Disneyland and the Rookie Mistake

Let's just pretend that you had people visiting from half way around the world. And they said, "Hey we want to go to Disneyland on the Fourth of July. What do you think?" You'd say - NO WAY! Wouldn't you? And when you go to DL, you always double check local school schedules and holiday's right? Because when you go to DL you want it to be awesome, and fun, and NOT have huge crowds, right?

Being a Disneyland fan, I double checked days off for schools and weather. I knew that in the states, Nov. 11 is Veteran's Day, but not France.

Guess what, genius?

Nov. 11 was once known as Armistaice Day. I even know that. It marks the end of World War 1. But what I didn't know is that all of France still has this day off in memory of their freedom.

Yep. We went to Disneyland Paris on a national holiday - a total Rookie Mistake!

But we still had a WONDERFUL time. I cried when the fake snow blew down Main Street. It really is magical.

And I would brave the crowds again to have this much Christmas. It was spectacular!

Their castle is, in my opinion, the best one Disney has. And so it should be. I mean, they are in Europe - the land of REAL castles.

With the crowds so big, and the weather SO FRIGID, we told kids they can each choose one thing they really want to do - and we'll make it happen.

Sam chose Space Mountain II. And the line moved fast enough that he and I made it onto Indian Jones, the roller coaster, as well. We gave them an hour each.

Chach chose Buzz Lightyear. Of course. Who wouldn't?

Watch out for his laser.

Indiana Jones Roller Coaster. All the fast passes in the park were gone by noon - for the whole day. In the states, people would have certainly left due to the freezing weather. Not those French. They just pressed on. I'm sure the Disney wine helped a bit.

Simon chose Star Tours. To each his own.

"That was SO fun!" Okay. Not my fav. But Si loved it.

More waiting.

Roo waited for an hour and a half to meet ONE princess. Not like in the states where you get to walk through and see them all. You wait in line and you get to see ONE. She didn't mind at all though. "Mom. Aurora had a British accent!"

Me, Sam and Sol waited at the end of the day to ride the Toy Story Parachute's, that was fun

In the end, Simon wished he had braved the parachutes. Seeing your three year old brother having a great time will do that to you. Next time, Si.

Overall, we all had a fantastic time. I'll admit that when I saw every car in Paris heading to Disneyland, as were we, I got panicked. And when we got in the park, after paying nearly 400.00 dollars. I almost cried. I may have, in fact. Especially when I saw every other person using their 'local' card to get in. I'll tell you that I was, and still am, proud of myself for getting over it. It took me a while, but I did. There was nothing I could do about our decision to go on Friday. We'd planned for it earlier in the week, but got off to a late start and decided a full day on Friday would be better. This, of course, was without knowing that is was a ntl. holiday on Friday. Poor choice. Like I said, it almost ruined my day. The thought of the money, the huge crowds, the lousy weather. But we all bucked up and were SO gald we went. I mean SOOOO glad. (could also be that we live on the Arabian gulf and it doesn't take much to impress us anymore)

The kids didn't complain once. We ate ham and cheese sandwiches and mentos all day. We got to see Santa at the end of the parade. It felt cold and Christmas-ee. We were together. It was fantastic. If you want to read more about my DL Paris opinions, see here. Better pictures as well. This day, OF COURSE, there was no one at the park and there were no lines. Oh well. I wouldn't change a thing. If you're thinking of ever getting to DL Paris, I say go for it. I've said it before and I'll say it again - Disneyland Paris is not the happiest place on earth, but it is for sure, the happiest place in Europe.