Janine&Chris'GeriatricGapYear: 19/5 Woooooohoooooo DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!

Tuesday 19^th DISNEYLAND!!!!

We signed up for double passes. At Walt Disney Studios we saw a fantastic stunt car display in an outdoor stadium. Big synchronised takes with 8 cars and some motorbikes flying at each other from all directions, complete with fireworks and blazing motorcyclists etc. Steph – start saving Now! They had special cars made where the driver faced backwards so he could “reverse” at great speed while looking forwards, which was useful in some scenes. Plus cars flying up ramps, into and out of buildings etc. Very clever and excitivating.

They had a brilliant movie/stage show where an “audience member” wandered onto the stage and by a great illusion ended up in the movie, interacting with all the old film stars with a story woven together with great ingenuity and humour. He found his way through some of the most famous gunfights, Monty Python’s terrifying Rabbit of Death, Star Wars etc etc.

Then we had a tram ride though movie sets where we were afflicted with earthquakes, fires and raging floods – very realistic. Next we went against our better judgement and climbed aboard an indoor rollercoaster that flew round in the dark, complete with sideways spins that had us going backwards as often as forwards. We went in backwards and ended up forwards – as for what happened in between, you would need to ask somebody who had their eyes open J

Earthquake, fire and floooooooooood

Crush's coaster - complete with 'mine' seagulls below

Finally, there was a parade of Disney cars and characters and then we moved on to Disneyworld, which was in large part a copy of what we had seen in Hong Kong. I have to say that the castle was sensational – this is the characteristic backdrop that is so much a classic icon of Disney and it was quite touching to be walking through the real thing.

We went into a Tarzan show that consisted of a lot of rolling and tumbling and dangling from the ubiquitous silken ropes. We had seen a lot of this on cruise boats and very well done, but this was different and spectacular on a large stage with dozens of cast. Really enjoyable.

Tarzan and monkeys

Next was the Pirates of the Caribbean ride that was mostly in a boat. J did this twice. Another huge Disney parade commemorating 20 years of EuroDisney in Paris. J then did the Alice in Wonderland maze before we cut straight to The Main Event – the Buzz Lightyear ride, where you are driven round and get to shoot laser guns at monsters. Yes this is the one we did so often in Hong Kong and we did it another three times. Some technical fault in the weaponry or score keeping system seemed to suggest that J won all three games.

We piled into a large StarWars simulator, that totally convinced us that we were warping through the universe. The feeling was exactly the same as you would get if you did the rollercoaster with your eyes shut (I expect). Of course we don’t know anyone who has ever done that.