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I took advantage of some free Eurostar tickets and took my daughter,
Charlotte, to Paris for three days. We planned sightseeing in Paris
for the first and last days, to fit around arrival and departure times,
and the second day would be for a trip to Disneyland Paris.
We caught the RER from the centre of Paris to Disneyland and came
across our first hurdle (almost literaly). My daughter has M.D. and
we have a large version of a baby buggy to use when any large
amounts of walking or standing are likely. We arrived at the station
and the disabled door was shut and there was no-ne around to open it. In
the end we had to collapse the buggy and she had to walk through,
possible in our situation but we are luckier than many. We found this
to be a common occurence on the Metro and RER. At one station a French
lady went to the ticket office to ask for assistance for us to get
through the disabled barrier and she returned to say they advised us to
use a different route to our destination.
However once through the barrier the Disney Magic started.
The weather was beautiful, in fact a little warm on the neck at some times.
We watched the Good Morning Main Street Parade, and headed to Adventureland.
Throughout our time their we were directed through exits and disabled
entrances. Some disabled people had orange cards supplied at City Hall but
we were never asked to show one. We then went on to Adventureland and went
to ride Indian Jones, Temple of Doom. Charlotte was tall enough for all the
rides at WDW two years ago but this time did not reach the height
restriction of 1.4m, she was very disappointed so be warned about telling
a borderline case all about the rides. The same was true on Space Mountain,
so I guess it is due to the fact that both rides have a 360 degree vetical
loop. I didn't mind too much as I had ridden both rides in March when I
was there with my wife, I was offered the chance to ride without her but
her eyes were welling up so I decided against it.
While walking through Adventureland we saw Pluto running off down a path,
I called after him but he didn't respond so I whistled and he came running
back and signed Charlotte's autograph book.
We looked around Hook's ship and the caves and then did Pirates. We then met
up with Aladdin, Jasmine, Abu and Genie at the entrance to Adventureland.
They kept running to and from Jafar who was a short distance away so were
difficult to pin down for autograph's. There seems to be no sense of queuing
at all to have pictures and autograph's like we found at WDW and with
Charlotte in her buggy we had problems. Eventually Genie noticed her and
gave her a lot of attention. We eventually got all their autograph's except
Jafar who does not appear to sign at all but snatched the kid's books and
pens and walked off with them.
We headed back to Adventureland to catch the Pocahontas show, on the way
we met Smee, Pinnochio, Giddeon and Stromboli. Charlotte got autograph's
from Stromboli and Giddeon, she already had the others from WDW. The
Pocahontas show was performed as a mock filming, I would have preferred
it to be a straight show but must admit the audience participation was fun.
We then caught the train around to Discoveryland and did Star Tours, we
couldn't do Space Mountain as explained earlier, and Visionarium had just
gone in, so we decided to leave it until later.
Charlotte did not want to wait for the parade so we went into Fantasyland.
We sat for an ice-cream in the castle courtyard when Eyore, Tigger and two
of the Cinderella mice arrived. We got autograph's from the mice (can't
remember the names), she already had Tigger and Eyore wasn't signing.
We rode Snow White and Pinnochio then went in Alice's Curious Labyrinth, I
love mazes so enjoyed this. I think it was better when we were there in
March as we did it at night. Next we did the Storybook Boat Ride, Casey
Junior, the Windmill `big-wheel' and Small World. We then went into the
Dragon's lair and then looked at the stained glass on the balcony, very
impressive.
We went to Main Street and did some shopping. We were getting hungry and
Charlotte wanted to eat in Adventureland, we made our way over and found
that the Lucky Nugget show was due to start in 30 mins. we walked straight
in and were seated and served before a huge rush of people arrived, many
were locked out. The show was fun but the English woman approached by the
cowboy just tried to ignore him and carried on eating.
After dinner we rode Thunder Mountain and Phantom Manor again then found a
telephone to ring home to speak to mum. We then went back to Fantasyland
to do Casey Junior again. Then made our way to Discoveryland for another
go on Star Tours and to see the Timekeeper.
I told Charlotte we had time for one last ride before finding a spot for
the Main Street Electrical Parade. She chose Thunder Mountain. After the
ride we found a good spot with only half an hour before the parade. Some cast
members made the time pass quickly by getting the crowd cheering and
clapping as they raced up and down the road.
Charlotte thoroughly enjoyed the parade as did I on this and the previous
occassion. I hope Spectromagic is as good when we go back to WDW in October.
There were fireworks after the parade but Charlotte asked if we could go
as it was a long journey back to the hotel. We saw most of the fireworks
as we left the park. Charlotte was asleep before the train left the station.
I briefed Charlotte before the visit about how expensive merchandise was at
Disneyland Paris and that she should save her money as we are going to WDW
in October and it would all be much cheaper there. She restricted herslf to
a couple of trinkets as souvenirs.
We had a most enjoyable though exhausting day. We criss-crossed the park
several times which added to the walking but I would prefer to do this and
do the rides as we want rather than follow a set circuit around the park.
The cast-members are not as attentive as they are in WDW, but once you have
their attention they are friendly and helpful. If you're going, check the
height restrictions before the kids get excited about the rides. We were
caught out as Charlotte had no problem at WDW but the minimums are different
for some rides in Paris.
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