Lost Luggage and the Art of Traveling Light

My birthday pin in front of Disney’s prettiest castle — Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland Paris.

Ever since my best friend Rachel and I discovered our mutual adoration for all things Disney, our friendship has been sprinkled with a little extra magic. We have had countless escapades to Disneyland and Disney World, and we have even visited Disneyland Paris together once. This year I celebrated my birthday away from home and Rachel flew in to make it extra special. While planning her visit, we decided to add a little more magic to our lives and planned a few days at Disneyland Paris to check out what Halloween was like there and to celebrate my birthday!

Planning So That Dreams Do Come True

When we were planning our trip, our biggest factor to consider was whether to stay on Disney property or not. We looked at nearby hotels but ultimately decided to stay at Disney’s Hotel Santa Fe. The package we got there included 3 nights at the hotel, 4 days of park hopper tickets, and the Magical Shuttle airport transfer to and from Charles De Gaulle Airport. We could have saved a couple of hundred dollars by staying off property, but we would have had to take the train to and from the airport and we would have only gone to the parks on 2 days instead of 4 to stay within our budget. Plus, taking the shuttle to and from the airport is so much nicer than the train, and less hassle with our suitcases.

I was hoping they would do something cute for my birthday, but they didn’t. You can call and get balloons or something in your room for an extra charge, or a €35 cake. The birthday pin is still free though!

Our room at Disney Hotel Santa Fe

Life is a Highway, Beware of Hitchhiking Ghosts…

Hotel Santa Fe is Cars themed and super cute. If you ever road-tripped through the Southwest of the US, you’ll recognize the motel feel of the hotel. It’s definitely not as posh as the other hotels, but it was cute, comfortable, and clean — and a 20-minute walk from the parks!

The walk between the Santa Fe and the Parks is a nice trail along the water. It was really beautiful and peaceful. Plus, it’s a great way to wind down after a full day of Disney stimulation!

Now, this was at the tail end of the French Bed Bug Crisis of 2023, and bedbugs were the LAST thing I wanted to have to deal with in my life at that time, so I made sure to do a thorough inspection before trusting the room. We checked all the corners, cracks, and crevices in and around the beds and anything that was upholstered. Everything was super clean, but I still kept my clothes in large Ziploc-like bags because I’m neurotic. I’m sure I didn’t think of half the things I should have checked, but the exercise was more to assuage my anxiety so I felt like I did everything possible not to ruin my life and not necessarily taking all precautions to not get bed bugs (nuance!)!

Me and Rach taking a quick ussie at Fantasia Gardens before going into the park.

We had both planned some outfits, but the weather had other ideas for us. Not only were we in the middle of bed bugs, but a deadly windstorm was making its way to Western Europe! How many plagues can we celebrate through? It was extremely cold, windy, and at times rainy, so we stayed bundled up in our coats the few days we were there. This did not put a damper on our spirits though!

Top left, Villains Delight treats; bottom left Vampire Burger; middle, pumpkin amber beer from Brasserie Mira; right, one of the many Halloween decorations around the park.

Ghoulish Treats and Disney Spirits

Halloween is my favorite time of year and I was homesick for American over-consumption, so I was hoping to get a fix of both at DLP. I did a bit of research before we left to find all the things to eat that were Halloween themed.

Our first stop after checking into our hotel and heading to the parks was Annette’s Diner for a Vampire Burger. It had bacon, pepper jack cheese, arugula, and a Doritos sweet chili® and smoked pepper cream. It came with sweet potato fries and purple potato gnocchi. It was good! With it, I had a pumpkin amber beer from Brasserie Mira which was fantastic.

The treat we were most excited about was the Villains Delight from Victoria’s Home-Style Restaurant. I think we waited in line for about an hour to get a table. I wish I had written down what each of the treats was because I can’t remember now. They were all good, though.

Drinks from the Skyline Dar. Left, Orange Fusion Reactor; right, Dark Magic.

I also had a couple of their Halloween-themed drink at Skyline Bar at the Disney Hotel New York and my froleague Josh came out say hi since he lives in Paris. I had to try the Dark Magic drink because it was supposed to be spicy. I also tried the Orange Fusion Reactor which is non-alcoholic (the Dark Magic was pretty weak and watered down, so I figured I’d save a couple of euros!)

Overall, the food and drinks were just okay. The fun is seeking them out and trying them with friends!

Pineapple Whip and what I call “It’s hard not to be romantic about baseball ball treats” since the name of the treat was “Baseball Ball” on the menu.

We found a Pineapple Whip at Adventureland Bazaar hoping it was the same thing as a Dole Whip. It is not. But I thought it was still a nice treat. It’s kinda like a Dole Whip and Vanilla soft serve had a baby. The waffle-cone bowl was a nice touch though! And it was in a very quiet part of the park and had some covered seats when it started raining a little bit.

I also had the “Baseball Ball” from Casey’s Corner which was vanilla ice cream with caramel inside.

Big Thunder Mountain as seen from across the water.

Finally, we can’t forget the rides! DLP has many of the same rides as the American parks. I personally think Pirates of the Caribbean is far superior at DLP! And I like the queue up to Haunted Manor a lot. One of my favorite things is being able to walk through Sleeping Beauty’s castle and even visit the dragon in the dungeon!

A Spellbinding Farewell

Despite the challenges presented by the weather and the concerns of the bed bug crisis, celebrating Halloween and my birthday at DLP was an adventure filled with quirky culinary discoveries and fun times with my best friend. When can we do this again?