All smiles at Alice's Curious Labyrinth.
Disney are all about rides and attractions as we know. It's been well documented that Walt Disney pioneered the theme park industry. Disneyland Paris is certainly no exception. I'm very lucky to say that I have visited Disneyland Paris countless times and have experienced nearly every ride and attraction the park has to offer.
The man that started it all, Walt Disney, a true pioneer.
All Disney parks feature different themed lands surrounding the centrepiece castle, in the Paris park's case, it's Sleeping Beauty's Castle. These areas include the Wild West world of Frontierland, the arabian nights and pirates land Adventureland, the fairytale Fantasyland, and look into the future, Discoveryland.
Sleeping Beauty's Castle.
Walt Disney Studios, Disneyland Park's next door neighbour, is a little bit different. Very similar to Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida, Walt Disney Studios is a park based around the magic of cinema. Compared to Disneyland Paris park, Walt Disney Studios has a greater emphasis on shows than it does rides, although the rides are amazing to say the least!
Experience the magic of cinema at Walt Disney Studios.
As already mentioned, I've been lucky enough to experience practically every attraction at both parks in Paris, but if I had to choose (and it's not easy) these are my top 10 attractions:
- Cinemagique - Walt Disney Studios
- Pirates of the Caribbean - Disneyland Park
- Phantom Manor - Disneyland Park
- Rock N' Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith - Walt Disney Studios
- Star Tours - Disneyland Park
- Space Mountain: Mission 2 - Disneyland Paris
- Ratatouille: L'Aventure Totalement Toquee de Remy - Walt Disney Studios
- Big Thunder Mountain - Disneyland Park
- Moteurs… Action! Stunt Show Spectacular - Walt Disney Studios
- Crush's Coaster - Walt Disney Studios
Full report of my top 10 attractions to follow!
Cinemagique, hands down, my favourite Disney attraction.
Considering the amount of times I had previously visited Disneyland Paris, this trip featured quite a few firsts for me. In the Disneyland Park, believe it or not, it was my first time exploring La Cabane des Robinson (Swiss Family Robinson's Tree House) and was also my first time walking through Alice's Curious Labyrinth. To be honest, other than the catchy song you hear playing throughout the Swiss Family Robinson's treehouse, there wasn't really that much to see and I didn't feel like I had missed out on anything in previous visits. Alice's Curious Labyrinth however, was a different story. I had watched many videos of people in the labyrinth and I just had to give it a look. I was honestly really pleasantly surprised. I just couldn't stop laughing at different things in the maze. It was good fun trying to find our way through the maze and taking photos with all the different statues from Alice in Wonderland.
Great fun in Alice's Curious Labyrinth.
Two more firsts for me were riding Dumbo the Flying Elephant, and the Orbitron. Both of these rides were very similar, your typical flying in the sky rides, but if you haven't ridden these before, then Orbitron is definitely the faster of the two, and probably the better ride for me.
Flying high with Dumbo.
Last but not least in the Disneyland Park, we treated ourselves to a ride down Main Street USA on what was like an old fashioned fire truck. It was such a peaceful experience it had me wondering why I had never ridden one of the Main Street vehicles before!
Enjoy a peaceful ride on one of the Main Street vehicles.
Walt Disney Studios also saw more firsts for me, and probably one of the best attractions I'd seen for a long time. As I mentioned earlier, Walt Disney Studios has a greater emphasis on shows, and I made sure I saw them all. Before this trip, I had never watched Animagique or Armageddon: les Effects Speciaux, so I was very keen to watch them at least once this time around. Ride wise, I also experienced the RC Racer for the first time.
Don't forget to spot Herbie in one of the Walt Disney Studios shops!
After enjoying a hot chocolate and cookie, me and Laura decided to go and watch Animagique for the first time. I have no idea why but for some reason my mind was telling me 'Michael you're not going to enjoy this' and just like Donald Duck would say, boy oh boy was I wrong! I don't want to give to much away for those of you that haven't seen it, but it features Donald Duck getting into some mischief and making his way through classic musical numbers from Disney classics such as The Jungle Book and The Little Mermaid. I found myself smiling throughout the whole performance and kicking myself for not seeing the show before. I'm very glad to say that I have seen the show at least once as there are strong rumours that the show will be closing in the coming months. I can honestly say, this was probably the most pleasant surprise I had on the whole trip, it really was that good!
Not a trip to Walt Disney Studios without a photo of the ear tower!
Armageddon: les Effects Speciaux is one attraction that I've always wanted to experience, but it's either been closed, or other people I've been on holiday with haven't wanted to see it. As it was a holiday of many firsts, I was even more determined to watch this one! Again, without spoiling this one too much, it's pretty much a special effects show, with the main scene featuring us (the audience) as actors in a Russian spaceship with a big meteor headed towards it! The special effects are very impressive, but the attraction seems a little bit short as the pre-show lasts much longer than the main event. It was pretty fun though and we watched it a second time. It isn't an attraction I would go out of my way for, but if I was passing time, then I would definitely give it another watch.
Film prop from Armageddon.
RC Racer was one ride which I was quite hesitant about. I've never been one to ride on the swing type rides, but I thought, what the heck, let's give this one a go! I'm a big Toy Story fan like most people, so I loved the theming of the queue, like you're walking on a remote control car track, Disney theming working wonders yet again. The ride itself, woah, what a thrill! I can't explain the high intensity thrills of how fast this one was when you hit the top of the ride. I'm not a big fan of heights, but I loved having a quick gaze of the parks at that height. It really was a thrill. I loved it so much I queued to go on straight again! This is definitely one that I'll be doing again on my next trip.
Me with Rex, Toy Story's friendly dinosaur.
Me and Laura enjoyed every attraction with no hick ups, all except for Ratatouille. The Ratatouille ride at Walt Disney Studios, is quite notorious for breaking down on a regular basis ever since it opened last year. We were very lucky to ride it 5 times last year with no problems, but on our second time riding it this year, it was a little bit different. As this ride always has long queues, me and Laura always opt to queue in the Single Rider line and meet up outside at the end of our rides. Funnily enough, even though we queued in the Single Rider line, we both ended up sitting next to each other. The ride was running very smoothly up until the chase scene. Just after we started the chase scene, our car came to a complete stop. I thought the ride would probably turn back on in a few minutes, but then the lights came on and I said to Laura "I bet we'll get evacuated off the ride" and we did! I've been evacuated off of Big Thunder Mountain in Florida, but never at any ride in Disneyland Paris. It was quite surreal walking through the ride and quite a few people took photos and videos although I didn't out of respect for Disney. In true Disney fashion, cast members offered us a complimentary Fast Pass for whenever the ride reopened or for the following day, so we ended up riding it the next day, thankfully, with no problems.
Walt Disney Studios before opening. Not a soul in sight.
Overall, I was amazed at how many attractions I experienced for the first time, and most of them were pleasant surprises, and I would definitely experience them again without a doubt. One last thing, if you experience Animagique for the first time, you'll definitely be singing the theme song, or have it in your head for a long time!
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