Disneyland Paris

[SJCSuzy]

Has anyone used their points for a stay at one of the Disneyland Paris hotels? My DH and I are thinking of going to Paris in Sep and would love to hear anybodys experiences there. Which hotel did you stay in, what were your impressions of the resort and Disney Village? We are thinking of maybe having 3 days in the park, do you think that would be too long? Thanks for the info, I'm sure I'll come up with more questions later.

 

[Wes]

I cannot speak for using points at the resorts.

In Sept. 2000, I stayed in Paris and spent one day at Disneyland Paris and really saw all there was to see. This included the park, a walk through the Hotel New York and the Disney Village and supper at the Rain Forest Cafe, followed by seeing the early show of Crescend'O (the water-based circus which apparently ended Jan. 14, 2001). I had no trouble fitting it all into one day, but then I did not have to coordinate three or four people. So, I think 2 days would be fine for a family -- but then I do not know what activities might be available at the resorts.

This is all going to change soon. They are building a second park, which will make DP much more of a multi-day trip ... sometime in 2003 I think.

 

[yankinuk]

We have visited DL Paris several times, as well as WDW.
Living in the UK its easy to just pop across the channel and get our fix. You cannot compare the two resorts, my wife thought DL Paris lacked the atmosphere of WDW. Im an American who has lived Europe for quite a while and I thought it definatly had something different. It's smaller then the MK which is sort of nice as the MK can be a bit overwhelming. Stay on site for at least two nights and soak in the atmosphere. It does have alot going for it.

 

[Penny12]

The new Studios park is scheduled to open April 2002.

Yes, DLP has a different atmosphere from it's US counterpart...it is European, with a wide range of Euro CM's and of course the vast majority of guests are too. If you go with an open mind and not just expect a clone of the MK (if you are, then stick with either of the US parks) you will be justly rewarded. DLP is a beautiful park with some beautiful buildings/attractions - many are better than there US counterparts (though I guess that depends on your point of view!)

Space Mountain looks MUCH better, and it's Coaster has a much bigger thrill factor - infact it inverts twice (I think) - anyhow, I think it has more in common with Rock n Rollercoaster than WDW's SM.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is also a better Coaster and visually pleasing - the whole ride is actually on an island in the middle of a lake. You get on the coaster on the shore and you go under the lake (in total darkness) and reappear on the island for the main ride.

Pirates is also different. There are some similarities obviously, but it is longer with better effects.

DLP is a great place to 'smell the roses' take your time and savour the atmosphere. To my mind you want to spend a full 2 days at there, and take the opportunity of seeing everything at a much slower pace than maybe at WDW.

The Disneyland Hotel *is* a beautiful hotel. It is also the front gate of the park - you really can't get any closer than this! However, it is *very* expensive I think. All the hotels with the exception of the Davy Crockett Ranch are in easy walking distance so whatever you choose you can't really go wrong. Personally speaking I think the Sequioa is a good choice (5 minutes walk to the gate). JMO.

Just my 2 cents

Penny

 

[yankinuk]

It's nice to hear from someone just down the road, were from Newmarket. Your on the mark about DL Paris-go with an open mind and enjoy. Last time we stayed at the Newport Bayand it was brilliant.

Disneymad, were considering joining DVC. Are you a member ? It would be nice to hear from someone on this side of the pond and there experience.

 

[SJCSuzy]

Thanks for all your inupt gang!! We really appreciate it. I think we're leaning towards staying at the Disneyland Hotel or Newport Bay. I'm sure I'll have more questions in the future.

Thanks again.

 

[Candace]

My son and I went to DLP in '95 and stayed at the Newport Bay hotel. It was great - and it is wonderful to be able to walk to the park, walk to the Downtown area (at that time it was called Festival Disney, I think). DLP is a truly beautiful park. It is smaller than MK, so 3 days might be too long. We were there 4 nights on points, but one day we took the train into Paris and got a tour to go to Versailles. Another day we just stayed at the hotel. My son was almost 10 at the time, and the pace of the European jaunt I had him on took its toll, and he got a virus or something and had fever. If he *had* to be sick, I am glad it happened at DLP where the rooms were more of what he was used to at home. His first statement when we checked into our room was, "YES! American pillows!" LOL. The CM's are so nice too. The Disneyland hotel is so gorgeous! And you walk under part of it as a gateway to the park, if I remember correctly. It's definitely worth a visit ; Just remember, as the others said, to keep an open mind - it's European and wonderful! Go for it!

 

[normr]

We've been to DLP on points, we first did 5 days in London and then took the Eurostar train right to DLP and stayed there for 4 days. That way you can take a tour into Paris.

We originally had reservations for the DLH, but they asked us when we checked in if we would rather stay in a one bedroom in Hotel NY, since it was much larger, where we had a separate bedroom from the kids and also it was a one and a half bathrooms so the kids didn't have to bother us to go to the bathroom, plus I liked the location of the hotel compared to DLH, as I stated in another post, I felt very uneasy walking over to Disney Village from DLH past the train station since it was very dark with little or poor lighting, Hotel NY was closer to the Village, plus with the 2 other hotels there are more people in the area.

DLH was very beautiful, but we liked HNY better because of our upgrade, since they overbooked DLH and then saw we were DVC members.

 

[MACDADDY]

I believe there is a show on tonight (5/20) on the Travel Channel at 9 P.M. central about Disney Paris.

 

[vernon]

For just DLP I think 2 days is more than enough, the park itself takes MAXIMUM a day and a half so the other half a day spent enjoying the resort pool and facilities is nice. The journey from London on the train is EXCELLENT and the stop for DLP is about 100 yards from the main gate and maybe 200 yards to most of the other hotels.

It is possible to book a one day tour of Paris from the hotels, while your never going to see all of Paris in that time I thought it was a pretty good tour and covered a few of the "must see" things ( Notre Dame Cathedral, The Eiffle Tower, a boat trip along the Seine and a few other points of interest) .

Hope you have a good trip. I think the DVC points package is a pretty good one considering it includes breakfast and park tickets !!!!.

 

[magic]

We went to Paris for Spring Break, March 2001. We stayed in the Latin Quarter of Paris and had a wonderful time.

One day we went to Disneyland Paris, which was great for everyone. Everyone needed a break from all of the museums and what better way than Disney.

We really liked Disney. We all thought that the rides were the best of Disney. We arrived when it opened and closed it down. I think if you had a couple of days it would be perfect.

Our son wished that we had used some DVC points to stay on the grounds a couple of nights, we will probably do that next time.

 

[coldnorth]

We went to DL Paris a couple of times while we were living in Europe. One thing you will probably experience is cutting lines. Rides that have wide line areas like Pirates O the C will drive you crazy if you let it. After we decided we wouldn't let it bother us, it was fine.

A lady reached over my shoulder to pay for a stroller and the cashier accepted her money like nothing happened. After a few times we started laughing about it.

ColdNorth

 

[magic]

I agree with Coldnorth about the cutting in line. We were shocked at how common this is, just enjoy and not let it bother you.