Disneyland Paris

I have been a Disney lover my entire life.  The first time I went to Disneyland I was a little over a year old, but I think growing up going, provided me with the nostalgia so many are missing.  I was looking forward to Disneyland Paris the entire trip.  I actually had a countdown on my phone throughout the whole trip.  Not because I wanted to fly through everything else, but just because I could cross another thing off my bucket list.

The day started out...rainy (like usual) and we left really early in order to get to our business visit early.  We met at Team Disney in their offices for a business visit.  This business visit was really interesting and something I thoroughly enjoyed.  I noticed we spoke a lot about how Disneyland Paris started out really badly and was able to turn things around.  They are still the least profitable park, but they have definitely improved over the years.  After the business visit, we got to go into the park!

I decided to hang out with Miranda (a fellow former Cast Member and Disney fanatic), Macie, and Ashlee.  We wanted to make sure we were with people that love Disney as much as we do and would be willing to brave the rain and go on as many rides as we could.  It poured the ENTIRE day.  And when I say poured, I'm not even exaggerating, it was insane but wonderful because the rain made the park empty out rather quickly.  No crowds makes for a great Disney day!

They have two parks there, Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney Studios.  Disneyland Paris was the typical Disneyland layout with different lands.  One major difference?  Space Mountain.  Holy cow.  Space Mountain there was absolutely incredible!  To start off, it's called Space Mountain: Mission 2 and it has more of a Rockin' Rollercoaster feel than a Space Mountain feel.  You shoot upward to begin and the rest of the ride is just a series of turns, corkscrews, loop-dee-loops and fun music.  I was not expecting this ride, but it was absolutely amazing and I loved every second of it.
As you can see by our picture on the right, we were not prepared for when the picture would come, and that's the beauty of it.

We explored the park a little bit more and then headed to Pirates of the Caribbean.  This was an AWESOME rendition of the California version.  Definitely better than Disney World (sorry, someone had to say it).  The ride was a little backward in that the skeletons came last instead of first so the story line seemed a little off, but overall, a fantastic ride!

We did a few more rides in Disneyland and then headed over to Walt Disney Studios.  This had a bit of a Hollywood Studios/California Adventures feel to it, which I adored.  They had a Tower of Terror (the last one of its kind now that California Adventure is being stupid), a Ratatouille ride (which made me so happy because that is my favorite movie) and a ride called Crush's Coaster.  Crush's Coaster was similar to The Spider at Lagoon.  Except obviously, the themeing was much better and it left me smiling. :)

The main difference between Disneyland and Disneyland Paris is that Paris has a lot of beautiful gardens and walk through attractions, which isn't always characteristic of a Disney park.  There was an Alice in Wonderland labyrinth that I absolutely loved.  I just loved the entire experience of a new Disney Park and being able to live my dreams.  I can't wait to go back someday!

After a long and very wet day, we got on the long train ride back to our creepy hotel, so happy with how the day went.