Paris Holds The Key: Day 4

"Canst thou read this without rejoicing [exceedingly]?" D&C 19: 39

It may be blasphemous to put in a scripture to describe the excitement felt on going to Disneyland, but in my opinion, angels rejoicing is the perfect amount of happiness to have when going to Disneyland. Since I was about 10 years old and learned that there were more Disneylands in the world than the California one, I made a goal (which was later added to my to-do-before-I-die list) to visit all of the foreign parks. And I went to one today!! Euro-Disney, aka Disneyland Paris, was the absolute highlight of the Paris trip :]

Thursday March 18th- Is the amazing day that I was able to have a dream come true! Sadly there will not be very many pictures of this amazing day because, once again, Kodak failed me. The charger of my new camera was faulty so I bought a disposable camera and took pictures on that. I made a cute little scrapbook out of the developed pictures. So to properly experience this wonderful event, look at the scrapbook :]
Sarah Shepherd, Margret and I woke up extra early to pack all of our stuff and put it on hold before we caught the metro to the M.V. Cheesy Parc Disney stop because we also came back to England on Disneyland day. After checking in our bags in the holding room, we excitedly went to the metro stop! There was a minor delay here when we couldn't figure out how to buy extension tickets but Sarah was the one asking directions today and it all got sorted out. By the time we boarded the metro it was rush hour so we were smushed between smelly strangers and didn't want to speak English for fear of being pick pocketed or worse, thus the first few stops were silent. But once the commuters got off and we were able to stand together, we could not stop chattering about how excited we were! There was another bit of confusion, no one knew exactly when the park opened, the info lines and the reception desk all told us different hours ranging from 8am to 10am opening. Deciding to play it safe, we planned on a 9am opening. When we arrived, the opening time was actually all three times! Hotel guests with a special booking got in at 8am, other hotel guests got in at 9am and the public got in at 10am.
What better way to spend an extra hour before Disneyland opens than shopping?! The three of us all bought matching sweatshirts and Sarah (who's camera was also broken) and I bought good ole fashioned disposable cameras. I also bought postcards and a journal to make my scrapbook in. Here we are in front of Walt Disney's Studio in our matching gear! Walt's Studio is like the California Adventures back home. The best ride, the Tower of Terror, is there and that is the only thing we did here before going to the real Disneyland!!
The rides at this Disneyland were much more geared toward adults in every land but Fantasyland. For instance, Indiana Jones (et les Temple du Peril) is an outside roller coaster with a loop the loop here! It was so exciting! I didn't know there was a loop the loop and when we started going upside down I really almost peed my pants thinking that the ride broke. It was so much fun! We also went on Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain which were also amazing roller coasters. Space Mountain was the best of all! We did spend most of our time in Fantasyland riding rides like Peter Pan's magical flight and the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs adventure but my favorite was Small World. This ride always annoyed me before but going on it and seeing representations of places that I have been and where I live (there was Big Ben and the Tower Bridge at one point and a new wave of homesickness came, my heart can't make up it's mind on where my home is anymore :] ) was just so amazing for me to see. I came up with a new goal, I have to see everything that is shown on this ride so it will be a trip down memory lane each time I ride :] But I realized that the world really is small, and that made me very happy. After frolicking around the park for a while and eating Mickey Mouse shaped food, we went into the castle! (the castle's full name or title is Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant) Not going to lie, I had the feeling of coming home when I walked into the castle not homesickness :] Maybe I am a princess after all! hehe :] (In the picture, the reason there are so many people behind me is there is a show of Sleeping Beauty going on, it was fun to watch because it was spoken all in French but the songs were a mix of English and French, kinda strange but fun)The inside of this castle was so much better than the castle in California I was speechless.


This is the corridor that you go into when walking into the castle. Note the mock Gothic architecture. Maybe it is from one too many cathedral visits, but walking in here I got the cathedral vibe. The telling of the Sleeping Beauty story was also carried out in a mock cathedral style. In the California Disneyland, the story is told through books and animation as you walk along narrow corridors. Here, the story is all told from the landing, that you see in the top part of this picture, through,(can you guess?) stained glass windows!! Having learned more of their importance in the Chartres Cathedral, I grew even more ecstatic! (if that were possible) Enjoy this telling of the classic story of Sleeping Beauty through stained glass windows (and one tapestry, which also follows the cathedral theme)





























No commentary is needed, that's how amazing stained glass windows can be :] And remember how I said that I would like some stained glass window in my house when I grow up? I would like this stained glass in my house! :]
After visiting the spectacular Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant, we wandered and accidentally entered La Taniere du Dragon, the lair of the dragon. Under the castle is a cavern that is a shortcut between Fantasyland and Adventureland, but beware! A dragon keeps guard of this passage! It is an automated robot that looks very lifelike especially when it is 'woken up' and breaths smoke and rawrs at you! It scared me! i can't imagine how much it scared little kids!
Sadly the day came to a close after getting ice cream celebrating escaping the dragon. We had to leave the happiest place on earth to get back on the smelliest metro on earth to go back home to London. What a good last day in Paris, much better then spending all day inside a museum. So long Disneyland Paris! I will be back! Have a great day everyone :]