Our next stop on the tour was Disneyland Paris! The kids have never been to a Disney park, and although there are only two somewhat small parks here in Paris (Disneyland and Disney Studios), they both were excellent.
We scored a great deal at the Hotel Santa Fe (Cars themed!) and 4 days at the park, along with breakfast for about a thousand bucks. When daily tickets to Disney alone are 90 Euros per person, this is a major, major deal. Plus it included an extra 2 hours in the morning for those staying at one of the park hotels. Definitely couldn't be beat!
And of course, the kids are 6 and 8, so this is really the perfect time to go!
Wilkommen in Disneyland!
Main Street is pretty much the first thing you see at Disneyland Paris (kind of like at Disney World). Thankfully the kids were feeling a bit better today!
Me: What should we do first? Natalie: SPACE MOUNTAIN!!!!!
Todd and Grant waited in line for the rockets while Nat and I took on Space Mountain. Tip: Space Mountain at DLP goes UPSIDE DOWN. Many times. I was woefully unprepared for that, and in the midst of my first ride, the overhead security brace snapped my favorite gold hoop earring in two! (Note to self: Always remove earrings on roller coasters) After we got off of Space Mountain, Todd and Natalie went on Space Mountain while Grant and I continued to wait. And then they joined us for some rocket fun!
Boy, Grant sure can drive a fast rocket!
Next up was It's a Small World. It's a lot like Disney World and surprisingly, Grant absolutely LOVED this ride. He said it was one of his top three favorite rides. Here we are in England and Ireland (to the left).
The kids went buck wild for this. Auf Wiedersehen!
Can Can girls in front of the Eiffel Tower, which the kids also went bonkers for because we had just been there!
Here we are at the end of It's a Small World!
Sleeping Beauty's Castle, also pretty in Paris!
Since we didn't get to DLP until after lunch, we were only able to go on a few rides the first day. On our way out, the kids and Daddy took this cute picture in front of the spring themed gazebo!
And this was about 10 seconds after their heads hit the pillows.
Day two started out with a Mickey and Donald sighting!
Grant told us that his favorite characters were Chip and Dale. Huh???
The first ride of the day had to be the Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast. OMG this ride was so fun. Clearly these two are terrified of three eyed martians!
We adults take this game VERY seriously.
But no one in the family could beat MY high score of 177,700! Take that, Apple nerds!
We went on Space Mountain so many times during our four days there that we quickly figured out where the camera was, and purposely made funny faces for the camera. Here's Todd acting terrified, and Natalie sticking her tongue out. Beware, we probably did this about 20 times and I'm putting ALL of them on this blogpost!
Gotta ride the teacups! Even Mommy went on this! We all know I do NOT do spinny rides! But it wasn't too bad and the ride was SUPER short.
While Grant and I rode the teacups and after Todd and Nat went on Space Mountain, Todd got in line (a half hour before it even opened) at Autopia. This was also a top 3 ride for Grant! Although surprisingly, it was not #1...
Hmm. Looks like he knows what he's doing!
Afterward, we went on the Casey Jr. train ride. It's a little roller coaster shaped like a train, but certainly meant for smaller children. We all liked this one!
Meanwhile, Todd and I had to alternate on the Indiana Jones coaster because Natalie was about 3-4" too short! I can't figure out why... because there was only one loop on it. It wasn't particularly thrilling. At least not as much as Space Mountain and she could ride that one.
While Daddy was riding rides, I took the kids to find some treats. We stopped to see Minnie's Spring Time Parade (holy shit... that Sunny Bunnyland song is still in my head!)
Seriously. Watch this. You will hate me.
Did you know that there is a dragon that lives beneath Cinderella's castle!? Natalie SWORE this guy was real.
We walked through Alice's Labyrinth next. This was seriously Grant's absolute favorite "ride" at Disneyland Paris. I still can't figure it out. He had a BLAST here. Of course, he wouldn't pose for a picture, but Natalie would!
Meanwhile, these two went back on Space Mountain.
While they road Space Mountain, Grant and I waited for them outside. This is how Todd found me. Little boy on my back. Sword in hand.
And last but not least, Natalie and I ended our day with yet ANOTHER ride on Space Mountain. (Oh this is just the tip of the iceberg...)
Day 3! We started out by going over to Disney Studios. I was surprised by this place. It's kind of small but had lots of fun stuff to do. We started off with the Toy Soldiers parachute drop. I'm glad we went on this first. I took the kids and I was probably only about 20-25 people back waiting for it to open at 10. (Because nothing at Disney Studios opened before 10 am). The parachutes were super fun, but you only went up and down 4 times. I'm glad we only waited about 15 minutes for this ride. Most of the day, we noticed on our Disneyland Paris app that the wait was at least 45 minutes. Not worth it! Meanwhile, Todd waited patiently (!!!) in line for the Ratatouille ride. The wait took FOREVER. Like, well over an hour. But you know what? It was really cute! It was 3D and you were being chased around the kitchens as if you were a rat! At one point they sprinkle you with water, so it's really more like 4D.
Grant and his buddy, Lightning McQueen.
On our way back over to Disneyland, we ran into that damn parade again. Hi Minnie! You look lovely today! (But really... that song....)
Grant hanging out with the beanstalk and some giant vegetables. And a sword. We musn't forget the sword.
Back to his favorite place! Alice's Labyrinth!
Fighting off all of the evil that exists in Alice's Wonderland with the power of a sword!
The Cheshire Cat had googly eyes!
Once you got to "the end" of the Labyrinth, you could climb the castle and it had a nice view of the park. Here the sun was shining for about 5 minutes.
I could only coax Grant out of Alice's Labyrinth by asking if he wanted to go to It's a Small World again. He reluctantly agreed. Look! It's Germany!
The end of course, had all of the children in white in a fair-like scene. So sweet!
While Grant and I were tackling the Labyrinth and It's a Small World, Todd took Natalie on the Tower of Terror over at Disney Studios. HA! Natalie actually was holding her ears because the audio was really loud!
And then it was back to Space Mountain for more fun. I wish you could see my hands here!
This might be my favorite picture of the entire trip to DLP. How did they both do that in unison? There's no doubting who her father is!
Wait. Just ONE more time for Mommy and Nat on Space Mountain.
No no. ONE more time. Before we leave for the day, please? Todd and Grant went on Autopia again (and the Nautilus submarine, kind of like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea at Disney World). So we did Space Mountain twice. The entire time we were there, you could almost get off and get right back on. Our longest wait was 15 minutes.
Bright and early on Day 4 (our last day! SOB!), Grant wanted to immediately go on some rides while Natalie wanted to wait for... Grant's favorite characters? Ok, sounds good! They were super playful with her and very silly!
She was having a blast with these two silly chipmunks! Remember when she was a baby and she had the BIGGEST cheeks? She kind of looked like a cute chipmunk!
They even invited Todd into the picture!
Grant and I finally found a short line at Dumbo. That line is always long! But it wasn't too bad, and he got to fly an elephant!
I don't mess around when it comes to Buzz Lightyear's Laser Blast. It's all fun and games until your kid beats you at a laser game. I mean business here.
Me: Where do you want to go next, Grant?
Grant: I wanna go to the maze!
Me: *GROAN*
(She was his favorite part!)
Grant at the top near the castle.
Looking down into the hedge maze. Lots of twists and turns.
Natalie and Daddy, still trying to beat my high score. Not gonna happen!
Natalie got a new friend.
Afterward, we all went back over to Disney Studios. Grant found Luigi's Casa Della Tires outside of the Cars Rally.
At the Santa Fe Hotel, he kept calling it the "Cozy Cone Motel" in the cutest little voice and was giving us "Cozy Cone Kisses." He really is the sweetest boy. We had fun on the Cars Rally. It was kind of like the teacups, but with Cars.
Ma, the meatloaf! I'm ready to go! Let's move these cars! Ok driver, take it away!
The day before, Natalie and I had gone on Crush's Coaster (from Finding Nemo). It was SO much fun. I wanted to go again and again, but unlike Space Mountain, this ride ALWAYS had a massively long wait. Todd got to go on the last day with Natalie, and I was able to capture a picture of them in their turtle!
So while they were on that, we went over to Slinky Dog's ZigZag Spin. This is him laughing hysterically and trying to hold on as the dog spins around and around (kind of like the Alpine ride at the fair or at Volksfest!)
Then Nat and Todd wanted to go on the Tower of Terror one more time before Todd took Grant back to Disneyland and Nat and I could ride some big rides (like Tower of Terror, which I hadn't been on at this point). Here's Grant "I just want to run around Disney Studios" Bailey.
They weren't even skerrrred.
Which way should I go in the maze? Up? Down? Over? Watch? Under?
Meanwhile, back at the Tower of Terror, my second photo (wasn't able to capture a picture of the first one because I was under that "Venez voir votre" sign) shows me FAR less afraid than the first time I went on it! I even have my hands *kind of* up. Meanwhile, my 8-year-old is a rock star.
We met back up at the Pirates of the Caribbean for one more ride. Here's our favorite pirate with all of his booty.
Family photo! Our first and only!
Then the evening parade started and all of the rides cleared out, so we hit up Casey Jr's train one more time.
And while Natalie and I took yet ANOTHER ride on Space Mountain (no I swear I'm not licking my seat here...)
Todd and Grant did another VERY SERIOUS round of Laser tag on Buzz Lightyear!
Not to be outdone, Todd had to go on Space Mountain one more time. Here they are, blowing kisses adieu to Disneyland Paris.
We walked down Main Street one last time. The kids wanted to turn around and wave bye to Sleeping Beauty's castle.
Until next time, Disneyland Paris! Thanks for amazing memories. Au Revoir!
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