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'Which would you prefer – Parc Asterix or EuroDisney?' I asked my (not-so) rich French boyfriend. 'Parc Asterix has lots of slides and water rides and fountains. And EuroDisney, well, that's just EuroDisney.' For a child raised on Disney videos, and who's first taste of Disney's Magic Kingdom was at three years old, there was no contest.

We arrived at Eurodisney in the early afternoon, urging the sun lurking in Paris city centre to follow us. But the sun gradually disappeared and dark clouds loomed ominously. The quickest way to the Disneyland Resort from the city centre is to take the RER (local rail network). The journey takes 40 minutes and drops travellers at the park gates. Return tickets to Disneyland cost €12 for adults - make sure you don't disembark before the final destination, like the Russian family in our carriage!

Whatever the visitor's preconceptions, Disneyland is likely to come as a surprise. It's a triumph of commercialism, but it's also the product of one man's vision. And even the more hardened cynic, as soon as they pass through the magic gates, is likely to find a world that's bigger, busier, brighter, more beautiful and better fun than even imagined. It's unreal, of course. But it's not hollow or fake - which may be the biggest surprise of all.

Once you enter the resort you realise that you are not really in France at all. The entry ticket is a 'passport' - a passport to a whole new experience. You are in America, or at least an imitation of America, and from the moment that you realise that the piped music is ubiquitous, you realise that everything in this little state comes under the watchful eye of the benevolent Disney machine. From the moment you arrive to the moment you leave the kingdom, your actions are discretely but firmly directed by a combination of recorded voices, robots and employees. The Disney ethos, set by Walt Disney himself, is to offer a complete escape - a total Disney experience, which is something that clearly cannot be achieved without the exertion of a significant level of control.

We started our voyage in the rather beautiful Discoveryland, one of the five lands in the park and architecturally the most interesting because, being a land of tomorrow, it makes its own rules. The launch pad of Space Mountain and the gold balls of Orbitron can be seen from far. For an unknown reason, Space Mountain had just opened its gates, and we took this opportunity to dash along its corridors to ride what is certainly the best ride in the whole park. Space Mountain cost $90 million to build and can accommodate 2,600 guests per hour. The breathtaking indoor rollercoaster catapults willing victims every 36 seconds into a series of pitch-black (just as well!) cosmic loops and spins at 70kmph around a full kilometre of track. You're never quite sure when the next errant meteorite will appear as you dodge and weave your way into space on this white-knuckle ride.

Unfortunately, this was too much for my boyfriend, Guillaume. As we raced along the corridors, I had misgivings about taking part, but trusted that he would say something. Even five minutes after the ride he said nothing, except 'Where's the aspirin? I'm going to vomit', so nauseated was he by the experience. As his 'sympathetic' girlfriend scanned the map for the nearest and next ride, he fixed his gaze on the horizon and breathed heavily.

The long wait for 'Honey, I Shrunk the Audience' was enough to calm stomachs. The 'audience' waited ten minutes outside before being ushered into a large room and were then shown a Kodak 'infomercial'. This attraction combines 3-D vision with timeless gags, with the audience confronted by visual (roaring lions and hissing pythons), tactile and sound effects. Unfortunately this realism was too much for the family in front of me who got up and ran!

Guillaume decided that his stomach was up to the test of 'The Mystery of the Nautilus'. The darkest depths of the ocean are explored in Captain Nemo's submarine and as you descend under an artificial lake to enter the submarine, you slowly discover this ride is clearly not for the claustrophobic. The Disney attendant, who did not understand a word of Spanish, was hassled by a Spanish boy who tried to explain as only children can, that the underwater entrance could not be the real entrance as everyone know that a submarine is entered from its hatch beside the periscope. Clearly too many James Bond movies! The walking tour holds a few surprises, including an attack by a giant squid. However, it can be a little disappointing unless you know something of the story.

In an attempt to monitor Guillaume's recovery, I suggested we visit the ‘Visionarium’. This is a 360 degree time-travel adventure, using nine interlocking screen which completely surround you. A combination of robotics, computerised special effects and high-impact film footage takes you on a giddy voyage around Europe as you switch between the past, the present and the future. It is a very enjoyable experience, if tiring on the feet, but relaxing after the scares of 'Honey, I Scared You' and 'Space Mountain'.

Technically, visitors are not allowed bring food into Disneyland. Probably due to the few visitors to Disney, our bags were not checked on the way in for knives and other dangerous weapons. There is an ample variety of fast-food joints and restaurants for parents to spend their hard-earned millions, strategically-placed stones for people to rest on, but no park benches. Disney reckoned without penniless students. Our backpack was packed with a salad, tomatoes blushing because they saw the salad dressing (!!), forks, fruit, bread and a bottle of wine. All that was missing was the corkscrew. We seated ourselves on the benches of 'Le Theatre du Chateau' and tucked in, accompanied by drops of rain which threatened to make us abandon our meal. As we watched anxiously, the black clouds passed to the side of the make-believe world and spared Disneyland its showers.

After lunch, we headed to Fantasyland. As we gazed upon the Sleeping Beauty Castle, I became convinced that the landmark castle which towers over the theme park and is the centrepiece of the entire complex looks higher than it really is. The castle is built on a steep hill and the blocks used seemed smaller than necessary. And yes, I was right! The cinematic technique of 'forced perspective' is used as the walls are built with increasingly smaller blocks, deceiving the eye into believing the battlements at the top are much father away. The castle is perfectly maintained, with its cubic trees, gothic spires and pink turrets taken from the Disney classic.

The castle is full of surprises. The Dragon's Dungeon is hard to find in the dark, and within lies Disney's largest animated creation, measuring 27m in length. Weighing in at least two tons, the dragon sleeps restlessly before awakening with a fearsome roar to gobble up unsuspecting children.

Unfortunately, Peter Pan's Flight (one of the rides which came highly recommended) was closed for renovations, as was Alice's Curious Labyrinth. Guillaume was feeling slightly better, so we dutifully queued for 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs', which I hoped would not upset his stomach.

Walt Disney once said 'I think what I want Disneyland to be most of all is a happy place, a place where adults and children can experience some of the wonders of life, of adventure and feel better because if it.' Snow White's ride is the perfect example of one man's fantasy - a cloistered place, isolated from the risks, conflicts and cares of life. A ride where to get the most out of the experience, you have to allow yourself to explore it through the eyes of a child. Just witnessing a child's reaction to the various characters she witnesses throughout the day is an experience itself.

From the Dwarf's happy cottage home, you whiz through unforgettable scenes from the movie (cute and then scary) and onwards to the bleak forest, where the wicked witch awaits you at every turn. Buoyed by the happy ending in sight, and the lack of sudden drops, we queued for 'Pinocchio's Travels'. Having seen (and forgotten) the movie of Carlo Collodi's classic Italian fairytale, some of the story was lost on me. However, what shines through is the sheer quality of the ride - at every turn one expects the ride to be over, and then the story begins again and one is continuously surprised at the depths of animation, and the efforts that went into the backgrounds and foregrounds.

A personal favourite is the Mad Hatter's Teacups – a ride with such sheer imagination! Who else but Disney could take a fictional character and attribute to him such a simple yet famous ride? This was borne out by the mother in front of me in the queue who shouted at her husband that he would miss his go if he didn't join the queue, much to their children's embarrassment. In Seville's Isla Mágica amusement park, the teacups spun around so fast that I couldn't focus and nearly fell over after descending. After that, Disney's Teacups were a disappointment, although just as popular.

Adventureland was done at whirlwind speed, partly because the author wanted to 'do' the Indiana Jones ride, and partly because the park was closing in one hour! However, one look at the brief but frantic rollercoaster ride which pitches its fanatics backwards into a breathtaking 360 degree loop and my decision was made: ‘I'm not doing that! Onwards to Frontierland!!’ Big Thunder Mountain is the centrepiece of Frontierland. All day, rumbles and screams emanate from its island as the rollercoaster weaves and plummets along the tracks at breakneck speed. This ride is not as frightening as is makes itself out to be, and the wait is made all the more fun, as the queue threads its way through the mining company's Headquarters.

Another of the attractions of Frontierland is the Phantom Manor. The once-stately home stands high on a hilltop, as potential Ghostbusters are ushered inside, a door slams, the lights go out, and the walls move inward and downward. Ninety-nine phantoms lurk around every corner, waiting to scare you, as headless corpses waltz to the disembodied music.

By this stage Disneyland was closing for the night, with the familiar sights of people dashing from one ride to another for 'one last one'. We left the gates of Disneyland, with the ever-present music fading in our ears.

Ever since the Theme Park opened, a (very) committed group of fans has steadily reported sightings of 'hidden Mickeys' dotted around the attractions. Some of the hidden Mickey's are clearly spotted, others are more cryptic. In Fantasyland, for example, at the Sleeping Beauty Castle, the lanterns at the back entrance of the castle each contain three bulbs - a big one and two smaller ones, which together form a hidden Mickey. Several of the roof tiles are a different colour and form a typical Mickey head. In the Phantom Manor of Frontierland, the table setting in the ballroom scene reveals several hidden Mickey's. Further hidden Mickey's can be reported at www.hiddenmickeys.org/paris. And the largest Mickey if all: when Disneyland is completely finished, the whole complex will take the shape of one giant Mickey! Spotting the hidden Mickey's is one of the many and varied reasons to visit Disneyland Paris.