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My friend, his first visit to any Disney park, soon realized a few things. The first being my obsession over Disney, the second the amount of detail put into everything at the Disney parks, and third how magical these places truly are.
This being my 3rd Disney Resort visited this year I am no stranger to the classic Main Street entrance leading to the castle but here in Paris they were celebrating the 20th Anniversary and were wonderfully decorated and had all sorts of special parades and shows just for the occasion. I've read that Disneyland Paris was built to have the expanse of Magic Kingdom in Florida with the intimate atmosphere of Disneyland California and having read this after visiting I completely agree. We strolled through the shops discovering passages behind the stores with great detailing of artifacts displayed along the walls, even some of the bakeries had a back window to order at (would be great if there was bad lines in front)!
The castle is the most unique I've seen, still smaller than Magic Kingdom but larger than California. Past the shops of Main Street the park divides into the classic Hub and Spoke to the different lands: Discovery, Fantasy, Adventure, and Frontier.
Our first stop was Phantom Manor, the Paris version of Haunted Mansion. The area is amazingly detailed and the interior refreshingly different from the American counterparts. In the same area is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad one of the many rides here that I found even better than back at the parks in Florida or California.
On our way to Discoveryland we crossed paths with a small character parade for the 20th Anniversary celebration. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, Chip, Dale, and the rare Clarice stopped in front of the castle to meet with their fans. The only downfall I experienced was the lack of crowd control, no formal lines were made and the cast members had no initiative to make any. Anyone who managed to elbow their way to the front is who got their picture next.
We continued to Space Mountain: Mission 2, being used to the sharp turns of the original I was very surprised at its true roller coaster feel. It launches you from the outside into its futuristic housing where you will go upside down and much faster than the original. Continuing with our space exploration feel we went on Star Tours, this ride is the same as the non-updated ones back in the states. C-3P0 doesn't sound too bad in French.
On our way to Fantasyland we wandered through the castle interior with lovely stained glass portraits of the Sleeping Beauty story and a dragon guarding the dungeon. The Fantasyland attractions are the closest to the American originals but more than just the language can be spotted as a difference. It's a Small World was surprisingly in English but an area dedicated to the United States is featured at the end of this cruise complete with football and baseball players, and icon landmarks. One of the largest attractions in Fantasyland is Alice's Curious Labyrinth. A large maze which leads you through the movie scenes into the Red Queen's castle.
Traversing our way to Adventureland my most important stop was Pirates of the Caribbean! A beautiful rendition where the entry way seems to be a fully functioning fort very similar to ones I have actually been to in the islands. They clearly expect large crowds as the queue is very long and has many pirate-y details to soak in even if there is no line. Also in this area is Adventure Isle which has many attractions for the younger children such as Captain Hook's ship and the Indiana Jones Temple of Doom rollercoaster. Indiana Jones is another attraction that is different at every park, in Florida it is a stunt show and in California a 4x4 experience through movie set style with special effects.
The afternoon parade was spectacular. Disney Magic on Parade! A special soundtrack was created for the Anniversary and some floats were specially decorated as well. As I turned to see my friend's reaction I could see the goosebumps and told him that the best was even later with the fireworks.
The fireworks were mostly done in the castle projection system that is used for Magic, Memories, and You show back in the states with only a small amount of explosions but it was still fantastic! With a combination of French and English Peter Pan leads you through the class movies as the other characters appear on the castle or water screens (similar to Fantasmic). Disney Dreams was as beautiful as any other fireworks show I've experienced at a Disney Resort.
We had time before closing for one more ride so we were off the Buzz Lightyear ( a tradition among my trips as the line is usually so long during the day). After we sadly made our way to the entrance wandering through the stores for last minute souvenirs before we made our way back to the city.
Yet another spectacular day at the Most Magical Place on Earth.
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