At the beginning of the half term holiday, a number of Sixth Formers were fortunate enough to travel to Paris for three days on a Media Studies trip. We stayed just outside the Disneyland park in The Explorer Hotel. At this family-orientated hotel, we benefitted from a short but relaxing stay and the privilege of free shuttle services, both to and from, the theme park.
Our first day was mainly consumed by the travel from Chichester to Paris. Our journey consisted of a coach to Folkestone, where we took the Euro-tunnel to Calais, followed by another few hours in the coach to Paris. Having arrived at the hotel we abandoned our luggage and jumped straight on to a shuttle bus to the theme park. This gave us just enough time to wonder through the park. Being able to explore around Disney was a massive eye opener for the media students who could see how different companies within the Disney brand worked together to create a strong global marketing strategy, which could be seen by sales of all the merchandising products. For dinner that night we ate at Planet Hollywood, which is a quirky restaurant in Disneyland, with its interior decorated by themes and memorabilia from films.
During the second day we continued to explore the park independently with groups of friends. Fortunately, we were able to spend some of the day venturing onto various rides, which was extremely entertaining and remains a memorable experience! In the evening there was a display of fireworks. During this time images and videos of Disney characters were projected onto the castle showing the media students how the use of computer animation can enhance productions.
Sadly, the last day came by very quickly. This day was spent in Paris city centre where we were lucky enough to visit many beautiful places such as the Museum D’Orsay, where some very ingenious works of art were being exhibited. We then travelled to the Montparnasse Tower which enabled us to have magnificent panoramic view of Paris. The last activity we carried out was journeying with the “Bateaux Mouches” boat tours. The boat travelled down the River Seine, which allowed us to have a quick voyage of sight-seeing before we left Paris!
This trip would not have been possible if it weren’t for the remarkable teachers; Miss Dixon, Mrs Lawlor, Mrs Roper and Mr Saunders, who devoted the beginning of their half term holiday to act as our guardians on the residential. Moreover, the organisation and itinerary of the trip was all thanks to Mr Evans. Therefore, a huge thank you goes out to all the staff, for making the trip so enjoyable!
Lily Butcher (12Wilson)