On our first night in France, we decided to go into Disneyland Park at Disneyland Paris. It was the first time we visited a theme park outside of the U.S. Over the course of the next two days, we spent a lot of time in the park, primarily visiting attractions that didn’t exist in the U.S., or that were quite different than the U.S. The park really had a lot to offer, and the architecture and beauty of it was incredible.

Disneyland Park

We were not initially intending to go into a park on our first day, but we wanted to make sure we knew how the Cast Member passes and Madeline’s Easy Access Card worked. We got that sorted out and walked into a foreign Disney park for the first time. Dana was so excited.

BACK TO EUROPE

10/11/24—10/21/24

It was fairly late in the evening, but we made it in time to see their drone show, the Electrical Sky Parade. It was a really nice show, and the projections on the beautiful castle were also very nice.

We got up early the next morning and took the short Uber ride to Disneyland Paris. Disneyland Park and the hotel were decorated for Halloween. We got in line well before the park opened to all guests, so we were basically there at rope drop. Walking on Main Street was so different from the night before. Of course, we took our photo in front of the beautiful Cinderella Castle.

We began in Frontierland. Everyone in the park seemed to be waiting in lines for characters, so we went through an empty Thunder Mesa and then an empty queue to our first attraction, Phantom Manor. It was beautiful. After a quick spin on Indiana Jones Temple of Doom, we went to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which was located on its own island.

Pirates of the Caribbean was fairly familiar. Alice’s Curious Labyrinth was a walk-through maze of landscaping and iconic statues. It was pretty interesting actually. Peter Pan’s Flight had a different kind of track, but was familiar. Pinocchio and Snow White were also similar to the States.

Sleeping Beauty’s Castle was very unique because you could go through it, walk out onto its balcony, and see its gorgeous stained glass windows. They also had a dragon down in the basement. Aladdin was another walk-through attraction. It’s a Small World was kind of fun, because it showed me what the rest of the world thinks about when they think of the United States.

The park had other great features, like some good snacks, a beautiful arcade area behind Main Street, and a lovely Disneyland Railroad. It also has the gorgeous Disneyland Hotel that sits right over the top of the entrance to the park.

We hit the park early again and headed off to Fantasyland. Our first two rides were The Land of Fairy Tales and Casey Jr.—le Petit Train du Cirque. Both exist in California’s Disneyland Park, but they were cute here as well. Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups was absolutely beautiful with its glass roof. We also saw the parade from the queue line.

Next was over to Discoveryland, which is our Tomorrowland. We went on Hyperspace Mountain. We then moved over to Main Street USA. I looked at the architecture and statues while Dana had a drink on Main Street. The Halloween Parade then started, and I had a front row seat on one side and Madeline had one on the other side. We got different views of the same performers and floats.

There was one last thing on our schedule at Disneyland Paris: to eat in a really nice restaurant. Dana chose Walt’s Restaurant, which was located on the second floor on Main Street. That was very unique, as guests can’t access the second floor of any of the buildings on Main Street in the U.S. We had a great meal and a nice window view down below. It was light and sunny out when we went into the restaurant, but dark and rainy out by the time we left. We were sad to be done with Disneyland Paris.