The first trip my mom and Ron Voyage took together was a week in Paris. One day still in the midst of planning, Ron grabbed the phone from my mom and asked me, “Can you believe that your mother wants to spend one of her days in Paris at Disneyland?!” I could (In the very near future they’ll have gone to all of the Disney parks). And now it’s my turn. My first year with a driver’s license my mom got us annual passes to Disneyland and I learned how to drive going up and down the lower 2/3 of California on I-5. We love Disneyland. It’s clean, the happiest place on Earth, and best of all, I know how to do Disneyland. Marathoning from open to close, I know how to find the spots with air-conditioning when it’s hot, how to weave through the crowds (just a couple of weeks ago Megan and I were in downtown Sacramento when we came across a crowd of people and she sped ahead, turned around when I caught up and said, ‘Sorry I was Disneyland walking’), where the secret spots are when it’s crowded, how to fast pass and navigate the popular attractions and adventures (we’ve been told by cast members that they are not rides) and how to stay long after the park has closed and get a ride to your car because the trams aren’t running anymore. After a couple of weeks building up my ‘learning my way around in new cultures’ muscles, I was looking forward to a day somewhere more familiar. And with plenty of bathrooms. And where it didn’t matter that I was dressed like a tourist with my backpack and sneakers.
I took the RER (the more expensive train that runs through the subway) straight to the park and found a smile stretched across my face.
Disguised as the front of the park, these pink rooms are the Disneyland Hotel (there are also 2 other hotels down the Disney street).
I passed under the train and strolled down good old Main Street where I almost felt like I wasn’t in France anymore.
Obligatory photo with Sleeping Beauty’s castle.
This park is so much smaller than the one in California, I felt like I could zip all over the place in no time! I decided to start my day with It’s a small world, which has been the chosen keychain from my collection for the last 16 years or so. 
As the cruise started, I realized that the last time I had been on this adventure, I had never been to other countries outside North America. It was surreal and exciting for some of the countries to have more meaning having been there, or knowing that I would be there soon.
Ireland next month
Just came from England
Here I am now!
The Netherlands last week
My beloved Italia
Both coasts in one shot!
I slipped over to Discoveryland (the future one) and stood in line for a short 25 minutes for Hyperspace Mountain. Still one of the best thrills zooming around in the dark (I seem to like those better than roller coasters where you can see everything), this one had a Star Wars theme. Star Tours was next (45 minute line), a good old classic. Very similar except the characters spoke French. It’s fun when I know the story and what’s going on to experience it in a different language.
Now I was hungry. It seemed this park had more restaurants and shops than it had attractions and adventures.
It also had plenty of junk food. If I were going to go strict vegetarian, my only option would be a salad (a bowl of lettuce). So I got a Texas chicken wrap and put my salad on that. The Phantom manor was near by, so I hopped on that favorite before I crossed over to Walt Disney Studios (Park number 2) hoping to cover that before it closed at 6. This park was disappointing. I’m glad I got to experience everything, but the extra cost to go to the second park was hardly worth it. There just wasn’t much to do. I did the tram tour which had a good show, but was unimpressive if you’ve been to Universal Studios.
These signs were everywhere and still there were constant verbal reminders for people to watch their squirrely children.
I know, what do I expect in Disneyland? But the parents didn’t seem to have a concept of personal space either. In line I stood my ground making sure that I wasn’t touching the person in front of me, and just let the people behind me bump and rub up against me as much as they wanted. I didn’t know how to say “Can you please stop bumping into me?” in French and I could choose to be irritated or not. 
The Tower of Terror was way better than I remembered. I don’t like being scared, so I was a little nervous, but this drop from up high felt more like a swing. I also like how Disney always involves a story in their adventures.
The last thing I could find that was open was the Armageddon Adventure. It pretended we were filming a scene in the movie but the special effects were more involved than I imagine they would be on a real film set. So I did three things at the second park and I was satisfied. I left behind the playgrounds for small children and the shows with a half hour wait that weren’t obviously open. I navigated my way back through the snack stands and the shops and made my way back to classic Disneyland Park.
It seemed the train could have been managed better. In California, the train is surprisingly entertaining (if you have low expectations), a great thing to use for transportation, and it’s unpopular so there’s rarely a wait. I got in line for the train earlier in Fantasyland (thinking it fun transportation), but when I realized there was a 30 minute wait, I opted to walk. Now I gave in to the 30 minute wait, since I didn’t mind sitting and waiting in the shade and treated it like an attraction rather than transportation. I thought they should put another train in operation. I circled the park and then sought out Indiana Jones.
Tucked away in the back, it took me three tries to find Indiana, one of the best adventures in California. Here there were no lines. Probably because it was just a roller coaster like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. No big ball rolling toward you or Jeep rides. Since I was in the neighborhood, I climbed through the Swiss Family Robinson’s Tree house and got a glimpse of everything, which you can’t really see in this picture I took.
I tried to do Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which would complete everything I wanted to do in Adventureland and Frontierland, but it was temporarily closed because of a looming storm.
I walked through the castle and found this lady:
That’s the dragon from Sleeping Beauty.
The storm had closed all of the outdoor attractions (like storybook land which is one of my favorites) so I took the opportunity visit the old classics. I reminded myself that Disneyland was more about the experience as a whole than it was about riding the rides, ahem, attractions and adventures. Waiting 40 minutes to see Peter Pan seemed inefficient, but what else was there to do? I whipped out my kindle and was thoroughly entertained (though my feet were getting thoroughly sore) in the line. Snow White, Peter Pan and Pinocchio were the same except in French which was really fun. And I got to sit in the front on the Peter Pan ship:
With half of the attractions still closed, I took another ride through it’s a small world. On the other side of these gates, there’s a handicapped boat: people in wheel chairs are wheeled on and down a ramp and locked into place. I thought that was pretty cool (I don’t think I’d seen that before).
Here’s a blurry mermaid for Megan:
Arrivederci!
I zipped through Discoveryland (I almost just called it Tomorrowland) and took a walk through a submarine, shot at some targets in Buzz Lightyear, and then went to check one last time on Big Thunder. Now it was open, but there was a 65 minute wait. Eh, what else was I going to do? It was 9pm and I just needed to get back before the subways closed at 12:30. I’m reading the Outlander series which currently takes place in the 18th century American colonies. It was fun to read about that time period while I was in Frontierland. A little ahead of me there were some 20ish year olds who were singing some call and response songs in French. They were having a great time and everyone was entertained. The French girl in line behind me snuggled up against me the whole way. Finally we got to the cars. This railroad boarded on the mainland, then plunged through a tunnel of total darkness coming up and whipping around a mountain on an island in the middle of a lake. It was way cooler than the one in California. It reminded me more of the Matterhorn which is my favorite of the roller coasters. Another nice surprise!
As I made my way back to Main Street, the crowds were gathering for a parade or fireworks, but I was nervous about catching the last
trains. I snapped some pictures, delighted that I could be here during my favorite time: when everything is all lit up at night.
The castle:
Heading toward the entrance:
One last look back:
It was a great day at one of the Happiest places on Earth.