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Published: June 26th 2013
Well we were up bright and early to get on the Metro and head for Disneyland Paris. The kids were excited, but tired - the idea had been to give the trip a big finale, but looking back on our day, I'm wondering how they actually managed it after such a jam-packed week! Hugo slept half the way THERE on the train!
A few days ago we were lucky enough to strike a really lovely man on a trip to the tourist information centre off Avenue del'Opera. We asked a couple of questions, and were glad we did, as we found out that he could organise our tickets from the office, and then he also told us he could do the train tickets as well. It saved us ages in queues at Disney and in working out which tickets we needed at the Metro.
Our early start meant that we arrived well before opening time at Disneyland, which gave me an opportunity to go and get coffee while the others waited at the turnstiles! The other advantage was that it gave us time to work out a strategy for getting around the park in the shortest time possible, with
Isabel and Hugo, Disneyland Paris
Two beautiful children in the queue for the legendary teacup ride!the shortest lines. The way recommended was to head for the Space Mountain Roller Coaster first, which we did. Sadly, this set Frank up for a bit of a queasy day, as the next stop on this itinerary was Star Tours (A simulated space ship ride). As he's not great on roller coasters at the best of times, let's just say Frank did well to make it through our mission. The poor thing was green for hours.
The other interesting development was that it began to rain. Soft, soaking rain, which was not a problem at first, but quickly began to be, so we invested in some rain ponchos which were not the height of fashion, but effective! We had remembered how much of a time-saver a stroller was when we visited Disney World Florida with Isabel as a 4-year-old, so had also organised one of those for Hugo. While he was not at all impressed at first and refused to get in, he saw the wisdom a couple of hours later, and he and Isabel had fun running time trials from one ride to the next!
We took a break from the wet weather at lunch time,
Wet but happy!
The Orbitron was much more Hugo's style and headed to the "Auberge du Cendrillon", or Cinderella's House, to meet all the characters from our favourite Disney movies. It was amazing that we just wandered in without difficulty, as before our trip to Florida on our way to Andrew's wedding, I had done mad things like get up in the middle of the night to get online and try to book a character breakfast for Isabel. The food was good, and we watched Cinderella and her Prince waltz around the room from where we sat. Afterwards they came over to say hello - a great photo opportunity!
It was lovely watching the kids have so much fun together. There is really something about Disney that does give you happy gas! While Hugo is NOT a roller-coaster kid, he was happy to wait and wave while Isabel had a turn on "Indiana Jones et le temple du peril" - the name says it all. Unfortunately that meant that I had to go with her, as Frank was in no condition to be turned upside down a few times. On the other hand, Isabel was happy to keep Hugo happy on the Orbitron, which was much more his style.
We all loved the Big Thunder Railway, however, and the queue for that one was under cover!
There were many other rides (most open air ones with short queues as the rain had become quite heavy), but we really loved playing off against each other on the "Buzz Light Year Laser Blast" and singing along in "It's a Small World".
It was probably merciful that the fireworks couldn't go ahead because of the rain, because by about 6pm we were all really wet and quite cold. There were no complaints when I made the executive decision that we would call it a day! A short train trip later we were back at our Paris apartment and poor Frank could go to bed at last. The children and I decided we would have one last walk (with umbrellas) to a local bistro for a late dinner, and once there we realised just how hungry we were! It was the best steak we had in Paris and it came complete with Hugo's favourite sauce au poivre. "Actually, it's not as good as the one you make, Mum" he said quietly after his plate was taken away - completely clean! After
Good-bye, Disneyland
and good-bye, Paris. tomorrow I'll be able to make it as often as he likes. We are homeward bound.......
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