Sainte-Mère-Église, France is best known for the 700 year old medieval church where Private John M. Steele, a 82nd Airborne Paratrooper, landed on the steeple and was stuck until the Germans found him and took him into custody. Luckily a few days later he was able to escape and made it to an American hospital for care. Today you can visit the church and village, there is also an Airborne Museum there [Read more…]
Utah Beach Landing Museum in Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, France (aka Musée du Débarquement Utah Beach) is a must visit for those in the Normandy area, it is the best museum in the D-Day area and is on the Utah Beach. I think it may be often overlooked because it’s a bit further from the Omaha beach area but it really shouldn’t be missed.
I’ll be posting our Normandy area itinerary soon but we started [Read more…]
Pointe du Hoc in Circqueville-en-Bessin, France was a German bunker that was bombed heavily during WWII. Walking through the crater filled lands is a bit surreal and it makes one glad you weren’t there during the bombing. It’s most often know for it’s impossibly steep walls that were scaled by the brave US Army Rangers to over take the bunkers.
Parking is free in the large parking area by the Visitor’s [Read more…]
February Things To Do Around Spangdahlem has several Fasching events going on as well as some other interesting things to go see during this month. These are generally no more than 3 hours away, although I may throw in one or two further away ones if I think that they are something to consider.
There are Things To Do for everyone! Some include Fasching parades, Chocolate, Beer Festival, Easter Market, [Read more…]
We started the New Year off with the New Years Dive in the North Sea in Scheveningen, Netherlands (The Hague) on January 1st, 2016! Yes, we actually ran into the freezing cold North Sea…and I highly recommend it!! Tradition has it that they wash away the old year and welcome in the new one with this event. When I read about a friend doing this last year I just HAD to put it on the calendar for this [Read more…]
I was so excited when a friend offered to take us out to Demeter Hof Breit – the farm in Wittlich, Germany where you can bottle your own fresh milk! I’d been wanting to try it but hadn’t gotten around to it, and it was great to have her there showing us the ropes. If your looking for fresh milk, eggs, organic or bio fruits and veggies, meats, cheeses, juices, etc you can find it all here at the farm!
The [Read more…]
If your visiting Prague, Czech Republic it’s worth it to make the trip out to the Sedlec Ossuary Bone Church in Kutná Hora, Czech Republic. Keep in mind the bone church area is fairly small so you need to add other sights to get the most out of the trip, I’ll share what we did below. It’s a good 1/2 day trip and then you can spend the other half of the day back in Prague. Rick Steve’s also has a [Read more…]
January Things To Do Around Spangdahlem list is a lot smaller than the past 2 months of back to back Christmas Markets but it has some interesting things to go see during this month. Again these are generally no more than 3 hours away, although I may throw in one or two further away ones if I think that they are something to consider.
There are Things To Do for everyone! Some include Some include [Read more…]
Happy New Year! I wanted to re-cap where we traveled in 2015 🙂 We hit our 2 year mark here in Germany in November 2015! We’ve taken advantage of the past 24 months and have traveled quite a bit, you can see where we visited in 2014 HERE.
Here’s a re-cap of where we have been this year!
Traben-Trarbach Wine Cellar Christmas Market – Germany
Aqualand Water Park in Köln, Germany
Disneyland Paris is located in Marne-la-Vallée, France and is about 45 mins outside of Paris. Here you’ll find a Disney shopping area, and Walt Disney Studios Park. This is the larger of the 2 parks with 41 attractions and 7 entertainment options, as well as the parades, there are no parades at Disney Studios. It can easily be done in one day, with the right plans. While we had a fun time it is a one and done kinda deal for us, we were able to see/do everything we needed so there is no reason to go back. We loved the Fall/Halloween decor they had up, which made it better in my opinion.
First off for planning I highly recommend getting the Independent Guide to Disneyland Paris 2015 (or if there is a newer version). This book was a HUGE help in helping us to plan our time and avoid the lines. It also helped us to avoid waiting in long lines for food as well. I bought mine from Amazon as our local library did not have a copy. The guides for each park are fantastic for knowing where to go and when to get the most for your time! There are several ‘day plans’ in the book you choose the one that is best for your family. We used it and were on Big Thunder Mountain right away and then even got to ride several of the rides like Space Mountain many times.
As far as cost of the park, it’s a bit spendy. For 2 parks/2 Days it is $190 Adult and $172 for kids ages 3 to 11, ages 12+ are adults. Which would’ve been $742 for our family of 4! HOWEVER if your a military member they have a military discount and it is €69 per person for ages 12+ and €65 for ages 3-11 for 2 Days/2 Parks which is a great deal! We instead paid €276/$300 for our family of 4, so as you can see it’s a substantial difference between the two prices. You need to go to the ticket window and show your ID to get the military discount rate.
Parking is €20/day unless your a hotel guest (Explorer’s hotel also has free parking at the Disney Parks) so I recommend choosing a hotel with a shuttle service.
Food in the park has many more options than Disney Studios but is still expensive. Food at one of the cheaper places is €11,99-€14,99 a meal. Lunch at this park cost us €53,96 for the 4 of us. Even snacks were expensive as well as drinks. I recommend bringing in water & some snacks and then eating outside the park for meals.
Our park experience was comparable to any other Disney park we’ve been to, although Disney Sea in Tokyo is still our favorite. One of the things we did like about Disneyland Paris is that because it’s so small it’s easy to get from one end to the other fairly quickly. So if you have littles and don’t want to be overwhelmed with one of the larger parks in the States this could be a good option for you.
Going during one of the holiday seasons is fun because of all the extra decorations around. They provide for some neat and fun photo opportunities and the characters are dressed up as well!
Keep in mind you really need to have a plan and know how to use the FastPasses (all the info in the book I mentioned above) to get the most out of the experience because even the rides like Dumbo get up to a 90 min wait, which in my opinion is not worth it. Also try to do during the weekday, Monday’s are the best, as the weekends are MUCH busier and have longer lines. We did Disneyland Paris on a Monday and were able to easily ride several of the rides multiple times. Sunday at Disney Studios was much more crowded!
Also keep in mind that there are not a whole lot of bigger rides for those with teenagers, etc. There are a few like Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain (our fav), and Indiana Jones but that’s about all. Our kids are 12 and 15 and were done and ready to go by 3 pm, we had gotten there when the parked opened at 9 am. So it only took us 6 hours to do the park and attractions we wanted to do.
Overall it didn’t have a whole lot of rides for older kids and can easily be done a day. We had a fun time but I wouldn’t say it’s a MUST do unless your a Disney fanatic or already there in the area for Disneyland Paris. We did like the decorations at this park since Disney Studios didn’t have any, and we were able to ride more rides here because it was a Monday and there was less people. Same consensus as Disney Studios…it wasn’t the best amusement park we’ve been to but it was ok for a visit once. I will say if I had smaller kids I’d prefer doing a smaller park like this one verses the huge one in Florida, which we’ve done several times.
Know Before You Go
What: Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, France, France
How To Get There: It’s about 3.5 hours from Spangdahlem, and 3.5 hours from Ramstein. GPS address: 77777 Marne-la-Vallée, France, France
Parking: Is €20 at the park unless your a hotel guest with a free parking pass. I’d recommend using a hotel with a free shuttle service or free parking.
Cost: 2 Day/2 Parks is $190 Adult and $172 for kids ages 3 to 11, ages 12+ are adults. HOWEVER if your a military member they have a military discount and it is €69 per person for ages 12+ and €65 for ages 3-11 for 2 Days/2 Parks which is a great deal!
Traveling with little kids: If your wanting to experience Disney without the enormous sized parks of FL & CA this is a great way to do so.