Winter in Disneyland Paris - lots of pics

flisssweetpea

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Daughter and I took a trip out to Disneyland Paris on Dec 18th, returning on Dec 22nd. It was a trip that we had planned in October after my daughter had a hard time at the end of the summer and lost her holiday.

Here are some photos - you will notice that the prevailing theme is ICE! It was freezing


Sleeping Beauty's castle - although it was cold, that is fake snow there




A view from the bottom of the Christmas tree



and peeking beneath it to look along Main Street



Ice in the fountain - I told you it was cold



A very appropriate sign in the Maze



Looking down Main Street



to be continued
 
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flisssweetpea

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The front and back of the windmill - all decked out for Christmas





All flights on the Dumbos grounded due to ice - you can see the ice between the elephants in the background



The entrance to Adventureland



Eeyore posing on one of the carriages in the parade



The ice on the lake after it was broken up by the paddle steamer



The castle at night during the candle lighting ceremony for the 15th anniversary of the park



The Tower of Terror ride in the Studios park - the ride opens next year



Sunset over the frozen lake outside our hotel



Looking towards the Hotel New York over the ice (well, it's meant to be a lake
)



Disney Village at night



Decorations inside the Disneyland Hotel



We had a great time, but most of the time it was just too cold to take off the gloves to take piccies. It was - 6 degrees when we arrived, got colder during our stay and only warmed up on the day we were coming home.
 

miss mew

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Looks like you had a great time!! Thanks for sharing your pics
 
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flisssweetpea

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Thank you for enjoying the photos - it was a great trip, although tinged with sadness because we left just a few short hours after Tippy died.

This was the first time that daughter (almost 21) and I had been away together. Hubby stayed behind to look after the kitties, we had a great girly time! I have to say though that being rescued from the top of a 50ft roller coaster was probably a little more excitement than I'd bargained for
 

babygirl

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Awesome pics, Beth!
I love the pics from Main Street.

Is that Disneyland Hotel in the back? It looks like the Grand Floridian.
 

brandi

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It is absolutely beautiful!!! I am going in Jan 09...long time away but its a vacation that requires some saving!!
 

vixen16

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Glad you had a great time!!! sure looks like you did!!!


im confused... Ok Disneyland=CA and Disney World=FL but Disneyland Paris??

Now is that in Paris or is that what its called and its located in CA??

As you can see im not familuar with theme parks.. ive actually only been to Busch Gardens=FL and Adventure Islands=FL... im suppose to be going to a theme park in March... but im still debating on whether to go to Disney World or Sea World ((i havnt been to either one)).
 

babygirl

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Originally Posted by Vixen16

Glad you had a great time!!! sure looks like you did!!!


im confused... Ok Disneyland=CA and Disney World=FL but Disneyland Paris??

Now is that in Paris or is that what its called and its located in CA??

As you can see im not familuar with theme parks.. ive actually only been to Busch Gardens=FL and Adventure Islands=FL... im suppose to be going to a theme park in March... but im still debating on whether to go to Disney World or Sea World ((i havnt been to either one)).
Yes, they have Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland.

You may want to go to Disney World instead of Sea World. Disney has 4 parks and two water parks. I recommend Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Animal Kingdom is good too, but they close early.

Sea World has a new water park that's going to open in March 2008. (Aquatica water park) you might want to check that out too.
 

fwan

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There are theme parks out of the US... Just so you know



Bf and I are planning a Eurotrip for the month before we leave, Paris is one of our destinations and well Disneyland has to be a must before i transfer back to Australia, ive been wanting to go to disneyland paris since i was 7!
 
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flisssweetpea

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Originally Posted by babygirl

Awesome pics, Beth!
I love the pics from Main Street.


Is that Disneyland Hotel in the back? It looks like the Grand Floridian.
Thanks Tina
Yes, that's the Disneyland Hotel in the background, it spans the entrance to the park, in fact visitors enter the park by passing through a tunnel underneath the building or under two bridges that connect the wings on either side of the hotel to the central park of the building.

Here is a photo of the Disneyland Hotel from the front, it is very similar to the Grand Floridian and is the premier hotel at the park in Paris. I've had the privilege of staying in it a couple of times, it is lovely. This photo was taken at night time, I don't have one taken in the daytime on the computer at the moment. You can see the entrance to the park underneath that arched, lit sign at the centre of the building. There are then two wings on either side of this main building. There is a fabulous cocktail/piano bar in the Disneyland Hotel that we often visit when we're there.




Originally Posted by Brandi

It is absolutely beautiful!!! I am going in Jan 09...long time away but its a vacation that requires some saving!!
Oooh are you going to the park in Paris? (I see you're in the US). If you are and would like any information about visiting Paris while you're there, just let me know.

Originally Posted by Vixen16

Glad you had a great time!!! sure looks like you did!!!


im confused... Ok Disneyland=CA and Disney World=FL but Disneyland Paris??

Now is that in Paris or is that what its called and its located in CA??

As you can see im not familuar with theme parks.. ive actually only been to Busch Gardens=FL and Adventure Islands=FL... im suppose to be going to a theme park in March... but im still debating on whether to go to Disney World or Sea World ((i havnt been to either one)).
You're right, this is Disneyland near to Paris in France. How exciting that you're going in March. If you have to choose either Disney World or Sea World, then I would second what Tina says that better value for money is buying a multi park pass at Disney World. There is much more to do there. We have visited the parks in Orlando on a number of occasions and my kids have always said that Sea World is a kind of one day/one afternoon add-on to the main event (Disney World
). It is an experience and one that you should visit if you have the opportunity, but if you can only choose one, I would opt for Disney World.

Either way, have a fabulous time.
 
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flisssweetpea

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Originally Posted by fwan

There are theme parks out of the US... Just so you know



Bf and I are planning a Eurotrip for the month before we leave, Paris is one of our destinations and well Disneyland has to be a must before i transfer back to Australia, ive been wanting to go to disneyland paris since i was 7!
Fran, I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time! Two expensive, but lovely treats if you can afford them are:

A meal in the Blue Lagoon restaurant. It's a restaurant inside the Pirates of the Carribean ride, see if you can get a waterside table. It's like dining in a carribean village, under the moonlight.

The second treat is a cocktail at the Piano Bar in the Disneyland Hotel. You don't have to be staying there to have a drink in the bar, although sometimes, you may be required to show a room card from a Disney hotel to gain access to the Disneyland hotel area at night. We weren't this time, but have been in the past. The piano bar is upstairs in the main building and is a lovely place to spend an hour or so.

I am sure, whatever you do there, you will have a great time
 

xocats

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Originally Posted by flisssweetpea

I have to say though that being rescued from the top of a 50ft roller coaster was probably a little more excitement than I'd bargained for
You were rescued from the top of a roller coaster?

What happened?

Ice at Disney World is amazing to me.

I have been to the California Disney World where it was really hot.


Mother and Daughter outings are so special.

Thanks for sharing your delightful photos with us Beth.
 
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flisssweetpea

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Originally Posted by xocats

You were rescued from the top of a roller coaster?

What happened?

Ice at Disney World is amazing to me.

I have been to the California Disney World where it was really hot.


Mother and Daughter outings are so special.

Thanks for sharing your delightful photos with us Beth.
Yep - we certainly were rescued from the top of a rollercoaster and it was SCARY!!!! First of all, because he was so lovely he must be a cat man
, if the French man that helped to rescue us is reading this THANK YOU!!!!!!

Here's the story - reach up and pull down the safety bar this might be long!

I am a big wuss when it comes to scary rides, but this was a new one (the Finding Nemo rollercoaster) and, in the absence of brave hubby, I took on the role of accompanying daughter on the scary stuff. As it was a new ride, it was on the top of her "to do" list


We visited this ride 4 times and it broke down 100% of the time! The first time, we were queuing in the outside area and the cast member came to turn us all away saying there was a "technical difficulty". We did something else for a while and then hightailed it back there, getting to the ride just as it reopened. Because it was new, it was very popular. We queued for about 45 minutes and were 6 people from the front of the queue when it broke down again. We all stood there for about half an hour watching the techies fix it, sending cast members round as guinea pigs etc, then we were next up.

This is the kind of carriage that you ride in



As you can see there are two people facing forwards and two facing backwards. Daughter and I were in the back facing seat. The first time that we went on it, the scariest bit was being dragged up the 50ft slope, leaning forwards over the tiny lap bar, looking back down the slope. I remember feeling how scary it would be to be stuck at the top. The ride then went as normal.

That night, getting off to sleep, I thought that daughter would probably want to ride this once more before we left and had an image of us facing backwards, getting stuck at the top of the ride. You would have thought I would have listened to this wouldn't you!

The next day, we queued up again. We were near to the front of the ride and I calculated that, with the number of people in front of us, we would be facing forwards and breathed a sigh of relief. Then, as often happened, the cast member asked if there was a party of 2 to fill up a car. Many of the parties were families or 4 or more who wanted to travel together, so daughter and I were often pulled to the front of the queue.

We walked forwards and.........we were going to be facing backwards
my mental image from the night before came back to me and I tried to ignore it.

We got to the bottom of the slope and the ride juddered. Daughter and I looked at each other, giggled nervously and the ride carried on. We were dragged backwards and I have the enduring image of passing by Bruce the Shark
. Then, just as we got to the very top, the ride slowed........and stopped. We sat there, thinking that we were just teetering on the edge before hurtling down into the corkscrew abyss, but unfortunately, we just carried on teetering there! We teetered and teetered and then....eventually.....the announcements started. We knew this was bad news and there was no way they would restart the ride without testing it, passengerless first.

We hovered, pointing down the slope, held in place by a tiny lap bar that went half way over each thigh for 10 minutes before someone came. I was gripping onto daughter who was doing tremendously well considering she is terrified of heights. Then, they switched the ride's lights on - at which point she said "Turn off the lights, it's better living in denial"
.

The man in front leaned back and said "Scary???" You bet! Eventually the cast member turned up, saw where we were and had a hurried conversation on the phone in French about how to get us out. Great! I looked down at the side of the car, between us and the emergency stairway was a 50 ft drop (hubby says I'm being conservative with this estimate).

The woman said that she would get the people at the front out first, but to do that, she would have to release the safety bars - all of them. My daughter said "NO YOU WON'T" - but we were told it was all of them, or none of them. So, I instructed her to push down with her elbows on the bar when they were released and we sat there, pointing down this slope with nothing holding us in place. That was scary!

The man who was seated in front of us got out and the first thing he said was "Can I help?" he was wonderful. Daughter and I are both small people, 5ft and just under that, and we couldn't stretch our short legs over the carriage and onto the stairway. He helped to lift us out, while we gripped for dear life onto the side of the turtle shell. My daughter's ankle got caught and he, bravely, leaned into the carriage, over the drop and released her ankle for her. I am so grateful to this man.

Then, it was down the staircase to the ground. We were offered tickets to come back to the front of the queue later on, but decided not to


We did, however, run straight round the park and get onto Rock'n'Roller Coaster - you have to get right back on the horse after you've just fallen after all!

Later on, we went back to take photos of the ride to show hubby and....as we were standing there it broke down again. This time, fire and rescue had to go in and help somebody out from the ride.

Phew! Sorry it was so long, it was a bit of an adventure!
 

pami

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Im glad you and your daughter had a wonderful time. I was cold looking at the pics.


Originally Posted by babygirl

Is that Disneyland Hotel in the back? It looks like the Grand Floridian.
That what I thought, too. The pic of the inside looks identical to the Grand Floridan.
 

xocats

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Originally Posted by flisssweetpea

Yep - we certainly were rescued from the top of a rollercoaster and it was SCARY!!!!

Phew! Sorry it was so long, it was a bit of an adventure!
A bit of an adventure?

That's an understatement Beth.

Your ride was like something out of an thriller movie.


You and your daughter will never forget that roller coaster ride.
 

babygirl

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Wow, that is scary. That happened to me once, but it was in Splash Mountain.

There was a rumor that MGM Studios was going to built the same roller coaster as Crush, but with a Ratatouille themed. I haven't heard about in a while. They are planning on building a new roller coaster.

Originally Posted by Pami

That what I thought, too. The pic of the inside looks identical to the Grand Floridan.
I noticed that too. The only difference is that the Grand Floridian has more floors.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v4...rent=DGFR9.jpg
 
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