You can read about the end of our Paris adventure here, with part 11
I will warn you the next couple parts focusing on Disneyland Paris will have more text than normal as I describe the parks in a lot more detail.
Our driver from ACS Transfer arrived a couple minutes early in a van big enough to fit all of us and our luggage. It was a weekday but we didn’t really hit any traffic on our way out of town. We arrived at our hotel, Residhome Val d’Europe, about 40 minutes later. Our rooms were ready, so we went up to drop our stuff off. The Residhome Val d’Europe calls it self an apparthotel and our rooms had a kitchen, living room, a bedroom, and a balcony with a view of Tower of Terror. The bed dominated the bedroom and you had just enough room to walk around and with the couch opened up to a bed there wasn’t much room left in the living room either. Jules isn’t the Disney fan the rest of us are, so she was planning on relaxing at the hotel and doing laundry. She said she might join us in the afternoon though. The rest of us planned to do our laundry when we got back from the parks. Residhome Val d’Europe is one stop away from Disneyland Paris on the RER and there is an entrance to the train next to the hotel. This entrance isn’t manned though and only has the automated ticket machines which I’ve used before to buy Paris Metro tickets. The RER though uses a different type of ticket and I didn’t fully read what I was buying and our tickets didn’t work. You put your ticket in the gate, the gates open and you go through and collect your ticket. When you get to your stop you do the same thing to get out. For some reason, I followed someone else through the gate and got stuck on the other side. Eventually, they figured out what tickets we needed to purchase and joined me just as the train was coming in.
The RER drops you off directly in front of the security gate for the resort. Which is nice because the parks are close like Disneyland with Disney Village next door and you can go between the three without having to go back through security unlike at Disneyland. They also have lines with x-ray machines you can set your bags on to make the process quicker.
There are two parks that make up the Disneyland Paris Resort. Disneyland & Walt Disney Studios. The Studios is considered to be a travesty and the only redeeming item there is Crush’s Coaster. We decided we’d hit that up first since we heard lines for it can get quite long.
Passing through the gates of Walt Disney Studios Park you first go through The Front Lot. An enclosed building with lots of food and the main shop. Cuz was already rushing through so we didn’t really spend much time here for now.
We got to Crush’s Coaster and the ride was down. Cuz and Uncle D went to ride Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith since he was too small to ride it when they visited Disney World. I’m not a big coaster guy, so I went with Moms and Nina to ride Flying Carpets Over Agrabah.
– Flying Carpets Over Agrabah
Crush was still down so we went next door to Cars Race Rally; a kiddie ride that was not made for large people, I had to suck my gut in to get the seatbelt to close and I had to turn my legs sideways since my knees wouldn’t fit. There’s not much to it, the cars spin around the big disc in the floor like Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree in Disney’s California Adventure, but unlike Mater’s you don’t go from disc to disc. Definitely one for the littlest kiddies, but they did a good job of getting a lot of Cars theming into the queue. When we got off that, Crush was finally open, Nina texted Cuz to let them know. I hopped in line figuring I’d join them for a second go round depending on when they got back. Turns out they were already in line and we saw each other as they were getting on a ride vehicle.
– Cars Race Rally
– Cars Race Rally queue
– Cars Race Rally queue
– Cars Race Rally queue
The easiest way to describe Crush’s Coaster is that it’s a bit like Space Mountain. The coaster is in the dark and there are lots of little lights all around. The difference is your turtle shell spins around as it goes through. It started off calmly and as it climbed the hill for the drop I was backwards and when we started going down I thought to myself “Oh crap, what did I get myself into?” It was awesome though! It felt faster and like it had steeper banked turns than the Disneyland Space Mountain. Coupled with the vehicle spinning around slightly, makes for one of my favorite Disney rides.
– Crush’s Coaster load area
After flying through the EAC, we went to Toy Story Playland. This area is a clone of the same land at Hong Kong Disneyland. The theming is kind of cool, but the rides aren’t that appealing. There’s a parachute drop, a half-pipe coaster that has you going back and forth, and Slinky Dog ZigZag Spin which has you riding Slinky Dog as he chases his own tail in a circle. We rode the Slinky Dog ride. It was a big circle.
It was just about time for Cinemagique to start so we decided to watch that. This is a movie show starring Martin Short and Julie Delpy. It goes through different periods of film history as the main characters try and connect and find love. It’s in both French and English and is really easy to follow. It’s a unique show and I enjoyed it, but I don’t think anybody else in the group really did.
– Partners statue
By now we were done with this park and were excited to visit the main attraction next door. We did some shopping in the Front Lot before we left though.
– Nina bought these
– the entrance to Disneyland Paris
Jules was having trouble getting the washer/dryer at the hotel to work so she wouldn’t be joining us.
The trip report continues here.
Utini! 