A Little More Disney Magic

We completed our second day at Disneyland Paris today, and once again the weather was spectacular.  It was a bit colder than yesterday, and infinitely more crowded.  Within earshot one can hear so many languages:  English, French, German, Australian, and others I didn't recognize.  And, once again, the number of dressed up kids was impressive, both boys and girls.  

We got a little slower start today as the girls wanted to swim and this beautiful hotel allows children to swim only during certain hours - 10 a.m. - Noon is the one period that fit with our schedule.  Those two are impressive in the water and it makes me reflect back on my learning to swim.  

My father told me it was now or never at age 5 or 6 and tossed me into Carroll's pond in Clarksburg.  Dog paddle or die.  I lived and much later even took swimming class at The OSU as one of physical education requirements (along with judo and the gentlemanly sport of badminton!).

Our first stop at the park was outside it when we had lunch at that American fine dining establishment, Five Guys.  The crowd in there was large and it was interesting to watch the teenagers and very young adults head straight for the kiosks to order while all others headed into the line to order.  Jenny thought the fries weren't as good as those at Five Guys in the UK but to me the whole meal tasted exactly like the last time I had it in the US - very assembly-line like, just like McDonalds pioneered decades ago.

Once again we met up with George, the colleague of our niece, Ashley, and he guided us into the park with free admissions.  Guess it pays to know someone and we are certainly grateful as park admission runs about 100 Euros per person per day, and that's for the cheap tickets (not the ones that give you priority on rides and other advantages we didn't really need).

We stuck to the little kid rides today and did a bunch of them with the girls who whooped and hollered to their little hearts content.  Around 5:15 p.m. we headed toward the daily parade of Disney Stars in Fantasyland and found we were about an hour late for front row viewing.  

Still, as is the clever Disney style, when the star characters came, they were always aboard very large floats so that everyone had a good view.  And, when I say everyone, there were literally thousands of people crowded against the parade path.  The girls absolutely loved it and were calling out their favorite stars with glee.  It was very charming and, at the end of the parade, they gave both Cheryl and I big hugs and kisses to express their happiness.

We've now sponsored all our grandchildren for Disney visits so I guess that rite of passage is completed.  With that, we headed for a place to have some dinner but, not surprisingly, they were massed with hordes of people who had just gotten there after the parade.  So, Cheryl and I said "bon soir" to Jenny et al and headed back to the hotel for room service.

Check-out tomorrow is at noon so we can squeeze in one more pool session for the kids and then head back to Paris in the early afternoon. I know Dave has a session ticketed for the Louvre tomorrow evening (Friday evening is their least busy time so smart choice on his part), and we'll figure out what to do to keep the kids entertained when we get back to the apartment.

Until Friday, again, bon soir!