Eurodisney

Whoopie

It was 26 years since we had visited Eurodisney with teenage children during a visit to Paris. At the time, the 3 or 4 days exploring the magic of Paris had seemed the better theme park. This time I had been invited to go with my grandkids on a late summer trip to Eurodisney. It would be an opportunity to rediscover my free spirit by rekindling some childish behaviours. And maybe I did as I engaged Minnie in a highland fling and queued for 40 minutes for a second go on the Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain Ride, "going where no man has gone before". Nowadays about 500 kids an hour do it every day at Disneyland Paris. Their screams were real, I just closed my eyes when my brain was tricked into believing that the capsule had escaped the pull of gravity. My neurons may need some rejuvenation.

The feelgood of Disneyland was infectious in the August sunshine, the background music was tailored to seduce happy families into the queues for rides and the numerous eateries, gift shops and ice cream vendors or to simply gape at the colourful assembly of schmaltzy film set architecture. The entire site was kept immaculately clean and the grounds were well manicured, contrasting with the deteriorating public realm in most of our towns and cities. The children and teenagers were captivated and parents were locked into responding to all the demands for drinks, snacks, souvenirs and fast passes to jump the queues. Disney's operations and marketing strategy is matchless, it costs about £400 a day for a family of 4 without food, drink and extras. Compare that with an average Council Tax charge of £5-£10 a day per household (family) and you realise why the public domain is so wrecked and public services so run down.

We had entered the park just after 9am having rented an Airbnb just 20 minutes walk away. The day just melted away as we were caught in the whirligig of attractions and exercised our British stoicism of queuing. It was after 10pm before we left after watching the Castle transformed into an Electrical Sky Parade with added fireworks. And finally, along with several thousand other visitors, we endured the ultimate Disneyland experience, queueing to leave along the Main Street, which was heaving with exhausted children and tired parents as rapacious vendors of tat sought to top up their coffers.

We spent all of the first day in Disneyland. On the second day, we visited the adjacent attractions of Walt Disney Studios which included Toon Studio, Worlds of Pixar and Marvel Campus, all boasting a collection of rides as well as studios. I went back to Disneyland later in the morning to repeat the Star Wars ride with my granddaughter before deciding to take a train to Paris for the afternoon and sample the real world. and rediscover my free spirit.  A final evening back in Disneyland sated my appetite for the candy coloured Eurofriendly version of the American Dream.

Entrance to Main Street

Thunder Mountain

Indiana Jones et le Temple du Peril

Adventureland

Sleeping Beauty's Castle

Castle becomes Electronic Light Parade