Day three saw us head into Walt Disney Studios for a fun packed morning. We didn't think it was possible for the temperature to rise any further but the French weather surprised us and this ended up being our hottest day. As most of you know, the Studios isn't my favourite park and it's not a necessity for me to visit on each trip, however, I was determined to conquer my fear of both Tower of Terror and RC Racer. I'll let you know how I got on a little bit later. The sun reflected off the statue of Mickey in the middle of the fountain as we walked through Hollywood to be greeted by the iconic image of Walt and Mickey in front of Tower of Terror.
First on the agenda: checking wait times.
I was very impressed with the wait times in the Studios on this trip, the only ride with an extensive wait was Crush's Coaster (which I am yet to go on) so we got on most of the rides fairly quickly. There were quite a few rides that Rach and Liv wanted to do whilst we were in the Studios and because I'm not the biggest fan of thrilling rides, I opted to walk around the park and see which characters I could spot. However, before any of this, I headed over to the raining Umbrella to have a photo shoot; have you really been to Walt Disney Studios if you haven't had a photo taken whilst simultaneously getting water in your shoes?
Whilst the girls took a ride on Aerosmith, I went to go and spend some time with my favourite little puppy. Pluto was meeting in front of the Art of Animation, so I got into the short queue to wait. Whilst I was queueing, I met a lovely family from Liverpool who noticed that I was on my own and offered to take some photos for me if my friends didn't come back. However, the girls got on Aerosmith quickly and found me just in time to meet Pluto. As soon as I saw Pluto I gave him the biggest cuddle and asked how his day was. He told me that he was really hungry but that he loved the glitter on my face which I told him I'd taken from Tinkerbell but not to tell her as I think she'd be quite angry. Pluto laughed, we had another big cuddle for some photos, the girls joined me for a group photo and then we went off to get our Fast Passes for the dreaded Tower of Terror.
Tower of Terror is one of my biggest fears and it's the ride I've always said that I'd never go on. However, as this was my 20th Birthday trip, I thought what better way to start my twenties than conquering my fear. It seems like it's all fun and games when you see people's photos but until you actually experience it in real life, you realise how tall it is and exactly why it's called Tower of Terror. We thought that getting a FastPass would be the best option because the queue was growing, and the girls were getting ready to go back to the hotel.
I told the girls that I was scared so they thought that they'd psych me up by taking me on some of the tamer rides in Toy Story Land. We queued for almost an hour to get on the Toy Story Parachute Drop which was really fun, but the dropping sensation actually made me feel a little bit sick. I was sure that that ride was the closest I was ever going to get to go on Tower of Terror. If that wasn't enough, we stayed in the colourful Toy Story Land and started to queue for RC Racer. I really didn't think I could do it but after a stern talking too from Liv, I plucked up some courage and got back into the queue. We passed the time by playing various games of Heads Up and before I knew it, it was our turn to ride. I'll be honest, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be but this is coming to you from a girl who had her eyes shut the whole time. I'm glad that I did it but I don't think I'll be doing it again in a hurry.
Then it was time for the dreaded moment; Tower of Terror. I reluctantly joined the queue and feeling my heart thumping in my chest, I stepped into the first lift. I hated everything about it; the dark, the crowds and the fact I couldn't understand a word they were saying because it was all in French. We got out of the lift and straight away I said that I wanted to get off the ride. Liv told one of the Cast Members, who kept up their scary act and said that I couldn't get off, but when they saw how terrified I was, they let the rest of the guests on and then let me out the back entrance. Also, just a quick note, they're really not so scary in real life. When the Cast Member let me out he gave me a big hug and told me not to worry because I'm not the first and I definitely won't be the last. He was so cute, he almost made me cry.
When the girls came off the ride, they wanted to go back to the hotel to play cards and drink cocktails so we walked towards the exit of the studios. Before we left, I went to pay a visit to my friend Marie who works in one of the shops in Studio 1. Marie had very kindly got me a Birthday badge and when she saw me, she got two of her fellow Cast Members to sing Happy Birthday to me. It really did make my day. It was so lovely to speak to her as I hadn't seen her since April and I cannot wait to see her again in September; I love her so much.
And so I was left on my own to wander around the parks again.
My lovely friend and blogger Victoria was in the park with her family so I dropped her a message and asked if she wanted to meet up. She told me that they were heading over to Phantom Manor and that I could meet them there if I wanted to go on it, so I walked over to the Disneyland Park, took a little shortcut and sat in the shade in front of the Manor to wait for them.
When I met Victoria it felt like I'd known her forever and her family/friends were so lovely too. I don't know what I would have done without them being there on this trip because they didn't leave me on my own and made everything so much fun. I had the best time with them and I can't thank them enough. We queued for Phantom Manor, had a spooky little ride and then walked over to get a Fast Pass for Big Thunder Mountain which had (surprise, surprise) broken down. This was mid-afternoon and our Fastpass was at 7:30 pm so we decided to walk over to Fantasyland to explore the Labyrinth.
Walking around the Curious Labyrinth is one of my favourite things to do as it's a relaxing attraction with a relatively short wait time, has the most perfect photo opportunities and the Queen's Castle provides a stunning view of Fantasyland. Victoria and I skipped around the Labyrinth and took as many photos as we could. In the words of Victoria, 'You always need photos for your Instagram'. After this, we took Sian and Alice on Casey Junior for the first time which they loved and then we went to get our spot for the parade. This was Victoria's first time seeing the parade so I'm really happy that I got to see it with her. We sat directly in the sunlight so that we could get a front row spot whilst the others sat on the other side in the shade. I thought I was tanning but it turns out I was just burning my legs on the concrete...oh well!
The parade was stunning, as always, but had a few of the floats missing. This included the Jungle Book and Frozen but as long as Peter Pan is still on there and Maleficent's Dragon breathes fire, then I'm happy. The Mad Hatter came over, shook my hand and wished me a Happy Birthday as did Flora, Fauna and Merryweather. As I said in my previous blog post, the interaction on the parade gets better and better each time I watch it. I really do think it's one of the most stunning attractions that Disneyland Paris will ever see. After the parade, we went over to Café Hyperion for some food. I was starving at this point and was unsure if Liv and Rach were bothering to come back into the park, so I got a burger and some chips. It wasn't exactly Colonel Hathi's garlic bread, but it was still yummy. As we sat, talked and looked at our photos, a lovely Cast Member came over and gave us all free Fast Passes for Star Tours for that evening. It really did make our day and I wish I would have got his name. Once again, the Cast Members of Disneyland Paris never fail to surprise me and add that extra little bit of magic to my trip.
Soon enough, it was Big Thunder Mountain time and we got on the ride very, very quickly. The Fast Pass system on Thunder Mountain is amazing and unless it's a very short queue, I'll always get a Fast Pass for this ride. We had so much fun, screaming and laughing all the way around. I really love the photo of us all as we're going down the drop next to the river, although I don't know where my fringe has disappeared too. When we got off Thunder Mountain, we stopped off in front of the Castle for some photos taken and then made our way back over to Discoveryland to use our Fast Passes for Star Tours. However, their Fast Pass system wasn't as great and I'd say that our queue was only 20 people shorter than the actual queue. Nevertheless, we got on the ride in our extremely snazzy glasses and we loved every minute of it. After this, I said goodbye to the girls and walked over to Colonel Hathi's to meet Liv and Rach.
I was only with Liv and Rach for around 10 minutes; I finished the remainder of Rach's food, talked to them for a bit until they decided that it was time to go back to the hotel again. So, I text Victoria and I spent the night with her and her family in the Disney Village. It was the most perfect night and just thinking about it makes me smile. We went to Sports Bar where I had one of Disney's iconic cocktails with a...wait for it...GLOW IN THE DARK ICE CUBE and it was absolutely delicious. Just writing about it makes me wish that I had one right in front of me. When we'd finished our drinks, we looked in some of the shops around the village and I finally picked up the grey Disneyland Paris jumper that I'd had my eye on for weeks. In order to beat the rush of people coming from Illuminations, we caught the bus back to the hotel and found out that we were, in fact, in rooms opposite each other. How crazy!
Lots of Love,
Meg
xox
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