cars, a Republican supermajority, corn, or anything “Indiana.” They had good good - “after all miss, this is France” but no pork tenderloin. We watched women’s soccer on the monitors and chuckled at how stereotypical this view of the indigenous people in the Americas was.
After that we stopped by a Normal (think of it as a conscience store) to pick up some stuff. We returned to the hotel and started laundry.
Disney Village
After a rest we headed to Disney Village to go to the LEGO Store and hopefully pick up the Adventure Lab and virtual geocache nearby.
The LEGO Store had a minifig factory, but was disappointing in that they had nothing unique for that location. They had some designs (ninjago) that were available for a limited time, but nothing that said “Disneyland Paris.”
After wandering the lake that the hotels surrounded, and thereby fulfilling the geocaching needs, we stopped in the Royal Pub for a pint and to watch some proper football.
Disney Day!!!
It sometimes takes a few moments to figure things out when you are in a new place. Having visited Disneyland in California and Disneyworld multiple times I figured things ran the same… kinda sorta maybe. We found out the nearest bus stop was just outside our hotel, and that buses stopped there around ever hour (Disneyworld it’s like every 15 minutes). Also buses aren’t run by Disney, so instead of a free service they cost to ride. Not a big deal, but something to keep in mind. They all stop at the same place to let you off, but have different pick up locations when it’s time to go back. Nice to know so you aren’t waiting at the place they dropped you off.
We found that having kids seemed to slow the simple processes like security and park entry. We were ready, everyone around us was fumbling for things. I say this knowing that I’m always fumbling for things and my anxiety reaches a peak until I’m through whatever checkpoint I need to pass.
We decided to get breakfast first, and do that in Disneyland. Instead we went straight to “Hyperspace Mountain.” Here’s where things take a change. Discoveryland replaces Tomorrowland. The theme of the place is Jules Verne steampunk. This was cool except that a lot is under renovation so massive fences blocking work and corralling everyone through.
It’s All in the Branding
Space Mountain is a classic in the dark roller coaster. The French version is different than the ones I’ve been on. From what I can tell it is more similar to the “Rock ‘n Roll Roller Coaster at the Disney Studios in Florida. Which I believe was built after this, so they may have just copied the design for Disneyworld. Originally this ride was based on Verne’s story “From the Earth to the Moon” with riders being launched from a large cannon. I wish I could have seen it before they decided it needed to be redressed as Star Wars. The ride itself is a lot more intense than Space Mountain with a fast launch, loop and corkscrew. For me (not a roller coaster guy & old) this may not have been the best choice to start out the day.
The Disney Holy Trinity
Next we wandered for a moment (dazed & confused?) before seeing an old friend - It’s a Small World. Like putting on a comfy old sweater this ride is Mary Blair at her peak. With the exception of a bit more of the song being in French it was basically the same ride except… there was an entire section focused on the regions of the U.S. I specifically recall dancers in front of the Hollywood sign.
We went from here to get the virtual cache at Excalibur. Then a quick walk through Aurora’s (Sleeping Beauty’s) Castle including seeing the creature that lives beneath it.
From there we did the next in the Trinity- The Pirates of the Caribbean which was similar to the Disneyland version in that there is a restaurant where diners can wave to you as you start the ride. It has a lift portion at the beginning instead of the end which means the ride was built at ground level and not below.
We headed to Thunder Mesa aka Frontier town to get an Earthcache and the last of the trinity - the Haunted Mansion or as they call it here “Phantom Manor.” Now the Haunted Mansion has had a number of convoluted stories that basically boil down to - you arrive and explore and then are trapped trying to get out before you end up joining the 999 happy haunts for eternity.
Here the story seems to play a bigger part- The story is of a bride who never seems to age and whose husbands all die of mysterious circumstances. Her first husband (who looks like Lon Cheney Sr. in the Phantom of the Opera) is either there to offer us a warning, help, or something nefarious. His bride is just trying to find a new husband. The end in which we normally have our Doombuggy racing through the graveyard adds a romp through a western ghost town similar to the one you walked through to get to the ride. I liked it, Sue was not impressed.
But Wait… There’s More
It was still early, but being old & a bit tired we headed into the second park the Disney Studios. Unlike Florida this park is divided into two main sections- PIXAR & Marvel Cinematic Universe. While we wandered around both, we really didn’t feel the need to ride anything. Yes, there were some unique rides, but we decided to take a break and basically do the Cars version of the Universal Studios tour. A journey along Route 66 in an old school Universal Studios tram along with the classic big rig disaster & flood. 🙄
We ended the day with a visit to the Avengers Campus and then a stop back at the Royal Pub for dinner. Then we finally figured out how to catch the bus back to our hotel.
The next leg takes us to Bayeux, hope you can join us.