An american in paris

[seattlemouse]

Hi. I was on a two week vacation to Europe with my family. I swore off DLP because we go to Disneyland all the time, and I didn't want to spend a precious day in Paris at DLP. However my 7 year old son was a still a little young for all the museums and cultural activities, I did find kid friendly activities, but then I mentioned that there is a Disneyland in Paris and that's all he talked about after that. So my deal with him was if he hung in there and did the museums and stuff I wanted to do, I'd take him to DLP. He held his end of the deal so I took him there my last day in Paris. My older son and DH went to the Louvre, I was jealous of them.

Anyway, after about 100 visits to Disneyland in California and 3 to Disney World, DLP just does not measure up, I'm very sorry to say. In California my 7 year old could do all the rides and he was SOOOO disappointed that he could not ride Space Mountain and Indianian Jones because of height. I could barely do Indian Jones! I did Space Mountain by myself to tell him about it and it's no worse than California Screaming in California Adventure in (of course) California which he can ride. Are the amusement ride laws stricter in France than the US? I didn't do Indiana Jones because I didn't want to leave him alone again.

The smoking was AWFUL. Again, I know its a cultural thing in Paris because people smoked everywhere in Paris, but to smoke in the lines was just awful. I saw a teenaged girl smoking around her parents in line. I almost said something, but then I saw everyone else doing it too. I mean, come on, there are children everywhere. Yuck. Also, again I think it's a European thing with space, but people constantly crowded me in line, one man was breathing down my neck. I finally put my bag high on my back to get about two inches of room between me and the person behind me. We are always very careful to not crowd the people in front of us.

The bees were horrible, when we rode the Storybook ride I could see a huge bee swarm. Twice I accidentally swiped a bee at someone (I apologized). If my kid was deathly allergic to bees I would have left the park. Is there a law in France protecting bee hives? I've had bee hives humanly removed from my house and relocated, can't they do that in France?

Finally, the Dreams show is at park closing at 11pm which is not kid friendly. My son was wiped out at 9 so we left at 10 and were disappointed to miss the show, but we had to take the subway back to Paris. In the US the big shows are usually earlier than 11pm (2300 hours), around 9pm (2100 hours).

The best part of the park is the food! I had the best tiramisu I've ever had and they gave me cherry tomatoes with my dinner, it was so cute, these little bags of tomatoes. I had a great salad for lunch and they serve wine at dinner, no big deal. In the US you have to carry a special cup if you drink alcohol in the parks. Also the subway service to DLP was wonderful, I envy European transit systems. The staff in the parks were very nice and all spoke English, it seemed like everyone spoke English to them. And we loved the Adventure island caves and the Alice Labyrinth. And of course the Big Thunder Rail Road was very fun, we did that twice. DLP has a very good iPhone app that we used a lot. The clothes were great, I got a very cute tshirt and a fashionable scarf. I loved the castle and the dragon is the best! And the Phantom Manor was beautiful, lots of dead things around. I liked the grave yard in the back.

So, in summary, Disneyland and Disneyworld are much better Disney experience, DLP was disappointing. My son still had fun, so it's worth one visit but not more than that unless they make some major improvements: no smoking, bee control, earlier shows, and more roller coasters like Big Thunder that little kids can do.

 

[rn448698]

I'm from Cleveland, and I visited London and Paris this past May. We had a rainy day with nothing really on our agenda for about 8 hours so we headed over to DLP. While I'm glad that we went, I echo many (if not most) of your observations. I know a lot of it was due to cultural differences, but even as someone who smoked (as of the vacation; I've quit since then), I was pretty shocked by the rampant smoking.

But to reiterate, I'm so glad we went, and we had a great morning/afternoon!

 

[cazspence]

They make their own honey at dlp, that's why there are all the bees. Dreams HAS to be at park closing as it needs to be dark to see the projections, would be pointless in daylight and in the summer it doesn't get dark until well after 10.30pm, in winter its earlier as its darker earlier. I've been 3 times now each time for a week and can't say that I have ever noticed the smoking people complain about and I'm a non smoker.

 

[Lisa_C]

The smoking is awful. We complained to City Hall about the line smoking, but we came to the conclusion that because it was EXCEPTIONALLY busy, we really noticed it. After 8 days we also thought that everyone in France must smoke.....
I think it depends on how crowded the parks actually are on how much you notice the smoking. Three weeks before hand it didn't bother us at all. But officially there is nothing they can do :-/

 

[Angrypenguin]

Thanks for the write up! We're DLand locals and have been a hundered times and to WDW many times ourselves, and I was just looking into DLP today. Sounds like I'd be disappointed too....

 

[Royal Consort]

Thanks for the write up! We're DLand locals and have been a hundered times and to WDW many times ourselves, and I was just looking into DLP today. Sounds like I'd be disappointed too....

I don't tend to think Americans 'get' Disneyland Paris. There appears to be a bit of culture shock. Agreed, the parks could do with a huge investment as there is financial difficulty but there's a lot to offer too.

Disneyland Paris is the most beautiful magic kingdom. If you plan correctly, go off season in Oct/Nov you are going to have a really beautiful time. The US parks are always going to be there.

Regarding the OP: Space Mountain and Indy are more intense than the Space in the US parks and therefore restrictions need to be in place. Europe also does have tighter health and safety restrictions.

Whenever I go to the US parks I actually MISS DLRP. Both American parks feel far too commercial. They try to replicate Europe but Disneyland Paris carries it off beautifully (it even has a properly paved Main St people!). Belle with a french accent? Wonderful. If you're a Disney Parks fan then you should definitely go for the extra details. If not, then you can probably skip DLRP. Things like Big Thunder being on its own island, the best Pirates ride, dragon under the castle, the best Disney castle, Phantom Manor, the most stunning Fantasyland and real twist with Discoveryland. This all makes DLRP something special. Also, Dreams isn't always on that late. C'mon, the Disney World parties go until midnight for example.

Just go with an open mind I think.