Fantasy fulfilled at the world of Disney
A family holiday in Disneyland Resort just outside Paris is a perfect chance to live out a childhood fascination.
By Shivani Goel, TNN |
The world of Disney has fascinated me right from my childhood. It was this wonderful world magic and fairytale, with everyone having so much fun that as I grew up I wondered if it was too good to be true, in fact!
But what better way of seeing for myself whether the wonder of Disney is all that it's cranked up to be than aiming for a trip to Disney...someday. With Disneyland Resort Paris (once better known as EuroDisney) celebrating its 15th anniversary, it was an easy choice for a vacation. It won by a unanimous vote in the Goel family!
Our trip started with surfing the Disney website, choosing a hotel inside the resort and making a booking through the Disney call center. Booking confirmations and detailed brochure was sent to us on email.
But what better way of seeing for myself whether the wonder of Disney is all that it's cranked up to be than aiming for a trip to Disney...someday. With Disneyland Resort Paris (once better known as EuroDisney) celebrating its 15th anniversary, it was an easy choice for a vacation. It won by a unanimous vote in the Goel family!
Our trip started with surfing the Disney website, choosing a hotel inside the resort and making a booking through the Disney call center. Booking confirmations and detailed brochure was sent to us on email.
Our luggage included the usual jogging shoes, some funky clothes with umbrellas (weather reports predicted some rain), hand bags and importantly, some packed ladoos and namkeen (being vegetarian), a good camera and a laptop. We certainly didn't want 1GB memory cards to restrict the number of photos we could click!
The moment we collected our baggage in at Charles de Gaulle airport we practically rushed to catch the VEA bus, a Disney shuttle service, to Disneyland which is around 20 miles outside Paris.
We checked into our Disney hotel Cheyenne - a budget hotel on the cowboy theme - collected our passes, park maps, magic (extra) hour timings, live shows and Disney Parade schedules and touched base in the room only to drop our bags!
The kids just wouldn't rest at all despite the long fligh. So seeing their energy levels we decided to check out the parks right away. We hopped into the free Disney shuttle at the hotel and reached the park in two minutes, a clear advantage of staying in a Disney Hotel.
Disneyland is even more beautiful that was we saw in various promo literature in print and TV. The Sleeping Beauty Castle is breathtaking and the architecture is straight out of a fantasy. Appropriately!
The moment we collected our baggage in at Charles de Gaulle airport we practically rushed to catch the VEA bus, a Disney shuttle service, to Disneyland which is around 20 miles outside Paris.
We checked into our Disney hotel Cheyenne - a budget hotel on the cowboy theme - collected our passes, park maps, magic (extra) hour timings, live shows and Disney Parade schedules and touched base in the room only to drop our bags!
The kids just wouldn't rest at all despite the long fligh. So seeing their energy levels we decided to check out the parks right away. We hopped into the free Disney shuttle at the hotel and reached the park in two minutes, a clear advantage of staying in a Disney Hotel.
Disneyland is even more beautiful that was we saw in various promo literature in print and TV. The Sleeping Beauty Castle is breathtaking and the architecture is straight out of a fantasy. Appropriately!
Since we reached around closing time, we were able to take only three rides at Fantasyland, one of the parks built around the theme of great Disney Classics - Dumbo the Flying Elephant, the giant Le Carrousel de Lancelot and Voyages of Pinocchio. Each ride is built for maximum enjoyment and regulates the rush with ease...
Dinner at the hotel was a disappointment for us vegetarians as the buffet had mainly non-veg dishes and costed 20 Euro per person. Thereafter, our dinner would usually be cheese burgers and French fries at the Disney Village, the food court of the resort.
First things first, being away from any local supermarket nearby, shopping in Disney is reasonably expensive. Communication is largely French with some rides using only French, no English. So daytrips were planned the previous night with clear ideas of which park to visit and what rides to take.
Dinner at the hotel was a disappointment for us vegetarians as the buffet had mainly non-veg dishes and costed 20 Euro per person. Thereafter, our dinner would usually be cheese burgers and French fries at the Disney Village, the food court of the resort.
First things first, being away from any local supermarket nearby, shopping in Disney is reasonably expensive. Communication is largely French with some rides using only French, no English. So daytrips were planned the previous night with clear ideas of which park to visit and what rides to take.
The roller coasters, live shows and the Disney parade that has been created by Disney for this anniversary were top of the list! Our first full day at the resort began with breakfast and some cool snaps with Disney characters at the hotel. One thing was certain, seeing "live" Disney characters make children and adults go equally crazy!
We decided to get a firsthand feel of Disney Studio on the first day - the world of movies and animation. Disney Studio has carefully structured this park to introduce children and adults alike to the art of movie making, stunts and even creating cartoons by drawing them in a studio.
Our first ride of the day was the Rock-n-roll roller coaster with Aerosmith, and what a whirlwind ride that was. Accelerating from 0-60 mph in just three seconds and spinning at higher speed in all possible turns, this ride was simply awesome.
Our stint with Special Effects was quite thrilling as we experienced what it feels to be hit by a meteor while in a space ship on the sets of Armageddon. Equally thrilling was the live stunt show of cars and bikes that shot a real chase sequence on a real set - with a hero. And imagine being on the sets of a mountain which gets flooded by torrential rains and a dam overflows. It is just amazing. But safe! More than the kids, we loved it!
The Disney parade at the studio was a spectacular show of characters from some of the Disney movies celebrating the magic of cinema.
For next three days we raided the Disney Parks. We started with Adventure Land, a theme park for adventurers and explorers. The Indiana Jones roller coaster was really hard on the stomach - with two loop-in-loop ride that really turned us upside down twice at an amazing speed and perfection.
We decided to get a firsthand feel of Disney Studio on the first day - the world of movies and animation. Disney Studio has carefully structured this park to introduce children and adults alike to the art of movie making, stunts and even creating cartoons by drawing them in a studio.
Our first ride of the day was the Rock-n-roll roller coaster with Aerosmith, and what a whirlwind ride that was. Accelerating from 0-60 mph in just three seconds and spinning at higher speed in all possible turns, this ride was simply awesome.
Our stint with Special Effects was quite thrilling as we experienced what it feels to be hit by a meteor while in a space ship on the sets of Armageddon. Equally thrilling was the live stunt show of cars and bikes that shot a real chase sequence on a real set - with a hero. And imagine being on the sets of a mountain which gets flooded by torrential rains and a dam overflows. It is just amazing. But safe! More than the kids, we loved it!
The Disney parade at the studio was a spectacular show of characters from some of the Disney movies celebrating the magic of cinema.
For next three days we raided the Disney Parks. We started with Adventure Land, a theme park for adventurers and explorers. The Indiana Jones roller coaster was really hard on the stomach - with two loop-in-loop ride that really turned us upside down twice at an amazing speed and perfection.
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A boat ride at the Pirates of the Caribbean was much easier journey that took us to the world of pirates - fire, loot, gun fight - just like the real pirates did it back in time. But the 21st century touch was the souvenir shops at every corner! And we could see photos of ourselves on the roller coasters on our way out - on the screens.
All parks have restaurants and popcorn vans -theme-wise - that offer the usual burger-pizza-coke combinations. Mainstreet USA, for example, is a theme park built as a 20th century American town with only shopping and dining.
Being away from any local supermarket nearby, shopping in Disney is reasonably expensive. Communication is largely French with some rides using only French, no English.
All parks have restaurants and popcorn vans -theme-wise - that offer the usual burger-pizza-coke combinations. Mainstreet USA, for example, is a theme park built as a 20th century American town with only shopping and dining.
Being away from any local supermarket nearby, shopping in Disney is reasonably expensive. Communication is largely French with some rides using only French, no English.
Frontierland was quite exciting, built on the theme back in time when the 'west was won'. The biggest greatest attraction was the authentic giant paddle wheel river boat. The Phantom Manor took us through a 19 century haunted mansion. The narration was in French but you don't need language to visit a spooky mansion! It was time for the live show 'Tarzan' at the Chaperal theater - a great experience of good script choreographed and performed perfectly by the artists on the sets of the jungle.
On our third and last day, we went to Discovery Land - a theme park based on science and technology. Apart from the normal rides and the roller coaster that took us through the universe, the main attraction was the show of Lion King and the 3D studio presenting Honey I shrunk the Audience where we could actually feel rats that run loose as part of the script going through our feet!
A lot of travel groups had come to see Disneyland but had to hurry since the tour operators only gave them one day at the park. To do justice one must at least spend 3 to 4 days. And staying inside the complex made is easy for the children to rest but still get back quickly. Our last stop was Disney Village, which also has the Buffalo Bill Wild West show. But this show is not free. At Euro 50 per adult and Euro 39 per child, we decided to give it a miss as it was later in the evening and the food was mostly non-vegetarian! Instead we went for a hot-air balloon ride for an aerial view of the Disneyland - our fanstasy come true!
On our third and last day, we went to Discovery Land - a theme park based on science and technology. Apart from the normal rides and the roller coaster that took us through the universe, the main attraction was the show of Lion King and the 3D studio presenting Honey I shrunk the Audience where we could actually feel rats that run loose as part of the script going through our feet!
A lot of travel groups had come to see Disneyland but had to hurry since the tour operators only gave them one day at the park. To do justice one must at least spend 3 to 4 days. And staying inside the complex made is easy for the children to rest but still get back quickly. Our last stop was Disney Village, which also has the Buffalo Bill Wild West show. But this show is not free. At Euro 50 per adult and Euro 39 per child, we decided to give it a miss as it was later in the evening and the food was mostly non-vegetarian! Instead we went for a hot-air balloon ride for an aerial view of the Disneyland - our fanstasy come true!
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