I’m usually a bit funny the first night in a hotel and struggle to sleep. The new layout, the noises, the different mattress and sheets all combine to create a sleepless night, but I had no problem last night. The fact I had been awake so early, trekked round the length of the Disney park covering 30,000 steps on the Fit Bit and the nice, quiet, dark room meant I zonked out immediately and never budged all night!
Disneyland Paris 5k Day
Alan had been woken up, but the start of the 5k race. Today’s race which none of us were running in started at 7am, with the tannoy starting at around 5:45am. Or in UK terms 4:45am, the ideal way to start the day.
We quickly got ready and met Stephen and Louise outside to go into the breakfast buffet at 8am, an early start to make the most of the Walt Disney Studios. The buffet was included in the package and was quite basic, but tasty. No hot options but there was cereal, toast, crusty rolls with ham and cheese and the French delicacy croissants. All self-service and little queuing. Already the sun was beating down without a cloud in the sky, so knew the weather gods had been kind to us again.
Run Disney Expo
We got a message from Adam (DisneyBrit Podcast), that he would be in the expo at 9am, which we were passing at the time. So we popped in to see him and sort out our PhotoPass for the next days Half Marathon. Adam was as excited as he usually about anything Disney. We had a little explore around the expo and spotted some cool running t-shirts. A pair of Pink, Rapunzel “Run like a princess” shirts were purchased for our two, as we started to buy the guilt gifts!
When Alan used to Podcast with Adam, he made loads of Disney blog / podcast connections. The strangest thing was that lots of the American bloggers where here for the first RunDisney Paris event. So while Shopping we spotted Jeff Lange from MouseSteps Weekly. Adam and Alan hassled Jeff for a photograph and started chatting.
Walt Disney Studios
Disney Studios would be our park of choice together. This was the park I was looking forward to the most as a lot had changed since our last time here 7 years ago. New additions include the Pixar area (who doesn’t love Toy Story?) and the Ratatouille ride and Bistrot Chez Rémy (which we had booked for the evening meal).
First stop was Ratatouille – the ride, to beat the queues which was by far the best ride I’d been on in ages. The little bit of queue we did wait in was brill as you are in the rooftops of Paris. On the ride the cars are little rats and you take a journey through the Gusteau’s kitchen and restaurant ducking and diving under tables.
The theming of the area is fantastic too and perfectly captures Paris. I absolutely loved it and it’ll be straight on the must do list when we return with the girls in December.
It was lovely to just take in the sights and do the park at a leisurely pace today. Some of the rides are quite dated such as the Back Lot tour which features a very young Jeremy Irons who looks like he’s straight off the set of Brideshead Revisited and gets very excited about the props and scenes from the straight to video box office flops like Dinotopia and Reign of Fire. Catastrophe canyon is the highlight and Alan got a little bit soaked (ie drenched) on this! Louise commented that it was a nice little sit down ha ha!
Alan insisted we went on Armageddon, a strange little behind the scenes attraction where you are in a spaceship being hit by an asteroid. When we came out Stephen said ‘They didn’t even play the song, which is the only good thing about Armageddon!’ I couldn’t have agreed more – what a rubbish attraction! Another one that needs a good refurb.
Back on the trail the hard core thrill seekers (everyone except Alan!) did the awesome Rock n Rollercoaster and Hollywood Tower of Terror. I love the theming of these rides and being scared to death when the anticipation builds before they set off. The cast member at the Tower of Terror was particularly good in the lift, taking his job as bell boy of the spooky hotel very seriously. I was gripping the bar in front of me very tightly all of the way through!
Annette’s Diner
It was soon lunch time and as expected for a Saturday all of the cafes were heaving. We decided to head to Annette’s in the Disney village for a burger. After queueing for 10 minutes to get a seat inside, Stephen spotted that they were serving take out meals from a window near the door. So we swapped queues and ordered there instead. Which meant we were outside in the sunshine. The Cheese burger meal deal was really tasty and hit the spot!
Back to the Studios
Back at the Studios we had plans to meet the rest of the Disney Brit Running Team at 4pm outside of the theatres before going to see Mickey the Magician as a group.
Alan and Adam (DisneyBrit) started to develop a running team for the Disneyland Paris Half Marathon. The idea being that we would try to meet up before the event, encourage each other through the training and be a friendly face during the event. The weird thing about Podcasting, Blogging and a lot of social media is that you know people, but you have never met them. So it was nice to actually meet up with people who have very similar interests.
Mickey and the Magician is a new show at Walt Disney Studios. It replaced Animagique, which secretly was one of Alan’s favourite shows here. We were advised to meet up 1 hour before the scheduled showing as it is so popular. This was great advise as it did fill up. Without spoiling the show, it is a story based Magic show, which is of a Broadway show style quality. I know our girls will love this.
Before we knew it it was time to head off to our reservation for a meal cooked by a rat!
To read about our dinner at Bistrot Chez Rémy click here.
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