Disneyland Paris April 2012: 20th Anniversary

While studying in Europe I made a side trip to Paris with a classmate.We made our way over to Disneyland after a quick lunch at the Studios where we had spent our first couple of hours. 
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.

Disneyland Paris April 2012: Studios

While studying abroad in Europe it was a must that I spend at least one day visiting a Disney location.  (disclosure: I do not speak nor understand French and most every ride has French soundtracks)
My friend and I arrived fairly early in the morning and had already decided to spend the first part of the day at Hollywood Studios so to avoid going back and forth across the parks. The first ride we hit was Tower of Terror, very similar to the ones back home but a thrilling experience as always.
Then Rock'n'Rollercoaster hit our radar. Knowing we did not have enough time to go on every ride in both parks we had to condense what we chose. Fortunately there were not too many lines during the day so we did get on all the ones I could not miss out on.
The day was on and off rainy so while walking through the Toy Story area we got rained on and quickly got in line for Crush's Coaster (Very Awesome!). I appreciated having a fun ride form of Finding Nemo much more than the "Turtle Talk with Crush" that is back home. In this same area they have little kid rides Cars themed and replicas of the buildings from Radiator Springs.
Back towards the entrance are several buildings for different sit down experiences and shows with specific start times. Some of these included musicals, the art of Disney animation, and Cine Magique. I wish we could have spent time at the different shows at here but we had too much ground to cover to stay in one park all day. I look forward to when I will be able to visit again and have more time to explore.

Enjoy the photos and have a Magical day!