3 Disney parks down, one to go! (Well, at least until Hong Kong opens in 4 years...) This one was incredibly fun for me to write up, because I spent several months studying DL Paris inside and out when I was working on the Disney Store's annual trivia contest. At last, I can finally put all of that vast, insider, mind-boggling, and completely useless knowledge to work!

Bonjour from Disneyland Paris, located in Marne-La-Vallée, about 14 miles to the east of Paris. Construction began on the 22-billion French Franc, 5,000 acre park in August 1998, which opened to the public on April 12, 1992 as "Euro Disneyland". Now, this being an American product transplanted into the French countryside, there was a little bit of - shall we say - controversy... Protests from French people who feared that Euro Disneyland would destroy their culture were prominent during construction and at opening. During the live opening television broadcast, a major electrical circuit was cut, and signposts showing the way to Marne-La-Vallée were damaged. That'll show 'em... Yep, things were ugly for Euro-Dis during the first year. In May 1992 up to 3,000 employees reportedly quit over pay and working conditions. The weather was rotten for the entire summer, and attendance runs only at about 40% of what was expected. Only 3 out of 10 visitors were French. But slowly over the next few years the park began to recuperate, the natives settled down, and by 1995 the park began to turn a profit. In October 1994 the park's name is officially changed to Disneyland Paris, and the rest, as they say, is Disney history.

Disneyland Paris has its own version of the Haunted Mansion, known as Phantom Manor. Unlike the U.S. and Japan versions of this classic, Phantom Manor was designed with a complete storyline of the sea captain, his bride, and the ghost that stood between their happiness. As all Disney-philes know, there are 999 happy haunts in the haunted mansion, and if the beans had their way, they'd be the 1000th.

DL Paris is now building a second park, the Walt Disney Studios. Scheduled to open in April 12, 2002, which not-so-coincidentally is the 10th anniversary of DL Paris, The Disney Studios will draw on a variety of themes: cinemas, animation, television and new forms of audiovisual technology inspired by the cinema of France, Europe and Hollywood. The beans think it's a great idea, although they really hope that there isn't an Audio-Animatronic Jerry Lewis show.

This is Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant, better known in English as Sleeping Beauty Castle - ain't she something? The Disney Imagineers who designed her knew that they had to come up with something pretty spectacular for a part of the world where castles are on every corner, and I think that they did a pretty decent job of it. There's a dragon that lives in the basement, but the beans were afraid that they'd end up "baked", so they decided not to stop in for tea.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad actually sits on an island here - the roller coasters here are widely considered to be the best that Disney has to offer. Space Mountain has a fast launch system and an upside down loop, and there's an Indiana Jones coaster (Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril) that includes a loop. The beans had a great time zipping around on the coasters, although they really wish that they hadn't eaten that frozen banana beforehand...