Paris Disney does not open until 10, but we had to take a train to get there so we were up by 8. A short trip by Metro and a longer trip by RER got us to the park right at 10. It was overcast and chilly, but did not actuallly rain on us during the day.
On arrival, Phyllis and I traded our vouchers for tickets and then we entered the park. It was a curious experience. It did not feel like Europe, but also did not feel American. It felt familiar, yet different. Most of the elements of the park are based closely on Disneyland. So, for example, we entered the park through Main Street, which was laid out a bit differently but still looked a lot like Disneyland. Yet I found myself wondering what a typical European thought of it. In Disneyland, it’s a throwback to an imagined golden age of small town America. But to Europeans, it’s just a foreign culture. Indeed, far from looking a bit old and simple, as it does to my eyes, it actually seems nicer and more modern than a lot of European cities do.
Sleeping Beauty’s Castle posed the same issues. It’s a castle, but of course France and Europe is filled with real castles. Indeed, we ourselves had just visited several castles that were much larger and more impressive than the fake Disney castle in the park. And again with the timber housing in fantasyland. To American eyes, they evoke fairy tales, but lots of European cities are actually filled with these sort if houses.
Conversely, what do Europeans make of Frontierland? There is no European frontier.
Anyway, we all enjoyed the park a great deal, a touch of home and the familiar after many weeks of foreign travel. The day got off to a rocky start, as the weather was poor, the lines long, and Thunder Mountain broke down after we had already been in the line for quite a while. Things got better after we wandered into a Tarzan stage show.
We tried to ride everything, though we were forced to skip a couple of roller coasters because the girls were too small. We rode Phantom Manor, which was pretty similar. Thunder Mountain was actually a bit better than Disneyland because of dark tunnels that the train rides through at the start and finish. Pirates had most of the same rooms, but arranged in a different order for some reason. The battle scene was not as good, though.
We ate lunch at a “Mexican” restaurant, but the food was bland and not at all Mexican. Fries instead of chips, etc. Later in the day we rode Small World and then Autopia. To my surprise, the girls really seemed to enjoy the cars, even though they never really have before. The Fantasyland rides, on the other hand, were no longer quite as big a deal for them.
For dinner, we ate at an all you can eat buffet, which was absurdly expensive but the food was quite good, probably our best meal for many days. We then rode Thunder Mountain again, this time with Kaitlin. To my surprise, she really seemed to enjoy the ride, even though it was more intense than any other coaster that she has ridden to date. We then split up, with me taking Amber to ride Autopia again while the others rode Phantom Manor. It was fun watching Amber drive the car, stretching her foot way down to reach the gas. I thought about how I would be watching her drive for real in just a few years.
Amber and I then wandered into the fireworks show over the castle, which we stopped to watch. Then we rejoined the others. We had to wait in line to buy return tickets home, so we were among the last to leave. The girls slept on the train home, and Phyllis and I carried them through the subway and on the streets to our hotel.