Life with MK: Disneyland Paris

Today was the day I finally got to go to Disneyland Paris! I have been wanting to come here ever since I knew it existed, so probably about eight years. I am not 3/5 done with seeing the world's Disneyland's!! Only Tokyo and Hong Kong to go!

I took the RER three stop to the park this morning (that just tried to correct to Mormon, weird) and got there with about a half hour to spare. I already had purchased my ticket online to I headed straight into the Disneyland park! Since I didn't know exactly what the plan should be here I followed my general California plan and headed straight to Space Mountain 2!

The line was super short right at 10, do I got on really fast. The Space Mountain here is awesome! Still in the dark, but different effects, seems faster, and goes upside down and in corkscrews. Basically it's an awesome ride! I went back on as soon as I got off which took longer the second time but still wasn't awful. My wad felt like it got banged around a lot the second time and it started a really bad headache that got bad on every roller coaster I went on. Oh well.

After Space Mountain 2 x2 I grabbed a fast pass for Star Tours and then went on Buzz Lightgear Astro Blasters while I waited since it was only 25 minutes. I got 564,000 points on the Buzz ride today, woo! It was perfect timing after the ride with my fast pass so I went straight on Star Tours. It was exactly the same as the old one in California, so that was kind of cool since that one doesn't exist in CA anymore.

After Discoveryland (not Tomorrowlabd here) I headed over to Phantom Manlr, aka their haunted mansion. It was pretty cool, and creepier than the CA one. Next I tried to go on Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril, but it was closed for refurbishment, boo! Looks like it was a roller coaster, but could really see much. Instead I waded to Pirates of the Caribbean. It was also pretty good, and also a way longer line than in CA. That seems to be te general story here. Lines are really long. Maybe it's because there are less rides? Maybe there are more people (doubtful)? I think they are just way less efficient. I saw so many seats go unfilled on every ride, which rarely ever happens in CA at all.

After Pirates I went on Peter Pan's Flight, which is basically identical to the one in CA, and ten headed to Disney's Hollywood Studios. The lines there were nuts too, so I only went on a few rides which were Tower of Terror (exact same as CA, I think FL wins that ride), the Rockin Roller Coaster with Aerosmith, and Crush's Coaster. I almost didn't go on the last one because the line was 75 minutes lone (yes a full hour and fifteen ugh) but I sucked it up because that one doesn't exist in CA an it ended up being pretty sweet! It's a roller coaster in the dark but it kind of spins at the same time and you feel like you are literally ridig a water current. Pretty cool. After the coaster it was already 6 so I headed back to Disneyland.

Once back at the main park I quickly got a fast pass for Thunder Mountain Railroad for around 9:15pm and then took a mini rest because my legs, knee, and hip were killing.

After narrowly missing the Disneyland train I decided to walk over to Fantasy Land since I hadn't made it there yet. I went on It's a Small World, which has some cool different things, but is shorter, went on the storybook ride called Les Pays des Contes de Fées here, and of course, what trip to Disney would be compete without Dumbo the Flying Elephant!! All was fun as usual.

After Fantasy Land I went back to Discovery Land and rode Autopia for the first time in I don't even know how many years. I must have been less than eight the last time I did it. it was fun, but I won't be rushing to stand in the absurdly long line in CA anytime soon (the line here wasn't bad at all). I then went on Space Mountain 2 again (what was I thinking? Headache returned) and walked over the Thunder Mountain Railroad to use my fast pass.

Thunder Mountain was fun. It's kind of like an island here. You go under this lake at the beginning and then the whole ride is in the middle. It's really pretty to see! Since there is no splash mountain and no Matterhorn, Thunder Mountain is kind of THE thing!

Not to be redundant (this post has gotten very listy), but after that ride I went back to the train to ride it around back to Main Street USA. I spoke with one of the cast members for a bit and he was really nice. He told me about his trip to Disney World and we talked about going to different parks and comparing the new one to our home park. Anyways, the train was fairly uneventful. Not much to see other than a lot of trees, and it went through Pirates instead of Splash Mountain.

I got off at the Main Street USA (oo es ah) and walked through some of the shops. I grabbed dinner at the only place I could find really that had quick food, and all try served was hot dogs and fries. Luckily I like those things! I got my bag of food and headed to the castle for the end of the night show Disney Dreams and picnicked in front while waiting for it to begin. Greg (the cast member I was speaking to) told me I had to see the show because it was amazing, ad he was totally right! I wish I could let him know how much I loved it! It seriously rivals World of Color. Most of the show is a light show directly ON the castle which is so cool. There are also fireworks, water displays like World of Color but a bit smaller, pyrotechnics and it's just overall so awesome!! Great way to end my night for sure.

The show starts at closing time, so afterwards everyone just leaves the park all together. I went to the Disney Store in the Disney Village to get a shirt since I'm sick of wearing the same bed shirt every single night and in pretty sure the one I have with me is not its cleanest right now. I was hoping to find a V neck like my favorite bed shirt ever that I got a Disneyland, but I couldn't find anything. I did see an awesome shirt that I thought about buying for me and Molly, but I didn't think we would actually wear it, so I decided not to. I found a simple black shirt with a partial outline of Mickey and it says Disneyland Paris too. Cool stuff. I could have made many more purchases as usual, but having to carry everything I buy is a great deterrent.

After the quick shipping trip I caught the RER back to Torcy. I almost missed the train and had to wait another 15 minutes but I just made it as the train was signaling it was leaving. Now in back at my hotel and ready for sleep. One benefit of long lines and a short train ride is that my post got written throughout the day so I don't have to sit up writing! It's also why it's a bit listy and fragmented. Oh well, not reading it over!

In summary I had a great day! I am also now extremely exhausted. California still wins in my mind for best Disney, but that's not to say Paris and Florida aren't great too, I'll just always prefer the original and my "home park." The line times here are confusing (ie Space Mountain line fairly short and Pirates takes a long time). Basically I could list a million things that I observed, but those of you who've heard me speak about my issues with the Hunger Games movie know my lists are very detailed and boring to most and this post is already boring enough! If you want more details we will just have to chat!!