DAY 2 
DISNEYLAND PARIS

As you get off the train from Paris, you are at the junction between three areas of the grounds, the Disneyland Park, Disney Studios and this, the Disney Village. It is a conglomeration of shops and restaurants.
But I headed to the right and the Disneyland Park. The first thing you see is the Disneyland Hotel. It is directly in front of the park.
Beneath the hotel is a walkway to the park and the ticket offices.
Three poster for some of the more popular attractions, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pirates of the Caribbean and Phantom Manor.
The train station is smaller than the one at Walt Disney World.
This is the other side of the station.
Main Street looks pretty much the same at any Disney park.
Sleeping Beauty Castle is kind of a cross between the short squatty (and pink) one in California and tall, slender Cinderella Castle in Florida. It stands about somewhere in-between the two in height.
Beneath the castle is a grotto where this dragon lives. On occasion it moves and roars and snorts. Just like we all do.
They were doing some work in Discoveryland (known as Tomorrowland in the U.S.), so there was no grand entrance to photograph. Walls were up to hide construction. One thing they are building is a Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast attraction.
Space Mountain looks great, as does the entire theming in Discoveryland. It's very Jules Verne-like.
The launch into Space Mountain was similar to the film "Le Voyage dans la Lune" in 1902. If you haven't seen the film, you probably have seen parts of it. It's the one where they load a capsule into a giant gun and fire it skyward. This is the gun that blasts you off into Space Mountain.
The loading area. The ride is better than the one at Walt Disney World. They recently redid the one in Disneyland, so I don't know what that one is like now. But it is a wild ride, fast and furious with a soundtracks and modern graphics. This is the recently opened Mission 2 for the attraction. The plot is that you are traveling to see the explosion of a supernova.
Sticking with the Verne theme, they have a Nautilus docked in Discoveryland. It is not a ride like was once in WDW. It is a walk-through attraction.
Nemo's quarters.
This was the original organ used in the 1954 movie.
Inside this Videopolis pavilion is the Café Hyperion and video screens of some kind. I don't really know. I didn't go in.
Le Carrousel de Lancelot.
Mad Hatter's Tea Cups.
The names of some familiar attractions were in French, although not all were. This is Blanche-Neige et les Septs Nains (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.) The attraction is in French. I don't know if it is the reason it is scarier than the Snow White rides in the States, but it definitely has a darker feel to it.
Dumbo. Not scary at all.
Peter Pan's Flight. Also in French but not scary. I guess that shoots down that theory. It is shorter but newer than the American versions.
Another French name, Les Voyages du Pinocchio. This was also darker and more sinister than the American attraction.
Ah, good old Toad Hall. Alas, it is not a Mr. Toad's Wild Ride attraction but a restaurant. I ate lunch there anyway. Fish and chips with a bowl of tomato soup. Rather good.
Inside they have a picture of Mr. Toad that changes in the styles of different artists. This is obviously the van Gogh Toad.
I limped through Alice's Curious Labyrinth. I'm sure kids get a big kick out of it. It's pretty good for adults too. You cannot actually get lost.
Around the odd turn is some character from Alice in Wonderland.
It's a small world after all. It has an outside load area like in Disneyland. I found it interesting that they did not have any wheelchair-accessible boats. I thought they were all about equality and fairness over there in Europe. I guess not.
Rather than separate rooms for each region of the world, everything is in one big room divided by archways. And unlike its American counterparts, the ride in Disneyland Paris actually has a North America section. In the U.S., the only Americans you see are a cowboy and an Indian doll at the very end.
After getting off the ride, visitors are fed through this little area for kids with little video screens of animated children around the world. The American cartoon kid was in a city skyscraper. He was a cowboy. Do they think cowboys live in tall apartment buildings?

MORE DISNEYLAND PARIS