July 22 & 23 Disneyland Paris

Today we checked out of our hotel in Paris and hopped on the RER to go to Disneyland!

We checked into our hotel in Val d’Europe (we’re staying at the Moxy, a Marriott-branded boutique hotel). After settling in, we headed to the mall and had lunch at a yummy burger place.

Then we hopped back on the RER and took one stop to Marne-la-Vallée—the station for Disneyland Paris! The station is literally just for Disney: you exit, go through security, and you’re on Disney property. Disneyland Park is on your right, Walt Disney Studios is straight ahead, and Disney Village is to your left.

We were planning to do three days at Disneyland, but Angie’s military tickets came in pairs—two-day park hoppers—so we ended up with four days of tickets for considerably less than it would’ve cost to buy three days without her discount. So today was kind of a bonus day! We didn’t get into the parks until 4:00 p.m., but we still got to see a good portion.

Just as I remembered, the landscaping is beautiful, and the lands feel incredibly immersive. However, you can definitely tell Disney has more direct ownership now than the last time we were here. The maintenance level has gone down—just like in the U.S. parks. Lots of fading, chipped and missing paint, and it’s just not as clean as Disney parks once were.

But still, it’s awesome, and we’re so glad to be here. The kids have now officially been to every single Disney park in the world!

We started out by strolling down Main Street and heading to Tomorrowland. There, we took some photos, rode Space Mountain and Star Tours, walked through the Nautilus submarine, and got a snack.

Then we headed into Fantasyland and rode it’s a small world (Which has an extended America section and even has a shout out to Canada), Storybook Canal (which is A better version, because each group gets their own boat and you can see everything easier), Casey Jr. Circus Train (which is more like a mini coaster), walked through Alice’s Curious Labyrinth (one of my favorites!), and rode Pinocchio.

We decided to save a couple of lands for another day, so we went back to Tomorrowland and rode Autopia.

The nighttime fireworks show started just as we were getting off the ride. We found a place off to the side to watch the end of it. Little did we know—it’s a massive drone show! We are definitely coming back to watch it again from a better perspective.

Another neat touch: as the crowds were swarming out of the park, Mickey Mouse was up on the train station balcony, waving goodbye to everyone. 🥹

After we left the park, we realized we’d waited way too long to eat. So we went to McDonald’s in Disney Village. We were too tired for a sit-down restaurant and just wanted something quick. Of course, McDonald’s was a madhouse—but it was incredibly efficient! You order from a touchscreen, so you don’t really have to worry about language barriers or how loud it is. And the food was ready in about five minutes. It was awesome.

Bonus: Happy Meals were only four euros! The Happy Meal came with an entrée, a side, a drink, and a dessert—so each of the Benedicts got a Happy Meal! At a price like that… it was definitely happy.

Wednesday, July 23

Today we woke up and walked to the grocery store near our hotel—an Aldi! We grabbed some snacks and then headed off to the parks.

We started our day at Walt Disney Studios Park. We got there just as the show Pixar: Together was about to start, so we hopped in line. When we walked in, we saw real musical instruments on stage with a big screen. Grant and I both assumed it was going to be a live band playing Pixar music to scenes on the screen.

Well, it started out that way… but of course, magic ensued. The screen opened up to reveal live characters! This was a full-on stage production with live performers, musicians, and so much magic. I was blown away by how awesome the show was. There were scenes from Toy Story, up, monsters inc, and coco. 

Next, we rode Tower of Terror, which only had a 20-minute wait. This version is the same one that used to exist in California before it was rethemed to Guardians of the Galaxy.

Side note: The lines have been moving really well! They don’t use Genie+ or Lightning Lane, but they do have something called Premier Access. However, it doesn’t seem to be used much. The Premier Access lines usually have just a few people in them, which keeps the standby lines moving at a nice pace. It’s awesome—waiting in line doesn’t feel nearly as exhausting because you’re constantly moving. Plus, the parks aren’t very crowded, so most wait times are around 20 minutes, with bigger rides hovering around 30–40.

After Tower of Terror, we rode Avengers Assemble: Flight Force, which is a retheme of the old Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster featuring Aerosmith. In Florida, this ride regularly has a wait of 50–90 minutes. Here? We waited about 15 minutes. So awesome!

After that, we parted ways—Angie, Katelyn, and Geoffrey had lunch and rode Spider-Man W.E.B. Adventure and Slinky Dog Zigzag Spin.

Meanwhile, Grant and I went to Disney Village to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary! 💕 We had a lovely lunch at a restaurant called Rosalie. We shared a cucumber-mint gazpacho, pâté, mussels, chicken cordon bleu, and a coffee ice cream dessert. The meal was delicious, and it was so nice having some one-on-one time together. 🥰

We met back up with everyone in the park and continued exploring Disney Studios. We rode Cartastrophe Canyon, which was a fantastic throwback to the original tram ride at MGM Studios.

Then we saw another amazing stage show called Mickey and the Magician. It featured live actors and singers as Mickey worked his magic through several Disney stories, including Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Frozen. The actress who sang Circle of Life as Rafiki had a voice that would blow your mind.

After the show, we rode Ratatouille and then RC Racer in Toy Story Land. It’s a janky carnival ride that was so bad it was funny. I kinda liked it. 😂

Next, we had dinner at the food booths near Ratatouille. Each booth represented a different region of France. Katelyn got a ham and cheese crêpe. Grant and I shared a goat cheese and nut crêpe with honey and a cheese pretzel. Geoffrey got a caramel crêpe, and Angie got chicken bites. We also picked up some macarons, and Katelyn had a Nutella waffle for dessert.

When we finished eating, the line for Crush’s Coaster had dropped to 35 minutes. This is the only ride that consistently has an hour+ wait in both parks—the capacity just can’t keep up with the demand. We decided to go for it. We weren’t expecting much (we’d read it was basically an off-the-shelf carnival coaster), and… it was! But it also had a long dark ride section at the beginning that pleasantly surprised us all.

When we got off the ride, it had started sprinkling lightly, but it never rained hard. It was just enough to cancel the drones for the nighttime show at Disneyland, but nothing too bad. I think we used umbrellas for all of 15 minutes.

I should mention the weather these past few days has been fantastic. Yesterday had no rain at all, with highs around 74–75°F and lows around 68. Today was a bit cooler—probably around 70 most of the day, dropping to 67 when the rain started. It’s probably the most amazing Disney weather we’ve ever had.

Anyway, when we got off Crush’s Coaster, Disney Studios had closed, but Disneyland Park was still open for another hour and a half, so we headed over there. We walked through Liberty Arcade and made our way to Frontierland. Geoffrey grabbed his dinner—Doritos nachos—and ate while we waited in line for Big Thunder Mountain, which had a 25-minute wait.

Big Thunder Mountain at Disneyland Paris is one of my absolute favorites! The entire ride is on an island in the middle of the Frontierland lake. You board from the “land” side, then the track goes through a tunnel underwater to take you to the island. At the end, there’s a fast, intense tunnel that gets you back. It’s fantastic!

We got off the ride with six minutes left before park closing, so we booked it over to Phantom Manor, where we rode the creepiest version of Haunted Mansion that exists.

Walking out of Frontierland was magical—it felt like we were literally the only people there. I think everyone was on Main Street watching the nighttime show, which still ran with lasers, fireworks, and projections, but no drones. The wide, empty streets were all ours. ✨

We decided to exit through Liberty Arcade and explore some shops. We said goodbye to Mickey at the train station and headed out to Disney Village, with a stop at World of Disney—which is much smaller than the one at home.

Still, a little shopping helped the train crowds thin out, and by the time we got on the train, it was easy to find seats. We took our one stop back to the hotel and are now resting so we can get up and do it all over again tomorrow!