First trip to Paris

Minnie824

DIS Veteran
Joined
May 7, 2000
So, we're traveling for the first time to Paris this summer at the beginning of July. We've decided to take a day and go to Disneyland Paris. I'm sure all my questions are answered somewhere on these boards, but if you could give me any advice or point me to where to look that would be great! In general trying to get logistics of easiest way to get there/back from our hotel in Paris. Already planning on doing the 2 park/1 day ticket. Any restaurant suggestions? Nice sit down restaurant for dinner and any good counter service for lunch. We go to Disneyworld every year, so if time is an issue, any specific things you think we could skip or things we have to do? Thanks for any advice!
 
You havent said where in Paris your hotel is located but the best way to get from central Paris to Disneyland is by train. There is a direct train RER Red Rout 4 from Gare De Lyon (central Paris) to Marne La Vallee/ Chessey (Disneyland) This page will give you detailed information http://parisbytrain.com/rer-train-paris-to-euro-disney/

The park hours for July are not published yet, but most likely the parks will open at 10am for general public. I would advise to be there as near to that time as you can, as hotel guests and some APs will be in the parks since 8am.

I would also advise staying to the park closing time as this is when the main night time show called Dreams will be on. This is a fireworks, music and animations show projected onto the Castle. It starts at park closing time, which in July may be 9pm or 10pm.

You will also need to check the official closures list found here http://holidays.disneylandparis.co.uk/eep.html DLP is in the middle of a major refurb project and many major rides and attractions are closing at various times. Currently the following will be closed in July 2016. You will need to check regularly as they may add more closures to the list between now and when you visit
  • Big Thunder Mountain
  • Thunder Mesa Riverboat Landing
  • Peter Pans Flight
  • La Cabane des Robinsons /Adventure Isle
  • Disneyland Railroad
  • RocknRoller Coaster
  • Star Tours
  • Studio Tram Tour
  • Animagique
Things not miss which are different to American Parks or unique to Disneyland Paris
Main Park
  • Phantom Manor (Haunted Mansion in USA)
  • Pirates of The Caribbean
  • Pinocchio
  • Snow White
  • Its A Small World
  • The Castle - Dragon underneath and walk-through upper level
  • Alices Labyrinth
  • Les Mysteres du Nautilus submarine walk-through
  • Aladdin walk-through
  • Dreams Night Time Show

Studios
Almost everything here is not in the American parks, the main signature attractions are Crushes Coaster and Ratatouille 3D ride

As for restaurants, the depends on your budget and the type of food you want to eat. You havent said what type of restaurants or kind of food you usually eat in Disneyworld. If you give us an idea of what you like , we can help you find similar in Disneyland Paris.

Lastly Disneyland Paris is VERY different to Disneyworld in Florida. I like to call it a Frenchfied Disney, an American style theme-park with the cultural, social and behavioural aspects of France / Central Europe. Go with an open mind and try not to compare it too much with Disneyworld. It is not the smiley happy bounciness customer service you are used to in Disneyworld but it has its own unique way of Disneyness.
 
I too am a regular WDW visitor and visitor of DL in California. I visited DLP for the first time in June 2015. Here are some of my thoughts:

Studios Park:
Really there are only 3 major attractions there that I would spend time on, although I hear there is going to be a new show replacing Anamagique and I am a fan of shows so I would probably like it. The the attractions are:
1. Ratatouille: don't miss it, it is one of the best Disney attractions in any park I've been to. If you can't get a fast pass, use single rider unless you must ride with the people you came with.
2. Crush's Coaster: very fun, although it spins so if you have spinning problems (my husband does and couldn't ride)you might need to skip it. This ride also has single rider.
3. Tower of Terror: This attraction is one of my favorites in WDW so it is a must for me everywhere. This version is basically the same as the one in California, which is fun but not as good as WDW's.
Honorable Mention: I liked the Slinky Dog ride in Toy Storyland, and Toy Storyland is worth at least a walk through.

Food at the Studios:
Bistro Chez Remy is a good restaurant to eat at in this park. It is the only place I ate in this park (besides an ice cream). It is well themed and had good food.

Disneyland Parc
It really is too bad that Big THunder will be down while you are there as it is my favorite Big Thunder, but anyway.....Space Mountain was down while I was there but from my understanding it is a lot different than the ones in the USA, it goes upside down. Also Pirates is a lot better than anything in the USA, but I hear they are going to add Jack Sparrow stuff to it, which hopefully doesn't ruin it too much, but it is still a must.

Other Musts (of what is open while you are there): Phantom Manor, Alice's Labyrinth, explore in and under the castle, go through and explore some of the walk throughs including the arcades on Main Street, and Dreams.

Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Snow White are nice but are very similar to Disneyland's in CA, just in French (which was pretty neat to listen to). it's a small world is worth a go too, because I enjoyed the America/North America scene, and because I like small world. We didn't do Casey Jr. or the Storybook Boats, because my husband didn't want to but I hear it is a little different than DL's. There is also the Indiana Jones Roller Coaster, which is okay, nothing compared the Indy ride in DL. But if you like a coaster that goes upside down, and being jostled it is okay. There is some decent theming, but definately not worth a long wait, I'm a big Indy fan so it was a little disappointing (and upside down coasters give me headaches).

Food in Disneyland Parc: Quite honestly I found the quick service here to be terrible, but I didn't try all of them. Toad Hall was passable but Colonel Hathaway's was disgusting (although the theming is pretty cool inside as it was meant to be like the Adventurer's Club originally I guess). We also tried Walt's restaurant and the theming was really cool and the food was good. However the restaurant was really dirty, there was a thick layer of dust on everything in the room we were in and a mousetrap next to us on the floor.

Downtown Disney has a lot of restaurants and is easy enough to get to from the parks. Too bad you didn't have time for Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, it was a highlight for us with a great show and surprisingly decent BBQ food.

I will say that DLP has a distinctly French feel to it (not a bad thing) but just a different vibe than WDW or DL. It was really disappointing that the food was not good, with all the fantastic food we had in Paris it was just a shock that DLP couldn't do better, but you won't starve. Also, we were told (by French people)that since the annual passes are so cheap, there are a decent amount of pick pocketers that work the parks and we did see some suspicious activity. Also at one point my husband's sunglasses case was magically gone when we passed through some people, so I suspect he got pick pocketed (he had been warned), that was an inconvenience for him as they were prescription but he had an extra old pair (that I had to force him to pack in the first place). So don't let your guard down because you are at "Disney".

Overall DLP is a very beautiful park, and it seems like they are currently working really hard to improve it. It is a fun place to visit and the Dreams show at the end of the night is great. Oh and as for transportation, the RER is very easy to use, by a return ticket when you buy your ticket to DLP or when you arrive at the DLP station, then you won't have to worry about it at the end of your night.
 
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We're staying at the Paris Hilton Opera. Restaurants in WDW we normally do are Via Napoli, Ohana, Narcoossee's, Yachtsman Steakhouse, etc. Actually was looking at Bistro Chez Remy, it looks like a good option for us. We don't need to do character meals, as the kids are 12 and 14. Thanks for all the park advice...we'll definitely try to stay til park close for the show.

Does the fastpass system there work like the old WDW fastpass? So basically go up and get the tickets at the ride?
 
Yes the fast pass system is like the old WDW one but the return window is in half hour slots and they do enforce these times.
You can collect another FP either when the time begins or after 2 hrs. The 2 parks aren't connected so you could have a FP for both parks at the same time
 
Hopefully its OK to jump on this thread since it will be my first trip as well and would like some advice. I'm from Arizona, so by close proximity my fiance and I are Disneyland vets.

We're planning a London and Paris honeymoon ending the trip in DLP. I'm also surprising her with two days at WDW before we take off over seas.

Do you guys think two full days at DLP is enough to soak it all in? Would three days be overkill? At Disneyland we frequently do three day park hopper trips and seems to be enough to get in our favorites multiple times.

Thanks!
 


Do you guys think two full days at DLP is enough to soak it all in? Would three days be overkill? At Disneyland we frequently do three day park hopper trips and seems to be enough to get in our favorites multiple times.
Thanks!

oh wow, sounds like an amazing honeymoon :) At DLP there are 6 onsite hotels which range from the budget Santa Fe to the luxury Disneyland Hotel, so staying onsite is alot more affordable than in California. When you look online on the official Disney website, the prices are hotel and park ticket prices. The hotels also include breakfast.

I have a 2 night / 3 day package booked for the end of this month. This means I have my arrival day, 1 full day and my departure day in the park. This is really plenty of time to see DLP.

Also when you are researching prices you need to check out the various different countries, not just the American DLP website. In fact stay away from the American DLP website as this is notoriously far more expensive than any other website. You can book via ANY country website, not just the country you are from. For example I am from Ireland and I have booked my upcoming trip with the French website.

The websites to check are
www.disneylandparis.co.uk
www.disneylandparis.ie
www.disneylandparis.fr
www.disneylandparis.be
www.disneylandparis.nl
www.disneylandparis.de
www.disneylandparis.it

Open each one in a different tab so you can easily compare prices.
 
I'm hijacking too! This info is great. I bought 1 day 2 park hoppers from attraction tickets direct . co .uk they emailed actual tickets not vouchers and price wise it was better than any of the disney sites
we are staying at the marriott on the champ de elysees (sp) on points, yeah! from there how do we get to the train to disney? we fly into paris sunday pm and leave on wednesday. figures the Louvre and Catacombs are not both open the same day so we have to decide which to do, so disney will be monday or tuesday. It's myself and my 22 year old disney fanatic son. I've been to the Louvre. As for DLP we'll probably wing it with both parks. Do they havea chef mickey type meal? that's a tradition at wdw. this is the end of our trip which is london, budapest, prague, paris
 
Hopefully its OK to jump on this thread since it will be my first trip as well and would like some advice. I'm from Arizona, so by close proximity my fiance and I are Disneyland vets.

We're planning a London and Paris honeymoon ending the trip in DLP. I'm also surprising her with two days at WDW before we take off over seas.

Do you guys think two full days at DLP is enough to soak it all in? Would three days be overkill? At Disneyland we frequently do three day park hopper trips and seems to be enough to get in our favorites multiple times.

Thanks!
where are you staying
 
I'm hijacking too! This info is great. I bought 1 day 2 park hoppers from attraction tickets direct . co .uk they emailed actual tickets not vouchers and price wise it was better than any of the disney sites
we are staying at the marriott on the champ de elysees (sp) on points, yeah! from there how do we get to the train to disney? we fly into paris sunday pm and leave on wednesday. figures the Louvre and Catacombs are not both open the same day so we have to decide which to do, so disney will be monday or tuesday. It's myself and my 22 year old disney fanatic son. I've been to the Louvre. As for DLP we'll probably wing it with both parks. Do they havea chef mickey type meal? that's a tradition at wdw. this is the end of our trip which is london, budapest, prague, paris


I stayed at a high end hotel on the Champs Elysees. Really its not that great the area .
 
may I ask what makes it better? it's further from the Arc and Eiffel Tower although closer to the Louvre. Not sure where the catacombs are in relation. Also seems further from rer station. There is a renaissance there I can use my points for so cost is irrelevant. Since it's myself and my son and our goals are the arc, eiffel tower, notre dame and catacombs in Paris proper and the day at dlp, I just need to be somewhere convenient to mostly walk to the sights.
 
I doubt we'll have time unfortunately. Plan is sunday evening Eiffel tower, Monday DLP; Tuesday, Catacombs, Notre Dame and Arc
 
I'm hijacking too! This info is great. I bought 1 day 2 park hoppers from attraction tickets direct . co .uk they emailed actual tickets not vouchers and price wise it was better than any of the disney sites
we are staying at the marriott on the champ de elysees (sp) on points, yeah! from there how do we get to the train to disney? we fly into paris sunday pm and leave on wednesday. figures the Louvre and Catacombs are not both open the same day so we have to decide which to do, so disney will be monday or tuesday. It's myself and my 22 year old disney fanatic son. I've been to the Louvre. As for DLP we'll probably wing it with both parks. Do they havea chef mickey type meal? that's a tradition at wdw. this is the end of our trip which is london, budapest, prague, paris

If you are staying on Champs Elysee you need to get the RER A (commuter train which links to the metro system) from Charles de Gualle Etoile station which at the top of the Champs Elysee next to the Arc de Triomphe. This will take you directly to Marne la Vallee station which is DLP. When you are on the platform look at the overhead signs and make sure the station you want is lit up as the line splits and so not all trains go to MLV. If its not lit up just wait as they are very frequent. MLV is at the end of the line so you can't miss the stop
 
Hopefully its OK to jump on this thread since it will be my first trip as well and would like some advice. I'm from Arizona, so by close proximity my fiance and I are Disneyland vets.

We're planning a London and Paris honeymoon ending the trip in DLP. I'm also surprising her with two days at WDW before we take off over seas.

Do you guys think two full days at DLP is enough to soak it all in? Would three days be overkill? At Disneyland we frequently do three day park hopper trips and seems to be enough to get in our favorites multiple times.

Thanks!

Where are you staying? At DLP or further out?
3 days is definitely better but you could get a lot done in 2 days.

When are you going? There are a lot of refurbs going on this year in preparation for the 25th anniversary in 2017 so quite a few rides are closed - this makes it more achievable in 2 days. Also the park opening/closing hours will vary a lot depending on the time of year so again this will make a big difference
 
oh wow, sounds like an amazing honeymoon :) At DLP there are 6 onsite hotels which range from the budget Santa Fe to the luxury Disneyland Hotel, so staying onsite is alot more affordable than in California. When you look online on the official Disney website, the prices are hotel and park ticket prices. The hotels also include breakfast.

I have a 2 night / 3 day package booked for the end of this month. This means I have my arrival day, 1 full day and my departure day in the park. This is really plenty of time to see DLP.

Also when you are researching prices you need to check out the various different countries, not just the American DLP website. In fact stay away from the American DLP website as this is notoriously far more expensive than any other website. You can book via ANY country website, not just the country you are from. For example I am from Ireland and I have booked my upcoming trip with the French website.

The websites to check are
www.disneylandparis.co.uk
www.disneylandparis.ie
www.disneylandparis.fr
www.disneylandparis.be
www.disneylandparis.nl
www.disneylandparis.de
www.disneylandparis.it

Open each one in a different tab so you can easily compare prices.


Thanks for the tip regarding different country's websites! The american disneyland paris website is by far an away more expensive than the UK site, so I will be sure to check out the rest. Thank you!!!
 
Where are you staying? At DLP or further out?
3 days is definitely better but you could get a lot done in 2 days.

When are you going? There are a lot of refurbs going on this year in preparation for the 25th anniversary in 2017 so quite a few rides are closed - this makes it more achievable in 2 days. Also the park opening/closing hours will vary a lot depending on the time of year so again this will make a big difference


I plan on staying on site. Either Newport bay or the Sequoia. The Sequoia seems very similar to the Grand Californian, which we've only stayed at one due to being outrageous in price. Do people have a general preference between the two hotels?
 

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