Our First Day In The Parks
Thursday - January 2nd 2014
Our Annual Pass included the Extra Magic Hours and of course we wanted to make full use of them. During 8:00am and 10:00am Fantasyland and Discoveryland are only open to Disney Hotel guests and to Annual Pass holders.
Shortly after 8:00am we arrived at the park gates and walked straight to Buzz Lightyear's Laser Blast. Although the ride doesn't fit into the Discoveryland theme centered around European visionairies like Jules Verne, we enjoy this attraction a lot. Afterwards it was time for Space Mountain and during this visit we had the best rides ever. Nearly all effects were working, I have never seen fog used as a special effect in all my six visits, and the ride wasn't as bumpy as remembered.
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| Buzz Lightyear's Laser Blast |
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| Star Tours |
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| Space Mountain's Columbiad Canon and The Nautilus |
Star Tours wasn't open yet and so we decided to walk to Fantasyland. Peter Pan's Flight was already open and since we haven't done it in years due to the long lines, we gave it another try. What a lovely ride. Mad Hatter's Tea Cups were next and then we visited one of Disneyland Paris' best features, the dragon beneath the castle.
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| Le Chateau De La Belle Au Bois Dormant |
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| Peter Pan's Flight |
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| Mad Hatter's Tea Cups |
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| The Dragon |
Then it was time for coffee at the Cable Car Bake Shop. I'm not a big fan of the coffee offered inside the parks, but we didn't want to leave Disneyland for Starbucks. It's time to bring Starbucks into the parks, like in the US Disney Parks.
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| Central Plaza |
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| Main Street Vehicles |
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| Main Street USA |
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| Cable Car Bake Shop |
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| Segafredo Coffee |
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| Main Street USA |
Now all lands were open and after breakfast we headed to Frontierland and queued for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the wildest ride in the wilderness. Later we did one of Disney's best attractions ever, the Phantom Manor.
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| Big Thunder Mountain Railroad |
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| Phantom Manor |
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| Phantom Manor |
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| Phantom Manor |
Today we had an early reservation at our favourite restaurant for lunch, but before we cruised the Rivers of the Far West with the Molly Brown. It was a first time for us, until now we only experienced the Mark Twain. The riverboats are a good opportunity to escape the crowds on heavy days. We still had some time left and so we watched the Christmas Cavalcade on Central Plaza.
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| Molly Brown |
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| Thunder Mesa Riverboat Landing |
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| Thunder Mesa |
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| Rivers of the Far West |
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| Inside Molly Brown |
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| Inside Molly Brown |
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| Le Chateau De La Belle Au Bois Dormant |
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| Christmas Cavalcade |
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| Christmas Cavalcade |
Claudia is vegan and unfortunately Disneyland Paris can't be compared to Walt Disney World when it comes to vegetarian friendly menus, but Agrabah Cafe, a buffet style eatery, offers Oriental inspired food and many
vegetarian options, like couscous salad. Another good thing about that
restaurant is, that it doesn't get so crowded.
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| Agrabah Cafe |
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| Agrabah Cafe |
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| Agrabah Cafe Salad Buffet |
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| Lunch at Agrabah Cafe |
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| Lunch at Agrabah Cafe |
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| Lunch at Agrabah Cafe |
After lunch we walked over to the Walt Disney Studios Park. At first we wanted to ride The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, but the line was too long and so we lined up for the Toy Soldier Parachute Drop, which we had never tried before. I guess this ride is for kids who can't do the Tower of Terror yet. Then we walked around Toy Story Playland and took a look over the fence at the construction site of the upcoming Ratatouille ride.
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| Town Square |
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| City Hall on Main Street |
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| Disneyland Railroad Main Street Station |
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| Disneyland Hotel |
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| The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror |
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| Toy Story Playland |
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| Toy Story Playland |
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| Toy Story Playland |
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| Toy Soldier Parachute Drop |
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| Rex eating me |
Rock'n'Roller Coaster was next on our list, but Animagique was about to begin and so we decided to watch this cute black light show first. Later it was time to join Aerosmith, but the coaster was disappointing, because the onboard music didn't work. Luckily that changed during the rest of our trip.
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| Toon Studio |
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| Studio 1 |
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| Backlot |
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| Backlot |
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| Backlot |
To escape the crowds we headed to the Disneyland Hotel and enjoyed a bottle of Disneyland Paris' 20th Anniversary wine at Cafe Fantasia. This bar is one of our most favourite places at Disneyland Paris.
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| Front Lot |
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| Walt Disney Studios Park Entrance |
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| Cafe Fantasia |
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| 20th Anniversary Wine Bottle |
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| Wine at Cafe Fantasia |
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| Cafe Fantasia |
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| Disneyland Hotel Lobby |
Afterwards we returned to the Studios Park to have dinner at the En Coulisse Restaurant. We both ordered fries and a salad and redeemed our free tea coupons. Later the crowds were lighter and we finaly did the Tower of Terror.
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| Inside Studio 1 |
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| Dinner at En Coulisse Restaurant |
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| Tower of Terror |
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| Inside Tower of Terror |
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| Moteurs...Action! |
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| Rock'n'Roller Coaster by Night |
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| Cinemagique |
Then we just walked around the park and decided to leave the Disney resort. We took the RER back to Val D'Europe, where we went to the Auchan supermarket before returning to our hotel.
1 comment:
What a great trip report! One of the best ones I have read. Thank you for that :)
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