August 14, 2026
There are a couple of advantages to staying at a Disney property. One, which we never actually used this trip, is early entry to the parks. The other is hotel specific character interactions. In the past, when we stayed at the Santa Fe, we often saw Pluto against a Route 66 background. Here, the background was wilderness and that first morning, our character was Donald Duck.
We’d discovered earlier in the trip that the autograph book Monki had bought specifically for this trip had been left at home. Therefore, while Rasa waited in line, Monki and I went into the nearby giftshop to find a new autograph book and a special pen for signings. We made it back in time for Monki to get her first autograph and some great pictures with Donald. We also started our Photopass. Doing research, we’d been told to get a temporary Photopass card and at the end, if there were enough photos to make it worthwhile, then upgrade. So that’s what we did.
After photos we went down to the breakfast buffet to gain sustenance (and stay out of the heat for a few more moments). We happened to be there at 9:45 when the first opening of the Virtual Queue took place. So let’s explain the Virtual Queue. It’s an imaginary line which opens twice a day, at 9:45 and 2:00, for specific character interactions. You have to be on the Disney App at the exact moment they go live and hope for a spot in the line. Then, if you make it, you’ll get an approximate time to head over to the place of the interaction. In my research, I had learned you needed to be in the park in order to even be considered. I thought maybe being in a Disney property would count.
Nope.
You needed to be in the park. And moreso, your whole party needed to be in the park. Otherwise, you could only register yourself. So that first one, we missed. Ah well, we’d try again at 2:00. These virtual queues were not my favorite thing.
Anyway, we finished eating and headed to the park, loaded with water bottles we had picked up back in Valencia to try and combat the heat. Our first stop, of course, was World of Frozen. We walked through the renamed Worlds of Adventure, spied a princess parade, and tried to get in line. Our first attempt was a big fail as we were in the “premiere access” line. Premiere access has replaced Fastpass, providing virtually the same service, but for a per-ride fee. Like the ticket books in days of yore, the more popular the attraction, the more expensive the premiere access. You could also get a day pass, good for one time on each ride, but again, the cost was about the same as park entrance. We elected to wait in the long line.
The Frozen ride was a lot of fun, more a vibe than a story, with some great animatronics and effects. I’d say it was worth the 60 minute wait time.
Leaving Arendelle, Avengers Campus was next on our list. We had lunch reservations at Pym Labs, a buffet where foods were either too big or too small, thanks to the shrinking/growing properties of Henry Pym’s Pym Particles. We had made our reservations months ago, since I was told this is what we needed to do – and again, slots filled up pretty quick. There were a number of activities and dining situations we booked at inconvenient times or not at all, depending on availability, or lack thereof.
So we had lunch reservations for what I thought was 1:00 (turned out it was 12:45) and decided to try and ride Spider-Man W.E.B. Adventures before we ate. The wait-time listed said we should make it in plenty of time.
This is one of my favorite rides. I did it with Troy in Disneyland back in 2023 and it’s a blast! The line is also fun, really well themed as if you’re in an old Stark facility which has been repurposed. The main action of the ride is you’re shooting at robot spiders which have gotten loose, but there’s no ray gun, like on Buzz Lightyear. Instead, you fling webs like Spider-Man! In the end, I got the highest score in our ride vehicle, but we were also 15 minutes (or 30 minutes) late for our lunch reservation.*
I begged and pleaded with the hostess, who finally let us in. Lunch was delicious and fun, with drinks served in scientific flasks and beakers. And since Monki was wearing a birthday badge (we were celebrating her birthday from a month before) our waitress graciously did a birthday surprise for her. Very cool!
While eating, at 2:00, another virtual queue was opening up so I tried again, and this time was successful in getting us in the line to see Jessie and/or Woody from the Toy Story films. Since we had time before our meet and greet, Monki and I decided to go on Avengers Assemble: Flight Force, a loopy roller-coaster in the dark. Monki loved it! By the end of the trip it ranked as one of her favorites.
By this point, it was time to meet the Toys. We arrived at the location ahead of time, but it was really hot outside, so we opted to wait inside the building. Here’s another thing about the virtual queues… Once it gets to within twenty minutes of your time, things slow down. I figure that over the three days we did this, our virtual queues were never less than 30 minutes late.
When we first arrived, both Jessie and Woody were there and taking pictures, but then they took a short break and only Jessie came back. It remained like this through our turn, so we only met Jessie. It was fine, Monki was still excited and we have some great pictures and an autograph.
At some point in here, Rasa went and bought us the best purchase of the trip – a water bottle with a battery-powered fan attached. So you’d spray and the water would vaporize into mist in the spinning foam blades. Over the next several days this came in so handy!
A quick spin through Toy Story Land to get pictures with statues of Buzz and Woody, a stop to pick up a Micky ice cream, and then we were off to stand in line for Ratatouille. Finally, it was time to switch it up and head over to the Disneyland side of the park.
Our first stop was It’s a Small World, where I yelled at this guy in line in front of us who was sneaking drags from his e-cigarette, despite signs everywhere saying no smoking. From there we walked through Fantasyland where Monki and I tried our hands at lifting the sword in the stone (Monki swears she felt it move a little bit) and then off to see the dragon under the castle (which is one of my favorite things in Disneyland Paris!).
Coming back into the sunlight, we consulted the app and saw that Pirates of the Caribbean only had a 5-minute wait, so we headed off in that direction. We literally walked right onto the boat. This was a big change from the last time, when Monki went through the whole line and decided that it was too scary for her (she did, ultimately, go on the ride then, but it took some convincing). This time, we went through the ride and immediately she wanted to go again. So we did.
Then our app showed no wait for Phantom Manor, so off we went. On the way, we passed by Big Thunder Mountain, which Rasa had been talking up and Monki was willing to try, unfortunately, it was closed due to the heat. We also passed by Aladdin’s magic lamp.
Monki decided she wanted to give it a rub and when she did, smoke started billowing out! She was sure she’d summoned a Genii!
We got to the Phantom Manor, which is the Paris version of the Haunted Mansion and literally had to wait at the door for them to let us in. There was no one there. Monki was a bit nervous, but we’d talked it all over with her and explained that it was all special effects. Weirdly, they wouldn’t let us ride three in a “doom buggy” so Monki and I rode together with Rasa in the following car.
Monki was a trooper! She had a good time and after we came out, decided she wanted to go again right then. When there’s no line, that makes it easy. So again, we entered the world of happy haunts.
After two rounds, though, it was time to do something else. Luckily, Thunder Mountain had reopened so we joined the line and headed into the wild west. Turns out Monki actually likes rollercoasters.
With our exit from that ride, the sun was going down and our late night dinner reservation at the Downtown Restaurant in the New York Hotel featuring the Art of Marvel was coming up. When we were booking our tickets, we had thought about staying at the Marvel Hotel, but it would have added about €1000 to our already expensive vacation, so we didn’t do it. The compromise was dinner at this buffet, which also featured Marvel theming. It also at least got us into the lobby of the hotel to see what we could see.
The food was fabulous and yes, it was set up like a swanky NYC eatery. There were tons of Marvel art on the walls, and the desserts were all hero themed. It was a good meal and a great way to end the first day of our time in the parks. But we needed to get some sleep since day two was coming up.
August 15, 2026
We were up and at it a little earlier today… and our character guest was Minnie Mouse herself! Monki was very excited since she had a couple of Minnie Mouse decorations on her Crocs she wanted to show off. Minnie was suitable impressed. We had a quick breakfast and headed off into the park. Monki was sure she wanted to try The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror so that was going to be our first stop.
One of Monki’s other favorite rides is the Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop, so we let her know that Tower was similar only in the dark and a bit more intense. Rasa, naturally, wasn’t having any of it so instead of going on the ride with us, she was going to wait at the bottom and try to get us into the virtual queue to meet Elsa and Anna.
So Monki and I headed in. Since it was still early in the day, the line was minimal at best, and she was well above the height requirement. Of course, theming being what it is, she started to get a little creeped out with the ride attendants, who were performing in a dead-eyed monotone. As we were all put into the ride vehicle, they noticed someone with a birthday button and started singing the birthday song, timing it so the closing doors cut them off just before they got to the name.
Then the ride started.
As Monki describes it, “the window opened, they took our picture, and then it started going down… first my hair went up and then my butt came off the seat!”
Needless to say, upon our return to solid ground, she was not pleased with this ride. As far as she was concerned, “never again.” Meanwhile, Rasa wasn’t able to get us into the queue for the Arendelle Princesses, they were full up, but she did get us into Spider-Man, so that was okay.
As for Monki, in order to wipe the fear of Hollywood Tower Hotel out of her mind, we headed to the Parachute Drop. The line wasn’t too bad, but obviously the fear of getting out of line to pee was big with some families. We watched a woman take her small son to a corner of the line, away from other people, and had him pee into a bottle. And the bottle was full from more than one trip, I’m sure. I mean, seriously, leave a family member in line and take the kid to the facilities. We’d all be understanding and let you back in, promise.
Anyway, the ride was fun and when it was over, it was time to head over to meet Spider-Man. We did see Captain America walking by, and a few members of the Dora Milaje marched past, but we still waited beyond our scheduled time before we were let in.
I gotta say, I know most of these character interactions are for Monki, but honestly, I get a kick out of seeing Spider-Man. I even asked for a few pictures just for me. Speaking of characters, though when the time came to say good-bye to Spidey, we needed to head over to the Disney Hotel where we had booked the Royal Banquet for lunch. Again, a buffet meal, but here we were interrupted by Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, and Goofy, all in regal, royal attire. Was it expensive? Yes. Yes it was. Was it worth it? Again, yes it was. Not only were the character interactions fabulous, but the food was spectacular. I got some really thick and meaty crab claws! And the Disneyland Hotel is just gorgeous.
But here I’m going to make a slight complaint. We had pre-purchased the meal plan, which included most of these restaurants or the quick eat ones in the parks, and the character meals had a supplement tacked on. Fine, I get that. But what bugs me is the stipulation that you only get one soft drink with the meal. I mean losing a buck for an extra coke doesn’t seem like a lot when you’re already raking in quite a bit. And just think of the good will you’d incur?
Anyway, that’s my biggest beef. It’s the nickel and diming that gets me. Even the production shows now have a surcharge attached, as do premium seats for the parades and nighttime shows. Not cool.
While we were eating, though, the clock turned 2:00, and I was able to snag us a spot on the queue to see Anna and Elsa, which meant that after lunch, we needed to head back to Adventure World and the World of Frozen.
It was very hot, so we just kind of hung out, wandered the gift shops, while we waited for our turn. Finally we went in and our princess met the other princesses. It was lovely and fun. And good to get out of the heat for a little while. We had all gotten the newest souvenir trend, little shoulder buddies. I got a little spider-bot, Rasa got Pascal, the chameleon from Tangled, and Monki got a turtle from Finding Nemo. But she didn’t have a name for the turtle, so she asked Elsa and Anna for help, and since they had such success naming Olaf, they came up with the name Todd the Turtle. Monki was pleased. She also named my spider, Sam.
Taking our leave of Arendelle yet again, we had to go back to the other park since we had dinner reservations at Captain Jack’s, the restaurant inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride (Like the Blue Bayou in Disneyland Anaheim). But we had some time so we tried out Star Tours, which Monki didn’t like so much, but she did have fun playing with the light sabers in the gift shop. Then she asked if we could go on the Pirates ride before dinner. Rasa didn’t want to go, so Monki and I again walked directly onto a boat. When we got off, there was still no line, so we went one more time before our dinner reservation time came up.
Dinner, though, was a bit of a disaster. This was our first table service restaurant, instead of a buffet, and the Caribbean flavors didn’t sit well with any of us. Sure, the atmosphere was fun, but we just couldn’t get into the food itself. This realization, that the buffets were better for us, also caused me to cancel a second character meal (princesses) we had booked for the following day, which was also table service.
By this point it was getting a bit late in the day so we checked our app and saw there were no lines in the younger kid sections of Fantasyland. So we hit the Paris version of Storybookland, called Le Pays des Contes de Fées, presented by Vittel (and yes, in a throwback to the olden times, a few rides here are still sponsored in this way). While the miniatures were fun, this was the one ride where the cast members seemed a bit tense and rude, and the boats stopped a number of times during the short trip around the lagoon.
We did get the chance to see the Casey, Jr. Train go by, though, since it winds itself across the hills behind the miniature landscapes. Monki thought it was cool and Rasa explained how that had been one of her favorites last time… so sure enough, when we disembarked, we walked next door and hopped on the circus train. And went on it twice. Once again, it was a favorite.
Before we headed back to the hotel for the night, we decided to try and ride Small World one more time (and Monki insisted we recreate a picture from 7 years ago where I was holding her while she screamed in front of the sign). Another bingo square – ride Small World twice – was checked.
By now, the park was closing up and getting ready for the nighttime shows. We decided sleep was the better part of valor and made it back to the room to prepare for our final, full day.
August 16, 2026
Our last day in the park started with meeting Goofy’s son, Max. We got our pictures and autographs before heading down to breakfast. We figured if we were going to have any chance to get in on a virtual queue, I would run ahead and sign us up while the girls met up with me later.
As soon as I walked into Disneyland, I saw a lineup of people waiting for a random character (turned out to be Donald Duck) and Minnie Mouse was waving at everyone from the balcony of the train platform. And at 9:45, when the virtual queue opened, I snagged us an Avengers Training session (with a random Avenger). At least I thought I did. When I looked later on, the app showed that I was the only one registered. I hoped that it wouldn’t be a big deal since, unlike rides where there was a certain amount of space needed for each person, here, it didn’t matter since the whole group was in one photo session. And if it was a problem, we would just send Monki through.
When the girls arrived, we decided that since we’d already met Donald, we didn’t need to stay. We also saw the horse drawn coach, which Monki had asked me about when she saw the tracks in the asphalt. Unfortunately, by the time we got into line the driver was explaining that due to the heat, this would be the last ride of the day (at 10am). But then there was an old fashioned police paddy wagon nearby and we were able to catch a ride on it to the castle.
As we pulled in, though, Monki noticed there was water leaking from my bag. It seemed that one of our water bottles (we had two we were constantly refilling while trying to stay hydrated) had opened up and was spilling everywhere. I pulled everything out of my bag, making sure that Monki’s autograph book was safe. Then were our hats and whatever else. The last thing, which was soaked, was my external battery. I dried it off as best I could but knew I’d have to go to the hotel room to drop it off and get the other one. So we bummed a ride back on the police car (there was no line to go back down main street) and headed out of the park.
That was when the second bad thing happened. As we were walking, I realized that at some point Sam, my shoulder spider-bot, had gone missing. I ran back along the path we had walked but didn’t see him. Wouldn’t have been hard for anyone to have picked him up. The whole thing kinda put a bummer on the start of the day.
So I ran back to the room, exchanged batteries, and headed back to meet the girls in time for our Avengers training session. I explained the glitch and they were cool with it, letting us all in. But then something happened inside teh meet and greet, because while they let us in to the hallway, they left us there for about a half hour. Eventually, the people who had been in line behind us were also let in. It was weird. But finally we were allowed in to meet our trainer, who turned out to be Black Panther. We all had a fun training session with him, culminating with a moving, Matrix-like image of all of us, doing a kick.
With our training session over, I decided to head back to the hotel room for a second time. The first time I went, I had plugged in the external battery to see if it would hold a charge or if it was completely dead. But then, while talking with Rasa and Monki, the thought came up that if it was indeed fried, leaving it plugged in would be a mistake. So, after replacing Sam the Spider-bot, I went to unplug the battery while the girls went back to Disneyland to see the things we’d missed.
Monki made a wish in the well – bingo square – and I met up with them at Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast. They had been in line for Peter Pan, but the line wasn’t moving and they were in the direct afternoon sun, so they decided on Buzz and I met them there. This time, Monki was top scorer (I was helping her by moving the ride vehicle whenever Rasa would aim).
We grabbed some lunch at Café Hyperion** which, to be honest, wasn’t great. First, if you have a meal plan, it’s a huge waste of money. Second, trying to pay with the meal plan is confusing. Third, it was crowded and felt rushed. But we ate and that was fine. We were there at 2:00, so I tried to grab us a virtual queue spot to meet some princesses, but within about 5 seconds it was sold out. Seriously. So instead, I grabbed us a slot to meet Mickey Mouse. Weirdly, while the wait time for all the others had been around 70 minutes, this one was over two hours. Fine, it would give us time to do other things.
First up was Autopia. Monki loves driving rides. A few years back, during our trip to England, she ended up with several driving licenses from Legoland and Paulton’s Park and so this one was a no-brainer. Personally, I was surprised it was still operating, considering the cars are all gas driven. But sure enough, there they were. So Monki and Rasa went on it… twice, while I took myself off to Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain, which is like Space Mountain, only with a Star Wars overlay. Kinda weird, when you think about it, since the whole land is themed like Jules Verne.
As such, since we were right there, we decided to take a walk through the Les Mystères du Nautilus, Nemo’s Nautilus which is parked right there. Monki was nervous of seeing the giant squid, so we missed that, but next time, we’ll make sure to catch it. Instead, we did see some dolphins swim by.
Back in the hot sun, we still had plenty of time before our Mickey Mouse meet-n-greet so it was off to Sleeping Beauty’s Castle (or as they say in France: La Galerie de la Belle au Bois Dormant) and then Alice’s Curious Labyrinth. As we were trying to find our way through the maze, our time to meet Mickey Mouse was approaching. We finally found the exit and headed to the Mouse house. On the way, we saw Alice and the Mad Hatter doing a meet-n-greet, and we thought we might be able to get a quick encounter in before our time actually came up, but they were closing up and not allowing anyone else in line.
So it was just Mickey. Not a problem. Once we were allowed into the building, we still had a queue to get through. The building was designed like an old theatre, so we were entertained by projections of classic Disney cartoons. Eventually, we were ushered “backstage” to meet the main mouse himself. We had a nice encounter, got our pictures, he signed the autograph book, and we were on our way.
We had an appointment coming up at 7:00 so we still had time for a few more rides. First up was Peter Pan. Peter Pan holds a special place in family mythology, going back to the first trip Rasa and I took to Disneyland Paris. Back then we had tried several times to get on the ride, and there was an umbrella story involved, so Monki had been looking forward to this one. They had tried earlier in the day to go on it, but as I mentioned, no go. So now we were back. The line was moving this time, and the sun wasn’t beating down as harsh. It all came together and we were finally able to fly over London and away to Never Never Land. Monki was impressed. Although, like with a lot of rides, her main reaction at the end was “that’s it? It wasn’t long enough!”
Afterwards, Monki wanted to go around Casey. Jr one more time, so we did. We even let her ride by herself while we rode in the car behind her. She’s getting to be a big girl. Which didn’t change the fact that as we were heading towards our 7:00 appointment, she and Rasa were able to get a ride in on Le Carrousel de Lancelot.
Our final stop of the day was back at the Disneyland Hotel Boutique, where Monki would get to participate in the “My Royal Dream” fairytale makeover. The basic idea is the child gets hair and make-up done, and then a professional photoshoot. If you already have a costume, fine, if you don’t, you can buy one at the shop. And for the biggest version, you don’t get a choice of outfits, but you end up with a superdeluxe Sleeping Beauty dress. We opted for the middle package.
When we arrived, we were met by Giovanni, who introduced himself as the Fairy Godmother assistant (shout out to him for a phenomenal job!) and immediately (and literally) sized up our princess. He took one look at her, assessed her as being 10 years old, and found the appropriate Elsa size dress for her. He also showed her all the other options, but she was determined to be Elsa.
While waiting for our stylist (the Fairy Godmother herself) to be ready, Giovanni taught Monki how to wave and curtsey like a princess and even gave her a box of Disneyland Hotel chocolates. When he handed Monki off to the Fairy Godmother, Monki was already walking on air.
Her makeover began with a beautiful hairstyle and then she not only had a beauty make-up done, but there was also a specialized facepaint, all of which were leaning into the Elsa design. Monki had chosen a tiara as a special accessory (there were a number to choose from) and the hairstyle fitted it all just right.
The grin on her face when she saw the final result was the kind of thing parents hope for with their kids. Then she was called into the photo studio for a professional shoot with Idriss, who also provided a spectacular interaction. He had all sorts of props for her to work with and was great about keeping her focused and engaged. When he found out we were from Lithuania, he said he liked languages and asked Monki to teach him a few words. So she did.
And when he returned from going to get the included photo frame, he had evidently looked up a few more Lithuanian words and immediately inserted them into the conversation. When the shooting was finished, we had more than 50 pictures to go through in order to decide which one we wanted to get printed and put into the frame.
While we went through them all, Rasa and I were debating which we liked better, but then Monki stopped us short. “It’s my photo shoot so I’ll decide,” she said. Fair enough. She made her choice and the shot was printed. Then, because we had the photopass (we’d already gone ahead and purchased the full pass) we got to take home hi-rez copies of all the pictures. We could print more at home.
We stopped on our way out to do our own little photo shoot in front of the hotel, since the backdrop is perfect as a fairytale setting.
Before we made it back to the hotel for dinner and packing, we made a (not so) quick stop at the LEGO store where Monki and I each designed custom-made mini-figs.
And then, yes, the night was closing in. Dinner at the hotel buffet and then it was up to Rasa to pack us up in correct weights for the checked luggage and then sleep. We had an early train to catch.
August 17, 2026
I had pre-booked us a first class, high speed train to get us from the Disneyland train station to Charles de Gaulle airport, where our Air Baltic flight was leaving at 10:00am. I’d checked with the concierge at the hotel and they suggested taking the Disney shuttle, rather than walking, to the station. Made sense. The shuttle was supposed to be there at 7:00am and our train was leaving at 7:49, arriving at CDG at 8:01. This would give us plenty of time to find everything we needed to find.
Except… By 7:15, the shuttle had yet to arrive. I was getting nervous but then, finally, it showed up. That’s when I checked the tickets on my app for the train. Turned out that due to an equipment shortage, our train had been delayed by at least 30 minutes. I started to panic. Rather than risk it, since I didn’t know how bad CDG would be (in the past, we’d dealt with shitty airlines and bomb threats at this airport) so I really didn’t want to get there too late. So what did we do? We forgot the train and called an Uber.
Our driver showed up and started heading towards the airport, but I guess coming from Disney, the route was more rural than highway and, because we were expecting a short, easy train trip, we had figured on grabbing something at the airport. All of which is to say that we didn’t eat anything and that, combined with the not so great roads, caused Monki to experience her only bout of motion sickness the entire trip. Yes, we travel with sickness bags, so we didn’t make a mess in our driver’s Tesla, but it wasn’t a comfortable ride. That said, our driver did a great job of getting us to the right terminal, in the best time he could.***
We checked our bags (both perfectly underweight – Thanks Rasa) and made it through security in no time (they had upgraded to the new system as well). We found our gate and then went in search of food to ease Monki’s stomach (yogurt) and a coffee a piece for me and Rasa. We also had some pastries so by the time we were allowed to board, we were all in pretty good shape.
The flight was uneventful and Monki did not get sick again. When we took off, though, the pilot announced that we were flying with the medal-winning Lithuanian swim team, which was cool. We actually saw all of them, including Olympic medalist Rūta Meilutytė, when we were picking up our bags, but we didn’t want to bother them for a photo or autograph.
Leaving the airport, we took a Bolt (so good to be home) to the train station, a train back to Kaunas and then another Bolt to get us back to our apartment.
The trip had been amazing, but now, it was good to be back in our own place, to sleep in our own beds, and snuggle with our cat.
* While in line, when I realized we were going to be late (and since this restaurant was on Monki’s wish list) I made a second reservation for lunch on Sunday, just in case.
** full title – Café Hyperion Presented by Coca-Cola: Fast Food for the Future
***a few days later, Uber updated our charge and billed us for wait time, which never happened. I complained and they promised to refund the money “in 3-5 business days.” Uber sucks.
Getting the Hang of Thursdays 