Disneyland Paris
We stayed for 4 nights at the Hotel New York which is in an excellent location being only a 2 minute walk to Disney Village and a 5 minute walk to the Disney parks.As we stayed in a Disney Hotel this meant that we could access Disneyland Park at 7am instead of the normal opening time of 9am. I have to say that the earliest we made it in there was 8am and that was on the last day!
Every morning various Disney characters would appear in the lobby of the hotel and the children, (or adults!) could get an autograph or have their picture taken. We purchased autograph books for the children and they were so excited chasing the characters for their autographs.
You enter Disneyland Park through Mainstreet USA which is lined with beautiful old world shops and little bakeries. This is where the daily parade is located. Once through Mainstreet USA you have the choice of four different lands to visit.
Discoveryland is home to Space Mountain for the older children (or adults), the more tame Buzz Lightyear's Lazer blast or Autopia where children can drive their own 1950s car along a track.
Fantasyland you can access through the Royal Castle and hosts some smaller rides such as the ever popular tea cups, Dumbo the flying elephant, it's a small world, Alice's curious Labyrinth, Carousel de Lancelot and the Peter Pan ride. In Fantasyland we bumped into the Mad Hatter who was indeed quite mad and very entertaining.
Adventure Land is where you will find The Pirates of the Caribbean ride, (which was unfortunately closed when we were there) and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril. We saw Jack Sparrow here and Aladdin.
Frontierland is home to the famous Thunder Mountain, and Phanton Manor which is a ghost ride but suitable for younger children.
The other park at Disney is Walt Disney studios where you can find the Toy Story Playland which is home to the Toy Soldiers Parachutte Drop (stomach churning!), Andy's racing car and the Slinky dog ride which the younger children will love.
There are various shows and productions to see in Disney Studios, we went on a Space rocket and the special effects were amazing.
The Hollywood Tower of Terror Ride was excellent albeit slightly frightening as you plummet to the ground in the darkness in a lift that gives the impression that it is out of control. I must go on it again though.
Our favourite ride overall was Crushes Coaster which is a roller coaster in water, so much fun.
The food in Disneyland Paris is not great although we didn't go for the food. Cafe Mickey was a great experience as all the characters come around and greet the children who are so excited. We also ate in the Rainforrest Cafe which is decorated as if you are in the actual rainforest. At certain times during the meal lightning and thunder would strike and the elephants and lions would all move. (Obviously not real!)
On our last night we went to Buffalo Bill's Wild West show which I can highly recommend. We were all given cowboy hats and were placed in the green mountain team and had to shout and yee-ha for our team. The show was good with real horses, cowboys and indians, Mickey, Minnie and Goofie also make an appearance. We were served our meal which was a bbq theme and plenty of drink (beer or coke) .
I will certainly go back to Disneyland Paris as there was so much that we didn't see in the short time we were there. I was quite tired when I got home as it is very full on but so much fun.