The Real Magic of Disneyland Paris

Growing up in southern California, I figured that no theme park in the world could ever match up to the original Disneyland. After spending five hours at Disneyland Paris however, I have to admit… I was wrong.

The whole idea of going to Paris in the first place came about on our second day in Spain, when Ryan offhandedly mentioned the “free tickets to any Disney theme park” perk he earned by working at Disney World for the summer. Whether this was really an invitation for us to join him or not, Cecily and I jumped at the opportunity – then next thing we knew, the three of us were standing under Sleeping Beauty’s castle watching Buzz Lightyear sing to “you’ve got a friend in me” in French. (See part of this on the video :) )

From the minute that we stepped foot in the park, the three of us felt like five year olds again, running around and exploring all the new and unfamiliar (Disney) lands and rides the park had to offer. Of the many notable ones, the most surprising were my old favorites Space Mountain and Indiana Jones which Disney Paris transformed into bonafied grown-up rollercoasters with loops, corkscrews and actual drops that rival the rides at Six Flags. Indiana Jones was our biggest surprise, as it’s built outside in a “Big Thunder Mountain” esque style, but with steeper drops, and great lighting effects like the ones on the original ride at Disneyland California.
Hands down though, the very best Disney experience of the evening was my ride on Crush’s Coaster – a Finding Nemo themed rollercoaster that simulates a ride on the back of Crush the turtle through the East Australian Current. (Duuuuuuuude, sweeeeet!!) We expected more of a Peter Pan type ride, but the minute we got on we realized that it was an actual rollercoaster – similar to space mountain, (it’s completely dark, and all you see are fish and bubbles in the tunnel around you) but even bigger drops, tilts, and turns. Think teacups + space mountain – the nausea.

For dinner, we ate at a Lion King themed restaurant, and paid 12 euro (about 16 dollars – ouch!) for questionable chicken wings, a salad, a water bottle and French (hehe) fries, but thankfully our meal also came with a Mickey Binget that made the entire purchase worthwhile. (Think Mickey shaped donut, but filled with warm, runny Nutella. Yuuumm.)

Disneyland Paris was a whirlwind, as sadly we were only left with a half day to explore the park by the time we finished our bike tour through the city on Sunday afternoon. That being said, even just a few hours there re-introduced me to the captivating Disney magic that I remember being overwhelmed by as a kid - back in the days before I had the entire park map memorized, and when I still thought that Princess Arial was a real mermaid.

At the end of the night, the three of us walked toward the exit arm-in-arm, and watched silently as the lights in Tomorrowland flickered off, and droplets of rain slid down the striped canopies along Main Street USA. Undoubtedly, there was something very magical about being grown-up and thousands of miles away from home, but still having our Disneyland. A place that will always be childhood, fantasy, and security in knowing that we can fly far away from home and still find our way back, and that even as jaded grown-ups, it's possible to find true love and make our greatest dreams come true.

I'm going to make it back to Disneyland Paris and see the rest of it someday. ...Wanna join me? :)