disneyland paris
Asking for a day off often marks an even busier day than a normal workday. Last Friday was such a day. We got up around 07:30, showered, packed our bags and sat down for a 3 hour drive to Disneyland Paris. It was kinda stormy and my replacement car wasn't really suited for traveling large distances in windy weather, but it did get us there in one piece. Not even the rural, outlandishly deserted French roads could stop us (thank you mappy.com).
After some lurching around with bags while going through the check-in procedures, there was really no time to waste. We dropped everything off in our room, got on the bus and on to the park. We had only two days and both parks were huge enough not to waste time.
Day 1: getting acquainted
The first day we remained in the main park. We had "only" 6 hours and made the most of them. We rode the bulk of the attractions, although sudden rain and cold wind got in the way. The weather forecast had promised us cloudy weather with a slight chance of mild rain, which left us underdressed in the pouring rain. A nasty, sharp wind wasn't helping much either. After the closing parade we were soaking wet and cold but impressed, and we concluded our first park day with a shivering bus ride back to our hotel.
Luckily the hotel had a hot bad and awesome beds. In between we had a good dinner and a tasty cocktail and ended our day snoring away until the next morning.
Day 2: park hopping
The second day brought us an early breakfast and we made it back to the park by 09:00. Some lucky coincidence (staying at a Disney hotel combined with their 15 year anniversary) got us into the park an hour before official opening. We caught up on the rides we missed the day before and we were able to revisit a couple of favorites.
The day started off sunny, yet the rain caught up again and we spent the remainder of the day ice cold and wet. In most parks rainy weather means no waiting lines, not so in Disneyland. Apparently most people are there only for a short period of time and are determined to get as much out of it as possible. This meant that all inside attractions (including restaurants and shops) were flooded with people and the mass outside was only outside because there really was no other place to go.
Disney Studios
In between we checked out the Disney Studios. Sadly by then the weekend crowd had all arrived and hopping in and out of attractions was not an option anymore. Waiting lines extended the 60 minutes mark which left us with two big coaster rides. Both were worth the wait, especially the Aerosmith catapult coaster, a personal favorite. It cleverly built up anticipation and delivered. After buying some not too comfy but welcome rain protection, we left again for the main park.
Finishing up
We went back to the most enjoyable rides once more and ended up back at the main entrance dead tired, soaking wet and blistering cold. But happy! The rides were really splendid, I loved the amount of detail that was put in each attraction and the Disney theme proved varied enough to keep the interest throughout all the rides. Even the coasters one-upped most coasters in other parks, something I hadn't really expected. We had a great time, even with all the rain and the cold and the waiting.
The ride home that night nicely wrapped up our manic two-day trip, delivering us home around 01:00. Never had I been so glad to lay down. All in all, it was a great trip, sucky weather, awesome park and of course amazing company. Though next time I think we'll avoid the weekends and plan for a better season.