Disney Paris - Day 1

BEST VACATION EVER!!!

My friend Jessica & I planned a trip to Disney, "moms only" a long long time ago, but we've both been so busy that we haven't had a chance to go.  We finally set a permanent date, found 2 other friends who were as crazy as we are, then made reservations at the Marvel New York Hotel for 3 nights (& 4 days in the park).  We were SO EXCITED.

We left Germany at about 1:00 which put us at the hotel at about 5:00.  We parked the car & checked into our AMAZING hotel.  We got room #2104 on the Thor floor (there were paintings of Thor all over the hallways) & unloaded all of our luggage before we headed over to the park.

Disneyland Hollywood Studios closed at 7:00 this particular night, so we opted to skip that one until the next day, & went straight to Disneyland Park.

Paris Disney is still celebrating it's 30th anniversary & I love all the purples & blues they used to decorate the park.  It was beautiful.

We happened to walk in right when the parade was happening.  It was perfect timing.  We got to see all of our favorite characters:

Mickey & Minnie, Donald & Daisy, Goofy & Pluto. . . 

Buzz, Woody, & Jessie, 

Simba, Rafiki, King Louis, & Baloo the Bear.

I was excited when the whole Peter Pan crew showed up.  Peter Pan is one of Lorien's favorites so I had to snap a few pictures of him for her.  We saw Peter, Wendy, the lost boys, Hook, & Smee.

There was a whole float dedicated to Finding Nemo too.  It was adorable.

I got excited when I noticed Prince Philip.  The princes of Disney don't get as much face time as the princesses.  He was there battling Maleficent as a dragon.

And then of course, a Disney parade just isn't a Disney parade without all the lovely princesses:

Aurora, Ariel, Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, Rapunzel, & Merida.

Kristoff was there leading Elsa & Anna's float.

After the parade ended, we made our way down Main Street so we could enjoy the view of Sleeping Beauty's castle.  It's SO beautiful.

We waited in line to get some snacks.  My friends got beignets & cookies.  I got a madeline.  It was delicious as all Disney food is, then we made our way to the Haunted Manor.  The Haunted Mansion is my favorite ride at Disneyland in California.  I absolutely love it.  This one is a little different & isn't my favorite, but it's still a blast to ride.

I'm glad they do the stretching portraits like Disneyland does.  The portraits are different here, but still amazingly cool.

After the Haunted Mansion, we made our way over to Pirates which is one of my favorites here.  I could ride it over & over & over & over (which we did over our 4 days there).

When we came out of pirates, it was already 7:30pm which was closing time due to the Paris train strikes.  We were able to watch the beautiful fireworks from the Adventureland side of things.  It was beautiful.

On our way back to our hotel, we stopped by The Earl of Sandwich for a late dinner.  I had never eaten there before & I now I wonder why I had never popped in.  It's fairly cheap & the food is incredible.  I got a chipotle chicken sandwich with a brownie & it was delicious!  We grabbed our food & walked back to our hotel.

We ate dinner in our hotel & enjoyed our hotel room.  Disney hotels really are the very best.

We went to bed by 9pm which is SO early, but at the same time, we wanted plenty of sleep so we'd be ready to get up early for "magic hour" at 8:30.  The vacation was just beginning.