Drenched at Disneyland Paris: Spring Break with the Johnsons- Part Four

Woohoo! It's finally time for DISNEYLAND PARIS!!!!

Jennifer and Kevin were kind enough to get our two-day park hopper tickets for us for Christmas, so Bryan and I have been looking forward to this part of the Paris trip for a long time! I planned our Paris portion of the trip, now it's time for the Johnsons and Bryan to take over and lead the way for an amazing two days at DISNEY!

Thursday, April 4: Disneyland Paris

We were up and out of our hotel by 8:15 am, where we awoke to... rain. Yep, you read that right, we started our Disney day with it downpouring at our hotel. Not wanting to deal with the wet 15-minute walk to the train station, we called an Uber to take us to the front entrance. Money well spent!

Upon arrival at the pearly gates, we sheltered under umbrellas as we snapped a few photos of the entrance. We all agreed a rainy day at Disney is better than a sunny day at work, so we were determined to make the most of this rough weather!

We may have been eager for our time at Disney since we were right at the front of the line for park entry at 9:30 am! I can honestly say, I'm one lucky woman to have married into a Disney-addicted family!

Once inside, we were greeted by the one and only Mickey Mouse!

In case you were wondering, it was still raining, so we decided to start our day with all the indoor rides. (Again, I'm lucky the Johnsons know the parks as well as the Kimbles!) We took off for Paris' Hyperspace Mountain, which is just Space Mountain with a Star Wars twist!

With the rain coming down too hard to walk around outside, we took this as a sign from God that it was time to shop. We passed some rainy time checking out the pins for sale before getting some (very disappointing) beignets.

Now, I don't know about you, but beignets are supposed to be flaky and covered in powdered sugar. These tasted like hamburger buns with ears...not a great start to our park food adventure!

As the rain continued to fall, we continued our way around the park to the indoor rides. Phantom Manor was next! This version of the Haunted Mansion was a little more spooky, with the skeleton man popping out throughout the ride with his dark, sinister laugh.

I took a few video clips throughout the ride to show you the difference! It was cool to see the cemetery portion of the ride turned into a "dead" Adventureland park. Since this ride is located in this portion of the park, this change was pretty fun!

Next up: indoor It's a Small World! On our run over there, through the rain, we all happened to step in huge puddles leaving us all with drenched socks. Yep, this day just got a little worse with wet feet.

But hey, it's a small world and we are at Disney! Keep the positivity flowing!

Right outside the exit to Its a Small World, we ran into Cinderella! The Johnsons have gotten better at the "quick, turn smile!" motion that has been drilled into me since birth! They are getting the hang of it!

Now it was time for lunch (or maybe just time to warm up and dry off) so we stopped at the Pizzeria Bella Notte, inspired by Lady and the Tramp, for some pasta and mickey-shaped pizza! Again the food was pretty mid...but we needed the energy to make it through the day!

By now the rain was pretty hit-or-miss, so we figured we would run our chances at one of the outdoor roller coasters. Indiana Jones: El Le Temple Du Peril was well worth the wait! As we made our way through the line, it would pour, then drizzle, then the sun would peak through for a minute before the pouring rain started again. We were just hoping our timing would fall on the drizzle or sun part of the cycle...and we lucked out with the drizzle!

No worries though, we laughed hysterically as the rain hit us in the face throughout the ups and downs of that coaster ride! Memories were definitely made!

Realizing the "light showers until 10 am" had turned into an afternoon of full-on rain, we decided margaritas would make this news a little better. Now with neon-glowing insides from that unnaturally bright drink, we were ready to embrace the poor weather for an afternoon of fun!

But first, more time to dry inside while we watch the Lion King performance! It may have been a few years since I saw the show at Animal Kingdom, but the Paris performance was astounding! With a revolving stage, amazing costumes, and fun circus performers, I can honestly say this Lion King show was spectacular!

You know me, I had to film a few of the most memorable songs to share with you guys:

Hey look! Sunshine!!!!! and snacks!

While Disneyland Paris doesn't have the killer popcorn flavors of Tokyo Disney (my heart will forever belong to the inventor of Curry Popcorn in Tokyo) this popcorn was pretty good! I also spotted my favorite Meeko girl! Kelly and Jamie were missed on this trip, but I was sure to send them a clip of their dog's namesake!

Just look at these cool metal statues in Disneyland Paris:

Since we wandered back towards the front of the park, we figured it was time to get in some more shopping. Jennifer purchased a new Pandora charm to commemorate the trip and I, unsurprisingly, spotted a few more pins I needed for our collection!

We may have just split a bucket of popcorn, but when the Johnsons saw the dessert options available, they were down for more snacks! Vacation calories don't count, ok!?

When we made our way back outside, the sun was shining brightly and people were lined up for an upcoming parade, so we found a spot to watch the fun!

I'm always a sucker for a good Disney parade, and I'm happy to say this one didn't disappoint. Between the awesome floats, the French audio, and the amazing dancers, we enjoyed watching this lengthy parade down Main Street!

And don't worry, I have some clips to share too:

It's not a true trip to Disney without pictures in front of the castle, so that was next on our to-do list! (And yes, those clouds are coming back with a vengeance...)

With worries of rain on the horizon, we headed indoors once again for some dry entertainment! This time around it was Buzz Lightyear to the rescue! While this Buzz did speak some French, and I lost to Bryan... we did have a great time on this iconic ride!

We also enjoyed a lovely short ride on the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ride.

With tummies grumbling for dinner, Bryan volunteers an option on the other side of the park. We look outside to see the floodgates open, yet again, and decide burgers indoors sound delicious. While the boys grab dinner, Jennifer and I snag an empty table with a great view of the Disney cartoons playing on the screen. The BB8 burgers are a hit and we are all happy with our dry dinner choice!

As we finish our meal, the skies clear for more castle pictures! Just look at this stunning view of the bright pink castle!

You may have heard that Disneyland Paris' castle is unlike all others: you can climb the castle's staircase and enjoy the beautiful tapestries of the Sleeping Beauty story, stunning stained glass windows showcasing more of the stories' characters and even walk out on the castle's balcony for photos overlooking the park! I have to say, this does make Disneyland Paris' castle my favorite of all the castles, by far!

But that's not all. After snapping pictures of the castle's upper floors, we headed down, beneath the castle to find the dragon locked up and awake awaiting our visit! Yep, the Disneyland Paris castle has a dragon living beneath it!

Bryan and Kevin were stoked with this amazing animatronic! It seemed so real!

With the rainy day and the park coming to a close, and our shoes making all kinds of squishy noises, we figured the fireworks would be canceled. We left the park around 9:30 pm with higher hopes for better weather tomorrow for our final day in the parks!

April 5: Parc Walt Disney Studios

Day two at Disneyland Paris began with a stop at Starbucks for a souvenir mug and fresh cups of Joe for the entire Johnson Gang! Today's focus will be on the second park, Walt Disney Studios, and we were praying for better weather!

After hearing the Avengers theme song playing while waiting to enter the park, we were eager to head into the Avengers Campus! Our first ride there was the Web Slinger ride, where we started with an intro by Peter Parker speaking French! Don't believe me, watch this:

I can honestly say the web-slinger ride was one of my favorites from the entire trip! Y'all know the shooting rides hold a special place in my heart since they are my Dad's favorite, and this web-slinger ride took shooting rides to a whole new level! This tech allowed us to use our hands to shoot webs like Spiderman at the robot spiders! This ride takes first place for shooting rides over Toy Story Mania and Buzz Lightyear! It's the best!!!

Next up was the Avengers Assemble: Flight Force roller coaster! From our basic understanding of the French introduction, we were tasked to help Iron Man and Captain Marvel save the universe! All I know was that this roller coaster blasted us off to space real quick, just like Rockin' Roller Coaster back at Florida's Hollywood Studios park! It was awesome!

Keeping the trend with thrilling rides, our next adventure took us to The Tower of Terror, where we all lost our marbles with the unexpected first drop the moment the door shut!

Next up was a new for us ride that is only at Disneyland Paris: Crush's Coaster. Based on the Finding Nemo turtle, this roller coaster is unlike all others. The turtle shell vehicle spins along the coaster's route, making it a "wild mouse ride on steroids," according to Bryan & Kevin! As you fly along the tracks, the cart itself rotates as well, leaving us on a wild spin in the East Australian Current!

With a lunch/dinner reservation of 3:30 pm, we opted for a snack to hold us over. Unfortunately, a huge chunk of the park is under renovation right now, so our only food options were small food trucks serving single items. Not wanting to wait in a crazy line for a corn dog, we grabbed a bucket of popcorn, a bag of non-flavored Doritos, and some candy to hold us over. Lunch of champions, I tell ya!

Along that note, we can honestly say Disneyland Paris has the worst food options of all the Disney parks we have been to so far. Everything has lacked taste and has been quite boring. Bryan and I agree that if/when we come back, we will pack sandwiches and just save some dough on meals in the park. It's just not worth spending Disney money on lower-quality food.

While the day was cloudy, we were happy to be dry as we made our way to the furthest corner of the park for a chill ride: Cars Quatre Roues Rallye. With the feeling of a Disney hayride, we enjoyed our venture down Interstate 40!

With just a little time until our lunch reservation, we decided to ride the Ratatouille trackless ride. Since we didn't have an hour to wait in the regular line, we opted for the single rider line, where Bryan and I lucked out in the same car!

While this ride was fun, the 3D portion did make Bryan and little nauseous and ready for lunch. Perfect time to head to our lunch reservation at Remy, the Ratatouille-themed restaurant!

As we entered the restaurant, we noticed the tiles went from human-sized to mouse-sized once we crossed into the dining room. From here on, we felt like we were the size of rats as we enjoyed dining at Remy's very own rat-restaurant!

The four of us opted for the meal option that included an appetizer, main course, dessert, and wine pairings. Jennifer and I loved the pumpkin and squash soup, while the boys devoured their duck appetizer with Thyme Flower and Pistachio Pâté en Croûte.

For the main course, Jennifer, Kevin and I all got the steak with different sauces, while Bryan branched out and enjoyed the Roasted Cod. For dessert, the three Johnsons got the chocolate cake while I had the apple tart.

Overall this meal was by-far the best food we had in the parks! From the atmosphere to dish presentation, we felt like this place hit the nail on the head! If/when we come back to Disneyland Paris, we will 100% visit here again (and we will be able to afford it when we eat sandwiches for the rest of the meals!)

Feeling very full, we knew fast roller coasters were off the table, so we headed back to Avengers Campus for another round at web-slinging with Spiderman! This time we opted to use the single-rider line to speed things up, and we were pleasantly surprised at how quickly we were on and off this ride! And, for those wondering, this ride did live up to my earlier hype on round two!

Feeling like we had experienced all there was to offer at the Walt Disney Studios Park, we headed back across the main plaza to Disneyland.

Now there was one big thing I regretted not doing the day before at Disneyland, and that was enjoying a glass of champagne in front of the castle. With all the rain and the rushing to fill up our day to the fullest, we didn't have a chance to stop and smell the roses with a glass of bubbly in hand. And I wasn't going to let another day go by without this experience!

After finding the trolly cart serving the drinks, the Johnsons voiced that they were just going to share a glass. After some slight bullying and peer pressure, the four of us walked away €80 poorer and with FOUR glasses of French champagne! For €20 a piece, you got a commemorative champagne flute-tumbler and a lovely glass of wine to enjoy! I'd say it was well worth the money!

And I plan on having that photo above framed in my house! We look so cute with our French wine and Disney smiles on full display!

As the sun set, we crammed in another round of rides at Pirates of the Caribbean, It's a Small World, and Phantom Manor before posting up and waiting for the night's firework display!

Now Paris does their fireworks a little differently. They started with a light show reflected on the castle, which was sponsored by National Geographic, that pictured various wild animals all over the castle's exterior.

Then there was the "Electrical Sky Parade" drone show. This was my favorite part of the night's light display! As the castle lit up showcasing various French Disney movies (think Aristocats, Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Ratatouille), the sky was lit up by hundreds of drones! It's hard to describe, so here's a short clip of some of the drone work:

How cool is that, right!?!

After the drone sky parade, it was time for the traditional fireworks display that Disney parks around the world are known for. And don't worry, every single person in the park was crowded around us on Main Street to witness the colorful display!

I even filmed a little of the performance:

With the end of the fireworks display, it was time to end our magical time in the Parks. As we made our way back to the hotel, all four of us couldn't stop talking about what a magical trip this had been! From rainy days in Southern Spain, to partially sunny days in Paris to more "wet sunshine" in the parks, this trip may have been a rainy one but we have really had a trip of a lifetime with Bryan's parents!

April 6: Walking the Seine & Flight Home

The Johnsons' flight left at 11 am, so we woke up early to book their Uber to the airport. Since our flight didn't leave until 8 pm, we made sure they were good to go before heading back to our hotel room to sleep until the noon checkout time.

Bounce Luggage Storage - Les Halles Station

With the Johnsons on the way back to the States, Bryan and I made our way back to the center of Paris for a chill afternoon. We discovered Bounce Luggage Storage, an app-based company that partners with convenience stores and restaurants to store your luggage while you explore the area.

We dropped our bags at a nearby convenience store and said a prayer that all our stuff would still be there in a few hours...and then we were off to find lunch!

Au Pied de Cochon

During my trip planning time, I pinned Au Pied de Cochon after reading high reviews of their French Onion Soup. So with nothing else on the day's docket, Bryan agreed to a sit-down lunch filled with fancy pork meals and my amazingly delicious French Onion Soup.

Seine River

With a little more time to kill, we decided to stroll along the Seine River with the hopes of finding more street art for sale. Instead of street art, we found a mobile coffee shop that served us some of the best coffee we had on the entire trip! Velo Cafe Paris is a small shop hooked to a bicycle that uses a generator to make delicious coffees to go!

Ok, I lied. We did see one street artist, but he was less keen on selling his art than making more art, as you can see with his easel and paint set up above! While his work isn't my style, it was still so "French" to see an artist out and about painting. Oui! Oui!

Motors Coffee

If you can't tell by the noon sleep and the earlier cup of coffee: we are running on fumes. So with the remaining time, we found another hip coffee shop for one final cup of Joe in the French capital city!

Also peep the interesting sculpture we ran across...I assume the French aren't big Trump fans considering they put his face on a pig statue. Hm...some call it art. Others call it free speech. I say it's an interesting choice.

Sevilla Airport

But as with all other great trips, they must come to an end. We made our way back to the convenience store to get our luggage (hey, it was still there!) Then we were off to CDG Airport to catch our late flight back to Sevilla Airport!

As we left the Paris airspace, we got an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe out our plane's window! That was a pretty stellar way to end our trip!

It won't be too long until we return to the Parisian city to attend the Olympic games!

until then, À toute à l'heure!

--Katie