Disneyland Paris Day 3 - The Studios

Day 3 started with an early breakfast actually in the Disney Park itself. As it was before the main gates opened we used the opportunity to get a rare photo of all four of us.

But after breakfast it was a change of scenery as we headed out of the Park and into Disney Studios for the first time. The boys opted for the lazy route back down Main Street and took a ride on this old style double decker.

Walt Disney Studios entrance.

Walt himself in a pose next to his greatest masterpiece - Mickey Mouse.

Within the studios the two boys got to watch some great live children's shows including Mickey Mouse Playhouse, Lilo and Stitch and Animagic to name but a few. Given how hot the weather was and how much walking you do in Disneyland, it was actually quite nice to sit down and watch a show.

Mickey casting his magic at the Toon Studio.

The very first ride we went on was the Aladdin magic carpet ride (very similar to the Orbitron ride which Brandon liked in Disneyland, but with magic carpets). As we were so early we had no waiting to get on this ride and even stayed on for a second go around. 

Me and Brandon rode the back of the magic carpet.

Joshua took front seat and controlled the height of our ride using the little joystick.

And we are off..........

Next was the Disney Cars Lightning McQueen ride which Brandon had waited so patiently to go on. This ride looks a bit tight and compact but was actually really good fun. Brandon got to have an extra go whilst me and Joshua went on Crushes Coaster (but that is a whole other story to come later!).

Lightning and his best friend Mater.

The boys all revved up and no place to go.

And then we were off, being spun and twisted around at a rate of knots.

Little Brandon chuckling away in the back of the car.

So the story with Crushes Coaster! Well I had promised Joshua a ride on Thunder Mountain as he is tall enough and loves a good coaster. However it was closed for refurbishment during our visit. So after much hunting around, the next best coaster was "Crush's Coaster" from the Disney film Nemo. This turned out a disaster. After waiting 45 mins and getting to about 30 places from the front of the cue, all the lights came on and the ride shut down due to a mechanical fault. We were so disappointed and had committed 45 mins of our time and so we decided to hand on for a further 15 mins knowing that the moment I left the cue it would surely start again (sods law).

Anyway low and behold they got the ride going and we boarded our turtle shell. I told Joshua we would really enjoy this after waiting an hour. What can I say? I seriously underestimated this ride. Imagine the black hole coaster but with a few scary Nemo shark characters thrown in and some serious drops and spins. Poor Joshua came off of the ride a bit shaken and really hadn't enjoyed it one little bit. Even worse than that though was that Tina was freaking out because outside everyone knew the truth that it wasn't a mechanical breakdown, but someone had had a heart attack on the ride. The told everyone inside that was in the cue that it was a mechanical problem, but everyone outside knew the truth. Given that Tina hadn't seen us for nearly an hour she started to worry that I was the one who had had the heart attack and that Joshua was on his own in there.

So after the disaster of the Crush Coaster we needed to calm the boys down a bit and so we decided to jump on an extra long bus that takes you around some studio sets and shows you a few film sets with rain storms and exploding tankers etc.

Before getting on the bus for the tour we found this stunning old car.

Our tactic to calm the boys down failed dismally. When the film set burst into life with a crashing thunder storm, both boys got scared despite being safely in a bus. Then the bus we was on started to shake around as if being in an earth quake and then the next thing you know the tanker in front of us blew up with an almighty explosion. I think me and Tina still have the nail prints in our arms where the boys clung on for dear life. So much for trying to calm them both down for a bit!

The exploding tanker.

On route to the film set they have lots of film props for you to view including some stunning cars and space ships from various films. Even the shuttle from Armageddon was there. But the boys favourite was the RC racer from Toy Story.

Full size Toy Story RC racer. I want a go!!!!!

Probably the best part of Disney Studios is the Toy Story Land. The whole setting is just amazing from the domino walls to the mechanix fences. At the entrance you are greeted by this giant 20ft high Buzz Lightyear.

Me, Brandon and Joshua standing under a giant Buzz Lightyear.

The only ride the boys could not go on was the RC Racer. However we did manage to go on the slinky dog ride and the toy soldier parachutes.

Me and Brandon with a life size Rex from Toy Story.

Joshua underneath Rex playing on the letter blocks.

Brandon found a giant domino with a 3 (for his age) and a 4 (for Joshie's age).

Joshua trying to climb up the back of Rex'y.

This was the giant domino wall. What a great idea and a thought provoker for a wall idea to put in one of the boys bedrooms or even the playroom. The boys had fun searching around for different numbers and colours.

Mathmatician Joshua, 3 + 1 = his age 4!

No matter how hard we pulled the dominos could not be pulled out.

The RC Racer splash photo point.

Probably the best ride in Toy Story Land was the Toy Soldier Parachute lift. We waited about 20 mins to get on this and took a gamble that Brandon would be OK as it goes up pretty high and then drops you to the ground leaving your stomach up in the sky. But the little guy absolutely loved it and was chuckling away throughout the whole ride.

Joshua at the entrace to the Toy Soldier parachute ride.

The 3 boys all strapped in and ready to go.

And off we go, up, up and away.

The ride goes up pretty high and then drops you to the ground. This is repeated about 4 times.

A life size model bolser wood plane. Humm another idea/project for me and the boys!!!

A view across Toy Story Land with the amazing lights, the parachutes in the background etc.

Ratatouille not happy with the cheeky boys stealing his cheese.

Cheeky Brandon.......

Joshua loves a bit of Monsters Inc and here he is meeting one of the characters (I can never remember if the one eyed monster is Mike or Sulley).

Once again the boys found an old abandoned car, this time and ice cream van. For the next 15 minutes Disney Studios was deafened by the sound of "Who wants ice cream?".

Now that's what I call an ice cream van - and the bonus was the boys found a toy grabber inside as well.

I think the boys would prefer an old car like this in the back garden as opposed to any climbing frame, swing or slide. We pretty much had to drag them away kicking and screaming.

At the end of yet another long, long day then its time to role out the red carpet and get the limo back to the hotel.

Lets hope the boys don't get any ideas that they can start climbing all over my car like this.

There was one amazing part of Disney Studios which I decided to save for the next blog update. That was the awesome Disney character car parade. Coming next............