Tuesday – 3rd October, 2017 – Au voleur! (Stop thief!) and Secret Passages - Continued

We hadn’t much planned so it was It’s a Small World as first choice. Along the way we pass Toad hall which was actually open. This is the first time in all the visits we have ever made.



The Queen of Hearts was doing a meet and greet so managed to get a shot of her:



First gripe coming up.
So “It’s time to sparkle “ is it? Well, not in the flower bed areas it’s not. They haven’t been touched in months and there are large weeds everywhere.



I never think the flower beds at DLP are that brilliant compared to WDW or DLCA. They just bung plants in on mass and leave them to their own devices but this is disgraceful. No trimmed edges or colourful display.

I had never realised what a short ride the Paris version of Small World is compared to other Disney parks around the world.







We pass by the Evil Queen who is giving a guest, dressed as Snow White, a heck of a time.



One thing we have noted is that meet and greets are way better organised than they used to be. You now get in a queue and wait your turn unlike the "free for all" that they used to have. Amazing what a Tensa barrier can do!

We pass by Alice and the Mad Hatter:



Next is the Dragon in his lair under the castle. He is still belching smoke and threatening to terrorise small children. It’s a great animatronic and unique to the Paris park.





Ascending the stairs into the castle from the lair, we have a look around the Christmas shop. Found this delightful piece. A nice souvenir of the 25th celebrations:



Popped outside to the Auberge du Cendrillon or "Cindy's pub" as we like to call it. It's here that her coach is stored in the courtyard - amazing how many people miss it.



We head into Frontierland for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The area has been dressed for the Mexican Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos). It is on November 2nd but I guess they think it mixes in with Halloween.



There is Halloween decor too:





They have certainly refurbished BTMRR and the water splash in the dip in the track is working really efficiently to the point you get drenched if the wind is in the wrong direction.





Having the advantage of the open ended Fastpasses means we aren't waiting long to get rides like this:



Love how the train travels under the lake to get to the mesa - certainly makes this the best version of this ride anywhere in the world.

On to Phantom Manor. Exterior wise this is just so atmospheric.



A short line so we were in soon. The lobby prior to the lifts is disappointing. Just a haunted voice and some flickering candles. No special effects. Even the lift doesn’t go far – about eight feet at a guess and nothing apart from dim lights happens in the roof. The ride itself needs some upgrades.








Many find the story confusing as it is very different to the US versions:
“In the gold rush days of Thunder Mesa, two brothers who owned the Big Thunder Mine built a beautiful mansion overlooking town. Arthur Ravenswood, the more refined and level-headed of the two brothers, managed the family’s business ventures, drafting the ownership documents of Big Thunder and investing the family fortune in railroad and steamship stocks. His rowdy, impetuous older brother Henry, on the other hand, spent much of his time bullying and womanizing which frequently kept him at odds with his family, particularly with his wife Martha. In spite of their contentious relationship, Henry and Martha had a daughter, the beautiful Melanie.
With Martha’s motherly nurturing, Melanie grew into a lovely young girl despite her brash, overly protective father who forbade her to leave the Manor or its grounds to venture into town and socialize. Melanie’s only friends were Jasper and Anna Jones who managed the stately manor house and its splendid gardens.
Tragedy struck the Ravenswood family in 1860 when a terrible earthquake hit Thunder Mesa. Henry Ravenswood, on an inspection tour of Big Thunder with Arthur’s mine foreman Jake, was presumably crushed by falling timbers. Sadly, Martha also perished due to her weak heart. A mere six years later, Jasper died when his horse was spooked by a rattlesnake on the Manor grounds.
In the meantime, Arthur had become a sickly recluse, confined to the Manor and tended to by his young wife, Gabrielle. His faithful dog, Goliath, never left his master’s side. As the Ravenswood fortune had been depleted, mostly by Henry’s foolish, lavish spending, a wealthy San Francisco socialite and family friend, Marie-Thérèse de Bourbon, came to Arthur’s financial aid. But the end was near for the Ravenswood legacy, as Arthur was to succumb to his illness in 1867 and Gabrielle died only a year later, most likely of a broken heart.
Melanie Ravenswood was encouraged by her dear betrothed, Jake, who no longer worked in the mine, to leave the Manor with him. Henry’s dark, restless spirit, which had hovered over the ever-dilapidating manor house was outraged; he invoked his spiteful jealousy and became the vengeful Phantom. As the mansion was being prepared for the young couple’s wedding reception, Jake met his untimely demise at the hands of the malevolent Phantom. Little did Melanie know that her dreams of a wedding would never come to pass or that her overly protective father would forever hold her captive in the manor house where she had grown up.”
So – now you know.

Back in Frontierland Jack Skellington is doing meet and greets at his cemetery:



So we leave the park and walk back to New York Hotel through Disney Village. They have Halloween touches there too:



The balloon is still giving rides on the Lake edge. At night, you can see the light at the top of the Eiffel Tower - 25 miles away:



I'm feeling tired so I decide to get a taxi:



The advantage of doing Club Level at the Hotels is that you have a lounge. Here, you can have a full breakfast as I shall reveal later. You also can partake of afternoon tea – and they put on quite a little spread at the Empire State Lounge.





A few mugs of tea and some delicacies later and we are refreshed. We head to our suite and sort out clothes and toiletries.

I forgot to mention the corridor carpet. Spot the not too well Hidden Mickey?



The hotel provide these Disney toiletries:




We put our feet up for a short while. The Illuminations show on the castle at Disneyland Parc is at park closure (8:00p.m.) so we head on over about 7:15p.m. to find a place to watch. You have to go through security again as you are entering Disney Village.

Once in the park, there’s a small wall surrounding the outdoor seating at Casey’s at the top of Main Street so we park ourselves there and Darrin goes off to get coffees. I note that each lamp post has a Tinker Bell on it. She is in different poses on each one:



As to the show itself. It’s OK but its no “Dreams”, the former show. They use too many film clips and not digital stuff designed especially for the castle contours. The only bit we really enjoyed was the Pirates of the Caribbean. Frozen featured. What is it with that film? You’d think Disney hadn’t made any other outstanding cartoon features. The fireworks, by contrast, are amazing.








We make our way out of the park via the Liberty Arcade.

I must explain these for American friends who will read this report:
Unlike Main Street at DL California or Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida the Paris park has two arcades that run parallel with the back of the shops – one either side of Main Street. If a CM needed to go backstage they would exit the shop into the arcade area, cross it and then exit to backstage. The Liberty and Discovery walk-throughs were built for two reasons: because of the inclement weather the area can get and also as means to quickly get people out of the park at closure. They both bring you out in Town Square if you are leaving that way.

We tootle back to our hotel and head for the New York bar. A couple of night caps are called for plus we have Croque Manhattan sandwiches (cheese and ham on toast). We also share a platter of Iberico ham. Neither of us wants a large meal. Long Island Iced Teas and gin and tonics are consumed.





Time for bed. It’s 10p.m. and we have an early start. Both parks now do “Extra Magic Time” from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m.and we plan to ride Ratatouille at the Walt Disney Studios as we have never done it before.

So it’s pleasant dreams.


INDEX: https://DIBB.in/12887214

All in all a great day was had then

Geoff. Sounds like you had a really good time. Make sure you write to the gardening dept!
Nice to see you weren't the victim of another pick pocket attempt as well!
Very good report as I learnt a lot having never paid any interest in this Park and know nothing about it.

Nice food platter at the end of the day.

A good day in the park. How bad is the gardening department? I would never thought you'd see weeds growing!

Thanks for sharing.

Great day after your exciting start! I love the Christmas decoration - I always find that DLP has some really nice ones. Our trip last Oct has just popped up on fb memories - great Halloween parade - but no chance of one soon as we just returned from WDW a week ago!

Sounds like a great day, some lovely photos you've got.
Although the gardening boarders , like you say need some serious attention!

Fantastic part 2 looks like you had a great day and thanks for the history of Pantom Manor I never got it there!
Hotel New York looks great may consider it now for february was originally looking at Newport Bay!

I really love that Christmas decoration.
I am surprised at the state of the gardens, not Disneyish at all! (Disneyish...is that a word...)
A nice bit of info about the park too having never visited ourselves.

Certainly put in a report about the weeds

Glad you enjoyed that rest of your day, thanks for all the information. We will visit one day.

Lesley and Melvin

Great afternoon. There is a hanging figure in the glass ceiling of stretching room. It is the groom.
That afternoon tea looks nice.