#Disneyland Paris Deals

[worldofpegasus]

Your Guide to an Affordable Disneyland Paris Adventure

✨ Magic awaits at Disneyland Paris at a price you won't believe! ✨

THE TIME FOR A MAGICAL WORLD FINALLY ARRIVED!! 🎉🎉

🏰 Dive into our guide to experiencing an affordable Disneyland Paris adventure!

👉 Click the link to embark on your next adventure and make your Disney dreams come true for less!

[wafflessquad]

still processing 🫠

[justapoet]

these roads are changing me (but they all lead back to you)

"Disneyland?" she asked, surprising her own self at the absolute disbelief in her voice. "Disneyland Paris," he emphasized. "With me. It's your princess day, my lady." Annabeth blinked. "Disneyland?" she asked, surprising her own self at the absolute disbelief in her voice. "Disneyland Paris," he emphasized. "With me. It's your princess day, my lady." Annabeth blinked. What a lovable, lovable human.

read it on Ao3

chapter 1: to those who ask

chapter 2: to whose who wait

chapter 3: to those who gaze

chapter 4: to those who left

chapter 5: to those who went so far away

chapter 6: to those who remain

chapter 7: to those who never saw me

chapter 8: to those who said they would stay

to those left behind

The first time Annabeth ran away from home, she was seven years old.

She didn't remember the reason as clearly as she remembered Helen's unkind words about something she did or didn't do — because she never knew what they were in her father's house — and she escaped the place by jumping through the window of the woman's office. The night was cold and less than welcoming to a child, especially one with so much fear on her face and tears in her eyes, but it wasn't worse than another dinner on a table they wouldn't set with a plate for her, with food she would have to cook for herself.

It was kinder when she met Luke, but even he advised her that living in the streets wouldn't be better than having a roof upon her head. Especially when winter was already ruthless, and the season had barely begun. Luke, Grover and Thalia took her to camp, where she spent the night and the following day, and only then they managed to convince her that the risks of being a missing person weren't worth the peace she had just found there, with them.

So, she went back anyway, and wished she hadn't when no one even noticed she had been gone.

The second time she ran away, it was because she had regretted leaving the camp instead of signing up to stay the whole year. She was nine, and she was absolutely sure that it would take her father at least a month and a half to realize she didn't come back home — but in her childish fantasy, and the wanting to just see if things would magically change, she went back to their house, and ran away back to camp within the first twenty-eight days.

Chiron wasn't one to bend the rules, but he did let her add her name to the year-rounders list, and asked her to not comment on anything. If she didn't mention it, the other campers wouldn't even question, and it would be better than explaining why she had come back or the reason why Chiron let her stay so easily.

The third time happened when she was thirteen, and she didn't think it would happen at all. But her father and stepmother had decided to make an impromptu trip to God-knows-where — she hoped it was the depths of hell — and forgot to remember that she was spending the day out with Grover and Percy. So, when she came back to an empty house, without a note and without a message and without anything at all, she already knew what had happened.

She was left behind, and it was the first time the sadness turned into full-blown anger.

She took everything she remembered ever bringing to the house, and took one of her father's suitcases to fit it all in, and then decided she would ask anyone to have her, at least for a while. She didn't want to bother anyone with having to house a pre-teenager, especially when she did have a perfectly good house to stay in regardless of its other inhabitants, but the hate she felt was something she needed to deal with away from Helen's crystal things and her father's old, historical stuff.

She found herself back on camp, and Chiron didn't ask, that time. Deep down, she knew he wondered why she still went back instead of staying there all year long, and she also knew that he only didn't make the offer out loud because he knew the answer. She wanted things to change, she wanted a chance for them to be better, and her logic didn't quite reach that part of her heart yet.

The last one, she was fourteen, and they were all in the most magical place on Earth, or so they sold it as. It had been a surprise when Helen and Frederick told her to pack her things and join them, but she understood that it had come from Matt and Bobby, who asked her, innocently, which car seat she wanted. Her father and step-mother seemed a bit taken aback, apparently remembering that there was someone else in the house, and Annabeth simply said she didn't mind which one she'd take.

She travelled by the window to the airport, and tried to sink to the seat whenever Helen stuttered before mentioning her name in the middle of the conversations. She was also by the window in the airplane, beside a stranger and her father on the aisle seat.

Annabeth didn't really care about princesses and princes and all, but there was something about being somewhere so colourful and with so much coming straight out of 2D movies that made her skin itch in excitement and her head run overdrive with the want to explore everything. She was young, after all, and there was still a world she didn’t know, and so much she could explore.

Her younger brothers were just as excited, and she tried not to think too hard about it when Helen and Frederick never questioned where they wanted to go, but made Annabeth wonder why she needed so desperately to meet Belle and her yellow dress. She tried not to think too hard about how they had their lunch at the Pirates of the Caribbean's themed restaurant when everyone knew she didn't like eating fish. She completely ignored how they didn't mind stopping when her feet started hurting and still it was fundamental they got to the line to meet Gaston before stopping.

She tried not to think too hard about how the boys got a dozen gifts and characters and action figures and she couldn't get the tiara that shone so pretty over the mannequin's head on the store Helen bought a necklace.

It's a useless thing to have, Annabeth, her stepmother had told her.

You should be smarter. Do you really want something that will be good for nothing, dear?, her father had questioned when she had asked him, instead.

They weren't looking when she wandered far in the airport, or when she started sprinting the hell away from where they were busy trying to fit everything in the cart. They didn't realize she wasn't there, and neither was her luggage, as a kind lady helped her put it all in the trunk of her taxi and she gave the only other address she knew by heart.

Sally Jackson took her in, and let her stay in the spare room for as long as she needed. The writer never asked questions, never raised an eyebrow, never raised her voice. She never made her feel any less than welcome, any less than wanted, any less than loved.

Annabeth only didn't come back to their house when they were both on camp, and her father didn't even bat an eye when she lied about staying at camp the whole year round.

When Percy asked if she wanted to start running with him when Annabeth was sixteen, just to kill time and do more than just lie around and freak out over school and families, she didn't even think twice before accepting.

Because it was something she was good at, apparently; running.

She ran.

She ran.

She runs.

✉

"To whom I left behind.

I'm still not sure what I should have said, or if I should say anything at all. I don't know if you'd be willing to listen, or even if you should. I'm not sure I can see you again without it being too awkward or forced. I think that's weird enough.

I still have your number, but I've deleted the whole conversation. There wasn't much. It pains me, still, that there wasn't much to say. There never was. Just my attempts to be good, to talk to you, to share a bit of who I became without your help. I don't know if you remember or care, but that's okay. Honestly, I thought it would hurt. Maybe it makes me insensitive to say that I didn't feel anything, because everyone says that deleting text conversations hurts. Maybe they're too sensitive.

I don't know why I still keep your number. I don't know if I expect anything to happen, because if sincerity is what I've been working on, I can't visualize a situation in which we'll speak again. Honestly, I wonder what it will be like if we bump into each other in the street eventually. Maybe I should stop thinking about it and change my route. Maybe I should keep walking. Maybe I should hide my face, just as I've been hiding my truths. It's more likely you wouldn't see me.

Maybe you took me the wrong way, but you understood when I explained my whys and wherefores. I know I said I hoped we'd meet again at some point when everything would be a little less suffocating, but I don't know if, now that I've learnt to breathe deeply, I can go back to that same glass dome that gave me a beautiful view, but took away a lot of my oxygen. I don't know if I can; I know I don't want to. I don't know about you.

Maybe I never did.

You have my gratitude, and I hope you know that. I still have you in memory boxes in my old room, and I want you to stay there. Because I've redesigned some things, messed up others and furnished new rooms — and I've slowly been emptying yours. You have my gratitude just as you had my most sincere love, my most honest friendship; and you had all my oxygen in yourself, and I just can't breathe for any other set of lungs.

And, yes. That may sound selfish, I know it may sound ungrateful; forgive me for that, at least this time. This time, which is the only time I won't be the one giving in. I don't know how to deal with things like this, the sincere ones — but I keep trying, and I'm getting better. Ed Sheeran once wrote "and after all I've done, I think I love you better now", and I'm happy to finally be able to sing that line truthfully: I love you better now, because I love you in the past.

And since we've always been about sincerity, maybe I understand now.

Being selfish with you was the most selfless decision I could have made.

Lately,

Minerva."

✉

When Percy took the blaring earphones off her ears, Annabeth could hear the chaos all around them.

It didn't take her nine seconds to understand where they were, for they had gotten to France a few days before and Percy had shoved her inside of a train from Lille that morning without saying a word and incapable of keeping his leg still as she observed the views and the skies from her seat across from him. He looked a lot like a child about to get their favorite toy for their birthday, and it was a look that she knew how to recognize.

On the way to their planned destination, Percy had told her to close her eyes as if she could guess the place for the roads they were taking and wasn't a tourist in a country she had never been to before. Still, she obeyed, and he put on large earphones over her ears — apparently, listening would be too much of a giveaway, but Percy seemed so sure about it that she didn't have the heart to argue.

Now, standing there, she knew exactly why the sound would have been a giveaway.

The sight before her eyes was nothing short of magical, as it was intended to be — a whimsical landscape of towering castles and colourful attractions, all set against a backdrop of lush greenery and vibrant flowers. Everywhere she looked, there were people bustling about, their faces alight with joy and wonder as they eagerly explored the fairy-tale town around them. Her eyes darted all over the place, trying to map everything she saw, and she tilted her head to the side.

Children darted past them, their eyes wide with excitement as they tugged at their parents' hands, eager to experience all the thrills and delights that awaited them, that the whole place promised. Groups of friends and families wandered the streets, their voices mingling with the cheerful cries of street performers and the whirring of carousel rides. Happy tunes played in the speakers around them, and there wasn't a single thing that seemed to be wrong in their surroundings.

"Disneyland?" she asked, surprising her own self at the absolute disbelief in her voice. The smile on her face was something she couldn't quite avoid, and she turned to face him with wide eyes. Percy was smiling, and seemed quite unsure — he knew why she lived with them for a while, and he was waiting to see the full reaction she would have once she absorbed the world around them.

"Disneyland Paris," he emphasized. "With me. The same magical kingdom, but another, and with, if you allow me, mademoiselle — your prince," he bowed with a flourish, and Annabeth didn't know what to say. Her stomach seemed to mirror Percy's movements inside her body, and her breath caught in her throat. "It's your princess day, my lady. I am but your wallet, this day. A rich company that will bend to your will and graces," he said, the pageantry making it all the funnier.

Annabeth blinked. It took her a minute to come to terms and understand everything he'd just dropped on her, and everything the colours and sounds around them said.

"It's your father's money," she said, a bit desperate about the offer. A good offer, indeed, but an insane one anyway. "Won't he think bad of it?" Annabeth wondered, her brows furrowing with worry. That was the very last thing she needed, to have Percy's dad thinking lowly of her.

And, sure; they had been using his money in about ten countries. But a whole day spending it on overpriced Disney things at Disney Paris might perhaps just be the thing that makes him regret his choices and take back the otherworldly offer to live another life while they were away from theirs.

Percy smiled, a bit crazy. Mischievous, at least.

"Not only he knows, but he also suggested it as soon as we got to Paris," Percy explained, laughing. "The perks of a rich man's credit card in one's power, you see. And the perks of him being as widely insane about those he loves, just like his son," and Annabeth did try not to think much of that sentence.

Instead, she chose for the classic ironic comment.

"Oh, well. The apple never falls far from the tree, does it?" she rolled her eyes, laughing lightly as she tried to disguise the absolute whirlwind of feelings happening inside her chest.

"I'm sure Isaac Newton is the one to answer such a question, my lady," Percy joked, winking quickly and so ridiculously that Annabeth couldn't keep her laughter in. What a pathetic joke. What a lovely, lovely man in front of her.

What a lovable, lovable human.

"You're ridiculous," she said back, despite her laughter. Percy's eyes lit up as if her reaction was what he'd planned to get the whole time.

"You love me," he said, and Annabeth wondered if he ever asked himself just how right, and to what extent, he was correct. "Shall we, Your Highness, explore this magic kingdom before our eyes?"

He offered his hand again.

There wasn't a single reality in which she wouldn't take it.

"We shall, my good lord," she bowed her head, and Percy laughed. He laced her arm in his, and couldn't keep the serious façade for longer than two minutes into their walk — he then turned into the lovely, almost childish person she loved to witness, and thanked God she had the honor and chance to know. He pointed everywhere, and laughed alone, and told her the most random stories he could remember about himself, his mother, Estelle or his cousins.

Annabeth didn't think that what made her feel most like a princess in her life was to walk around in the heat, sweating, and with more trinkets in paper bags and inside her backpack and an absolutely manic grin on her face. Her feet were already hurting, and she would often take Percy by the hand to the nearest store so she could stand with her back to the air-conditioning, but Annabeth couldn't care less about capitalistic strategies and marketing plans as her heart felt so, so lightweight in her chest.

They didn't have a plan, as they had decided, from the moment they stepped out of the Jackson-Blofis' apartment, that they would go wherever their minds and Mr. Stormer's very exclusive, very unlimited card could take them. She'd felt bad in the beginning, not wanting to give Percy's father the wrong impression about who she was, but, right then, she'd grown very terribly accustomed to letting Percy buy her anything he thought she might've liked the tiniest bit.

They were in Disneyland — Paris, Percy made sure to highlight —, and she would do herself a favor and allow the very mature adult her very restrained child had grown into to feel (and act, of course) like the prettiest, the dreamiest, the very richest of princesses.

Which, compared to Percy, was a tough thing to do.

His restless behaviour seemed to tenfold as they walked down the streets and followed the screams and laughter to random attractions. With a — very expensive — VIP card of some sort, they never spent a long time waiting in lines, and never stopped searching for the wildest rides they could ever manage to find. For someone so terrified of planes, Percy was the one to convince Annabeth to the most ridiculously tall attractions.

And after screaming their lungs out and losing their breaths on every rollercoaster they could find, the both of them had found it in them that there wasn't a single problem in also enjoying the kids' attractions that could also fit adults. The spinning cups, the very not scary house of horrors that made them jump regardless, the long lines to meet the characters and take pictures with them.

She was sure her cheeks would hurt for days after her muscles worked the extra hours. And she was more than sure that she couldn’t care less.

And, then, when they gave into the power of having his father's credit card in hand, they decided to stroll along the main street, filled with stores and laughter and very pretty, very magical showcases and shopfronts. Everything was extremely glittery and very worked in the 'magical' and 'utopic' aspect of things, and she couldn't like any more than she already did. It felt like walking inside the movies she watched repeatedly as a child, always trying to draw the characters and imagine how the castles and houses would be in real life.

Some of those drafts were hanging on the walls of her office, the lines sure and the dimensions erratic, but something she was proud of drawing when she didn’t even know how to spell “architect” correctly.

And, then, as she was saying something about the historical and mythological atrocity that Hercules was — focus on the entertainment, Annabeth! The romance! — her eyes wandered to a store that made her words die halfway through her lips.

She stopped walking, and Percy faltered a step when he noticed, their arms still intertwined.

read the rest on Ao3

[boobo13cambridge]

🌹 Masterlist 🌹

Kylian Mbappé 🇫🇷

Fics

Cliché? Most definitely. | Kylian Mbappé

Genre:  Strangers to Lovers AU | Romance | Angst | Fluff | Smut

Summary: Once upon a time, there lived a girl who couldn't figure out her life and a boy who had the world at his feet. Neither had time for love, and both were absolutely miserable with their current predicaments. As the saying goes, expect the unexpected. Cliché? Most definitely. Does Lady Faith care? Not one bit. These types of stories have always been her cup of tea. At this point, all there is left to do is send a quick prayer that these two don’t get dragged to hell and back to satisfy an ancient deity’s hunger for drama. Alas, the odds don’t look promising. It’s been a while since Lady Faith personally took an interest in two young mortals' lives. The last time she was so meddlesome was with a certain singer and an athlete. What a disaster that was. Now, Faith looked at her two protagonists, and with a quick smirk, let history write itself. 

Chapitre Un. Rien autour n'a de sens

The Summer We Were Young | Kylian Mbappé

Genre:  Strangers to Lovers AU| Romance | Comedy | Fluff | Of course, it has to be angsty | Smut

Summary: Once upon a time, there lived a young woman named Naaz who couldn’t wait to get the hell out of her parent’s house and jet set to the French Riviera to live out her hot girl summer dreams. Tired, burnout, and angry against the world, she decides to be selfish for once and books a ticket to the beautiful city of Nice.

Unfortunately for her, things never seem to work in her favour. Along the way, she meets the most infuriating man in the world who seems to make it his life goal to make her blood boil and her generationally acquired anger issues to resurface landing her in the most precarious situations. On his behalf, Kylian was just trying to have a good time and forget about the disastrous season he just had. Dealing with loss after loss, the world-famous footballer just wanted to catch a break as he faced great uncertainty regarding his future. Get ready to follow Naaz and Kylian as they prepare to face a summer that will change their lives forever. 

Chapter One. Ridin' in the drop-top with the top down

Requests

Ay, Ay, Captain | Kylian Mbappé

Summary: Y/N watches as Kylian play and lead his team to victory at Stade Bollaert-Delelis, feeling proud and overwhelmed. Five goals in one game? Surely, he served something special for such a feat, non?

Honeymoon | Kylian Mbappé

Summary: After an eventful journey, you and Kylian finally get to relax on your afternoon.

Meilleur buteur | Kylian Mbappé

Summary: Kylian becomes Paris Saint-Germain's all-time top scorer. You couldn't be any prouder of your other half.

Somebody to Lean On | Kylian Mbappé

Summary: After being eliminated from the Champions League, you join Kylian while he channels his frustrations into working out hours after the training session is over. 

Magic Kingdom | Kylian Mbappé

Summary: After spending the day at Disneyland Paris with his niece and nephew, Kylian wants to start a family with you

Hold On, We’re Going Home | Kylian Mbappé

Summary: After attending a charity event with Kylian, who looked dashing in his black suit, you feel particularly needy. Once you arrive home, you realize he hungered for you just as much. 

Unexpectedly Expecting | Kylian Mbappé

Summary: After feeling unusually exhausted and nauseous during your weekly gym dates, you find out some really happy news

O Re Piya | Kylian Mbappé

Summary: It’s the day of your brother’s wedding, and you're running late. The main culprit: your handsy husband who can’t seem to control himself seeing you in a lehenga. 

A Mother's Remedy | Kylian Mbappé

Summary: You fall asleep on Kylian after spending the whole day taking care of the triplets who had the flu.

I’ll take care of you | Kylian Mbappé

Summary: Kylian is feeling stressed as the news that he will not be extending with PSG comes out. He seeks comfort in you. 

Send That Picture Promise I'm A Keep It | Kylian Mbappé

Summary: What’s it like texting when your husband is a really busy athlete? 

Drifting Apart | Kylian Mbappé

Summary: Y/N and Kylian’s relationship is crumbling as they navigate the most difficult moments of their lives. Will they stay or fall apart due to the pressure?

↳ Part I

Sheila Ki Jawani | Kylian Mbappé

Summary: Y/N is late and Kylian decides to teach her a lesson about tardiness.

Kim Namjoon 🇰🇷

Comfort| Kim Namjoon

Summary: After reading an article about your boyfriend Namjoon's personal information being tracked, you feel quite angry and the only thing you can do is comfort him.

Tom Riddle 🐍

The Heir and His Son | Tom Riddle Sr and Tom Riddle Jr

Summary: Tom Riddle Sr raises his son and it makes all the difference.

↳ Chapter One

↳ Chapter Two

[peachjagiya]

Taehyung was associated with an LGBT image early in his career. In 2016 or 2017, he was photographed in a t-shirt featuring Keith Haring, a gay artist, during a period when BTS members were styled according to specific concepts. The song "Stigma," co-written by Taehyung and Bang Si-hyuk (the first author), was released in 2016 and is speculated to have LGBT undertones. In 2017, Taehyung wore a blue LGBT pride shirt during a performance. It's likely that their stylists chose their attire for them back then. He sang "Singularity," a song written by Namjoon inspired by Yukio Mishima's "Confessions of a Mask," which deals with hidden sexuality. In 2022, HYBE released "7FATES: CHAKHO," featuring Jooan, a character described by Taehyung as someone who loves beyond his species and whose love is forbidden and not easy. These instances suggest that the image of an LGBT person was assigned to him by his company. What are your thoughts on this?

Just to be clear, we're speculating that any queer coding we attribute to Tae is company mandate?

Why would they do that? To what end? In a country where homophobia is still a problem?

Here's Tae wearing a Keith Haring tee:

And a post showing what they're all wearing in this moment. Looks like their comfy clothes/pyjamas to me. I don't think they are styled that intensely that they can't pick their own loungewear.

Here's Tae at Disneyland Paris in July 2023 wearing the Disneyland Pride hoodie. Someone has bought two for his security too. Hybe?

Tees and hoodies don't prove queerness. But I find it easier to believe that Tae is either queer or a staunch ally than to believe the company dresses him in queerness like a jacket that he can shrug off at the end of the photoshoot.

Is the company instructing him to keep mentioning CMBYN? To seek out foreign language queer cinema? To reference Maurice in his photofolio? To champion queer photography?

Ask yourself why it's easier for you to believe he's been forced to portray queerness than to accept he might just be queer?

Ask yourself why it's easier for you to believe that than him just being an ally even?

This is so close to jkkrs rhetoric that he is super straight because they're casually homophobic enough to think gay means he's definitely into all the guys around him and therefore feel threatened by any suggestion of Tae not being hetero.

I'm side-eyeing it.

Please if I've misread your meaning here, feel free to come back, anon. But long story short: no I don't think Hybe did this.

[mrhaitch]

Good morning Mr.Haitch (I’m assuming it’s morning)

How was your weekend? Mine flew by, and I’m still feeling burnt out from the all-nighters I pulled to finish all my assignments.

Onwards to the questions

1) would you rather eat the same thing for the rest of your life (but it’s something you hate) or dress up in the same outfit for the rest of your life (but it’s a fashion atrocity that you committed during your teens)

2) what is your least favorite thing about being an academic?

3) can you draw/ sketch?

4) I don’t know how I never asked this before but do you also have tattoos? And if you don’t, do you see yourself getting one in the future?

5) Have your kids ever said/ done something, that amazed you to some degree?

6) what’s the worst shenanigans your kids have gotten up to?

Sorry for bombarding you with questions so early in the day.

(Also if that academic-anon is reading this, I wanted to say I see you and I feel you. Believe me, performing exceptionally in your exams doesn’t equate to happiness, and this is coming from someone who has gotten straight As all her life. Burn out, depression, constant sense of anxiety doesn’t simply go away if you scored better. Agreed, that you would feel a momentary sense of accomplishment, but like I said, it would be temporary.

I understand your need to perform better than your siblings, to be recognized as someone who has achieved something. Those are things that would help you respect yourself. Do you respect yourself? Because other’s opinion doesn’t matter until you respect the efforts you put into your work. So what if you’re not performing how you want right now, atleast acknowledge the hard work that went into it. Pat yourself on the back for these little victories. You woke up, you faced another day, and one day when you look back, you would surely be proud that you persisted.

You did good. You tried. And that’s what matters 🫂)

It is morning. The weekend was busy as usual, but we spent some time with Haitch's family which was nice.

1) Well my most embarrassing teenage outfit was oversized t-shirts, combat camo cargo trousers, and trainers that were falling apart - which was awful, but very comfortable. It'd have to be that one.

2) It would have to be the insane workload and level of expectation from managers. Teaching, research, pastoral care, administration, supporting with open days, applicant days, working shifts on the clearing phone lines, graduation, exam invigilating, assessing, public appearances, conferences, social media, dealing with the press. It's an endless horror show where, in the UK, you could STILL do all that and still be made redundant so the university can renovate their sports hall.

3) Hah. No.

4) I do not. I've got some ideas, which Haitch and I have talked over. I'd like to memorialise my PhD with a plague doctor tattoo somewhere (PhD during COVID = plague doctor, no one can take that title away from me).

5) I remember our oldest saying sarcophagus without any hesitation or errors once. To be honest, though, when your kids learn to speak it's an endless series of amazing and surprising moments - especially when their personality begins to coalesce.

6) A couple of years ago we went to Disneyland Paris for my 30th birthday. Big family thing - my parents and youngest brother came along. We'd gone somewhere for lunch and our eldest was kicking off, just bored and overstimulated, so I took him for a walk around the corner. We passed a staff member who smiled and waved, I smiled and waved back, but then I saw her face pivot to shock, and then she covered her mouth to suppress a laugh. When I looked around at my son, I discovered he was flipping her off from behind my back. I picked him up under my arm, mumbled a barely comprehensible apology in french, and took him away for a bollocking.

I'd also like to add that I agree with everything you've said for academic-anon, couldn't have said it better myself. I'm not very emotionally articulate first thing in the morning.

[adarkrainbow]

Another fairytale park... Mirapolis (1)

We have been talking about Disney a lot - and of course, with Disney comes Disneyland. I have made reblogs aboutt the Efteling park (and maybe more posts shall come in the future). But today, I want to invite you to an amusement park that doesn't exist anymore, and yet remains a part of France's history, and a part of the history of French folklore and fairytales. This is... the defunct amusement park Mirapolis.

Mirapolis was opened on the 20th of May 1987, in the city-group of Cergy-Pontoise (more specifically it belonged to the town of Courdimanches. It was a complicated situation as Cergy-Pontoise was one of the "new cities" built in the 60s/70s by sticking various existing small towns together as a way to deal with the population boom in the Ile-de-France region/Parisian area... Its the convoluted ways of French territory delimitation). It lasted for only five seasons, closing on the 20th of October 1991. The name of the park was explained as such by its creator, Anne Fourcade: "mira" is meant to evoke mirrors, the infinite, the eternal, while "polis" reminds of "the greatness of cities and of ancient kingdoms". It is thus meant to bring in people's minds ideas of adventure, of fabulous, and of future... Too bad the park didn't live up to its name and was a big failure.

The project of Mirapolis is tied to the arrival in Europe of Disney - more precisely, the appearance of the Euro Disney Resort (current "Disneyland Paris"). The Walt Disney Company was on our ground, the Americans against the Europeans, and Europe had to fight back. [Another complicated thing: Euro Disney Resort only offically opened in 1992, but the project existed and had been going on - though secretly - since 1976, and in december of 1985 it had been publically announced that France would be the country welcoming the first European Disney park.] Mirapolis was an attempt to create a counterpart to this American implantation: it was to be the greatest, largest and first French amusement park.

And large and great it was! Too great probably... Mirapolis was agreed to be an excessive project, truly bigger than life - a lot of resources were given to the project, and they didn't hesitate to consume every last drop of it and even more. The park was 55 hectars in terms of size - something unheard of in France until this point. Created by the collaboration of Anne Fourcade (architect and the creator of the park) and of Ghaith Pharaon (a wealthy businessman), the park's main problems were an ever-growing debt and a series of constantly changing owner and staff. The park was first owned by the Paris-Parc society - until the society went bankrupt. It then became the ownership of the Cergy-Parc society, and the original gestion and maintenance team was replaced by staff coming from the Club Med (the most famous French holiday-club/vacation-company ever), but THEN they were replaced by a group of carnies (carnies who funnily originally were against the project and had loudly expressed their opposition... but they still were hired and ran the park until it went bankrupt, and their presence made the park half-funfair). Because while the first year was a good year that met its mark (500 millions of francs invested, no loss), the second year started going flawly (700 millions of francs invested, 85 millions of loss), and then the third went bad (140 millions of loss) - and so on and so on until the park clearly wasn't profitable in any way anymore.

Now, why would this park be interesting for this blog? Because its themes was "French legends and French fairytales" - it was an amusement park entirely centered around French folklore! Again, since Mirapolis was about counter-attacking the "American invasion", it makes sense the park would be focused on glorifying the local heritage and culture, and proving that you could do a fully French park instead of having Disneyified verson of Perrault and Grimm's fairytales. A very admirable project... that unfortunately failed. Why? There's a big debate as to what was the exact cause (or causes, in plural) of this park's downfall - we'll get into this another time. But all in all, beyond being an amusement park trivia, and the background of current urbex explorations, the story of Mirapolis is one of the chapters of the massive wave and passion for amusement parks in France in the 80s-90s. Plus, the park still technically "lives on" as a lot of its attractions and elements are currently in use by other European amusement parks... But I'll get into the more historical details later.

For now let's focus on...

WHAT THE PARK LOOKED LIKE

The park was organized in eight zones, whose names were only fixed by the second year of the park's run. Each zone was a mix of rides and food-sources. When the park opened in 1987, there were only 20 attractions in total - but when the park closed, it had a fifty or so or them.

1 ) "La Grand'Place" (The Main Square/The Great Plaza)

This area was called "Le palais des merveilles", "The Palace of Wonders", during the park's first year. While it was renamed the "Grand'Place", the name "Palace of Wonders" was kept for the theater in the area - a building for theater plays, special-effects shows and other ballets that could welcome up to 800 people and have different shows playing simultaneously. In 1987, René-Louis Baron (a famous name of musical experiments in the 70s and 80s) created there a show based on La Fontaine's fables, called "Partir à point", with costumes by Yves Brunier. It was also within the Palace of Wonders theater that the first episodes of the "Juste Prix" (the French "The Price is Right") were recorded, between 1987 and 1988. In the second year, "Le Palais des Merveilles" became "Le Château des Visions" (The Castle of Visions), and became the first and only permanent 3D movie-theater of France - sponsored by Fujifilm, and decorated on the outside to look like a medieval castle.

Other buildings of the area included "Le théâtre de verdure" (The Greenery Theater), an open-air theater of 900 places ; and "La Navette aux milles sensations", a small-sized moving movie-theater that was carried across the area. Finally when the carnies arrived in 1989, they prepared a karting course there. The Grand'Place area was also where "La Grande Parade" (The Great Parade) was organized, a big parade with roughly 200 characters/costumes - among which many were the characters of La Fontaine's Fables.

2 ) Le jardin de la Belle Epoque (The garden of the Belle Epoque)

[For those of you not in the know, "La Belle Epoque", "The Beautiful Era", is the nickname of the era of French history located between the end of the 19th century and the First World War]

Located north-west of the park, The Garden of La Belle Epoque was originally called "Les Impressionnistes", in homage to the titular artistic movement/group. The three main attractions of the area were Le Ruisseau fleuri, les Tacots-Chapeaux and Le Manège de chevaux de bois. Le Ruisseau fleuri (The Flowery Stream) was a boat-travel in a canal surrounded by animated scenes based on impressionist paintings (it was renamed Rivière fleurie, Flowery river, in 1988). Le Manège de chevaux de bois (The wooden-horse carousel) was, as the title says, a carousel of fifty-four wooden horses - and it was renowned for being the first traditonal carousel created in France since 80 years... It was later moved to the "Land of Legends" when the carnies arrived. The third ride was the Tacots chapeaux (Hat-cars), little cars you could drive around which wore eyeglasses, mustaches and hats. There was also a fair-organ/band-organ playing music for the guests.

In 1988 new attractions were added - but clearly designed with a medieval theme, which clashed with the Belle Epoque one (for example there was "The Knights' Poney-Club", which was a medieval-theme poney-ride). Among the novelties there was a small maquette of the Port of Deauville, a faithful miniature reproduction in which children could drive around mechanical boats.

3 ) Le domaine du Moyen-Âge (The Middle-Ages domain/area)

North of the park, the Middle-Ages domain used to be called "Gargantua the giant", because its main attraction was the huge statue of Gargantua - it was a "scenic route in height". Basically you could climb inside the giant and look at the park from within him - this statue was considered to be part of the "duck architecture" (l'architecture canard) where buildings were made to look like objects or people (for example you could have a building looking like a giant picnic basket).

This area also contained a miniature train station where the park's train, the Mirapolis Express, went. In 1988 they created there "Le Chapiteau de l'épée magic" (The tent of the magic sword), where there was a laser show of medieval theme ; but it was moved to the Legend Land in 1989. Meanwhile, the same year, this medieval area was invested by most of the funfair and carnival-attractions and stands, brought by the carnies: there was a UFO ride (called... UFO) for 48 people ; La Pieuvre (an octopus-ride) ; La Chenille (a Music Express), a Buggy ride ; and "Godbille", a children carousel.

4 ) Le royaume de l'illusion (The Kingdom of Illusions)

Its original title was "The Castle of Spells" - because the titular castle was the main ride of the area. There was also a restaurant called "Les Sortilèges" (Spells, The Spells), and a building called "La tour de Léonard de Vinci" (Leonardo da Vinci's Tower). Within this tower, which was meant to recreate Leonardo's workshop, there was an animatronic show created by Pascal Pinteau: the show was about a painting of king François Ier suddenly coming to life and presenting to the audience Leonardo da Vinci, while making parallels between his inventions and modern day's technology. (There was also a "futuristic character" named Alpha apparently?). The special effects were overseen by Jacques Renoir (the great-grandchild of the painter Auguste Renoir), Leonardo da Vinci was voiced by Jean Topart, and Roger Carel made the voice of the other characters of the show. The animatronic of Leonardo da Vinci was renowned for being very complex and advanced - it was moved by three hundred different motors, which allowed for things such as the animatronic's eybrows to move to mimick emotions.

To the back of the Castle of Spells, there was a rollercoaster named "Le Dragon des sortilèges" (The Dragon of Spells) ; and north to the castle there was Le Labyrinthe - a two-hectar maze inspired by an actual labyrinth of the Middle-Ages. In 1988 a hot-air balloon ride was added.

Now you know how it goes: in 1989, as the park became half-carnival/funfair, a lot of carnival rides were added in the area: Le Grand Huit (Galaxi-type rollercoaster), "Télé Combat Avion" (a plane-themed ride), a ghost train "Geisterburg/Train Fantôme", a "Tagada" (a sort of horizontal platform with a bench all around it facing the inside, and the platform jumped and turned around) - and "Les Cygnes Blanc", a water-ride in swan-shaped boats (once Mirapolis was closed, it moved to the parc Saint-Paul, renowned the Pédalos cygnes).

5 ) La terre de l'aventure (Adventure Land)

West of the park, it was originally called after its main attraction, "La descente des rapides" - going down the rapids of a river on 14 meters-logs (the ride was another spnsorship of Fujifilm). There was a lot of boats-and-water based rides: there was a "tow boat ride" called "La Rivière des Castors" - Beaver River. It took the guests on a water-ride onto thriteen boats, with the shores decorated by beaver figures. There was also a "balancing boat" ride, called "Le bateau pirate" (The Pirates' ship).

When the Club Med took over Mirapolis in 1988, a lot of attractions were added - twelve hot-air balloons ; an inflating castle (La Montagne molle), a gravitron-ride (Le Galion) and a "Bateau pirate junior".

But the most striking part of this area was the Nesquik sponsorized area. It was originally just one specific ride, the "Quick Cup" (also called "La Chocolatière de Groquik"), your usual spinning-cup ride, but with Groquik on the sides of all the cups. However in 1988, the "Groquik area" expended with three more children-rides: Le Mille-Pattes, Le Chemin des tortures (a kiddie train" shaped like turtles), and the Mini-dragons (a plane-jet-ride shaped like dragons - it survived the closure of Mirapolis by becoming the "Manège dragon" of the Parc Saint-Paul before being retired for good in 2009). If you are confused by my mention of "Groquik" let me explain: before Nesquik brought over in France its chocolate-colored bunny as a mascot, France had its own Nesquik mascot called "Groquik". Created in 1978, it was a big, jolly, large yellow hippopotamus with a straw hat (he also doubled as the Greek Nesquik mascot as "Kouikaras") ; but he got officially retired in 1990 because Nesquik realized having a big, fat mascot for their products could mean their products made children fat or obese... So he was replaced by the fit, trim and athletic Nesquik bunny.

6 ) Le Pays des Légendes (Legend Land/ Legend Country)

Its original name was "La ville d'Ys", "The Town of Ys" - once again, because it was the title of the main ride, The City of Ys. [When the name Land of Legends was brought, the attraction became "Voyage sous la mer", "Travel under the sea"]. It was an omnimover scenic-ride that went fourteen meters down below the earth, and made the guests explore the legendary city of Ys - this fabulous lost city of Bretagne supposed to have sunk below the waves. The SFP society designed the monsters and animatronics encountered during this ride, from gigantic invertebrate to a ten-heads hydra. And of course, Dahut was there too - princess, witch and mermaid all at once!

There was an area called "La forêt de Brocéliande" (Broceliand forest), which contained a replica of the Round Table, and a "potager des fées" (The fairies' vegetable garden). There was a lake, and on its shore a tent - a large circus tent that actually welcomed the shows of Annie Fratellini (one of the most famous female clowns). Annie Fratellini also had there a "circus school", that presented to the guests the story of clowns from the 18th to the 20th centuries. In 1988, due to the lack of food-areas, this tent was transformed into a restaurant - it was called le "Camp du Drap d'Or" (The Field of Gold Cloth), in homage to the historical event of the same name. But in 1990, it became once again a clown-area that doubled as "Le Musée des Arts forains", a museum dedicated to funfairs and the art of carnivals.

From the second year of the park onward, there was also a Viking-theme area prepared: a Viking village built near the lake's shores, with a drakkar within the lake's water ; and a "Viking Farm" with farm animals in it. (Plus a Palace of Mirrors/Mirror maze was added there, for some reasons).

7 ) Le paradis des comptines gourmandes

(This one is a mouthful to translate... "The paradise of tasty nursery rhymes" ; "The heaven of sweet-toothed nursery rhymes")

Originally called "Le domaine des enfants" (Children's domain, Children's area), the main building of this zone was "Le Palais de Dame Tartine" - inspired by the French nursery rhyme "Dame Tartine" (Lady Toast, with her "palace of fresh butter"). The Palace itself was divided into several unities, the two most important being a two-hundred places theater ; and a "Gallery of Automatons".

The theater could be reached by going through the sleeve of a gigantic reproduction of Mister Gimblette (Dame Tartine's husband in the nursery rhyme, here crowned with a "galette des rois", the typical dish of the Epiphany). The main show of this theater was a show depicting the four seasons, and partially created by the SFP - it also had René Clermont voicing an owl who told not just the cycle of seasons but also how the world was created ; there were also other automaton-animals, as well as an enormous luminous tree of 450 kilos, made with ten thousand optic fibers. It was due to this tree that the area was sometimes called "Le théâtre de l'Arbre Lumière" (The Theater of the Light-Tree).

As for the Gallery of Automatons, it was also called la "Balade des contes" (A walk through fairytales) - going all around the Theater, this gallery was filled with animatronic animals that activated themselves when a guest came nearby, and these animatronics sang the various legends and folktales of France. Other areas within Dame Tartine's palace included a gigantic kaleidoscope, a pool of plastic balls, and another theater of 500 places.

Outside of the palace, there was also a Music-Express ride called "Caravelles", and "Le Petit Train des comptines" (The Small train of nursery rhymes) - a children ride with two little trains, whose wagons were shaped like rabbits and elephants, and which rode through a vegetable garden with giant vegetables. After the closure of Mirapolis, the Caravelles ride was moved to the Jacquou Parc (Dordogne) and renamed Gabarots.

There was also a later inclusion of a "robot" shaped area added later, during the "funfairification" of the park.

8 ) Le sommet de la grande frousse (The top of great fear / The summit of big fright)

This was actually one of the first areas of the park, just west of the entrance. In fact, during the first year of the park it was called the "Entry zone" and grouped together with the park's entrance - before the entrance and this area were divided. Its main attraction was a roller-coaster called "the Miralooping", famed for being the French roller-coasters with the most loopings at the time. Some newspapers and advertisement also called this roller-coaster the "biggest roller-coaster of France", able to rival the biggest roller-coasters of Europe (though this was apparently not certain and put to doubt?).

There was also a troika-ride called "Le Tourbillon", and most importantly a train station called the "Mirapolis Express", with three trains leaving it to go around the park (with the second train station being located at the foot of the Gargantua statue). There was also a bike-shaped ride opened in 1990 called "Les Vélos drôles" (The funny bikes).

(This picture is not of the Mirapolis park, it is the Saint Paul park - but the white swans you can see were originally those of Mirapolis)

And before leaving you for now, I will share another weird trivia about this weird park. The official logo and symbol of the park was this:

But on all the merch the park sold (such as official Mirapolis clothes), a different logo and symbol was used, and it looked like this:

The idea was that the three faces would embody the three emotions guests were supposed to go through: surprise, joy and wonder.

[beepsparks]

🩵Intro Post (including commission info) because yes⭐️ (please read) (Last updated September 11 2024)

🩵 Hello!! My name is Cyrus, I am 16 and my birthday is April 14, I am also nonbinary and use They/Them pronouns :] also my Discord is @/beepsparks so if you wanna yap to me there go ahead, also all my other socials have the same @, also, I have a Toyhouse! https://toyhou.se/BeepSparks Feel free to check me out there!

📌 (IMPORTANT NOTE): MY BLOG IS CURRENTLY 15+. I’m sorry, but due to the media I am currently fixing on (You Don’t Know Jack) which can be adult-oriented at times with its humor and general content (especially with characters’ actions), I don’t want younger people looking at my blog and coming across content unsuitable for them!

⚙️ Latest Update: UPDATED COMMISSION BOARDS!

⭐️ DNI: The obvious, racists, homophobes, transphobes, bigots, y’know the deal

🩵 Interests/Things I Like: You Don’t Know Jack/Jackbox Games, It’s a Small World, Horology (Clocks), DHMIS Padlock (especially Ice Hell), DHMIS, Epic Mickey, Parappa The Rapper, Luigi’s Mansion 3, Gregory Horror Show, Kirby, Pokémon, The Stanley Parable, Miis, Nintendo in general, The Neo-Futurists, sewing my own plushies, making art (obviously), character design, watching movies I enjoy over and over for who knows what reason, drawing characters I like as other things I like (zombies, Kirbys, Pokémon and Pokémon trainers, etc.), fatherly characters… (Schmitty…), clock characters, Disney Theme Park history and attractions, trying to cosplay my favorite characters, Jack Conte’s music, The Cog Is Dead’s music, Melanie Martinez’s music (I don’t interact with the fans tho I just. Only like the music and nothing else)

⭐️ Comfort Characters: Schmitty (YOU DON’T KNOW JACK/Jackbox Games), Cookie Masterson (YDKJ/Jackbox Games) (other hosts in YDKJ count too but not too much), The Clock Tower (Epic Mickey), Glockenspiel (It’s a Small World Disneyland), Clock Tower (It’s a Small World Disneyland Paris), Dandelion (Bracketeering, Jackbox Games) Master Mentalist (Hypnotorious, Jackbox Games), Dialga (Pokémon), Tony The Talking Clock (DHMIS), Paige/Sketchbook (DHMIS), Kirby (Kirby), Prince Fluff (Kirby), Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (Disney)

🩵 COMMISSIONS:

Currently, my commissions are OPEN

⭐️ Things I like Collecting!: Physical You Don’t Know Jack games, physical Kirby games, Clocks, shiny Pokémon (if that counts), Pokémon cards, plushies of things I like, general merch of things I like, Care Bears, retro consoles and physical retro games I like, pins of things I like (Kirby, It’s a Small World, Pokémon, clock characters)

⚠️ TRIGGERS/THINGS IM UNCOMFORTABLE WITH, some of these can be brought up/mentioned but be careful because it can make me feel panicked if I’m not in a good mental state in that moment, also don’t show me images or videos of these things please but mentioning them is okay for the most part, actual triggers will be in red: Breaking clocks (already broken clocks is iffy, im not sure, be careful about that), earthquakes (I think I have seismophobia and I don’t think I’ve ever gotten over it since it started over a decade ago, I don’t even know why I have it, I have never been in an earthquake.), the introduction scene for Choo Choo at the beginning of the Transport episode of DHMIS (iykyk also blends with the seismophobia thing), footage of that time the It’s a Small World facade caught on fire, any general footage of damage to It’s a Small World, SPECIFICALLY the Melting Clock artwork from Salvador Dali (too graphic for me with the broken clocks thing), the Escape the Simulation episode of YDKJ Full Stream (just makes me uncomfortable at times, its fine otherwise), I’m really sorry if these sound weird or specific, Idk. It’s just a thing with me.

🩵 I feel like noting my favorite song is We Grew Up So Well by Jack Conte teehee (which is. Insanely dark!)

⭐️ Have fun with my blog and I hope y’all also find it funny how my aesthetic is like. Baby blue cutecore and yet I have interests like YDKJ and DHMIS, also the fact I have interests like It’s a Small World and YDKJ at the same time lol

[miss-bridgerton]

Here are some ideas I have for my women’s Richmond team story I am working on:

Roy, Nate & Beard aren’t prepared to coach girls—it is wildly different from coaching boys

The girls are all incredibly competitive with each other & the hate between all of them is so much worse than how the boys didn’t get along in Season 1

The guys put on a dance number to welcome the girls to the field but the girls have attitude and basically bully them with their words lol

“What about that one? She looks small and sweet?” They say. *player aggressively pushes another player to the ground & kicks ball* “Nevermind!”

Roy decides to recruit his younger sister, Margo who was playing in America. Except she quit for reasons unknown until later

It takes time but he eventually convinces her

One problem, the captain is her ex best friend and they hate each other

Margo deals with being an outcast as the other girls side with the captain

Just like Roy had his own chant (he’s here he’s there he’s every fuckin where, Roy Kent) hers is: Go Go Mar-Go

There are arguments over who gets to practice on the field

Coaches decide to have both teams practice together—this eventually leads to romance and friendship between the players

Margo & Jamie gain a friendship from being coached by Roy every morning

They have their own little handshake hip-bump thing

Jamie is smitten with her but doesn’t want to ruin his own friendship with Roy

Jamie takes her to Disneyland Paris to cheer her up one day after an incident

They hook up

Margo thinks it’s just a casual thing but Jamie is seriously falling hard

Roy realizes Jamie likes her when he sees Jamie trip over himself when she watches practice. Then he winks at her during a game. That’s when Roy asks him to beer and tells him to back off his sister. Jamie says no. They literally get into a fight (just like the scene in season 3)

During a particular game the boys wear the girls jerseys in protest

The main romance is Jamie & Margo, but there are other side characters I have ideas for

Story will mainly focus on the building of the friendship between the girls, found family, sexuality and some romance

[russellsppttemplates]

Pierre and yn surprise the Kids with a trip to dinseyland paris

"Where are we, mama? And why do Alexandre and Louis have blindfolds on?", Élodie asked, "they have blindfolds because they can read the signs and me and papa don't want to ruin our surprise", you explained, "Oh, okay, that's why me and Celeste don't have any then", she reasoned with herself, peeking into the stroller where you were pushing her little sister, "she's asleep anyway, it's not like she can see anything anyway", Pierre noted, holding the boys' hands in his as they walked, making sure no one got injured.

Scanning the tickets, you managed to keep it a secret until Élodie surprised everyone as she saw Mickey, "Mama! It's Mickey, look, can you see him too?", she yelled, making you and Pierre take the blindfolds off the boys' eyes, "We are at Disneyland? This is the best day ever!", Louis yelled back, and you had never been so thankful to have understanding parents next to you that were dealing with their hyper excited children too.

Despite the initial plan you had written down, because Disneyland with 4 kids wasn't a joke, only the morning went according to plan. When you were waiting for the Parade, Louis wanted to go to the toilet despite having been not long ago, which made all the kids want as well.

"Papa, can I go on that ride?", Alexandre pointed, "I'm sorry, amour, you don't have the minimum height, it seems", Pierre checked the information board, "but we can all go on the tea cups together", he announced, earning very excited cheers from everyone except his oldest, "it will have to do, I guess", he mumbled.

"MAMA! IT'S MICKLEY AGAIN!", you heard Louis call for you, handing them the small books you were collecting their signatures in before they ran to the character, asking for signatures before Pierre ushered them together so they could take a picture.

"Do you want me to take a picture of your family?", a lady asked, "Oh, that would be lovely, actually", you smiled, as you and Pierre got next to the children.

"Now we have a photo of the first time we went to Disneyland with the kids so we can remember this day", Pierre said, thanking the lady as he got his phone back, "we're coming here again? YES!".

(Thank you for submitting an ask 🤍)

[bloodibambiidoll]

Glomps you!

Top five places you want to visit!

Please and thank you!

Ooohhh okay. This isn’t really in order.

1. Tokyo, Japan. Irl anime everything.

2. This is so lame and basic but I wanna go to universal so I can go to Harry Potter world bc I literally went to Disneyland the year they were building it when I was 11 and I need to fulfill that childhood dream. Preferably at Halloween time. And I also go to Disneyland it’s a package deal.

3. Salem, Massachusetts. Self explanatory I feel.

4. New Orleans. Love the architecture and I wanna see the Coven house.

5. Parisssss. I’ve always wanted to go to Paris since I was a little girl. In a perfect world I’m with a very hot rich man and he buys me things and kisses me at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #653

Top Ten Disneyland Paris Rides, circa 2024

I've just come back from holiday, and as usual my main thought is that once again the house wasn’t flooded, burned down, or robbed whilst we were away (ha, suck it, burglars!).

However, as I've settled back into the daily grind, my thoughts return to pleasant times abroad, and the fun of the holiday itself. Because – and this was semi-planned – there is some synchronicity with last week’s list, when I ranked my favourite rides/experiences from Walt Disney World and Universal Studios in Orlando, back when I visited them as a child literally thirty years ago. You see, we’ve had a fantastic week-and-a-bit in Paris, France (as they say Across the Pond), rounded off with a chaser of Disneyland Paris. And so, partly to keep the magical flame alive, and partly to reconnect/reinforce/rehash last week’s list, I'm going to rank my favourite things from the European wing of the Disney Empire.

My criteria are a bit different this time around. For one thing, I was travelling with kids of my own. This put a spin (no pun intended when dealing with theme park rides) on the sorts of attractions we prioritised; not just the fact that we didn’t go on any inverted coasters, but also because there was a strong desire to ride Dumbo or see Stitch. To be fair, I've never been too much of a thrill seeker, so eschewing the loop-de-loops wasn’t really too big a deal; although I would have quite liked to go on the Indiana Jones coaster, which sadly was the only ride in the park Daughter #2 was too short for. But I didn’t mind giving the Avengers ride or Hyperspace Mountain a swerve. All the same, I was – to a certain extent – seeing the park through their eyes; as much as I enjoyed basically everything about it, the only thing I really did that was just “for me” was wander around the (sadly a bit sparse) Avengers Campus, and geek out because there was a giant version of one of Ant-Man's size-changing discs poking out of the ground.

The relative sparseness of Avengers Campus has prompted me to give a very short review of Disneyland Paris as a whole. I can’t really compare it to the park in Florida; I was twelve and in awe when I went there, and had little real understanding of how much effort and expense it was to travel halfway across the world to ride a make believe DeLorean. But we went to France at a funny time: the park is being renovated, with the entire ��Studio” section getting a whole revamp. No longer themed around the movies and the productions, it’ll be “Disney Adventure Park”, or something like that; the areas currently themed around Pixar movies and Marvel movies will remain, and will be complemented by a Frozen-themed zone and – eventually – one based on The Lion King. As such, in 2024, some parts are closed off, and there are big fences up whilst construction is ongoing. It wasn’t too intrusive, really – especially as we had to deal with the fact that the entire Champs Elysees was shut for the Paralympics Opening Ceremony on our two days in Paris – but it did make life a little awkward. More serious, I think, is the way that certain areas either feel a touch underdeveloped – Avengers Campus, for instance, which could do with another themed ride and maybe some cool Easter eggs or photo areas (Mjolnir, anyone?) - or have a theme that doesn’t quite work (Discoveryland was originally designed around Jules Verne-style steampunk sci-fi but now is more space-y, with a Star Wars zone and a Buzz Lightyear ride; it gives it a somewhat disjointed aesthetic, with the gears and rivets not quite matching with Star Wars’ iconography).

This sounds like I’m sticking the boot in, but really I think the overall theming and design of Disneyland is so strong that the areas that don’t 100% hit the mark really stand out. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what it would feel like going back as an adult; but the magic I remember from childhood genuinely did return. It’s not the rides, as such, it’s the whole vibe of the place; back then, and now, I just love wandering around exquisitely themed locations, travelling through artificial palaces and constructed villages, marvelling at the – for want of a better word – set design of the place. And everything they do to make it exciting for kids is just tremendous. I balked at the price and the length of the queues, but to be honest the cast members are doing a fantastic job of living up to the image and personality of the characters they inhabit. Donald Duck even threatened my wife. What more do you want?

Anyway, the long and the short of it is, I really loved Disneyland Paris and despite how stupidly expensive everything is, I’d love to go again. Certainly not till after the Frozen stuff is built, maybe not till after they finish the Lion King stuff either. But what about the rides? Well, here you go: my official ranking of the best rides and attractions and whatnot at what used to be known as EuroDisney.

And, yes, of course I bloody loved Paris as well. It was a fantastic holiday all round. I felt suffused with culture, I climbed the Eiffel Tower, I explored the Paris Catacombs, and then I met a six-foot duck and watched drones form the shape of Elliot from Pete’s Dragon. It was a good week.

Big Thunder Mountain: I said we’re not much of a roller coaster family – my kids had literally never ridden one – but Big Thunder is great. The whole styling of the piece – the environment, the queue, the lot – is gold; it sells the mining experience. It’s a good length, the ride itself, and sufficiently exciting, with loads of fast turns and ups and downs, some good bits in the dark, and some great views as it snakes in and out of its mountain. Plus, to the delight of some, it has no inversions. Perhaps it’s a “my first proper roller coaster”, but it’s so deliciously exhilarating that no one minds. A classic.

Ratatouille: The Adventure: probably the closest a ride at DLP comes to my memories of Back to the Future at Universal Studios, this brilliantly combines huge-screen immersive visuals with an exciting (but not too thrilling) track ride. In little rat cars, you scamper in and out of large environments, as the massive screens surround you and bring you into the story. Lots of immersive elements and excitement, it manages to be both fun and cute.

Star Tours: The Adventures Continue: I loved this back in the nineties, and it feels like it might have changed a bit but the core experience is still there. You still get the immersive queue, with animatronic droids (and Mon Calamari!), and the whole vibe of taking a commercial tour trip. Then the ride itself kicks in, an exciting (and now 3D) simulator experience, as you hop from one Star Wars environment to another. It doesn’t tie together quite as well as I remember, and it feels rather short, but it’s so quintessentially Star Wars, and so exciting, that you won’t really care.

Spider-Man W.E.B. Adventure: another one where it’s all sold brilliantly by the surroundings, as you enter a science campus and help Peter Parker with an experiment. There’s much to enjoy and much that’s amusing (it’s nice that Peter’s classmates all appear to be other teen superheroes). The ride itself is really just a series of huge videogame screens in 3D, but it’s so cool: you have to “thwip” your hands to fight little spider-bots, and it tallies up the scores of everyone in your car. It’s tremendous fun, and – like Star Tours – does an excellent job with immersion into its world.

Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast: similar to Spider-Man, maybe skewing a bit younger, but also – I'd argue – a bit harder to play. You go round a slow track, with physical guns attached to your car, and you have to shoot at Zurg and his evil robots. It’s like laser tag, basically, with a Buzz Lightyear twist. It might be a bit slow, and I’m really rubbish at things like this, but again it’s good fun – and, again, it records your scores so you can mercilessly mock/be mocked by your family.

Phantom Manor: ah, a classic! Not sure why it’s not called Haunted Mansion like it is in the States (I consistently referred to it as “Phantom Menace”) but it’s basically the ride I remember from thirty years ago. It’s really just a slow-burn track ride – a ghost train, essentially – but it uses all manner (manor?) of trickery, from some great projection to two-way glass, to sell the idea of corpses and ghosts and whatnot. It starts out quite spooky and then just gets onto Skeleton Dance weirdness fairly quickly, so I don’t think kids will be too traumatised. More’s the pity.

Dumbo the Flying Elephant: Daughter #2 has loved Dumbo – the character and both the movies – for years, so this was a must-see. And whilst it’s essentially just a cute merry-go-round, there’s a slightly more thrilling aspect in that the little Dumbo cars really can go quite high. Pleasingly, you’re in control – you make them go up and down – so if you want to get a really cool elephant’s-eye-view of the park, you crank that sucker up like you’ve got a magic feather.

Crush’s Coaster: I’m sure there are a lot of people visiting Disneyland Paris who’d be surprised at how low this features. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very exciting ride. A more intense coaster than Big Thunder, this has you sitting in somewhat-spinny shells as you rocket through the ocean, with lots of banked curves and fast drops. But the shells didn’t rotate as often as I was expecting, so if you’re facing backwards, you’re like that for most of the ride – and as such don’t quite see as much of the nice Finding Nemo stylings. Also, it’s pretty short; it feels over before you know it. So whilst I had a lot of fun, considering how popular it is – it's got one of the longest queues in the park – I think if I’d waited ninety minutes to go on it I’d be disappointed. As it was, we got there first thing - “rope dropped it”, as they say – and didn’t have to wait long. So that’s my review: fun but short, like Danny DeVito.

It’s a Small World: I love this ride. I know it’s cheesy, I know it’s tame, I know it’s daft, I know that it’s potentially problematic in its stereotypical depiction of multiple cultures even though I also know its heart is in the right place. But all those things combine to make it so supremely enjoyable and adorable. And let’s face it, it’s iconic, right? We all know what they were taking the piss out of in Shrek.

Stitch Live!: everything I’ve listed so far has been a proper ride, but Disneyland is also great for experiences. These can be everything from a formal character meet-and-greet (and those are genuinely great), to walk-through dioramas or just fantastically designed and engineered scenery (there’s a dragon under the castle!). Or you can go see a show! We all love Stitch in our house, and this interactive animated show is a delight, although I would argue that it possibly skews a bit young. A cel-shaded CG Stitch talks to the audience from the screen, calling out people by name and picking on the parents. It’s funny, it’s cool (I can imagine, for a kid, having a cartoon character speak in real-time would blow their minds), and it’s very Stitch-y. However, as well as skewing a bit young (which I guess makes sense), it doesn’t really include the children very much, more focused on making fun of the grown-ups; maybe that’s a necessity (data protection? Fear of upsetting the nippers?). Also, worth reminding your kids that Stitch isn’t really there, only on a screen. But! Still good fun.

Blimey. Lot of good stuff I guess! Anyway, it was a fun holiday. I’d wholeheartedly recommend it, except for the fact that it’s bloody expensive. I don’t necessarily mean “it costs a lot of money”, even though it does; it’s just that, well, for the same amount of money you could probably have a week on a beach. And I’ll tell you something else for substantially less than the cost of a set meal at Walt’s: after spending two days with kids at Disneyland, you could do with a week on a beach.

[daenystheedreamer]

yin come to Texas I'll show u the best tex-mex you've ever had

i went to paris disneyland as a kid and we stayed at the cars themed hotel (it was the cheapest one) and i was offended on behalf of texans for the absolutely terrible tex mex food you cant trust the french with anything omg im manifesting that one day you will show me the real deal🫶

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This day in history

MERE HOURS REMAIN for the Kickstarter for the audiobook for The Bezzle, the sequel to Red Team Blues, narrated by @wilwheaton! You can pre-order the audiobook and ebook, DRM free, as well as the hardcover, signed or unsigned. There’s also bundles with Red Team Blues in ebook, audio or paperback.

#20yrsago Tablature for Super Mario Brothers https://artport.whitney.org/gatepages/artists/galloway/

#20yrsago Unix as she is spoke https://web.archive.org/web/20040215071845/http://www.eeng.brad.ac.uk/help/.faq/.unix/.pronun.html

#15yrsago Comprehensive excoriation of ebook stupidity https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2009/02/the-once-and-future-e-book/

#15yrsago Disneyland Paris’s smoking area/stroller rental https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/3246021936/

#10yrsago Marx’s prescient predictions for the 21st century https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/marx-was-right-five-surprising-ways-karl-marx-predicted-2014-237285/

#10yrsago UK Parliament considers allowing secret courts to issue orders to seize reporters’ notebooks https://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/jan/31/secret-hearings-police-journalists-deregulation-bill

#10yrsago Massive collection of Soviet wartime posters https://windowsonwar.nottingham.ac.uk

#10yrsago Toronto Mayor Rob Ford ticketed, allegedly for public intoxication, in Vancouver https://globalnews.ca/news/1122528/breaking-rob-ford-reportedly-ticketed-in-vancouver-for-jaywalking/

#10yrsago Neil Gaiman reads “Green Eggs and Ham” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKh_WOfxkA4

#5yrsago After #MeToo, whole industries have been blacklisted by insurers for sexual harassment liability coverage https://theintercept.com/2019/02/02/workplace-harassment-insurance-metoo/

#5yrsago Women weren’t excluded from early science fiction: they were erased https://www.wired.com/2019/02/geeks-guide-history-women-sci-fi/

#5yrsago Delayed, not saved: Foxconn’s Wisconsin “factory” announcement is a bid to help Trump save face https://www.cbsnews.com/news/foxconn-says-it-will-build-wisconsin-factory-after-all-citing-conversation-with-trump/

#5yrsago The plane(t) has been hijacked by billionaires, and we’re all passengers https://www.businessinsider.com/anand-giridharadas-billionaires-inequality-interview-2019-1

#5yrsago No Deal Brexit will lead to “putrefying stockpiles of rubbish” and “slurry” https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/01/revealed-plan-to-deal-with-putrefying-stockpiles-of-rubbish-after-no-deal-brexit

#1yrago Netflix wants to chop down your family tree https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/02/nonbinary-families/#red-envelopes

Back the Kickstarter for the audiobook of The Bezzle here!

[clearskiesandcurlyfries]

How do you tell someone you're feeling unappreciated without making them feel like shit and sounding selfish? Maybe I am selfish idk

It's my birthday tomorrow, I'll be 28, I've always been the type of person who's got really excited for their birthday and made a big deal of everyone else on their birthday but they don't do the same for me?

I've had to buy my own decorations, buy my own cake, tell them what I want to do/where to go, tell them what I want for my birthday (I always say I don't know because I always buy things I want/need myself) and it just doesn't feel good at all, my mum even says she doesn't know what day it is (she's only 51 she doesn't have any memory issues)

I probably am just being selfish but is it too much to ask for anybody to put in a little bit of effort on my day like I do for theirs?

Nothing is left as a surprise, I know the gifts I'm getting, I know what we're doing, my mum said if we had a party she wouldn't be able to invite anyone because I don't have any friends...

I'll be 30 in 2 years and my mum asked me what I want to do and I said I've always wanted to go to Disneyland Paris and she said no...

I'm a 28 year old autistic adult and I have nobody who cares enough to put the effort in

I just wanna feel less invisible on my birthday

[the-eyes-in-the-wallpaper]

Welcome, Foolish Mortals

To be completely fair, that was likely exactly what you expected. But how else is one supposed to open a sideblog dedicated to the Haunted Mansion?

Regardless, welcome, readers. This will serve as a place to catalog my collective thoughts, analyses, writings, and ramblings concerning the Haunted Mansion and Phantom Manor, at the Disney parks across the world.

To many of you who may be following me from other places or who have simply stumbled upon this blog in the vast jungles of the internet, the existence of this page likely raises several questions:

It's a ride at Disneyland, what's the big deal?

Shouldn't you grow up and get a Real Job?

You're one of those insufferable Disney adults who spends $60 on a popcorn bucket from Ebay aren't you.

To answer these to some extent, I am firstly doing this because I think it is fun, I do already have a Real Job, and I have never spent $60 on any piece of merch, popcorn bucket or otherwise.

But it did get me thinking. What is it about the Haunted Mansion in particular that has managed to create a fandom this strong over the past 54 years? On the face of it it's not that big of a deal, and it's not exactly highbrow Art or Literature or Cinema. So why do people keep coming back?

The answer lies, I believe, in what the Mansion is in the first place:

A narrative. Due to its nature as a dark ride, there is an opportunity to present the story in the second person: You, the rider, are exploring an old and reportedly haunted mansion. This setup, especially in an age before technology could create an interactive experience, lends itself especially well to a

A commentary. While the Mansion as a whole is meant as entertainment, it is playing with tropes, questions, and archetypes that reflect the human fascination with life and death.

A magic show. The Mansion was built in an era when computers were still the size of living rooms, so very little of the special effects required them. Instead, the designers of the ride used illusions dating back to the Victorian era (and sometimes even older!) to convince the rider the house is actually haunted.

A historic artifact. Given that the building is (as of today, April 9 2023) 54 years old, it has been around for long enough that it funcions as a time capsule of sorts into what a haunted house looked like in 1969, before further developments in the horror genre during the 1970s and 1980s.

The impression it leaves in the minds of those who enter. The ride itself is only about 9 minutes long - not a long time at all. But the details that are left make one wonder - about backstory, about the history of the place both fictional and real - and those details shared between fellow enthusiasts has over time left the Mansion with the feeling that it is truly haunted, in a way.

Each post in this blog will roughly correspond to these categories, more or less depending on the particular topic. We'll be covering a bit of everything here - history, architecture, special effects, literature, and the list will go on. Updates will probably be weekly - I am still working out exactly how to write everything and make sure you all have quality posts in a timely manner, but that is the plan.

I will also say up front that this blog will assume that you already have a cursory knowledge of the Haunted Mansion as a ride. If you need a refresher, there are several "low-light POV" videos on YouTube of the three Haunted Mansions (Anaheim, Orlando, and Tokyo) currently in operation, as well as of Phantom Manor in Paris. I will do a larger post with a more complete secondary source list later and make sure it is tagged and pinned.

Without further ado, welcome, foolish mortals. I do hope these posts are as fun for you to read as they are for me to write.