Just Around the Thunderbend

The portrayal of the American West is romanticized enough even in the United States. But in Europe, the mythos of cowboy country and the wild frontier is also very alluring and regaled, especially since back in those days, the Old West was even more remote to Europe than it was to Americans on the primarily developed East Coast.  As such, at Disneyland Paris, Frontierland holds an emotional resonance even to a population that might normally fancy itself more sophisticated and suave than Americans.  The escapism of the pioneer days, however, is still one that finds plenty of appeal, and the way it all comes together over at Thunder Mesa is pretty spectacular!

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in Disneyland Paris careens around a turn along the Rivers of the Far West.