DLP in July 2017 [Questions]

[hasabigrock]

So we are just off the plane from our TDR vacation and now we are planning for DLP next July in 2017.

This may be our only trip to DLP so we really want to do it right. We are planning 4 days, 5 nights at the Disneyland Hotel and we are seriously considering the Castle Club, which we saw comes with character breakfast each morning in the lounge as well as VIP (unlimited?) fastpasses.

Has anyone gone in July before? What is the weather and crowds like that time of year?

Has anyone done Castle Club? Is Castle Club worth it? I called DLP yesterday and it sounds like rooms go for around $2000 USD/night.

We've done concierge level at DLC and WDW and have used it for a light breakfast and a light dinner, then we have one big meal in the parks for lunch. I know DLP does breakfast. Does anyone know what they offer in the evenings?

How do you check in for Castle Club? Do you go to the front desk in the lobby or do you go up to the 3rd floor?

I saw someone mention something about being offered 'alternatives' instead of the VIP fastpass? What is that all about?

We will be staying downtown Paris for a couple days before DLP. What is a good way to get 4 people and luggage from downtown Paris to DLP?

 

[JoieNsk]

We just came from Disneyland Paris. We were for four nights in Disneyland hotel, but not in the Castle Club. So I can't say anything about Castle Club.

But we loooved Disneyland hotel. Even without Castle Club - it is extremely nice for many reasons.

Distance-wise - extremely convenient. So close to everything.

Other things - design of the hotel, very nice restaurants, great service.

About the crowds - I found that even in July (17-20), when the parks should be at the pick - the parks didn't feel as crowded as WDW. Nothing close. The wait times in general were much smaller. In Disney hotels even with simple room you get one fastpass per a day. I can tell - we didn't even use one of our day fastpasses. And we never got any fastpasses from the machines. Space Mountain was 5 min wait time at 6 pm. Why need fast pass? We ended up going to the parks in the mornings and in the evenings, as during the day it was hot and more crowded. The hotel was so close, that we would just hop back to the hotel during the day, relax, have lunch in Inventions (really nice lunch!), or in Disney village, or do some shopping in air-conditioned stores ))

We only really needed fast pass for Ratatouille. And that was the only place where fast pass really worked. At other rides the fastpasses are not that efficient: you cut only a little bit, and then they put you in the same line with other people: you will actually need to step ahead of the people in normal line, and there was never cast member there to justify it: I felt really uncomfortable doing that.

When I came at 5 minutes to 8am to Disneyland Park for extra magic hours - there was NOBODY there, and the gates were closed. I was afraid I made some kind of mistake with the schedule But about 2 minutes before 8 several cast members appeared out of nowhere, and started to open the gates. And right at the same time several people came to the gate and freely walked up ahead of me, like I was standing there for my own entertainment )) I guess it didn't matter as they were so few of us. But I honestly can't imagine something like this in WDW ))

I think my experience might be of no use for people in 2017, as it is going to be an anniversary, and parks might be more crowded. But as we just came back from there, I thought I would post all this, while I remember everything.

About the weather - it was HOT. I can't judge was it typical weather for French July, as it was our first time in France. While we were in Paris before Disneyland, it was not hot at all. But once we came to Marne-la-Vallee, it became really sunny and hot.

 

[Dav2205]

It's worth noting that you'll get one Fastpass per person per day staying in a standard room at the Disneyland Hotel anyway (as well as any you collect at the park using the regular method). You can use this on any of the Fastpass rides apart from over a few hours in the afternoon - next year the best options for this are likely to be Ratatouille because it's new and very popular and either Big Thunder Mountain, Peter Pan or Star Tours because they'll all have had substantial refurbishments and are popular anyways.

Because it's the 25th anniversary next year I'd expect crowds especially during the summer to be a lot higher than this year. Make good use of Extra Magic Hours and do rides later in the evening when the parks are quieter and you should be fine . You've picked a great year to visit as Disneyland Park is pretty much getting a full park refresh either with big refurbs or just cleaning things up.

 

[mamadragona]

They weren't doing FP while I was there, and I do not know why - or maybe I didn't understand the method, but the FP lanes were closed. I assume that it had something to do with updates and ride closures. I was there last month (July 20-24) and while some areas in Studios lacked shade, really it was much cooler than Paris was (or even WDW in May). Paris to me was stagnant and very hot. Also, the crowd level significantly increased on the weekend. If you are planning a trip 5 nights, I would go midweek for Sunday - Friday. I agree with the EMH and evening observations above. It seemed to me that many left the park for dinner and when I was going back in for dinner or for dreams, I was going the opposite way of most of the crowd.

 

[Beerqueen]

Maybe you were turning up to use the FP after they'd all been issued? Some of them (e.g. Ratatouille) run out very quickly. Anyway the FP were being used when I was there from 25 July.

 

[mamadragona]

Maybe you were turning up to use the FP after they'd all been issued? Some of them (e.g. Ratatouille) run out very quickly. Anyway the FP were being used when I was there from 25 July.

I think it's likely that I didn't know how the system worked. I never got anything from the hotel and I know nothing of the machines that other posters referred to.

 

[Beerqueen]

I think it's likely that I didn't know how the system worked. I never got anything from the hotel and I know nothing of the machines that other posters referred to.

And I don't know how the hotel issued ones work - I think it's just a ticket you show to the FP queue attendant. But the rides that have the FP have tickets to the side that you put your admission ticket in and you get a timed ticket out. Not all the rides have these and they can be difficult to see if you don't know where to look, they're usually to one side or the other of the main entrance.

Not having been to any other Disney park I don't know if they are the same as elsewhere either.

 

[Kitchensink]

Hi,

When we checked in to our hotel we were given Fast Pass vouchers for each day of our stay. The vouchers are dated, one per person per day. They were not to be used between 1 pm and 4 pm.

Karen

 

[JoieNsk]

Hi,

When we checked in to our hotel we were given Fast Pass vouchers for each day of our stay. The vouchers are dated, one per person per day. They were not to be used between 1 pm and 4 pm.

Karen

The same for us. The gentleman at check-in even changed our fastpasses from the first day to the next day, as we could not use them on the first day: we checked-in very late, when the parks were closed already. So on the fist day we went to the parks we had two fastpasses for one person - from the hotel.

The thing was that we didn't even use all of them. Like Karen mentioned above, hotel faspasses can be used only before 1 or after 4 pm: we found the lines were so insignificant at those time frames (in the evening at least), that the fast pass was not needed. And we ALWAYS use fastpasses here in US: we don't even go to the ride with wait time over 30 minutes, if we don't have fast-passes.

The more - as I mentioned before, I found fastpass lines weren't organized that efficient on most of the rides. It would let you pass only very small amount of the line, and then you needed to blend into "normal" line - without cast member regulation: basically you needed to cut ahead of people in "normal" line, which I felt very uncomfortable doing. Nobody ever said anything to us, people always would let us in, but I didn't like it at all. The only ride we used where fastpass worked the same way as in US, - and actually was extremely useful - was the newest ride Ratatouille. We used two days of our hotel fastpasses there, and every time walked right to the ride, with wait time in "normal" line of 60-70 minutes.