This year was a big one for birthdays in the Crafty house with Agent M turning 10 and me turning 30 - so my sister and her husband decided to make sure it was incredibly special and gave us the amazing gift of 2 days in Disneyland Paris at the end of October.
We'd know about it since March but i had been trying not to let myself get too excited. I didn't want to run out of enthusiasm before we actually arrived but i needn't have worried. Nothing in my imagination could have got me as excited as actually walking through the gates of the park, seeing that beautiful castle and knowing that my little boy was finally going to get to see Disneyland in all its glory.
Our adventure started with the trip to the airport.This was going to be Agent M's first time on holiday (outwith the UK) and the first time he would remember being on a plane. I hadn't been on one since i flew down to see my mum and sister with a not-even-two-year-old Agent M and it was to put it mildly, a nightmare!
I knew the odds of him screaming his head off the whole flight were very slim but since i suffer from depression and severe anxiety, it was a whole other challenge.
There where times where i didn't think i was going to be able to make it and on more than one occasion i was ready to burst into tears but i powered through, Agent M noticing when i was starting to panic and we got through it together. We got the whole row to ourselves as the plane wasn't full and after a little hand holding during take off as Agent M was a little nervous, We arrived at
Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.
After meeting up with my sister (E) and brother in law (D), we all headed to the Magic Shuttle to make our way to the hotel. We stayed at the Vienna House Dream Castle which was absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately i the pictures i took were blurry but you can check out their website via the link above for some images they took.
Once we got checked in we jumped in the Disney Shuttle and made our way to the park(s).
I'll note now that the Disneyland resort in Paris (DLP) is actually made up of 3 sections.
 |
| Disney Village |
 |
| Walt Disney Studios |
 |
| Disneyland Resort |
We started off our first day at the Walt Disney Studios park (Map 2).
First up, after along day of travelling we decided to get some food (a move which in hindsight might not have been a good idea, but more on that later), the moved into the park properly. The first ride we found was the Aladdin's Magic Carpet which had only a 15 minute wait.
Agent M was loving the scenery during our queueing up ... Other than Legoland this was his first trip to a big theme park.
One of the things i LOVE about theme parks in general is the displays and Disney doesn't disappoint. Every inch of the place is covered in something visually stunning.
Part of the fun, at least for me, is when you see a character you recognise like Luigi and Guido from Cars - I wonder if he could talk if he would still be Italian like in the film? - because it brings back instant memories of these films and how they made you feel. Disney parks are like walking through your childhood. It really is Magical.
E had a jazzy wee app on her phone which told her the wait times for the ques so next up we took a wander down to the Ratatouille ride which wasn't as long as the others.
Remember when i said that in hindsight it wasn't a good idea to have food ... Well going on the ratatouille ride cemented that for me. The ride itself is 4D and you are on a moving rat while watching a screen wearing 3d glasses. It was good but it made me so dizzy i struggled to hold onto my chicken burger.
If you ever go to DLP and suffer from motion sickness then i recommend you give that one a miss!
We went for a look in the store next to the ride to try and regain some equilibrium. If i ever win the lotto i am definitely getting a car to take me to DLP again. So many beautiful things for your kitchen and dining-room, Id definitely love to kit out my house!!!
Next up we took a wander through the Toy Story Playland which was designed to look like you are the same scale as the toys. Again the attention to detail is unreal. Having fences made of Knex and giant footprints in the ground left by Andy ... Everything has been thought of.
The next ride up was the Slinky Dog ride. I was still a little green from Ratatouille so i decided to sit that one out - Auntie E stepped up though and went on with Agent M. Now in hindsight i wish i went on as it was like a mini roller coaster that goes round and round but honestly that ratatouille almost ended me that day.
I had a little time to myself later on in the day when the 3 of them went on Crush's Coaster so i decided to take some pictures and go for a wee coffee to try and pick myself up as the busy day was starting to catch up on me.
Because it is the 25th anniversary at DLP, the decorations are all geared towards that. I imagine that usually the park might be more "Halloweeney" during the end of October but unfortunately they contained anything spooky to another area. I did like the decorations they did have though ... Had a kind of "partnership" feel to them which made me really miss Agent D all the more. Would be cool to one day go back to the park with him too.
Here is where i had my first proper complaint about DLP ... or more specifically the lack of anything remotely resembling good coffee.
We all know I'm somewhat of a coffee fiend and that i could probably cut a vein only for coffee beans to spill out, so i get that my standards are high. But ... every time i bought a coffee, no matter in what formation (flat white, espresso etc) it tasted nasty!
I did however get my souvenir travel mug (12 euros inc the "coffee") which was the first thing off of my wish list.
Since the ride they were on had a 45 minute wait time, i had a lot of time to myself to take snaps and even gave my mum a video call to show her how pretty everything was.
Once the party was all back together we decided to go and have a wander around the Disneyland Resort
By the time we got to the Disneyland Resort park, it was full darkness which if I'm honest turned out the best possible way as they have so many beautiful lights. Seeing it for the first time at night was just breathtaking.
We walked through the entrance to the park at which point D decided to cover Agent M's eyes and walk him forward so the first sight he got was the Castle.
It was so magical and visually overwhelming that i burst into tears.
I'm not gonna lie, i genuinely wouldn't have thought i would ever have made it to DLP and the fact that there i was, in the park with my little sister (who i was with during our childhood trips to Florida) and my beautiful wee boy ... It was very overwhelming for me.
One thing i didn't realise till i actually saw it was how big the castle actually was. I don't know what made me think it was smaller but when you see it in person it really looks like a proper viable castle.
We got our obligatory photos in front of the castle too. Its a memory we still talk about almost a month later.
The plan for the night was to see the lights and fireworks at the castle at the end of the night, that way we could at least say we done it so if the next night w wanted to do something else we could. We had a little time to kill though so we decided to have a look around the area which they designated for the Halloween decorations - Frontierland.
The decorations had a definite Day of the Dead feel to them which was perfect when you know that the next film out of the Disney/Pixar studios is Coco.
Seeing all the skeletons done up in Mexican attire are all the pumpkins around made the hairs on my arms stand up and my eyes widen. I LOVE HALLOWEEN so this was one on my favourite parts of DLP.
Even the lampposts were done up as skeletons. The whole thing was so amazing and spooky.
We looked around and had some food in time for the fireworks to start.
Its hard to describe the atmosphere in the park when the lights were off and then the show starts. Its like the anticipation you get before a band comes on stage or just before your getting presented with something - like a big ball of nervous and excitement and electricity in the air. Its intoxicating.
It also brings me to the second issue i had while being at DLP. People are really rude.
I should say not all people but there are many who seem to think that they take priority over everyone else in the park. Standing waiting on the show your aim is to get a good spot. What you don't take into account is the people who will walk in front of you and then hoist their kids up on their shoulders. I get that you want your kids to see but i want mine to see too.
We ended up with Agent M on D's shoulders for a bit (we were standing in front of a tree so blocking no-one) but after a while that becomes uncomfortable so we had to have him standing on the fence (which had me really anxious the whole time). Yes the show was spectacular but having rude people who just don't care kinda dampens it for you. More so cause i really wanted Agent M to be able to enjoy it.
All in all our first day at the DLP was amazing and was better than i could possibly have imagined. I was emotionally and physically exhausted after such a busy day but the next day we would have the whole day in the park so i was ready to call it a night and get to start fresh tomorrow.
First up, after along day of travelling we decided to get some food (a move which in hindsight might not have been a good idea, but more on that later), the moved into the park properly. The first ride we found was the Aladdin's Magic Carpet which had only a 15 minute wait.
Agent M was loving the scenery during our queueing up ... Other than Legoland this was his first trip to a big theme park.
 |
| The obligatory selfie on a ride - Shame E wasn't wearing her ears. |
One of the things i LOVE about theme parks in general is the displays and Disney doesn't disappoint. Every inch of the place is covered in something visually stunning.
Part of the fun, at least for me, is when you see a character you recognise like Luigi and Guido from Cars - I wonder if he could talk if he would still be Italian like in the film? - because it brings back instant memories of these films and how they made you feel. Disney parks are like walking through your childhood. It really is Magical.
E had a jazzy wee app on her phone which told her the wait times for the ques so next up we took a wander down to the Ratatouille ride which wasn't as long as the others.
 |
| Uncle D and Agent M walking together |
If you ever go to DLP and suffer from motion sickness then i recommend you give that one a miss!
We went for a look in the store next to the ride to try and regain some equilibrium. If i ever win the lotto i am definitely getting a car to take me to DLP again. So many beautiful things for your kitchen and dining-room, Id definitely love to kit out my house!!!
Next up we took a wander through the Toy Story Playland which was designed to look like you are the same scale as the toys. Again the attention to detail is unreal. Having fences made of Knex and giant footprints in the ground left by Andy ... Everything has been thought of.
I had a little time to myself later on in the day when the 3 of them went on Crush's Coaster so i decided to take some pictures and go for a wee coffee to try and pick myself up as the busy day was starting to catch up on me.
We all know I'm somewhat of a coffee fiend and that i could probably cut a vein only for coffee beans to spill out, so i get that my standards are high. But ... every time i bought a coffee, no matter in what formation (flat white, espresso etc) it tasted nasty!
I did however get my souvenir travel mug (12 euros inc the "coffee") which was the first thing off of my wish list.
Since the ride they were on had a 45 minute wait time, i had a lot of time to myself to take snaps and even gave my mum a video call to show her how pretty everything was.
Once the party was all back together we decided to go and have a wander around the Disneyland Resort
By the time we got to the Disneyland Resort park, it was full darkness which if I'm honest turned out the best possible way as they have so many beautiful lights. Seeing it for the first time at night was just breathtaking.
We walked through the entrance to the park at which point D decided to cover Agent M's eyes and walk him forward so the first sight he got was the Castle.
It was so magical and visually overwhelming that i burst into tears.
I'm not gonna lie, i genuinely wouldn't have thought i would ever have made it to DLP and the fact that there i was, in the park with my little sister (who i was with during our childhood trips to Florida) and my beautiful wee boy ... It was very overwhelming for me.
One thing i didn't realise till i actually saw it was how big the castle actually was. I don't know what made me think it was smaller but when you see it in person it really looks like a proper viable castle.
We got our obligatory photos in front of the castle too. Its a memory we still talk about almost a month later.
The plan for the night was to see the lights and fireworks at the castle at the end of the night, that way we could at least say we done it so if the next night w wanted to do something else we could. We had a little time to kill though so we decided to have a look around the area which they designated for the Halloween decorations - Frontierland.
Seeing all the skeletons done up in Mexican attire are all the pumpkins around made the hairs on my arms stand up and my eyes widen. I LOVE HALLOWEEN so this was one on my favourite parts of DLP.
Even the lampposts were done up as skeletons. The whole thing was so amazing and spooky.
We looked around and had some food in time for the fireworks to start.
Its hard to describe the atmosphere in the park when the lights were off and then the show starts. Its like the anticipation you get before a band comes on stage or just before your getting presented with something - like a big ball of nervous and excitement and electricity in the air. Its intoxicating.
It also brings me to the second issue i had while being at DLP. People are really rude.
I should say not all people but there are many who seem to think that they take priority over everyone else in the park. Standing waiting on the show your aim is to get a good spot. What you don't take into account is the people who will walk in front of you and then hoist their kids up on their shoulders. I get that you want your kids to see but i want mine to see too.
We ended up with Agent M on D's shoulders for a bit (we were standing in front of a tree so blocking no-one) but after a while that becomes uncomfortable so we had to have him standing on the fence (which had me really anxious the whole time). Yes the show was spectacular but having rude people who just don't care kinda dampens it for you. More so cause i really wanted Agent M to be able to enjoy it.
All in all our first day at the DLP was amazing and was better than i could possibly have imagined. I was emotionally and physically exhausted after such a busy day but the next day we would have the whole day in the park so i was ready to call it a night and get to start fresh tomorrow.
