Disneyland Paris June 2017 │ Day 3: Studios, Birthdays & Cocktails

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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Why Disney Friends are the Best

Disney means different things to different people; it means escapism, magic and imagination, it inspires millions of people around the world that their dreams can become a reality. But to me, it means friendship. Through this little company that was all started by a mouse, I've met people who I consider to be my best friends, people who understand my love for certain things and don't think I'm weird when I get emotional, people who've been there for me when I needed them. I look back at some of my favourite memories, and every single one of these people is in there somewhere. It really is true that Disney friends are the best, and here are just some of the reasons why. 

♡ They know the importance of photos ♡
They'll find the perfect Instagram opportunities and will make sure that you get the perfect shot to go along with your theme. And it won't be just one photo either, expect your camera roll to be full of the same photos so that you can choose which one you think is best. 

♡ They'll take as many photos for you as you need ♡
You didn't like that last photo? Lighting wasn't quite right? Not a problem. They understand that you need to get everything right. Disney friends are the best candid photographers. 

♡ They're your personal cheerleaders ♡
If you're not having a good day or don't like that particular picture of yourself with your favourite character, they'll always be there to pick you back up and make you feel amazing again. 

♡ Group Disneybounding ♡
They're always up for a Disney-bound, whether that be helping you choose the perfect outfit or planning the cutest group bound. They don't care, it's all about being extra. 

♡ They make everything fun ♡

Standing in a 50-minute queue for Big Thunder or waiting an hour for the perfect parade spot is fun with these guys. Sometimes you think you could sit staring at a brick wall and they'd make it fun.

♡ They'll be a patient photographer ♡

They'll give you time to choose the perfect backdrop, perfect your Princess pose and find your best angle. 

♡ They'll sit and wait for ages for the perfect parade spot ♡

 Because they know how much it means to you to get that interaction with your favourite character.

♡ They'll dance down Main Street USA with you ♡

And they don't care if everyone's looking at you, they're always up for having a boogie wherever you are. 

♡ The magic is always alive, even when you're not in the park ♡

Whether it be back at the hotel or when you're home from a trip, the magic is always alive when you're with them, even if that is just on Twitter. 

♡ You have the perfect duet partner ♡

They'll never say no to a Disney Duet...Troy and Gabriella who?

♡ You'll never be judged for crying ♡

They understand how emotional certain things make you and chances are, they'll be crying with you too. That perfect meet you just had with your favourite character? Yep, they're crying.

♡ Always ready for early park mornings ♡
They don't moan about how tired they are or at the fact that you've woken them up at 6 am because you're too excited to sleep. They're just as excited to get into the park as you are. 

♡ They bring out the best in you ♡

You can be your true self around them and rest assured that you won't be judged. They are the best friends you could ever ask for. 

What's your favourite thing about your Disney friends?

Lots of Love,

Meg

xox

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Disney 25th Trip Day 3: Everyday's A Celebration

Today was the day that the whole trip had been building up too, which can only mean one thing. It was finally time to wish Disneyland Paris a very Happy 25th Birthday! 

I'll be honest, we woke up at stupid o'clock to try and be some of the first people in the park and it seems like everyone else had the same idea because when we arrived at the gates, the crowd was immense and growing by the second. I'd expected a big crowd for the official birthday, but nothing prepared me for how many people were waiting to celebrate. There was this electric atmosphere that hit you as soon as you walked into the park, it wasn't like anything I'd ever felt before. It was a mixture of pride, sadness, happiness, laughter and everything in between. Think of every emotion you could ever feel and combine them all together. It was pure magic and lasted for the whole day.

The day involved a lot of sitting around and waiting, so I'm going to apologise in advance for the lack of photos and exciting character meets in this post. I'm sad to say we didn't meet any characters on this particular day unless you can count Seany dressed as a star.

We stepped out on Main Street to the glorious view of the Castle. As we walked into the park, Cast Members were handing out limited edition 25th anniversary badges and I'm going to treasure mine forever. The camera crews were set up at the bottom of Main Street including the official Disneyland Paris crew and various French media. So, we took our place next to them and waited for the festivities to begin. I don't know how they managed to do it, but the celebrations had been kept a secret so no one knew what to expect and that added to the excitement. Disneyland Paris was glowing. That's the only word I can think of to describe it right now. You know when it's your birthday and you feel so fresh and glowy and reading to start the new year? Well, that's how it looked.

Our lovely friends Jade and Nicola (who'd travelled all the way from Manchester for the day!) came to join us as we sang and swayed in time to the music. Then the sound of pixie dust sprinkling echoed down Main Street, the band piped up and the official 25th-anniversary song blared from the speakers. We'd heard this song various times throughout the trip but there was something about hearing it on the official birthday that made it that bit more special. This was the first playing of the song on the day, and after hearing it once every hour, we ended the day knowing every single word and the dance routine.

As we were positioned at the bottom of Main Street, we didn't see as much of the celebrations as we would have hoped, but just listening to the music and the characters speaking had the same impact. I must mention that the moment Cara and I heard Marie say 'Me first! Me First!' and watched the Kittens come bounding down Main Street, we were in tears. The girls and I watched most of the celebrations on the official live stream so that we could keep our front spot as the characters walked past. If you weren't already aware, 100 characters appeared on Main Street on the official birthday and it was something that cannot be put into words. These characters included Joy, Sadness, Hercules, Megara, the Kittens, the Seven Dwarves, the Atlantis cast, Pocahontas, Tarzan, Clopin and so many more. It was rumoured that some of the rare characters had been brought over from Disney parks all over the world, and I'm pretty sure I ran out of cheers to give every rare character I saw. It was unbelievably magical and I'm still completely in awe. If you want to see some footage, I vlogged the whole day which is up on my youtube channel

I think that I cried on and off for 90% of the day, but something that really set me off was the Cast Member Flashmob at the end of the official celebration welcome show. Once again, 'Everyday's A Celebration' echoed done Main Street as the Cast Members paraded past, singing and dancing along to their choreographed routine. When I say Cast Members, I mean that there were hundreds, maybe even thousands. They came from every area of the park, from every profession and they all joined together out of love for their job and for this wonderful company. They emerged from the Castle like excited children and the way I viewed it was that it was their moment to shine. If you're not a parade performer in Disneyland, I think that you get overlooked for the work you do and it was their time to be appreciated for once. When they got to the end of Main Street, Catherine Powell joined them and started to dance with them. This was when the tears started and refused to stop. You never see a manager interacting with their company and their staff like that. It was a beautiful thing. Also still not over the fact that THE Catherine Powell walked past me and said hello. Life goals complete. When they'd finished dancing, the cast members came running past us, dancing in front of us and touching our hands as they got everyone cheering. I'm almost in tears just thinking about it.

Just watching that show on the day, and even thinking about it now, fills me with so much pride. I think that's what made me so emotional. I celebrated the 10th anniversary at Disneyland Paris, so to be there celebrating 15 years later and seeing how much the company has grown and developed brought me to tears.

We were, of course, told that there would be some rare characters meeting on the day but not as rare as we were hoping for. I think they made more of an effort for the official launch rather than the birthday. The three rare characters that were meeting included Max, Clarice and Duffy and Shelly Mae. As we weren't too bothered about meeting these characters, Cara and I headed towards the Castle in search of some food. It was so hard to find somewhere selling food that didn't involve queueing for an hour so instead, we resulted to having one of many photo shoots in front of the Castle with our lovely friend Alizeah. I met this lovely girl briefly at Halloween, so it was lovely to spend some more time with her and admire her rainbow coloured jacket. Aren't her and Cara just style goals?

On our search for food, Cara and I bumped into another one of our friends Rach, who is a cast member. Neither of us has seen her since she started to work for the mouse and it was lovely to have a catch-up and to see her so happy. She's so talented and absolutely killin' it!
As we loved watching the Welcome Show soooo much, we decided to sit and watch it again as this would be the last time that we would see it on this trip. It was so nice to sit with Rach and sing along. I think I love this show more and more every time I watch it and I'm so excited to see it again in June!

It was then time to do a lot of waiting about, and consequently get very very sunburnt. The weather was glorious all day, which of course had its perks as it meant sitting down to wait for the Cavalcade was a lot easier. However, the pain of the sunburn the following day was not fun.

We spent the next 3-4 hours watching the two Cavalcades and the parade. As we waited for the first Cavalcade, there was one particular Cast Member who got the whole crowd cheering, singing and dancing. I've seen him on previous trips and he's one of the only Cast Members to wear a Mickey glove on his hand. At one point, he picked a young girl from the crowd who was dressed as a Princess and waltzed her down Main Street. Again, I cried. It was so beautiful to see. Every Cast Member on that day was a pure joy and a credit to the company.

The Cavalcade was a repeat of what we saw in the morning; 100 characters dancing down Main Street as the 25th-anniversary song played. It wasn't as emotional as the morning, and the interaction wasn't very good, but being able to experience something so rare and magical with my best friends is something I'll remember for the rest of my life

The day would not have been complete without some photoshoots in front of the Castle. We wanted to make sure that we captured the day perfectly, and as the majority of people were dressed in blue and silver, we matched with the theme. Whilst we waited for the parades and cavalcades, we danced and twirled down Main Street. We also got some adorable shots of us looking at the castle and I tried (and failed) to perfect my Princess pose. 

Photos were one of the only ways that we could commemorate the day, so in true Disney style, we bought a Minnie Mouse balloon and set up our own photoshoot in front of the Castle. This was where I met our lovely friend Denise who is another Cast Member. She is the kindest, most beautiful girl and the company are very lucky to have her. Although the wind wasn't really on our side, and it took us all of our time to get the balloon under control, we finally got some perfect blogger shots. These are some of my favourite photos of the day.

When we'd finished our photo shoot, we headed back over to the Princess stage to catch the final show we would watch on this trip. I was very emotional and it's the one show I associate the most with the trip and it still gives me all the feels.

After the Princess show, we found a young girl and gave the balloon to her. We had no more use for it and the smile on her face when she realised that she was keeping the balloon was the sunshine on a cloudy day. Not that the day was cloudy of course.

The queue for Alice in Wonderland's Labyrinth was very small so we thought that it would be the perfect opportunity to escape to Wonderland. I hadn't explored the attraction since it had been refurbished and it's safe to say that the improvements are brilliant. The colours are so vivid, the music is louder and the maze is just as hard to find your way around. We crawled under arches, squeezed through tiny doors and walked down many blocked pathways before reaching the Castle. People think that this attraction is quick and only takes five minutes, but let me tell you, finding your way around that thing is not easy. And when you're stopping for various photo opportunities, it's even harder. If you do get the chance, I recommend going to the top of the Castle and standing on the balcony because the views are breathtaking. It's one of my favourite things to do and it's definitely overlooked and underappreciated by guests.

If you watched my bucket list video that I made on my YouTube channel, then you'll know that I really wanted to go and take some photos in front of the 25th photo locations, specifically the carousel. We spent the rest of the evening going to find them and having some adorable photos taken. As you can probably tell, my Princess pose has not been perfected, but I'm working on it!
After this, we went for our final ride on It's a Small World and then headed over to café Hyperion for some food. There was so much going on that I don't think we ate all day. You were in a situation where you didn't want to go and do anything because you were scared of missing something big.

We watched our final Illuminations show, not necessarily because we wanted to but more because we wanted to see if they would do anything special for the official birthday. Sadly they didn't and we were stuck with the same Illuminations that we saw on our first night. I'm still not a fan and if anything I disliked it more the second time. I really think that they should bring Dreams back and I still don't understand why they didn't do anything special for the official birthday, but there's nothing we can do about it now I suppose.

It's tradition that I'm one of the last people on Main Street at some point on my trip and what better way to say one final goodbye to the park, and one final Happy Birthday, than to sit on the warm bricks of Main Street USA surrounded by pixie dust, sparkling lights and everyone that I love. Grant bought some small signs from one of the boutiques and once again we had a photo shoot. I've always wanted the perfect photo on Main Street at night and now I finally have it.
We asked a lovely lady to take a photo on Grant's phone for us, and then she asked if she could take one on her phone too because she said that we were just too cute for her not too. It made our day.

As we exited the park, I was overcome with sadness but so much pride. Disneyland Paris had done amazingly well and as a slowed down version of the anniversary song played softly, I turned to look at the castle and smiled. There's no place in the world I feel more at home. The whole Disney gang stayed up to thank us for celebrating with them and waved to us as we walked out. I can not believe the things I experienced on this day. They are memories I will hold close to my heart forever.

As we left the park we saw a lovely shining star walking towards us. That shining star came in the form of Seany B and if you read this blog post for anything, then read it for this photo. Disneyland Paris' motto for the anniversary was 'time to sparkle' and Seany definitely made sure that he was sparkling on Main Street. In his own words 'I look like a novelty condom'. 

I hope you've enjoyed reading, and if you want to check out my vlog of the day then it's up on my YouTube channel. I cannot wait to share our final day of adventures with you!

Did you watch the celebrations live?

Lots of Love,
Meg
xox

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