Finding the hotel proved a little difficult. I got to Les Halles without problems, I even found one of the exits they had listed on the Accor website. But then I had to walk through about five levels of shopping mall. Insane. In the following evening I took a wrong exit and a wrong turn, and walked in a big circle for about 45 minutes, which wasn’t too fun as I was seriously dehydrated. At least I got a nice [night view of the Hotel de Ville](/v/paris2006/2007-07-15_+Paris+with+Gabrielle+096.jpg.html).

The hotel itself turned out to be quite nice. Very modern, with LCD screens used in the reception hall and in the elevators (the later displaying some information on the breakfast). The room was neat (like really most Novotels’ rooms). I did note that the TV was an LCD TV as well. Maybe this is mainstream for normal people like me (well, except that I do not own a TV due to the [TV licenses](http://gez.pandemonium.de) involved and the low quality of the German TV programs, but I disgress). But in most hotels I visit the TVs are aging CRT’s.

The view from my window was also pretty nice. See photo! There was an Internet connection in the room (CAT5 / ethernet wire ready to plug in), but since I was just in town to meet a friend and would not be online that night, I didn’t bring a notebook and didn’t try the quality of the service.

The prices are quite high, as can be expected by the area. The room was 288 Euros (list price). The coke in the mini bar was 4 Euros a can. But who pays list price, and whoever drinks Mini bar drinks?

I’d definitely sleep there again. And if you’re looking for a business hotel in downtown Paris, the Novotel Les Halles seems like a good place to stay.

And, yes, I’d be **really** surprised if I found any more photos in my archives.

First, I have added even more Paris photos. (As [Anna said](/2006/07/16/photos-from-paris/#comment-1257), I have been in Paris a million times.) These photos are from my [Paris trip 2005](/v/paris2005/) with Wenny. Some nice photos there of things I hadn’t taken photos of before: Versailles, Notre Dame, and we were on top of the Eiffel tower, too. Unfortunately, it was in Autumn, so the weather wasn’t perfect.

2002Next up are photos from the [Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, vacation](/category/travelogue/kuala-lumpur-2006/). I had a few of them online before, but that was just a tiny share of the pictures I took. Today I have added about 100 more [photos from Kuala Lumpur](/v/kuala-lumpur-2006/), as well as some from Genting; so enjoy.

2528Last but not least I have also added photos from the recent [voyage to Indonesia](http://www.geektravel.info/category/travelogue/indonesia-2006/) – again [over 100 photos](/v/indonesia2006/). It’s a representative selection of the pictures we made over there, and I think you’ll like them.

Now all I have to do is fix the titles and descriptions of all of them. Oh my.

While I am at it: He also has some [pretty photos from China](http://vadersfear.pandemonium.de/Pics/Photos/China/index.htm). Michael, you really should update your site more frequently. I’ll happily show you WordPress if you wish.

Sarcasm aside, this was the third ride that broke down on the past two days; Space Mountain broke down yesterday morning, and Big Thunder Mountain broke down – twice – in the afternoon. Except for the Aerosmith breakdown, this didn’t affect our schedule. But since it was getting late (about 1pm) we decided to simply grab our things and head home.

So, in conclusion, how did I like Euro Disney? Actually, quite a lot. You need to be careful not to spend too much time there – about 2 days seems right – and you really need to find a time when the park is mostly empty. Then it’s a blast. Avoid the pricey rip-offs that are all over the park (Cheeseburgers for 4 euros; Buffalo Bill for 52 Euros, and so on – the most expensive burger I saw was about 15 Euros), and you should be fine. It would be fun, I guess, but you can’t do it too much. I am afraid people will send me for rehab anyway after being exposed to such an artificial world.

Anyway, overall I had a good time. Many thanks to Ixner, Nicole and Hübi for taking me along.

1052The day began very early with breakfast in **Fantasyland**. You have a chance to eat in the park instead of the hotel, about an hour before it officially opens. The side benefit is that you are in the park before the regular visitors, and you can – I think – even get fast pass tickets before breakfast.

Today, we decided to go all-out for reimbursement for the horror that was Buffalo Bill, and we stuffed ourselves quite nicely. Since we were there at the start, we got stuff that wasn’t available the day before – like sliced ham.

1073The day was spent catching up on some events that we hadn’t had the time for before. Some minor rides – Pinnocio’s for example – and a repetition of “It’s A Small World”, but nothing really worth mentioning. Both Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain broke down, the later at least twice, once when we were on the river boat and once later, when the guys wanted to ride. They did restart Big Thunder Mountain, but I really didn’t feel like taking part. Probably the only real thing of note besides the breakfast was the **Tarzan show**, which was actually surprisingly good. Too much singing, too little story, but you get almost an hour of artistic “dances”. Very nicely done, really, and some of the stunts were downright amazing.

Later, we went back to the Disney Studio Park in the search of Stitch (without success) and, as I mentioned, a few repeats of the Aerosmith roller coaster. We headed back to the Village for dinner (Mc Donald’s, with a reeeeeally cute cashier; so cute that I was seriously tempted to ask her phone number, but of course I chickened out) and then for a big shopping spree through the merchandise stores. I spent way too much money. Well, my family will be happy about it.

All in all, day 3 was pretty uneventful. It was very mixed weather – first very cloudy, then sunny. It also got noticeably more crowded. I am not sure if it was a holiday in France – it was in Hesse – but that would explain the increase in patrons. Either that, or the approaching weekend. I think that about two and a half days are really enough for Disneyland – plus maybe some time for shopping – and I’m actually looking forward to returning home.

974When we left the hotel, we had our first real run-in with a **Disney character**. Mickey was in front of the Cheyenne posing for children. The funny anecdote is that one of the kids was so scared it was about to break out in open tears, but the parents made it pose anyway. For Disneyland being a “kids’ event”, the parents surely act selfish around here.

977For this day in Disneyland Paris we took it upon ourselves to visit the **Disney Studio Park**. It’s basically a smaller park separated from the main Disneyland; the theme is more movie-centric than Disney-centric. Of course they use Disney movies wherever they can. The focus is less on rides and more on, well, harmless stuff – with some notable exceptions.

Unlike the first day, the weather was marvellous – not too hot, but very sunny. We visited pretty much all of the Studio park. **Aladdin’s Flight** is really pretty much for kids; but if you want a quick, short, relaxing ride, join it and go ’round and ’round ’til you get bored (happens before the ride ends, at least in my case).

995There are two shows; **Animagique** and **Cinemagique**. They’re both sort of related, in that they present an aspect of Disney movies. Animagique is, as the name implies, about Disney Animations. Donald enters a “forbidden vault” in which he encounters all kinds of characters from Disney animated movies. Pretty well done, actually; especially the part with the pink elephants is laugh-out-loud funny. We all liked it. But even better, in my opinion, was Cinemagique. A person gets drawn out of the audience and into the movies, where he meets a blonde chick from a silent black and white movie. Together – or more aptly, apart from each other – they travel from one movie to the next; high noon and other wild west movies; Braveheart; Titanic; even Silence of the Lambs. It’s pretty funny, in parts even clever, and throughoutly enjoyable. As with several other shows, the real space in front of the space gets involved in the show. I will not give anything away, but I will say that Cinemagique is very worth the time you spend on it, and I recommend that you do go and watch it.

In stark contrast to these two shows is Disney’s **Art of Disney Animation**. They have some pictures on the wall, a few very minor activities and a “how to draw disney characters” course for kids. Probably only interesting for very dedicated fans… and for parents who wish to occupy their children for a little bit. Otherwise, you can safely avoid it.

The same can be said about the **Walt Disney Television Studio Tour**. You get a very quick “tour” – two rooms, really – in what supposedly is the center of Disney channels in Europe. Or was it France? I forget. Anyway, it’s tedious and boring and you can spend your time better in any number of ways.

1001One better way would be the **Studio Tram Tour**. They show a few props, costumes and so on from various movies, and they have set up a sort of stage to show off some “special effects” – the infamous water flood and exploding tank car. You probably heard about it. Anyway, it’s impressive and worth the ride, although I wish that in the last part – the destroyed London of Reign of Fire – they’d at least show a bit of a dragon. Oh well, it’s still sort of fun.

In the same so-so category we can find the **Special Effects of Armageddon**. They are trying to simulate the asteroid impact in the russian space station from the movie (never watched it, so I cannot comment on it). Basically, they synchronise some flames, smoke and water with images on a screen. Impressive to children and young teenagers, but it’ll leave anybody else pretty cold. If you are into this sort of thing, go and watch it; if the line’s short you can spend your time in worse ways, but I won’t recommend this attraction.

As an aside, in the middle of the day we happened to catch the **Disney Studio Parade**. A couple characters, a couple of cars, some weird “movie like” people – starlets both male and female – dance once across the park to music. Well, some of them are well done, but most of it is… cheesy. Good for a laugh or two.

1333Finally, we are left with two attractions and it’s a pleasure to describe them. First off, we also went to **Moteurs Action!** (“Motor Action” in English, if you didn’t get that), a stunt car show. They show some tricks and perform various car chases combined with fire, gunfights, jumps, and so on. Pretty nifty, really, and fun – again, if you are into this sort of thing.

The spectacular highlight of the Disney Studio Park, however, is the **Rockin’ Roller Coaster Aerosmith**. This rollercoaster is a real trip, and the coolest I have ever rode on. It is a lot more fun that Space Mountain, Indiana Jones or Big Thunder Mountain. The track has loopings, is upside down, curves, and everything at a speed of I think 92 KM/h. The acceleration at the beginning is insane (0 to 92 in 3 seconds). And everything to Aerosmith music. As with most Disney rides, the attention to detail was nice. We rode this rollercoaster probably ten times over the two last days of our stay at Disneyland Europe, and it was fun every time. if you can stand rollercoasters at all, then you have to ride this one. It is a definite must.

1037After we were done with all the attractions and rides of Disney Studio Park, we went back to Disneyland itself to ride Big Thunder Mountain again (I didn’t feel like it) and we went to the Disney Village for some food (**Mc Donald’s** at Disney is surprisingly cheap, compared to the prices some of the other places charge) and for some minor shopping.

End of a rich and busy day two – we went back to the hotel, exhausted and sleepy and went to sleep soon after.