| Somehow I can't imagine it, it doesn't seem possible, | | | | The park is best viewed as notedly removed from |
| yet some how it is. Disneyland Paris sounds to me like | | | | France and Europe. A telling sign of its lack of |
| a practical joke, a contradiction in terms; the | | | | European-ness is its misjudged first inception as 'Euro |
| combination of all American Disney with The all French | | | | Disney'. While this name played on America's romance |
| Paris. | | | | of 'Euro', to the continent the term is a banality. |
| Yet since 1992 this peculiar irony has been not only | | | | Therefore the romance of Paris served them much |
| been surviving but prospering for nearly 20 years | | | | better at targeting their local audience. |
| becoming Europe's most popular tourist destination | | | | To global Disneyland connoisseurs the Paris faction of |
| attracting over 15,400,000 in 2009. It certainly seems | | | | the franchise is in fact the best. It is a much younger |
| strange how joyous this holiday resort is, you could | | | | park than its transatlantic cousins, and many of the |
| easily imagine a maudlin Mickey Mouse with an | | | | rides and attractions are more refined updates of the |
| omnipresent Galouise in his mouth, as he recites | | | | attractions state-side. Certainly for the thrill junkies this |
| Baudelaire in that helium voice of his. Also easy to | | | | may very well be the best Disneyland for roller |
| imagine is the Parisian staff making children cry with | | | | coasters, as they go faster than those in other parts |
| that stereotypical rudeness so commonly applied the | | | | of the world. |
| French. | | | | Though what is peculiarly perfect about the park is |
| Somehow this isn't the case, it delivers that 'Disney | | | | that juxtaposition with the nearby French capital, that is |
| experience' without a hint of sarcasm, in fact there is a | | | | you have two locations for the price of one. You can |
| gung-ho American sincerity. The theme park seems to | | | | be in the world of American pop culture in one |
| be simultaneously a worm hole in to the Cartoons and | | | | moment, then at the very heart of French culture. You |
| in to America's pop-consciousness. | | | | have two very distinct worlds side by side. One day |
| At first there was fierce resistance to the resort. While | | | | you can be taking your photograph with Goofy, the |
| Disneylands have nestled comfortably in to Orlando, | | | | next with the Mona Lisa. |
| Anaheim and Tokyo, Europe have been less | | | | There are hotels in the park, wild west and so forth, |
| welcoming to these cartoon settlements. Now with the | | | | but it is best to be able to escape the cartoon to one |
| millions of visitors it brings in to France, it seems their | | | | of the lovely villas in France, allowing you the best of |
| complaints may be undermined by the tourism | | | | both worlds. America and France, pop culture and high |
| revenues. Though there will still be some grumbling | | | | culture in the space of two days. |
| amongst intellectuals. | | | | |