Disneyland, Île-de-France, FranceWe woke up early on Thursday morning ready for our day at Paris Disney. Laure had advised us on how to get there. We caught the Paris Metro underground from Ecole Militaire, just a few hundred meters from our door, to Opera, then rode on a travelator to Auber station to catch the RER 'A' train to Marne-la-Vallée station, which is about 200 metres from Disneyland. The RER was double decker train. Half way through its 45 min journey we emerged from the underground into suburban Paris and then countryside on the last few kilometres. Door-to-door the journey took about just over an hour. We arrived at Disneyland at 10.15, soon after gates opened at 10am.
We had a quick bag check before being allowed into Disneyland Park and after a quick cell phone call, soon met up with Kate and Paul, who made there own way there. We were ready to go on our first ride of the day. Kate and Paul suggested Space Mountain as it was the hardest to ride. So we lined up and after about 5 minutes in the line Kate and Paul began to tell the horror stories of this ride. 40 minutes passed and we got into our carts. Kate and Alice in front Paul and Allan behind then and Meg and Susan in the cart behind.
We were told to lean our head back against our seats. Some of us did not take this suggestion seriously and found out why we should've, as we went upside-down. It was hard to tell what was going on, as the ride was in the dark, but some of us came out smiling and others not. After that we already needed a break so we stopped to get something to eat at Videopolis, a theatre located in the Discovery Land part of Disneyland Park.
After we had a bite to eat we were ready for another ride. We headed over to Frontierland to try and fast pass Big Thunder Mountain, but were distracted by the haunted house, Phantom Manor. We quickly lined up and within 30 minutes we were in. The ride was quick. We all crowed in an elevator, which took us down to the ride. We got out of the elevator and walked down a haunted corridor towards the carts. We boarded our carts and had a quick ride round the underground haunted manor. When we got out we went to see if we could fast pass Big Thunder Mountain.
We got our fast pass tickets to come back at 4pm. We quickly had a go shooting at Rustler Round-up Shootin' Gallery. It ended in Alice pointing at various things for Allan to shoot at. We needed something to fill the time between then and 4pm, so we went to Adventureland and lined up at Pirates of The Caribbean. Pirates of The Caribbean is a ride that takes you on a boat round a small river passing various different scenes, including the restaurant next to it.
After that there was still time to fill; so we decided to go to Fantasyland and try one of the rides there. We hopped on something short so we would have time for one more ride before Big Thunder Mountain; we lined up at Mad Hatter's Tea Cups. At Mad Hatter's Tea Cups you have your own cup that you sit in and it spins you round and you have a wheel in the middle that you turn to spin your cup.
After that we still had time to fill before 4 o'clock; so we decided instead of walking we would take the train to the next ride. Big Mistake! It took an hour waiting in line before we got on the train and we missed out on a last ride before 4pm; so we went strait to Big Thunder Mountain. As we had fast passes we only had to wait 20 minutes before boarding our train" and went round an "old mine".
After that we decided on one more ride before leaving; so we went and lined up for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril. Its was a thrilling ride and we went so fast we didn't even realise we were upside-down for a second. After that it was time to go home, but first Allan had to look in the Discovery Arcade before we left. After that we took the RER back to Invalides saying goodbye to Kate and Paul, a stop before ours.
Megan (11yo)
When we got back to our apartment on Rue Cler, it was a hot spring evening and the place was humming with Parisians having an after-work drink and the cafés were bursting onto the streets. At first glance it looked as though we would be lucky to get a meal and it was getting late for the girls. Fortunately, the indoor tables were not so busy and we found one just across the street form the apartment and had a great meal at Le Tribeca.
After our big day, Susan and the girls retired to the apartment while Allan took some photos of the evening life around rue Cler.
2025-05-22