Curly Hair, Been There: Disneyland Paris

Curly Hair, Been There is a segment that explore the different places in the world I have been, and my experiences there. 

Disneyland Paris

So, anyone that knows me, knows that I'm a huge Disney fan. Like, massive. I own all 55 of the movies on DVD or Blu-ray, as well as all 20 Pixar films. I. Love. Disney. So, it should come as no surprise that I've been to Disneyland a lot of times. I went for my 21st birthday, and as a part of this amazing gift I also received an annual pass to the Paris parks and two nights in the Disneyland Hotel (you know, the one that overlooks the park). So, since then, I have been back to the park three times, the most recent of which I shared on my blog's story. So, this blog is an overview of that day, and includes some tips for getting the most out of your Disneyland Paris experience.

First off, I should have gone earlier. With an annual pass you can experience Magic Hours anytime, even if you aren't staying in a Disney hotel. If you didn't know, Magic Hours are a perk of staying in the hotels, and they mean you can get into the park earlier than the general public (so I could get in at 8:30 while everyone else has to wait until 10). I'd love to be able to do this, but for me it would be difficult as I live on the other side of the city, and to get there at 8:30, I'd have to be out the house by 6:30, which is not something I'm particularly inclined to do. I will do it one day, though, and it will be worth it. So, I left at about 9:30 and got to the park at about 11:45, when it was swarming with other people who had just arrived from out of the city, and I did have to wait to get in.

So, tip number one: get there early! If you're aiming to get in for opening at 10, I'd suggest getting there between 9 and 9:30 to get to the head of the queue.

I was meeting some friends there (who had actually bothered to get up early), and when I arrived they were queuing for Pirates of the Caribbean (quality ride), so naturally I went shopping. All of the shops on main street are the best ones, they have almost everything you can get in the shops around the park and they have a great atmosphere. Emporium is my favourite just because it is big and it has a lot of different sections. Out of the park I would suggest the Disney Village as its shops are great. World of Disney has a huge selection of merchandise, and the Disney Store in there has everything: a sweet shop, Marvel and Star Wars sections (you can build your own lightsaber or droid!!) and a huge selection of toys. So, tip number two: if you want to buy stuff, do it in the Disney Village on your way out of the park.

For me, I just went right into Emporium, after working my way around the crowds, and bought the gorgeous Disneyland sweatshirt that I'd had my eye on the last three times I was there.

I love it as it looks nice, plus on the front it includes my favourite things about the parks: the castle, Hyperspace Mountain, and the Hollywood Tower Hotel (both my favourite rides). So, I bought my jumper then headed towards Pirates of the Caribbean. I went in through Frontierland, the first section of the park on the left, which was a mistake as it's much easier to reach this attraction through Adventureland, the second section. Of course, you can go through the different lands, but since Pirates of the Caribbean is kind of between them, but more in Adventureland, I should have gone through this entrance. I met my friends, changed into my new jumper, then we went to have some fun. On a side note about this part, I love that you can walk for a minute and be in a totally different world, I went from being in the wild west, to a pirate ship, to a desert paradise. I love the incredible attention to detail that goes into everything Disney does, and I love the costumes. Depending on what world they're in, even what ride they're serving, the cast members (also I love that this is what Disney employees are called) are all in different costumes rather than having a universal uniform, and it really adds to that magical atmosphere that Disney provides so well.

The next thing we did was go to Indiana Jones et le Temple du Peril, a fairly new ride that is a big thrill. The wait was about 50 minutes, so we grabbed a fastpass and went for something to eat, then when we came back for our time slot, we only queued for about ten minutes, if that.

So, tip number three: use the fastpasses! To get a fastpass, all you have to do is scan your ticket, then come back to the attraction in the designated half an hour. You skip most of the queue, don't have to worry about waiting, and you have a bit of time to get something else done if your time isn't for a while. The only downside of a fastpass is that you can only get one at a time. So, if your fastpass says to come back between 13:00 and 13:30, you can't get another one until 13:30. To make the most of fastpasses, you should get your fastpass for the most popular attractions first, the sort of things that run out of them fast: Hyperspace Mountain, Tower of Terror, the sort of things that always have a long wait are the ones that you should nab a fastpass for early so that you don't have to queue for other things, or be waiting around for ages to be able to use it.

So, we got our passes and went to food: Casey's Hot Dogs, which was fairly reasonably priced for Disney and had pretty nice food. We managed to keep it down on the ride, which was pretty intense (it went upside down) and took a minute to gather ourselves afterwards. We wandered round for a bit before deciding that it was a good time to take some pictures (it always has to be done, I've taken loads of pictures every time I've been, even alone!) so we went towards the castle to find the best angles.

I love everything about this pic except the family behind me kinda ruining it

Tip number four: it takes a lot of experimenting but there are loads of good picture angles. There is a nice platform to the right side of the castle, which isn't the best view but has good potential for pictures. The central part of the park, in the middle of the Main Street 'roundabout' is a good angle (see above) as you can see all of the castle and you can stand out better in the picture. My favourite place, though you have to wait to get a picture there, is the bandstand as soon as you come into the park. Hands down the number one photo spot in the park for getting the castle behind you.

So we went into the Studios park, which I love. A lot of the rides here are more aimed at older guests; some of them are a lot more intense than in the main park. I love the atmosphere in the park, it feels like being on a movie set and it's genuinely magical. First off, we went to one of my favourite Disney rides of all time: the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. I love horror, I love Disney, and I like rollercoasters, so this ride is perfect for me. It's always a long wait, but it is worth it. It's slightly different depending on what track you get- I usually get sent to the library on the left, but this time I got sent to the right. The library is the same, video in French with English subtitles, but you take the elevators on the bottom floor, and the content of the ride is in English, which is something I'd never experienced before. In French, it doesn't take away from the ride, but in English it does add a little something as you get more of the whole story. I've done this ride so many times I know exactly what's going on, in the English or French version. The ride itself is great, and my favourite part every time is when the doors open when you're at the top of the tower, and you can see across the whole park. It's terrifying and amazing and I love it every time.

The ride in all her glory Source cause I didn't get a decent pic of it

After this we went to the Rock n' Rollercoaster, and this is a great ride. The queue isn't very interesting so try and get a fastpass if you can, but if not queue up anyway because it is fun if you like a thrill. They play good music while you queue and there's a whole selection of music memorabilia to look at. When you finally reach the front of the queue there is a very outdated video of Aerosmith with their frontman talking about the ride (it also includes a very young looking Ken Marino as one of the producers) before you go through to the boarding queue, where you can see the people ahead of you shooting off into the ride. It's a really fun ride and if you like thrills and rock music you'll love it.

The video you see

Top tip six: for this ride you have to be prepared for it to be bumpy. It takes off incredibly fast, and every time I've been on, the restraint doesn't come down far enough. So, beware of that, but it is a great experience.

Next, we went to check out the Toy Story Playland. It has great rides such as the Parachute Drop, Slinky Dog, and RC Racer. We did the parachute drop, since the wait for single riders is always so low. It's not a massively scary ride, there were a lot of kids there, and you get a good view of the park from the top.

I promise it's not as scary as this picture (from a previous trip) would suggest

My tip number seven is this: do single rider where you can. I cannot stress this point enough. Single rider is the greatest invention. Basically, you queue up, knowing you will be separated from your group, and get placed on a ride where there is a gap, which is fairly often. It means you wait far less time, and even though it means you get separated it is still so worth it, especially on a ride like the parachute drop, where there are so many seats on one ride, so there are always plenty of spaces for single riders. It saves so much time, so where it is available, you should go for it.

We then walked over to the Ratatouille section, which is lovely. It really seems more parisian than Paris, with cobbled streets and pretty buildings; it even has a restaurant just like the one in the movie. At the minute they have a food market, with lots of different foods to try, from baked potatoes and raclette to pretzels and crêpes.

The Ratatouille ride is also great, it's another one where single rider is a good option as so many people can fit into one car, plus the normal wait is always ridiculously long. The queue is also really interesting, like you're the size of a rat walking through the streets of Paris. 

After this we decided that we had done what we wanted, so went back to the main park and braved the 70 minute wait for the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. This ride always has a very long wait, so if you can get a fastpass, it's definitely a good idea, and it's definitely one of those where you should get a fastpass early on, as they run out fast. This ride is worth the wait though. The queue is fun; lots to look at, and the ride itself is a blast. It's fairly long, which is what makes it worth the crazy wait, and it is so much fun. It's family friendly, which is probably why the queue gets so long, but it has some exciting twists and drops; nothing intense but it isn't your typical kiddie ride either. I always forget how good it is, but every time I'm glad I put up with the queue, because it is one of the best rides at Disneyland. So, my tip number eight is: sometimes you just have to brave the queue. It is worth it for some things, like this, like Hyperspace Mountain, like Star Tours. For some it's not, the sort of rides that only get busy because they're hyper kid-friendly are not worth waiting for, like the carousel or It's a Small World. If it's a big ride, and it has a queue, it's for a reason, so just brave it, and I promise it'll be worth it.

After this we went round the shops to get our souvenirs before getting back on the train for the long journey home. It was a long and tiring day, but I loved it, just like every other time I've been to Disneyland.

If you missed my instagram story from my trip, you can find it on my account's highlights!
I'll do some more posts about Disneyland, so if there's anything specific you want to know about, leave a suggestion in the comments or let me know!

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