Today, Grant and I went to Disneyland Paris. It was only opened until 8:00, and it felt pretty crowded - but when you do the parks like Grant and I do, its possible to see quite a bit! We did really good!
Once we got our tickets, we started out by picking up fast passes to Big Thunder Mountain. (At Disneyland Paris, Frontierland and Adventureland are reversed, so going counter clockwise, after Main Street, Frontierland comes first.
The fastpasses here work the same way as home, except the window they give you is only 30 minutes. Also, I had read somewhere that they don't take them after time is up. I don't know if that is true, but we didn't want to risk it if it was.
Luckily, the Big Thunder Fast Pass was only about an hour and a half away. So while we waited, we rode Phantom Manor. I had forgotten how neat the queue was - it is like Tower of Terror at MGM, where you really feel like you are in the front yard of a wealthy mansion. The ride itself was not narrated (after the elevator scene, which was in French,) and although essentially the same as our at home, has a bit more of a plot. Also, the grave yard scene is COMPLETELY different.
After Phantom Manor, we went over to Adventureland. This version of Adventureland is my favorite version out of all of the parks I've been to - Partly becasue it is so big, I think. It had a middle east entrance, Aladdin themed, a portion of it is jungle themed, with Jungle Book music and the Indiana Jones roller coaster, Adventure Island, full of caves, bridges, sunken ships, The Swiss Family Robinson Tree House, and of course, Skull Rock, which is adjacent to a pirate ship and across the harbor of the looming fort that serves as the entrance to Pirates of the Caribbean.
Pirates was our second ride of the day, and it is every bit as wonderful as I remembered. Like Adventureland itself, this version of Pirates is my absolute favorite. The story line makes more sense, the drops serve as part of the story, and te queue completely sets the mood.
After Pirates, we still had a little time before our Big Thunder Fast Pass, and we had not eaten yet, so we ate lunch at "Cowboy Cookout BBQ." After lunch, we grabbed fast passes for Indiana Jones (remember - you can get a new fast pass as soon as the one you hold is useable, so grab a new one before you ride, if possible!) and then went to Big Thunder.
Big Thunder is a great ride. The layout is not the same as ours, but it is a similar ride. What makes it truly awesome, thought, is that the whole ride takes place on an island in the middle of the Frontierland River. (By the way, similar to the Magic Kingdom in Florida, DLP (DIsneyland Paris) has lots of water - small ponds, creaks, etc. There is a "river" in Fronteirland that surrounds Big Thunder, and is home to the river boats - one called the "Mark Twain." Anyways - Big Thunder Mountain loads on the "land" side, and the train goes under the lake via a tunnel to the island where the majority of the ride occurs - at the end, you roar back through the tunnel again. So cool.
Next, we hiked over to Tomorrowland - Oops - sorry - Discoveryland - to get a fast pass for Space Mountain. Then we went back to Adventureland and rode Indiana Jones, which is a small roller coaster. The ride itself is short, and a bit bumpy. After the ride, as I was getting out, well, I'm not sure how it happened, but I lost my footing, and knew I was going to fall - I started running/tumbling forward, hoping to regain my balance before I slammed my face in the ground, and saw a bench by a wall in front of me - I knew if I could crash into that, it would hurt a lot less. I made it and slammed into the wall with my hands and arms absorbing the shock and fell on to the bench. Literally, all of this took place in like three heavy run steps. I looked like a huge klutz - seriously, Funniest Home Videos. Everybody was staring. Oh well. I avoided serious injury, although my back and shoulders are pretty sore from the jolt.
On to better things. We went back to Discoveryland via Fantasyland. FIrst, we visited the dragon that sleeps under the castle. (I think we woke him up, because he got kind of cranky.) Then we rode "it's a small world," which is like ours in fast forward - a lot to take in, very neat.
ALso - we noticed - usually when you ride Pirates and its a small world, its a relief becasue you know its going to be nice and cool and AC'd. It was add (and welcoming) to have the rides be so WARM, because it was so cool out side - high of 55 with 10 MPH winds throughout the day - Grant says perfect theme park weather. I'm glad I had my scarf.
After "Small World," we got a FP for Star Tours, and then rode Space Mountain. This is NOTHING like ours - a full on rollercoaster with loops and everything. I liked it, but the ride WAS kind of jerky. Grant bopped his head on his restraint a few times.
Next, we walked through the Nautilus, Captain Nemo's submarine, and then went on Star Tours - we ended up NOT using our fast pass because we wanted to see the queue, and the line wasn't too long. The ride was mostly in French, however, parts of the soundtrack were in English - "Star Tours, you are going the wrong way..." and "Star Tours, what are you doing here? This is a combat zone, it's restricted. Ease off on your main thruster."
After that, we went over to get a fast pass for Peter Pan, but they were all out. So instead, we went over to Videopolis and watched a live stage show (the 5:00 show was in English) of "The Legend of the Lion King." (Before it started, one of the High School Musical songs played - it was a French Music Video of a French singer singing the song with clips of the movie in the background.)
After the show, we went over to Fantasyland and caught the train to take it all the way around the park. They have the Grand Canyon diorama, too, but here it is between Main Street and Frontierland.
After the train, we went through Alice's Curious Labyrinth, which is a hedge maze that take you through different scenes of Alice in Wonderland. I truly love this attraction. My favorite part is when it takes you into a spiral with the bird in the middle and the music playing from the scene where the animals are running in circles trying to dry off while the waves continue to get them wet - you feel like your running in a circle with them! The maze ends at the Queen of Hearts Castle, with a lovely view of Fantasy Land - after climbing more SPIRAL STEPS, of course!
We wanted to ride the story book canal, but they had closed at 6, so instead, we rode Snow White, Pinocchio, and then jumped in line for Peter Pan before the line closed at 8:00. These three rides, except for tiny differences, were carbon copies of Disneyland (Anaheim)'s version of these rides. ALl of the cars, though, had DisneyWorld stadium seating and one extra row from Disneyland's
As we got off Peter Pan, the park closed. We went to Main Street (walking down the arcade behind the stores) and did come shopping. Then we went to Disney Village and had a fast food dinner, with a crepe with nutella for dessert. (The guy making the crepes was from Finland - nice guy.) After cramming on a bus with 3,000 other people we finally made it back to the hotel. I don't even want to know how long it took me to type this - so I am going to go to bed now.
Tomorrow, Disney Studios Paris, and back to Disneyland to finish up! Au revoirs!
No comments:
Post a Comment