First Timer to Disneyland Paris

[njpyro]

Greetings!
My husband and I will be going to Disneyland Paris for the first time this summer (August). I have been to Disney World at least 30 times and Disneyland 3 times. We will be there from August 8th until the 12th. At least one of the days we plan on taking the train into Paris to see the sights, probably Sunday. So we will have Saturday from 10am on, Monday and Tuesday all day, then a few hours Wednesday morning. The original plan was to stay in Paris two nights, but we were able to get two nights free at the Santa Fe hotel, and it seemed silly to not to take advantage of that great offer. It's just a short trip- a stop on our way from New York to Venice. Once in Venice we have a 2 week cruise to Barcelona.

What are your must do's and must see's? Best places to eat?
Anything important to bring to the parks?
Is there a lot of pin trading done in the parks? (I love it and will bring some pins to trade if so)
Thanks in advance for the help planning I'm so excited!

 

[ExpatDisneyLover]

Greetings!
My husband and I will be going to Disneyland Paris for the first time this summer (August). I have been to Disney World at least 30 times and Disneyland 3 times. We will be there from August 8th until the 12th. At least one of the days we plan on taking the train into Paris to see the sights, probably Sunday. So we will have Saturday from 10am on, Monday and Tuesday all day, then a few hours Wednesday morning. The original plan was to stay in Paris two nights, but we were able to get two nights free at the Santa Fe hotel, and it seemed silly to not to take advantage of that great offer. It's just a short trip- a stop on our way from New York to Venice. Once in Venice we have a 2 week cruise to Barcelona.

What are your must do's and must see's? Best places to eat?
Anything important to bring to the parks?
Is there a lot of pin trading done in the parks? (I love it and will bring some pins to trade if so)
Thanks in advance for the help planning I'm so excited!

Hello! Have a great time planning your trip! I have also spent a lot of time at WDW, some at DL and enjoyed having an annual pass to Disneyland Paris for a year.

I love DLRP - I think the imagineers did some great work in this park - you will notice many attractions are top notch and the attention to detail is excellent. Pirates is one of the best. Space Mountain is a serious coaster with cork screws and loops, Small World is bright and colourful, Big Thunder Mountain is a great ride and don't forget the dragon under the castle. Phantom Manor has a bit of a frontier theme to it.

In the studios I love Animagique, Cinemagique, Crush's Coaster, and I am looking forward to the new Ratatouille ride and eating at Remi's Bistro. Tower of Terror is also really well done.

DLP is a park to savour IMO - no need for commando park going here. Enjoy the details, it is easy to park hop between the two parks and you won't need as much time to cover everything. The covered arcades are lovely and Discoveryland has a Jules Verne - "steam punk" era theme.

One of the things that I discovered is that counter service meals were expensive and in my opinion just not very enjoyable - table service meals were excellent though and so when I go to DLRP I like to enjoy a long mid afternoon table service meal or buffet rather than rushing through the parks eating as quickly as possible which I admit I have done at WDW.

Hope you really enjoy your time discovering the magic of DLRP!

 

[OldSchoolReasons]

Eat at the Blue Lagoon in the park - it's inside Pirates of the Caribbean and the atmosphere is lovely.

If you're visiting the Studio's check out Crush's Coaster and the new Remy ride. I'd also not miss Space Mountain and Phantom Manor in DLP and Rock n Roller Coaster at the Studio's - they are much better than the WDW versions (though I love that Grim Grinning Ghosts tune).

Be sure to go both up inside the castle and underneath it to, it's one of my favourite things to do and rarely crowded - enjoy

 

[njpyro]

Eat at the Blue Lagoon in the park - it's inside Pirates of the Caribbean and the atmosphere is lovely. If you're visiting the Studio's check out Crush's Coaster and the new Remy ride. I'd also not miss Space Mountain and Phantom Manor in DLP and Rock n Roller Coaster at the Studio's - they are much better than the WDW versions (though I love that Grim Grinning Ghosts tune). Be sure to go both up inside the castle and underneath it to, it's one of my favourite things to do and rarely crowded - enjoy

Is the Blue Lagoon anything like the Blue Bayou in Disneyland?

 

[A Small World]

Is the Blue Lagoon anything like the Blue Bayou in Disneyland?

In my opinion its nicer than Blue Bayou (although I enjoyed the food there as well). Blue Lagoon is further into the caves so there isn't a door opening directly outside like at BB - this gives it a much better feeling of being outside on a beach.

Have a look at DLPguide for menus and also on the Restaurant stickies on here as a lot of them have been updated recently thanks to Carrie Cat.

 

[kim929]

Njpyro, I will be going to DLP in August also, but mine is a stop on the way home from Ireland. I can't wait to see all the answers you get on this thread. Have you found any other sites to use to help plan your trip?

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

Greetings!
My husband and I will be going to Disneyland Paris for the first time this summer (August). I have been to Disney World at least 30 times and Disneyland 3 times. We will be there from August 8th until the 12th. At least one of the days we plan on taking the train into Paris to see the sights, probably Sunday. So we will have Saturday from 10am on, Monday and Tuesday all day, then a few hours Wednesday morning. The original plan was to stay in Paris two nights, but we were able to get two nights free at the Santa Fe hotel, and it seemed silly to not to take advantage of that great offer. It's just a short trip- a stop on our way from New York to Venice. Once in Venice we have a 2 week cruise to Barcelona.

What are your must do's and must see's? Best places to eat?
Anything important to bring to the parks?
Is there a lot of pin trading done in the parks? (I love it and will bring some pins to trade if so)
Thanks in advance for the help planning I'm so excited!

You will have a wonderful time! My family made Paris and DLRP part of our trip on our way to a Disney Cruise out of Venice last summer! We took the overnight train from Paris to Venice. I did an extensive trip report on my blog. If you are interested, here are the blog posts that include our time in Disneyland Paris.

Day 1: http://thefairygodblogger.blogspot.com/2014/08/disneyland-paris-its-real-rat-race-day-1.html

Day 2: http://thefairygodblogger.blogspot.com/2014/08/disneyland-paris-day-2.html

Day 3: http://thefairygodblogger.blogspot.com/2014/08/disneyland-paris-day-3-au-revoir-france.html

We have also cruised the Med leaving from Barcelona with Disney, which is on my blog, so you may even be able to get some other ideas for stops on your cruise There are links at the top of the blog that will take you to other labeled posts, which also include our time in Paris proper! Let me know if you have any questions and have fun planning!