DisneylLand Paris Day 2

The alarm went off at 6:30AM and we were down to breakfast by 7:30AM. A little later then we had hoped for but not too bad. The kids were hard to rouse out of bed, but they said that they wanted to go to Disneyland early so we pressed on. The included buffet breakfast was actually decent and everyone found something that they liked to eat. Then we were off to the park. I think we got there around 8:10AM after the walk from our hotel. We decided to rent a stroller (8 euro) for Ethan as we knew we would be walking a lot today and that possibly he could take a nap in it. (Yeah right!) Here are Nic and the kids in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle. I did really like the castle.

We headed straight for Tomorrow land and rode the Buzz Lightyear ride 3 times I think, with absolutely no line. This was a fun one for the kids - and perhaps adults. Nic doesn't look happy does he? You rode around in a car and got to "shoot" at targets with a laser gun. Each person got their own score so it made for a little friendly competition.

Next stop was the Orbitron. A spinning ride where you could raise and lower your car as it went around. We rode it once and then Nic decided to ride Space Mountain which was right there and had zero line. So I took the kids on the Orbitron again. Gwyneth sat in her own car and I went with Ethan. Before we got going, Nic actually had returned from Space Mountain. There seemed to be some issue with Gwyneth in her own car as a rather unfriendly Disney worker was saying she couldn't ride alone from what I could gather and there was another mother with a kid there waiting to get in. (Later we figured out that we think she had counted the number of riders and had put Gwyneth with Ethan and I, but no one asked as we entered the ride and we wanted separate cars). We offered to have Nic ride with Gwyneth as he was right there outside the fence but the Disney lady wasn't happy and mumble something about being in line. (Since when are the French concerned about lines!) Anyway, no one budged and after everyone left another Disney worker told Nic to hop over the fence and get in the ride with Gwyneth. Ha ha.

Next stop was Fantasyland. We rode the teacups without a wait. The video is actually from Friday when we ride them again, but you get the idea.

We waited a little for the Peter Pan ride, the Snow White ride, and the Pinocchio ride but nothing too bad. The Peter Pan is the best of them as it gives the appearance that you are flying over everything. We got a Fast Pass (there were not many opportunities for Fast Passes in the park) and we ended up going back to the ride later. We skipped the carousel and the Dumbo ride on this day as the queue's were long by the time we got there. There were a few rides that were closed in the this section too - something with a boat (but not It's a Small World) - and that was bit of a disappointment. Gwyneth was dead against It's a Small World for some reason, so we didn't go on that one.

We walked back to Tomorrow land to try a driving ride that we had seen earlier but was not opened. One frustrating thing about DisneyLand Paris was there seemed to be a lot of things closed. We chose to stay at a hotel in the park which meant we could get in the park early (8am), but not all of the rides were operating. But then even later (10am), when the park was completely open, not all of the attractions would be open. This driving ride we discovered opened up at 11:30AM, just as we were getting there for the second time. And the queue was already huge with people who had been waiting for it to open. So we ditched that play and went for the 3D movie narrated by Rick Moranis from "Honey I Shrunk the Kids". Again, Gwyneth didn't like it and found it scary. The movie was a sensory experience that had things blow at you from under your seat. For example, at one point the movie had a bunch of mice running around and then something blew at you from under your seat to make it seem like mice were running around. (Yes I screamed a bit). After that I knew what to expect. Gwyneth hated it as she found it scary and Ethan didn't seem to be fazed at all.

By this time it was around noontime, maybe a little later and Nic and decided that we should get some lunch and go back to the hotel for an afternoon swim. The kids were exhausted and we were not ready to tackle the other side of the park today. We strolled through Sleeping Beauty's castle on the way back. While returning the stroller, Gwyneth tried on a variety of hats of Mickey Mouse hands for fun. One thing we have noticed here is a preponderance of people (not just kids) where Mickey ears, and Disney hats of various sorts. Many kids also wear full blown costumes. There were lots of princesses running around!

After failing to find a place with pizza on the walk out of the Disneyland Park we found ourselves at Cafe Mickey again. (This restaurant was in the Disney Village which was in between the parks and our hotel). Again we were treated to lots of characters. Can you name this one? We had another enjoyable lunch, if not long. The service got a little slow at one point, but the kids were entertained. The menu was the same as the one from dinner last night and we were a little more savvy in ordering and were able to save a few euro. (We ordered a regular pizza for the kids to share rather than 2 separate kids meals and the pizza was much better too). Lunch was over around 3PM or little before and we headed back to the hotel.

The kids were receptive to going swimming so we headed over to the pool. Unfortunately, the pool at our hotel was closed due to an unspecified technical problem. We were given a choice of trying again in 1-2 hours or going to the pool at the next hotel - the Newport. We chose the latter and after being asked to enter a different way, and wandering around that hotel a bit we found the pool.

It was a bit coolish for swimming but the kids and Nic went in. They had some swim-wings available and Ethan used them to great effect. He jumped in on his own a couple of times and generally enjoyed being able to swim on his own. Here he is doing a back float. It wasn't too long before everyone was ready to get out and return to our hotel.

After returning to the room, Ethan and Nic stayed in the room watching TV (the Disney Channel, what else?) while Deb and Gwyneth went out. The boys were asleep by 7:30 (yes Nic too), meanwhile the girls shopped Disney Village and obtained a Little Mermaid play set. The next day Ethan was told that he could get something similar but would insist that he wanted exactly the same thing. The girls returned at 9ish and went right to bed. No one ate dinner.