Funny family pictures

Everybody has them, so why aren't they shared more? The weird, funny, or unexpected pictures that turn up on your camera when you return home. Our first trip to DLP in September was full of these pictures, mainly involving Adam's mom, Grace. Unintentionally, of course.

This picture, of Adam's sisters and brother in law was taken by Grace, Adam's mum. Not staged, unplanned, but ended up looking like a boyband album cover from the late 90s. Everyone looking in different directions? Different fields of depths? It's got it all.

more after the jump...

Disneyland Park Attraction Posters

There is a walkway near the front entrance of Disneyland Park, between the Town Hall and lockers which has a wall lined with beautiful attraction posters. It's one of my favourite spots in the whole resort.

I've never noticed these in Walt Disney World, but does anyone know if they exist in other Disney parks (in some format)?

more after the jump...

The French Castle of My Dreams

When I was a kid, growing up in Florida, I once had a really vivid dream about visiting a French castle/monastery (I know, I was a cool kid). It's one of those dreams that even though I had it probably 17 years ago, it has stayed with me. I never thought I'd really get to go to a French castle, but look, here I am in one. It was my first thought upon entering the tunnel in the castle and it was beautiful.

A little Sunday morning home baking

Purchasing a Disneyland Paris annual passport

Our first trip to Disneyland Paris was in September of this year. I had my heart set on annual passes, because I knew we'd go at least once more and it would pay for itself. With a Christmas trip booked and an early summer trip brewing in our minds, I think we've made the right decision.

The process of purchasing a Disneyland Paris 'Passport Annuel' was really easy. Upon arrival at the park, we asked a cast member where to get them. She said we could go into the park but that process seemed complicated so we went for Donald's Desk, a small room to the right hand side of the main entrance, outside the park officially. The queue was long for 4:30 pm on a Wednesday afternoon but we knew once we had these we'd be good for a whole year of Disney! 

Once inside, you're called over to one of the desks where a friendly cast member takes your details, confirms the level of pass you want, then takes your picture with a little detachable webcam. It's all very simple and straightforward. We paid with cash as we were coming from the UK and didn't want to fuss with card charges. Our passes, the Fantasy, allow 320 days of access for €159 (about £130). These are among the cheapest annual passes for any Disney park, worldwide. 

The passes are printed on a plastic card, like a credit card or hotel room key, and are inserted into a little plastic sleeve along with a small pamphlet about black out dates. This info packet is in French but it's easy enough to figure out the dates, no problem. This set up is superior to WDW because of the nice presentation and hard backed cards. The annual passes at WDW are just paper and to me, don't feel as substantial as the Paris ones. You really feel like you're getting something important when they hand these over.

The Passport Annuel offers great discounts like 10% off dining and merchandise, 30% off Disney hotel stays, and extra magic hours - probably my favourite bonus so far. 

If you plan on going to Disneyland Paris two or three (or more!) times in a year, it's a really great deal.

DLRP Magic has an excellent section on the Passport Annuel, which is where I learned all about it!

A new beginning

There seems to be mixed feelings about Disneyland Paris. Some love it, others don't think it lives up to its American cousins, and some include it in their Disney bucket list.

I'm a Walt Disney World purist, having turned my nose down at any other location. That was until one day I realized that I could ride Pirates of the Caribbean even though I'm 4,000 miles away from home.

I grew up near Tampa, Florida, only two hours from WDW. My first trip to the World was in 1988 and I went to Disney more times than I can remember. I even joined the French Club for a couple months in high school so I could go to Epcot with them, Epcot being my favourite park and one of my favourite places in the whole world!

Now I live in London, a 3 hour Eurostar trip away from Disneyland Paris. My boyfriend Adam (who will contribute by writing about Disney video games and probably films) and I recently purchased annual passes to the Paris parks and I intend to document our trips over the next year, giving you a view about the French park from the perspective of a Florida purist!