Ack! I knew he'd post before I did.
Here's my quick hit that I've been working on for too long already...there will be much more to follow.
Disneyland Paris.
I knew somewhat what I was in for. I'd seen pics of the park in the past. But it had been about a year since I'd really looked at any of that. I'd avoided DLRP info as well. I wanted to be surprised. And I was!
It's one of those "you have to be there" things. People can tell you that they have a beautiful entrance gate, and they still have Skull Rock, and a dragon under the castle, and you can even see pictures of all these things...but it's another thing to actually see it for yourself. Photos do not do them justice.
The first day we were dragging our jaws along, just gaping at everything. A Main Street from the same era, yet themed to a big city instead of a small town, and absolutely beautiful in design. A Pirates queue that's long, dark, and totally immersive. A Mansion (Manor!) that's actually frightening. Much of the park is a Disney geek dream come true, with plusses everywhere.
Space Mountain Mission 2 is fantastic. We're now officially pissed that they left our SM the way it was. Projections, lights...it's not like it would take too much for them to give us what they have. We rode that as much as we could.
There are things that aren't necessarily better, just different. Big Thunder is a lot of fun, and the tunnel is awesome, but I wouldn't say it's definitely better than ours. The Teacups do spin easier, and the decor is different and gorgeous, but again, ours is just as nice. The walkways are more picturesque and winding, which is nice if you're strolling about. There are waterways everywhere, and sight lines are blocked with trees, so you can allow yourself to be immersed in your location. But if you want to get somewhere it can be confusing and annoying. Interesting trade off there.
A lot of things were closed for the season. Autopia, the Twain and Molly Brown, Storybook and Casey Jr. I was especially annoyed that we missed the latter two - Storybook is one of the most "Disney" rides in my mind.
Never fear, there were plenty of things that I know I prefer at our park. All the rides are faster there - boats, dark rides - making for a more frenzied feel. This is especially the case on IASW, where they've chopped it to half the length and just jammed everything in there at once. Add in the fast boat and it was a bit too much to handle.
The Halloween stuff was fun, whimsical. It also didn't take away from our experience - the first day we barely noticed it as we took in the park for the first time. The Pumpkin Men statues were cool. They had mischievous costumed characters messing with people. The parade was fun, lots of villians, including a cross-dressing Ursula. I'm glad the Manor wasn't Halloweened in any way - it was amazing as it was.
Our CM interactions were always great, and it was during one of these that I realized something, as silly as it sounds...this really
is another Disneyland. The CMs here are the same as our CMs at home. The feeling of this place was at first odd, but it's when you've got a smiling CM making sure your day goes well, you know it's got the same heart. We had a limited-english CM ask us where we were from, and we said California, near Disneyland. She seemed interested and wanted to know if we thought Disneyland Paris was beautiful. We replied whole-heartedly, "yes, very beautiful!" She seemed very pleased by this, and said "Thank you" so earnestly, that I knew she loved her park as much as we love ours.
More later...