Wandering Spud: D I S N E Y L A N D P A R I S
DISNEYLAND PARIS
My sister, Katie and I have started going away on annual trips together, and our first Crossey Sister Adventure was a 3 day trip to Disneyland Paris in February last year for her 25th birthday. We used to live in Germany in the early 90's when Disneyland had just opened and we went as a family about four or five times. We had such amazing memories and it didn't disappoint going back as adults. Katie only really remembered bits and pieces from the Park but she remembered the Peter Pan ride and it hasn't changed it 25 years it was fab!
Our plan of action was:
Day 1 (PM)- Arrive Friday evening, check in, food;
Day 2- Up early and do the Original Disneyland Park;
Day 3- Walt Disney Studios Park - the other park that we weren't sure what it was as we didn't go as kids but we wanted to see what the craic was; and
Day 4- original park again and characters then get bus back to Hotel, taxi to airport then home.
AIRPORT TRANSFER
We booked a private taxi with Tio Shuttle and it was about €120 return, it was great not to have to get a bus (for the same price) and have a driver waiting for us when we landed but another expense we didn't think about before we booked. I always seem to forget about airport transfers!
HOTEL
We stayed at one of the Disney Sister Hotels, Vienna House Dream Castle which is *not an actual "Disney Hotel"*. We couldn't figure out if it was or not but its definitely not- why does this matter? It means you don't get early admission like people staying in Disney Hotels do.
The room was pretty standard but all we wanted was just a place to lie our heads, it was massive though and could have fit 6 people easily. The hotel also did have a pool as well but we weren't there long enough to use it. Breakfast was really nice as well- baguettes galore! We made sure we had a massive feed first thing as food at the Park was super expensive. There are buses that come regularly that take to you back and forth to the Park for free which is great. Just to note here we did book through Booking.com but there is a room tax to pay at the beginning of our stay. It wasn't very much (I think like €20 or €30) but still was an unexpected expense.
Next time we go we have said that we would definitely stay in a Disney Hotel because we were in the queue outside the park on the first day for at least 45 minutes and everyone who was staying in a Disney Hotel was zooming by us which was annoying and it was freezing and we, and by we I mean me, I wanted(needed) coffee. We were then let into the park at 9.30am but we couldn't go past the castle until after 10am and we were even refused entry in to see the dragon under the castle- it was the first thing we went to do and being told no royally fucked me off so we decided to queue for character pictures and we stood in the queue to see Donald Duck which took about 2 hours!
THE PARK
Our tickets for 3 days and both parks costs about £200 for both of us and we got them off Travel Republic, but they do various packages depending on how many days you are going and if you want to go to one or both parks.
Day 1 was actually pretty stressful; having rushed to get there early to have to waiting whilst thousands of people got in before us, even though we were at the front gates, to being told no to seeing to something that wasn't a ride and queuing for 2 hours for one character I started to panic that we weren't going to be able to do everything in the time we had. Its a really weird sensation to be stood waiting and feeling rushed at the same time. Its actually quite tiring.
We even queued for Thunder Mountain for 3 hours as well on Day 1! We were still obviously really excited but that did take the fun out of it a little bit. When Disneyland is about to close they do the lights show against the Castle with fireworks and it made me a little bit fuzzy- it was like someone showing you a slideshow of your childhood and being there with my little sister it was just a fantastic memory to have, it was a really good show and worth staying to see.
Day 2 was so much better. We started at the Walt Disney Studios bit that we haven't done before. We started with the Tower of Terror and Katie lied to me to get me to go on it, I was so right to be suspicious of her; falling from a great height is one of my worst fears and this ride is like being in an elevator that just repeatedly drops and when you get to the top the fricking side of the building opens and you can see for miles all over Disney and you realize how high up you are- boke. So after that we queued for the Aerosmith ride (which broke down before we got onto it) and then queued for Ratatouille- another super long queue but it was awesome, it was actually one of our favourite rides. After that we went back to the Disneyland Park bit and went on some more rides with smaller (but still long) queues. We went on the Haunted House ride and it keep breaking down whilst we were on it which for some reason we thought was hilarious.
We then went and got dinner in Frontier Land and we got ribs. This may not seem very special but when we were little we LIVED for these ribs, every time we went to Disney its all we ate and then all we talked about. They were AWESOME but it was €17.99 for ribs and chips and I'm glad we saved it for dinner as that's a bit pricey for lunch.
However, the absolute best bit of our whole trip happened at the end of the evening. We were walking through Frontier Land to get to the Castle bit because the light show was about to start and we thought we'd try for Thunder Mountain one last time and the guy told us it was broken down and everyone was leaving the queue, so we started to walk away and for some reason Kate turned round, stopped and we stood for a minute and watched him and he started to let people back on! So we ran like blazes and we got on 4 times in a row and on the last time when we were coming up to the big drop on the roller coaster the fireworks started and it was just amazing, a real Disney moment!
After this we stayed on in the shopping part outside of the Park and got tipsy in the cowboy bar. The country tunes were blasting, we didn't join in with the line dancing but we did have some birthday cake (and more cocktails) for Katie.
Day 3 was our last day so we used a lot of our time queuing up for pictures with characters; Goofy, Mickey, The Mad Hatter and The White Rabbit. We then did Alice's Labyrinth- Katie didn't remember it and wasn't that fussed but it was good fun and better than she expected.
We managed to do everything that we wanted to a couple of times so by the end of the tired we were just so tired from standing that I think we were both ready for home.
TOP TIPS
Always get travel insurance- again common sense;
We were shattered every morning because we were constantly walking, standing and our adrenaline is going nuts so try to get as much sleep as possible, that sounds really grown up and boring but Crossey's need their sleep!;
Revolut card- get one they are amazing!
For the love of God check school timetables. Neither of us have children and didn't think of half term before we booked, we just booked to be there on Kate's birthday but Disneyland was PACKED. So if you are able to try and book during the school term;
Also check what rides are open and closed, we missed out on Pirates of the Caribbean which was one of our favourites from when we were little.
PACKING ESSENTIALS...
A plug adaptor
Shoes with good insoles- again very granny advise (also I normally wear heels so wearing flats for 3 days straight KILLED my calves)
A tote bag/back pack to hold:
Sunscreen - its just sensible no matter what the weather or at least moisturiser with SPF
A big water bottle (and fill this up in the hotel at breakfast before you leave)
Snacks (a bag of Doritos was €5!!!!)
If its cold hats and gloves, you might be queuing for ages so you really feel the cold.
HANDY HASHTAGS
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