Disneyland Paris

Okay, so I'm making the pictures for this post a little smaller just to save space, but you can still click on them to see the full-size version...

On Thursday the 22nd of October, Madeline's patience and forbearance throughout the ordeal (to her) that was Paris, finally paid off. That morning we got up, packed, and left Paris for Madeline's first experience with Disney. As you can see from the first picture, she felt it was all worth it! They do a pretty big deal with Halloween at Disneyland Paris--everything was decorated with pumpkins and such throughout the park. It was kind of fun. The very first thing we saw (good timing) as we entered the park was Minnie's choo-choo train parade, which was a neat way to kick things off.



From there we headed to the carousel, then Dumbo, then the tea cups, all of which proved to be big hits, and all of which we ended up doing multiple times while we were there. Especially the tea cups. Madeline LOVES spinning rides. I had to sit out once or twice so she could really spin with Daddy, since too much spinning makes me ill...



But the favorite ride of the park (at least for Madeline) proved to be the perennial classic, "It's a Small World". We went on it three (or was it four?) times in just one day. We've been singing the song in the car a lot since we got back, at her request. Lunch was also a big hit--even the pizza is Mickey Mouse shaped! Daddy had fun taking Madeline for her first time driving a car; although she wasn't quite big enough to reach the pedal, she did a great job steering.



We then went on the Buzz Lightyear ride, where Madeline "helped" Bill shoot the laser gun. We later had to go on that ride again and have Madeline help me instead, so Bill could satisfy his competitive streak and prove that he could get a higher score than his father when he was not being "helped" by a three-year-old. After that we just happened to be in the right place at about the right time for the daily Disney parade. I helped Madeline maintain her spot against the pushy older kids so she could see, and Mary Poppins even stopped for a full dance number right in front of us, which was fun, as that's been one of Madeline's favorite movies lately.



We went on a few more rides, then headed back to the hotel when the park closed at 7pm. We stayed in the Sequoia Lodge, one of the Disney hotels, which was particularly nice the next morning when we headed up for breakfast to find Goofy there meeting kids! I had bought Madeline one of the autograph books on Thursday, but we hadn't used it at all, and I was starting to worry that I'd wasted the money. But Friday turned out to be a big day for us to meet characters, and Madeline really got into it pretty quickly. It was so fun to see how excited she got--she's definitely at the age where it's all very real to her. When we found out Minnie would be coming shortly after Goofy left, she was literally bouncing in line she was so happy!
After that we headed to the parks, and went to the Studios first, to check on the Playhouse Disney show Madeline really wanted to see. Since it wasn't until noon, we caught the Stitch Live show while Daddy and Grandma Hardy went on a "real" roller coaster. After that, who should suddenly show up but the Mouse himself!


After that we went back to the main park, and happened to run into Stitch (and Madeline now knew who he was, thanks to the show we'd just seen, so she was pretty excited), Chip, and Dale.



We went on a few more rides, then it was time to head back to the Studios for Madeline's Playhouse Disney Show. Playhouse Disney is the channel that she watches on TV. It has lots of little animated shows that she really likes, each about 20 minutes long. This show at Disney was a "live" show with all of the main characters in it, and Madeline had been really looking forward to seeing them. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, Little Einsteins, and Tigger and Pooh are below. Little Einsteins is her favorite, and as this was the only place she'd see them at Disneyland, it was one of the main reasons for making sure we didn't miss the show.



The show was interactive, in the sense that they asked the kids to help do things, like "find" one of Handy Manny's missing tools, help Rocket go "super fast" so he could win the race, help "blow" Roo's kite out of the tree, etc. Madeline really got into it, and it was SO fun to watch her during the show. They had leaves fall from the sky when they blew Roo's kite out of the tree, and streamers fell when they yelled "surprise" for Minnie's birthday. Madeline loved her "goodies" and we had to carry them around in her pockets the rest of the trip.
After that we went on the couple of kids' rides that they have in the Studios: there's a magic carpet ride that's a lot like Dumbo.



And there's a Cars ride that's a lot like the teacups. This was another favorite, and one we got to go on repeatedly. When we went back to the main park for a few more rides, we happened to run into two of Cinderella's mice (who actually all have names--did you know that?!).



We split up for a little while then, so Bill and I could go on a couple of "grown-up" rides while Madeline revisited a few of her favorites with Grandma and Grandpa. My favorite ride was definitely Space Mountain. Bill liked the Aerosmith roller coaster best. Again, we stayed until the park closed at 7pm.

The next day, Saturday, we only had a half day at the parks, as our train back to England left in the afternoon. However, it turned out to be just as well, because it was a very, very wet day. Constant rain. And constant crowds--Thursday and Friday really hadn't been bad--no ride had been more than a half hour line. But even with the rain and cold, Saturday was ridiculously busy. So we mostly just found a few of the characters we'd missed that Madeline wanted to see. We had a bad experience at first--we found Donald and Daisy in the Studios, but they didn't have an actual line--it was just a crowd. Madeline kept getting pushed in front of and ignored, and then suddenly Donald and Daisy just left, without any warning--right as she'd finally gotten to the front. I was livid!!
But we got to see Pooh Bear, and the big one she really wanted to see: the princesses. Two of them were even inside the castle, which was nice as it meant less time in the rain. Cinderella and Prince Charming were really sweet--Prince Charming was the best of the princes we met. But the best princess was Snow White. She was amazing--she was outside (under an umbrella, but still...) but she never lost her huge, sweet grin, she was totally in character ALL the time, and she really took her time with the kids, asking them questions and making them feel really special. She was the only one who signed more than just her name in Madeline's book.




Sleeping Beauty and Prince Philip, unfortunately, stood right in front of a window, so we couldn't get any decent pictures of them, but at least we got to meet them. And Donald and Daisy felt so bad about leaving Madeline the way they did that they bought her an enormous lollipop to say sorry. It kept her happy for at least part of the train ride home...!



So there you have it folks. Madeline really wants to go back. I'm sure someday we will, though probably not the same one--we'll do Florida and/or California sometime when we're back home in the USA.