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again. .apologies it's taken me this long to get the next update up. it's been a combination of two things: 1) I have well over 300 pics just from the Eiffel Tower proper - not to mention the trip there, surrounding area, etc 2) this set of pics as I saved them started with a pic Nick texted me from the hospital telling me he'd been released. He looks AWFUL in it, and I'm not going to share that. . but my response to him was, "they're releasing you? you look terrible, why would they release you?" I do believe the reason they released him was the upcoming July 4th holiday weekend, and they didn't want to deal with patients that weren't critical over that weekend. So yeah. . "good" news he was being released, but how he looked worried me. . . . and seeing that "blocked" me a bit from proceeding with the updates. but. . got thru it, so here are pics from leaving Disneyland Paris, and the Eiffel Tower. not expecting a whole lot of commentary, as the pics speak for themselves.. but lots of pics. hope you enjoy! it was a pleasant afternoon away from what was a SUPER crowded Saturday at the parks. here's the map of the Trains from the Disneyland Paris station. we'd have to take one train into Central Paris, then switch to head to the tower. the trains from Disneyland into central Paris were really nice double decker ones. (I took the mask off for the pic) gorgeous day. . .and lovely countryside. the train we just got off of, to change lines once in Paris proper and shortly.. we were pulling into the Tower station. . . wowza yeah. . these are the trains for inside the city. . . LOL. . SLIGHT step down from the one we rode on from DLP. but walking from the station to the tower itself was fully immersive, and lovely. didn't feel unsafe, even in this touristy area (tho for sure watch your pockets!) stopped to get a quick drink from the many food carts, and street vendors that are all around the outside block of the Eiffel Tower. it runs on farts! stunning when standing right underneath it. and surrounded on 3 sides by lovely parks/greenery. We were a little early for our prebought tickets to the top, so walked around the outside of the tower to take in the scenery. oh look! "Mickey" is here. . . gimme money kid, you posed for a picture! (just like Times Square, or Vegas) it really is such a lovely space around the area. . and the beautiful day made it even better. Clear skies. one of the many vendors surrounding the tower selling souvenirs (official ones, I'm sure. . :P) another quick stop for a snack, and then it was almost time for our tickets. . . follow the signs! so cool! Ryan and I in line (with the Alveys). . .yup, even with the prebought tix, there was quite a line! but it is absolutely imperative that you pre-buy, as they had signs up saying tickets to the top were sold out, so they were only selling tix to the level below that. here's the line! but eventually, you get thru the security checks, and get loaded into the elevators (there is no longer an option to climb the steps up to the 2nd platform as they had to rescue too many people. .. going down the steps from the top is still allowed tho). the elevators get packed (mask back on for me!). . but very cool the elevators bring you to the platform 2/3ds of the way out, where there are some gorgeous views: but we had tix to go to the top.. so around the corner, and into another elevator - which has a cool window you can look up to watch as you climb up the tower all the way at the top! and wow, the beautiful day really helps with the view up here at the top, there's a little window that sells Macrons (in a collectible tin), and champagne & caviar. expensive, but you know what? once in a lifetime, so I did the Macrons. ooo.. is that a Carousel I see down there? also up here, one staircase down, is a little museum about the Tower, who built it and with some neat little models: zooming in on the Louvre from the top of the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame ok. . time to head down. Kristen wanted to take the stairs.. so most of us went with her that way. But first we had to go down a level to catch the elevator back down to the lower level that we had taken the main elevator from. to be continued with a more pics. .

You realize the seatbelt is a safety device that 1. Is a backup in the event the shoulder restraint fails. 2. Ensures the shoulder restraint is down far enough. “A few more inches” would allow the restraint to be dangerously loose for a child who barely meets the height requirement. Unfortunately it’s a balancing act between ensuring the smaller riders are secured and allowing larger riders to fit.

Finishing up Eiffel Tower pics: I touched the tower, and I liked it. wonder if I made that woman who is married to it Jealous? Albert & April posing for a pic for me, before we started the trek down the steps. . the level the main elevators bring you to, and where you can take the stairs from. shops and stores here too. . with less pricey macrons. . oh, still expensive, but not "in a fancy box bought from the top of the tower" expensive. the best part of taking the stairs down, is how you can get some interesting views and pics of the structure of the tower. and while we were going down the stairs, we had the elevator going up passing us. what's cool about the elevator is that they have a mannequin sitting outside the lower level pretending to manually operate it - as they did in the "olden" days. see? cool at the lowest level (that the public has free access to, I believe), there are shops, a restaurant, and the tower store. oh, and a clear floor you can walk on that freaked a lot of people out while I was there. and then it was back to ground level. excursion over, and tho we had been gone for at least 4-5 hours, there was still plenty of time to do things at DLP (open till 11). so we headed back to the train station. here's that carousel I had spotted from the top. confusing (to me) train map. . I was glad I had gone with the Alveys instead of trying to go myself. at least the ride back is mostly in the nicer double deck trains and that was my excursion to the Eiffel tower. we got back, and I headed into Disney to meet up with James for the rest of the afternoon. . that report coming in the next few days. hope you've enjoyed the pics!

I will say this looks like an amazing event. I tried to figure out a cheap way to get down there. Meals, walk backs, ERT sessions and 2 days of flash pass for $60? That's crazy.

Got to experience Luna Park at Coney Island on opening day with the family (on our way to Sweeney Todd -- Broadway perfection). Two of us had been before and the other three hate NYC, so I had low expectations. I'm very glad to say we had a great day and the "other three" in the family really enjoyed the whole Coney Island area. [Quick note: from Connecticut/northeast, there is no good way to get there. We ended up driving in and I'm happy to say there is a lot of parking around Coney Island. The subway from the Times Square area to Coney is about an hour each way.] I did not get many pictures because I'm not a "trip reporter," though I avidly read them all. The new entrance plazas towards Tony's Express/Leti's Treasure are still under construction. Clockworkz and Zenobio were dismantled for maintenance (I would assume). Crowds were non-existent probably due to weather. We paid $65 for our 4-hour wristbands a couple days ahead online. At the gate they were selling for $75. I didn't look at individual rides/tickets. Cyclone is nearly 100 years old! On our way to the new area, we passed the mermaid painting ... ... who is wearing a Fremeni stillsuit? (nerd joke) So Tony's Express and Leti's Treasure share a large station structure. We saw maybe two people ride the flume -- we did not, because it was barely 50 degrees. The boats were coming back very wet ... We did ride Tony's Express twice, and I'd say it's a great kiddie/family coaster with a really nice helix finale over the flume: I got permission to walk to the front of the station (and I have to say, overall the employees at Luna Park, at least today, were really friendly!) The Leti's boats are also nicely done: As you exit Tony's you walk right by the double down drop on Leti's Oh, and we rode Thunderbolt once, it was having periodic maintenance issues during the day. No pictures, but 1) it doesn't suck as bad as I'd heard, and 2) the splash from the final drop on Leti's actually reaches into the station for the Thunderbolt. And one more thing: Soarin' Eagle was enjoyable! Rode it once before, hated it. Twice on this trip and actually thought it was fun. No idea why. Final picture is my wife enjoying the launch on Steeplechase (posted because I love the coaster cars and to show the launch is actually a bit more than expected!)

What an opening day it was... Barely anything open: Fights: And even a fire to end off the opening day!: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1085461741835785/permalink/1810763205972298/

So excited to ride this in two weeks. The zero-g roll over the building is giving big mosasaurus roll vibes, which can only be a good thing. I'm still shocked this tiny park added this thing.

. . . continued Day 11: Parc Astérix (part III, the conclusion): we made our way around to the section with the "slow moving" rides. . .my favorites, and perfect to help settle things after Goudurix. we passed under the "skyview" as not everyone wanted to ride that, so saved that for after. Instead we headed to to the slow moving boat ride: with the silly looking dragon on our ship: full of people ready to be entertained by the Astérix characters (of whom I knew almost nothing about). lots of scenes, and animatronics. . on a fairly long ride. it even had a short dark ride / cave section I'm guessing he's a bad guy? it was pretty cute. I think this is the name of the area we were in, as I can make out the sign says 2 attractions. so that's probably the boat ride we just got off of, and the Aire traveler that I was headed to. but also over here was this absolutely adorable kiddie flume ride (we rode the adult one that looked like a Shoot the Chutes - but must have had phone put away, as I have NO pictures of our ride on it. but I recall it. no other flume here tho.. just this kiddie one). Adults sadly not allowed to ride. I think Jere and I were the only ones that like these kind of slow moving "elevated railway" type rides. . so we rode, and I'd guess the rest of the group headed over to reride Zeus, or Oziris again. hmmm. . is Le Grand Splatch the Shoot the Chutes type ride? it must be. . .I know we rode it. maybe I DID get a pic of the sign, but from the elevated track ride. Jere and Bert enjoying the view (and breeze) passing over some of the scenes from the boat ride we just got off of. AIRTIME HILL coming up!!!! ooooo.. we're coming back into the station, just as a parade is passing by? what timing. not sure whom I have to thank for this pic. . probably Jon? Hiya Obelix ! we rode in your butt earlier! the cast members VERY much stayed in character.. I loved it. heave! no. . I didn't buy them. but yes, I really wanted to! after the parade, and the slower rides that let the Aspirin have time to counteract Goudurix. . it was time to head back to Pegasus for another ride. I seriously loved this ride. and had to pan down for the full pic, as this guy seemed to be really proud of the big blue banana he had won. Having met back up with a few of the gang at Pegasus, we headed next door to squeeze our butts into the tiny teacup rafts of "La Riviere d'Elis" whee!! these type of rides, also seemed fairly popular at the European parks. Not ALL of them had them, but most had some version of it. I enjoyed them, even if it really is just slowly spinning among flowers in most cases. it was almost time for park close. . so we headed back to Tonnerre 2 Zeus for evening rides. man. . he looks kinda scary with the sun behind him. . . spooky! they had the soda machines here where you buy it, and tilt the bottle upside down and the soda freezes into a Slurpee consistency. thanks to Elissa for having change I could use to get this. the pic doesn't do it justice, but I know Elissa has a TPR video where they demonstrate how it works. it's very cool. I don't seem to have any pics of us getting back onto Tonnerre 2 Zeus for our evening rides. . .but I know we rode it a number of times after official park close. and have the pics others took (so below are from the ride photo (we each got a free photo), Elissa, or from AJ/Brad/Andy this one is a still from Robb's rider cam when I got to ride in the front during the evening ERT (you can see in the next picture how the camera is mounted for this amazing pic) after a fantastic day at Parc Astérix, we all posed for a pic in front of Zeus (thanks Robb!!), and then it was time to head back to the bus snapping a couple of pics as we made our way back to the hotel parking lot. . the bar back down on the ground. and owls. it had been an amazing trip..and I hated that it was over. but it wasn't really over for many of us. although the bus was headed back to the Airport to drop off those who had flights tonight or tomorrow. . it was then continuing on to Disneyland Paris. . where many of us were staying an additional 2-3 days before heading back home. I was one of those staying (along with my trip roomie James). . so we were headed to the Paris version of Wilderness Lodge for check in once the bus stopped at the airport. it had been a long, long, day.. . but once we checked in at the Disney hotel and discovered that our multiday passes included check in day as an admission (and the park was open past 11pm (and it was only ~8:20 by the time we were checked in) ? you bet we went to Disney for a couple of hours. But that's the next update. for now, thanks for reading along! bert

Correct! But the Coney Mall Subway is gone.