DisneyLand Paris feels like a Lite version of the parks in Orlando and Los Angeles. The Jungle Boat ride, Toon Town, and many of the features like the 4-D movies and the animatronic bears are missing from the Paris version. Instead, Paris has a few walk-through activities like: Aladdin's Adventure - dioramas of the Aladdin movie; Alice's (of Wonderland) Labyrinth - a collection of hedge mazes with the various characters; and Adventure Isle - various settings based on the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. They also had a pirate-themed play area for toddlers to climb and run.
As for rides, everyone, including my son, rode Pirates of the Caribbean, Peter Pan's Flight, The Voyages of Pinnochio (which appears to have replaced Mr. Toad's wild ride), It's A Small World, and Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast - a ride that has you shooting attacking robots with a laser mounted on your car and scoring points (my niece and I tied). My daughter liked Small World and Peter Pan best. When we return on Friday, we will have to repeat those. Other than the Laser Blast, we intentionally did not spend any time in Tomorrowland so we will have new attractions when we return for our daughter's birthday.
After Disney, we put the kids to bed and left them with our niece while my wife and I went out...to the grocery store. We did not pack three weeks of baby food, diapers, etc., intending to buy what we needed instead. Part of this was to save packing space. Part of this was finally having an opportunity to buy baby supplies in a Western country. And buy we did! In Jakarta, we're lucky to find a check-out aisle sized area with baby food, supplies, etc. This grocery store had three full aisles! My wife was in motherhood heaven.
To get to the store, we took the shuttle to Disney, then the train one stop, and walked about a block to the store. Required about fifteen minutes. To get back to the hotel, we just needed to repeat the process, and that took just sixty minutes. We spent forty of that waiting for the train to take us one stop to Disney. My wife and I did not get to bed until midnight, knowing we would be woken at 6 AM the following morning by a hungry baby.
The next day, we went to Versailles. I've been to Paris three times. I've visited Versailles each time. I love the ornate splendor and attention to artistic detail the various kings, architects and designers have put into each and every room throughout its history. The manicured garden is a thing of wonder. It is my second favorite place in Paris (we will visit my favorite place on Thursday).
To get to Versailles, we took the shuttle to Disney, and boarded the train into Paris. We switched trains at Chatelet de Halles, and switched trains again at St Michel. Ninety minutes later the train pulled into Versailles Rive Gauche station. A short walk had us gazing upon the enormous castle walls and guardian statues. The line was horrible. After standing in line for thirty minutes, a person I had previously spoken to to ask for directions to the toilet took that moment to notice that we had a stroller and advised us that we could purchase tickets at a store up the street and not have to stand in line - same price. We left the line and walked to the store. Ten minutes later, we were standing in line to enter the castle. Probably saved us at least forty minutes.
As always, Versailles was amazing. Unfortunately, other events of the day is what we will remember most. The first was the "poop explosion" my son had at breakfast, covering his entire back and much of his stroller. That was a warning shot of events to come. In the castle, in which we could not bring the stroller so one of us always had to hold him, he spit up multiple times. Finally, after feeding him his dinner, he regurgitated his recently consumed spinach all over himself, his mother, and the booth. I'm sure the hotel bar was happy to see us leave. The travel time spent on trains was especially grueling. The metro stations are not stroller friendly, and I found myself carrying the stroller up and down flights of stairs. At times, we also had to collapse it completely because there was no passage. By the end of the day, we were truly exhausted - mentally and physically.
Hardship is how memories are made and bonds are formed. If the worst of our vacation is fatigue from walking and mental stress from a demanding baby, we've done alright. Because along with all the stress, are moments of levity. On Tuesday, we had two. The first occurred in Versailles. My daughter had urgent bathroom issues every hour or so. When we started our tour, she kept asking to see the bedrooms of the king and queen. Fifteen minutes into the tour, she started informing us she needed to use the toilet. We told her she would have to wait until the end of the tour. Shortly thereafter, she stopped asking to see the bedrooms and started asking if she could see the king's toilets. The second happened at lunch. We stopped at a bar (which we had thought was a cafe) and had panini and wine. I think we would all agree that dehydration, fatigue, empty stomachs and two glasses of red wine make for a very quick buzz. Conversation became a little more challenging. When we spoke of Barcelona, and the drinks we wanted when we were there, my wife asked "Is there Spain in Tequila?" Of course, in our inebriated state, this caused an eruption of laughter and a burst of badly needed energy.
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