The entrance is beautiful, and The Magic Kingdom and Disney Studios are right next to each other. There were lots of trees, fountains, and flowers, and of course a Mickey to greet us.
Here is the entrance to Disneyland. You walk through those gates, but that is the Disney hotel above it.
And here is the happy family ready to experience Disneyland Paris.
When we were at Disney in Orlando several years ago, Morgan got into the pin trading. Basically, if you have official Disney pins, you can trade with any employee that also has pins and they have to swap (as long as the pins are in good condition). Naturally, we left those back in the US somewhere in our storage unit. So, we went into one of the big stores inside and bought the kids lanyards and a basic set of pins. That way they could build up their own collection. Once that was done, we headed down Main Street USA toward Sleeping Beauty's Castle.
Wait, what? Yes, in Paris they have Sleeping Beauty's Castle, not Cinderella's Castle.
We stopped at the sign that said "Kodak Photo Opportunity" in front of the castle for an official family photo. We found someone that understood us to take the pic. It wasn't until we were done that we realized we stood around the sign for the picture, effectively messing up the view of the castle.
We had been watching the Pirates of the Caribbean movies prior to going there, so we naturally headed back for that ride. Upon getting into Adventureland, we found this. I think we're close.
We also found this ship. Nick naturally called it The Black Pearl. It appears to be under repair, though.
We only had about a 5 minute wait for the ride, which was great. The other great thing was that neither kid remembered riding this before, so it was brand new for them. It's pretty much the same as the one in Orlando, although the narrations were in French. I don't think they spoke French in Tortuga, though.... Here are some shots of the ride.
I think the family has decided to turn into pirates after going on the ride, too!
There was an island of pirate caves to explore outside of the ride, including a very cool suspension bridge.
We walked around and looked in some of the shops... as well as traded some pins. I found a great hat, but it was a little too small for me.
We had some lunch and walked around some more until we came to the Haunted Mansion! Again, it's pretty similar to the Orlando version, except that it's mostly in French.
Once it got to be about lunchtime, we noticed that lines were becoming very long. We probably went on one of the busiest days of the year. We didn't get to go on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, but this is what part of it looks like. It goes out onto an island. We'll definitely ride it when we go back.
One thing Morgan has been talking about wanting since we've gotten here is cotton candy. We really haven't found any, except an occasional premade version in a plastic tub. That's not really cotton candy, though. Well, they have it at Disney, and it comes in a HUGE amount.
There was so much there, the kids said they didn't want to finish it. Sandy and I naturally helped out so that none went to waste. We headed to Discoveryland. I think it was my favorite area. It was definitely designed more recently. From Videopolis to Space Mountain, it had a much different feel than Orlando.
Space Mountain is one ride that is definitely different than at Orlando. That's a picture of it directly above. That tube that is going up is where the ride starts. It's the type that immediately shoots you to top speed. It was a blast. Nick was blown away by it.
We waited a while at the Star Tours ride and had some fun until Nick's new sunglasses fell off his head and down into part of the Star Wars area. We couldn't get them back. He was sad.
At one point, Sandy told Morgan and me to act normal. I think we did a good job.
We went to the Buzz Lightyear ride and I had to chuckle. I saw this guy in line behind us. My wife was nice enough to pose for a pic that I pretended to take while I got this one. When you think of someone that is Thug and listens to Tupac, I'm not sure this is the guy you'd think of.
Anyway, we had a great time shooting all of the targets in Buzz Lightyear. The ride kept stopping for some reason, so we got extra time in it.
We finished up on the Carousel, which was a lot of fun. The animals on it were amazing... including my kids!
Overall, it was a great, but long, day. We had a blast. We will go again in the fall when kids are in school so that we can enjoy some of the rides that we couldn't do this trip.
And here is one last pic of my girls. Aren't they pretty?
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