Stepping out of Fantasyland, I found my legs becoming tired. I decided to scout the area for something to eat. My venture led me to the Café Hyperion in Discoveryland.

Walking through the doors of the Hyperion, (just under a large zeppelin), I was met with quite the spacious area. The steampunk theme I viewed at Hyper Space Mountain continued here, and there was the usual place for ordering and picking up food, which had various images from across the world painted above. The dining area was a bit different, however, as it was positioned similar to stadium seating, having different rows of tables and chairs in an upward pattern. Opposite the guests enjoying their meals was a large screen showcasing different scenes from various Star Wars media. It felt more like a theater than a café.

With all the Star Wars atmosphere around, I decided to order a ‘Jedi Burger’, which came with a ‘Yoda Cupcake’. I’ll say this: the presentation was interesting. The only thing that really made the Jedi Burger ‘Jedi’ was the fact that it said it right on the burger! The cupcake looked weird, as it was an odd shade of green, with lime green sprinkles on top. Neither the burger nor the cupcake were great. They weren’t bad, but not great.

After lunch, I headed back out, and decided to take another sweep of Discoveryland to see if there was anything I had missed. There was a Buzz Lightyear attraction, but it was closed for renovations, and the Autopia held little appeal to me. Earlier in the day, I had seen a Nautilus much like the one I had seen in DisneySea, and was curious if they had an attraction surrounding it. Sure enough, with a bit of searching I found Les Mysteres du Nautilus not far from Hyper Space Mountain. I had enjoyed my voyage at the other Disney park, so I was interested to see how different this one would be.

I walked through what I believed was the queue line of the attraction. The long metallic hallways illuminated by work lamps, along with the voice of Captain Nemo speaking to the guest over the speaker, gave the appropriate mood of being in an underwater vessel. Other rooms showed different treasure, workshops, maps, and even a small replica of the kraken. Later, the ‘real kraken’ could be seen through a window, trying to attack the Nautilus (before being electrocuted and scared off). Eventually I realized that what I was walking through wasn’t the queue line, but the attraction itself! While the DisneySea attraction was an indoor track ride, this was a walk through attraction of the Nautilus. I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t an actual ride, but it was detailed rather nicely, so it was still a fine experience.

When I had my fill of , I wandered over into Frontierland. I really wanted to try out this park’s version of the Haunted Mansion (Known here as the Phantom Manor). Unfortunately, it was closed for renovations, and would not be open for some months.

My attention was then pointed to Big Thunder Mountain, a roller coaster with an old western style train aesthetic. I waited through the 25 minute queue, and was soon aboard my train ride through the mines! The ride is fairly similar to the Los Angeles and Tokyo versions of the attraction. The ride goes up and down through different indoor and outdoor mining locations, twisting and turning, though not as high speed as the roller coasters I had ridden earlier. The biggest difference I noticed was the final tunnel lasted a very long time. The train kept its momentum, and I found myself in pitch black darkness for a good amount of time. Other than that, it was mostly the same, enjoyable ride.

From here I continued to walk around the park, exploring and seeing little things I may have missed before. There was a Pocahontas Indian Village, which offered a small playground for children, Alice’s Curious Labyrinth, which allowed guests to walk through a hedge maze, and Le passage Enchanté d’Aladdin, a walk through attraction using miniatures to display the story of Aladdin (I think this may have been at the Los Angeles Disneyland at one point).

During the walk, I saw a snack stand offering crepes. Being in France, how could I say no? I ordered myself a Nutella crepe and a coffee. The crepe was made fresh, so there was some waiting, but it was very much worth it! With the weather still being a little chilly, the warmth of the crepe made for an enjoyable snack. Very sweet, very tasty! The coffee, on the other hand, was simply okay. Good crepe, ordinary coffee.

Around this point in my trip, I began to notice just how small the park was. There were of course fun things to see and do, but the size of the park, coupled together with the short wait times due to the lack of people, meant that I had done just about everything I could in the span of a few hours. Knowing this, I began to head to the exit of this park, in order to explore a bit of the other. On my way to the main gate, I saw that Disney Stars on Parade had begun, so I held of on going to the other park for a bit to enjoy it.

The parade offered different floats each showcasing a particular Disney movie (though Lion King and Jungle Book had to share). Each float was beautifully crafted and imaginative, with the steampunk theming continuing here (it seems quite popular). The performers also helped to bring life to the characters and make it entertaining to watch. My favorite has to be the Maleficent float near the end, which introduced guests to Prince Phillip fighting a giant steampunk styled Maleficent dragon, with visible gears and golden Victorian style accents adorned all around.

After enjoying the parade, I exited in order to get a taste of Walt Disney Studios Park. The outside is very classic, displaying an arch with the park name in simple font, with a Mickey water tower visible in the background. The park closed much earlier than Disneyland, so I had only about an hour to see what I wanted. The park itself felt very much like walking though Universal Studios, albeit with a bit of Disney flare. Almost like they had taken the Hollywood area of California Adventure and expanded it into an entire them park. I wish I could have explored it more to get a better feel for it, but my time was limited, so had to be quick.

I made a b-line for Toon Studios, which offered some neat looking attractions based off of Disney franchises, including Cars and Finding Nemo. The Crush Coaster looked fun, but it was, of course, closed for refurbishment.

Knowing this, I cut through to the end of Toon Studios to find the Ratatouille attraction. Luckily, they offered a single rider entrance, so I was able to go directly to the front of the line and board almost immediately. The carts are decorated to look like mice, and can move 360 degrees, which allows a greater deal of mobility when compared to other ‘child focused’ Disney attractions. Before boarding, I was given a set of 3D glasses. I boarded the vehicle, and set off!

The ride uses a mix of practical backgrounds and large screens with 3d effects to take guests on an adventure with Remy, as they explore Gusteau’s kitchen together, get caught by the chef, and have to escape to Remy’s kitchen where they cook a meal, and have a celebration afterwards. It was charming, and a nice exclusive for the park.

Afterwards, I headed to Toy Story Playland, which offered a number of attractions including a Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop and RC Racer. I decided to go with the Racer, as it looked more exciting. One thing I will say for this attraction, the queue line is extremely long! I don’t mean that there were a lot of people, I mean just to walk through the path to get to the front took about a minute and a half. The décor is fun, simulating a racetrack, but I felt it was unnecessarily time consuming (especially given my lack of time available in the park). Luckily, the ride itself was very thrilling. Guests board RC, and go back and forth on a giant half loop. The car gets increasingly faster, and guests go increasingly higher backwards and forwards. I left with a smile on my face, and proceeded to the next attraction.

With the time remaining, I had maybe just enough time to do one more thing. I was deciding between the Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster with Aerosmith. I decided to go with the roller coaster, as it was something not offered in California, and though I had been on the version in Florida, it has been a long while.

The queue line had various memorabilia from the band Aerosmith behind glass cases, and the entrance doors had lights overhead to make it look like a recording studio. Guests walk into a room where the band is discussing the roller coaster design, before heading off into the next room. Boarding the ride and placing the overhead restraint over myself, I settled in for another high speed experience. The track lead to and stopped before a screen displaying a countdown of ‘3…2…1’, and the coaster launched guests into a stream of loops and turns, all while being flashed with stage lights of different colors, mimicking a rock star’s perspective on stage. I would liken the experience to Hyper Space Mountain, but brighter.

After exiting the ride, I knew my experience at the park was done, so I slowly walked through the park, content with what I was able to experience in such a short time…

…just kidding, I booked it to Tower of Terror! I made it with less than a minute to spare before attractions stopped allowing guests in the line. The queue, much like other locations, is modeled after an old style hotel that hasn’t been cared for in quite a while, giving it a haunting atmosphere.

Guests are lead into a room that looks like an old study, where a Twilight Zone video (or in French, the Fourth Dimension) introduces guests to what they will be experiencing. Walking through the queue and into the elevator, I settled in as the I knew the ride would bring me up, drop suddenly, and proceed to go up and down in quick succession.

I always loved the view from the top of the Tower of Terror at California Adventure, and wanted to see if it was just as good in this location as well. Between the rush of adrenaline and the sounds of people around me screaming, I was able to get a good view of the park from the top. It was nice to see a good amount of the area, including places I had explored, and places I will need to save for another visit. And then, of course, the view was cut short as the elevator plunged to ground level. A fun ride, and a great way to end my stay at the park.

Having timed out of Walt Disney Studios Park, and having done just about everything I wanted to in Disneyland Paris, there was only one thing left to do: wait for the nighttime show, Illuminations. The show wouldn’t start until 15 minutes to park closing, so I had a bit of time before it began. I got a good viewing spot, where I could see the castle quite well, and thanks to a bed of flowers, people couldn’t stand right in front of me to obstruct my view. I was able to admire the castle for a bit before showtime. It looked much different at night, portraying a more lavender glow.

As the showtime drew near, the colors of the castle sharpened, and when 10:15pm arrived, the spectacle began!
Colors rushed across the castle as narration introduced the audience to the ‘dream’ thematic nature of the show. After the speaking was done, a flash of fireworks erupted from the ground, with the song A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes playing over a flurry of colors exhibited through fire, water, and search lights, all quite captivating and making for an excellent start to the show.

The rest of the show would portray different representative Disney films, along with spectacles just as breathtaking as the opening. I may have been tired at this point (I had been in the park since 10:00am), but it was very much worth it to stay for this show. I could now leave the park completely satisfied.

Following the flow of the crowd to the exit, I reflected on my experience. The thrills, the beauty, the feelings, it was all absolutely magnificent! Much like Disneyland Tokyo and DisneySea, I would love to come back to Disneyland Paris again in the future, to re-experience what I enjoyed, as well as to experience that which I couldn’t this time around. But for now, I left feeling content with what I had accomplished, and marked another Disney park off my list. 2 more to go.