Ok, Disneyland.
First off, I refer to lines as Queues, or Qs because I've been hanging out with Nick too much and actually started saying that, and because Q is easier to write.
Well, our trip to Disneyland started out kinda rough, with Nick losing his wallet and not being able to find tickets for the RER (the train/subway we had to take there). But we finally got there, and it was amazing right from the start. Nick is such a wonderful person to go with. We both agreed that had anyone else gone with us they would have gotten very annoyed with us. We have a lot of the same annoying habits. For instance, if we see something interesting, which happened all the time, we would grab the other person by the arm and run there. Also we got distracted a lot and would often forget where we were going because of that. And we both would yell and laugh if we got excited. And we would both stop in the middle of whatever we were saying to sing along with the music they were playing. So really we were a perfect match go with each other.
Disneyland is a theatre person's haven. Really it is. Just take the park itself. All the workers have to dress in costume and a lot of them act in character. Every single part of the park is themed, which means sets, props, lighting. There's always music playing in the background.
And then there's the shows. Ok, so they are obviously theme park shows. But they are theme park shows with MONEY!!! I've never seen such gratuitous use of flying. And the sets, lighting, FOG!! There's fog everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Do you know how much dry ice costs? It was insane. But walking around really is like walking around a giant show all day. A show where you get to go onstage.
So, we get to Disneyland and basically run around Main street USA and Adventureland for awhile. Then we calm down and decided on a ride. We choose Pirates of the Caribiean. The Qs are surprisingly not bad. I don't think we Qed for more than 45 mins, 60 tops the entire day. Which is really great. Anyway, the ride is so much fun. It's got ride elements- hills and drops and such, but it's also just this boat floating around and you get to see there robots acting out a pirate story. There's tons of lighting and special effects, and if you've seen the movie there's some familar scenes. It's fun.
After that we decide to go inside the castle. Apparently this castle is different in that its 2 stories tall and you can go outside. I don't know. But we do have fun playing around in there and taking pictures.
After that we decide to see a show. For the Lion King show, you have to go pick up a ticket an hour in advance. It's free, but they only have so many seats. So we try to find the ticket place, we even ask two people for help, but it's no good. In one last attempt we go into a building, only to find out- its the show!! We apparently walked into the side door and the show is going on right now. So we just stand on the side and watch. It's in French, but only when they're not singing. Besides, we know the plot. Anyway, the show is so weird. It's the most condensed story of the Lion King ever, with typical theme-park show highlights, such as changing some of the melodies to more add more belting. But, this is where the money comes in. The set/stage is amazing, and has robotic animals build into it (like pumba). The costumes are great, and include mechanics (timone's mouth actually moves when he talks, the hyenas' eyes glow). There is fog practically the entire show. All the moving lights make me jealous. They wanted to use projections in a couple of parts, and instead of projecting on a curtain they just make a curtain of water rain down every time they project something. And again- gratiutous flying. We missed the begining and end, so we were they for like 20 mins, and we counted 16 people flying. And not just up and down, up down, around, flipping- all sorts of things. Plus, the in the best casting decsion ever, Raffiki was played by a large black woman. Awesome.
So, having seen one show, me and Nick next head over to Space Mountain. Space Mountain is....amazing. I don't know if I can even describe it at all, much less in writing, so I'm not going to try. I was a little hesitant to go because I don't like roller coasters, but I'm so glad I did. It is not a roller coaster, it's an experience. Apparently this one is also different from the ones in the states, so I have no clue what they're like. Maybe they are roller coasters. But this one is just...wow.
So we head across the park after that to Frontierland. There we ride The Haunted Mansion. It was ok, it was fun and cute, the tricks they play on you in the Q were more scary than the ride, but it was really great because this ride is the one Nick remembers from his childhood, because he went to Disneyworld when he was little. So it was really fun to see what he remembered and didn't.
Next we go to another show. This one is the character show. As a general rule, I don't like character shows after 6 Flags, but again, this one is Disney so they had tons of money, so I at least wanted to see what they would do. And they show was semi-bi-lingual, which was weird. 99% of the songs they sung were in English, either being english Christmas songs, or for some reason...country music. I think the country section came in because they wanted to incorporate something American, and that's really the easiest American stereotype to sing about. I mean, try singing a song about a New Yorker, or California. (New York, Texas, and California are the only 3 places in America the average European knows about.) But when they were just talking they would jsut go back and forth between French and english. If they were talking to someone else, one would talk in French and the other would respond in English. And if they had something important to say they would just say it twice in both languages.
Disney did not disapoint on the money aspect. First off, the set was huge. And there were so many lights!! Plus all the characters entered from a slide, which was weird. Also, the characters have costume changes, which was a little unexpected. And then, halfway through the show, they started ice skating. Onstage. At first, we didn't think it was real. But it was. In their costumes. Very impressive. And then, of course, it snowed on the audience. And they they brought 2 real, live horses onstage. It was definately worth going to see.
All day up till then it had been cloudy and drizzling on and off. So of course none of the characters were out. But now it had cleared up a little, and they had literally sent every single one out at once. You could hardley walk there were so many out. Plus, the parade was going on. me and Nick realized this would be the perfect time to go to the ride with the longest Q- It's a Small World. We RAN to Small World, and I have to say, it was the one time that entire day that we went straight to anything without getting sidetracked. And we were totally correct about the Q. We got onto the ride in a flash. The ride was awesome!! It was exactly like the old book I used to have- the one with the record that went along with it, that you played on that blue record player?- it was exactly the same!! I took SOO many pictures because I wouldn't even bother aiming, I just held the camera in one hand and kept pressing the button. Nick laughed at me.
After that our day wound down quite a bit. We walked around and took some more pictures, and waited for the lighting ceremony, which had a catchy name that now I don't remember. The ceremony was sparkling and cute, although lacking a little in special effects if you ask me. After that we went and bought some souvieniers for Nick's family. His family has some hardcore Disney fans, who had given him money and specific things to get. But it was fun looking in the gift shops. Then we realized we hadn't eaten and we both REALLY hungry. So we got sandwitches (which Nick was nice enough to let me count as his dinner I owed him. I owed him a dinner in Paris for giving me his old i-pod), and found a spot on the sidewalk to watch the Fanitillsion parade. The parade was great!! TONS of lights, LEDS in clothing, blacklights, wonderful. And then, after the parade, we reluctantly made our way out of the park and back to the hostel. All in all, it was a fabulous day!

So I realize this post was more detailed than most people probably care about, but the thing is that this is how I remember too.