Once upon a time, in a far far away land called Paris… I went to Disneyland!
It is official. I have been to a Disneyland park outside of LA, and yes, outside of the the United States! I have been to Disneyland Paris (not that this should come as a surprise to you, I’ve only been talking about it since before I left the States)!!! Just like in Los Angeles, there are two parks on the property, but instead of being California Adventure, Paris has the Walt Disney Studios! We arrived just as the parks were opening at 10am (yeah, the hours here are absurd! It’s open 10am to 8pm!) and decided to go to the Walt Disney Studios first as the park is smaller, and then spend our remaining time in Disneyland!
Tinker Bell (not pictured) Peter Pan and Wendy flying around Mickey’s sorcerers hat from Fantasia, originally they were flying around the main tower of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle in the Disneyland park.
Had to make a pit-stop for coffee and Mickey cakes!
First ride of the day- Rockin’ Roller Coaster! Let’s all take a moment to admire it’s wait time in line was ten minutes! And yes, I am afraid of roller coasters, so going from 0 to 57 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds was certainly an exhilarating way to start off my day!
Time to frolick on over to Disneyland!
The entrance to Disneyland Paris!
Me, *Fatima, Alex, Caity and Anna
*Alex and Anna met Fatima at their hostel in Paris, and joined us on our day trip (aka she invited herself)
Disneyland Paris’ 20th Anniversary!
Sleeping Beauty’s castle!!! I’m a bit obsessed that it has a hillside on the left, not really sure why I liked it so much, but I really wanted to climb up it
First up, Discoveryland!
Space Mountain: Mission 2. Please admire the incredible wait time.
Okay, if you think Space Mountain in LA is the best roller coaster ever, you have yet to ride the one in Paris. Oh my goodness it’s crazy! You board outside, under an awning, and proceed into a dark tunnel and up a hill (the tube on the right side of the building above), just like in Los Angeles, but here is where we were caught off guard. You don’t slowly climb and then tip down a hill into “space”, oh no, the tunnel walls pull back so you can see the park for a split second, before it freaking launches you up and over the building, where you proceed to dodge planets, corkscrew, lay on your side, and to top it all off, it is even darker inside then the ride in LA so you can’t see any of the track ahead of you!
Next, Adventureland!
Indiana Jones Et Le Temple Du Peril, another roller coaster, except this one loops upside down! It also had a 20 minute wait, can’t beat that!
The Jolly Roger and Skull Rock from Peter Pan! I was freakin’ out because Disneyland LA lacks Skull Rock and I’m a geek for Peter Pan
On Pirates of the Caribbean with Anna and Alex!
The Blue Lagoon, Paris’ version of the Blue Bayou restaurant 
Pascal, from Tangled
It’s A Small World
Cinderella’s carriage!
Tea Cups! My favorite ride from when I was little
A quick tea cup photo shoot!
The backside of the castle, from Fantasyland
Disney souvenirs
The Haunted Manor in Frontierland. Disney geek moment- The Haunted Mansion ride is in a different land in each Disney park. In this case, it is in Frontierland, in LA it’s in New Orleans, in Tokyo it is in Fantasyland.
Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster! This, for a fact, I can say is cooler then the one in Los Angeles. Notice how it has water surrounding it? That’s because the ride is indeed in the middle of the water, and the boarding area is on land, across the water from it, so the first and last think you do on the course of the tracks is go underwater in a pitch black tunnel!
Got my Minnie Mouse ears!
Although the park closes at 8pm, they do put on a pretty magical show before you leave! Just a heads up, you’re about to see the result of my Shutterbug Syndrome.
Peter Pan and Wendy (behind the tree) speaking in French
All the classic songs play during the show were half in English and half in French
The Eiffel Tower of dishes from Be Our Guest, in Beauty and the Beast
Dancing napkins from Be Our Guest
Big
Bigger
Biggest!
Quasimodo climbing the castle/Notre Dame
Rapunzel’s tower in Tangled!
Floating Lanterns from Tangled
Voodoo from The Princess and the Frog
Malfeasant, the terror of my childhood!
After the show, all of the visitors and our aching feet head back down Main Street USA and to the train station to cram onto the RER. It was definitely one of my favorite days of all my travels so far, call me a child, I don’t care. Disneyland will always be my favorite getaway! So, if you are ever in Paris and are a Disney lover, go!
And they all lived happily ever after,
Princess Michelle
World Watching 
One word: PASCAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!