I’m back! Where have I been, you ask? Well, last week I treated my sister to four nights at Disneyland Paris for her birthday.
Spoiler warning: if you haven’t been to Disneyland Paris before and want to experience its magical surprises firsthand, then perhaps you should read no more…
We stayed in the Sequoia Lodge, a mere five minute walk (at our excited power-walking pace, anyway) from the entrance to the Disney Village.
Our hotel even had a swimming pool – it was a nice relaxing way to end the busy days in the park. Even if we were evacuated from the pool after a child left behind a… well, you get the idea (no filters on this blog!).
Sleeping Beauty’s castle is a stunning piece of architecture, and it just made me smile whenever I caught a glimpse of it. As it sits at the centre of the park, you can see its spires from just about anywhere.
So, our first ride on our first day was the Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast – after queuing for a fair old while, the ride broke down, and we decided to go elsewhere instead (a bit of an anticlimactic start to the day!). Fortunately there were lots of other rides in Discoveryland to enjoy.
We visited over Halloween, which meant we got to enjoy all the spooky decor, and Halloween-themed parades!
Frontierland was definitely my favourite place (can you tell?), and I loved Phantom Manor and Big Thunder Mountain – two of my favourite rides.
The level of detail in the park was amazing – even the restaurants looked impressive, fitting in with the theme of the area they were in.
I’m not someone who really goes for the whole ‘meet the characters’ thing, but it was surprisingly easy to get into the spirit of Disney. I’m quite sure I was shouting “look, it’s Gaston!” along with everyone else! I still draw the line at high fives and hugs though.
The Disney Illuminations show was really atmospheric – I think Let It Go even brought a tear to my eye!
How incredible to visit Disneyland for not just its 25th anniversary, but for Halloween too. It was stiflingly busy at times, with queues of over 100 minutes for some rides, that luckily we managed to avoid with some FastPass planning. Still, it was surreal to step into what can only be described as an alternative universe, unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before – there’s so much left to say, so many memories of daft or awe-inspiring moments that I will treasure for the rest of my life.
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