It’s a Disney Kind of Day, Part I

One of the best pictures I have ever taken of the kids!

After a few weeks of recovery and anticipation, I decided to take the kids back to Disney, with an eye to doing things that we didn’t get to do last time, what the French would say was raté… Unfortunately, we had a number of obstacles to overcome before we even made it to the park, nearly an hour later than I had planned, which got things off to a difficult start. We were otherwise fairly successful in hitting our targets, but a few glaring exceptions spring to mind. I’m thinking that the “Free Return Trip” offer at DLRP this summer is to help locals feel less ripped; they can return to spend a second day, as we did, focusing on what we hadn’t gotten to on Day One.

But first things first: We were dealing with a lice infestation. France is full of lice and they love my Meredith (all biting insects love her; she must have an attractive scent!). She had ‘em two years ago, as well. The centres are not particularly concerned about them (in 2008, Thayer’s centre posted a small, handwritten sign that just said, “Attention, poux” with a drawing of a little beastie). Anyway, we stopped at a pharmacyand the recommended treatment involved a leave-in poison (8 hours minimum!) along with a shampoo to (theoretically) loosen the dead nits. So we treated our heads that evening (Thayer has sensitive skin, poor fella, and the poison spray stung his scalp) and went to bed. First thing in the morning, we were faced with three “shampoux” in a row. No one was happy about it, but it was done and we were out the door.

Then we went to the metro, where I wanted to purchase 10-trip tickets to the park. The very ticket window where I had previously been able to buy my monthly pass, as well as local tickets, had suddenly become an Information Desk, and cannot sell tickets. My American credit cards do not work in the vending machines; I need human help. So we had to go to another station for that. Lost a good 30 minutes of precious morning time just trying to get into the RER!

And when we finally made it onto the platform, with two minutes until the Disney train was to arrive, Thayer announced that he had to pee. I did not take this well, because there was just nowhere to go down there, except that this is Paris, where boys and men can go about anywhere. So Meredith and I downed a small bottle of water that I had brought with, and once we were in the train I had Thayer make use of it. Not with 100% success, I might add, but better than having wet his pants before we even got to Disney. Then we washed our hands with sanitizer and wet wipes and had our breakfast on the train. I mean, really.

Because we didn’t get to the park until 10:30, we could not get on one of the Main Street trolleys that Thayer had wanted to ride. They only go in the morning, to help get people to the Central Plaza (in front of the Castle) in style.  So we walked up Main Street and visited the dragon under the castle (She is big and menacing. Extremely well done!). And we stopped to get Peter Pan fast passes and then rode the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, which has always been a favorite (Meredith does not look at all the skeletons), and Thayer remembered, before we got to it, that we would pass a restaurant inside the ride. I guess some experiences do stick! After that, we went back to the castle to “read” the story of Sleeping Beauty (it is her palace, after all), which is told in stained glass, tapestry, and statuary, with illuminated manuscripts all along the way. Extremely lovely, but a bit more crowded than I would have liked. And, as an aside, the whole park was like that on this visit, even a cool, overcast day with a sprinkle here and there.

We then rode the Carousel (with perhaps a 5-minute wait; that is the fine with me!) and it was time for Peter Pan. A Disney employee rode with us and shone a black light and a laser pointer on various elements of the attraction, something that the kids got a big kick out of. At this point, I’m thinking that we’re off to a great start! and perhaps the day won’t bear the mark of the morning’s misadventures.

Our restaurant was not quite ready for us at noon, so we had time to walk through the Passage d’Aladdin, which features a series of dioramas, partially animated, that tell the story of the film. Very pretty, that, and a great way to get us in the mood for our fantabulous lunch at Café Agrabah. A delight to the eye, the location involves both interior and exterior seating in a recreation of a casbah - - many small rooms linked together, mosaic tables, stained glass light fixtures, and our favorite area with cloth ceilings (like in a tent) and small pouf cushions to sit on. The staff wears richly-colored satin harem pants. It creates a beautiful, exotic atmosphere. No skimping on the meal either, as the buffet features what Americans call “middle eastern” food (the French associate it more with North Africa, actually) – stuffed grape leaves, olives, taboulleh, hummous, eggplant, then cous-cous, schwarma – and pasta with meatballs, to be sure! For dessert: baklava, pecan and coconut cakes, fresh fruit and, well, crêpes. The kids ate exceedingly well and chose fruit with their crêpes (Meredith had fruit salad, Thayer enjoyed a pomme granny) and I indulged in a mint tea, which came in a lovely, traditional silver pot with a long spout, big enough for all three of us to have some.

Somewhere in there, we rode the tea cups... 

 

As we were finishing up, I went over our plan for the afternoon (we had already decided not to stay for the fireworks; we will do that when Daddy gets here!): still very much on the agenda were Buzz Lightyear and Big Thunder Mountain, although we had ridden them both last time – they are great favorites! The Fast Pass times were not conducive to our other plans, however, so we let them go in favor of one of Meredith’s goals for the day: to meet Tiana, the Princess with the Frog. After visiting the Nautilus (Captain Nemo’s submarine) we walked back down Main Street and got to the spot about 5 minutes before she was meant to appear. There were quite a number of people ahead of us in the queue, but we staked our claim. Just before Tiana arrived, however, a Cast Member came over to our part of the line. Without actually saying it, he suggested that we might not get to meet her after all, as she is only available for 45 minutes at a time, but that we could come back for a later time (and wait again). The families around us in line had trouble understanding that the neutral comments added up to: “You will not meet her this time. You got here too late.” Meredith wanted to stay, to some degree, so we agreed to wait 20 minutes and see where we were. The result: not nearly far enough along to think that we would see her; there were simply too many autograph hounds and photographers and chatters in front of us. This was now the third desired activity for the afternoon that was not panning out. Some crankiness emerged. In the end, we left the line and headed for the Studios…. Which will be covered in Part Two of our Disney Kind of Day!