We are gaining speed now! Two posts in one day, and maybe even more to come... "Get out of town!", you might be saying to yourself. But believe it, because here it comes.
After a semi frustrating train ride from Austria to France, the whole time of which I was paranoid about missing a train, falling asleep, or pissing people on the train off by eating a hot kebab in close quarters. Well, we did not miss a train, I did not fall asleep, and who cares if people were pissed off about my kebab, it was delicious. There was no way that I was going to be in Europe, so close to another Disney park, and not go. For those of you who do not know, I'm a bit obsessed with Disneyland, Disney, Walt himself, and basically everything that surrounds the company. So as stated above, Disneyland Paris was a must do for me.
We made it to France safely, and thanks to dear ol Mum and Dad, Becca and I had two, two-day, two-park, park hopper tickets to Disneyland Paris Parks, which includes Disneyland and Walt Disney Studios (which for those who are unaware, Walt Disney Studios is one of the parks at Walt Disney World, but is made to give the California, Hollywood experience). It just so happened that the day we arrived in Paris, it started to rain. That however, was in no way going to put a damper on our Disneyland Paris adventure, so we ponied up some cash, and bought some awesome plastic ponchos. Disneyland Paris is a lot like Disneyland back home, with similar rides and an almost identical layout, expect everything is much more compact due to lack of space, or so they say. Let me tell you something, besides Disneyland, there is nothing out in that end of France. We hit the main park first, and had heard that their Space Mountain had a loop in it, so we decided to head over there. Their Space Mountain definitely has a loop, a couple cork-screws, and I would say goes legitimately faster than the one in CA. Our Indiana Jones however, completely dominates theirs, as theirs is just a roller coaster, and not the full on Temple of The Forbidden Eye experience. I could go on and on about what was different and what was similar, but one thing to note is that The Haunted Mansion in Paris, or Phantom Manor as it was called was way darker and scarier than ours. It was quite sketchy and you even went through hell at one part... I don't know if French kids are into that stuff or what, but I was throughly creeped out.
Walt Disney Studios was incredibly fun too, as they had some great roller coasters. The Aerosmith roller coaster, which exist in Florida, shot you straight into a loop, and kept you on an adrenaline rush for the rest of the ride. The general consensus favorite came as the last ride of the trip, and was called Crush's Coaster, inspired by Crush the turtle from Finding Nemo. You sat in a shell, spun all sorts of different ways, and I believe Becca and I were laughing our heads off the entire time.
After two days at Disneyland Paris, it was time to part ways with the European continent and head pack to England. Becca was set to fly out of Paris, but due to mainly my failure of turning off the alarm too quickly, she missed her flight, and instead had to fly out of Stansted in London. So, we jumped on the Eurostar, through the Chunnel, and over a month away, I was back in the Queen's Country.
 |
| You get launched through a cannon into space... |
 |
| Castle by day. |
 |
| The Castle again. |
 |
| Their Thunder Mountain goes way longer than ours. |
 |
We had to wait in line, and bust little kids
out of the way to get this shot. |
 |
| I love the way this shot turned out for some reason. |
 |
Alice In Wonderland Labyrinth.
Pretty rad! |
 |
Sadly no Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, but they did have
a Toad Hall Restaurant. |
 |
Dad, this one is for you. We always love going on
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride together back home. |
 |
| It was a pretty massive entrance. |
 |
That's a wrap. This was especially poignant as I took it on
our last day there, as we were leaving the park. |
 |
| I think this is my favorite photo from the trip. |
 |
| The magic never gets old. |
 |
| Castle at night from Main Street. |
 |
| The Main Mouse himself. He's a natural at the parade thing. |
 |
| Another shot I really love from the trip. |
 |
Disneyland Paris, as Disneyland back home seems to gain
just a bit more magic at night time. |
 |
| Goodbye Disneyland Paris! |
Well, that brings me to a close on my Christmas Break adventures (finally for all those who have been patiently waiting). I have done quite a bit since then, and will do my best to get those posts up in the next two weeks. However, in less than 48 hours I fly out for Barcelona, so it probably wont happen before then, but check in starting the week of the 14th for some more updates.
Sun dried decks today,
The Pirate Crew
