Disneyland Paris – Day One
I know what some of you are thinking… you went all the way to France and then went to Disneyland?!? Yes, yes we did! And we loved it! If you are a Disney-person, you will too. It was actually the perfect balance for us of exploring a new city and enjoying some of our favorite Disney magic!
We went to Paris over Spring Break and went to Disneyland Paris on the front end of our trip. After arriving at the airport we took the Magical Shuttle directly to our resort (similar to Walt Disney World’s Magical Express, but there is a fee). We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel and it was lovely! Hotels have a bit of a different standard in Europe, but we loved staying at the Disneyland Hotel. Our room was probably 200-300 yards from the entrance to both of the parks and it was so easy! We were literally steps from Main Street as the entrance to Disneyland Park was under our hotel and we could see the castle from the restaurant at breakfast!
We picked the trio up from school on Wednesday afternoon and headed straight to the airport. They all slept some on the plane, but we were pretty sleepy when we arrived at our hotel around 11 am Paris time on Thursday (early in the morning at home – 7-hour time difference!). We didn’t let our sleepiness stop us and headed straight into Disneyland Park!
Disneyland Paris still uses a paper FastPass system, and one of the benefits of staying at the Disneyland Hotel was that we were given a FastPass to use on any attraction each day of our trip, without having to obtain it from the paper FastPass queues! We took advantage of it immediately and headed directly to Hyperspace Mountain!
Space Mountain at Walt Disney World and Disneyland is one of our favorite rides and in my opinion, Hyperspace Mountain is even better. It has a Star Wars theme and the building is a steampunk design. It is definitely faster than its US counterparts and there is even a loop inside! The kids and I all felt that Hyperspace Mountain was superior, but Mike still prefers the old school version at Walt Disney World! He’s a traditionalist!
I just love their faces in our ride photos! Totally worth it! Disneyland Paris does offer a PhotoPass package, but there aren’t photographers throughout the parks like there are at Walt Disney World. The PhotoPass is mostly used for photos with characters in your hotel (another difference!) and for ride photos. In the photo above, the kids are all wearing the same clothes they had on at school the day before. It reminds me how small the world really is that they can be at school one morning and by the early the next morning (before their friends are even awake!) be riding a roller coaster in France!
After riding Big Thunder Mountain (also better in France) we headed back to our hotel for lunch at Inventions. Inventions is a fun character meal. We saw Mickey, Minnie, Tigger, and Goofy. The food was buffet, which isn’t my favorite, but it was perfect for us that day as we were exhausted. And the dessert options… mmm…
After our lunch, we checked into the hotel and we were tired…. we crashed early!
The next morning we set our alarm so we could get ready quickly and head into the park for Extra Magic Hours. We were there over Easter weekend, so the parks were busy, but we strategically utilized the paper FastPasses and Extra Magic Hours so we never waited more than 15 minutes for anything.
Every day we used our Extra Magic Hours at Walt Disney Studios Park and headed straight to Crush’s Coaster. Crush’s Coaster was by far our favorite attraction. It is an indoor roller coaster and the ride is in a turtle shell. It really does feel like you’re riding the waves! I would love to see this concept opened at one of the parks in the US!
After Crush’s Coaster, we experienced the Ratatouille attraction. We had just watched Ratatouille in preparation for the trip and I just love Remy. This ride was a lot of fun and did not disappoint! It will be a hit when the new version opens near the France pavilion in Epcot. 
After Ratatouille, we headed to Rock-n-Roller Coaster Avec Aerosmith and we all loved it! We road this every morning during Extra Magic Hours as well. Sometimes more than once! I missed the neon donut and some of the theming that is in the Walt Disney World version, but it was still a great ride. The kids loved the pre-show and I think they can quote the entire sequence, word-for-word. ? 
Around 10 am, once the park started getting crowded, we walked back to Disneyland Hotel for breakfast. I purchased the Half Board meal plan which included a breakfast buffet each morning and then one table service meal per day. This worked out perfectly for us.
I wish I would have taken more photos of the breakfast options. Mike is one that will barely touch an American hotel breakfast buffet, but the buffet breakfast at Disneyland Hotel was so amazing and so good. There were numerous hot items – crepes, waffles, pancakes, scrambled eggs, omelets, bacon, sausage, potatoes, etc. There was an entire meat and cheese bar. Fresh fruits and yogurts. And my favorite — lots of French pastries! 
After breakfast each morning, there was a photographer and Disney character outside of the restaurant for family pictures. The photo below is from after breakfast on our first full day at Disneyland Paris.
To Be Continued…
