We finally managed to get up, dressed, breakfasted and to the park by 11 today. Good thing too, because as we entered the gates who should come walking up to sign autographs but the king himself, Mickey Mouse. Sarah was so excited to see him she tripped while running and scraped her hands. But she bounced right back up and got in line with not a tear shed. Nick, Papa and Noah did some window shopping while we hung out in line. It took an hour but was totally worth it. He signed all three autograph books from the younger kids, and posed for a family photo. We were lucky to get in line when we did. Five minutes later, he was done, and all those kids still waiting in line are probably waiting still…..
The plan was to see the rest of the park today, as we had pretty well covered Fantasyland our first day, or so we thought. But we remembered that the Labryinth had been closed so we decided to try it out today. Again we were at the right place at the right time. Alice, the Mad Hatter, Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum all walked up and we were able to get a photograph and Alice's signature. (She was the only one the girls were interested in.) The Labyrinth was surprisingly difficult to navigate, but we all managed eventually, and had a good time in the process. The view from the Queen of Hearts castle was gorgeous, and we saw two more rides we hadn't noticed before, the Storybook Land boats, and the Casey Jr. Train. We literally walked on to the boats, (no whale's mouth to sail through, though), and the kids liked naming all the movies the miniature scenes were based on. At the end of it, Chris's only comment was, "That's definitely the kind of ride you want to walk on to. It isn't worth any wait in line." haha I loved it, though, it was a favorite from childhood as well. Mom and I share a love of all these miniature, and these are some pretty cool miniatures. Maybe it's just not a guy thing.
The Casey Jr. Train was just enough of a roller coaster to thrill the kids without scaring them. Noah and I got to sit in the very front and "drive" the train. This compensated for the fact that he didn't get to sit in a cage and be a tiger. It was really rather adorable to see how excited he got over the smallest things. I am so glad we came. We noticed that there was literally no wait at "It's a Small World". So we hopped on again and the kids pointed out things the second time through that they had missed before. It is definitely a family favorite. Good thing Papa got it all on video for us to enjoy over and over again.
We had gotten fast passes for Peter Pan as we arrived in Fantasyland, so we rode that one last. As we walked past all the people waiting in line, at one point there was a wait of 75 minutes, Nick said he felt a little sorry for them. I did too, but not enough to give them my fast pass. This was a definite hit with the kids. Sarah said, "It was like we were really flying over London!" And Noah jabbered excitedly all the way through it, but unfortunately I couldn't understand any of it. The music was too loud, and he was facing away from me, enjoying all the sights. But I take it he was very impressed as well.
We headed over to Discoveryland and went into Videopolis to use the restrooms and caught the tail end of the Lion King show in English. We kept trying to leave, but Noah wasn't having any of that. He was having too much fun watching the show and dancing to the music. He was even entertaining some of the other onlookers with his enthusiasm. Plus, he is rather adorable just standing still, if I do say so myself. Finally, we went over to Autopia. It started to drizzle, although up until then the weather had been a little sunny and warmer than the day before. Lexi had just fallen asleep, so Papa held her while the other kids and I got in line. It didn't take too long, but still, long enough for Noah. He was so excited to start driving! The girls were crushed to learn that alas, they were too short to drive themselves,and would have to be chauffered around by Nicholas instead. He even had trouble steering and reaching the gas pedal at the same time! Good thing I was controlling the speed in the second car, or there would have been several collisions since he kept stalling in the middle of the road. Noah treated me to a rather wild ride, constantly going from one side of the metal barrier to the other, but he was very proud of his driving skills, and I was very glad that baby was missing out on all the brain shaking!
We walked through Captain Nemo's Submarine which was so not a good replacement for the underwater ride I remember from my childhood. That was cool, this was just lame, even the kids were only mildly entertained. We picked up our fast passes for Buzz Lightyear, and headed over to Adventureland.
We walked all through the Fort they had built at the entrance. The "people" sitting inside the jail, and the other little stores kind of freaked the girls out. Just too realistic looking, but Nick was brave and peeked in. We passed the Steamboat ride, but decided that 15 minutes was too long to wait, and opted to walk right into the Haunted Mansion instead. The ghouls mostly spoke in French, which made it a lot less scary for the kids. Also, we kept telling them it was just like their favorite cartoon, Scooby Doo. All the ghosts are just pretend, and can't really hurt you.
We had intended to each take two children onto the ride, so as to ease any of their fears, should they come up. But apparently, Lexi, although strapped to my chest in the front carrier, and therefore not taking up any bum room at all, counts as a person, and there are only three people allowed in each car. We actually stopped the ride while I tried to convince the attendant that Nick had to ride with me, and that baby should not count, but alas, they stood firm. Poor Nicholas ended up sitting all alone, between the car I was in and the one Chris was in. We both talked to him continually through the ride, which may have irritated those in front of and behind us, but I really didn't care at that point. I just didn't want Nick to be traumatized for life. He did great though! He did admit to closing his eyes during the cemetery part, he just hates skeletons, but the rest of the ride was rather interesting, and definitely not scary. Even the younger kids weren't too fazed by it, and they all laughed at the ghosts at the end.
We walked through the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, and then headed over to the railroad station to ride back to Discoveryland in time to use our fast passes for Buzz Lightyear. First, though, we made a detour over to Woody's Roundup and guess who should be waiting there for us, but Woody and Jessie! Noah was very talkative with Woody, and as there was no one in line behind us, they took a lot of time playing with the kids and posing for pictures. That was definitely the character highlight for Noah. He would have loved to have met Pooh as well, but that line was just way too long, so Chris just held him up over the crowds so he could have a good long look.
Buzz was our last ride of the day, and it was a perfect ending. There was not much of a line, thanks to our fast passes, although there were several people using theirs as well, so we didn't get right on immediately. And we all got a blaster to shoot with. Our scores were nothing spectacular but even Noah managed to score 3000 points. I can see why it is such a popular ride. The exit lead
s you straight into a gift shop where Noah promptly found a Buzz Lightyear toy and declared it as the thing he wanted to buy with his money. We tried to talk him into the much less expensive stuffed Buzz, but he wasn't having any of that. He wanted the one with all the buttons and laser lights and wings that pop in and out. Of course, we bought it for him.
The other kids also had a chance to pick out whatever they wanted to spend their "token" money on. Nick had trouble deciding at first, but eventually he picked out some gold medallions from the Pirates movies and a very realistic looking sword. Sarah and Sophie also chose the gold medallions, as well as a stuffed baby Simba lion for Sarah and the three kittens in a basket from Aristocats. We also picked up a double cd of all the music from the rides and parades at Disneyland Paris. Chris got t-shirts for all younger kids and himself, but Nick and I didn't want one. Lexi got two because he couldn't decide which was cuter!
It was a great vacation with lots of happy memories and as we drove away the next morning to head home, Noah said, "But I want to live in Disneyland!" Yes, Buddy, so do we. In fact, we loved it so much, we are already planning our next trip. Thanks, Walt.