Main Street USA
Prior to going through the ticket and turnstile area, the primary view is of the Disneyland Hotel (which has its own entrance directly into the park):
Like its American counterparts, Disneyland Paris uses an elevated train station as a "curtain" to block the view of the castle and park to come and help build excitement as you fist go through the turnstiles:
Just like in the US, as you head through the train station there are posters of "coming attractions" As an aside, you can currently buy a set of high quality prints (about 11 x 14 or so in size) of many of these posters--I have a set I bought at Christmas and plan to frame several of them for the bedroom in the new condo; they are definitely one of the best souvenir values in my opinion.
And then, BOOM, you come out on Main Street, with the gazebo down at the base and castle at the top:
Main Street is very wide, and also has some deep, inlets -- it feels much less "flat" than in Florida or California (and many of the buildings have functional upper floors as well). It is lined with shops, and places to grab a bite to eat including a pastry shop, Casey's Corner hot dog stand, an ice cream store and Walt's Restaurant:
Coca Cola truck in one of the inlets
Character meet and greet area at the bast of Main Street
My favourite shop is Lilly's Boutique, which is themed as if it is in Lillian Disney's home---I love the mantel with photos of her and Walt set out, etc:
Next door to Lilly's is Walt's Restaurant. We've not eaten there (nothing on the menu is appealing enough to all of us to encourage us to pay the high prices), but I have heard great things about it. The dining room is on the upper level, with a ground level entry full of photos of Walt and with some fun little details (like a small animitronic bird in a cage among the decor--like the one which inspired Walt's first foray into animitronics, with the Tiki Room):
Main Street is home to a main parade each day and often to several "mini parades" or other events---at Christmas time it was a horse drawn carriage pulling Anna and Elsa and a short Christmas parade--both of which occurred several times per day. There is currently a short spring themed parade, and a spring "train" which also both go through several times per day. Here is the Train, which was going by as I took photos today:
One of my favourite features, which is unique to the Paris park, are the arcades on either side of Main Street.
These wide, indoor walkways run all the way from the base of the street to the top and allow you to bypass both the weather and many crowds (this is especially useful when a parade or other special event is happening out on the street) and they are just pleasant: both are lit by real gas lanterns, have clean restrooms which see less use than most in the parks, allow "backdoor" entry into most shops on that side, and have benches. On the left, as you enter the park, is the Liberty Arcade, with a stature of Liberty theme and even a small attraction you can go into, which gives the feel of pulling up to Ellis Island by night (it feels like something Walt would really approve of and reminds me of the Lincoln display on Main Street in California). To the right is Discovery Arcade with a vintage look at the future, including replicas of posters originally designed for the World's Fair in Chicago, and little display cases:
--Hadley
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