We only spent two days in Disneyland Paris, but we crammed so much fun into those two days that it is hard to believe it was barely 48-hours ago that we were climbing aboard Peter Pan’s Flight, the first ride of the day.
I’ll be the first to admit that I was more excited for this part of our trip than anyone else in our family, but I’d certainly hyped it up to Addie. Leading up to the trip, we watched ride videos together before bed (mostly to prepare her for the scarier rides) and we talked about all the things we might see and do. Addie was excited about the prospect of seeing Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater, her heroes from her favourite movie, CARS.
The trip lived up to the hype. Addie let out a gasp the minute she saw the castle.
We didn’t get onto all of the children’s rides with Addie, but we hit a good number of them, and the rides with no height limit meant Eloise could ride, too. We enjoyed Peter Pan, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Phantom Manor as a family. I had worried that the latter two would scare Addie, but she was enthralled. From the minute Phantom Manor ended, she couldn’t stop asking to go back on the “scary ghost ride.” She told me she was brave and strong and liked the ghosts.
We went on the CARS Road Trip ride as a family, and while Addie was excited to see Tow Mater, the ride was a bit of a mess. It is a tram tour with some cars scenery, but midway through the tour pandemonium erupts. An oil tanker bursts into flames and a flood puts out the fire. Parents were cheering while children screamed in terror. Addie sat in stunned silence trying to process it all. The tram tour resumed with a car full of wailing preschoolers.
The first day, we had planned to take a mid-day break, but we were having fun, so we powered through. The result was that we needed to wrap things up by 6 p.m. when the crowds were finally thinning. Sandra took the girls back to the hotel and I stayed late to ride the roller coasters. It was a great chance for some alone time, and I enjoyed my evening immensely.
The second day, we learned from our mistake. Despite the fun we were having, we went back to the hotel for a nap and quiet time from 2-6. Then we returned to shorter lines, cooler weather, and a much better experience. This was definitely the smarter way to do Disney. We practically walked on rides, and we got on more rides in an hour than we did in the morning 5 hours combined.
Still, by about 9 p.m. we were exhausted. We powered through until closingg to watch the 11 p.m. Illuminations light show. Even though we had an early train to catch, we were glad we did. The show was excellent. Both girls slept through it, but Sandra and I loved it.
The only downside to the trip was the Disney food, which was barely a step above bad cafeteria food for Michelin star prices. We did enjoy the Mickey beignets, though.
Because Addie is still so young, she isn’t familiar with many Disney characters, so we focused our time on rides rather than shows or character interactions. We could have easily spent another week at Disney, though, and still had more to do. We also went in with no real agenda, and other than the two CARS rides, there was nothing we felt we needed to do, making for a fun, stress-free trip.
I was a little sad to see our time in Disney end, but we were also all so exhausted and ready for the slower pace of the Camino de Santiago.
So enjoying your adventure thru your written words. I’m in awe of you two
Hugs & kisses
Stay safe
There really is something special at those Disney Parks. It just gets to you!