Disneyland Paris

Those of you who know me well know that I have an obsession with Disney theme parks that I'm sure rises to the level of a clinically diagnosable disorder. So here is the lowdown on our fabulous trip to Disneyland Paris, in staggering detail:

Thursday, November 13
We woke up bright and early, took the 10-minute bus ride to St. Pancras International rail station (which, parenthetically, is the most beautiful train station in London). We then boarded the Eurostar train to Disneyland. When I say it was the train to Disneyland, I mean that it pulls up three hours later 100 meters from the entrance gates. (SO COOL!) Then we dropped our bags off at our hotel room, which had these great bunk beds in addition to a king-size:

Then it was off to the park! Here are pictures of the lovely entrance gates:
And to the castle, which is my favorite of the three I've seen in person (Disney World, Disneyland CA, and Disneyland Paris):
(Side note : All the architecture, design, and decor in this park was so beautiful. There was more elegance and sophistication to everything, which I guess you would expect from a park in France. Ironically, the food was horrible! The variety and quality of the food at the American parks is much better.) Underneath the castle, there was a little cave you could walk in and see a big, smoke-breathing dragon. This was one of James's favorite attractions - he would often tell the dragon to "go to sleep right now!"

We were amazed at how empty the park was our first day, which was a Thursday. We walked on to every ride, and did most of Fantasyland in just a couple of hours, including Dumbo:
And instead of an Alice in Wonderland ride, as there is in Disneyland CA, there was a hedge maze, which featured this huge, topiary Cheshire Cat that James loved:We also did DP's version of the Haunted Mansion, "Phantom Manor." It was a little too scary - too many skeletons and not enough happy haunts. I much prefer the original. We ended the evening at "Pirates of the Caribbean," which was great. It was distinct from the Florida and California versions, but not better or worse. Just different.

Friday, November 14
The parks were slightly more crowded today, but not by too much. Here we are, waiting in line for the Casey Jr. Circus Train:
Look at the gorgeous fall foliage! None of our pictures do justice to how beautiful the landscaping in the parks was. And I must add that I am very proud of the fact that I crocheted the hat I am wearing in this photo. I am not a very craftsy, hands-on person, but I do like to crochet, and I'm so happy about how this hat turned out.

Friday was the day we met Mickey:
And Sully and Mike (from Monsters, Inc.) over at the Walt Disney Studios Park:
Saturday, November 15
Saturday, we finally understood how DP stays in business - it is PACKED on the weekends. We avoided the long lines for rides by mostly sticking to stage shows, which James loved. We saw the Winnie the Pooh show, a Mickey and Friends Christmas show, and a blacklight show called "Animagique." Micah wants me to mention that if anyone wants to know exactly which rides we went on and attractions we saw, I have that information available. Because I keep a list.

We had such a great trip! I don't know if we'll ever get back, but I'm so glad we went. It would have been very sad indeed for yours truly to live so close to Disneyland Paris for two years and not go. As we left to get on the train headed back for London, Micah asked me if I was sad we were leaving. I told him the sting was considerably lessened by the fact that, in five weeks' time, we'd be heading to the CA Disneyland with his family for Christmas.

Until next time...