When I studied abroad in London last winter, we were given a free weekend to do just about anything we wanted. Some of my peers spent their weekend in Amsterdam, one couple flew to Italy, and two girls went northwest to Ireland. My sister, her friend, and I decided on Paris, and the two-hour train ride got us there faster than it takes to get to Los Angeles from our hometown Fresno.
We spent our first night there exploring the city, and the next morning we wandered around the Louvre for a few hours. After gazing at the Mona Lisa and more entertainingly, the people watching in the room where Da Vinci's painting hung, my sister and I decided to go to Disneyland Paris to escape the museum vibes we had been in since we arrived in London. Since we're also big time Disneyland fanatics, we couldn't pass up this opportunity.
Sleeping Beauty Castle
We got on the metro and in about 45 minutes we arrived at the theme park. No, Disneyland Paris isn't really in Paris, but like Disneyland here in the states, people often place it in Los Angeles, when it's actually in Anaheim. Same thing. There was no line for tickets, something unheard of at Disneyland in our home state, and we took this as a good and bad sign: the park seemed relatively empty, but would it live up to our expectations of a Disneyland in Europe?
Disneyland Paris upon entering looked very similar to Disneyland in Anaheim. It had a Main Street and a lot of the buildings were exact replicas, but there was a uniqueness to the park as well. It seemed to be geared towards a more international audience, and that became more apparent as we passed by food vendors offering dishes from the Middle East and India. One section of the park was given an "Arabian" theme and was built to look like a bazaar. It was also in this area where we found a building that displayed scenes from "Aladdin."
Phantom Manor
Phantom ManorA lot of the rides were the same, but some were completely different than what we have at Disneyland in the states. "The Haunted Mansion" was "Phantom Manor" here, and it was scarier and quite gory compared to its American counterpart. The "Indiana Jones" ride was a roller coaster, and the layout of their version of "Pirates of the Caribbean" was backwards (singing animatronics at the beginning, and skeletons at the end) but rather than comparing the two parks negatively, I felt that the changes to the rides was something that would let me remember Disneyland Paris forever.
Indiana Jones
After about 2 hours into exploring the park, my sister and I had food on our minds. We decided on a quick service restaurant offering Italian food, which wasn't exactly going out of our comfort zone, but that came when we saw beer and wine on the beverage list. Anyone who has gone to Disneyland and is over the age of 21 knows that the only place to get a good buzz is Downtown Disney or California Adventure, and although there are rumors of alcohol finally being served in Disneyland Park, we were quite surprised when we saw it on the menu. Then again, we were in France after all.
As we approached the cast member to pay for our food, one "hi" from us was all it took for him to speak English to us. In fact, everyone I have encountered in Paris spoke English, which was kind of a bummer since I was looking forward to using my two semesters worth of French, but this was a place that attracts people from all over the world, and English isn't an uncommon language to learn, whereas, in America, we learn foreign languages at our leisure.
After our meal, we headed to the Tomorrowland section of the park. We were instantly drawn to "Star Tours." No, not the new, revamped, better graphics "Star Tours" that we have in Disneyland. This was the OG "Star Tours." Although the graphics and effects paled in comparison to the new version in California, it made me feel nostalgic in the sense that I thought I would never ride that version ever again, yet here I was, holding onto my seat and weaving my way through ice comets.
"May the Force Be With You" en Français
The last ride we got on was "Space Mountain: Mission 2." This exterior of the ride had a Jules Verne-esque vibe to it, which gave it that steampunk look; totally different from the Space Mountain we were used to. The ride itself was faster and it even went upside down to my surprise. It was a great sendoff.
Although sometimes I regret spending such a large portion of my short time in Paris at Disneyland, I am glad to say that I have experienced the park's uniqueness and can compare and contrast it to the Disneyland I know and love. Disneyland Paris has its own European charm, and although it can't exactly replicate the magic I feel at Disneyland at home, the same can be said for the latter.
