TRIP REPORT - HONEST OPINIONS, Sorry to busrt your bubbles!!

[Crunchiepink]

OK we are back

Thanks in advance for all the great pre-trip advice we recieved, but I never want to go again. I am not saying we didn't enjoy oursleves, but once is quite enough and 5 days a bit too long IMHO.

We stayed in Sequioa Lodge - good rooms, decent size, with two beds, table, chairs, batroom, TV etc. Pool was great - take your room towles or pay 2E for towel hire (lockers deposit 2E, but refundable). Quite a trek for breakfast, but reasonable, albeit a total bunfight when you get there.

Actually here is my first complaint - how the hell do I know when I check in on Thursday, what time I will want breakfast on Monday - I HATE BEING RULED BY A STUPID SLIP OF PAPER!!!! I want breakfast when I want it., not when someone tells me I am allowed it!!!!

Arrived Thursday, checked in sorted room, nice reception, lost the will to live while they were describing everything.....

Went to park, arrived about 3pm, VVhungryu - please DON't WASTE MONEY pm chalet des marionette, food is foul and over priced. Chicken nuggets and soggy chips were 32E for 4 (20E for nicer food in McDs)

Weather was crap so it was fab, no crowds

Did every ride in fantasyland twice over with a max wait of 5 mions, then went round to Discoveyland and did space mountain twice in the dark and Orbatron. Great time as park was empty (RAIN) and it was nearly 8pm

Went to hotel, had a swim and ate in Hunters something or other. Great buffet, kind of irritated as we asked if we could get a snack somewhere in teh hotel, and was told NO. The next day we saw the bar had sandwiches and light snacks, which we had wanted and were told didn't exist. So although food was good, we felt ripped off as we wanted a snack, not a meal.

Friday, got into park early and went on everything possible, including watching Lion king (weather still rubbish, so not busy) Tool rolls from brakfast, so free lunch Afternoon tea at PLAZA GARDENS with B'day cake and pressies for kids. This was great as kids got singing mickeys and a really scummy cake - we took leftovers back to hotel (still, only paper cups for drinks, I must be a snob, but at 18E or something, I like china!!) More cake and leftovers for dinner - chocolate sheets for all

Satuarday and the crowds appeared!!!! Breakfast in fantasyland meant an early start but we redid the rides before 10am. We went to the WALT DISNEY STUDIOS which we loved. Saw the stunt show - reallt fun, and the tram ride, excellent, also less quese for Minnie, Mickey and Daisy Duck (you might guess by now I HATE QUEUES!!!!) Had enoough and was soooo cold, we left at 2pm for a sleep.

Sat eve, went to Inventions (THANLS FOR THE RECOMMENDATIONS) IT WAS GREAT. Although it was pricey it was the best meal we had. The service was great, the food was nice, the characters were fun, the view of Sleeping Beauty's castle was worth teh money. The kids ate 5 puddings each and bowls of sweets, I ate enough seafood to sink an army - I think I had 5 courses!!! starters, seafood (piled a foot high) Main course (x2) Cheese (with port) desserts or is that 6 With 2 adults, 2 kids under 7, pre-dinner drinks a nice bottle of wine, port and coffee teh bill was 186E and IMHO the best value ,eal all holiday. Considering Cafe Mickey wanted 34E for fast food (no drinks) and 14E for kids, Inventions was 46E for adults and 18E for kids It was defineatly worth it. If you haven't been, go, even if you only drink water

Sunday late breakfast and nice weather, so very very busy, we gave up after no getting on rides and no fast passes avilaable after 12, so we went to the studios and did teh shows, Cinemaquie was brilliant, as was Anim,aquie. The Art of Animation was fun too, we left wanting more.

Went to Buffalo Bills in the vening which was really fun, get there REALLY early, stand in a queue (AGAIN) and you get the best seats. Race in with 5 mins, to spare and get great seats on teh sides and loads of beer

Monday (today!!) had things to redo, so went on the runaway train (twice - queues over 1hr olng - thank god for sneaking 3 lots of fast passes when ride wasn't working) dashed to Peter pan, another 50 mins (or 5 for us) Space Mountain, Orbatron and ran over to studios to finish the Art of Animation (my kids loved the drawing class - ask the person doing it if you can get his poster as a souvenior - FAB and FREE!!)

Overall it was good holiday, BUT I THINK YOU ARE ALL INSANE !!!! I couldn't imagine going again, it would be my idea of hell. I HATE queues, and it was supposed to be quiet!!!! I hate too many people, and I HATE LITTLE SLIPS OF PAPER THAT TELL ME WHERE TO BE WHEN!! If you want to be institutionialised, go to Disney. THis has put me off for life

Sorry

 

[Ware Bears]

Crunchiepink, please don't apologise. It's much better to be honest and speak your mind! I won't patronise you by trying to defend DLRP, Disney is not for everyone and just think how boring the world would be if we were all the same! I am just glad that you did manage to enjoy your holiday overall.

 

[Cyrano]

Thanks for sharing your lows and highs. As you have seen weekends are swelled by day trippers so it pays to have all or most of your trip mid-week. But sometimes this is not possible.

Although the hotel are trying to spread sittings by allocating breakfast times, in practice they do not stick rigidly to times so you could have went at a preferred time.

Sounds like Inventions was one of the highlights

Yes, some of us are mad and will go to Disney again and again, but it is not for everyone

 

[Bexx]

It's okay - my bubble is still well and truly intact!!!

I certainly appreciate that Disney isn't for everyone. Still, thank you for taking the time to do your report, and I'm glad there were some things that you enjoyed.

 

[Orbitron]

After I booked a vacation at Disneyland I always take a look on different boards to see what´s new. Everytime I read a lot of posts with many complaints. So I am always a little bit scared when I go to Disneyland , but there´s no reason for it. All the Cast Members are nice and helpfull, the parks are clean, the food is good, everything is how it should be for me. I don´t know what some people expect when they got to a park like Disneyland. If somebody dont like crowds and hate queues and everything that´s well organised he is at the wrong place. That´s my opinion.

 

[Renate_do]

Hi,

sorry that you dont enjoy the whole trip but have you been to other themeparks?

I dont want to say that Disney is only great...but have you seen any other park without queues?

Okay to fix the breakfast times in advance seems weird, but otherwise you would have another place to queue for a really long time! (We ones didnt eat breakfast at the Mövenpick as the queues were almost 20m long!) So I really think that it is better to take a piece of paper than to wait 30 minutes or more for breakfast.

You are right with the food. The snacks at the park are overpriced, Inventions is great...but what make you think that Cafe Mickey is fastfood?
They have excellent food there!

Greets Renate

 

[SandraVB79]

Thank you for your trip report. It's up to everyone to like or dislike a place they go on vacation, but I would like to give some comments on your report:

First of all, have you ever seen a theme park, especially a major one as Disney, without queues? Next to that, if you don't like lots of people around, I think a theme park is not the best vacation-option for you, but that's just my opinion

At DLP, you have to know a couple of days in advance at what time you want to have breakfast in the hotel you're staying at... at WDW, you have to know up to 180 days in advance at what exact time you want to eat at what exact restaurant in what exact park/ resort. I may advice you to never go over there

As for the food: food is always more expensive in every major city or major theme park. Next to that, I don't know when Cafe Mickey changed its menu to "fast food", but I have always eaten nice real meals over there, no fastfood at all.
I usually give lots of comments on people who take food at the breakfast buffet to live on for the rest of the day (or month in case they are from a certain country), but I won't go into that discussion again

I am also sorry you thought 5 days was too long, but I agree on that. Whereas I could go every month to DLP, I would NEVER go for more than 3 days at once.

And you don't have to apologize you dislike Disney, and you didn't burst my bubble. As a matter of fact, that means there will less people in front of me in the queue when I go next time, yeah!

 

[marcus.ka]

Thank you for your honest oppinon.

Could you please tell us what your children think? What would they say if you would ask them to go again in 6 or 12 month?

 

[Salford Steve]

I am now up to 19 theme parks worldwide and the situations regarding queueing etc are part and parcel of the experience. As for being institutionalised, every theme park I have been to runs along similar lines, theme parks by their very existence need to be busy in order to pay for all the attractions!

You want peace and quiet try a desert island next time

Ok DLRP is not the cheapest place on the planet but wherever you have a captive audience prices will always be higher. At least you enjoyed the rides and shows

Perhaps you were looking at the kids menu at Cafe Mickey cos it certainly aint all fast food. Their surf 'n' turf is excellent.

At least you know this type of holiday is not for you but can I ask if your kids enjoyed it?

Thanks once again for sharing your opinions and it certainly wouldn't do for everyone to like the same things otherwise that would make DLRP even busier

 

[Ghost]

BUT I THINK YOU ARE ALL INSANE !!!!
Sorry

You know, your right. I AM INSANE

But I love DLRP and go there about 10 times a year for a 3 to 5 day visit. (some single day visits)...

I could go even more if time and money would not be the issue

Thanks for the report. I expected something worst but you'll have to admit you did have some fun moments end highlights, even if you would not come back... BTW; did you look at all the little magical hidden stuf

 

[chrismoo]

The breakfast thing is a bit of a problem.

When we first stayed in the Cheyene we were up at 6.30 each morning for breakfast. But thinking back now that makes it 5.30 UK time

We also picked an early slot in the New York 7 ish I think, Then you get a nice relaxing breakfast. When we left there was a que back to the lobby nearly.

I'm not sure I could ever wait that long and would give up.

 

[dlpSteve]

My bubble is well and truly still in tact - it'll never be burst, it's protected by Pixie Dust!

My thoughts on the negative points:

Breakfast - they have thousands of people in each hotel, I'd much rather state when I want breakfast and have an ordered flow than battle with 900 people all going at the same time. It also helps to get me up when I know I have a breakfast time to be ready for.

Queues and Crowds - it's Disneyland and it's the weekend - the sky is blue, the sea is wet and there will be queues and crowds - anyone not expecting this is a little naive IMO. I wouldn't go to any kind of theme park if queues and crowds irritated me.

 

[NIK]

The breakfast thing is a bit of a problem.

When we first stayed in the Cheyene we were up at 6.30 each morning for breakfast. But thinking back now that makes it 5.30 UK time

We also picked an early slot in the New York 7 ish I think, Then you get a nice relaxing breakfast. When we left there was a que back to the lobby nearly.

I'm not sure I could ever wait that long and would give up.

I must admit that I did find the early breakfast a bit of a bind but it was worth it to get the brekkie out of the way and Nikki's feet Parkwise before the worst of the crowds descended.

 

[crmscotland]

We were at DLRP from 7th-11th March, 2006 (stayed at Hotel Cheyenne) and had a great time, although the weather wasn't great. Definitely want to go back. At Hotel restaurant our breakfast tickets were never asked for though it was busy- you probably could have went along any time.

Sorry you didn't enjoy your trip as much.

 

[Ware Bears]

Glad you had a great time in spite of the weather. We'd love to hear more about it!

 

[TotallyAngelic]

It is a rare thing to read a negative report about DLRP on this board, and it is a shame that you say that you did not enjoy your trip, but after reading your report it seems that you enjoyed far more of the experience than you disliked. In fact, you seem to have based your negative view of the experience on the minor irritation of having to select a designated breakfast slot (yet you seemed to make good use of the breakfast buffet and seem happy with the choice of food etc by choosing to eat it again for lunch!). As far as weekend crowds go, if you had done your research you would know that weekend crowds are to be expected at any time of the year, and your queue-free days must have more than adequately made up for this. Disney is not for everyone, but I would be interested to know exactly what your expectations were? I have been at really busy times and have experienced horrendous crowds, but my bubble and my sanity have always remained well and truly intact! (ok......so maybe not the sanity!)

 

[slinky101]

I admit to being insane too! Disney is not for everyone but it is for me and my family, i prefer florida as the weather and shopping are amazing but DLRP is a little bit of disney such a short distance away, so we can get our disney fix.
I would really love to know what you expected before you went? it is a major tourist attraction so I would,ve thought it was obvious there would be lots of other people there too and you would need to queue????????????/

 

[Crunchiepink]

Hey you lot, I didn't say I didn't enjoy myself as I did. However I feel now I have done DLP, it's done and I have no wish to return. That's all.

Of course I expected queues, loads of people and everything. I also understand WHY they do the breakfast like they do. I just find that type of organisation runs against my style, and it irritated me. I was expecting it, and they did an excellent job of managing queues there. I just couldnt believe people standing in line for an hour for a photo and signature from Mickey. We were really lucky, we managed not to queue very much at all. I think 15 mins was our max wait time. All I meant was that I couldn't imagine a busy time there, the queue would be insane

Of course my kids enjoyed it, but I asked them to choose our usual camping holiday or disneyland, they chose CAMPING!!!

I am also sorry I insulted Cafe Mickey, I looked at the menu and it see,ed like burgers, chips, steaks etc, posh fast food to me!! Also they had paper cups and straws, I am a snob I like glasses Like I said Inventions was pretty special and worth the money.

So once again, I am not really complaining I am simply saying seen it, done it, not my personal style, prefer camping thank you very much.

I DIDN'T DISLIKE DISNEY honestly

 

[SandraVB79]

You consider steak a "fast food"??? Just for the record, what do you eat at home on a daily basis? (Just wondering over here... we eat steak as a "nice meal" once in a while, I only consider McDonalds and its clones as fast food)

The paper cups and straws at Cafe Mickey are just for the kids, every time I went there, I got "real" glasses (and straws, but nobody put a gun against my head, forcing me to use the straw)


About the crowds, I have been to DLP on really slooooooooooow days, and quite honestly, I prefer there being a little more people. That magic, happy atmosphere isn't there when you're virtually alone in the park.

 

[Crunchiepink]

It's not that steak is fast food, more that IMHO anything 'with chips' makes it feel like fast food. Yes steak is a special meal, we don't have it often. But then we don't eat chips with every meal. And for kids the menu is burger, nuggets, fish fingers, pizza AND CHIPS for 15E that is outrageous (OK you get a drink and pudding and characters) but for 18E they got really nice fresh food at Innovations.

Anyway please understand I did enjoy myu holiday, however I decided it is not for me. I hope that is OK. I also think my comments were fair, if someone wants to know about breakfasts, they have to realise they will be allocated a time, or wait in a huge queue. That is fact.