Day 26: Disneyland!!! Day 1

It was a rainy morning on 20 October 2012, and i was almost as gloomy as the weather. Maybe it was the waking up early, i don't know, but even the thought of my first time ever in a Disneyland failed to cheer me up.

To go to Disneyland, we had to purchase a special ticket, named Mobilis. It costs about 30 euros per person, but you can travel anywhere you want to for an entire day on any kind of train.

We took the RER A train, all the way to the last station which is Marne-La Vallee-Disneyland Parc. This is the same kind of train i took when i first came to Paris, from the airport.

The Metro is a lot like LRT, whereas the RER resembles KTM. Some or most of the RER trains has two and a half floors. You enter and you can either stand at the small space there or move on to the top or bottom floor to sit down.

It took us approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes to arrive to Disneyland Paris. Shah planned to take the annual ticket, the one which allows you to enter Disneyland at any day of the year. If you get recommended by someone who already has an annual passport, you can get 20 EUR off, so it would be 179 EUR for each of us. Yep, Disneyland is NOT cheap.

Thankfully, Shah has a very nice colleague and friend who has agreed to do just that for us. Wong, and his wife Sin Yee, had been to Disneyland about 5 to 6 times at this point, so they were like pretty much totally tak heran about Disney already. Shah and i were very grateful, as we got to save 40 EUR.

The lines were all longgg

After buying the ticket, we headed to the Annual Passport Office to get our Passeport Annuel. Disneyland is like a country on its own eh? The line there was ve-e-ry long too. We waited in line for more than an hour.

Our main goal today was actually to utilize a special 30% off discounts on the items in Disneyland Park if you spend more than 50 EUR in one receipt. Wong and Sin Yee took us to every big shop there is for us to survey what we could buy. In between window-shopping, we checked out the scenery as well.

It was raining very softly, but that didn't dampen people's spirit. Loads of parents were totting their kids around.

As we were walking around, i spotted this tiny hut with a line forming next to it.

And i spotted the figure who was about to turn my mood upside down.

JACK SKELLINGTONNN!!!

OK, i was obsessed with The Nightmare Before Christmas, and i remember making Shah watch it when we were in New Zealand. At first Shah thought it was the weirdest movie (sure, coming from someone who loves Se7en and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest) but then i made him watch Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice, and he discovered that there were weirder movies out there. So that was how Shah got to know Tim Burton too.

Naturally i just had to stay in line to meet Jack. Turned out Sin Yee was a fan as well, so we were all merrily waiting in line together.

Isn't this sign creepily funny?

This nondescript building was actually one of the attractions here, but i didn't know it yet

I mean, look at that smile. All for Jack Skellington

Jack was very good with his fans. He would make the time to talk to all of the people who came to see him.

See how he made Sin Yee laughed?

I was a complete fangirl. When it was my turn, i told Jack, "I LOVE YOU!" and then i asked for a hug before posing for photos with him.

I introduced Jack to "my husband"

Honestly. Your husband was RIGHT THERE, Liyana

And then we all acted cute with Jack Skellington

In case you're wondering, i do know that's not really Jack Skellington. It's a random man dressed as him. But if you've watched Ted, well, it's like when Mark Wahlberg's character met his childhood superhero Flash Gordon. Except that was really, really the real Flash Gordon. But Jack Skellington can't helped that he was an animated stop-motion character to begin with. And anyway the guy was really good as Jack Skellington. He obviously studied Jack's voice and movements for his job.

I've read this article saying it is no joke to work for Disney as its characters. You'd have to be prepared to go through an intensive audition. Uh-huh. And obvs you have to physically fit as well. Like this dude, he's pretty tall and thin enough to work it as Jack. And the Princesses and Princes have to be somewhat attractive but not too "defining" either.

After having a little chat with Jack Skellington about Halloween costumes and posing for photos, he suggested Phantom Manor as our next stop, pointing to the ordinary, seemingly-out-of-place house i saw while waiting in line to meet him.

The line to enter the "manor" was pretty long. I wasn't keeping track, but we had to have waited for at least half an hour. But it's a good idea to not keep track of time when you're waiting in line, because you'll just get frustrated. Just accept beforehand that you might be in line for an hour at least and do it patiently. Most rides will tell you anyway how long you will be in line for, so that's helpful. And definitely make full use of FastPass.

Phantom Manor by the way appeared a little scary at first. I was clutching Shah's arm reeeaaally hard. The crowd gathered in a room, and then the floor turned into an elevator and took us one floor below. From there, we all went for a "scenic" ride. And all the scenes are supposed to be scary. For the record, i hatehatehate horror movies. But this ride wasn't scary at all, so, yay!

Wong and Sin Yee and a feisty Halloween background

Shah spied the Rustler Roundup Shootin' Gallery earlier on and had been itching to try it out. You need a 2 EUR coin for a round though.

Shah did REALLY good! He shot down a few things!

Go to The Lucky Nuggets for specialities Tex-Mex

This is the entrance to Frontierland, by the way, where we were hanging out.

My mood did a 180 degrees turn, obvs, by now

Shah felt like pizza and pasta, so we had to leave Frontierland.

But first, a photo with the enchanted castle of Sleeping Beauty!

The nice thing about going to Disneyland with another couple is you get to help take each other's photo!

I think this ride is called Main Street Vehicles. Eh. Too slow

Our first option was Buzz Lightyear's Pizza Planet Restaurant in Discoveryland.

I made a hilarious geology joke upon seeing these. Heh. Hehhehheh

Discoveryland is definitely a boy's park, you know what i mean? Like a 5-year-old boy would be twice as excited to be here than a 5-year-old girl. Girls would be excited too, totally, but Toy Story is such a boy thing, you know? For adults, it really doesn't matter. Both Shah and i were giddy inside and out.

Gloomy day but see how so many people don't care?

 Unfortunately Buzz Lightyear's restaurant was closed that day. All the better maybe, because we initially didn't notice it was a buffet place. Think of all the money we saved for my future shopping.

There are always other options at Disneyland, for vegetarians, and Muslims too of course. We just turned around and headed to another pizza/pasta place.

I made them took this picture with me, ha ha ha

WHY does this logo remind me of Wonder Woman? What's this supposed to represent anyway? Anyone care to educate me?

There is a shop that is pretty much dedicated to Star Wars in Discoveryland. I sure do hope Hisham dropped by when he came to Disneyland with Mak!

Pizzeria Bella Notte is situated in Fantasyland. It's the most adorable pizzeria ever!

And absolutely beautiful.

It was such a relief to be inside a warmer place too.

Shah and i got the four cheese pizza and the vegetarian pasta.

The price for a set is about 11-13 EUR, which is a little steep, but you get a drink and maybe a bread and dessert in the set.

I especially love the decor inside. Disneyland has done a great job at exciting kids everywhere they step into!

And adults too. Ehem. Of course.

It's even romantic too. Sighhh

By then it was time for Shah and i to find a place for prayers. We got to glimpse a few of Disney celebs upon exiting - SO exciting! Seriously, i went squealing and everything. They walked really fast though so i'm sure they either had somewhere important to go to. or maybe their shift is done.

Apologies for the crap photos. All i have is my trusty old-age digital camera.

Maleficent!

Cruella de Vil!

The Shadow Man!

Tsk. "Old age digital camera"? How ironic eh.

Back to the prayers issue.

Shah and i had lugged our sejadah and my telekung to Disneyland even though we don't know if they provide a place for Muslims to perform prayers. Shah approached two Disney staff (who for some reason were setting up roped barriers around a random place) and asked if they knew of such a place. The guy, who was the less friendly of the two, shook his head and said "No, no". The girl on the other hand was sure such place exists and kindly suggested Shah to head to the City Hall for information.

So we were like "Yes!!!" and said byebye to Sin Yee and Wong for the time being.

And more on our quest soon!

xxoo

Day 16: Up in Eiffel Tower, finallyyy!

One fine night, Shah and i finally got the opportunity to go to Eiffel Tower, and to actually go allllll the way up.

For adults, you can choose to either pay 14 EUR to go to the very top and have access to the other floors, or 8.50 EUR to only reach the first and second floor.

About to line up for the ticket

Might as well go all the way!

We had planned to go on a weekend, but Mama told us that the ticket line can take up two hours of our time. We shuddered and that and changed our plans to a weeknight. The crowd is bigger than when we first visited Eiffel, but we were in the line for about 20 minutes, so it wasn't too bad at all.

In the lift we went!

The lift was full and more people were waiting to go on board. I can't imagine how it would be like on a weekend.

Going up, up, UP

 You can choose to get off at the second floor first, but we went for the showstopper straightaway.

The view from up there? 

Beautiful, of course. This is, after all, the City of Light.

Shah and i in the reflection

Eiffel has these two huge flashlights, emitted from the top of the tower. They're so strong, you can see these lights from far away. It was quite pretty, seeing it up close, and not at all blinding.

Eiffel Tower - also known as La Tour Eiffel, or La Dame De Fer (The Iron Lady) - got its name from Gustave Eiffel, the man whose company designed and built supposedly the most romantic monument on the face of the Earth. Gustave Eiffel, being the big boss and all, actually had an apartment up there. Cool eh?

Mr Eiffel's apartment in Eiffel Tower

 This famous iron tower stands at 324 meters.

There are measurements for the other tall buildings all around the world as well, all around on the inside on the top part of the wall.

Yay New Zealand!

 We took photos of the ones that are close to our hearts.

Malaysia Boleh!!!

Paris looks very neat from up there. Loads of straight lines.

Shah and i should totally go up Menara KL when we go back OKKK.

Eiffel Tower was opened in 1889. That was in a wholeee different century.

Shah was snapping away on his iPhone and me on my camera. It was really cold that night, my hands were freezing. But we were on EIFFEL TOWER. No time to put the camera away and stuff my hands inside my coat pockets.

So romanticcc

My Sheh looking superhandsome

I like this photo because it looks like it's not me but Mystique from X-Men

There is a tiny bar up here, which i guess is nice for others to have drinks to warm up their body in the cold.

There is a "ruler" up there; we were standing at 281 meters above ground!

No smoking pleaseee

More views:

This was one of the flashlights i mentioned. See how not blinding it is?

There are also these wire thingies sticking out all around the tower. To catch lightning, maybe?

This is how cute we look together.

Thomas Edison has been to Eiffel Tower OKKK. Dia geng dengan Gustave Eiffel.

Eiffel used to be red, i had NO idea! It would have been interesting to see it in red right?

Then it got a little too cold for me. Time to head back to the lower floors!

The top view from the second floor.

It's just as pretty from this floor actually. Loadssss of couples here, and we even saw a group of very young students with their teachers. Which made me questioned, how come my school never had night trips?

There's a river right beside the tower, and i have no clue what the name of the river is. This is where tourists can take that river cruise. My dad has been on it and he was all, "Bapak dah naik cruiseee. Shah bila nak naik?" dengan eksyennya on the phone the other day. Heeheehee.

Shah and the metals of the tower had sort of a love affair. Engineering thingy, nevermind

As you can see, being on the second floor isn't too bad, if you're an acrophobia. When i was at the top floor, my knees kept going cold whenever i looked down. So, yeh, i do not like supreme heights.

Muchhh better level for me!

Shah and i playing choo-choo train

Resting my legs for a bit

Since we malas to ask anyone to take our photo, so, yehhh

You can go to the first floor from the second floor by stairs, thankfully. I'm not a fan of the lifts either, to be honest. It's see-through, after all.

Then we were treated to yet another sparkly show!!! My FAVOURITE bit about Eiffel!

LOVES it!

As always, i was sad to see the sparkly show ended after 5 minutes. But Eiffel was still as beautiful as ever.

Shah and i cozying up to each other

Shah looking supermacho on his iPhone with Eiffel in the background

I found this on the floor. Then i thought, jom amik gambar dengan West East North South! So we did.

Time to say byebye to Eiffel, she was closing soon.

I do feel like Eiffel is a she. Is that weird?

Down we went!

By the way, going down in the lift seemed scarier. I'm not sure if it was because it really was scarier, or it's just because i had to go in it again.

My ticket stub!

Shah and i had loadsss of fun. We feel so blessed to have been up there.

If you're ever in Paris, give it a go if you have the time! It's a must! I think my parents and Hisham never got to go up there because of time constraint, and i wish they had. It was amazing for me, once in a while i would just go thinking, "Oh my - oh my GOD, i'm in EIFFEL freakin' TOWER".