The Sons of the Desert convention was now over on the morning of Sunday, July 13, 2008 – but there were even bigger fish to fry in Europe. We had spent a wonderful week in Holland, preceded by a day in Germany, and stops in Belgium and Luxembourg – all of which were fabulous (with the sole sore spot being that I never found a magnet in Belgium). We had arranged for a cab to pick us up at 11am that Sunday morning from the Hotel Avifauna. Originally we were going to leave from the train station in Alphen ann den Rijn, but due to some maintenance going on, the station was closed that morning.
Therefore, Big Jimmy, Kris, Jimmy, David, and I had to take a much longer cab ride to the next train station in Leiden. There we picked up the brief train ride to Den Haag, and then on to a two hour train ride to Brussels, Belgium again, which was merely a brief stop to switch trains. We couldn’t find enough seats together, so I sat with David on the train to Belgium – where I snapped three of my most favorite photos of the trip, those of David and another very dull passenger. Because of the train switches we had to make due to the closure, we had a 90 minute layover in Brussels – which allowed me just enough time find the Belgium magnet that I so desperately needed to complete the set of eight countries I would be seeing and grab something to eat in the train station – a calzone at Sbarro’s and one final Belgian waffle covered in syrup at Haagen-Dazs.
Dave excitedly tells the gentleman next to him where we are heading
The man is not amused
David looks for entertainment elsewhere
My second of two waffles in Belgium
By 4:10pm we were back on the train, embarking for Paris. This train ride was two hours long and ended up at the Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy train station in Paris, France, dropping us off smack dab in the middle of the Disneyland resort. We took a tram to our hotel on the Disney property, the Newport Bay Club Hotel. Thanks to David and his job with Disney, we were able to get our rooms for 50% off the actual price.
The hotel was really nice and had an obvious nautical theme. In fact the walls of the hallways to the room looked as if they were cabins on a luxury liner. Once we had arrived here, it wasn’t a hard decision for us to decide to visit the park that night. Originally we were going to rail into Paris to see the city at night and possibly take an evening river cruise. However, my idea was to consolidate our trips into Paris to just one and spend the time that we would save by skipping the train rides and enjoy the park a little bit more. Jimmy and David are both Disney freaks as well, so it wasn’t a hard sell.
The front of our hotel: The Newport Bay Club
View of the rear of our hotel, as we walk to the Disneyland Park
The whole complex is now known as Disneyland Resort Paris, formerly as Euro Disney Resort, Euro Disneyland Paris, and Disneyland Paris. The Resort consisted of two parks, the original Parc Disneyland (obviously Disneyland Park in English – akin to the Magic Kingdom), and the Walt Disney Studios Park (akin to the former Disney M-G-M Studios). For our first night, we decided to just stick with Parc Disneyland.
After posing for a group photo outside the main gate, we advanced to the entrance where David attempted to secure our free admission with his Silver Pass. There was a moment of concern when it took a while, but finally they came through with free tickets for everyone and we entered the park gates around 8pm.
David, Jimmy, Jimmy, Kris, and Me are excited to enter this magical place. The Wileys had been here once before, but it was the first time for David and me.
It was immediately apparent that this park differed in many ways from the other other two Disney Parks I had visited. First of all, at 140 acres, it is the largest of the parks based on Disneyland. Frontierland was the first land on the left side of the park and it included their version of the Haunted Mansion, known as Phantom Manor. This was the first ride that we attempted to ride. Unfortunately, although the wait was relatively short, the ride closed down right as we were about to enter. Workers went inside armed with a stretcher for some poor wretch who was evidentally scared to death…or perhaps he tripped – who knows? In any case, our first ride was a bust – so we moved on.
Outside the Phantom Manor, still thinking that I was going to be riding it within minutes
We ended up in Adventureland, which was next in line, and the more traditional first ride The Pirates of the Caribbean. The ride is similar to the original Disneyland ride having two boat drops, but with the various scenes in a different sequence, beginning with the burning of the town, followed by the bombardment scene, ending with the town scenes. It is the only park not to feature the characters from the movie. And of course…the pirates were all speaking French. The highlight was the sword-fighting pirates which are unique to this version. I missed my photo op of the jailed pirates, but I’d get them the next time!
Getting ready to check out some French Pirates
Ah, look what I found – an official Pirates of the Caribbean cannon!
Aboard my first Parc Disneyland ride
Our ship goes down for the third time
After the ride we did a walk-through of Skull Rock, located next to Captain Hook’s Pirate Ship. Although I had never seen it, it certainly culled memories for David and the Wileys, as this attraction had disappeared from Disneyland in 1984.
Captain Hook’s Pirate Ship
We went inside Skull Rock
Next up was a ride unique to the park Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril, or simply Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. It was a fun, but unmemorable roller coaster, which simulates a mining car out of control on the single-looped track.
The hot attendant measures me up for the Indiana Jones ride. She says I am man enough to ride…
…but little did she know
We then moved on into Fantasyland and started it off with David’s favorite ride Les Voyages de Pinocchio (The Journeys of Pinocchio). Other than being in French, the ride was exactly the same as the Disneyland version. This ride is not at Florida’s Magic Kingdom, so I am not quite as familiar with it.
In front of David’s favorite ride
We then hit it’s a small world, which I felt was a much more colorful and vibrant ride than the other two versions I have enjoyed for years. The sound was excellent as well – and I’m not one of those fools who gets the song stuck in my head all day and can’t get it out. It was getting to be about 10pm as we made our way into the next land Discoveryland – Paris’ version of Tomorrowland. The sun was just beginning to set and we had seen quite a few major attractions in just two hours.
It’s a small guy in front of it’s a small world
The American scene inside small world
Sleeping Beauty’s beautiful castle at dusk
Space Mountain: Mission 2 was a markedly different ride than the Space Mountain I know and love from the other parks. First of all, the outside decor was designed to match the retro-futuristic look of the rest of Tomorrowland…er, Discoveryland. The ride itself also matches this decor, and is the fastest of all Space Mountain rides, the only one to include inversions (two), and begins with a bullet 0-to-46 mph takeoff – which is located on the outside of the mountain. In short, it was very cool…and thrilling! Amazingly, this -like all of the other rides – was a complete walk-on.
The Paris Space Mountain was quite bitchin’ – the launch occurs in that tube going up the right side
Lost in space
Finally as it neared closing time at 11pm, we were able to work our way back to the Phantom Manor near the front of the park. The Disneyland and Disney World Haunted Mansion has always been one of my very favorite attractions and it was interesting to see major diffences in this version. There was only dialogue at the beginning of the ride, which was spoken in both English and French. The stretching room was very different and featured more contemporary paintings. The first half of the ride was almost exactly the same, but the graveyard sequence was completely different – featuring many more spooky and grisly versions of the dead. Although it reminded me a little bit more of low-budget type carnival haunted houses, it was still interesting and enjoyable to see the vastly different variation.
Some of the goblins…
…ghouls…
…and ghosts unique to Phantom Manor
And with that, it was time to head back to our room. It was about a fifteen minute walk – especially at our exhausted pace. We were going to stop in the McDonalds on the property but it was absolutely jam-packed with people and quite expensive to boot. We settled on stopping in our resort gift shop and picking up a few snacks. I enjoyed Poco Loco barbecue corn chip and a Magnum almond ice cream bar. A very healthy midnight snack to end the evening.
David had his own room and I shared one with the Wileys. Jimmy and I had to share a double bed, which obviously wasn’t fun, but it sure didn’t stop me from conking out. The pace of the trip certainly wouldn’t let up from here and we had another busy day ahead of us tomorrow….
The trip will continue…
This was really cool. It’s nice to see a little twist to the orginal Disneyland and Disneyworld. Looks like a lot of fun.
Bev
October 25th, 2008