Last weekend Leah and Jenn went to Disneyland Paris to play with the ISB orchestra. They took the same trip last year. This time around Bob and I went along to chaperone. We got to stay in a very unique 2-star hotel. Please remember Bob stays at 5-star hotels all week long and even gets upgraded more times than not. We had the job of making sure kids went to sleep at a decent hour and got up in time to travel to the park to play in their concerts. We were there for 2 nights. Below is a picture of the hotel...actually it would be classified as a motel since the doors of each room open directly to the outside. At least it was clean but it was very tiny and Bob and I had twin beds..We were each in charge of groups of kids while we were at the park and had to check in with them frequently. Bob had all girls to look after which means I think his job was easy. I had mostly boys to keep up with. One time during the first day my group of 4 7th grade boys called to say they lost their money and couldn't eat. Here is that phone conversation...
7th grader: Hi Mrs. B
Me: Hi
7th grader: We lost all our money and now we can't eat.
Me: Were you robbed?
7th grader: No
Me: Did you drop your wallet somewhere?
7th grader: No
Me: Then where did your money go?
7th grader: Into the video arcade.
Me: You spent all your money in the arcade? All of it?
7th grader: Well we still have 3 euros.
Me: You have a problem.
Needless to say I gave them money to eat and a huge lecture. Then I made them swear that they wouldn't set foot in the arcade again. Their problems were not over though. The next day one of those squirrelly kids lost his ticket and couldn't get back in the park when they went from Disney Studios to the Magic Kingdom. One of the girls in Bob's group lost her ticket too. He had to sprint to the front gate from the back of the park to give her another ticket so she could make it in time to perform.
We have seen Disneyland Paris many many times. In fact, this visit was our 12th! But traveling with performers meant that we entered the park from the back. We saw the Christmas decorations ready to put out in a few weeks and the old Halloween decorations rotting in a holding area. We were told by our guide, Isabelle, that we were not allowed to take pictures or the magic would be ruined. She had a good point because now that I have seen the backside of all the hoopla, I am not as excited as I was before. We didn't see anything horrible like Mickey without his head but we did see Darth Vador readying himself to go out into the crowd. Yes it was a lot of work topped off with a bus ride that took double the time it would take in a car, but we had fun and would probably chaperone again.
7th grader: Hi Mrs. B
Me: Hi
7th grader: We lost all our money and now we can't eat.
Me: Were you robbed?
7th grader: No
Me: Did you drop your wallet somewhere?
7th grader: No
Me: Then where did your money go?
7th grader: Into the video arcade.
Me: You spent all your money in the arcade? All of it?
7th grader: Well we still have 3 euros.
Me: You have a problem.
Needless to say I gave them money to eat and a huge lecture. Then I made them swear that they wouldn't set foot in the arcade again. Their problems were not over though. The next day one of those squirrelly kids lost his ticket and couldn't get back in the park when they went from Disney Studios to the Magic Kingdom. One of the girls in Bob's group lost her ticket too. He had to sprint to the front gate from the back of the park to give her another ticket so she could make it in time to perform.
We have seen Disneyland Paris many many times. In fact, this visit was our 12th! But traveling with performers meant that we entered the park from the back. We saw the Christmas decorations ready to put out in a few weeks and the old Halloween decorations rotting in a holding area. We were told by our guide, Isabelle, that we were not allowed to take pictures or the magic would be ruined. She had a good point because now that I have seen the backside of all the hoopla, I am not as excited as I was before. We didn't see anything horrible like Mickey without his head but we did see Darth Vador readying himself to go out into the crowd. Yes it was a lot of work topped off with a bus ride that took double the time it would take in a car, but we had fun and would probably chaperone again.
Our tiny hotel room circa 1971. It was very clean so I guess it could have been a lot worse!
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