They were finally off Eurostar, nice as it was, and the teachers had done all the boring stuff at Marne La Vallee Station for them.
"Mrs Beauchamp, is that Disney?" asked Ethan, pointing to what looked like a set of buildings decorated in pink and looking like something from a fairy story.
"No Ethan, that's our hotel."
Shouts and squeals of joy.
"We can't go in yet, because it's not quite check-in time, and you guys must be hungry. Who wants to go to Annette's diner in Disney Village, then look around a bit and back to the hotel to unpack, then back out to see the parks lit up later?"
"Me!" squeaked Mr Keogh who seemed like a different person in the resort.
Annette's diner was perfect for the kids. They had burgers with salad, then ice cream to follow, with sugar free cola to drink. The teachers had more or less the same but replaced the cola with tea or coffee. Everybody liked the catchy music that was playing. Suddenly the waiters and waitresses stopped serving, and jumped on to the counters. They began to jive. Soon all the diners were laughing and clapping along.
They walked through Disney Village which was full of shops and food places, and Miss Freeman pointed to a building:
"That's where you're going to eat tonight."
Buffalo Bill's Diner, said the sign. The kids thought it was just another place to eat, but it looked nice.
"Now you can have some of your spending money on request – hold it, Ethan! – but I'd advise you to just look for now. We'll be going on a trip to a shopping centre on Wednesday to break things up a little, and you might want to save your money for then."
They saw a big fat air balloon further on near the lake.
"Oooh can we….?"
"Maybe tomorrow evening, Zoe," Ms Chao replied, "We've got lots to do today."
Max felt squashed because Zoe had spoken without him, so she squeezed his hand and he soon cheered up.
"Now…." Announced Mr Keogh dramatically.
Mrs Beauchamp handed over their all-day passes, and then there they were. On Main Street, at the heart of Disneyland itself.
An exit took them to Fantasyland, and they looked round for a while, then Ethan begged to go on the Mad Hatter's Tea Cups.
"Okay, if you think you've let your lunch settle. We don't want you throwing up."
"I don't think I've any more throwing up left after last month."
"Thank you for sharing that with us, Ethan."
They went on the teacups and enjoyed themselves, even Ms Chao.
More walking through Fantasyland to settle their guts, then the teachers steered all the kids to Main Street again. They wondered why they were standing around waiting but trusted the teachers. People began to stand behind them and wait. Then they heard the music, and suddenly there was a parade with people dancing and singing, and big decorated lorries – Miss Freeman said they were called Floats – with Disney characters on them. There were the scary people as well as the nice ones. Captain Hook brandished his hook menacingly at the crowd, and Lofty, seeing Mrs Beauchamp pretending to cringe back, whispered to her:
"Don't worry, Mrs Beauchamp, it's only a man dressed up. I won't let him get you."
Mrs Beauchamp's voice went a little croaky after that.
Cal's arms were round his little brother.
"He won't hurt you, Ethan, look, there's Peter Pan to stop him."
Along came the 1001 Dalmatians on a massive float, with Cruella De Vil shaking her fist at the crowd.
"I wonder if I remembered to tell Ms Dixon that Dervla will only eat beef flavoured…"
"DYLAN! She knows what she's doing!" sighed Ms Chao.
Then came Ethan's big moment! Mickey Mouse was on the next float with Minnie… and he looked straight at Ethan and waved.
"Mickey likes me!"
Much as he was loving the parade, Ben suddenly felt very tiny and a little afraid. He couldn't say why, but he was.
"Okay there Ben?"
Lofty pulled himself together.
"Ooh yes Mr Keogh."
"Okay guys" Mrs Beauchamp said after the last of the parade had passed and the crowds were breaking up, "Time to go back to the hotel and get unpacked. We'll help you."
"Is it an awful long walk?" Ethan said.
"No, Ethan… our hotel's just through here. We're staying right at the entrance, look!"
"Oh, wow."
After unpacking there was time for another visit to Fantasyland. Mrs Beauchamp wanted them to save their fasttrack passes for the next day as she said dinner would take a long time.
"Can't we just have a short dinner and some rides tonight?"
"No, Louise, dinner's booked."
Louise pouted. Noel was glad he was sharing a room with the boys for the rest of the week. Zoe wished she was sharing a room with Max instead of with the girls, but it wasn't allowed.
"It's just looking round tonight so you can see the park lit up."
"It's nice" said Lofty.
"Yeah!" Ethan endorsed.
They walked back in time for their dinner at Buffalo Bill's diner. But it wasn't just a diner. It was a Wild West show with a meal included!
They knew it was going to be magic when they were handed cowboy hats to wave. And when a herd of bison ran in without anybody seemingly in charge of them, they knew it was proper magic. Even Louise was giggling and cheering by the end of the show.
The sleepy little group walked back the short distance to the hotel later.
"What's the difference between a buffalo and a bison?" asked Mr Keogh.
They all gave up.
"You can't wash your hands in a buffalo."
Groans all round.