Advertisement
Published: October 11th 2011
Note: All events in this entry occurred between January 2-4, 2007. For more updated entries and trips, please refer back to this blog at a later date. More updated entries and trips will NOT have a note like this. Thank you!
January 2, 2007, around 9 AM GMT- I get ready to leave my hostel in order to head to the train station and head to my next destination, Paris. I wanted to go back because all and all I had had only 3 days to actually visit Paris as a tourist, and I realized that there was still much of the city I had not seen and/or fully visited. For example, I had only seen the exterior facade of the Louvre with my Parisian friend (for more info please refer to blog entry with the subtitle "First Trip to Paris") and nothing inside. I had also not seen the Musee d'Orsay, one of the most famous museums in the world. I had also neglected to see Verseilles, which I had always wanted to see ever since I was a little girl. Therefore, I decided this trip that I would change that and see these three sites during two
of the four days I had left to visit Paris. However, I had two days scheduled in Disneyland Paris for one, particular reason: for nostalgia and cultural comparison. You see, when I was a child growing up in FL my parents and I used to go to Disney World every year during the summer and visit all the parks. However, this changed around my 8th birthday. Before then, my birthday was often celebrated in early December when school was still in session so that this way we could invite some of my classmates over. I liked this and everything however it was not on my actual birthday and my parents felt we could do better. So, mom gave me the following proposition close to my 8th birthday: go to Disney World or keep having normal birthday parties earlier in December. I, like any 8 year old little girl, gave the answer of "yes, mommy let's go to Disney World for my birthday!" This has been a tradition ever since, and has only been broken twice: while I was studying abroad in France in January 2007 and when my boyfriend first came home to meet my familly back in December 2010.
My parents and I didn't go on vacation much outside of FL, so going to Disney World was very exciting for me, especially Epcot, which fueled my desire to travel because of the World Showcase. In fact that is normally my park of choice for my birthday, however whhy I continued to go for so long was because Epcot made me want to despirately travel the world and discover for myself what these countries were like and how they compared to what I saw there. (Note: By the end of my 9 months studying abroad in France I ended up visiting 4 of the 10 countries- France (lived here), Norway (visited), Italy (visited) and Germany (traveled through). However, all the parks at Disney World are beautifully decorated during the Christmas season and also have themed parades and shows, so for my family it's also a Christmas tradition in order to celebrate the season. Therefore, I decided to go to Disneyland Paris in an effort to prevent myself from feeling homesick but also to celebrate my birthday and the holiday season as always but I wanted to see what it was like and compare it to Magic Kingdom in particular back
home.
Before leaving Dijon I had booked through a travel agent a two-day package, which included my ticket to both Disneyland Paris Parks: Disneyland and MGM, as well as my hotel, which was a non-Disney related hotel that was near the property and offered free shuttle. I believe I spent around 150 to 250 euros for this, but my parents saw this as a gift. Unfortunately, I could not book the trip for my birthday because all the hotels were full. Instead I had to book for January 2-4, 2007. I decided to accept the offer anyways, and schedule my trip to Strasbourg for my birthday and New Years instead.
The train ride from Strasbourg to Paris was beautiful but quite epic because it took 4 hours! However, I got to see what the Champagne region was like which was a lot of fun. All the cities there appeared to be on hills, with the buildings of each city clinging to the sides, creating a tower, domino effect or like an architectural version of a tarte au pommes (apple tart). The cities were very different looking because they were not as decorated with colored tiled rooves like those
in the Franche Compte and Burgundy regions, nor were the bulidings different colors like in Provence and the Cote d'Azur regions or had disticntive siding like in Alsace. I noticed most of the houses and cathedrals were made of a dark, grew stone and had an emphasis of towers. I finally arrived in Paris' Gare du Nord station around 3 PM GMT, however now I had to get to Disneyland Paris. I was planning on taking the metro, however I couldn't find the stop at first. I finally find it on the outside. I end up connecting twice until I finally arrived around 5-6 PM GMT. I was able to get my tickets using my verification information from the travel agency back in Dijon and searched for a taxi. I told my driver which hotel and we arrived there in 5 minutes-the ride was only 4 euros. After checking in and putting my things in my room, I decide to take the free shuttle to see DisneyLand Paris.
When I first get there, I see a huge "courtyard" where there are sketchy street vendors selling mini Eiffel Towers and Arc de Triumphs, but there's also a huge Marche de
Cindarella's Castle at Night
The castle was decorated with Christmas lights, and was lit after the parade had ended. Noel. I decide to take a look; at this one I see toys and touristy type merchandise, however I did encounter some artisnal goods. It was a fun market, however kind of a downer after seeing Strasbourg's Marche de Noel. I then enter the Disneyland Park onto Main Street. The architecture is noticeably different from Magic Kingdom, however I do recognize the fact that I'm in the Main Street area. In a few minutes the Christmas parade starts. Basically it's a French version of Mickey's Merry Christmas Parade, which I had already seen at Magic Kingdom (my family will sometimes visit Magic Kingdom during the holidays as well, normally before my birthday.) For me it was very odd to hear Mickey, Minnie, Goofey and Donald Duck speaking in French because for me these are huge American icons, therefore English makes it natural. However it felt good to see sometihng familiar and nostalgic after spending 6 months in France living, exploring and learning about my adopted country. The parade was the same, except there was an absence of gingerbread men and other American Christmas favorites like egg nog displays. I also remember that Santa Claus was dressed differently (but of course
in France he's more commonly known as Pere Noel). I then make my way towards Tomorrow Land, where I go eat a dinner of fried chicken sandwich with fries and a Sprite. After I finish my dinner, I go to visit the 20,000 League Under the Sea exhibit they had inside a replica of the submarine from the movie! I was glad to see this because there used to be a ride themed after this movie at Magic Kingdom back in the late 80s, early 90s, however it was removed and has been replaced by a character stop! Therefore, this exhibit held a lot of nostalgia and good memories for me that I just had to tell my mom about once I got back to my hotel room later that night. However, unlike my favorite extinct ride, this submarine didn't move and give you a tour of the undersea world captured in the film. Instead, it was like a museum replica of the set, but once in a while in one of the small windows the eyes of a giant squid would show up, some dialogue in French would follow saying something along the lines of "we must smite the
Main Street and Disneyland Christmas Tree at Night
The end of the parade also demarcated the lighting of other Christmas lights around the park, in particular those on Main Street and the official park Christmas tree. Here's an idea of how it looked after the parade. squid," it would be defeated and then disappear to only reappear again. I wanted to go on Space Mountain, however there was a very long line so I decided to wait until tomorrow. I then decide to head over to FantasyLand, where I take in "It's a Small World." Please, don't judge me when I say this because I know there are people who hate this ride, but I adore it. This ride captured my little mind as a girl because it promoted the co-existance and interest for one to travel and explore the world and all its wonders and peoples. It, in addition to Epcot's World Showcase, inspired me to want to travel the world at a young age. Therefore I was determined to go on. Like the ride at Magic Kingdom, you do go on a boat ride that takes you through different country/regional settings and has the dolls singing and dancing to different linguistic versions of "It's a Small World." However, I will say the main difference is that this small world is a lot more politically correct. For example, there aren't little African children swinging with monkys and elephants. There is a large American/North American section
which shows children singing with American accents and dancing along bleechers of a baseball stadium for example. The French display is more in keeping with French modern national identity I felt, which means there were no can can girls like at the Magic Kingdom ride. I enjoyed it nonetheless, anthropological differences aside.
I then head over to Cindarella's Castle, and head underneath to find a really cool dragon display. The dragon actually comes out and breaths fire! It was both scary and cool! I then take in a ride dedicated to Pinnoccio which is one I think is distinct to Disneyland Paris. The ride goes like this: you get into a little car that takes you through the story of Pinnoccio as told by Disney in a similar way to the Snow White ride back at Magic Kingdom.
My next stop is Adventure Land, where I take in an Indiana Jones rollercoaster. It's very fast and not very safe because I remember almost falling out of my car despite being fastened in. I then decide to head out of the park and tour some of the shops in Downtown Disney, and then head back to the hotel via the
shuttle.
January 3, 2007- I arrive at the park around 11 AM GMT because I slept in. After eating a huge continental breakfast at the hotel, I took the shuttle back to Disneyland. I first headed towards Frontier Land to go on the Haunted Mansion ride. There were huge differences between this version of the ride to the one I grew up with back at Magic Kingdom. First of all, the ride followed the storyline of the ghost bride and how she ended up becoming a ghost. We first see an anamatronic version of her when the ride first starts, then we see her house and we learn how it became haunted. The ghosts do not have smiling faces nor is there a huge graveyard scene like in the Haunted Mansion ride back at Magic Kingdom. After the Haunted Mansion, I then go on the river boat ride, which is pretty much the same as the one back at Magic Kingdom in regards to the dialogue and scener, however the dialogue was all in French. I then take a stroll around Frontier Land which looks like a Western town movie set, and is much more spread out than the
one back at Magic Kingdom.
I then decide to spend some more time in Fantasy Land by eating a lunch of fish and chips and exploring this play area dedicated to Alice in Wonderland. It was a fun to walk around in because it had a huge castle that one could climb up and get a good view of the park as a whole. After this I went on the StoryBook ride which was just a boat ride which showed the viewer. I also went on the Peter Pan ride, and then afterwards made my way towards Adventure Land, where I did the Aladdins Magic Carpet ride and also Pirates of the Caribbean. Both of the rides I took in Adventure Land like most of the other rides I had taken at Disneyland Paris, seemed to be more politically correct than the ones back home at Magic Kingdom. For example, there was more of a focus of pirate activity in Port Royale, Jamaica and pirates were dressed closer to those in actual engravings from the period. However, the only reference to the Pirates of the Caribbean movie was the presence of an individual dressed as Jack Sparrow waving
to people at the beginning of the ride sitting at the nearby Caribbean themed restaurant.
I finish my day by taking the Dumbo ride in and exploring the shops in each of the "lands." I do some more shopping at Downtown Disney where I go to eat dinner at an American style hamburger joint. I order an American style lemonade, and a swiss and mushroom burger cooked medium-rare with fries. It was the first American style lemonade that I had had in almost 6 months, which was refreshing. My hamburger was really tastey, jucey and flavorful, most likely the best I had had since leaving home. I then head back to the hotel and start to pack in order to prepare for my move to my hotel in Paris' centre-ville.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.082s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 11; qc: 43; dbt: 0.0497s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
