Disney On Ice

With the weather forecast calling for one last day of sun on our visit to France, we decided to use it at Disneyland.  Yes, we go to Disneyland every month at home, so we were very intrigued to see how Disney Paris would stack up versus the US version.  We also had been on the run seeing more grown up things for a week and it was time for some Siena time.

To get to Disney we took the train out of town and as the train ride progressed, we could see that on the outskirts of town some of the previous night’s snow was still around.  So we were not surprised to find a blanket of snow and ice on the ground at Disney.  Well, actually, we were surprised it wasn’t shoveled away, just ground down into ice under people’s feet.   As we approached the ticket area and gates, it was clear it was not going to be a crowded day at the park yet somehow it still took 45 minutes to buy tickets.  Seems Disney staffed the day in expectations of light crowds.  In the biting cold, this made for a chilly start to the day.  To add to the fun, the Disney folks let us know that due to the ice and snow, most of the park would not open that day, encouraging us to go home.  But this was our Disney day so in we went.

Once in the park, we enjoyed our stroll down Main St. to the castle.  It was a very pretty castle accentuated by the waterfalls and fountains.  We entered the castle and explored inside a little to get out of the cold.  Siena found her way to the lair of the dragon that lives below the castle (a cool feature for any castle).  The addition of the snow made the whole scene very pretty.   As we left the castle we quickly came to learn that the Disney Paris team was woefully unprepared to remove snow, so they simply didn’t.  This made the walk more interesting, especially for Siena who really seemed content just to play in the snow.

As we always do, we headed for the carousel, Siena’s favorite ride in France.  Here we got to see a side of Disney we would come to notice throughout our day.  Along with snow removal equipment, the Disney Paris folks also appear not to have any touch up paint and cleaning supplies.  Celebrating its 20^th year, the park was frayed around the edges everywhere you looked, not very Disneyesque.   Disney Paris is clearly harvesting profits versus reinvesting.

We did find a special treat once we exited the carousel, Tigrou, Piglet and Eyeore.  We waited for pictures with some pushy Italian tourists who had never heard of a line.  Apparently lines were optional when it came to meeting characters, bull in the china shop mentality ruled the day.  The special part of the visit was Piglet, a character we seldom see in the US and bouncy guy who signed his name in French, of course.

 

We set about exploring the park for a while with a ride on Small World (they sing in English?), a visit to the princess visitation area (one hour, one princess, it was the lovely Tiana) and the Alice in Wonderland maze that Siena loved exploring. 

 Realizing the Disney folks were telling the truth about most things being closed, Lisa and I decided to try for a Cinderella lunch.  It would afford us a visit with the princess and some inside warmth.  Luckily, the low crowd levels also extended to the princess lunch (probably because it cost more than park admission).   Just as we settled in to our table, the royal fanfare played and out came the mice, Suzy and Perla, followed moments later by Cinderella and the Prince.  And all at once the magic happened.  Watching them dance from the lap of a Suzy, Siena found her way right into their arms when the dance was over.  And then another treat, Snow White and Aurora were there too.  Seems it was too cold outside for a princess so they all came to lunch.   So much for eating, the princess parade was on!   Since they came out right when we arrived, our lunch extended to another showing and this time there was really no one left in the restaurant, so Siena toured the restaurant with Cinderella and the Prince and was then joined by Snow White and Aurora too.  We easily got 30 minutes or more of uninterrupted princess time.  Unheard of in any Disney park we have ever been too, and the highlight of Siena’s day.

 

The rest of our day was spent walking around the snow covered park, past the frozen rivers admiring a very pretty winter scene.  With the cold evening setting in we caught a front row seat (there was no second row today, everyone got a front row seat) for the parade.  It was nice parade and every villain stopped by to say hi to Siena.  It also contained something you never see in Disney parks, Pixar characters in Disneyland.

With a quick turn through the gift shop and off we were headed, back to our Paris pad and a nice home cooked dinner.  With the Eiffel Tower glowing out our window, we all quickly got snuggly and warm and then the snow began to fall.