After Soarin’ around the Taj Mahal and the Great Pyramids of Giza, Disney Parks Around The World – A Private Jet Adventure resumed its quest to visit every Disney theme park resort. It’s time to say ooh-la-la to the Disneyland Paris Resort.
Day 17
Having watched the sun set over the Great Pyramids of Giza the night before, we were awake to watch Ra rise again because our bags had to be ready for collection by 5:30 am. After a buffet breakfast, we boarded coaches back to the Sphinx Airport for our flight to Paris. This time, our Adventure Guides were recruited to help with the in-flight safety demonstration.
Becky Cline gave a fun presentation during the flight about the Mickey Mouse Club Circus, a short-lived Disneyland attraction that starred the real Mouseketeers. Lunch on board included Nile perch or herb-crusted lamb chops. Upon arriving at Disney’s Hotel New York – The Art of Marvel, we were treated to a buffet of themed pastries and refreshments while we received welcome packets with our room keys, meal vouchers (for meals on our own), park tickets, and Premiere Access passes (Disneyland Paris’ version of Lightning Lane).
We upgraded to an Avengers Suite, which includes a full and half bathroom and a sitting room in addition to a bedroom with a king-size bed.
Our welcome gifts were a glass paperweight of a Disneyland Paris Cast Member name tag with our names engraved, plus a little bottle of pixie dust. With rain in the forecast, resort panchos also greeted us.
We had some time on our own to explore before dinner. The cool weather (high 60s/low 70s) was a welcome change of pace after experiencing high heat for the majority of the trip thus far. We went to Disneyland Park and continued our goal of experiencing Dumbo the Flying Elephant and the carousel (Le Carrousel de Lancelot), the only attractions that can be found at every Disneyland-style park around the world.
A "Welcome to France" buffet dinner was held at Colonel Hathi's Outpost Restaurant in Adventureland. By day, it’s a quick service location that served pizza, but the verandah was decorated with flowers from provence. Champagne was accompanied by a live singer and accordion player, and each place setting was adorned with flowers and a lavender sachet from Provence. As a parting gift, we were given a gift bag that also had floral soap from Provence, plus our pin of the day.
“Bonjour!” Lumiere and Cogsworth from Beauty and the Beast adorned our “Welcome to Paris” pin.
During our evening on our own time, we rode it’s a small world, which was recently refreshed and includes some charming variations on the layout of familiar scenes from the Disneyland version.
We also took some time to explore Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant (Sleeping Beauty Castle). The upstairs gallery tells the story through stained glass windows and woven tapestries.
But the real draw is what lies beneath. La Tanière du Dragon is a cave below Sleeping Beauty Castle where a sleeping dragon lurks. If you stay long enough, she just might wake up.
We regrouped at 10:20 pm for a VIP viewing location of the nighttime spectaculars. First was Disney D-Light, a drone pre-show created for the 30th anniversary of Disneyland Paris.
The night concluded with Disney Dreams Firework Show, which follows Peter Pan’s shadow as it leaves Never Land and interacts with other classic Disney stories.
At last, it was time to dream of Rainbow Bridge trips to other realms from the comfort of our Asgard bed.
Day 18
Aurora was named after the dawn, which coincidentally was the wake-up time for today’s activities. Coffee and pastries awaited us ahead of our group walk to Disneyland Paris, which departed at 6:40 am. Heading into the park before opening, we strolled down an empty Main Street and were welcomed by Disneyland Paris Resort Ambassadors Carmen Lleo Badal and Quentin Rodrigues, who wore pink and blue.
Show writer Laurent Cayuela from Walt Disney Imagineer joined the celebration before we gathered for a group photo in front of the castle. We also got to take individual photos without any crowds present. Our Adventures by Disney Guides, Loz, Michael, and Dean, channeled Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather as they revealed our pin of the day.
The pin features Aurora and Prince Phillip in front of Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant.
We were the first to ride Big Thunder Mountain, which is unique at Disneyland Paris. Here, the coaster is on Frontierland’s equivalent of Tom Sawyer Island, with the train going underneath the Rivers of America to get there. Those daring enough were allowed to ride it multiple times.
Breakfast began at 8:30 inside The Lucky Nugget, a saloon similar to The Golden Horseshoe/Diamond Horseshoe.
As we entered, we were given our own golden keepsake, a Mickey-shaped pin with the silhouette of Sleeping Beauty Castle inside.
While we dined, Laurent Cayuela gave a presentation called “First or Only,” an interactive overview of things that make the Disneyland Paris Resort special. For example, roller coasters with onboard audio debuted with the park’s version of Space Mountain, which is also the only version of the attraction with an inclined rocket launch and inversions.
We were then grouped with our VIP Guides for a tour of both parks, with expedited access. Our guide, Julie, reserved seats for us at the brand new show in Walt Disney Studios Park, Together: A Pixar Musical Adventure, which features a live orchestra and characters from Toy Story, Up, and Monsters Inc.
During our 7 hours with a VIP Guide, we were able to experience the following:
- Phantom Manor
- Avengers Assemble: Flight Force
- Spider-Man W.E.B. Adventure
- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – A New Dimension of Chills
- Crush's Coaster
- Ratatouille: L'Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy
- Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast
- Star Tours: L'Aventure Continue (Star Tours: The Adventures Continue)
- Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain
- Blanche-Neige et les Sept Nains (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)
- Peter Pan’s Flight
- Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril)
- Mad Hatter’s Teacups
- it’s a small world
- Le Carrousel de Lancelot (Lancelot's Carousel)
Our tours ended with a VIP viewing of Disney Stars on Parade. During the short wait, we were treated to Mickey Premium Bars. The evening ended with dinner at the Manhattan Restaurant at Disney’s Hotel New York – The Art of Marvel. Until next time, bonsoir.
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Disney fans will soon be able to travel the globe from the comfort of their homes with Disney Around the World from Ravensburger. We brought along an early review copy of the game and look forward to playing it during downtime on this adventure.
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More Disney Parks Around The World – A Private Jet Adventure Trip Reports
- Pre-Trip Report – Travel Kit
- Day 1 – Disneyland Welcome
- Day 2 – The Walt Disney Studios
- Day 3 – Disneyland VIP Tours
- Day 4 – The Walt Disney Family Museum, Lucasfilm, and Summit Skywalker Ranch
- Day 5 – Summit Skywalker Ranch
- Day 6 & 7 – Flight to Tokyo
- Day 8 – Tokyo DisneySea with Imagineers
- Day 9 – Tokyo Disneyland and Club 33
- Day 10 & 11 – Shanghai Disneyland
- Day 12 & 13 – Hong Kong Disneyland
- Day 14 & 15 – Taj Mahal
- Day 16 – The Great Pyramids and Sphinx of Giza
- Day 19 – Paris City Tour
- Day 20 – Walt Disney World Welcome
- Day 21 – Magic Kingdom
- Day 22 – Animal Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- Day 23 & 24 – EPCOT and Departure