Flashback Friday: The Disneyland Paris "Soiree Inaugurale"

As runners are making plans for the Disneyland Paris Semi Marathon in September, I can't believe it's  been almost 6 months since we enjoyed our Paris trip.  

Wanting to experience everything, we did attend the Inaugural Party. There were so many social media posts expressing mixed feelings about the event, but we enjoyed it. All things weren't perfect. We too, had frozen pasta that had to be reheated. But, overall, I think DLP did a good job.

The party was at Walt Disney Studios.  We walked around a bit to see what was open and what was going on.

This looks like Mom's 5k costume!

This water feels really hard!

One of the character stops just happened to be a favorite of Robby's, so of course we had to stop.  Yes, there was a little wait in the character lines, but it was worth it.  They did not rush you through and really interacted with everyone.

Robby was so happy to get to say hello to Sully!
 But cried when we had to say goodbye.

Sully heard him and came over to calm him.

Robby asked Sully to join us for the rest of the night,
 but he had to stay to greet his other fans!

Time to stop for some food.  Since we were near the one of two restaurants open, we stopped at the "Restaurant en Coulisses" to see what they had.   It was cafeteria type offerings, but was enough to fill our bellies. (Later in the evening we stopped at the other restaurant, Disney Blockbuster Cafe, but they were just about wiped out.  I read later on social media, people were "stocking up" for the next day.)

We continued on to enjoy some of the open rides.  One of our "musts" was Ratatouille: A Recipe for Adventure since that ride does not exist in the states.  It was great to jump on with no lines.  As we exited, we stopped to check out the "Sculpteur sur Fruits & Legumes" in front of Chez Remy.

Bill even got a monogrammed "apple to go"!

Robby and I hung out together while
Aly and Bill enjoyed a couple of rides.   
After all, why else would you bring a
Fairy Grandmother on a vacation?

The Tower of Terror was one of the rides open for the party with no line.

Robby just chillin' 
waiting for Mom and Dad.

Just before leaving, we saw Donald and Goofy
 and decided to say hello.

There's no doubt Robby's favorite part of the party was the characters!

I know I had a good time, and judging by the smiles on these faces,
 everyone else did too!!

If you're wondering "should I sign up for the opening party?" on your trip to the race in Paris this year, it's definitely a personal choice.  This year food is not included and the price came down a lot (I saw $58. vs last year's $94.).  I'd do it again.   Are you heading to Paris in September?