On the 24th March 2013, 36 excited teenagers from Edmund Rice College gathered together in the entrance hall of Belfast International Airport waiting to embark on their trip to Disneyland Paris!
4 even more excited teachers were there to greet them and their anxious parents; some of whom were in floods of tears as they waved their dear sons off – some of these were tears of joy mind you! Miss Deery and Miss Mc Keever led the trip with the help of Mr Friel and Mr Fleming; Head of Year 9. Not forgetting our 5 supervisors from 13CC who played an avid role in the success of the trip; Aidan Harris, Dylan Mc Crudden, Christopher Madden, Steven Roberts and Ross Mackin.
After a quick and easy flight, we touched down at Charles de Gaulles airport in Paris. A joyful applause was heard from the ERC gang, as well as these insightful words from Pierce Mc Ilhone “There’s the Odyssey Arena!!” pointing at one of the airport buildings! We made it through passport control and on to collect our luggage; then made our way to the coach. We arrived at our Disney-themed hotel at 9pm and the boys went off in their clicks to settle into their rooms. The Year 13s had the fun task of choosing how they were going to organise 5 boys and 4 beds!! By midnight it was lights out and sleep time in preparation for the fun days ahead in the Disneyland parks.
The alarm calls rang at 7am bright and early each morning. Bleary eyed teenagers and teachers met at the dining hall to begin breakfast. It was truly as the saying goes “Breakfast like a King!”. We stuffed our faces with croissants, pain au chocolat, toast and more toast with lashings of Nutella, chocolate cereals..the list is endless..an absolute nightmare for anyone off chocolate for Lent; such as Miss Deery – who may have broken her Lent but keep it quiet! The shuttle bus took us down to the park each morning for fun times at the Theme Park; on rides such as Space Mountain and Rock n Roller Coaster. Miss McKeever cured her fear of heights on The Tower of Terror helped along by Kieran O’Kane, Ciaran Magee and Martin Morgan of Year 9!! “It’s not scary Miss!!” …her legs are STILL shaking to this day. The Disney parks were loaded with fun things to do and see such as haunted houses; fast and furious roller coasters; cinemas; shops; adventure land areas with lots of fun activities! At the end of each day the bus ride home was filled with stories on how the lads spent their day.
By nightfall it was time to hit the Disney village for feeding time at the zoo! Literally! The Rainforest café was home to monkeys, elephants and the odd lion roar which kept you company as you dined. With enough food to feed an army in each serving, we were definitely well fed! Other options were Planet Hollywood where you could dine with the stars; such as Rocky and Arnie! However the majority of the lads had the same idea each evening….good old Micky D’s!!
The trip was slowly coming to an end but the excitement of seeing the Eiffel Tower continued to build among the lads. All packed up and ready to go, the coach took us into Paris on the final day. Our Irish tour guide was fantastic and gave us an informative but funny overview of Paris history, architecture and famous buildings as we made our way through the city to the most famous sight of all! The Eiffel Tower! The Tower of Terror in Disneyland was clearly not enough of an adrenaline rush for some our lads who pushed to the front of the queues to get to right to the top!! We had our photo taken at the bottom and sadly it was time to go. Back to the airport we went; and straight back to Micky D’s for our final feed in Paris!
Excited parents were there to greet us as we made our way through passport control back home in Belfast. Before handing the lads over to their delighted parents, Mr Friel gave his final words of praise and thanks to a wonderfully behaved, fantastic bunch of lads who made the trip such a great success!! We said our “Au Revoirs” and it was time to go home and hit the hay! The boys are already asking can they go again next year!!
Quotes from a few lads:
“Our trip to Paris was amazing. The best rides in Disneyland had to be the the “Hollywood Tower of Terror”!! On the last day in Disneyland I got on it with Miss Deery and Miss McKeever. Miss Mc Keever was so scared and wouldn’t stop shaking! When we got on it she kept shouting “Is it over yet??!” It was so funny. I wish it never ended and hopefully I can go back again.
Kieran O’Kane 9DW
“My visit to Paris was really good. I liked how we could go by ourselves in our groups to go around the parks. We had the Year 13s numbers if we needed them and we all met up every few hours to make sure everything was ok, but other than that we were free! I loved the Rock n Rollercoaster the best. I also loved the Notre Dame cathedral and the Eiffel Tower”
Marc Hill 9DW
“Paris was class! We had a laugh on all the rollercoasters. I loved the Space Mountain ride the best. We went to the cinema too and saw Die Hard. It had French subtitles. We went up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was brilliant! The Year 13s were sound too. I would love to go back!”
Paddy Mc Mahon 9SD
Menu
