Day 49: Disneyland goes HARD here!

Up at 7am, sleep was no longer in my vocabulary. A quick shower, some toast with Nutella, a packed bag, and a water bottle full of ice, we were out the door quickly to grab the metro and RER A to get to Chessy, the town where Disney's located. Quite the long trek, we arrived around 9:40am, ready to take on the day and ride as many attractions as possible. Making it through the line easily, we arrived first in the smaller park which is called Walt Disney Studios.

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The moment my feet were inside the park again, I felt like a kid in the best way possible. The magic of Disney is strong as it seeped through my toes to the rest of my body. I also felt a little lost in time as the last time I was here was with my family. 11-year-old me came rushing back as I felt the pull of the past in the familiar sites around me.

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Our first ride was the Tower of Terror, one that I will always love. I enjoyed that it was still the original as it is now Guardians of the Galaxy themed in California. Getting our stomachs to churn a bit, we then made our way to the Rockin' Roller Coaster, one that I remember well from all those years ago, one that made me beyond sick the last time I did it. I cannot say that my experience was much different this time. It really does whip you around like a rag doll, blasting music in your ears while doing it. I made sure to walk very slowly out of the seats when it was over. Honestly, I might even have been able to puke but seeing as it was just the beginning of the day, I had to tough it out. To calm my upset stomach, we went on the studio tour, similar to Universal, just not as long or detailed. I will admit though, the one demonstration with fire and water surprised me with its grandeur. Next up was Ratatouille, one that now holds a special place in my heart. With the movie being one of my favorites ever, I had a blast being a little rat like Remy. Occasionally having to close my eyes from the 3D experience, I still found it mesmerizing. Oh how I wished it existed in California. Not feeling my best after these four almost back-to-back experiences (the lines were still rather short), I was grateful that the next ride was a 70 minute wait. The longest wait of the entire day, it was also absolutely necessary, otherwise, I really would have puked right then and there. This was the Nemo ride, also one that I was not familiar with. We were in little turtles that ended up spinning us around as if we were caught in the powerful stream of water that the turtles swim in from the first movie. Surprisingly, this did not make me as sick as I expected. Nonetheless, I still needed a little something to sit sit in my stomach. Right by the Ratatouille ride, there were several booths with food from different French regions. Adorable, I know. I ended up going for the Bretonne booth where I had the wonderful opportunity to eat quite a good galette with goat cheese, arugula, walnuts, and honey.

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Heading to the main park, we were equally successful in hitting practically all of the major rides with very little wait times. First, we got our Fastpasses for Thunder Mountain, then we made our way through the watery Pirates of the Caribbean ride, then over to "It's a Small World" (a favorite), followed by Hyperspace Mountain (the first roller coaster I ever went on which goes SO much harder than the one I know in the States). Taking a mini break, we grabbed some ice cream, mine being vanilla pecan blondie and peanut butter cup (truly full of flavor...both had my heart at first bite). Not wanting to miss our Fastpass times, we skiddadled over to Thunder Mountain, inhaling ice cream as we speed walked. The ride was a different track than that in the States, making me happy to experience something new and thrilling. Indiana Jones was next on our list. In some ways we hoped the line would be a little longer to let our stomachs settle but alas, 15 minutes was the wait. Such a short wait time also meant that we couldn't NOT do it. This was nothing like the one in California as it was both outdoors and had a loop. I am just lucky the ice cream decided not to come back up the way it went down... Haunted Mansion was our next stop, one that I have always liked for its creativity and coolness inside. We genuinely did these three in less than an hour. I find that impressive on a Friday towards the end of July. Unfortunately we waited in the line for the carrousel which happened to break down right as it would have been our turn to get on. No elegant fake horse riding for us. Another time...

Feeling utterly exhausted meant that we were doing this day right. Our last stop ended up being the Buzz Lightyear ride, one of my favorite characters as a child. Shooting my little laser, my score grew considerably. What can I say, I was meant to fight alien toys. What am I even doing in school at this point!?

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Saying a lovely goodbye to the magical place as the sun started to dim a little, I felt like my day was complete. We DID these parks and did them well.

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The RER and metro home was a long one and all I wanted to do was sleep. My eyelids could barely stay open. Finally back in the apartment, the uncle had made us a dinner which was largely considerate and I greatly appreciated the warm food after the long day. Some cucumbers with bread, rice and onions, as well as chicken, my stomach was maybe even a little too filled.

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Before getting some much needed sleep, we found a brunch place for the next day. As my head hit the pillow, I was thinking about the comforting morning food I was bound to have. I will admit, laying horizontal with my eyes closed brought me back to the roller coasters...a little vertigo hit me...I had that one coming, didn't I? I had it 8 years ago after Disney too. Some things never change.