Disneyland Paris
Trip Start May 11, 2010
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Trip End Aug 31, 2010 
We were so excited for our first day in Paris, and it was Bastille Day too! Unfortunately, mother nature doesn't care about either of those things, since there were random downpours and thunderstorms the entire day! We actually got lost on the way to the airport (and we were out the door for once on time too!), but managed to get there in time to make the flight. Security was a breeze since we were traveling within the EU, aside from Ryan's backpack ... apparently the Protein Bars and a bag of pencils looked like some sort of bomb in the X-Ray machine ... the guy from airport security laughed when he opened the backpack and saw what it ACTUALLY was. We had wanted to see the Bastille Day parade and fireworks over the Eiffel Tower, but it was looking like the weather was going to make that impossible (or very uncomfortable) ... so last minute decision, we decided to go to Disneyland Paris instead! It turned out to be a great plan, because the combination of the weather and the holiday meant that the park was almost completely empty. There are two Disney parks in Paris, Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios. Disneyland Park is basically Magic Kingdom, but has Sleeping Beauty Castle instead of Cinderella Castle. Some of the rides are similar (most are still slightly different), but there are completely different rides as well (for example, Indiana Jones Rollercoaster). Instead of Space Mountain, there is Space Mountain 2, which is the same general idea but built more like Rockin' Rollercoaster (it goes upside down, is much faster, and twice as long). In general, Ryan and I agreed that the Disney in Paris is a much nicer park overall ... so many flowers and different gardens that are really well-maintained, cleaner, etc. However, Walt Disney Studios was a bit of a dissapointment ... I think it's just that it's a much newer park and there isn't much there. There was a Finding Nemo ride called Crush's Coaster, but it broke down while we were in line! In the next year or so Walt Disney Studios is also debuting an entire new section with Toy Story theme. From what we could see over the construction wall, it looked like it was going to be amazing!! What was really nice was that the park entrances are side-by-side, so it's really easy to hop back and forth all day (something you can't do easily at the parks in Florida). We also liked Sleeping Beauty Castle a lot better than Cinderella Castle ... there's a bridge, mote, waterfalls, you can go up in the castle, as well as underneath where a mechanical dragon lives!! It's smaller, but much more magical. We saw two things tonight which made my trip to Paris completely worth it ... and the first was Captain EO!!!!! This was the predecessor of Honey, I Shrunk the Audience! at EPCOT in Florida ... a 3D mini-film created by George Lucas (Star Wars), Francis Ford Copolla (The Godfather Series) and Michael Jackson. When I was a kid, I used to go on this over and over again until my parents heads were about to explode, and Disney brought it back for the summer to remember Michael Jackson. Luckily, Ryan humoured my crazy excitement, and in exchange I only made him go on it twice :). Second, we got to see special Bastille Day Disney fireworks over Sleeping Beauty Castle. They were all set to French music and were really amazing (wouldn't expect anything less from Disney, of course!).
Our hotel isn't too bad. The area is a little questionable, but at least it's right near the subway. The room itself is really small (we keep bumping into each other trying to walk around in here) and there's only one power outlet (by the ceiling behind a TV!!) ... but that's what you get for Paris on a budget!
Our hotel isn't too bad. The area is a little questionable, but at least it's right near the subway. The room itself is really small (we keep bumping into each other trying to walk around in here) and there's only one power outlet (by the ceiling behind a TV!!) ... but that's what you get for Paris on a budget!
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