Europe 2023 - Day 12 - Our First Full Day at Disneyland Paris

We got up at 6:00a for our first day at Disneyland Paris. The park opens at 9:30a for everyone and at 8:30a for people who are staying at a Disney affiliated hotel. There was just us and a couple other families catching this bus. We've had the sense that not many of the people staying at our hotel are actually going to the park. Either that or none of them are crazy enough to try to get to the park in time for opening. As mentioned, it's about a 900 meter walk from our room to the bus stop so we had to make sure we left enough time. No issues and we had time to sing Melissa Happy Birthday when we got there.

Turns out that park opening is not as stressful here as it is in Anaheim and Orlando. Our first check was security and we were first in line and it wasn't even open. Our second check was to make sure we could go in early and they just looked at the back of our card. We then had to wait in line at the gate until 8:30a and official opening. There was no finger print check and we just had to scan our card. After that we were just in the park. No holding area or rope drop or announcement from a friendly voice over the speakers.

We attempted to do the Crush ride first but it was down for mechanical issues. It's like the Avengers ride where the roller coaster cars themselves rotate. It seems like the type of ride that goes down frequently. Instead we went to Ratatouille. We first went to this ride in Orlando and it's a moving car but it's not bound by tracks in anyway. It can dance across the floor which is fitting as you are the rat and you are running under tables and through the kitchen trying not to get stepped on. It's even got smells though I think there was something off with the baguette smell.

Next up was Indiana Jones. It's a roller coast ride but Callie and I sat this one out as it goes upside down. I'm getting out of the roller coaster game in general but upside down is where I draw the line. For me it's not about fear. I just close my eyes and I can get through anything. I's about the fact that it takes me an hour for my stomach to recover after the ride which just isn't worth it. We then waited as Kerry, Ethan and Melissa did the Hot Wheels ride which is like one of those pirate ships that goes back and forth. This one is a bit extreme though as you go past vertical.

The cars area at this park was a bit of a disappointment. It's definitely not it's own land and the ride was like the Universal Studios back lot tour. You get in a train like vehicle pulled by a truck and it travels on a regular paved road. It goes past a few scenes with the cars characters and then stops in a front of a cliff where the rocks were mysteriously blackened and everything was wet. There is then a sudden accident with flames and a flood. The flames were very hot from where we were. You then head back to the start.

After a bit of shopping where Carter finally got his shoulder Remy, we headed to lunch. There are a few indoor areas at this park including an area where you can get lunch. The meals were typical 'American' style burgers and fries and definitely not cheap. $17 Euro for an adult meal. We got one adult and two kids meals and shared. The kids meal were a great deal at $9 Euro and included a burger not much smaller than the adult meal, coke and a Magnum ice cream which was probably $5 Euro's on it's own. 

Disneyland Paris has two parks. One is like typical Disneyland and other is a random hodgepodge of other areas, sort of like California Adventure. We started with a tour of main street and then went over to Haunted Mansion. It was pretty much identical to Anaheim on the inside though the outside was more like a wooden house rather than an old stone building. Of course at some point it stalled and we had to wait patiently in our coffins. I think this is when someone in a wheel chair is getting on and they have no way to do that without stopping everyone.

We then proceeded to do Pirates of The Caribbean which was way better than Anaheim. The outside had an interactive area with caves and a pirate ship. The inside line up was more interesting and the whole thing didn't smell as bad of chlorine. 

We then had proceeded to do "It's a Small World" which had a nice outside area and was pretty similar inside except that Canada was better represented with mountains and fewer Mounties. 

We also did the tea cups and a neat labyrinth for Alice and Wonderland before heading back to the other park. On our way out we found a secret pathway running along main street. I suppose it's not actually secret since it's a major path on the other side of the main street shops. It's quite useful for when there is a parade and main street is too busy. We got to the other park to do Aladdin before I decided I'd had enough and headed back to the hotel. Kerry, Melissa, Carter and Callie stuck around until 10:30p and did some of the big rides that now had shorter line ups.