Day 3&5: Disneyland!

On Tuesday and Thursday we were at Disneyland! Yay, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, here we come! It was hot and dry, with temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius on Thursday, but there were also gusts of wind that embraced us as if we were in the Sahara. When we arrived, we were greeted with a beautiful view of a water garden landscape and an impressive reception building, where tickets could be purchased (it is recommended to buy them in advance to avoid waiting; by the way, two days of choice for 2 people for 340 euros).

After entering, we walked through a charming little town, which was the main shopping passage. The path led us directly to the fairy-tale Disney castle. It was smaller than expected, but lovely. For children and adult Disney enthusiasts, this is a dream come true. Jörg, probably saturated by different parks [e.g. the park of the Catherine Palace (Amber Room) in St. Petersburg], was not as impressed... Perhaps this certain sobriety was also due to the heat and the crowd. A fully packed Westfalenstadion was certainly in the park. Maybe it was also because the thrilling rides were high on the priority list. For example, we rode the Star Wars roller coaster three times; the first time, after waiting for 50 minutes and with a numb butt in the roller coaster seat, the red warning lights came on: Technical malfunction, please leave the roller coaster building! Awesome! And that on the first day, practically at the beginning... Luckily, we were both in a Goofy mode ('ahöö') and not in a Donald Duck mood! Otherwise, the employees at the visitor experience booth would have had a hard time! In the evening, we made the first ride on this Star Wars ghost train as 'single riders'. Yes, we sat separately in different cars as 'single riders', only had to wait 5 instead of 40 minutes, and in case of a malfunction, only one of us would have been stuck in the loop! That was more than a win-win decision!

We don't want to list all the details now, but the Star Wars roller coaster (ride in the dark with a rocket start at the beginning) is one of the highlights of the park, along with the Aerosmith roller coaster (fast and cool music, 'going doowwnnnn') and the Twilight Zone Tower (free fall in the service elevator of a run-down hotel) for those seeking an adrenaline rush and a good gust of wind in their faces. The Disney Studio Tour was also interesting, as was the boat ride of the Pirates of the Caribbean. The waiting times were bearable, and the show offerings were limited on Thursday due to the weather. At the park closing time, which is 11 pm in the summer, an approximately 20-minute audio-visual story (with lots of colors, excitement and emotions) is shown, with the Disney castle serving as the screen. Very worth seeing, there were also fireworks, fire fountains, and laser beams!

Afterwards, we took one of the last trains towards the city center of Paris, and a metro, and another one, and once a taxi because the metro was already closed. Vegan/vegetarian food was offered by the Mexican restaurant near the Thunder Mountain roller coaster (otherwise the food options were rather limited), fortunately there were plenty of water dispensers available, and for those who wanted to buy something from the Disney universe, there were countless opportunities. It was overall two beautiful days, where we could indulge in our childhood memories and have fun, not only on the roller coasters. (Janina would like to mention at this point that the admission price is definitely overpriced compared to similar parks like Europa-Park.)