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.

It's a Small World

Here is a hint as to where we went today.  Since we got back so late, I will post photos tomorrow.


Disneyland Paris - Tilt Shift from Céranne Gantzer on Vimeo.

Versailles Part 5: Les Grandes Eaux Nocturnes

Since we were just here yesterday, finding the Château from the RER train station was a breeze.  We expected crowds and a long wait to purchase tickets, but were pleasantly surprised by short lines and lots of ticket kiosks.

We broke the rules by bringing a picnic (expressly forbidden according to the verbage in our map handouts).

But we weren't the only ones, so we didn't feel too bad.

In the post yesterday I mentioned the river-themed sculptures on the Parterre d'Eau (Water Terrace).  Well, here is another one, representing the River Saône.

Sunset illuminating the palace taken from the southern angle...

....and from the other side.

Here is a view of the Orangerie; they had just turned on the lights in the garden.

Numerous attempts to catch the "perfect shot" of the setting sun were unsuccessful.  This is the best one of the bunch.

The gardens opened right at 9pm.  Bubbles floated on the air as we descended the steps.

We walked to the northern section of the garden, towards the Dragon Fountain.  We could see loads of spectators gathering in the Neptune Basin (background)...

...but we ignored that to take photos of the Dragon Fountain.  That was a mistake...

...because we soon realized that the Neptune fountain only runs at 9:15 and 9:30pm.  Despite literally running (okay...jogging) to try to catch the tail end of the 9:30 show, we ended up missing all but the last 30 seconds.  This is a shot of the fountains winding down to a trickle...just 10 seconds before there were 40 jets of water shooting at least 50 feet into the air.

Three Fountains Grove was our next stop, but it was very crowded with people still spilling out of the Neptune Basin spectacle.  There was a fog machine making a cool smoky effect.

The narrow staircases at the Three Fountains were a bit of a bottleneck for all the people, but at least the fountains were lovely to look at.

The Apollo's Baths Grove offered a little more breathing room, and a chance to set up the tripod.  Of course an attendant asked us to put the tripod away, since they are not allowed during the Grandes Eaux shows.

But we did get at least one in-focus shot of the grotto, so it was worth it.

The Bosquet de l'Encelade had a fountain with music and multicolored lighting.

There was no show in the Bosquet de Domes, but the statues were beautifully illuminated.

There was a very impressive display set to music at the Bassin du Char d'Apollon.

The Girandole grove also had a light show, but we got there just at the end.  It was not easy to walk around the entire garden to try to see everything in just a 2-hour time frame.  Even at a fairly fast clip, we know we missed quite a few things.

The sculpted shrubs looked beautiful when backlit.

Even the statues take on a different appearance at night.  Here is a day and night shot of the same statue:

The Colonnade had an eerie green laser and fog display.

Strangely-shaped lanterns lined some of the walkways.

The Bassin du Mirroir had a beautifully choreographed show to Rambeau's Naïs overture; one of our favorites of the night.

And then it was time to make our way back up to the terrace to find a place to watch the fireworks.  This is a shot across the Royal Pathway/Tapis Vert (Green Carpet).

The Feu d'Artifice (fireworks) show kicked off at 11:05 with some shooting stars.

The whole display was set to music and really well coordinated.

On the ground along the Royal Pathway, there were fire jets that were synchronized to the music.

Some more shots of the show, with a collage of the finale.

Here is a video we shot of the finale



The fireworks display was not very long, only 15 minutes.  It ended at 11:20, leaving us plenty of time to walk to the train station and catch our 11:50 train back to Paris after a fabulous evening.