I'm finally home from spending just a little under a week at Disneyland Paris! I thought I'd sit down with a cup of tea and share with you a little about my trip. I filmed loads which I'm gradually uploading to my YouTube channel in installments so if you want more, pop over there!
I decided to go fairly last minute and only booked in September. I'm an annual pass holder and knew my pass would be expiring in December and I won't be renewing it, so I mostly went to make the most of having it for one last time. It makes trips pretty affordable as not only is park entry free, but my particular pass (the 'Dream' pass) entitles you to 20% off of things in the park and 10% off food which really makes a difference. As I went for Christmas last trip, I decided this one I'd visit for Halloween as it's something I've never experienced at Disneyland Paris, only Disneyland in Anaheim. Naturally I couldn't help but compare them, and I'm pleased to say they both nail the holiday equally as well. I expected Disneyland Paris might not be as good at Halloween as it's not as big of a holiday in Europe as it is in the US, but they really went all out. In fact they had more Halloween decorations than they did Christmas decorations when I went back in December!
This was installed in Fantasyland, Maleficent's dragon made out of thorns and exuded smoke. During the day Maleficent herself did a meet and greet in front of it.
I loved that it was just as much a celebration of Autumn as well as Halloween
The villains It's Good To Be Bad show which they held several times each day. I really loved how many villains were around, including ones from the less popular films.
I love Rex, I relate to his nervous disposition.
Disneyland Paris doesn't have Dapper Dans, which makes me sad as they were probably my favourite thing about the entire park in Disneyland in Anaheim. I don't know why Paris doesn't have them, if it's a language issue? However especially for Halloween they had a live brass band in Main Street.
The special Autumn and harvest themed parade.
I also decided to really make the most of it and buy a ticket for the Halloween Soiree event held on the 31st. It's basically Disneyland Paris' Halloween party where they close the park down early and hold a special programme of events only available on that one night. Also it's the only night of the year where adults are allowed to go to Disneyland in costume, an experience I couldn't pass up! I'd never been to a Disney Halloween party, I know in the American parks they hold several of these nights throughout September and October but I have to say I prefer Disneyland Paris keeping it restricted to the one night, it makes it more special I think.
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| Meeting Jack in my costume. I dressed as Elsa from Frozen in her coronation dress, it's amazing how many parents didn't recognise the outfit despite their kids running up to me shouting "Elsa! Elsa!" I met some people there dressed up as Hans and Kristoff, they looked incredible but unfortunately I forgot to ask for a picture! |
Was it worth paying for the extra ticket for the one night? For the experience yes, but I don't think I'd do it again though. I really enjoyed being in costume and seeing other people in their costumes, I really enjoyed the special parade they put on just for that one night featuring just the villains, I enjoyed the live music entertainment, but other than that there wasn't really anything you couldn't do on any other night.
Dr Facilier held a special Voodoo Party in Frontierland, but from what I could see the character himself wasn't there, it was just really loud music in a nightclub type atmosphere and vague Mardi Gras theme which is entirely not my idea of fun so I didn't hang around there for long.
The 5 classic Disney characters where wearing their Halloween outfits and doing meet and greets, I jumped in line for Goofy first thing to snag a picture and avoid the queue.
The villains had taken over the Princess Pavillion and Mickey Mouse's house, but the wait times for each was ludicrous and would have taken the entire night. I'm not terribly into meet and greets, I can't get away from knowing it's a person in a costume so I just feel super awkward and don't find it particularly fun so I wasn't sad to miss out. Phantom Manor doesn't get a Nightmare Before Christmas overlay like the Haunted Mansion does (thank god! I adore Nightmare Before Christmas but that overlay is tacky as hell) but it did have fog machines installed just for the night. It was truly atmospheric seeing this creaky old house on a fog smothered hill.
I mostly enjoyed the parade. The villains had commandeered the floats from the earlier Autumn themed parade. Obviously this is a money saving tactic, but I liked it as it truly felt like the villains had taken over the park and were putting their own spin on things. They also had a lot of ghoulish characters such as pumpkins, voodoo dolls, rats, etc which were genuinely creepy. Especially when one of the rats came and shoved his face right into mine, he was on stilts and towered right over me, I didn't know what to do!
I lost my shit seeing Pain and Panic. OMG!!! I've never seen these characters in the flesh before, I assumed they no longer existed after the film's release. I love Hercules so much, it's one of my favourite Disney movies.
I tried my first ever candy apple. I don't know what I expected, but I didn't think I'd like it and I loved it! Can't believe I've been missing out on these all my life. I love how they decorate them to look like Snow White's apple, too.
I was actually sitting with my back to the pirate ship eating my candy apple when I noticed the atmospheric music start to increase, so I quickly spun around and they had an entire little light show projected onto the ship complete with canon fires and the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack. I love when unexpected things like that happen, it makes it all the more special than when you've queued up for something. Another unexpected was a live band wandering around Fantasyland. Unfortunately my photos don't do them justice as it was too dark for my camera, but they had a full band dressed in Halloween costumes and dancers on stilts jumping around the place.
I had such a wonderful time, it was a really nice note to end my annual pass on, especially as I don't know when I'll next be going back to a Disney park. As much as I love them, I'm itching to expand my travels more!
I took some film photographs too which I'm still waiting to be developed, but I'll definitely be sharing them in a future post.
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