Magic Kingdom: Anna and Elsa, Diamond Horseshoe, and a Flirt On A Bendy Bus

Tuesday 26 April 2016, sometime after the trauma induced by the It's a Small World song...

In an attempt to shake off the song, which is going through our heads like an ear-worm, we indulge in a good old-fashioned (new-fashioned with lasers...) shoot-out in The Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. Great fun!

We all go to meet Queen Elsa and Princess Anna from Frozen. The temperature remains bearable and Grace is proudly wearing her Frozen gown which has so far spent the day in Gill's backpack.

Even Minnie was getting into the Frozen spirit! Rather too well perhaps - she was frozen stiff, not able to move at all!

We have a meal booked at a restaurant in Frontierland and we head back that way to find the Liberty Belle just leaving on another journey around Tom Sawyer's Island. (I still haven't read the book...)

Our meal is at The Diamond Horseshoe, a western saloon. Sadly there were no swinging half-shutter doors to swagger through... Jus' plumb disappointin'...

The meal was an assortment of items placed in a central dish. I really enjoyed it - there were baked beans included which were pretty much our first sight of hot vegetables since we arrived over a week ago. I was getting my five-a-day from fruit and whatever vegetable extract there might be in my ration of one fizzy drink a day!

They could have made so much more of the venue though - the setting and interior were really evocative of the wild west. There should have been some singing and dancing girls, a shooting or a fist fight or something... Sadly in line with Disney's strict no alcohol rules in the parks, there was not even any gut-rot whisky for the bar tender to slide along the bar. The main entertainment feature was a self-player piano which came to life every 20 minutes or so for a single song. And, whoops, what has Fran said to Gill...?

We finish the meal and leave the EGGs who were going to stay for the night time parade. Us crumblies need our rest... In particular my legs are suffering from a rash of prickly heat due to the temperatures once again hitting the mid 90s. My calves are a blotchy red and itching like madness.

Now I'm home I keep finding I wish I'd taken photos of so many things that never occurred to me at the time... The buses for instance. Eddie is a bit of a bus enthusiast and had been frustrated as, although we saw quite a few, we had yet to travel on a bendy bus. We came back to our resort earlier than the EGGs on this particular night and thought it quite funny that a bendy bus turned up to take us back. I took a photo of it - to the obvious delight of the woman standing near the bendy bit, who is probably thinking I fancied her and was taking a photo of her... What? With my legs???

Back at the Jamaica stop at Caribbean Beach Resort. Eddie did manage to get a ride on a bendy bus the next day so he was only indignant for a few hours...

When we got back to our room I was going for a shower and wondered where all the towels were... They were being artistic next to the TV...

Disney World Holiday Index

Disneyland Paris

Wednesday 30 January 2008. In the words of the old song: "I love Paris in the Springtime". However... It's winter. It's icy cold. It's throwing it down with rain. But hey! We're in the magical environment of Disneyland, right?

Well... right... but I do have to observe that the magic is diluted a bit by a day of non-stop rain! As I noted the other day - there is no evidence and no chance in the rain of street corner musicians to cheer us a bit and so we trog round the park, getting wetter and colder and footsore. The rides were still as great as they always are - we headed first for the Pirates of The Caribbean and then Peter Pan's Wild Flight and Pinnochio.

We rushed through the castle on our first entry but will come back for a closer look this afternoon. It was still fairly quiet even at 11:00am, so perhaps other guests had looked out of their hotel windows and thought "Nahhhhhh!" We were made of sterner stuff though! Well Fran is... I was pushed and prodded and "Come on we're going"ed!
"But it's cold... I'm wet... my feet hurt..." No, you're right! I was racing round splashing in puddles and squealing with delight whilst kids pointed and asked their parents, "Regardez la! Qui est le stupid homme???"

It's a bit disconcerting when Les Pirates (pronounced "pee-rats") speak in French, but you do soon get used to it. There was a look-a-like Johnny Depp - very good indeed in fact - posing for photos as we got off the ride but he didn't recognise me, so I didn't let on to him either! The cheek! The song is still in my head even as I'm writing this... Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me... I dragged Fran round all the bits with waterfalls but by then even her enthusiasm and immunity to rain caused her to moan that I was taking her nearer even more falling water. She ignored altogether my suggestion we should run over the suspension bridge...

Gill our daughter had said we should make sure we went on the ride Buzz Lightyear's Laser Blast. She was absolutely right - it was excellent. On the front of the little pod we sat in we had a ray gun each and had to shoot at various targets of aliens and the Evil Zurg as we went round. We even had a lever that allowed us to swing the pod from side to side! Laser spots showed where we hit so we could correct our aim. Or at least so I could... Fran scored abysmally. I scored 30x her score and that was with a spell ignoring the targets to exchange deadly laser fire with the occupants of the pod in front... They got off with little wisps of smoke rising from their coats...

We had some lunch and then went to see the excellent Lion King show in Discoveryland. Before the show started a team of drummers in African tribal dress entertained the audience who were sitting cheerfully dripping down the aisles until small waterfalls cascaded over every step. We were sitting on the front row and the drummer nearest to us was a big guy who was really funny, mimicking any actions he saw people in the audience do. I made the mistake of wiping my nose... The show itself had lots of dance and music and some animated characters led by a cast member, dressed in a Timon costume. Look carefully in the programme as the show is performed in different languages, so make sure you attend the right one for you!

We squelched back to the castle and had a look around, admiring the crystal glass figures and watching the glass blower making some small animal character. Then it was down into the cavern beneath the castle where the dragon woke and lifted his head, roaring his displeasure at my use of flash!

We went on the paddlesteamer, trying to decide whether it was wetter on the boat or under it. Fast food only or not, I needed something to warm me up. Besides, Fran was planning a shopping marathon along Main St USA. I nipped in a shop myself and settled down with a coffee. Oh... and a chocolate chip cookie... Grand as owt... It was still throwing it down with rain. We made our way to the beginning of Main St, then climbed up to the balcony of the steam railroad station. The daily parade was about to make its way down Main St and then past us.

So we'll finish with a few photos of the parade. Tomorrow will be the 31st January - last Thursday and our last full day before returning to the UK. We are planning to have a day in Paris itself.

Return to Disneyland Paris Trip Index