ABD - Best Option for Paris

[pixiepirate]

We are considering Europe for our trip next year. It will be my sister's birthday trip and she has expressed an interest in Disneyland Paris so we are looking at ABD's Knights & Lights and France tours. Knights & Lights hits most of our Paris highlights but seems to have very little free time in the city. The France tour almost seems to have too much free time. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has done either one, or both, of these tours, especially regarding the time spent in Paris.

 

[Cousin Orville]

I've done the France ABD although it has changed quite a bit from the first year. I haven't done London/Paris, but I've been to both cities. The main difference seems to be the Notre Dame tour in the London/Paris ABD and a cooking class on the France ABD, right? I'd much rather tour the Notre Dame Cathedral than do the cooking class. Have you ever been to London before? If not, that's the one I'd do. We chose the France ABD because we wanted to see more of Normandy (and at the time the Loire Valley). That's wonderful as well, and I highly recommend it. However, London is a must do.

 

[Saph]

I have not yet been on either trip yet - we are going on the London/Paris next summer. However, since the London/Paris trip ends in Paris, perhaps you might do that one and stay an extra day or two on your own, before Disneyland? My husband and I were in Paris last summer without any kind of tour and found it very easy to get around on our own. Most people speak English and the metro makes it super easy to get around.

 

[SingingMom]

Knights and Lights was our first ABD tour. London is terrific - we enjoyed it more than Paris, but I did enjoy Versailles, Notre Dame, and the Lourve. Not much free time in Paris. Disneyland Paris was a bit disappointing when DD & I visited during her semester abroad. Not the same "guest service" that we are accustomed to in WDW.

If you are interested in Paris, I'd do Knights & Lights and then add another day or two in Paris.

 

[pixiepirate]

I've done the France ABD although it has changed quite a bit from the first year. I haven't done London/Paris, but I've been to both cities. The main difference seems to be the Notre Dame tour in the London/Paris ABD and a cooking class on the France ABD, right? I'd much rather tour the Notre Dame Cathedral than do the cooking class. Have you ever been to London before? If not, that's the one I'd do. We chose the France ABD because we wanted to see more of Normandy (and at the time the Loire Valley). That's wonderful as well, and I highly recommend it. However, London is a must do.

I agree. I would much rather see the sites than spend time in a cooking class. We did spend 3 days in London a number of years ago. While we did tour the Tower and Westminster then, we did not visit Windsor or Buckingham Palace, opting for Hampton Court instead. If we do London/Paris the plan will be to add an extra day or two at the start with definite plans to visit the British Museum, which we missed last time, and maybe the Harry Potter tour if we can fit it in.

I have not yet been on either trip yet - we are going on the London/Paris next summer. However, since the London/Paris trip ends in Paris, perhaps you might do that one and stay an extra day or two on your own, before Disneyland? My husband and I were in Paris last summer without any kind of tour and found it very easy to get around on our own. Most people speak English and the metro makes it super easy to get around.

Knights and Lights was our first ABD tour. London is terrific - we enjoyed it more than Paris, but I did enjoy Versailles, Notre Dame, and the Lourve. Not much free time in Paris. Disneyland Paris was a bit disappointing when DD & I visited during her semester abroad. Not the same "guest service" that we are accustomed to in WDW.

If you are interested in Paris, I'd do Knights & Lights and then add another day or two in Paris.

We have not discussed adding an extra day in Paris before heading to DP. That could be an option depending on the vacation time my sister has available. This is her trip so she is calling the shots on where to go and what to do. I think she is a little leery about the language difference so it might help to know that you found the city easy to navigate on your own.

 

[emilymad]

I haven't done either ABD trip but have been to both places. I would pick the London/Paris trip. London is one of my favorite places in the world. Less on your own time in Paris is a plus to me. We were in Paris 3 days last year and it was crazy. I think we just got unlucky but it was extremely stressful. We really want to take the France ABD but the Paris time just kills it for us.

 

[SingingMom]

I haven't done either ABD trip but have been to both places. I would pick the London/Paris trip. London is one of my favorite places in the world. Less on your own time in Paris is a plus to me. We were in Paris 3 days last year and it was crazy. I think we just got unlucky but it was extremely stressful. We really want to take the France ABD but the Paris time just kills it for us.

We didn't "love" Paris, which really surprised me. London is one of our favorites, too! Munich was great, too. But now our FAVORITE city is Vienna!!! It was everything we thought Paris was going to be! Lol

 

[pixiepirate]

I absolutely love London and have been dying to get back there for awhile. Paris has never been high on my list of places to visit though I have become a bit more interested the last couple of years. I do want to do the France ABD eventually, (the hotels look amazing!), but it might not be the right fit for this trip.

 

[emilymad]

We didn't "love" Paris, which really surprised me. London is one of our favorites, too! Munich was great, too. But now our FAVORITE city is Vienna!!! It was everything we thought Paris was going to be! Lol

We didn't love it either. We were actually so glad to be leaving Paris. We ran into a Canadian family while in Paris and they said the same thing.

Our visit was tainted buy getting stuck in a protest at the Trocadero including police in full riot gear, the Musee d'Orsay opening an hour late, and witnessing a robbery Gare du Nord. That plus the gypsies, pick pockets, etc it was just too much.

 

[paddles]

I have the opposite opinion of Paris...I absolutely love it! I went with the whole family a couple of years ago, and it was one of my daughter's favorite cities as well (she especially loved climbing up the stairs at the Eiffel Tower and having warm pain au chocolat from bakeries). The city is absolutely beautiful, with incredible buildings, museums and gardens....I guess I have always been very partial to the city.

I have been to Disneyland Paris years ago (I went with a work group) and didn't think it compared at all to WDW. I wouldn't consider it a "must do" in Paris unless you're a big Disney fan and would like to visit the various DLs across the globe. There are many better day trips from Paris that can be done.

 

[Cousin Orville]

I love Paris as well. It's one of my favorite cities. Funny how Paris seems to stir differing opinions. I think it's beautiful, has some of the best museums, cathedrals, and architecture in the world. Has some of the best restaurants. It has some of the best shopping for clothes and accessories - you can find things in Paris that aren't found anywhere else. I love it. There's a few cities I'd rank higher on my list, but not many.

 

[pixiepirate]

Thanks to all for your many and varied opinions. I was leaning toward the Knights and Lights tour, however it looks as though Disneyland Paris is off the drawing table for now due to expected closings and refurbishments in 2016 in preparation for their 25th Anniversary.

 

[tgeorge]

Good to know about DLP. My mom and I are going next year to visit her friend who lives there. We'll spend 9 days in Southern France and then 5 days in Paris. I was thinking of trying to go to DLP,but with the closures it is probably not worth banking on. What I am going to try to do is be in Paris when the final stage of the Tour de France is there. That would be pretty amazing to see.

 

[hilarys]

Thanks to all for your many and varied opinions. I was leaning toward the Knights and Lights tour, however it looks as though Disneyland Paris is off the drawing table for now due to expected closings and refurbishments in 2016 in preparation for their 25th Anniversary.

I have been following this thread with interest as I am considering these same two trips for next summer. Both kids have expressed a desire to go to Paris and DLP. I did see a few comments on the DLP section of the forums about closures but had not really dug into it. Were you able to find lists of what will be closed next summer?

Thanks

 

[pixiepirate]

I have been following this thread with interest as I am considering these same two trips for next summer. Both kids have expressed a desire to go to Paris and DLP. I did see a few comments on the DLP section of the forums about closures but had not really dug into it. Were you able to find lists of what will be closed next summer?

Thanks

Actually it was my sister who gave me the information. I will see if she remembers where she saw it. She did say that Pirates of the Caribbean and Star Tours would be down most of the year.

 

[Carrie_Cat]

You can see some of the closures here - Star Tours will be closed a long long time as it will have to be completely redone - we have the old version. POTC is planned to close for 3/4 months early in 2017 atm

http://www.dlpguide.com/calendar/closures-refurbishments/

Disneyland Paris has launched its “Experience Enhancement Plan” to renew some of its most popular classic attractions. Closures have been announced right through to late 2016, although in some cases final dates are still to be confirmed. Use these as a rough guide only, if you really don’t want to miss your favourite (or indeed, want to ride it when it feels sparkling new again)…

October to December 2015

• “it’s a small world”
• Big Thunder Mountain
  From early November 2015
• Thunder Mesa Riverboat Landing
  From early November 2015

January to March 2016

• “it’s a small world”
  Until January 2016
• Big Thunder Mountain
• Peter Pan’s Flight
  From January 2016
• Star Tours
  From late February 2016
• La Cabane des Robinson
  From January 2016
• Thunder Mesa Riverboat Landing

April to June 2016

• Big Thunder Mountain
• Peter Pan’s Flight
• Star Tours
• La Cabane des Robinson
• Thunder Mesa Riverboat Landing

July to September 2016

• Big Thunder Mountain
• Peter Pan’s Flight
  Until July 2016
• Star Tours
• La Cabane des Robinson
  Until September 2016
• Studio Tram Tour: Behind the Magic
  From late August 2016
• Thunder Mesa Riverboat Landing

 

[hilarys]

You can see some of the closures here - Star Tours will be closed a long long time as it will have to be completely redone - we have the old version. POTC is planned to close for 3/4 months early in 2017 atm

Thank you Carrie_Cat for this info. I will need to look at it and compare to the dates when we might travel. I would not consider Star Tours a deal breaker since we love the new one, but I hear Thunder Mtn is a little different which would be fun to experience.