Photo TR: Eurotrip with TPR

[XII]

Nice Photo TR. Seeing these photos really made me miss Schlossbeck. Movie Park Germany, not nearly as much. Keep posting photos.

[shivtim]

Triggering this to have it pop out when Neil walked by was probably the greatest thing of that day.

 

^Yes! Although it was probably overkill, we could have just said "boo" and Neil would have jumped three feet. (We love you, Neil!)

 

Ken, that picture of Bandit is great because there's a guy holding his head. "Why oh why did I ride that awful coaster?" Also, we got stuck on the brake run of Bandit for a while. Man was that "fun. "

[Werner]

Mystery River This was a great surprise! Not really sure what the story was besides being a rapids ride through a land of wizards, elves, dragons, and giant mushrooms but some of the scenes were impressive.

 

Congrats you just totally got that ride! It used to be a lot better, well also the rest of the park did. As the Neverending Story i was really impressed with that ride.

 

For everything else: Keep them coming!

[kidcoaster 2]

Triggering this to have it pop out when Neil walked by was probably the greatest thing of that day.

 

^Yes! Although it was probably overkill, we could have just said "boo" and Neil would have jumped three feet. (We love you, Neil!)

 

Man, I wish I would have seen that.

 

Time for the next update Phantasialand!

 

Dragon Bar After we left Movie Park Germany we arrived at Phantasialand's Hotel Ling Bao. After getting a simple room change when the hotel tried putting me and Craig in a single bed room I got settled. Since the Dragon Bar didn't open till ten I took a walk around this beautiful hotel.

 

Finally ten came around and I made my way to the top of the hotel to the Dragon Bar where I found several others already there. We made our way to the top floor of the bar as more of the group started showing up. At this point I will just say what happens at the Dragon Bar... Stays at the Dragon Bar but it was a great night.

 

The next morning thankfully Craig woke me up because I was still had a very strong buzz going this morning. I seemed to go well beyond my 2 drink limit I set lol. I got my shower and got dressed and grabbed my luggage to check it in with the hotel before we were lead into the park for our ERT.

 

Maus au Chocolat This was our first stop for ERT. The ride was really fun but I have yet to ride a Toy Story Mania to compare it to that.

 

Black Mamba This was a surprise stop for ERT. I grabbed my first ride in the front. The ride was great with the low lying layout. I also grabbed two more rides in the back.

 

Winjas These two coasters were a great surprise. I didn't do much research into them because I was expecting a standard spinning coaster but these are ALOT more than that! I won't spoil the surprises of this ride.

 

Temple Of The Night Hawk Don't remember much about it but it was a great place for a nap.

 

Würmling Express Don't remember why we did it but the ride offered some great views.

 

Race For Atlantis Motion Simulator

 

Feng Ju Palace Another mad house with a pretty cool pre-show... the ride? Not so cool...

 

Colorado Adventure - Michael Jackson Thrill Ride Fun mine train with some great theming.

 

River Quest An awesome rapids ride... my favorite Great theming aswell.

 

Mystery Castle My favorite drop ride yet! The queue theming is great with random actors to set the mood. The ride is also just as great.

 

Silbermine A very weird dark ride, take like 50 powered coaster trains, connect them all and set them at a slow pace and put some mexicans in it and you got Silbermine.

 

The great Phantasialand flood of 2012 After Silbermine we came out to find it has started raining but we took shelter and didn't think much of it till we were told "Good luck" from some heading back to the hotel shortly before it picked up. We ended up in a pizza shop just before the sky opened up and it down poured for a solid 20 minutes. After some people watching fun it finally stopped raining and we ventured back into the park away from the flooded midway that was infront of the shop. We tried to do Black Mamba but the rain flooded some of the ride.

 

Geister Riksha People mover with an asian storyline.

 

Wellenflug Fun swing ride with awesome fountains... and a never ending queue.

 

Hotel Tartuff Closed due to the rain.

 

Maus au Chocolat Closed due to the rain.

 

Tittle Tattle Tree Little ride in the middle of Winjas. Im surprised how many people we squeezed into each car.

 

Hollywood Tour Seriously amazing ride! After riding this you will never be the same.

 

After grabbing another ride on Winjas we took a walk around the back side of the park which was beautiful but very hilly. Also grabbed another ride on Maus au Chocolat.

 

Talocan Top Spin with lots of flips and FIRE! Don't get better than that!

 

After another ride on Mystery Castle it was time to head back to the hotel to leave Germany for Paris . It was a great day with a great park which I hope to return to some day. Thanks for reading!

The first ride of Phantasialand

Black Mamba would be next!

Winjas!

Rising waters!

Now with 100% more (Blurry) Dan!

Why can't more swings be like this?

Took down the Log Flume for a LOG FLUME aka Chiapas

Back for more!

Behind that wall is where the amazingness happens

Exploring the backside of the park.

Seriously beautiful!

I will leave you with Hollywood Tour that had zero wait! Thanks for reading Parc Asterix is next!

[cfc]

^Words cannot not do justice to the amazing Hollywood Tour--it's the Dinosaur of Europe!

[attack7]

Ken - thanks for these great pictures --- I *loved* this park (except for the Great Flood). Mystery Castle was just awesome as were all of the roller coasters (except for, perhaps, Chain Lift: The Ride)...

 

Also, Scott nailed it when he said the best part of Movie Park was triggering that thing on Van Helsing when Neil walked by. It was basically a re-enactment of the Birdcage

 

--M

[kidcoaster 2]

Alright ladies and gentleman we have come to Parc Asterix and that means the last park/day of the Europe Trip But don't worry I'm not done yet! I still have 4 days left in Paris to cover!

 

Anyway onto Parc Asterix, The day started like any other by getting up early and heading to the park for some ERT! As we arrived it was obvious that it was going to be a busy day but busy was an understatement.

 

We got our premium passes (Which I will cover more in a bit) and we headed to a side entrance where we had to squeeze through the very large mob growing only to see them open the main entrance early. Luckily they held the crowds back as we got to bypass them and go straight to our ERT ride!

 

Oz'Iris Man I was really looking forward to this! Knowing how B&M has been only building pretty boring rides I thought this had potential... but sadly it turned out to be as forceless as any other newer B&M. The first drop was fun but the rest was very "Meh" I did like the hidden zero G roll behind the station but that was really it. I ended up getting 4 rides in before the crowds finally arrived before ERT was over.

 

SOS Numerobis Being that the family coaster is right infront of Oz we decided to hit that first to get it out of the way. Not much to it just another Tivoli.

 

Vol D'Icare Being that this was the only major coaster not on our premium passes we decided to hit this next but it was on the other side of the park. We passed through the neat little indoor city section of the park and finally arrived. The queue was about half full and we had to wait about 30 minutes. The ride was pretty fun but nothing amazing.

 

Tonnerre de Zeus Being that we were near by we hit this next and man this was a surprise of a wooden coaster. It had some pops of air and wasn't very rough... however the operations we dreadful. We were let on the platform as we waited with our premium passes. We were left to wait for a while but we were amazed by how confused the crew was the entire time we were there, they didn't know how to handle us and which seats they have to check... It was bad but worth watching for a while.

 

Goudurix Just across the lake was in infamous Goudurix. It looks so sweet and innocent but it wasn't at all.... The ride was only running one train (One was in a thousand pieces on the transfer track) which meant the ride had a solid 3-4 hour wait! But not for us! We were let right on to the train into what ever seat we wanted so we grabbed the front. The ride was completely awful and I don't understand how people waited that long for a ride like that!

 

Transdemonium This is their dark ride which we tried to hit earlier but was down but luckily it just reopened as we were walking back by it. The ride has a very long queue (Which filled up by the time we exited) before the very dark loading platform. The ride was actually really good. It had lots of scenes and had a Mummy knock off part which was pretty funny. Definitely do not miss this if you are at the park.

 

Lunch at the big fruit basket shaped building Our premium passes included lunch at this restaurant shaped like a giant basket of fruit with faded paint... at this point I think we were all having our doubts about the meal we were about to receive. We got a group and grabbed a table after the staff finally figured out how to seat us. When we looked at the menu I was pleasantly surprised of our options and I ended up getting a really good steak with some greats sides and some weird (but good) chocolate desert (The name escapes me). Easily my favorite meal I have had at a park yet.

 

Ronde des Rondins Next we went and got the kiddie coaster which had a solid 30 minute wait which we had to wait through. Not much to say about it.

 

Trace Du Hourra This would be the last credit of the official Europe trip. This Mack Bobsled was as good as everyone has said. The layout was great and the ride was fun! Unfortunately the staff was trying keep capacity up and was forcing two per seat so me and Dan had to squeeze into one seat... Needless to say that was a tight squeeze.

 

Menhir Express This was a fun log flume with a great coaster section.

 

Le Defi de Cesar We had a group ride on this in a bit but we decided to grab a ride early. Confused about where we were supposed to go with our premium passes we finally got to the spot we needed which would be the door to the rides control room. We were greeted by a staff member who than took us through the ride control room (Which was cool to see) and into the pre show area. The preshows were great with some excellent guest interactions. The ride its self is my favorite mad house with an obvious story going vs just a random room spinning.

 

Next we grabbed another ride on Oz (in the front of course) and joined the group for our last ride on Cesar before we headed out.

 

Premium Passes Now let me take a second here to mention how grateful I am at the effort Robb and Elissa took to get us these passes because with out them the day would have been a complete bust. The pass also offered an Onride photo (I got mine on Oz), the lunch we had, and VIP seating for the shows (Which we didn't do) if you ever visit the park I highly recommend it.

 

Well this is the close to the Europe trip as after the park we grabbed dinner with a chinese restaurant (Yes a chinese restaurant in Paris but hey it was good!) and I crashed.

 

Thank you Robb and Elissa for putting together an amazing trip, also huge thank you to Craig for helping R&E (and for putting up with me as my roommate and helping to wake me up when I sleep through my alarm) and Hanno.

 

I have 4 days left in paris including Disney and Downtown so I will post those shortly!

 

Thanks for reading!

Good morning Oz'Iris!

Fun but still "Meh"

Vol D'Icare

The trains

Next up Tonnerre de Zeus!

Zeus panty check!

Looks so sweet and innocent right??? WRONG

Near the end of the line

Ow

Great surprise!

Mack Bobsled

WAYYY better than that other Rome we visited

Who doesn't want to ride in his A$$?

Back here for another ride

Still is a very beautiful ride.

Thats all for Parc Asterix and the official trip. Disneyland Paris is coming up next!

Edited January 16, 2013 by kidcoaster 2

[robbalvey]

^ I too wanted so badly to like OzIris! Oh, well.... I really do like Parc Asterix, though. You don't hear too much about this park, but it's actually quite nice, well themed, and has a good selection of rides!

 

Thanks for the trip reports! And you're welcome!

 

--Robb

[cfc]

I'd forgotten all about the carousel where you can ride in the big guy's butt. I like Parc Asterix quite a bit, too, Goudurix notwithstanding. Transdemonium is very cool dark ride, indeed.

Edited January 16, 2013 by cfc

[shivtim]

Nice update!

The Park Asterix day was interesting. I have NEVER seen a park that busy, although I hear the Orlando and Tokyo parks can get like that during holiday events.

I liked Oz Iris, at least better than Silver Bullet and Alpengeist. But it definitely has a case of "looks better than it is." Surprisingly few positive G's, but also a couple of nice pops of air. I loved the zero-G roll - not intense, but it actually felt like a smooth zero-G float. Gouderix on the other hand... holy crap was that AWFUL. I thought I broke my jaw. My least favorite coaster of all time, edging out Space 2000 at Gyeongju World.

 

You picked wisely at lunch. I tried the andouillette, which was just described as pork sausage. Sounds innocent, kind of like andouille, right? WRONG. It's basically scrunched-up pig intestines, shit and all. Delightful.

 

We had a very interesting experience waiting in line for transdemonium. The lady in line in front of us was wearing a garbage bag (basically) and smelled worse than andouillette. Like rotten milk. Again, delightful.

[attack7]

I second Paul's statement about lunch. Never was there a bigger hit or miss menu available I had spent considerable time learning some German for this trip, and didn't bother to brush up on my French. I wish I had -- trying to order lunch was very hard ...

 

I was also really looking forward to Oz'Iris but was let down. Pretty... had potential... snoozer.

 

Thanks again for the great pictures Ken, and I second the thanks to Robb and Elissa for making what was a supremely crowded park bearable with the VIP treatment.

[kidcoaster 2]

Alright now for the post trip fun... Disneyland Resort Paris!

 

The next morning we woke up early to grab breakfast at the hotel and to say goodbye to everyone leaving before a few of us boarded back on the bus for our last drop off.

 

Sante Fe Hotel My hotel was the first drop and luckily the check-in line was non existent so I breezed through. Got my park tickets, magic hours information, and they gave me my room keys early (They didn't work till 3 but it was convenient to have them).

 

I than checked my bag and headed for the park. While walking through the hotel grounds it was kind of depressing. The hotel buildings look like some projects in Albuquerque. There was alot of renovation going on around the hotel as it desperately needed it, I even seen a room with no window but people were staying in it.

 

 

Hotel Cheyenne On the way to the parks I had a little time to kill so I took a detour through the Hotel Cheyenne. It was themed to a wild west town. Not sure how the rooms were but the main road through the hotel was covered in horse droppings (Going for 100% authenticity I guess)

 

Walt Disney Studios (My first Disney park!) I arrived at the studios about a half hour before the opening time to find they were already letting in the large crowds that have gathered at the gate. I made my way in and made a b line for Crush's coaster.

 

Crush's Coaster A large line had already grew and they haven't even opened the queue yet so I took my place in line and waited as the line grew even longer behind me. About 30 minutes had passes and they finally opened the ride. Once in the queue it took me about 15 minutes to get on the ride. When you board you board in an area themed to a fishing wharf complete with the famous sea gulls from the movie. You than go up the first lift where you than pop out side for a few seconds than back into the building for a neat little dark ride section before the second lift. At this point it is the same layout as Steel Dragon (Waldameer) or Whirlwind (Seabreeze) nothing too great.

 

RC Racer After meeting up with the rest of the group when they got off crush we headed over to Toy Story Land. This was a neat section complete with the Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop, Slinky Dog Zig Zag Spin and ofcourse RC Racer. We got into line and waited about 30 minutes. The ride was pretty fun with some short pops of air on either spike.Honestly not too bad and since Elissa had a child swap pass which was good for two people and since I was the disney first-timer here the group voted for me to go again.

 

Walking past Tower of Terror we got our fastpasses and moved on to the next attraction.

 

CinéMagique Just amazing, that is all....

 

Animagique Just as amazing...

 

Tower of Terror This was my first tower of Terror so I can't compare it too anything but it was pretty good. Luckily our story was in english so I actually knew what was going on. But the "Hallway" cracked me up.

 

Restaurant des Stars We ended up eating lunch here even though it was expensive ($25 buffet and $4 for a can of coke). Food was pretty good and they have a cool little Remy animatronic that they bring around.

 

Armageddon Special Effects After lunch we got our fastpasses for Rock N' Roller Coaster so to kill time we did Armageddon. When we entered we were quickly reminded we are still in France with the french crunch... The experience was confusing since it was in French.

 

Rock N' Roller Coaster Finally our fastpass time came up and we made our way to Rock N' Roller Coaster. I haven't done the one in Florida so I can't compare it but I hear people prefer this one. After the short preshow we were on the ride. It is pretty simple with lots of lights and good music. My favorite ride in the resort.

 

Studio Tram Tour: Behind the Magic After Rock N' Roller coaster Robb and Elissa headed back to their hotel so the rest of us headed to the last ride of this park. Unfortunately there was a long wait with seemed longer than their annoying loading system, there are 4 queues for this ride so sometimes you may not even move when a tram loads while some may load two cars with another queue. The ride its self obviously has seen better days and was quite boring. The canyon scene was cool but the ending was a let down. They had this impressive set for nothing more than one fireball...

 

After that we all left the park and headed to our hotels with plans to meet up in a bit to do Disneyland. On the way back to the hotel I was approached by a cast member who was trying to bum me for a cigarette... not impressed at all.

My first Disney park!

Crush's Coaster

Going back in the building.

Home to RC Racer

Amazing....

Just as amazing....

Remy

Simple but effective

Tower of Terror!

Armageddon...

Rock N' Roller Coaster!

Studio tour is next

Fire!

Now with 100% more water! And 100% less fire...

Hey, arn't you supposed to be in Toy Story Land?

Big build up for a whole lot of nothing

Where we are.

That's a wrap!

[kidcoaster 2]

The second half of the day brought us to the main park of the resort Disneyland Paris!

 

After a quick nap and lunch at Earl of Sandwich we meant up at the park's entrance. We made our way down main street (Which was just as beautiful as I thought it would be) we took a left at the main square into Frontierland. We got our fast passes for Big Thunder Mountain which we had about a two hour wait so we moved on to the next ride.

 

Phantom Manor Before I left on the trip I did some research into the story of the ride. It was interesting to read about how everything in Frontierland ties together which was very obvious during the ride.

 

Pirates of the Caribbean Next we made our way up to the top of Adventureland. After the long walk through the empty queue we finally got to the ride. I have yet to ride the other POTC's but I did like this one especially the sword fighting scene.

 

Alice's Curious Labyrinth Heading into Fantasyland we took the time to explore this fun hedgemaze luckily for us but not so lucky for some the water jets were working. We also got to the top of the castle which was pretty run down.

 

It's a Small World Who doesn't like 6 minutes of torture ?

 

Star Tours Nice to finally ride on of these because I am a huge star wars fan.

 

Space Mountain We took a ride since there was no wait... we quickly learned why there was no wait. The ride was just painful starting with the first drop after the launch. Honestly would have preferred to ride Small World again...

 

Les Voyages de Pinocchio Next we headed back into Fantasyland to learn there was no waits for two of the dark ride so we did Pinocchio first. It wasn't too bad.

 

Snow White Next up was snow white and I was pleased to learn it was the same ride as the one just removed from WDW.

 

Big Thunder Mountain This turned out to be the highlight of the night! The main part of the ride is on an island so the ride has to travel under the river to get to it. Our ride started normally until we were about to make the second dive back under the river when we made abrupt stop and the work lights came on so it was obvious what was about to happen!

 

While we waited for the cast members we talked to some other "Enthusiasts" from america who talked to us about Phall Phun Phest and different things, they were cool until the cast members arrived than they turned into the annoying guests we all love so much They were trying to get more out of the cast member with excuses like "I have anxiety" and "This just totally ruined our plans!"

 

Whatever we tried to ignore them and enjoy what was happening. When the cast member opened our car we were expecting a ladder or something knowing this is Disney and that we were about 3 feet up but nope, "Just jump" is what they told us. We were ok with this but I can't imagine this always goes well with most guests.

 

We were than lead down the hill under the river and through a door to cross the other track before walking out where the train entered the tunnel the first time. We climbed onto the station and out the exit where we were greeted by a staff member who gave us a exit pass for the next day we were all pretty grateful for that... the two people behind us were making more excuses as we walked away it was a great experience though that we all enjoyed but now it was time to head back to main street for....

 

Dreams! I seriously loved this show! It had a great story line with great effects using digital painting, water screens, pyro and fireworks. Go watch a video of it!

 

Sequoia Lodge Bar After the great night we went to the bar at the Sequoia to have a beer and hang out... but unfortunately we would meet some of the worst customer service that seems to plague the resort. While a member of our group was trying to order he was repeatedly ignored for 10 minutes when other people just walking up were getting served. When we finally got someones attention their excuse was "There is alot of people to take care of" but there was 6 people at the bar (Including us) and 3 people working it...

 

At this point we called it a night and I headed back to my hotel to get a little sleep in before waking up early for a very long day. More Disneyland and downtown Paris next!

My base camp for my stay.

The entrance to Disneyland is under the Disneyland Hotel.

Whats this?

The Castle!

First up Phantom Manor!

2 minutes in and Kevin is already lost

From the top of the queen's castle. I couldn't choose which one liked best so I posted all 3.

Looking towards Discoveryland.

Oh god

More castle pics

Space Mountain!

Next up Big Thunder Mountain where this happened!

Hi Guys!

"Just jump"

You thought they were real bats didn't you

Money shot!

Track at the bottom of the tunnel

Hi all you people!

Dan with a huge grin as he crosses the track

Heading back up.

Random detail

Looking back down as we leave

Ending the night with Dreams! More Disneyland and Paris soon!

Edited January 23, 2013 by kidcoaster 2

[WFChris]

Paris should consider itself lucky if their IASW is only 6 minutes long

Cool report, always love backstage shenanigans, even if you had douchey Americans trying to milk it.

[CoasterFEV]

Great stuff! Bringing up some great memories of the trip!

 

Looking forward to the next report - remember:

 

Sometimes, a bonus Louvre Wacky Worm is WAY better than DLP!

[StealthFan]

Just looked through all your pics, great trip report brought back some great memorys. My favorite I think still stands as ERT on Colossos in the rain!

 

Your welcome for waking you up at Phantasialand as well, it only took like 4 attempts. You were seriously out of it

 

Also I just want too say thanks to Robb and Elissa again for a great trip!

 

-Craig

[SharkTums]

Oh Disneyland Paris...you're so beautiful and have some really cool stuff...but...well, we need to talk about your workers and clientele!

[kidcoaster 2]

Looking forward to the next report - remember:

 

Sometimes, a bonus Louvre Wacky Worm is WAY better than DLP!

 

Haha absolutely! But, I got one more Disney update to post when I get some time to do it.

Edited January 26, 2013 by kidcoaster 2

[larrygator]

Getting stuck on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad island sounds interesting. I love that ride, and would have enjoyed the walk back to the station.

[kidcoaster 2]

Early the next morning I met up with Dan at the entrance to Disneyland to be among the first guests in to take advantage of the extra magic hours.

 

It was really nice to be walking down main street pretty much alone. This would be completely different in a few hours...

 

Peter Pan's Flight We went went through the castle and into Fantasyland to be able to avoid the crowds for Peter Pan (It had a solid 2 hour wait the rest of my stay). We ended up being the first ones on and the ride wasn't bad but some of the scenes seemed dark for some reason, im not sure if that is how they are supposed to be though.

 

Dumbo I had to get my first Dumbo credit

 

Dragon Cave under the castle Not sure what it was actually called but we were going to check it out the day before but it was closed so we made it a point this time. The entrance is out side the castle on the left side when looking from the front. It wasn't much more than an animatronic dragon but it was still pretty cool.

 

We also explored the rest of the castle (3 levels all together). The second story is a cinderella(?) exibit but you could also go out onto the balcony. I have yet to visit the other castle but is this one the most interactive?

 

Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast Next we went back into Discoveryland for another ride on Space Mountain and to hop on Buzz Lightyear which we missed the day before. The ride was pretty fun even though we had a short bit of downtime in the middle of it.

 

At this point we left and grabbed breakfast at McDonalds than returned to the park to find it mildly busy but not horrible YET. We hopped on one of the main street vehicles which was neat and got dropped off in front of the castle.

 

Mad Hatter's Tea CupsAt this point the rest of the group started to arrived and we hit Mad Hatters since there was no wait. I will tell you what those cars are smaller than they appear and unfortunately don't spin too well.

 

At this point it was about 10 and that means the park will be opening. Knowing some of the group will want to hit Peter Pan (And not wait 2 hours) We grabbed flash passes for those who haven't arrived yet before heading to Big Thunder Mountain to redeem or exit passes from the night before. Also we hit Phantom Manor again before returning to Fantasyland.

 

Casey Jr. - le Petit Train du Cirque This would be the last "Credit", we had to wait about 4 cycles for it but the line would only grow after we got in line. The ride was pretty fun with a nice layout and the song I remember so well from when I was younger.

 

Storybook Canal Being right next to Dumbo we hopped on. The ride was charming but nothing too much to it besides the neat scenes.

 

Disneyland Railroad At this point the park started to get packed so we hopped on the train to relax we ended up making 1 1/2 laps before we got off at Main Street and left for lunch.

 

Earl of Sandwich We had it the day before but had to return because it's so good (plus has the only Wifi on the resort).

 

At this point we didn't feel like doing anything because the parks were packed so we hung around for a bit before Dan and I pretty much said screw Disney and we choose to head into Paris.

 

Part two of that days adventure coming soon.

Time for more Disney!

So empty!

So nice without the insane crowds!

Getting closer!

There we go!

Looking back down Main Street... Ah, the're coming!

This park is so beautiful! Why does everything else have to ruin it?

The dragon.

Oh hey

Stuff for Dreams?

More stuff for Dreams?

Back to Discoveryland

The other mountain of Disneyland Paris

Another lap on Phantom Manor!

Almost forgot about Casey Jr.

Now for the real train.

A nice way to relax

The "Official" Disneyland photographers

I will leave you with a preview for part 2 coming soon!

[kidcoaster 2]

During our lunch at Earl of Sandwich it was decided to screw Disney and me and Dan headed into Paris.

 

Their is a RER station in between downtown Disney and the parks which was convenient. So after studying the RER system through maps we were on our way. The ride was about 40 minutes and was pretty uneventful (Which would be the only time during dealing with the Paris transit system).

 

Arc de TriompheWe got off at Charles de Gaulle Etoile station which dropped us right in front of Arc de Triomphe. We crossed the street and looked around before taking the long walk to the star of Paris.

 

The Eiffel Tower Being in Paris we had to visit the Eiffel Tower after seeing the 4 hour wait for the Elevator (Only one was running) we opted for the stairs which was also cheaper at €5,00. Let me say it's a longer climb than it looks but we finally made it to the first floor which had a lot of working going on to it so we continued up to the second. We hung around here for a bit. There were several food stops and a gift shop. But now it was time to head to the top. After waiting about 20 minutes it was our turn to board the elevators. This was neat because they were full glass on the sides so we got a great view going up.

 

We finally got to the very top. The view was great! We looked around getting lots of photos on ever side. I also witnessed a proposal which was cool. But now it was time to head down. There was about a 30 minute wait which seemed to drag on and it didn't help that I had an encounter with someone who thought he was above waiting. Finally he left and a few people thanked me.

 

The ride down wasn't anything to exciting but I was just glad we didn't have to take the stairs. After we left the tower we discussed where to head next. It was decided to head across town and visit the Notre Dame and the the Louvre.

 

Getto Louvre Fair So after a ride on the RER again we exited across the river from the Louvre and looking across the river I see a ride going over the tree line so we headed that way to see whats going on. As we approach Dan says "I see a Wacky Worm" so we go over.

 

The fair was obviously pretty sketchy as we explored it. There was a moby dick type ride where the operator was spraying people with a garden hose, games where they used real guns, a knock off star flyer, some fun houses, a log flume, fun slide, the craziest kiddie ride I ever seen, the Bumper Cars being run by a gang of kids, and of course the Wacky Worm.

 

La Pomme When we found the Wacky Worm my response to Dan was "We must ride it" I figured after starting the trip with a ton of Wacky Worms what better way to end it than with a Wacky Worm? When the operator finally came over he had us just pay him instead of getting tickets (Im pretty sure he just pocketed it). I tried to explain to him that we just needed to go around once but after sitting down and him just starting it we ended up going around about 6-8 times, still beats Disney!

 

The Louvre We checked out the fair for a bit more but moved on to who's front lawn the fair was on... the Louvre! We didn't go in but it was cool to see the iconic pyramid at the front of it. Finally after fighting through the lines of people trying to sell us crappy beads we headed on to our last stop.

 

Notre Dame After a nice little walk to the island where the Notre Dame was we arrived and hung out for a few minutes to take photos before heading back to the RER to return to Disney. Unfortunately we must have caught rush hour because there were a ton of people trying to push into the trains, being french they just wouldn't stop pushing people in so I got stuck at a very awkward pose trying to hold my walet and passport pocket shut while holding the bar so I didn't fall. This hour long train ride was very unpleasant.

 

Finally we arrived back at Disney and being hungry we decided to head back to Earl of Sandwich for Dinner. We ran into Robb along the way who joined us along with Derek. We hung out for a bit before deciding to head back into Disneyland. We went into Frontierland to check Big Thunder's line but they it was still insane so we continued up and did Pirates of the Caribbean again. We than hung around Adventureland till they started to close sections of the park so we headed back out to Main Street to get a spot for Dreams.

 

After another great show we left the park and returned to the Sequoia Lodge Bar for a last drink together which this visit wasn't so bad.

 

Thanks for reading!

Convenient location.

First stop the Arc de Triomphe!

Getting a closer look.

The underside!

One last photo.

I wonder where we could be heading???

George Washington statue.

Through the trees.

Almost there!

Getting closer!

Time for a little exercise!

132 down only 864 more to (Yes the stairs were numbered)

First view!

One more from the first floor.

Trying to be "Atrsy" while waiting for the elevator to the top.

Last one...

... because we are at the top!

Other side.

I love the cloud shadow

Hey that looks fimiliar

We will be there very soon!

Whats that?

Its the other Statue of Liberty!

Hanging out at the top!

Dan at the top.

Moving on

The Louvre is down there but first...

Ghetto fair on the Louvre's front lawn!

The other way

They had "Stand up Bumper Cars" ...

Who was run by a gang of kids who sole purpose was to knock cars off the floor and scream at the other person when they got them out.

They also had this very awesome kiddie ride... I mean what kid doesn't want to ride a slow boat ride with disko lights, lazers, fog, LED screens with random french words, water effects and loud music???

And of course a wacky worm!

Yes we rode it!

Here is the fair where we turn around to see...

...The Louvre!

Infront of the Louvre

Moving on

The Notre Dame!

More impressive in person that I thought it would be!

Me infront of it!

Time to head back :/

It was a great visit!

Can't think of a better way to end the day than with Dreams! Thanks for reading!

[larrygator]

I remember hearing a mention somewhere in TPR land about a Wacky Worm in front of the Louvre, but I thought it was some inside joke

[kidcoaster 2]

^ No joke, it's a fact! I couldn't tell if it was permanent or temporary though.

 

I'm going to post my last two days quickly in one post (Before the Super Bowl starts) because I didn't take any photos except for one.

 

The next day we all meant up to do Walt Disney Studios one last time so we entered and proceeded to wait for Nemo to open. After about 30 minutes they opened the queue and we still had another 20 minutes wait which wasn't too bad except for one french woman freaking out and trying to push past everyone.

 

Next we got fastpasses for Rockin' Roller Coaster and since there wasn't anything to do we got in the regular line aswell. The funniest thing happened during the ride, about half way through the audio cut out in our car and we were riding along in silence before a random voice came through our speakers only saying "OK" it would do this at random the rest of our ride until we exited.

 

We than rode a second time after which we walked into the restaurant infront of RRC to learn it was a High School Musical themed one, after a swift "Yeah no" we left and got a drink from one of the carts.

 

We than walked to the front of the park where we had to separate from several people so they could head to the airport. So it was me and one other so we decided to check out Lights Motors Action... Big mistake. With the park already insanely crowded they were trying to pack every single inch of the stadium. Getting the french squish on uncomfortable bleachers wasn't fun. The show its self was also long and drawn out between the stunts.

 

At this point I was ready to leave so I headed back to the hotel to hang out for a while before I was going to head back into Paris to meet Derek and some others at Jardin d Acclimatation.

 

I left the hotel and headed to the Metro station and got my ticket and was on my way back into Paris... or so I thought... About halfway into the city the rail system randomly shut down leaving everyone stranded at this tiny run down station. Worse was no one spoke english for me to get information.

 

After figuring out what I needed to do I boarded a bus to back track 3 stations. I was the only one on so I thought it wasn't going to be bad... WRONG. Everyone in the station than tried to shove into the bus. Luckily I was able to grab a seat so I was somewhat comfortable besides the people being shoved into me. I would learn that this bus went through the "Ghetto" of Paris. During my very long 2 hour bus ride tensions grew in the bus and hit the top when someone trying to shove a stroller into the over crowded bus got it stuck in the back door and the bus driver not realizing it accidently shut the door on it, so that turned into a huge shouting match between the back of the bus and the driver.

 

Finally I got to the station and quickly returned to Disney. I than went back into the park but being that was busier than the rest of the days I said screw it and headed to bed early.

 

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The next morning I checked out of my hotel and headed to Disneyland to grab one last Space Mountain ride. After checking my bag I walked back to Discoveryland for a walk on onto Space Mountain. It was still rough but it also sadly my last coaster ride of the trip.

 

I than grabbed my bag and proceeded to the TGV station and waited for my train. After a short 10 minute ride I got to the airport and breezed through check in and security (Besides being the lucky winner of the french pat-down). The flight it self was uneventful so I got to JFK around 4 and breezed through immigration and hung out till my flight at 8.

 

8:15 came around and all the passengers were still hanging around. Some of us were confused what was happening so I asked the desk and the obviously confused employee called to find out and told me "I guess your plan hasn't arrived yet" finally we boarded at 8:45 and after another delay on the tarmac we took off.

 

I booked a window seat and this turned out to be a great thing because It was July 4th. So luckily with the delays I got to watch the Fireworks going off all throughout NYC, This was a great way to end the trip!

 

Thats all for my trip to Europe! Thanks everyone for reading and for the great comments! I still have a ton of random Non-European trips on my computer that I may start posting here.

 

Enjoy the Super Bowl!

My last coaster of the trip

Edited February 4, 2013 by kidcoaster 2

[cfc]

Is a French "Wacky Worm" a "ver loufoque"?