Child for a day

A visit to Disneyland Paris was unthinkable for Mademoiselle Lili for a long time. But then a friend came with children...

There are things that Parisians and Parisians-by-choice simply don't do. Waiting endlessly in line to go up the Eiffel Tower, for example. Disneyland was also far from my mind for a long time, this American art world somewhere in the middle of nowhere outside of Paris. A candy-colored, giant money machine with man-sized mice, mummeries and crowds of people. In short: a mammoth marketing spectacle. At least that's how I imagined it.

Then a friend and her two daughters, aged eight and ten, registered in Paris. And since shopping trips, museum visits and squatting on the café terrace tend to be of little interest to children in the long run, a highlight was needed to keep the girls entertained. And what did they most deeply desire? A visit to Disneyland.

And so one morning we stood in line at the gates of what was supposed to be hell. On average, 27,000 people visit the two parks every day. And queuing remained the main activity of the day: whether to eat, drink or go to the toilet and up to over an hour for the most popular attractions. It's almost impossible to experience everything the two parks have to offer in one day. Unless you dig deeper into your pockets and buy yourself into the fast lane with Premier Access – for the whole day or for individual attractions.

Back then, there was no app that gave you an idea of what awaited you inside. Our first choice happened to be the Crush’s Coaster. The turtle wagons seen passing by from outside seemed a nice, harmless way to start the acclimatization process. Think! The ride starts like a dive into the magical Nemo world of coral reefs, with glow and black light effects, but quickly becomes a wild, spiraling rollercoaster, with loops and whirlpools in the pitch black, where you no longer know which way is up and which is down . It wasn't just the girls who were screaming their hearts out with pleasure, we adults were too. The fun is over after just under two minutes, but the 55 minutes of waiting are immediately forgotten. This, I learned as a now self-confessed fan, is the true magic of Disneyland. You're never disappointed, no matter how long you've put your foot down.

I immediately got Disney fever and only saw la vie en rose. The omnipresent calorie bombs like cotton candy, popcorn, Coca Cola, burgers and fries still tasted so good to me - you become a child for a day and forget all the dogmas of healthy eating. You have to, because the organic and vegan craze has not yet made it through the security checks at Disneyland.

My ultimate must-do list for a day: 1. The Crush’s Coaster. 2. The Hollywood Tower – an adrenaline-pumping elevator crash through a haunted hotel. 3. Ratatouille – a hot pursuit in 4D. 4. Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain – the face lift effect when you shoot up the launch pad is galactic! And especially now at Halloween time: 5. The Phantom Manor – a haunted house with shaking floors and great 3-D projections. 6. Pirates of the Caribbean – a spooky, dank journey into the world of Jack Sparrow.

No matter how tired you are at the end of the day and even if you think you've seen fireworks often enough, the final spectacle of Disney Dreams puts everything in the shade. A bombastic symphony of music, water, fire, rockets and ever new visual tech effects: it couldn't be more magical. With these images in our heads, we happily took the RER back to the city, hoping for the next loop with every jolt.