Hi All!
My wife and I (no kids) just flew back from our first DLP trip and I wanted to share my experiences. As a 1st timer, I know it can be tough looking up info to be prepared, so here are some first hand accounts!
First off, let me say that I am from the US and have lost count on how many times I've been to WDW in Florida and DL in California. Hopefully I can do this with comparing parks (both pro and con) and just describe DLP, but a comparison or 2 may sneak in!
We flew via Air France in/out of CDG. The flights were OK, we did have some issues trying to purchase "seat plus" (more legroom) and the Air France website is not very well designed. One major criticism I have about Air France is that their English-speaking customer support line is an 800 # only good in the US. Not very helpful when you need English speaking customer support once you're in France and require assistance for your flight back.
Customs in France was a nightmare. I think at least 3 big planes all unloaded at once so we were in line at customs for over an hour.
We used Paris Blue Shuttle for the transfers (http://www.paris-blue-airport-shuttle.fr/home_en.php). Highly recommend. For just a few euro's more than the VEA shuttle, it's worth it. Driver was waiting where we were instructed and it was just us. We drove right to SL, no stops along the way. Upon pickup, that driver was a few minutes late, but we shared the van with another family so it may have been this other family that made him late. Either way, we went straight to CDG with no other stops.
The first 6 nights, we stayed at SL. While it's theming isn't as grand as Wilderness lodge in WDW or the Grand Californian in DL, the public area's are very nice. As for the room itself...all I can say about it was it was adequate. I was a little disappointed with it. Nothing fancy about it at all, the bed was kinda hard, just shampoo and soap for amenities, no face cloths and no clock. I've never been in a hotel room anywhere in the world without a clock. The breakfast was ok, didn't need to reserve a time before hand. They turn all 3 restaurant/lounges into the buffet's.
The last 5 nights we stayed at the DL Hotel. If you can afford it...stay here for sure, this is a beautiful hotel, public areas and rooms and it's right at the entrance to the parks. The only issue we had here was inconsistent housekeeping. Some nights they did turn down service, some nights they didn't. One day they forgot about making up the room altogether! But a quick phone call to housekeeping and that was promptly fixed. We loved the Fantasia Bar and seating area in front of the 2 restaurants. A great place to wind down the day with cocktails. Breakfast at the DL Hotel is better as well, they add in some hot items.
Now on to DL. Walking through it, I can tell that it's inspired by DL in California and not WDW's Magic Kingdom. It really has a lot of character and charm, plus we loved the little out of the way path ways you can find to navigate lands away from any crowds. Here is my .02 to some of the things unique to DLP:
-Best. Space. Mountain. EVER! This has become my new favorite ride in all of Disney.
-Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril is a cool little coaster. Even it was added in on the quick and cheap during the leaner days of "Euro Disney", it's a nice addition.
-All the popcorn stands serve "kettle corn" or popcorn with sugar. I asked one of the CM's why this was and he said "because that's how they serve popcorn in America". Ah....no. We may occasionally have popcorn with sugar, 99% of time we have it with salt.
-Because of the array of languages just a couple hours away in every direction, I noticed that there are a quite a few attractions missing or altered because they depend on understanding what's being said and/or sung. Because of this, DLP misses out on a Jungle Cruise, Tiki Birds and removes the narration from Haunted Mansion/Phantom Manor. I certainly understand why, but disappointing these aren't included.
On to The Walt Disney Studios:
-Love Crush's Coaster, they gotta put one of these in the US.
-Really liked the new Toy Story Playland, although the I gotta admit after the fact, the Parachute drop is not worth the 30-45 min wait.
-We walked on the Rock n' Roller coaster every time...this is unheard of in the Florida Studio's park. Plus the whole "we're late for the concert and need a really fast limo to get there" theming is gone. Have to assume because of the language issue mentioned above.
-The Armageddon SFX show...what a waste of time and space that thing is. Hopefully imagineer's are working on a replacement as we speak.
Dining:
For the most part we ate in the village, didn't make any reservations and were seating right away or in less than 5 min. That said, we also made it a point to eat BEFORE the park's closed. Not sure how we would have made out if we didn't. At the time we were there, when you ate at Rainforest Cafe, you got a 20% coupon for King Ludwigs and vice-versa. So we flip flopped those restaurants a few days to save some cash. The Invention's buffet in the DLH, not worth the 50+ Euro price. The Plaza Garden buffet in DL is a hidden gem at just 20 euro.
Outside of DLP:
The Cityrama day excursion to Paris is well worth the 79 euro. You get tickets to the 2nd floor of the Eiffel Tower and a river cruise on the Seine. The nighttime tour is nice, but can be skipped if you don't have the time. it is super simple to get into the city from DLP. The RER "A" line goes right from outside the DLP entrance through the middle of the city. Easy access to all of Paris' main attraction through it and transfers to the Metro. Paris has got to have some of the best public transportation on the planet. We purchased one day "moblis" passes for each day we went into the city. Just 13 euro a day per person for unlimited travel from DLP (zone 5) and any where in the city all day long.
How did the strike affect us?
The Eiffel Tower was closed on day one of the strike, Oct 12th. Access to the top of the Arc De Triumphe was closed all days we tried to access it. No issues with the RER or Metro's (beside's maybe being a little busier because of spikes in the price of gas). No issues with our Air France flights, Air France was 100% committed to keeping all long-hail flights flying.
In summary, it was a fantastic trip of a lifetime. From the American perspective, if all you care about is Disney...then just go to WDW or DL. It is VERY expensive in Paris and not worth the money to just go to DLP for DLP. But if you're planning on seeing the sights in the city...then a side trip to DLP is well worth it!
For any other first timers' out there...please feel free to ask any questions you can think of! I'll be glad to help if I can!
-Scott
My wife and I (no kids) just flew back from our first DLP trip and I wanted to share my experiences. As a 1st timer, I know it can be tough looking up info to be prepared, so here are some first hand accounts!
First off, let me say that I am from the US and have lost count on how many times I've been to WDW in Florida and DL in California. Hopefully I can do this with comparing parks (both pro and con) and just describe DLP, but a comparison or 2 may sneak in!
We flew via Air France in/out of CDG. The flights were OK, we did have some issues trying to purchase "seat plus" (more legroom) and the Air France website is not very well designed. One major criticism I have about Air France is that their English-speaking customer support line is an 800 # only good in the US. Not very helpful when you need English speaking customer support once you're in France and require assistance for your flight back.
Customs in France was a nightmare. I think at least 3 big planes all unloaded at once so we were in line at customs for over an hour.
We used Paris Blue Shuttle for the transfers (http://www.paris-blue-airport-shuttle.fr/home_en.php). Highly recommend. For just a few euro's more than the VEA shuttle, it's worth it. Driver was waiting where we were instructed and it was just us. We drove right to SL, no stops along the way. Upon pickup, that driver was a few minutes late, but we shared the van with another family so it may have been this other family that made him late. Either way, we went straight to CDG with no other stops.
The first 6 nights, we stayed at SL. While it's theming isn't as grand as Wilderness lodge in WDW or the Grand Californian in DL, the public area's are very nice. As for the room itself...all I can say about it was it was adequate. I was a little disappointed with it. Nothing fancy about it at all, the bed was kinda hard, just shampoo and soap for amenities, no face cloths and no clock. I've never been in a hotel room anywhere in the world without a clock. The breakfast was ok, didn't need to reserve a time before hand. They turn all 3 restaurant/lounges into the buffet's.
The last 5 nights we stayed at the DL Hotel. If you can afford it...stay here for sure, this is a beautiful hotel, public areas and rooms and it's right at the entrance to the parks. The only issue we had here was inconsistent housekeeping. Some nights they did turn down service, some nights they didn't. One day they forgot about making up the room altogether! But a quick phone call to housekeeping and that was promptly fixed. We loved the Fantasia Bar and seating area in front of the 2 restaurants. A great place to wind down the day with cocktails. Breakfast at the DL Hotel is better as well, they add in some hot items.
Now on to DL. Walking through it, I can tell that it's inspired by DL in California and not WDW's Magic Kingdom. It really has a lot of character and charm, plus we loved the little out of the way path ways you can find to navigate lands away from any crowds. Here is my .02 to some of the things unique to DLP:
-Best. Space. Mountain. EVER! This has become my new favorite ride in all of Disney.
-Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril is a cool little coaster. Even it was added in on the quick and cheap during the leaner days of "Euro Disney", it's a nice addition.
-All the popcorn stands serve "kettle corn" or popcorn with sugar. I asked one of the CM's why this was and he said "because that's how they serve popcorn in America". Ah....no. We may occasionally have popcorn with sugar, 99% of time we have it with salt.
-Because of the array of languages just a couple hours away in every direction, I noticed that there are a quite a few attractions missing or altered because they depend on understanding what's being said and/or sung. Because of this, DLP misses out on a Jungle Cruise, Tiki Birds and removes the narration from Haunted Mansion/Phantom Manor. I certainly understand why, but disappointing these aren't included.
On to The Walt Disney Studios:
-Love Crush's Coaster, they gotta put one of these in the US.
-Really liked the new Toy Story Playland, although the I gotta admit after the fact, the Parachute drop is not worth the 30-45 min wait.
-We walked on the Rock n' Roller coaster every time...this is unheard of in the Florida Studio's park. Plus the whole "we're late for the concert and need a really fast limo to get there" theming is gone. Have to assume because of the language issue mentioned above.
-The Armageddon SFX show...what a waste of time and space that thing is. Hopefully imagineer's are working on a replacement as we speak.
Dining:
For the most part we ate in the village, didn't make any reservations and were seating right away or in less than 5 min. That said, we also made it a point to eat BEFORE the park's closed. Not sure how we would have made out if we didn't. At the time we were there, when you ate at Rainforest Cafe, you got a 20% coupon for King Ludwigs and vice-versa. So we flip flopped those restaurants a few days to save some cash. The Invention's buffet in the DLH, not worth the 50+ Euro price. The Plaza Garden buffet in DL is a hidden gem at just 20 euro.
Outside of DLP:
The Cityrama day excursion to Paris is well worth the 79 euro. You get tickets to the 2nd floor of the Eiffel Tower and a river cruise on the Seine. The nighttime tour is nice, but can be skipped if you don't have the time. it is super simple to get into the city from DLP. The RER "A" line goes right from outside the DLP entrance through the middle of the city. Easy access to all of Paris' main attraction through it and transfers to the Metro. Paris has got to have some of the best public transportation on the planet. We purchased one day "moblis" passes for each day we went into the city. Just 13 euro a day per person for unlimited travel from DLP (zone 5) and any where in the city all day long.
How did the strike affect us?
The Eiffel Tower was closed on day one of the strike, Oct 12th. Access to the top of the Arc De Triumphe was closed all days we tried to access it. No issues with the RER or Metro's (beside's maybe being a little busier because of spikes in the price of gas). No issues with our Air France flights, Air France was 100% committed to keeping all long-hail flights flying.
In summary, it was a fantastic trip of a lifetime. From the American perspective, if all you care about is Disney...then just go to WDW or DL. It is VERY expensive in Paris and not worth the money to just go to DLP for DLP. But if you're planning on seeing the sights in the city...then a side trip to DLP is well worth it!
For any other first timers' out there...please feel free to ask any questions you can think of! I'll be glad to help if I can!
-Scott
