Walt Disney Studios and Disneyland Paris

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Geo: 48.8566, 2.35097

Two neighboring theme parks in one day. First into Walt Disney Studios at 10am, out by 2pm, next door to Disneyland Paris, there until closing at 9pm. 11 hours of fun that really flew by. It was a great day, far superior to Disneyland Hong Kong and comparable to the one in America. Overall with good planning, a bit of luck and a small crowd, we squeezed in 15 rides (3 we got to ride twice), 3 shows (Armageddon Special effects, Car Stunt Show and Disney Dreams), 2 parades, lunch, dinner, Alice in Wonderlands hedge maze and Adventure Island.
We started off in Walt Disney Studios, the smaller of the two parks, and headed straight for the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, the tallest building in the park, taking you up an elevator shaft and free fall dropping you faster than the speed of gravity. Nat was terrified (not a free fall fan) but we survived. I was actually a fraction disappointed it dropped you in stages rather than all of the way. Here we learned most rides would be in French, some with English parts, and some with subtitles opportunity permitting. Unfortunately some rides were just French, making it tough to know what was going on.
Straight off this ride, next door, the Armageddon special effects show was starting in 1 minute. Perfect. This allowed you to experience the effect of being in a space station, just before being hit by a meteor! No problem. After, just accross from the exit, the big car stunt show was starting, we sat just in time to catch the introduction. This show involved car chases, gunfire and special effects. After, we beat the crowd to the line for the 'Rockin' Rollercoaster next door. 10 minutes wait. This was a fun loop the loop coaster in the dark inspired by Aerosmith and rock n roll in general. Not sure how thats Disney, but anyway.
Next Crushers Coaster, and our longest wait of the day for around 40mins. This was inspired by finding Nemo. A ride on Crush the turtles shell, spinning 'underwater,' in the dark, along the East Australian current. Ahead of schedule, we even had time to go to Toy Story's Playland and ride Slink the Dog through his 'Neighborhood Romp.' A ride only for the brave and manliest men. Our exit from Walt Disney Studios was temporarily blocked, by a giant parade. Hurry up Goofy,
2 o'clock, then and time to cross over to Disneyland. By now, light scattered rain, which worked in our favour, making for tiny ride wait times. We never got even remotely wet either. First up lunch, and the worlds most expensive (€6.90), but largest and most delicious ham and cheese toasties. Yum! Our first ride here was the Phantom Manor Ghost House. Pretty basic, and of a good duration a slow carriage took you by some pretty impressive special effects. All French, so story was missed entirely. Not far away, Big Thunder Mountain, a moderate roller coaster rickety mine carriage ride. Great fun and pretty easy going.
Onwards to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril. No story here, just a bit of Indiana Jones props and music. Best of all, no wait, we literally walked straight onto the ride. This was a favorite. A really fast coaster with sharp turns and a loop. With no line, we went straight back and rode it a second time. The Pirates of the Caribbean ride next door was pretty tame. A boat ride through random pirate scenes. Zero Pirates of the Caribbean characters, music or story, it should have been called the 'Miscellaneous Pirate Related Ride.' Between these two rides, we experienced Adventure Island, exploring caves and swing bridges.
From Adventure Land to Fantasy land then, and exploring Alice in Wonderlands hedge maze. Here we also knocked off a grim Pinocchio ride, a Fairy tales cruise, a spin on the Mad Hatters Tea Cups and the infamous Its A Small World Ride. Infamous for being creepy and monotonous and rightly so!
The last area to explore was Discovery land. After being blocked by another parade, we headed straight for Space Mountain: Mission 2. This probably was our favorite ride of the day. A high speed space themed roller coaster, in the dark, with amazing effects, loops, twists and spins. First up we walked straight on. We loved it so much we went back for seconds, only having to endure a 15 minute wait.
From here, we wandered over to Star Tours, a Star Wars themed space flight simulator. The 20 minute line, was probably better than the ride, queuing in a recreated space station with star wars droids and characters. The ride was a video simulator, a sit down and get shuffled about a bit affair. Nothing on the Transformers ride from Singapore. Last up, Buzz Lightyears laser tag. This was pretty fun, meeting Toy Story characters and going on little carriages equipped with lasers, you had to try shoot the minions of evil emporer Zerg for points. You could also spin your carriage. Weeeee.
We wandered around a bit longer, getting on the Mine Car ride again, having hotdogs for dinner and browsing the Gift shops. The day finished at 9pm, with a spectacular sign off show; Disney Dreams. This was extremely impressive. A light show on the Disney Castle with all sorts of Disney songs and characters. Amazing. Nat loved it. All that was left was to race the crowds to the train and begin the hour trip back to Paris. What an awesome, memorable and exhausting day!

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