Back from our trip....a little disapointed

[Dani29]

We got back from our trip yesterday got there sun left last night.
my boys had the time of there lives esp my 4yr old who thought it was the most amazing place ever and my 18mth old loved anything with Donald Duck and kept screaming 'quack quack' all the time.
Our hotel was lovely, we stayed at the Newport bay and when we got there was upgraded to the admirals floor which was lovely, all the amenities and a fantatic view over the lake. the first day we had a breakfast slot for 8:30 which was great but on the tue they only had the 7am slot so as we were on the admirals floor we had breakfast in our room that day at 8 so that was a bonus!
I cant fault the whole magic of disney, the parades were great and my eldest met so many characters and the whole place was kept very clean. we ate in cafe mickey and the experience was fantastic but the food was disgusting i had a pizza which i can only describe as a soggy mess and my husband had t he steak which he didnt rate at all but the 70 euros was worth it just for the character interaction and we got some great photos.
We also we very unimpressed with everyone constantly smoking wherever they liked, i know europeans in general smoke quite a bit and they dont have the same smoking ban as our country but i was shocked when i found out there was designated areas for smoking in disney but everyone smoked wherever they liked and no staff member enforced it. my children constantly had smoke in there faces the whole time. when we left after watching the fireworks my hair actually stunk of smoke and we had been outside. as an avid fan of wdw in florida this would of been acted upon by disney crew, i never walk around any disney park in florida and see people smoking.
there was also a fight in the disney studios in the line at crushs coaster which myself and other parents had to usher there children through. A man had pushed in (as they do!) in front of a group of people the man in the group told him to get behind and the first man went mad, the man in the group pushed him away from his wife and the first man started pushing and punching back the woman in the group was shouting "go away we dont want to fight with you, go away" the whole time only 1 disney staff came over and run off (maybe to get security) yet again in the 8 times i have been to florida i have never experienced anything like this and if i had i think security would of been there as soon as. I just couldnt believe there was a fight in disney!!!
also i couldnt stand the arrogance and rudeness, the pushing and shoving and i def think its a shame dlrp was put in france.
yet again i cant fault the whole magic of disney and the hotel was wonderful, but needless to say we are now saving for our 2011 trip to WDW florida

 

[poppyolivia]

oh no thats a shame, there is always people there pushing in!!!....a word of advice though..edited out the nationalities or you will get a pm saying to do it


glad you got to see so many characters...wicked!!!!

 

[Dani29]

ok have done thanks, seems a bit silly though as its just a way of explaining, thanks for the advice though

 

[hollymattbenmilo]

yes i know, but i got a warning for saying simular also! xx
must have been lovely having an upgrade!!

 

[dlpSteve]

The smoking is a worry though, the fact that they don't enforce the ban that is.

 

[DLPdaft]

ok have done thanks, seems a bit silly though as its just a way of explaining, thanks for the advice though

Thanks for doing that Dani - we are a board which has members from many countries, and we do have a posting rule about singling out nationalities -

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1477038

I've added "man in the group" etc in your first post, to hopefully make it make a bit more sense, now that you've removed the nationalities .

I've been lucky and not had queue-jumping as such at DLRP, but I know it happens, and it certainly happens at the unscheduled character meets in both parks. It does take a bit of getting used to - and to be honest, if theres a crowd around characters these days, we just avoid it completely, and head for the organised meet n greets, or character meals.

Thanks for posting your impressions of DLRP .

 

[cap'njack.]

ok have done thanks, seems a bit silly though as its just a way of explaining, thanks for the advice though

Unfortunatly it's seen as a personal attack on those nationalities. There is also the fact that although they may have been speaking a certain language they may not actually come from that country.

Such a shame that you didn't have such a magical trip that you had hoped for, we experienced something like your experience in the Crush line but waiting for the parade in May (I was on the receiving end that time) and it does spoil things slightly.

Unfortunatly it seems to be the way the whole world is going at the moment...everyone out for themselves and sausages to anyone else.

I think you may have been slightly unfortuanate with the things that happened but on my trips to WDW I've found it to be much worse...maybe becuase DLRP is more of a 3-5 day vacation it's more noticeable than it is over a 14-21 day trip.

I hope you enjoy WDW in 2011 and someday return to DLRP.

 

[tennisfan]

The smoking is a worry though, the fact that they don't enforce the ban that is.

I think its a bit hit & miss as when I went in June, the CM's told people to stop if they were smoking in the queues.

 

[cannp123165]

We loved the Newport Bay Club too when we stayed there in August. I can totally understand everything you said about the smoking and rudeness of people - this really surprised me when we visited too, as it is something you would never see in WDW. I am glad you enjoyed it though!

 

[lilacgems23]

Ive only been to DLp twice but have never found a problem with smoking, I saw people smoking but never in parades, ques for rides, characters, shows etc so I never came away smelling of smoke.

That is awful about the fighting

 

[Cyrano]

Sorry to hear that the trip was disappointing. As cap n' jack says it is happening more and more in life in general

On behalf of all the mods can I thank you and the others on the board regarding not tarring a nation because of the bad behaviour of a minority of a nationality(ies). It was refreshing to come to a board and see people offer advice about removing items.. even though they named a nationality.
This is without doubt the best board on the DIS

 

[mommy2ash]

thats such a shame. its awful that other people can ruin a trip seeing as you didnt have a problem with anything else.

personally i have had a few instances where i have been annoyed with people but i just tend to let it over my head. i have seen people smoking but never in queues and even while watching the parade a guy next to me was smoking and it was blowing in my dds face so his friend told him to put it out and he apologised. i have heard a lot of the rudeness of others etc but i must either forget about it or be oblivious lol.

 

[lojo]

After our last visit I complained to Disney regarding our experience of smoking, among other things. This is the relevant part of their reply:

I was sorry to hear of your concerns over the amount of smoking that you found at Disneyland Resort Paris. We are constantly working to provide a comfortable environment for all our guests. As you may be aware, French legislation prevents Disneyland Resort Paris from enforcing an entirely non-smoking policy, although we have introduced many measures to limit this, whilst working within the confines of the law. Indeed, in compliance with newly enacted French legislation, all Resort restaurants, bars, lobbies, as well as Hurricanes Night Club, are non-smoking since 1 January 2008. In addition, cigarettes are not on sale in either Disneyland Park or Walt Disney Studios Park and we actively discourage smoking in closed queue lines. In open queue lines, we cannot prevent smoking, but Cast Members and signs do encourage guests to not smoke, for the overall benefit of those around them.
Furthermore in the Disneyland Park and the Walt Disney Studios Park, smoking areas have been introduced. As of 1 April 2008, guests are asked to smoke in these areas for the comfort and well-being of everyone. However, in accordance with French law we are unable to prohibit guests from smoking outside these areas. I nevertheless regret that you were inconvenienced and rest assured that your feelings have been passed on.


Not a lot of help to those of us who find smoke unpleasant, but at least it explains why the CMs don't do a lot to discourage smoking outside the smoking areas.

 

[lilacgems23]

When we went people were told to stop smoking by CMs in ques outside ones.

DH wanted some cigarettes when we was there and he got some real sarcastic comments off the cm's and people in the shops when he asked where he can buy them from

Its like theme parks in this country people smoke, just not in ques, inside etc

I hate smoking with a vengance but didnt have a problem in disneyland

 

[mollies_mum]

I agree with you, stick to WDW in future

 

[jillrobinson]

Glad that you liked the NPB it's my favourite hotel and that the children had such a wicked time.
It's a shame that your view of DLP was soured by the actions of others.

 

[howlongtillsummer?]

That is interesting about the smoking, can't blame the staff for that one then.

I wish they had built it in the UK! At least we know how to make a flippin queue!

You know what bugs me... on the way out they have that little shortcut towards the station but it is for CMs only. Forcing you to walk another 100 yards at the end of the day is irritating. A great man once said that if people were cutting across the grass, as path should be placed there.

No?