Disneyland Paris: Thanksgiving and Surviving Dante's 7th Circle of Hell

The holiday season approached and would be our first time celebrating without family and friends. Our only option, head to the happiest place on earth, Walt Disney World - or the closest thing we have to it, Disneyland Paris (the park formerly known as Euro Disney).  Taking advantage of the long weekend, we drove to Marne la Vallée Wednesday night.  It was Thanksgiving Eve and visions of turkey legs danced in our heads, but there would be no turkey for us this year.

It was Thanksgiving morning and we thought we would help ourselves to a hearty breakfast from the Hotel Santa Fe.  As we left our room, we passed a crib in the hallway - no baby - just a fully assembled crib in the hallway.  A head-scratcher, but we assumed the baby had responsible parents - plus, we had a full day of rides ahead of us, there was no time to become a search party.

We arrived at the main headquarters of the hotel, the locus of nightmares - if the Exchange and Commissary are the 8th and 9th circle of Hell, then the Santa Fe's dinning area is easily the 7th circle.   The line was more than an hour long, which was confusing (like a hallway crib) because breakfast was buffet-style.  On this traditional day of insatiable gluttony, there would be no morning meal.

Entrance to the Park

Horse pulling our trolly

We walked to the park and started our day the way we normally would in Walt Disney World - take a ride on the Tower of Terror.  After a jolting wake up call, we walked around and enjoyed the other mainstays of Disney parks: Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain, and Space Mountain.  We soon noticed the intensity level of the rides at Disneyland Paris were above those in Orlando.  This was welcomed on the Tower of Terror, but Space Mountain (Mission 2) was a different story.

Holiday parade

Selfie

Space Mountain in Magic Kingdom opened in 1975, a ride that is more of a kiddie coaster by today's standards.  The European version was completed twenty years later - and as with the times, the cauldron of technology and thrills cooked up something stronger.  As we walked through the queue, Julie noticed the ride had shoulder harnesses, imploring me to tell her if the ride goes upside-down or has inversions.  Technically, I didn't know, but I did know that a shoulder harness usually implies a loop or two - a fact I may have shared too late to turn back.  The seats were secure, the countdown began, and we took off - to what may be the funniest two-minutes ever experienced on a roller coaster.  Julie screamed and cursed the entire ride, a profanity-laden tirade for the ages.  Turns out, the coaster has 1.5G (force) take off and three inversions - not quite like the kiddie coaster back in the States (although, I had fun).

Christmas Decorations

Main Street U.S.A.

We spent the next part of the afternoon walking Main Street U.S.A. looking for "Thanksgiving dinner" at potential restaurants.  Walt's had just opened and we were able to secure a reservation for a late lunch/early dinner. Also, we were lucky enough to book a window seat overlooking Main Street, where we could watch fake snow come down every half-hour.  The "American" restaurant featured a soup du jour that may have been the best soup we ever had.  If memory serve correct, it was pumpkin soup with mushrooms (possibly Enoki) and cream - dinner and desert were also very good.  We enjoyed the park a few more hours, repeating our favorite rides before lining up in front of the castle for the night's closing of Disney Magic and fireworks.

Holiday Mice

Unfortunately, now came the saddest part of our day, returning to our hotel room at the Sante Fe - and (for those keeping track) the crib was still in our hallway.  Having spent an entire day walking the parks, a shower was needed.   However, this proved to be more troublesome task than thought possible.  There were only two water options, arctic squall or raining hell-fire (no wonder the French don't shower...zing!!!  only kidding, we love France).  Although, in theory - the polar temperature should have soothed the second-degree burns from the inferno.  Julie called the front desk to ask if they could fix the shower or if we could change rooms, they proceeded to place her on hold for twenty minutes before responding.  Apparently, it was like Christmas Eve in Bethlehem, there were no other rooms available and the shower would be "fixed" the following day.  The shower was never fixed, the breakfast buffet line was (always) horrible, and the staff - even worse.

The Castle

However, if you are looking for that campground feeling inside a building-like atmosphere, the Santa Fe might be for you.  The rooms are like a spacious tent with adequate beds and a working television. No camp fire needed to cook those beans, just run them under the scalding shower water for a few minutes and ojalá, dinner.   A crib and closet on wheels might block your hallway like artery plaque, but if you are fleet of foot - it will serve as a welcomed obstacle.  The only saving grace - well, there was none, but the traffic cone lamps were a nice touch.