Disneyland Paris Part 2: Fantasyland, Parade & Fireworks

To pick up where we left off yesterday...Just as we arrived in Fantasyland, the sky started to cloud over.

We headed over to It's a Small World.

A few drops of rain started falling just as we got on the ride.

It's a Small World is one of the few rides that move slowly enough to take photos.  I apologize in advance for how many I took!

Ride entrance, England, Holland, France, Italy

Japan, China, Thailand, South America, Middle East

Home!

The rest of the US, and the finale

When we stepped outside it was no longer raining, but it was still a little overcast.  While we were looking up at the sky we realized that something was missing -- the Matterhorn!  I guess when you are just a train ride away from the actual Matterhorn a fake one is a poor substitute, even if it does have fun bobsleds and an ice monster. We were also shocked to discover that there is no Mr. Toad's Wild Ride in DLP.  Gasp!  Instead there is "Toad Hall", a restaurant serving fish & chips, chicken, and burgers.  Sad face.

Kevin investigates.  No Mr. Toad here!

Since it had stopped raining, we decided to take a stroll through Alice's Curious Labyrinth.

It's not a ride, but it was probably the best "walk-through" attraction at the park.  It's a fun Disney twist on the labyrinth concept, and obviously quite different from the Alice ride in Anaheim.

No visit to Wonderland would be complete without seeing the Queen of Hearts' castle or the Cheshire Cat.

For the record: the Pinocchio, Snow White, and Peter Pan rides are all very similar to the ones in Anaheim, other than the names being in French.  Just like in California, the Peter Pan ride had the longest lines of any attraction in Fantasyland (it is the only ride in Fantasyland with a Fast Pass).

The bottom right isn't Peter Pan, but is a shop with Jack's Beanstalk growing out of it

We made sure to check out Sleeping Beauty's Castle from all angles.

You can walk through the castle's upper level.  The stained glass windows tell the story of Sleeping Beauty, although in France she goes by another name.

There is a nice view of the Fantasyland shops from the castle ramparts.

Afterwards we descended the steps to the castle dungeon to see what's down there.

In the dark lair below is a sleeping dragon.

But he comes to life every few minutes!  I apologize for the grainy, dark, X-Files quality of the video...we didn't have our good video camera with us.  Also, note the crying baby in the background...the dragon was pretty scary!



We took a short break for dinner at the Lucky Nugget Saloon, described in the parks guide as "International cuisine and Tex-Mex".  Not sure what that means, but mmm...barbecued ribs.

Okay, back to Fantasyland for a couple more adventures before the park closes.  Here is Le Carousel de Lancelot.  Now that I think of it, I haven't been on the carousel in Anaheim in years...there never seems to be enough time.

I even managed to get Kevin to ride the Mad Hatter Tea Cups, so I didn't have to go by myself.  His only rule was "no spinning".

Well, maybe just a little bit.

Time to go stake out a good spot to view the parade.  The fireworks follow immediately afterwards, so we wanted to have a good view of the castle as well.

We were in position a good forty-five minutes early and people were already jockeying for prime curb locations.  But it wasn't too bad because we enjoyed chatting with some Australians who were standing next to us.  We were all marveling at the Europeans who were chain-smoking while waiting for the parade to start.  Music played over the loudspeakers while we waited.  This little girl danced with her shadow in the street the whole time.

Finally they dimmed the lights and the parade began.

The parade theme is "Fantillusion".  Each float is supposed to transform into something else.

The Tinkerbell and Fairy Godmother floats didn't stop long enough for us to see anything change.

But the Ursula float did.  It may be hard to tell with all the smoke but at first you can only see her head.  Then the lights on the float change color and Ursula's body rapidly inflates so that she towers over the spectators.

The Little Mermaid float also stopped right in front of us so that we could see it transform.  Here's the float before:

And here is the "after".  They are now dancing on a raised platform and a wedding cake or chandelier (it's hard to tell) appears as if out of nowhere.

The final float carried Minnie Mouse, in princess attire.

We then waited another 15 minutes or so for the fireworks to start.  It's funny that the park closes at 11pm, but the fireworks started at 11:05.  C'est la France!

The show was short but the fireworks were fantastic, as Disney fireworks always are.

It was midnight by the time we got on the train back to Paris.  A long day and a late night, but totally worth it.