I'd have to say today was, by far, the most fun I've ever had since I arrived here in France!! Why you ask? Well, that's because I got to spend the entire day being a kid again at Disneyland Paris!!
Haha! Yes, we all know I've been a Disney fanatic since I was little. Truth be told, though, it was only after I found out I'd be studying abroad in France that I really started to have my eyes set on checking this theme park out. Disneyland Paris was the second Disney resort launched outside the US, but the first to be opened and operated by Disney--which unfortunately meant a lot of hard lessons learnt by Disney during its early days... While interning with Disney last summer, I actually got the chance to hear many of these stories from other cast members, as well as the various things Disney did to improve the Park since. Living in Paris now and embracing my inner Disney nerd :-p, I knew I could not possibly leave France without seeing it all for myself. Even more so, a number of my friends in Imagineering had mentioned a lot of good things about Disneyland Paris, with some even going as far to say that it was their favorite! So again, I needed to see why...
Admittedly, at first, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to find someone to make the Disney voyage with me... I had mentioned the idea to couple of my fellow Boothies, who thought it was nice but then quickly brushed the idea off. I don't blame them. At our age, I know, there's probably more exciting things to see and do in Paris...
Thankfully, though, my french teacher asked our class last week what places we wanted to visit while we were here in Europe. Half-jokingly I mentioned Disneyland Paris, of course. Expecting the usual "Oh, how nice..." response, I was amazed when my classmate Lisa jumped on the idea! Looking back, I'm really glad she came along today! It turns out Lisa is just as big a Disney fan as me, so she didn't mind at all that I wanted to stop and take a million pictures :-) I guess, you can thank her for my extensive picture album below!
"Parc Disneyland" - couldn't believe how many other people came out early for the opening of the park! | Disneyland Paris
Wow! So pretty! | Disneyland Paris
Umm yes, this entrance beats the one in California... | Disneyland Paris
Disneyland Hotel | Disneyland Paris
"Bienvenue." | Main Street USA, Disneyland Paris
Wow, we're finally here! Yay! | Main Street USA, Disneyland Paris
First Impressions: Hands down, I would have to agree with whichever Imagineer said that Disneyland Paris is the prettiest Disney park of all! I should probably mention that I haven't been to Disney World (yet), so I could be mistaken... But for now, yes, this park gets my vote for the top prize!
Rather than bore you with all the little details of my Disney day-long adventure, though, I thought I'd just quickly share with you my three favorite highlights from today:
