Disneyland Resort Paris Trip Report
Day 3 (Tuesday 20 May 2003)
Cast: Me (Anne-Marie 35), my Mum Breda, nephew Patrick (11) and niece Jade (7)
Staying at: Hotel Cheyenne
Another (mostly) dry day! We had our breakfast in the hotel at 9 a.m. (never saw birds going around the floor of a restaurant before!) and then headed off to Walt Disney Studios. I was surprised this was so small (in area), even though I had seen the map in the guidebook I had, and had read it was smaller, I didnt realise how much smaller it was. Definitely the park to do when its raining (well know for next timeJ We spent about 45 mins or so in the front lot getting autographs and pictures with the characters. We reminded Jade that she already had ChipnDales autographs, but she said these ones were different (meaning they had clothesJ so she had to get them also!! Jade was just opening up her autograph book on any old blank page, whereas Patrick was neatly going from front to back, and her method was driving him crazy, he kept trying to get her to do it right! (I empathise with him, Im a bit pernickity like this myself)
We went through Studio 1 pretty quickly (figured we would save it for later if it rained) and headed straight to the Tram Tour. We only had to wait about 15 minutes or so and got on the tram, we were in the last row in the carriage and found the commentary by Jeremy Irons almost impossible to hear. We knew what to expect from WDW, but I was surprised how early into the tour the Catastrophe Canyon part was. This was Jades first time, so it was great fun looking at the reaction on her face. I havent seen the film Reign of Fire yet so the last part was a little lost on me, but interesting all the same. After the Tram Tour we headed straight to Moteurs Action! for the stunt show as it was starting at 12.15. This was excellent and very different to the show in Florida. Im a bit of a car fan myself, so really, really loved this (made up for missing the Formula 1 live on 18th, mind you I managed not to get the result anywhere, and had the video preset to watch when I went home, sad eh?) When we came out of the stunt show the kids had to get their picture taken on the motorbike and sidecar outside Café de Cascadeurs, their dads (who are identical twins) are into the bikes at weekends, and then we realised the Cinema Parade was on, we thought it was over but it keeps stopping, so you can just head to the front and take it from there. We went right over between Animagique and the Flying Carpets where the parade would end, and several of the characters including Minnie came over to give autographs and picture sessions to the children after the parade ended.
We headed to Armageddon then, I didnt know what to expect here, I hadnt really been able to make out from the guidebook or the internet what this ride really consisted of. I was really disappointed in this, probably I expected too much out of it, even Jade at 7 thought it was pretty harmless, and we wont even do roller-coasters. When we came out, we were kinda is that it??? We spent quite a bit of time in the Studios Shop on the way out, where Patrick got a Disney Watch to bring home to his Mum, and then we headed back to the hotel for something to eat and a bit of a rest.
We headed back to the Disneyland Park for the Tarzan show at 5 pm, it is a lovely show, reminds me of CATS. Jade was thrilled at being able to go down and bang on the pots! I would have liked to go see this again, but we never got back. After Tarzan we headed over to Discoveryland on the train and did Honey I Shrunk the Audience. Jade had really been looking forward to this as she was familiar with the films, she didnt know about the little surprises, and had never used 3D glasses before. I still dont like the mice thoughJ After that it was time for Star Tours, (never again says my Mum, the rest of us loved it). It was a walk on, the only wait was about 3 minutes for the previous tour to end. Actually we were very aware all the time of the short queues, its nice being able to skip right through roped off areas, on Star Tours and Pirates this was particularly obvious as the queueing areas are very long.
I wanted to buy some Disney Christmas decorations, so we went to the shop in the castle. Id hoped that they would have the round porcelain decorations with the year on that I got in Florida, but they hadnt any at all with the year on. Instead I settled for the glass (OK plastic) white bauble with the castle sitting on top which is really pretty ( I got a few more to bring home as presents) and a Winnie the Pooh wind chime. I was tempted by the Angel Minnie with wings, and am still kind of sorry I didnt get it. We wandered back through the Liberty Arcade (this is actually very interesting) and went back to the village where we ate in New York Deli again and then headed to the hotel. Jade had to try on her Jasmine outfit again before going to sleep.
Day 3 (Tuesday 20 May 2003)
Cast: Me (Anne-Marie 35), my Mum Breda, nephew Patrick (11) and niece Jade (7)
Staying at: Hotel Cheyenne
Another (mostly) dry day! We had our breakfast in the hotel at 9 a.m. (never saw birds going around the floor of a restaurant before!) and then headed off to Walt Disney Studios. I was surprised this was so small (in area), even though I had seen the map in the guidebook I had, and had read it was smaller, I didnt realise how much smaller it was. Definitely the park to do when its raining (well know for next timeJ We spent about 45 mins or so in the front lot getting autographs and pictures with the characters. We reminded Jade that she already had ChipnDales autographs, but she said these ones were different (meaning they had clothesJ so she had to get them also!! Jade was just opening up her autograph book on any old blank page, whereas Patrick was neatly going from front to back, and her method was driving him crazy, he kept trying to get her to do it right! (I empathise with him, Im a bit pernickity like this myself)
We went through Studio 1 pretty quickly (figured we would save it for later if it rained) and headed straight to the Tram Tour. We only had to wait about 15 minutes or so and got on the tram, we were in the last row in the carriage and found the commentary by Jeremy Irons almost impossible to hear. We knew what to expect from WDW, but I was surprised how early into the tour the Catastrophe Canyon part was. This was Jades first time, so it was great fun looking at the reaction on her face. I havent seen the film Reign of Fire yet so the last part was a little lost on me, but interesting all the same. After the Tram Tour we headed straight to Moteurs Action! for the stunt show as it was starting at 12.15. This was excellent and very different to the show in Florida. Im a bit of a car fan myself, so really, really loved this (made up for missing the Formula 1 live on 18th, mind you I managed not to get the result anywhere, and had the video preset to watch when I went home, sad eh?) When we came out of the stunt show the kids had to get their picture taken on the motorbike and sidecar outside Café de Cascadeurs, their dads (who are identical twins) are into the bikes at weekends, and then we realised the Cinema Parade was on, we thought it was over but it keeps stopping, so you can just head to the front and take it from there. We went right over between Animagique and the Flying Carpets where the parade would end, and several of the characters including Minnie came over to give autographs and picture sessions to the children after the parade ended.
We headed to Armageddon then, I didnt know what to expect here, I hadnt really been able to make out from the guidebook or the internet what this ride really consisted of. I was really disappointed in this, probably I expected too much out of it, even Jade at 7 thought it was pretty harmless, and we wont even do roller-coasters. When we came out, we were kinda is that it??? We spent quite a bit of time in the Studios Shop on the way out, where Patrick got a Disney Watch to bring home to his Mum, and then we headed back to the hotel for something to eat and a bit of a rest.
We headed back to the Disneyland Park for the Tarzan show at 5 pm, it is a lovely show, reminds me of CATS. Jade was thrilled at being able to go down and bang on the pots! I would have liked to go see this again, but we never got back. After Tarzan we headed over to Discoveryland on the train and did Honey I Shrunk the Audience. Jade had really been looking forward to this as she was familiar with the films, she didnt know about the little surprises, and had never used 3D glasses before. I still dont like the mice thoughJ After that it was time for Star Tours, (never again says my Mum, the rest of us loved it). It was a walk on, the only wait was about 3 minutes for the previous tour to end. Actually we were very aware all the time of the short queues, its nice being able to skip right through roped off areas, on Star Tours and Pirates this was particularly obvious as the queueing areas are very long.
I wanted to buy some Disney Christmas decorations, so we went to the shop in the castle. Id hoped that they would have the round porcelain decorations with the year on that I got in Florida, but they hadnt any at all with the year on. Instead I settled for the glass (OK plastic) white bauble with the castle sitting on top which is really pretty ( I got a few more to bring home as presents) and a Winnie the Pooh wind chime. I was tempted by the Angel Minnie with wings, and am still kind of sorry I didnt get it. We wandered back through the Liberty Arcade (this is actually very interesting) and went back to the village where we ate in New York Deli again and then headed to the hotel. Jade had to try on her Jasmine outfit again before going to sleep.