France Day 2: Disneyland

On Friday we went to Disneyland. We got breakfast in Torcy because there was a Patisserie by the metro station. It was funny because I tried to order in French, but it came out “trois beignets and a bottle of water”. They were delicious, and we ate them on the train.

When we got into Disneyland it was great because it felt just like the Magic Kingdom. Main Street USA was exactly the same. The music was the same, the buildings were the same, it felt like we were in Disney World. Their castle is much nicer than the California one, which was great. The park is also laid out the same, except Tomorrowland is called Discoveryland, and the Lion King show is there, which is weird because everything else is futuristic.

I’m going to do the same format where I review the attractions but there are a lot more this time:

- Space Mountain: way better than ours – or at least completely different. It’s called Space Mountain: Mission 2. It’s 2 people sitting next to each other rather than ours which is one person across. It starts off with a blastoff going up, complete with smoke. Then you’re in space going around planets and things. It goes upside down and corkscrews, and it's really great. We went on it 3 times.
-Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast: the same as our Space Ranger Spin except the laser blasters come out so you can hold them better. I suck at this ride no matter what country I am in.
- Pirates of the Caribbean: better than ours. The outside looks like a fortress so it’s cooler. The inside is longer and has more drops. It also had a sword fighting sequence that you go through. It doesn’t have any of the movie characters that were recently added to ours. The best part was that the men are still chasing the women in this one – that was changed a long time ago in ours due to political correctness.
- Thunder Mountain: better than ours. Much longer than ours. It also has a part in a tunnel under the lake which is cool. They still say “the wildest ride in the wilderness” at the beginning in a Western accent.
- Phantom Manor: their version of the Haunted Mansion. It starts off the same as ours – you go in the first room, then the room where the walls stretch. The actual ride looks the same as ours, but there is no narration and it makes no sense. I was sad that “I’ll lower it for you” wasn’t there and the attendant just lowers the safety bar. You follow a bride who comes to the house. I think the ballroom dancing part is her reception (that part is cooler than ours – the holograms actually look incredibly real). The lady’s head in the ball is the same. When you go out to the cemetery it makes no sense at all. That part is scarier than our version, but there’s a Wild West part in it that I’m not sure where it comes from. Overall it’s good, but we went on it twice and didn’t understand it.
- Sleeping Beauty Castle: you can go up to the second floor of the castle and walk around. There is cool stained glass windows that tell the story of Sleeping Beauty. There are nice views of the park from there. There’s also a dragon that lives under the castle which is pretty cool.
- Alice in Wonderland Labyrinth: a maze that was surprisingly hard and takes you to a castle in the middle. Not like anything that we have.
- It’s a Small World: much bigger than ours but basically the same. The only notable part was the America section, since we don’t really have one. It starts off with kids in the Wild West, then there’s the Statue of Liberty, Golden Gate Bridge, and Hollywood sign. At the end there is a kid in a football uniform and a baseball uniform.
- Le Pays des Contes de Fees: a boat ride like It’s a Small World, but outside. It takes you through miniature storybooks including Beauty and the Beast and others.
- Le Petit Train du Cirque: A little rollercoaster for kids really. Kind of like Goofy’s Barnstormer except less of a rollercoaster. It was cute.
- Peter Pan/Pinocchio: Peter Pan is pretty much exactly the same as ours. Pinocchio is like our Snow White and former Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.
- Indiana Jones et le Temple du Peril: disappointing. It's just like any other rollercoaster. It also goes upside down. There's nothing special about it.
- Star Tours: the same exact as ours but in French. Everything the robot says is French, but what the men say in the movie part (like when they say “clear for launch” or “follow me”) it’s in English. It’s newer than ours so it’s nicer looking, but it’s exactly the same.
- Once Upon a Dream Parade: really good parade. Cool floats that are two different movies: one on the front and one on the back. It had all the major characters, good music, and it was really enjoyable.
- Honey I Shrunk the Audience: same as ours and in English. It even had a weird Kodak preshow like ours.
- Candleabration: the end of the day show. Doesn’t compare at all to ours since the end of the day is 2 hours before it’s dark. In lieu of fireworks they shoot off streamers.

The only other thing that was different was the food. The lunch we had was very small. The drink they give you would be kid’s size in America. The meal cost 9 euro, which is $14. They didn’t have much ice cream – only pints of Ben and Jerry’s. No Mickey shaped popsicles, and we searched far and wide for them. The only Mickey shaped food was a pizza. They did have crepes though that were delicious. Not quite as good as the ones we would have later in Paris, but still excellent.

It was really an awesome day in Disneyland. I love Disney World so much that I am usually very critical (which is why I didn’t care for Disneyland in California at all), but this was surprisingly wonderful. It’s a lot newer than ours - they are celebrating their 15th anniversary - so all of the rides were updated and everything was very new. It was amazing.

After Disney we went back to Torcy and got a pizza and brought it up to our room. We left the next morning for Paris and moved to our hostel in Montmartre.