Started my morning with breakfast at the Compass Club in Disney's Newport Bay Hotel. After breakfast returned to the room to prepare for the day. Took a bus from the front of the hotel to the parks/train station. Stopped by the RER station and bought my ticket for later in the visit then headed for the parks. Stopped by the Annual Pass purchase window at the Walt Disney Studios Park and purchased APs for the group. Then we made our way to Disneyland. Spent some time enjoying Main Street USA and checking out the Christmas decorations. Eventually made our way into Fantasyland and decided to use our hotel Fastpass for Peter Pan's Flight then walked by Pirates which was down so continued on to Frontierland. Picked up a FastPass for Big Thunder for some then continued on to Phantom Manor. After our ride the ones with a FastPass doubled back to Big Thunder. After their ride we all made our way through the shops in Frontierland and then spent some more time on Main Street USA. Found a spot for 12:00pm Disney's Christmas Parade in the hub and waited. After the parade decided to head to Disney Village for lunch. Ended up at McDonalds since nothing else drew our interest today. After lunch made our way to Walt Disney Studios Park. Used a set of hotel FastPasses for Ratatouille. Then spent some time walking the park checking out the construction. Found a place in Studio 1 to warm up then headed to Animagique theater to watch the 3:20pm Mickey's Christmas Big Band show. After the show returned to Disneyland and spent some time on Main Street then walked up the parade route and went for a cruise on it's a small world. Doubled back to Discoveryland and enjoyed the 5:15pm Let's Sing Christmas! performance. After the show walked around Discoveryland and returned to Main Street to see the lights. Found a spot for Disney Illuminations about 6:40pm for the 7:00pm show. After the show joined the masses leaving the park and walked back to Disney's Newport Bay to end my day.

• Started my morning off with breakfast at the Compass Club Lounge. The main buffet area had a large assortment of breads and cold cuts. Also several egg choices and some meats. There were a selection of juices available too. At a second area was a pancake machine that would make you fresh pancakes as you waited. In another area was a toaster and cereal bar. There were also a couple of hot beverage stations. Overall it was a good variety of breakfast offerings and seemed about the same as the Sequoia Lodge. Also interesting to note the background music for Christmas consisted of soundtracks from many of the parades and previous shows.
• We opted to take the bus to the train station/parks this morning. Waiting in the hotel entry was a bit cool to downright cold. Adding to the non-enjoyment were the large number of guests smoking in the area. Since you are not allowed to smoke inside they have taken over the waiting area. The bus finally showed up and it was a free for all to get through the doors and get a spot. No sense of a line or anything.
• Stopped by the RER station to add a weekly pass to our previously purchased ticket. It was 22.80 euros for a week (Monday through Sunday) and was good in any of the 5 zones. We only had two trips planned this visit but it still seemed like the most cost efficient route for us. There was no line and the person working the counter did not seem to understand me at first put I had a printout and pointed at what I wanted and slide the cards to her. She understood and all rang up properly.
• Next up decided to stop by the ticket counter at the Walt Disney Studios park to purchase our annual passes. The break even point for an AP with block out dates was around 4 days so it saved us some money going that route. The process was smooth but slow. Buying at the studios meant they could take our picture and print the passes there vs having to go to the processing center in Disneyland Park. The cast member was very friendly and explained everything to us.
• Temperatures were in the low 40s/upper 30s so for someone who has spent the last several decades in Southern California it was extremely cold. But not raining so that was a positive.
• Christmas is in full swing at Disneyland Paris and Main Street is the central hub of decorations. Town Square as the main tree and several snow characters, trees and other decorations up throughout.
• Staying on the Compass Club Floor we are given vouchers with are good as FastPasses. Each person gets one for each day. You just give them to the CM at a FastPass attraction and can go any time. They are supposed to be valid only on one date but cast members generally accepted any days. We used a Hotel FastPass for Peter Pan, which was already a long wait, and then spent some time in Frontierland visiting the attractions there.
• Since the weather was mild I wanted to take advantage of it to see the parade. So found a spot in the hub along the curb for the noon Disney's Christmas Parade. Right before parade time the sun came out and I thought I was going to get some great pictures of the parade with Sleeping Beauty Castle behind it. The music started and I could see the first float in the distance. The sun disappeared and it started to drizzle! It drizzled/misted on/off throughout the parade so my pictures were not what I expected.
• Disney's Christmas Parade is a high energy affair and the crowds really get into it along with the cast members. The parade had a large number of performers on the street dancing and interacting with the crowds. The half dozen floats had an assortment of characters. The parade felt on the short side to me, compared to the long A Christmas Fantasy or the Tokyo Disneyland Parade.
• Nobody was that hungry but we felt we should eat and the park lines for food looked slow and pricey so opted to walk out to the Disney Village and grab some fast food.
• After lunch headed to the Walt Disney Studios Park. Used a hotel FastPass for Ratatouille. I had experienced this attraction four years ago and thought it was ok. I stand by that. I am not a huge screen person and the transition from screen to physical props is not done nearly as well as say Pirates in Shanghai. The trackless ride system is under utilized in my opinion compared to say Winnie the Pooh in Tokyo or Mystic Manor in Hong Kong. I am a little disappointed Epcot is receiving a clone of this attraction. Hopefully they do something to improve it but from what I have heard I hold out little hope for that. I would have liked to have have seen something unique at Epcot or maybe newer like the Beauty & Beast that Tokyo is opening next year.
• Mickey's Big Band Christmas was a very entertaining and top quality show. We enjoyed it a lot. It features a live big band and singers plus characters and dancers. It reminds me a lot of Big Band Beat at Tokyo Disneyland. I thought the theater was a little limited with the sound system and stage not quite up to what a production like this could use. Also I thought the mix of Christmas to regular songs could have gone a little heavier on Christmas.
• Let's Sing Christmas is performed in the Videopolis Theatre in Discoveryland. This is a very small venue with limited seating near the stage and above/beyond it a large space for Hyperion dining seating. This show reminded me of some of the classic shows Disneyland used to have. Almost a combination of what you would have found on the Carnation Stage or Videopolis/Fantayland Theater in Disneyland. The performers were great and the characters fun as always.
• After dark Main Street comes alive with the garlands overhead and tree. Interesting the garlands on the buildings do not light up. Also this year no lights on the castle. The garlands over Main Street have LED lights and dance to some of the music as they change colors along with the tree.
• Disney Illuminations debuted a few years ago so this was my first time seeing it. I felt the show did not live up to the quality and engagement of the original Disney Dreams show. The castle projections looked sharp and the fireworks, lasers, flame were all there but the show itself just felt a bit flat. Many of the scenes/elements in it are similar to Ignite the Dream at Shanghai Disneyland and some of the elements are in Fantasmic at Disneyland too. I would have liked to have seen something more original.

2019 Disneyland Paris Trip Summary

Related Blog Posts From Today:

• Town Square Christmas Decorations
• Main Street USA this morning
• Disney Christmas Parade
• Avengers Campus Construction at Walt Disney Studios Park
• Mickey’s Christmas Big Band
• it’s a small world
• Let’s Sing Christmas
• Disneyland Paris Main Street USA this evening
  
  
• All my posts from today