The top attraction in Europe

This weekend Jen and I visited the top attraction in all of Europe. If you're not sure what that is, then I'll tell you what it isn't. It's not the Louvre Museum, the Eiffel Tower, the Colosseum or Saint Peters Church in Rome or even the Tower of London in the UK. No, this place outdoes them all with an amazing 12 million visitors a year. If you're still not sure you can at least take some pride in knowing (for the Americans) that Disneyland Paris has taken the lead in the last few years. Jen and I can attest to the numbers as the park was slammed from opening to close on a cold, cloudy February weekend.

Jen had joked about being deprived as a child since she never got to go to Disneyworld. With Disneyland Paris only 20 miles east of the city it was only a matter of time before she convinced me to take the trip. So...in a moment of weakness I decided that the best gift I could get her for her birthday this year would be two tickets to Disney. And she loved it!

We headed out late Saturday morning on the train to Disney. It was a short 40 minute trip and the train drops you right at the front of the park. Since the park is celebrating 15 years of existence this year, everything seemed to be in really good shape. Our first stop through the gates was at the Annual Pass office (hey, some of you are going to want to go as well so why not). Besides, there are 2 parks to see and the annual pass pays for itself in the 2nd visit.

After securing the pass, we stopped for a quick lunch and then headed to Space Mountain II. We used the Fast Pass system to "reserve" a spot in line and only waited about 10 minutes before we were settling down into our seats. Probably like many of you, I had been on the original Space Mountain and thought it was a pretty good although fairly tame ride (compared to Six Flags). I didn't pay attention to the fact that this was Space Mountain II, the crown jewel of the roller coasters and a $100 million dollar investment that supposedly saved the struggling park. You can imagine where this is heading. I comforted Jen by telling her it was no big deal (as she isn't a fan of anything beyond the MadHatter teacup rides). I thought it might be a neat idea for the blog to record the entire length of the ride with my camera in video mode, but before I could set my camera up I was admonished by an employee to put it away and fast. I started to tuck it back into my coat, but there wasn't time. I shoved the camera between my legs and grabbed the harness as the coaster lurched forward. We made a quick turn and stopped abruptly on a steep upward ramp. I was wondering if they stopped the ride because of my camera until I saw a countdown in front of us. As the clock hit zero, we accelerated upwards on the ramp and into the darkness like a race car. Once we hit the top of the ramp and entered the massive structure containing most of the coaster, we were enveloped in blackness. I couldn't see the car in front, Jen or even my hands. As I realized that I had completely lost my sight, we plunged sharply downwards and then upside down into a full loop. Of course, the only way I really knew we were in a loop was because of the G force on my body and the camera sliding out from under my legs. I grabbed the camera with one hand and the harness with the other while we continued to do loops and barrel rolls in the darkness for the next sixty seconds. When we finally emerged from the structure back at the station, we were both in a bit of shock - me because I almost lost the camera and Jen because I told her the ride would be an easy start to the day. It didn't help that we had just eaten either. Safe to say that Space Mountain is an amazing ride but it almost ruined the day for Jen.

Luckily for both of us, the rides got easier and the day got better. For the next few hours we were all over the place. We shot aliens with Buzz Lightyear, rode a runaway mine train on Big Thunder Mountain, flew an intergalatic mission with a robot pilot on Star Tours, caught a parade of all the characters, took a boat ride through pirates ransacking Caribbean towns and toured a haunted mansion. If you are wondering whether Disney here is like Disney there, the answer is yes. Almost exactly and the Europeans love it. Most of the day it was hard to walk quickly because of the masses of parents, kids and strollers littering the landscape. The park is divided into five major zones: Main Street, Discoveryland, Fantasyland, Adventureland and Frontierland just like in the U.S. And much of the dialogue on rides and names of things are in English too (although I must admit that the skull talking to me in French on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride just didn't seem right). Food and gifts were about the same price as what we remembered. In fact, the only real difference is apparently the concession Disney made to serve wine at the restaurants.

All in all it was a fun day. To be sure, the park is set up for kids and the characters are there for the kids. However, there are still enough rides and entertainment to keep the adult's attention for a full day. In fact, there are many other things that we would have liked to have done, but just didn't have time. I guess that is why we have the season pass.

Disney Paris