EuroDisney

Well, we made it back home from Paris safe and sound and we had a great time. We flew out on Thursday afternoon and had a stop in Switzerland. As we were landing we saw these gorgeous snow covered mountains and I said, "gosh, those look like the Alps" but we figured what were the chances that we actually were landing at an airport you could see them from. We took some pictures because they were so pretty and as we took off on our flight to paris, a map came up on the plane screen that showed the area and what do you know, it was the Swiss Alps that we saw.




The kids were really good on the flights, they were not very long flights, so that was good since Owen is Mr. Wild man now days. He wasn't bad or crying, he just can't stand to sit still and wiggled the entire time. I am getting a little nervous about making the big trip home by myself, I am thinking this is definetly one of those times it is okay to slip your kid a bit of benedryl to make things easier for all of us. By the time we landed in Paris and figured out how to get the bus to take us to our hotel at disney it was around 7pm so we just grabbed a bite to eat at the restaurant downstairs and tried to get to bed early. Well, Maggie was so excited and Owen was all wound up for some reason so we didn't actaully get to sleep until 11 pm or so. Our hotel had bunk beds for the kids, our kids were too little for them, but they had so much fun playing on them. The top bunk had a gate around it and Owen LOVED it up there. He would just roll around laughing and look down at us and just grin.



It was so cute. The rooms in the hotel were so tiny (surprise, it's europe) so by the time we got a pack-n-play in the room for Owen there wasn't alot of room left.

Friday morning we got up and headed downstairs for breakfast at the restaurant. It was definetly no Hampton Inn continental breakfast bar, nor was it free. We had prepaid in advanced or we probably wouldn't have eaten anything since mainly it was a bunch of cheeses and cold meats, and undercooked bacon. I guess europeans like that for breakfast since they were all eating it up. We grabbed a few croissants and a box of frosted flakes and headed for Disney. One thing we learned while in france is that the french don't stand in line. (they refer to a line as a cue) For them it is pretty much just push your way to the front of the line. So we are waiting for the bus to take us to Disney and when it gets there a ton of people, some without kids, push their way in front of us and the bus fills up and takes off. Well, after this happened a 2nd time Joe decided to take action and when the next bus came he practically took a guys legs out and shoved our stroller on the bus hitting several people (a few young children:) in the process. No one seemed to think we were being rude though, I guess that is just how they do it. We had a great day for Disney, it was a little overcast all day but only rained once that evening and only for about 2 minutes. It was in the low 70's with a nice breeze all day so it felt great outside. It was funny to be going to Disneyland in pants and jackets though.




When we first got there Maggie was really grumpy (tired) and didn't even want to get out of her stroller. They had a meet and greet with the pricness's from 10-12 and the line was super long. Luckily for Joe and I, she didn't want to see them. We were afraid at first that she was going to be grumpy all day and that this was a waste of our time but after we walked a ways she saw the Dumbo ride and got really excited and said she wanted to ride it. So Joe and her got in the hour and a half line and waited.



Here they are when they first got in line,









Owen and I walked around an hour or so and when we got back this is what we saw.



















She did really good watiting Joe said and loved the ride.




After that she was in a great mood the rest of the day but by then the princess's were gone. She didn't seem to care though, she was in a riding mood and wanted to move on to the tea cups which I got the privledge of riding with her. Owen slept most of the morning or we would have gotten him on a few rides.











After the teacups we headed off to find some lunch. We ate at "Toad's Hall" which was a fish and chicken place. I am not sure what I was thinking but I guess I was imagining it was going to be like the Cracker Barrels' fish fry, well I was very dissapointed. One bite of the fish and I was done. Maggie ate some fries and a few snacks I had packed for her. Owen can't stand for anyone to eat when he's done eating so he joined in and grabbed a fry off our plates.


(his first and last for along time)




















After our overpriced, disgusting lunch we went to "a small world" cruise. Owen and Maggie really liked this. Maggie pointed out all the animals she saw the entire ride.





















After this ride we rode a ride that was called casey Jr. train ride. I was surprised that they let Owen on it since it borderlined a kids roller coaster. maggie loved it and kept yelling "faster faster" and throwing her hands up in the air. Owen just sucked his fingers and looked around.



A



fter all the rides we headed to main street for the 4 o'clock parade. We got there an hour early so we could get a good seat. Maggie fell asleep on the way there so I let her sleep until the parade started. She wasn't happy about getting woken up but once she saw the parade she was thrilled. She danced the whole time and everytime someone went passed waving she would scream, "mom, they waved at Maggie." Once that was over she had her second wind and wanted to ride the teacups again so we all rode them together.


















We looked around at all the stores throughout the day and let Maggie pick 2 things she would like to have. She ended up getting a lion king cub and a beauty and the beast playset.














We rode a few more rides and looked around a bit more before heading out of the park about 9 or so. We had put in a full day and were tierd and hungry so we headed to planet hollywood thinking we would get some real american food. Well, the wait was over 2 hours so we ended up just eating at this mega mcdonalds nearby. It wasn't very good, europe mcdonald fries just don't do the american fries justice. Maggie had fun playing with her new toys the whole time we ate and then it was back to the hotel to get baths and get to bed so we could head to paris the next day.

Well, that is the biggest part of our day at disney. Maggie was still a little bit young for it and would have had just as much fun at the putnam county fair I am sure. :) But I am betting in 1st grade she'll be the only one who can say she went to Euro disneyland before Disney World! We were going to go back a second day but figured we had done everything she would want to do. I will try to post our paris picutres soon.