I had a morning flight with American Airlines out of LAX to DFW. It wasn't an early flight, so I ended up getting stuck in a lot of rush hour traffic. The Waze app had me take Imperial Hwy all the way over to the 105 freeway. I couldn't wait to get out of the car once I got to parking lot C. Going through TSA security check was a bit different. They specifically wanted us to remove cameras and any food items from our carry-on bags. When I asked if that included Clif Bars, the TSA agent told me to remove it or they will pull my bag for complete inspection.
Leg 1 to DFW
After making it through security, I still had some time to pass before boarding time. They've changed the numbering of the boarding groups since the last time that I've flown with American Airlines. During check-in I saw that I was put in group 6. I thought that was the last group, so I moved my seat closer to the back of the plane in order to improve my chances of having access to overhead bin space. Turned out that that wasn't necessary. Here are the groupings via their website. There are now up to 9 boarding groups!
Once I got situated in my window seat, I started with watching Kong: Skull Island which I never got to see in the movie theater. The movie had great visuals and special effects, but I definitely didn't miss much. It was okay at best. Before taking off, there was an issue with a food cart or something which caused a short delay. That kind of sucked and would end up adding to the pressure of making the connection.
Kong: Skull Island
Once we landed in DFW, it was a mad dash for the connecting flight over at another terminal. It would turn out that quite a few of my fellow passengers on the first flight were also on the same flight to CDG. All of the other passengers had already boarded the plane when I arrived at the gate. For the second leg of the flight, I must have wanted to get into the Disney mood as I ended up watching Beauty and the Beast and Zootopia. I really liked Beauty and the Beast because they added to the background story a bit so that everything made more sense than the original animated version. Zootopia was a nice, charming, and intelligent movie with a message that there really shouldn't be stereotypes for each particular type of vocation. During the flight, we were served a meal which I believe was dinner. I couldn't really keep track of the meal time with the 9 hour time change between Los Angeles and Paris.
Beauty and the Beast
Zootopia
Thursday 9/21
Just prior to landing at CDG airport, we were given a breakfast snack box. Unlike last year, I had to go through customs after getting off of the plane. After doing so, I made my way over to the train waiting area to print out my pre-purchased TGV train ticket. However this year, the only yellow kiosk that was available was not working. Eventually I had to ask someone at the info desk where I needed to go to print it out. They told me that I needed to print it out from a ticket retrieval machine which happened to be white just like the other ones that people were using to purchase tickets.
Ticket retrieval machine
Retrieve ticket
Once I got my train ticket, I felt more at ease to go find some place to eat a meal. I wanted to keep my food costs down on this trip, so naturally I bought a combo meal at McDonald's. I placed my order with one of their kiosks which makes it so much easier when I can't speak or understand the French language.
McFirst Boeuf Ranch Moutarde
When it came time to catch the train at the platform, it was a mad rush for each of the cars. This time I was able to sit in my actual assigned seat. In just 10 short minutes, the train pulled up to the Marne-la-Vallée stop in Chessy. I went through security to get into the Disney Village Area. I had a couple of hours to pass before the expo opened, so I milled around the shops looking for some 25th anniversary merchandise to buy. I ended up buying a polo shirt.
This way to the expo
25th anniversary polo shirt
I saw that a line for the expo had already formed, so I thought I might as well get in line. I found that the expo was pretty well organized once it was open. There were about 4 lines splitting people up into what they needed to accomplish at the expo. I realized that I had forgotten to print out my waiver at home, so I got in that line. After filling out the waiver form, I went inside the Disney Events Arena to pick up my bib. It wasn't as hot as last year, but it was still pretty stuffy inside. After getting my bib, I went over to the race shirt booths to pick my shirts. After that I went to another separate booth to pick up the PhotoPass card and 1 day park hopper ticket that I had pre-purchased with the race registration.
10k shirt
Half marathon shirt
Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo Challenge shirt
1 day park hopper
After getting my picture taken for the PhotoPass and picking up a physical PhotoPass card, I finally made it into the official merchandise area. I ended up buying the Castle to Chateau Challenge shirt as well as a 25th anniversary baseball cap.
Castle to Chateau Challenge shirt
After that I went through the rest of the expo where I found my name on the wall of participants. I eventually made my way over to the guest speaker area since they had announced that Paula Radcliffe would be there to do a little Q&A. Fortunately for me and a few others, there weren't too many there that knew who she was or what she had accomplished in her illustrious career. I was able to get in a short line to get a photo with her.
Names of the participants
Paula Radcliffe
I was pretty exhausted, so I started walking over to my residence for the duration of the trip, Hipark Design Suites Serris Val d'Europe. I stayed at the same place as last year since I found the location to be very convenient. It was very affordable, located in a very quiet area, and was close enough to the Disneyland parks that I didn't need to take public transportation.
Once I checked into my room and got settled in, I took a much needed shower and took a nap. I woke up kind of late and walked down to the nearby mall to pick up a meal. Most of the stores were closing, so I tried using the kiosk at a McDonald's to order a meal, but the credit card was declined and the kiosk didn't print out an order slip. Since I wasn't too hungry with the time change, I just decided to walk back to my room, go back to sleep, and will try again tomorrow. Since I had trouble falling asleep, I ended up watching Ghost which was one of the few things on TV that was available in English.
I had a crush on Demi Moore back in the day. :)
Friday 9/22
Today was my designated park day. First I wanted to go get some snacks and drinks from the nearby supermarket, Auchan. It was open at 8:30 am which was a bit earlier than the rest of the mall, so it wasn't crowded at all. Snacks were a bit different here in France, so I had to find stuff that looked safe. Fortunately my credit card wasn't declined, it just required a signature. On the way back to my room, I stopped by the McDonald's again to try and get breakfast. I tried a different kiosk and once again it declined my credit card. However this time it printed out my order to take up to the counter. It turned out that it was declined because it required my signature.
Snacks
Breakfast from McDonald's
After eating my breakfast back at my room, I started heading over to the Disney Events Arena for the expo again since I was tired yesterday and had forgotten to pick up my Castle to Chateau Challenge bracelet. The expo wasn't as crowded or as hectic this morning. After taking care of that, I headed for the Disneyland Paris park entrance.
Castle to Chateau Challenge bracelet
Disneyland Paris Hotel
Disneyland Paris Park
Here were the rides that I rode:
- Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast: It pretty much has the same targets in the same spots as the ride in Anaheim, but the guns were not in very good condition!
- Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain: It was a bit bumpier than I remembered
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- "It's a Small World"
- Big Thunder Mountain: This ride was closed last year due to upgrades.
- Star Tours: This ride was also closed last year due to upgrades.
Hyperspace Mountain
I ended up buying one of those 25th anniversary popcorn buckets for €9. Besides the regular salted popcorn, they sold a sweetened version. A bummer about the bucket was that I didn't notice that the vendor had sold me one with a scratched up lid until I was practically done eating the popcorn. My command of the French language is non-existent, so I wouldn't be able to try and talk my way into getting a replacement. Oh well.
25th anniversary popcorn bucket
Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast
After I was done with Disneyland, I headed over to Walt Disney Studios Park where I rode:
- Crush's Coaster: This was temporarily shutdown last year. This is now my favorite ride!
- Ratatouille: Totally forgot to ride this last year. Loved the 4-D experience!
- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror: It was nice to ride this even though I like the Guardians of the Galaxy version a lot more.
- Rock n' Roller Coaster with Aerosmith
Walt Disney Studios Park
Crush's Coaster
Gusteau's Restaurant
Ratatouille
Bistrot Chez Rémy, I just might have to eat here one year!
The Hollywood Tower Hotel
That's a wrap!
I was done with both parks at about 5 pm. As I exited the park, I was approached by a young kid that looked to be in jr high. He asked me a question in French. I believe he wanted me to give him my park ticket. I guess they do that here since they don't take pictures at the park entrance. I shook my head and said no. I then headed over to my go-to food spot for the trip, Earl of Sandwich, to pick up dinner. I got their Le Frenchy sandwich which looked to be the most appropriate one to order since I don't think it exists back home. I took it back to my room to eat. After my meal, I laid out my flat runner and attempted to get some sleep. It was next to impossible to fall asleep, but I forced myself to just lay there and eventually I did get some sleep.
Le Frenchy
10k flat runner
Saturday 9/23
They had published that gear check would open at 5:30 am and that corrals A&B would be closed at 6:30 am. So with that in mind, I got ready at about 5:15 am and made the walk over to the starting area at the Disney Events Arena. Just as last year, I got there by going through Disney's Newport Bay Club. It was actually really nice to feel a chill in the air during the walk over which was a most welcomed change from the heat and humidity at my last race at the Disneyland in Anaheim.
Per the usual, my friend found me as we were waiting to get into the staging area. They were about 15 mins late in letting us in. After a quick portapotty stop for me, we headed into corral B. The pre-race entertainment and stuff was pretty much identical to last year. They did replace the male co-race announcer. He was primarily the French announcer as his English wasn't as good. Just like last year, they brought out Paula Radcliffe to give us some pre-race encouragement.
10k stage
Fellow English speaker
10k start
The first mile started off excruciating slow because I was stuck behind a wall of walkers. Sure they were trying their best to power-walk really fast, but they were holding up a bunch of us trying to run sub 8 min miles. Once we were able to get around them, it was a much better race. A little after mile 2, I pulled over for a photo with Princess Aurora and Prince Charming. I forced myself to make that stop because I had purchased a PhotoPass. Princess Aurora was really pretty and tall! :)
Princess Aurora was pretty tall!
I tried to maintain a flat 8 min per mile pace, but was always a tad slower at every mile. Eventually I faded a bit more during the 6th mile. I ended up crossing the finish line in Walt Disney Studios just a tad over 50 minutes. I should've been in shape to come in under 50.
10k finish
Finish: 50:25
Click here for my Garmin data.
After crossing the finish line, I got my medal. I then went to the challenge area to get a bracelet per the instructions, however I was told by the race staff that that would not be necessary. Then I proceeded down the line and got drinks, a snack box, and a banana. At the end of the line, they gave us a paper bag with handles to carry all of our stuff. Right at the exit of the park, they had the photo stations for the post-race photo.
10k medal
Post race snacks and drinks
Even though I had missed my goal, I was happy with the sustained effort and how the tendinitis in my left ankle had been progressing. I just need to continue to be patient and eventually I will be able to sustain that effort over a half marathon.
I went back to my room, got cleaned up, and ate all of the contents of the snack box. I saved the banana for tomorrow's breakfast. I started watching stuff on TV, but quickly dozed off. After waking up from my extended nap, I went out to find something to eat. I ended up at Earl of Sandwich where I ordered their Baja chicken salad. I usually eat a salad for my next meal whenever I miss my race goal. I've never had one of their salads. It turned out that their salads were not made to order and came in a pre-packaged box. I thought it was pretty decent.
Baja chicken salad
After finishing my salad, I returned back to my room where I laid out my half marathon flat runner. Then I proceeded to veg out and eat my snacks until it was time for me to try and go to sleep.
Half marathon flat runner
Sunday 9/24
It was the same routine, but I guess I was dragging a bit since I got to the starting area a bit later than yesterday. After I used one of the standing urinals, I went into corral B. This time, I positioned myself closer to the stage to get a better view of the pre-race entertainment. Once again they brought out Paula Radcliffe.
Half marathon stage
For this race, I wasn't too keen on pushing myself up to the front, so I ended up starting out of the second mini-wave of corral B. With these mini-waves, it wasn't as crowded in the initial mile. I was able to put in some decent miles for the first 5k. Then I had a drop in energy, so I stopped worrying about the pace and just ran by what felt comfortable. I stopped for photos with a couple of characters which included Sadness from the movie, Inside Out.
Nick!
Once I left the park, the run became a bit of a mental grind. Having run this race last year, it helped that I knew what was ahead and what to expect. The majority of the course remained the same with a lot of the "ugly" parts replaced. When I had reached about the 10k mark, I spotted Paula Radcliffe headed in the other direction which meant she was about 3 miles ahead of me. Just as it was yesterday, the race finished inside Walt Disney Studios park.
Half marathon finish
Finish: 1:59:00
Click here for my Garmin data.
I was expecting to finish around 2 hrs, so I was happy with my finish time. I got my half marathon medal and was then spotted by one of the spotters to go to the challenge area for my extra medals. In addition to the challenge medals, we were also given buttons for each of the challenges.
Half marathon medal
Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo Challenge button
Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo Challenge medal
Castle to Chateau Challenge button
Castle to Chateau Challenge medal
After picking up my extra items, I got the same post race drinks, banana, and snack box before exiting the park for the post race photo. After taking the photo, I made the walk back to my room. Just like the day before, I got cleaned up, ate all of the snacks, and took a nice long nap.
Post race snacks and drinks
For dinner, I decided on eating at the Cape Cod restaurant located at Disney's Newport Bay Club where they had a dinner buffet for €34,99 which converted to $41.85. This was the only meal where I splurged for the entire trip. It was a pretty good buffet spread with a decent variety of seafood to choose. I ended up stopping after 3 plates and a soup. I could've eaten more, but I was starting to repeat a lot of the same food and I didn't want to enter that uncomfortable zone. :)
Plate 1
Plate 2
Fish soup
Plate 3
Apparently I got pretty close to that uncomfortable zone as I felt the need to walk off my meal! So I walked over to the Disneyland Hotel to check it out. They had some expensive restaurants as well as some interesting paintings and artwork on the second floor. I'll have to check out one of these restaurants one year.
Oriental Disneyland
Back at my room, I was able to catch the last parts of one of my favorite movies, You've Got Mail!
You've Got Mail!
Monday 9/25
I can't remember why I didn't book my return flight for Monday, but I think it was because it was much cheaper to fly out on Tuesday. Anyways, I didn't feel like spending another day in the Disney parks, so I decided to take the train into Paris and hit some of the major tourist spots. I walked over to the nearby Val d'Europe station to catch the RER A train. I tried to buy my ticket using a kiosk, but it rejected my credit card. So I got in line to buy a ticket from the ticket attendant. She spoke limited English, so with my extremely limited French, I was able to buy a zone 5 one day pass for €17,80 that would be able to get me into Paris. Again, they needed my signature in order for me to use the credit card to pay for the pass.
The train ride to the Charles de Gaulle - Étoile station took less than 1 hour. Exiting the station took me right to the Arc de Triomphe. I had forgotten how large the monument was since I last saw it about 20 years ago.
Arc de Triomphe
After snapping a few photos, I headed down the famous Avenue des Champs-Élysées. I only walked about a third of it and turned right at Avenue George V to head towards the Eiffel Tower. On another future trip, I might just walk all the way down to the Louvre Museum.
Avenue des Champs-Élysées
Along the way, I took pictures of the iconic tower. As I got closer to the Champ de Mars park, the more I came across beggars and people trying to sell cheap souvenirs. They spoke to me in broken English. I just pretended that I didn't understand a word and kept on walking. I tried to remain vigilant for gypsies as they are known to target solo tourists. I think it's sad that there needs to be this level of mistrust among fellow human beings. Anyways, it was good to see the tower up close again. I'm not sure if I went up the tower the last time I was here.
I then walked to the nearby Champ de Mars-Tour Eiffel station to catch the RER C train over to the Saint-Michel - Notre-Dame station to check out the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris. Along the way to the station, I saw banners for the Paris Olympics 2024. I guess it's never too early to start promoting it. The architecture of the church was impressive to behold by the naked eye. Admission is free, but visitors will need to purchase tickets to enter the tower and the crypt. There was a statue of Charlemagne et ses Leudes off to the side of the church. I was already getting tired and hungry, so I didn't go inside. Maybe next time.
Paris Olympics 2024!
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris
Charlemagne et ses Leudes
I then hopped on a RER B train up to the Châtelet - Les Halles station to catch a RER A train headed back to Val d'Europe. The train that I had gotten on didn't quite run all the way there. Its final destination was Torcy so I got off at the Val de Fontenay station and waited for another train that would get all the way to my station.
Once I reached Val d'Europe, I went inside to buy lunch at McDonald's. On my way inside, they had positioned a security guard at every entrance to check bag contents. Boy, times have changed. I ordered their Royal Deluxe meal with a bottle of water and took it back to my room to eat.
Royal Deluxe
I guess I still haven't gotten used to the time change. So after eating my meal, I was wiped out. I took a long nap and didn't wake up until it was time to go get something to eat for dinner. I went back to Earl of Sandwich for another cheap meal. I thought about getting another salad, but instead got their Hawaiian BBQ sandwich since I've never had that before. It was okay, not one of my favorites.
Hawaiian BBQ
I walked around Disney Village for a little bit before heading back to my room to pack up my bags for the return trip home. While I was laying in bed waiting to get tired enough to fall asleep, I ended up watching Die Hard with a Vengeance. The movie for the most part was entertaining, but the ending was downright horrible!
Tuesday 9/26
I had scheduled a shared shuttle ride with Parishuttle to CDG airport for €38 as the TGV trains weren't running early enough for me to catch my early morning flight. My assigned pick-up time was at 3:30 am. I got up pretty early, got ready and tidied up the room a bit. I was down at the lobby at about 3:15 am to drop off my room key at the front desk. I had not sat down for 2 minutes before my car showed up. It was drizzling a bit. The service was great as it would turn out that I was his only passenger to pick up. We arrived at the airport a little before 4 am. The airport doors weren't even opened yet!
Empty bottles
Once inside, I found a seat near the British Airways check-in counter. I wanted to check to see if I needed to do anything else before going through customs as I had gotten my boarding pass on my mobile phone during check-in last night. There were many people trying to check-in their bags, so I decided to skip that line and see if my mobile pass will get me through the turnstile for customs. It did, so off to the gate I go.
Disneyland Boutique at CDG airport
It was a short flight over to London Heathrow. Once I deplaned, I had to see a security agent when it was time to head towards my connecting flight. I believe they needed my passport information. Then my bags had to be scanned again. Planes weren't assigned a specific gate until closer to takeoff. After that I hopped on the train that took me over to terminal 5. For my second leg back to LAX, it was on an Airbus A380 double-decker. It was my first time on such a big plane. I was on the top deck.
Double Decker Airbus
I didn't sleep too much on this flight, so I ended up watching a bunch of movies.
- Rogue One, a much more meaningful Star Wars movie than Episode 7 as it showed why it was the Rebellion's most desperate time at the beginning of Episode 4.
- Logan, this movie sucked. Just too much unintelligent gore.
- Alien: Covenant, I'm getting tired of the same formula being used for each Alien movie. No original idea or story in this one.
- The LEGO Batman Movie, this one was a bit boring. I'm just not a fan of Will Arnett.
Rogue One
Logan
Alien: Covenant
The LEGO Batman Movie
Pepperoni pizza twist
Once the plane landed, it was time to go through customs, my least favorite part of traveling out of the country. After getting through customs and getting back to my car, I drove over to Downtown LA where I parked at Union Station since I was going to the Dodger game later at night. I then walked over to Little Tokyo to eat some ramen at Daikokuya. I figured that that would be much better than spending a lot of money eating junk food at Dodger Stadium. It was super hot inside and smelled like a sweaty gym. Their ramen is not even close to being the best these days. They're just living off of their old reputation and glory days. I don't think there will ever be a return visit for me in the near future.
Daikokuya ramen with fried rice
On the way back, I stopped by Olvera Street just to check things out and to pass some time. It was a bit hot so I went back into the air conditioned Union Station and bought a lemonade at Wetzel's Pretzels before getting in line for the Dodger Stadium Express shuttle. Man, I was exhausted, but I had a bobble head to pick up! It was pretty much an insignificant game against the lowly Padres, so I was zoning out a bit near the end of the game. The Dodgers won 9-2, so they were 1 game closer to getting the best record and home stadium advantage throughout the playoffs.
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