Disneyland Paris

We left our hotel at about 8:45am (it was still dark) planning to be at Disneyland when it opened at 10am. For Frank and the boys it was a first Disney trip.

Having lived in Tokyo and the U.S., I have been to Disneyland a few times and was expecting a full day with long lines and lots of walking. But, there is nothing so special as seeing Disneyland through your children's eyes. As an experienced Disney goer I coached Frank and the boys that it was best to run from ride to ride and not talk or take photos until you're in line for the next ride.

Frank was more impressed with the first rides, Peter Pan and Pirates of the Carribean, than the boys were. Rocco said, 'I thought you said it was fast and scary'. Well sorrrry...

We then discovered there is now a fast pass where you can wait in a long line for a ticket gives you a time to return to the ride and wait in another long line (somehow shortening your overall wait time). We tried to out smart the system by getting more than one fast pass at a time, but this wasn't possible. I was excited to show the kids my favourite ride, the haunted house, but it was closed due to a 'technical malfunction'. It finally opened and I explained to the boys how awesome the ride would be and way scary. I was surprised to find it a little less scary than I remembered and the boys stirred me up about this. It was time to up the ante and move onto rides that would scare the hell out of my delightful children. Exit Disneyland and enter Disney Studios (the Disney equivalent of Movie World or Universal Studios). But first lunch at Ratatouille's restaurant.

Lunch was a buffet and I was incredibly impressed when Ratatouille came out of the kitchen and entertained the guests. After lunch we headed to Aerosmith's Rock and Roller Coaster, a ride which was not recommended for anyone with a heart condition or who suffered from motion sickness (me) and had a minimum height requirement of 1.2 metres. Yeah, not a great idea right after lunch.

The closer to the ride we got the more we realised this was a bad idea. Especially when we saw the ride take off - a bullet train was counting down to takeoff where it shot into a blackened tunnel. I said, 'I'm not doing that'. Frank said, 'It only lasts thirty seconds'. It was the longest thirty seconds of my life. Rocco was next to me and as we are being spun upside down at 200 km's an hour he says, 'yeah, bring it on...it's okay mum'. I was totally silent and had my eyes closed most of the time; praying for it to end. After that experience, we went on Crusher's Coaster, which closed down after we had already been in line for thirty minutes. We decided to wait...

It was an Australian themed ride and though scary it was quite fun. We watched a show about the magic of Cinema, which was fantastic, and then Frank and the boys went on the Tower of Terror - an elevator which plunges 13 stories. I opted out of this one - I had no lunch left to give. Rocco and Sam say it was the most awesome ride of all.

It was a very full day and we were all exhausted on the train ride back to the hotel. It was standing room only and the kids were falling asleep standing up, literally using our bags (manbag in Frank's case) as pillows. Two young guys were laughing on seats next to us...totally oblivious to our situation. We (me and the boys) have been offered seats on public transport, by mostly older gentlemen, often. We have rarely taken it up and the boys and I have offered our seats to older people. At a time when we really needed it people seemed not to care. They were mostly in there early twenties...it was a single incident but it did test our natural faith in the younger generation. Thankfully the events that followed, in Reims, have more than restored our faith in human kind.