Travel Misadventures: A Disneyland Debacle

It was a disaster from start to finish really. My Mum, my Nan and I on a coach trip to Disneyland Paris. At the time, I’d never been to Disney so I was pretty excited. Not even the lack of air conditioning and the screaming kids on the coach could dampen my spirit. We got to the hotel room. It was small, it was cold – but at least it was clean. ‘False alarm!’, Nan shouted from the bathroom. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t clean but at least we were going to Disney tomorrow.

It was in Disneyland Paris I first decided I had a fear of roller coasters

We woke up to the next morning to the sound of rain. Mum and Nan grumbled, ‘You wouldn’t get this in Florida!’ Undeterred I whipped out my most fetching cagoule and off we went. It was in Disneyland Paris I first decided I had a fear of roller coasters. I remember it vividly. I was strapped into the Rock ‘n’ Roller-coaster next to a stranger. Just before it started I shouted some obscenity that was definitely not appropriate around all the little kids that were inevitably in Disneyland. Luckily, despite the language barrier, they let me off the ride. It seems that some words are universal.

‘We’re not suppose to be here’, Nan whispered, tip toeing in the background

Okay, so maybe rides weren’t quite for me, but that was okay, there was plenty more for us to do in Disneyland. We decided to take a tour of the castle. After exhausting the ground floor, we decided to take a little detour. A decision the three of us will never live down. Now, they don’t make it very clear that there are certain places in the Disney Castle you are not allowed to enter. Or at least, we didn’t understand the abundance of French signs informing us of this. Looking back it was suspiciously quiet for a school holiday in Disneyland, we really should have known, but, as they say, hindsight is a beautiful thing. We keep on walking. It was then that I spotted her! I would have recognised that blue dress from anywhere, I wore that blue dress to my eleventh birthday party! It was Cinderella. I was not leaving that castle until I got her autograph in the little, overpriced book I’d just bought. Chasing after her as if she’d lost her slipper again, we realised we’d made a mistake. My mum, my nan and I stepped out of the castle and onto the castle balcony with all the other Princesses as the whole park stared up at us taking there forever family photos. The Princess Parade… of course it was. I immediately regretted wearing the cagoule. There was only one thing for it in my mind, I had to stand on that balcony and wave at the thousands and thousands of people like the princess I was.

‘We’re not suppose to be here’, Nan whispered, tip toeing in the background. We heard a French voice shouting up the stairs at us, the princesses looking very confused at their new addition. Now, I don’t speak French but as I said, some words are universal.

I like to think that someone, somewhere will flick through their family photos one day and wonder which princess wore a blue cagoule.

It’s safe to say, we haven’t been back to Disneyland Paris again, but I like to think that someone, somewhere will flick through their family photos one day and wonder which princess wore a blue cagoule. Next time we ditched the coach and instead hit up Florida and, believe me, we paid very close attention to the signs.