Disneyland Adventure – Part 2

Disney really is one of the most magical places on earth. I say this and I’ve only ever been to the European one! It touched that place of whimsy and magic that really makes me want to believe that there are fairies and Lost Boys.

There is so much to see, and so much attention to detail in almost every corner. In all honesty though, I can see where the European Disneyland gets the reputation for looking a bit tired and run down.

It was a shame that some of the paint was faded, and that there was so much scaffolding around. I understand that they are doing themselves up for the big anniversary next year, I just believe it could have been handled better.

Also, going by the stories I have heard and read from people that go to the USA parks all the time, I get the feeling that Walt wouldn’t be overly thrilled. But I’m reliably informed that the Japan park puts the American ones to shame!

Besides, all of those things taken into consideration, and I still had an absolute ball! I think I was more overwhelmed at the shops. I had no idea there was so much Disney merchandise!

One of the things that made the whole experience so incredibly special was being a part of Dapper Day. I love dressing up, and being with other people who revel in the same things.

We made friends with several people who had all come for the event. Along with local French participants; we had come from the Netherlands, there were others from Belgium, a mother and daughter from the UK, and I even heard some American accents!

We all rode the carousel together and created quite a scene of it! With people stopping to photograph us all in our poufy skirts, finely coiffed hair, and in my case, compliment my fur stole.

We rode the teacups and then promenaded up and down Main Street, for the first time really allowing myself to look at the shops rather than scoot past them on the way to rides. We were there to see, and be seen. Then it was off for elegant cocktails with all our new found friends.

On our last day we went back to all our favourite rides and ate at one of the “fine dining” restaurants. We had booked into the Ratatouille restaurant, and the décor was absolutely on point! It looked more “loved” than a lot of the rest of the park, but then we remembered that this section is the most recent addition to the park.

The entire area was a strange experience. It is the American version of Paris, in an American theme park, an hour outside of Paris in France. A bit meta really …

Now I just need to save up to do it all again!