Day 19: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

So sad to say goodbye to Europe. It's been an amazing trip. One of our best vacations ever. Easily in the top three.

We got up at 5:30 to get ready and finish packing. We had to leave by 7:15 to make the train to the airport. We decided to walk to station this time, instead of taking the bus. Madison wasn't exactly thrilled (it's a ten minute walk through Disney Village, the exact same walk to the parks), but it made us more comfortable time-wise, rather than waiting for the bus. The only slight hiccup was that we had to go through the Disney Village baggage check (complete with X-Ray), but that didn't take too long.

At the train station, we got directions to our train, printed out tickets at the kiosk, and found our platform. I'd booked us all on the TVG to the airport. It was a little pricey, but it was only a ten-minute shot to the airport. Can't beat that. Our train had a slight delay, but we had plenty of time.

I was worried about a repeat of trying to get our big suitcases on board like with the Eurostar, and I was right. There wasn't enough room in the luggage compartment, so I ended up staying with them. I thought I'd be in there with just the conductors, but half the car joined me. People just kept coming and coming, anxious to get off at the airport, I guess. It was starting to look like the Marx Brothers in A Night at the Opera.

We got to Charles de Gaul in no time. Marsha had actually chased someone out of my seat, only for me to not show up. After we got off the train, we had to take an elevator up. While everyone else waited in a very long line for the closest one, we walked further down the platform and found another with no line at all. 

Let me now say that Charles de Gaul is huge. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it's really one of the nicest airports I've ever seen. Of course, we also saw more soldiers carrying machine guns walking around (we've seen quite a few of those in France), which actually made me feel pretty safe, but was another reminder that we're not in Kansas anymore.

It was a long, long walk to US Airways/American Airlines baggage check in (we should have grabbed a cart). Drum roll, please, for the moment of truth! Would our bags be under 50 pounds? Did our plan using the extra carry-on work? We played it smart and did Marsha's bag first, just in case we had to shift things around again.

Yes! It passed! And so did the other two! 

With that first hurdle behind us, it was time for hurdle #2: Marsha needed to start her meds, which take a good while to kick in. Unlike the trip over, where she took them several nights before we left, this was her first dose before flying back. Major progress. I am so proud of how well she's done.

We found a McD so that we could get some breakfast and relax a bit. Thankfully, when we checked our luggage, they gave us the customs form then (the U.S. only requires one per family). Even better, we knew what it was this time. We had to guesstimate how much we'd spent in souvenirs. We figured they wouldn't ask for receipts, but we still tried to be fairly accurate. 

We hung out at McD for a good while. I noticed that they don't have biscuits for their breakfast items. Most everything is served on an English muffin (didn't see any croissants). Eventually, our boarding time was approaching (our tickets listed it an hour before takeoff), so we headed for our gate. Marsha needed a Diet Coke to take her next pill after we boarded, so I used some of the last of my change to get her one. I started to get a little nervous about the time because I realized we still hadn't gone through customs or security. Should have done that before we went to McD.

Thankfully, it all went pretty quickly, so no worries, but they took Marsh's unopened Diet Coke and asked her if she wanted a sip before they tossed it. I should've remembered to buy her one after we went through security.

We found our gate and, more importantly, another drink machine. I  scrounged through my remaining change and had just enough, but it wouldn't take the two cent pieces (of course). Marsha asked a fellow traveler who kindly donated ten cents to the cause.

We found a crowded place to sit and waited and waited. Our flight was delayed due to weather somewhere (clearly not in Paris), but that was no bother since we were flying non-stop. Eventually, we boarded and got settled in for the long flight home.

We got lunch shortly after takeoff. Marsha skipped it and nodded right off. Her plan to not sleep much the night before partially worked. She did manage to sleep for a couple of hours. 

All of the announcements were in French and English (no idea if they told us something different). Fortunately, this time the pilot didn't offer everyone a last chance to get off. But Marsha had to come back anyway.

The GPS wasn't working, so they had to reboot the system. We were already leaving the UK when they finally got it up and running. The data on how far we'd traveled was wrong, but where we were and how far we had to go were still accurate.

Thankfully, they dimmed the lights and asked everyone to close their window shades to make it easier to watch movies. It also helped Marsha and Madison sleep. It was a longer flight coming back, but still very comfortable.

I swear, having the GPS is awesome. You know exactly where you are and how far you have to go, so it really helps eliminate the anticipation.

Thank goodness for the in-flight entertainment system. We watched multiple movies, though I was struggling to finish my last one before we landed. I'd loaded up my iPad before we left home, but forgot to recharge it the night before we left Disneyland. It all worked out, though. The in-flight movie selection was much better.

We hit more turbulence coming back, and in the exact same spot as we did going over (Eastern coast of Canada). It wasn't as rough, but it lasted longer than the first time. I really thought they'd end beverage service again, but the flight crew soldiered on and got everyone served. 

After a very long flight (our longest ever!), we finally landed in Charlotte. It was so good to be back in the wonderful US of A! Thanks to having our form and passports ready (plus being on home turf), we went through customs with no problem. Then we went straight to baggage claim and got our suitcases.

That's when we hit our final hiccup. We were on our way to the exit with suitcases in hand when they directed us to luggage re-check and said we had to do it. This being our first international flight, we didn't know any better, so we did as we were told.

I expected them to check our bags and hand them right back, but they took the bags and put them on a conveyor and away they went. I immediately realized that our bags were gone, so I found a woman (who was more interested in talking to her co-worker about potato chips) and asked where we were supposed to go to get them back. She looked at me puzzled, then asked if this was our final destination. When I said it was, she said we weren't supposed to do baggage re-check, that it was only for people who were connecting. Gee, that would have been a really good question to ask before they sent us over to baggage recheck.

She pointed us to the US Airways desk at the other end of baggage claim to tell them what happened. That's where we encountered several people who clearly had no interest in our problem or doing anything to help. They said we just had to wait until someone figured out our bags weren't going anywhere, at which time they'd be brought out. They said it wouldn't take long, but it sounded more like "just leave me alone and stop making me work."

Fortunately, we found a crewman who actually does care about his customers and he went the extra mile to track our bags down. God bless him! We tried to give him a tip to thank him, but he wouldn't take it. So glad they have at least one employee who actually cares.

I went to get the car while Marsha and Madison waited at the terminal. It was scorching hot outside (big change from this morning in Paris), and none of us wanted to drag our suitcases along any more than necessary.

As soon as I got to the shuttle, I realized that I couldn't remember exactly where we'd parked. Luckily, I'd recorded it on my phone. Or so I thought. I must've accidentally deleted it, because it was gone. I quickly texted Marsha and Madison. Madison remembered the parking lot, and I was able to piece together the rest.

After nearly three weeks in the parking lot, our poor car looked like it had been abandoned. It was covered in dirt, likely from the nearby construction. I rolled the windows down and cranked up the AC to cool it down on the way back to the terminal. 

Finally, we were on our very last leg of our most amazing trip. First stop was to pick up the dog, and then some iced tea!

Day 18: There and Back Again

Final day in Disneyland Paris, and the last day of our European vacation. Tomorrow morning we board a plane for long trip home. Since we've already done all the major attractions, we were able to just take our time and stroll about.

First order of business was lunch at Bistro Chez Remy. Probably (next to Father's Day at Walt's) the meal to which we were the most looking forward. I was assigned to be the "runner" this time and go get FastPasses for Ratatouille. But despite getting there "reasonably" early, they were already gone for the day. The wait increased by fifteen minutes just in the time it took Marsha and Madison to arrive.

Lunch was excellent! My favorite meal of all at Disneyland Paris. The menu is pretty limited: there's only three entrees and the menus are all prix-fix, so all three of us got steak frites and salad, but the food was excellent and the decor even better.

You're "shrunk down" to the size of a rat and dining in Remy's cafe at the end of the movie, so the chairs are bottle caps and wire, the booths are fashioned from giant plates, and there's a colander in the ceiling. Amazing dedication to theming. They really raised the bar. Again, I really hope we get this at Epcot.

Afterwards, we hopped in the single rider again for another ride. We liked it so much, we jumped right back in line and rode it again.

We thought about riding Crush's Coaster again, but even the single rider line is 45 minutes. We expected smaller crowds today since it's a weekday, but this is the most crowded we've seen it yet. We wondered if today is the start of a French holiday. It's a good thing we've already done most everything we wanted. 

Marsha really wanted to ride the Cars Quatre Roues Rallye (Cars Race Rally), a little spinning ride for kids, which probably has the smallest footprint of any Disney attraction I've ever seen. It's really tiny. I misunderstood the cast member directions because they were in French (only two adults per car), but another one came behind and straightened me out in English.

Next we did the Art of Disney Animation, which is somewhat similar to the version at Hollywood Studios. There were a couple of things I like better, though: the lobby, which has exhibits on the history of animation, and the intro video on Disney animation (though the picture quality was really bad). Like DHS, they had drawing classes and a presentation with Mushu on how characters are created. This one actually had head phones so that you could listen in another language, but I found that annoying, so I just listened to it in French. I'd seen it enough in FL to know what they were saying. We also saw a promo for Big Hero 6 which featured the U.S. voice actors, which I found odd because the French hear a completely different set of voice actors. (Update: After getting home, we learned that this attraction is closing in FL.)

We also did the Backlot Tour (recently closed in FL), which is a lot like the FL version, but shorter. They don't have the Pearl Harbor part where guests get to participate (John and I got picked once years ago), the boneyard has different vehicles, and you don't go through the studio part because there was never an actual studio there. The Catastrophe Canyon part is the same (and the tram was really shaky like it was in need of repair), but they do have one thing extra: the "set" for Reign of Fire, a Christian Bale movie about dragons that destroy modern day London. It looked really cool and reminded me I really wanted to see that movie. I think if they released it now (it was made pre-Batman), it might do better.

We explored the other side of the park to see what we'd missed on our first day. It didn't take long because, as I said before, this park is pretty small and everything is close together. The only attraction that halfway interested us was Armageddon: Les Effects Speciaux, which featured Michael Clark Duncan as the host (really miss him). We were thinking it might be like the Pearl Harbor part of the recently closed DHS Backlot Tour, but it was more like Twister at Universal Florida. It was all in French with video screens that provided hard-to-read subtitles.

We really wanted to do CineMagique, but it was closed for refurb. So, that was it for the Studios. (Update: We watched CineMagique on YouTube and it's really amazing. So wish they'd put it in Hollywood Studios.)

We went back over to Magic Kingdom for the rest of the day. We wanted to ride the train, but the line was too long. This is

definitely not WDW, where you can pretty much hop right on the train at any time. Not only is it much more popular here, but hardly anyone gets off until they've ridden it all the way around.

We walked over to Frontierland and figured the train might be less crowded over there. We found some great Phantom Manor shirts on a cart. The salesgirl thought I was French based on how I said "Bonjour." So, apparently I can say one word convincingly. I've learned to quickly follow it up with "How are you?" to make it clear I speak English. The first thing anyone wants to know is which language you speak.

We rode Phantom Manor again (because it's awesome) and realized that we weren't fully comprehending the story because the "Ghost Host" dialogue (which is shorter, but more a part of the story) is all in French. Madison looked up the story last night. We just love this version and are so excited about our new shirts.

Afterwards, we rode the River Boat (the Molly Brown) and then picked up the train in Frontierland. Turns out we were wrong about it being less crowded. We still had to wait quite a bit because hardly anyone would disembark.

We got off in Discoveryland and were surprised to learn that this park has four stops. The U.S. parks have only three. We also saw more need for maintenance: 

very loose cement tiles on walkway (lawsuit waiting to happen), plus faded, peeling paint and mildew on Small World. This was disappointing, yet other areas are pristine and beautiful.

We also popped back over to Adventureland, where we did the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House (which needed some cleaning). It offered great views of the park, and we even spotted Carl and Russel from Up nearby.

Finally, we were ready to call it a day. We have to get up really, really early tomorrow to begin the long trek home. We did some last-minute shopping and got to see the processional with Anna and Elsa. They played "Let It Go" performed in about five different languages. Disney did an amazing job matching the different singers. They all sounded very similar to Adele Dazeem.

When we left the park, there were some teenage girls singing it as loud as they could. That's what Disney magic is all about.

Our final stop was dinner at Earl of Sandwich. Just like the Serpentine in London, it was both our first and last meal at Disneyland Paris. Great way to end our trip.

Day 17: Rainy Days and Mondays

Second day at Disneyland! We were very excited to see more of the parks after our wonderful experience yesterday. Our hotel provides breakfast, as part of the package (very European), but of course, we didn't get up in time. The big part is that the sun doesn't go down until 10:00 pm, so our internal clocks have just failed to adjust.

When I checked the weather a few days ago, our time here was originally supposed to be sunny and warm the whole time. I'd finally get to wear the one pair of shorts that I brought. But the weather changed and we got mid 60s and the promise of rain. 100 percent chance this afternoon. Bummer.

Since we'd missed breakfast at the hotel, we'd hoped to have better luck in Disney Village. We went to Annette's Diner (as in Funicello), but missed breakfast there, too, by 20 minutes. So we opted for lunch instead. I just loved the theming. It's very 1950s, of course, and some of the wait staff are on roller skates.

Then it was off to Disneyland Park. We wanted to hit Fantasyland first, since it was closed last night. We decided to cut through the castle, but we didn't get very far. 

We were pleasantly surprised to discover that it has a balcony level inside that tells story of Sleeping Beauty in stained glass, tapestries, and story books (in French, of course). It even has an outside balcony that overlooks Fantasyland. We absolutely loved it.

Afterwards, since DLP still uses the old paper FastPasses, we reverted back the old WDW game plan. We assigned Madison the job of "runner" (that used to be John's job) to get FastPasses for Peter Pan. It wasn't entirely necessary, since it only had a 35 min wait to begin with. Big difference from WDW, which (for reasons I've never figured out) usually has a 60 minute wait.

In the meantime, we went to ride Les Voyages de Pinocchio (aka Pinocchio's Daring Journey). I was really looking forward to this, since we only have it in CA, and we don't get there very often. It was very much like Disneyland version, but again, all in French.

Next we rode Blanche-Neige et les Sept Nains (Snow White's Adventures), which we used to have in Florida, but was replaced by Princess Fairy Tale Hall. They still have it in CA. I have a real sentimental attachment to this attraction. In Florida, they added "Scary" to the name because some kids were frightened. After Madison got big enough, we used to always ride it together. It was a must on our last trip to CA, and a must here, too.

It was starting to mist a bit when we got to "it's a small world" (which does not have a French title), but that was fine since the whole loading area is covered. Their version is kind of a hybrid hybrid between the CA and FL versions: it has a big facade and loads from outside like the CA original, but the whole building is filled with water like FL (CA just has a water track). This was the first attraction we saw that wasn't already behind construction walls that really needed maintenance: faded and peeling paint, and mildew. (Update: it is scheduled for refurb.)

Inside, the ride looks pretty similar, though the look is less Mary Blair (who designed the original) and more like a storybook. Since we were in a "foreign country," we wondered if the U.S. would now be one of the countries and how they'd depict us. Even though the park is in France, it was designed in America. Sure enough, it's the last one, represented by cowboys, NYC, the Statue of Liberty, Hollywood, and the Golden Gate Bridge. Two of our figures were football players eating hot dogs and popcorn. Seemed pretty accurate.

We were very excited about our next attraction, Alice's Curious Labyrinth, and not just because the threat of rain had stopped (although that was a factor, since it's completely outdoors). This is an attraction that doesn't exist in either of the U.S. parks and was totally new for us. It's a lot of fun, but desperately needs maintenance.

The paint was faded all over, of course, but what really stood out was the little things that could easily be fixed: chipped paint and corners, mildew, and a sign that was generally dirty and had markings from where something had been taped over and then removed. It just wasn't the Disney level of quality we're used to experiencing. Otherwise, the attraction is great. It's really big and the hedges (which are well-kept) are high enough that you can't see over them. We had to turn around more than once. The highlight is a little castle at the end where you get to climb to the top and look out over Fantasyland.

We passed by Toad Hall, a counter service restaurant themed to Wind in the Willows that serves British fare. Sadly, it wasn't open, but the theming was really impressive.

There's so much of this park that is just beautiful. The Imagineers really raised the bar when designing it. We even found a wonderful display nestled in a gift shop that we just stumbled across by accident. It looks like it belongs in an attraction, but was just there to appreciate for those who happened to find it.

We had a few sprinkles while we waited in line for La Pays des Contes de Fées (which translates as "The Land of the Fairy Tales" but is called Storybookland Canal Boats in CA) and the Casey Jr. Circus Train, both of which share the same space, just like they do in the U.S. Disneyland. The Canal Boats also hold a special place in my heart. We missed it on our first trip, so it was a must when we returned a few years ago. However, it took three tries because they close it for parades and fireworks. It became a mission that we were glad to finally complete.

It finally started to rain, so we rode Pirates again and explored Ben Gunn's Caves while we tried to wait it out. After a while, we realized that France was not at all like Florida and it wasn't going to stop anytime soon. We tried to find our way to another store or ride, but no luck. We were also surrounded by smokers under the covered walkway. It was impossible to wait them out, too. As soon as they finished one cigarette, they'd immediately light up another.

Somehow, we lost our Peter Pan FastPasses and, since the queue isn't covered like in FL, we went back and rode Pirates again. This was perfect because, like the US versions, it has a very long, and warm indoor queue. I was really surprised there weren't more people in there. The wait was even shorter than before rain started.

After hanging out in the gift shop for a while, we finally gave up on waiting out the rain and opted to have dinner an hour early. Luckily, our restaurant, The Blue Lagoon, is attached to Pirates (like Disneyland's Blue Bayou, you can see it from the ride) and they were able to move our reservation. Despite the number of empty tables, they couldn't seat us by the river like we'd hoped. But we were just glad to eat somewhere warm and dry.

Afterwards, the rain had finally cleared enough that we were able to get in line for Peter Pan. It was very much like the US versions, minus the interactive queue, but with a lot more stars and pixie dust. We also experienced a new level of enjoyment as we "flew" over London now that we've been there. 

We popped back over to Discoveryland to ride Buzz Lightyear again (I did slightly better) and Star Tours. It's the original version with Captain Rex and it could really use some maintenance inside. The film was worn out, the screen was dirty and had a bad case of light bleed on one spot, and Rex never turned around to look at us (Update: it's also scheduled for refurb). 

Still, it was really fun to ride the original again, even if it was all in French. The safety video the same except for the "host." The videos in the ride were the same and still in English. What's really cool, though, is that Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) re-recorded all of his dialogue in French, which is great since Threepio is "fluent in over six million forms of communication." Now I'm dying to know if he did the Japanese version, too.

That left us with one major attraction we'd yet to conquer: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which is also the focal point of Frontierland. It's right smack in the center. And while the loading area is on the riverbank, the ride itself is on an island, surrounded by water on all sides.

I first noticed this while looking at the park map. Madison and I were left scratching our heads. How do you get over there? It would have to be a bridge or a tunnel. My guess was tunnel, but we didn't know for sure until we got on board.

It was definitely a tunnel! It was pitch dark and takes you under the river. That added a nice little twist to the ride. You go through it twice, of course: at the beginning and at the end. There's less detail in this version (no Dry Gulch scene), but the tunnel makes up for it.

Since we were there and it's completely awesome, we rode Phantom Manor again. By that time we were ready to call it a night, so we headed back to the hotel where we relaxed and watched Lethal Weapon 4 dubbed into French. 

Now that we've covered much of the the resort over a day and a half, I've made a few observations. When we booked the trip, they only offered packages with everything in a bundle (hotel, park tickets, breakfasts). In the U.S., everything is a la carte. The hotels are fairly expensive, but the merchandise is much cheaper. We saw several items that we'd priced in FL that were much cheaper in France.

I was really intrigued by the cast member costumes, which are designed for warmth and include long coats due to chilly weather. The U.S. costumes are just the opposite and designed for the heat. My favorite was the Frontierland costumes, which have long brown coats just like western outlaws.

The paper FastPasses aren't the only old technology in use. I knew that My Disney Experience (which already has me spoiled), hasn't made its way out of Florida yet, but I was surprised that they use QR codes for the park tickets and PhotoPass. And that they don't use fingerprint scanners. I guess they never had the problem of people re-selling unused tickets like in the U.S.

But the biggest surprise is that there isn't a single pair of Mickey Mouse ears in sight. Instead, headband ears are very popular, though they don't have the huge variety that we do. They're just not as versatile. We have every flavor of Mouse ears known to mankind, since the Mickey Mouse Club started in the U.S. and has since been a part of American history. 

 

Day 16: A Truly Magical Father's Day

This morning began the final leg of our great journey before we head home. As lifelong Disney fans, we've long dreamed of visiting an overseas park (with France being the closest by a long shot, we'd figured it would be our first). And the fact that it is Father's Day today just makes it all that more special.

We checked out of our hotel in Paris, Le Derby Alma, which we just loved. It's small and cozy, and the location is perfect: just around the corner from the Eiffel Tower and right by an RER station. Whenever we make it back to Paris, we'll definitely stay there again.

We had to change trains twice to get to the RER A, which goes to Disneyland. Madison and I both studied the metro map and there was no easier way. We even tried backtracking and walking to a further station, but every path equalled three trains. The problem is that the A line basically runs parallel to the C, so we were stuck taking a third train in between (the B line). Essentially, we just did the reverse route from when we arrived.

My suitcase got caught trying to lift it up on the high step of the first train, which wasn't exactly a great start. The doors closed on me and someone very kindly tried to help. Everyone has been so helpful here. I had to jump back off to free my suitcase and get  back onboard. Fortunately, getting on the other two trains went much smoother. Only the first one had such a high step. The other two were more even with the platform.

Once we got on our final train, we were finally able to relax and enjoy the ride all the way to the end of the line. Like Versailles, there was no worry about getting off at the right stop. It was a pretty long ride of about 45 minutes out into the French countryside all the way to Disneyland Paris.

We saw a lot of neighborhoods and graffiti along the way. But most of it was just open farmland, this time a bit different from the farms we'd seen on the Eurostar.

We reached the Marne Valley station and took the elevator up (thankfully), which put us right in Disney Village at the entrance to both parks. We had no idea where to go next, so I popped into the well-placed information booth. They directed us to take the bus to our hotel. Actually, we could have easily walked, but by this point the bus was a welcome sight.

When we reached the hotel, Newport Bay, we were surprised by two things: first was the temporary security tent outside where they ran our bags through an X-Ray. We carried the bags inside, only to find out we had to go right back out and drop our bags off at luggage check, since our room wasn't ready.

The second was that there are construction walls and scaffolding up everywhere. There was nothing on the website about this, though they mentioned "a little renovation" that would probably be finished by the time we arrived. But this looks like the entire hotel. They should have given us a discount, or at least a hard hat. Some of it looks kind of junky and even dangerous to walk around. Had I known it was this extensive, we'd have booked the Sequoia instead.

 

After we checked in (minus our room keys), we were ready to get something to eat and hit the parks, so we hit the trail. It was a very short walk to Disney Village (their smaller version of Downtown Disney) and spotted Earl of Sandwich. That's all we needed to see. We grabbed a quick bite and I called my Dad for Father's Day. 

Walt Disney Studios Park (like our Disney's Hollywood Studios) was the closest and we really wanted to do the new Ratatouille attraction and Crush's Coaster, so we went there first. Plus, that park closed early, just in time for our dinner reservations.

I really loved the main entrance arcade, which is decorated in an Art Deco tribute to 1940s Hollywood. As soon as we saw it, Marsha and Madison knew I was in heaven. The individual shops and restaurants are actually a series of facades covering a food court and some souvenir shops, but the design and attention to detail are spot on. 

I just wanted to take in all the details and take pictures. And dream of building one in my basement.

For the first time in years, we needed a guide map for a Disney park. Madison successfully navigated us to the new Ratatouille section, which is just beautiful. Since we'd just come from Paris, we were really able to appreciate the attention to detail. 

The line was fairly long for the new Ratatouille ride, so we just did single rider, which worked out pretty well. Marsha and I actually ended up in the same car (which look like mice). It's a little similar to Spider-Man and Harry Potter in that it uses a combination of live scenes and giant 3-D screens. The characters spoke everything in English and French, which really worked for Ratatouille, since it takes place in Paris. But the best part is the trackless ride system which sends the cars off on multiple paths.

When you get off the ride, you also get a glimpse of Bistro Chez Remy, where we'll be having lunch on Tuesday. Again, the Imagineers really hit it out of the park. I'm hoping that the rumors prove true and we get one of these in Epcot.

Next we got in line for Crush's Coaster, but we didn't want to be separated again, so we skipped single rider. It was an hour long wait, but kept moving. They don't have interactive queues there yet, but they do have a game you can play on your phone via the free wifi, except the wifi wasn't working. The only real downside to the wait was that people can smoke in line (there was a lot of smoking in Paris, too). They have smoking areas in the parks, but no one uses them. They can smoke pretty much anywhere outdoors, just not indoors, thankfully.

Crush's Coaster was a lot of fun (again, I hope the rumors of WDW getting one prove true). The first part is basically a dark ride and a lot like Nemo & Friends, but then it turns into kind of an indoor mad mouse coaster. Think Space Mountain with your car spinning in every possible direction.

Madison and I rode Tower of Terror (Marsha chickened out), which was also great. As expected, it's a lot like the California version, with no hotel grounds and no Fifth Dimension. The Rod Serling intro video was dubbed into French with English subtitles, which was interesting. The bellhops were really into sneaking up and scaring people, which they'd never do in the U.S.

Finally, we went to Animagique, which is fun and a little like Philharmagic (same basic plot), but done as a live stage show in black light with scenes from Dumbo ("Pink Elephants"), The Jungle Book, and the Lion King. It was mostly music with a lot of the songs in English.

I'd read that Walt Disney Studios park was kind of built on the cheap and that's clearly true. Some sections are really great, like the entry arcade, the buildings that you first see when you enter, and especially the new Ratatouille area.

But the park as a whole is really small and crammed together. As Madison commented, it looks more like an amusement park with Disney theming. There are many off-the-shelf rides like you'd see at the State Fair. Even Crush's Coaster, which is a lot of fun, lacks theming on the outside. I'd read that they'd made some effort to fix this, which shows (especially Ratatouille), but I think the central problem is with the basic layout and just putting things much too close together. Not really sure how they can fix that.

Since it was getting close to our dinner reservations, we headed next door to Disneyland Park (aka the Magic Kingdom). We were really glad we did this park last. It's huge and, on the surface, probably the most beautiful Disney park I've ever seen. The front entrance is bordered by the Disneyland Hotel, which is clearly why that hotel is so expensive.

We walked down Main Street (right down the middle) for a view of the castle, which we'd long seen in scale model form in One Man's Dream at WDW. It was awesome finally seeing the real thing. Since castles aren't as special in Europe, the Imagineers designed a castle that was more fantasy-themed.

We wanted to see the dragon (yes, they have a dragon) in the dungeon underneath, but we were getting short on time and it was closed for the moment. That would be our top priority after we ate.

We had our Father's Day dinner at Walt's, which is right on Main Street. It's on the second floor and all the rooms are decorated to match the various lands in the park. Since it was my special day, I went all out and got Walt's Burger, which had foie gras (my first time eating it). Can't say I'm a huge fan, but the burger was delicious (though I'm not sure Walt, a man who loved canned chili) would have loved foie gras, either.

Afterwards, the dragon was back open, so we made a beeline there. There are a couple of trails that lead under the castle where a full-size animatronic dragon sleeps. Every few minutes, he wakes up, moves his head around, flaps his wings, taps his claws, and spews smoke. It is truly amazing!

We were anxious to ride Pirates of the Caribbean, so we headed off to Adventureland, which has swapped locations with Frontierland in the U.S. We were surprised to find the Adventureland gate is Agrabah themed, and also closed off for refurbishment. Though there were no detour signs, we easily found a path around it (which turned out to be the exit to the Aladdin attraction, also closed for refurb) and made our way in.

Adventureland is really big and spread out, with winding paths and lots of trees and rocks. It's the complete opposite of the Studios park in just about every way. Everything seems to wind around the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse and Ben Gunn's Caves (from Treasure Island), which was odd for us, but very intriguing.

Even odder was that Pirates is tucked all the way in the back. It's much harder to find than in the U.S., which was part of the fun. We actually had to go through Ben Gunn's Cave to get there, which is huge and has lots of tunnels to explore.

Shockingly, there was only a five minute wait. Since the additions of Johnny Depp and FastPass+, our Pirates usually has a 50 minute wait. It was also very different and completely awesome, possibly the best Pirates ride of all. The story is a little more cohesive and told mostly in reverse, with the caves at the end. I just loved the flooded castle at the beginning, the sword fighting animatronics, and even more shocking (especially for France), the  completely non-PC Pirates chasing women. I can't wait to ride it again (and again). It's almost a completely different ride.

Afterwards, Madison and I rode the Indiana Jones Coaster. I didn't have high hopes and it met my expectations. It's basically an outdoor metal coaster with the Indy name stuck on it. It's kind of rough and beats you up a bit. They could easily slap another name on it and it wouldn't make any difference. Definitely a 

missed opportunity.

With Pirates checked off the list, it was time to head to Frontierland to ride Haunted Mansion, I mean Phantom Manor, a western-themed version. Haunted Mansion is the only attraction that's in a different land in every Disney park. The amount of space devoted to this attraction is amazing. You get a great feeling of dread and anticipation as you walk up and through the grounds. It looks a lot like the Bates house.

We were even more surprised to see people on the front porch! You actually enter from the front door, then are led into the Stretching Room. Like CA, this is an actual elevator, so the Maids and Butlers take a more active role in moving you to the "dead center" of the room. This also helps with the multi-language situation. And they're more into scaring you, like at ToT.

The ride itself was awesome and also very different. Again, no FastPass or interactive queue, so the wait was very short. While many of the scenes were the same, the story was very different. It actually has a cohesive story with the Bride as the main character (her haunting singing really sticks with you) and a villain, the Phantom. We missed some of it because the Ghost Host is only in French (sadly, they don't use the English version with Vincent Price anymore), but were intrigued enough for Madison to look it up back at the room.

The ending is so completely different (and dark) that I was actually surprised to hear a bit of "Grim Grinning Ghosts." My only quibble was the Madame Leota face effect looked more like a Conan O'Brien skit than the Haunted Mansion. They did a better job back in the 60s. I can't wait to ride it again, though. I'd actually love to see this attraction turned into a movie. 

The strangest thing here is how popular Frontierland is. It's one of the biggest lands in the park with Big Thunder Mountain and Phantom Manor as the key attractions, two of the hotels are Western themed, and there are several Western themed restaurants (steak, of course). There's even a live Wild West show (like in Dollywood) in Disney Village.

By this time, it was getting late and we were getting tired, so we thought we'd do one more ride before heading back to the hotel. We still needed to get our room keys and our bags.

Went over to Discoveryland (aka Tomorrowland), about which I was very excited. Since the future is always changing, they took more of a Jules Verne, steampunk approach, which I just love. Sadly, most of it (including Space Mountain, which really disappointed Madison) was closed off behind construction walls. There were really only two attractions open: BuzzLightyear Laser Blasters (that one seems to have a different name in every park) and Star Tours (the original version).

On our last trip to WDW, I finally got a perfect score on Buzz Lightyear and became a Galactic Hero. Fortunately, I had no preconceptions that I would do remotely well this time. Madison was excited because, like the Disneyland version, the gun has a cord instead of being mounted to the car.

As expected, I did terrible. My experience with the WDW version actually worked against me. My first mistake was holding the trigger down, which didn't work at all.

I'm also used to the gun being mounted to the car, so free-aim was more difficult. However, I really like how some of the targets (though not all) flash when you hit them. That's a great plus.

We wanted to check out Fantasyland and maybe ride something there, but it closed before the rest of the park for some reason. We also thought about riding Star Tours, but it was getting late and we were tired and still needed to get our room keys and suitcases. So it was back to hotel and the construction zone.

Fortunately, our room is very nice and really feels like Disney. They even had a welcome message playing on the TV when we arrived.

Best Father's Day ever.