Week 8: Disneyland Paris

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” -Walt Disney

This past weekend Kellie and I went to Disneyland Paris and had the most amazing time.

However, in the days leading up to going to Disney, Derby and the surrounding areas got hit with a huge storm that flooded most of the towns and cities in Central England. We thought that we be fine to travel since the storm like days before we were planned to depart from Derby.

Fast forward to Saturday, November 9th, places we’re still flooded and trains were canceled and delayed because water was covering the tracks. Luckily, we arrived at the train station an hour before our original booked time because our train was canceled!!! We had to ask around and eventually, we hopped on another train headed to London but there was literally standing room only, it was so packed.

Once we made it to London, we knew that we didn’t have to worry about weather-related delays because London was hit like Derby was. We got on our flight and flew over to Paris no problem.

Once we arrived in Paris, we went straight to the help kiosk to find a way to Disneyland Paris since we couldn’t find anything pre-booked online and didn’t want to spend a ton of money on a taxi. So, we stumbled upon 2 buses that would get us to Disneyland. Little did we know that they were cash-only operations, which we didn’t have and there were no ATMs to be found. Somehow, Kellie talked our way on to not one but two free buses to Disneyland which our hotel was next to for FREE. This woman has a talent. Once we made it to Disney, we took a taxi to our hotel because it was dark out and called it a night.

Some background, Kellie has never been to Disney and I went when I was younger but don’t remember any of it. So this whole Disney thing and experience was very new to us.

On Sunday, November 10, Kellie and I headed to Disney bright and early. When we first walked in we were shocked by how magical it felt. The ambiance was TO DIE FOR. They had just decorated for Christmas and everything was so beautiful. The gardening was perfect and visually it was amazing. They were playing Christmas instrumentals, and if you weren’t in the mood for Christmas before Disney, you sure were after!

Once we got into the park, we somehow missed the park map section so we were wandering around just kind of stopping and looking at different rides and attractions. First, we rode the Snow White storybook ride and it was alright. Then, we rode the Pinocchio storybook ride and it was a little better. But, the moment we finally found a map and realized there was more than storybook rides, we were so excited.

Now that we had the map, we were cooking. We found out where the characters were going the meet and greets and what attractions were the best. We were having a BALL!! We saw Genie, Donald Duck, and Captain Hook and got to ride a few more things like the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction and more. By the time we got done with all those things, it was around 5:00 pm and the parade was about to start! Somehow we managed to be front row for the parade and loved every second of it. Kellie videoed the entire thing and my favorite highlight was when Kristoff from Frozen came up to us and asked if we wanted some warm hugs, we clearly and gladly obliged.

Later that night we continued the fun at Disney and closed down the park by watching the Illumination show. We enjoyed the light-up projection show on Sleeping Beauty’s Castle but we enjoyed the parade more!

On Monday, November 11, we went to the Disney Studio to check out what it had to offer. The studio was fun but we only found two attractions that we wanted to do, Ratatouille and the Tower of Terror, other than that we walked around. After seeing everything in the studio, we decided to go back to Disneyland for the rest of the day to hit some of the rides that we couldn’t fit in yesterday.

We got to ride three more rides until the park shut down early because of a national holiday in Paris, Armistice Day.

Later that night, we went to the Disney Village to eat dinner and shop around. When we got back to the hotel, we asked did there was an easier way to get to the airport from Disneyland and to our surprise there was a 10-minute direct train opposed to an hour and a half bus ride. So on the morning of the 12th, we to the Marne-la-Vallée - Chessy train station and went to the airport.

Things I’ve Learned This Week in Paris:

1.) People in Paris are rude and mean for no reason.

2.) This trip validated that I don’t think I like Paris and probably will never return.

3.) Kellie’s people persuasion talent is something to be celebrated.

4.) If you can’t handle the queue (the line), then you can’t handle the ride (this is directed at the many screaming children and disruptive children in lines for rides they weren’t even y’all enough to ride)

5.) Paris-Charles De Gaulle takes the cake for the worst airport ever in my book!! Signage and general directional information lacks and it’s so confusing! Not to mention in order to get to another terminal, you must take a train and then walk for 10 minutes outdoors?!? Ridiculous.

6.) The Grinch character is only at the California and Florida Disney :(, I was really looking forward to giving him an onion!

7.) If carrying a backpack while boarding a vehicle with automatic shutting doors, carry it in front of you. Sometimes the door may close on your bag leaving you with only the straps while it’s dangling on the outside of the door. (Not speaking from personal experience but oh Kellie, lessons were learned secondhand)!!!