Disneyland Football Tour – March/April 2016

As you may already know, this week I headed off to Paris with my school for the International Festival of Football at Disneyland. There were 10 of us girls going to compete in the under 15’s tournament, and we left on Wednesday 30th March and went straight to the port of Dover where we hopped on a ferry and crossed the English Channel. Arriving in Calais at around 15:30 local time, it began to chuck it down with rain as we ploughed on to Paris.  

 
We finally arrived at 20:00 and settled into our accommodation before eating tea and getting into bed. I fell asleep at around half twelve the next morning.

Thursday morning I woke up at 7:00 and the weather was awful; it was still raining and it was freezing cold. We arrived at Disneyland at 9:00 and we were all extremely excited.

 The entrance to Disneyland

Personally I’m not a huge fan of rollercoasters, so for the most part I stood in the rain and waited for my friends to go on Space Mountain etc. I got soaked and couldn’t feel my feet, so we ended up leaving the park at 13:00 and headed back to where we were staying. Scheduled for that afternoon were our first football matches of the tour, however due to the weather they were cancelled so we remained in our hotel and slept because we were so tired. Overall it had been a pretty miserable day. 

  The Castle at Disneyland

On the third day of our tour, the weather improved slightly so when we arrived at Disneyland that morning we were in higher spirits. I went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride (but that was it), and then we headed off to play our final league matches of the tournament. Our under 15’s team played 4 games that day; we won 1 and drew 3, placing us fourth out of 8 in our league. After the games ended I spoke some French to some of the French players, which made me proud because it’s great to experience different cultures and speak multiple languages. 

 The weather was better on Friday

Saturday was the day of the finals to decide the standings. As we came in the top 4 in our league, we were put into the top competition and had 2 tricky matches to play; a semi-final and then the placing final. Unfortunately, we lost the semi-final so we were placed in the 3rd place play-off. It ended 3-3 and so went to penalties; we just managed to win, meaning overall we finished 3rd. It was an amazing achievement for us considering we had never played together as a team before. 

 Me with our trophy 

As it was our last full day, we spent the whole afternoon in Disneyland and at the Walt Disney Studios. I used my time to buy presents for my family (which were ridiculously overpriced), and as a final meal all of the schools involved in the tournament ate at Planet Hollywood. It was a lovely evening and really brought the tour to a close on a high point. 

 
We returned to our cabins shattered and achey after a tough day of football and rollercoasters.

The final day, Sunday, was the day we left. Up at 7:40, I quickly packed my suitcase and we were off at 8:00 and away to Calais. The journey was just about bearable and soon we were waiting to board the ferry, however we had to wait for an hour before we could get on. Once on the ship, I explored a little and relaxed because I get slightly seasick, however I was fine. 

  View from the deck

Once into England it was only a three/four hour coach journey back to my school. We got back at around 5:30 and I was glad to see my family again.

I wouldn’t normally want to visit Disneyland as I’m not big on rides, however I wouldn’t have changed this experience for the world. My advice for everyone reading this is that, if you have the opportunity to do something outside your comfort zone, you shouldn’t definitely go for it because you’ll honestly gain so much from it. All in all, it was a great tour that I’d love to do again one day.  
 
Thanks again for taking time to read my post; it does mean an awful lot to me. Got questions? Just comment and I’ll respond ASAP. 

Much love teenstravelers

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