DLP First Timer -- Positives and Negatives

[wbl2745]

I'm awfully pokey about getting my trip report up, but I wanted to elicit some discussion on what we perceived as big problems at DLP.

Some background first. I'm a bit of a Disney fanatic, having been raised in California near San Francisco so that we visited Disneyland every year. I feel like I know Disneyland (California) like the back of my hand and have been to Disney World many times. Last year my wife and I bought into Disney Vacation Club and have been really happy with it. My wife is from Germany, so we are in Europe every couple of years, but we've never made it to Disneyland Paris. I was really excited to make a visit to DLP a part of a trip in October to London, adding on three days in Paris primarily to see DLP.

We live in Provo, Utah (in the US), which is about 40 miles (about 64 km) south of Salt Lake City, if you've heard of that. We were excited to take Delta Airline's new non-stop from Salt Lake to Paris. We had made arrangements to stay at the Sequoia Lodge. Here are some of my thoughts.

Positive

• The castle! Fantastic and far superior to the castles at Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.
• I was impressed with the fountains and water falls all over the park (except for some maintenance problems mentioned below). Clearly the original design of the park was intended to be superior to the US parks, but time has not maintained that dream.
• Space Mountain. WOW! Far better than the US Space Mountains. Probably Disney's best roller coaster.
• The Blue Lagoon. Very nice. It is good that there are terraces so that you can see the river from most tables, as opposed to the Blue Bayou at Disneyland, California.
• Galleries on either side of Main Street. What a good idea! I've heard rumors that they are thinking about doing something similar at Disneyland, California to improve traffic flow.
• Big Thunder Mountain. Again WOW! I love how the attraction starts on the banks of the river and proceeds under the river to the island. Very good themeing.
• The surroundings of the Sequoia Lodge were very nice and peaceful. It was nice to walk through the trees in the morning for breakfast and in the evening. They even had some real Sequoias growing.
• The breakfast at the hotel was very nice. We never had to wait to be seated and there was a wide variety of offerings to fit most any taste.
• The concierge at the hotel was very helpful in setting up a day trip into Paris for us.
• The train station in the middle of the resort! We took a non-stop train from there to the UK. Nice!

Negative

• Restrooms. This was shocking to me, but I believe every restroom (toilet) we used in both the Walt Disney Studios and Disneyland Parc was filthy! They smelled and there was garbage on a wet floor. This wasn't just one restroom, but every one that we went into. Frankly, the public restrooms in London were cleaner than those in Disneyland Paris.
• Phantom Manor lacked the "fun" of its counterparts in the US. It was very dark and foreboding.
• Halloween consisted of a few pumpkins scattered around. Albeit, Halloween is perhaps an American holiday, so if you're not going to do it up right, don't do it at all.
• Lack of themeing in the Walt Disney Studios. Frankly it reminded me of Disney's California Adventure (DCA), but worse. There was no coherent theme to any of the areas of the park. The Tower of Terror just sat there in the middle of the park. Honestly, the Disney Company learned that with cheaping it out at DCA, they had a problem. Now they're spending a billion dollars to fix it.
• General lack of maintenance. This was persistent. Whereas the cob webs at Phantom Manor might have been part of the theme, I don't think they were part of the theme at "It's a Small World". They just hadn't been cleaned. There was a major need for painting. Large sections of paint had pealed off at Star Tours. There were weeds growing that were three feet (1 M) high. That wasn't something that just sprang up in a week. There were hedges and shrubs in dire need of trimming with branches sticking out several feet beyond where they should have been.
• Room cleanliness at the Sequoia Lodge. When we arrived at about 2 PM our room was "ready". We were staying in the Big Sur Lodge and when we got to our room it appeared like someone had dropped an entire box of popcorn in the hall. It was everywhere. When we opened our room, it was also in our room. Well, since this was the first time we had entered our room, we hadn't tracked it in. Apparently the "cleaning staff" had. I was just about to call the front desk to get the room vacuumed, when I heard that someone was in the hall vacuuming. I asked him to vacuum our room too, which he did. The bathroom was also not as clean as I would expect with hair and general scum on the floor.

Advice for Visitors from the US who may be expecting WDW or DLR quality.

I'm sorry to say that I would not recommend a trip to Disneyland Paris unless you were going to be in Paris any way. I wouldn't make a special trip. The Disneyland Resort in California (especially after the upgrade of Disney's California Adventure) and Walt Disney World are far superior.

OK, let the flaming begin!

 

[dlpSteve]

You bring up some valid points which I think are a concern to a lot of us. I was there on Thursday and Friday and the general maintenance is indeed a concern and something I am praying more than anything that they sort out as soon as possible. I'd hope for the 20th anniversary that they will go round the Disneyland Park and paint everything, clean everything and repair all the pavements, to name but a few of the problems.

I also agree about WDS - it has gotten better though, before ToT and Toy Story Playland it was very baron and empty. But it does still need to be all brought together somehow as it's a collection of separate areas that don't seem to flow.

I've personally never had a problem with the toilets and Halloween has been a big topic of discussion since the changes that were brought in this year. The theming was much bigger and elaborate in previous years. Disneyland Paris is facing a lot of financial problems and there have had to be cutbacks, unfortunately Halloween has been one fo those and you are not alone in your complaints, not by a long way.

I've never been to either of the US parks but I constantly see people say that Phantom Manor is better in Paris, so I'm surprised to see you say you didn't like it as much. While the first part is quite serious, I find that does set the scene and then the Phantom Canyon scene lifts the mood again. Behind Pirates of the Caribbean it's my 2nd favourite attraction in the resort.

I'm glad you also found lots of positives - it truly is a magical resort. If you read that some of the things you showed concerns about had been addressed, would you consider returning?

 

[JohnnySharp2]

I agree with some of the points too.

We are lucky to have been to Florida 12 times having only been to DLRP the once earlier this year.
Going back staying at the Disneyland Hotel next year.

It's the diversity of things to do plus the other disney/non disney parks that is the Florida advantage v. the relative easy travelling plus everything being within easy reach that is good about Paris.

Our main reason for the change was we have an autistic/non verbal son and just cannot face the long, stressful and tiring flights to the US anymore.

My overall impression of DLRP was the parks compare very favourably with the WDW one's, to be honest I have never liked the US version of the studio's and felt the same about the Paris one too, neither take my breath away and are ok but nothing special.
They just don't "do anything for me".

I agree about the state of some of the attractions and hotels, some look to be in a state of neglect. It appeared to us that they had left so many things in a state of decay and were rushing around trying to put a lot of it right before next years celebrations.
It baffled me to be honest. Having said that the Disneyland Park is the equal of the Magic Kingdom and as you say some rides are better too.
It didn't feel quite as magical as WDW, I haven't quite put my finger on why but our son had a happier time with the weather being cooler and it's brilliant having so much close together.

We found the HNY fab, especially the quality and friendly service, sorry yours didn't match up to your expectation.

I honestly cannot remember much about the restrooms at the parks but I went in one in the Village which was horrid.

I would be interested in your views on the Disney Village which was the one thing I was very critical of.

 

[wbl2745]

I've never been to either of the US parks but I constantly see people say that Phantom Manor is better in Paris, so I'm surprised to see you say you didn't like it as much. While the first part is quite serious, I find that does set the scene and then the Phantom Canyon scene lifts the mood again. Behind Pirates of the Caribbean it's my 2nd favourite attraction in the resort.

I'll grant that Phantom Manor external themeing was outstanding. At both the DLR and the MK at WDW the exterior of the haunted mansions is not "haunted." Walt Disney didn't want anything that looked run down in his parks so both mansions look nice. I like the chess pieces on the Haunted Mansion at the MK in WDW.

I'll also grant that the storyline at the Phantom Manor is clearer than either of its cousins in the US. The bride and death are very visible. One area that they could have improved is the seance room. This is really well done at DLR with the crystal ball floating around the room along with all sorts of other things.

I'm glad you also found lots of positives - it truly is a magical resort. If you read that some of the things you showed concerns about had been addressed, would you consider returning?

I don't know if we'd go back. For Americans Europe is really expensive now (and I don't expect the dollar to ever "recover"). We'll probably focus on visiting family and parts of Europe we haven't been to.

 

[wbl2745]

Our main reason for the change was we have an autistic/non verbal son and just cannot face the long, stressful and tiring flights to the US anymore.

One of our daughters has a form of autism. I understand your position. Do what works!

I would be interested in your views on the Disney Village which was the one thing I was very critical of.

Downtown Disney (DLR in California), the Disney Marketplace (WDW), and the Disney Village all seem similar. They are ways for outside vendors, who meet a certain standard, to have a presence at Disney. The Disney Village is the smallest of the three I mentioned above. I didn't like that to get to the hotels on foot you more or less had to walk through the Disney Village. I guess the same is true of Downtown Disney at DLR. To get to the Disneyland Hotel (not nearly as nice as the one at DLP!) and the Paradise Pier Hotel you have to walk the complete length of Downtown Disney, which at midnight seems like an eternity!

The stores and restaurants seemed similar. I think there's even an Earl of Sandwich at the Disney Marketplace.

I'm curious, what was your concern about Disney Village?

 

[JohnnySharp2]

One of our daughters has a form of autism. I understand your position. Do what works!



Downtown Disney (DLR in California), the Disney Marketplace (WDW), and the Disney Village all seem similar. They are ways for outside vendors, who meet a certain standard, to have a presence at Disney. The Disney Village is the smallest of the three I mentioned above. I didn't like that to get to the hotels on foot you more or less had to walk through the Disney Village. I guess the same is true of Downtown Disney at DLR. To get to the Disneyland Hotel (not nearly as nice as the one at DLP!) and the Paradise Pier Hotel you have to walk the complete length of Downtown Disney, which at midnight seems like an eternity!

The stores and restaurants seemed similar. I think there's even an Earl of Sandwich at the Disney Marketplace.

I'm curious, what was your concern about Disney Village?

Autism is a complex subject but we just find although Joshua has been to Florida many times, this was an easier option for us.

I was very disappointed with the Disney Village, though I likened it more to Universal's Citywalk than Downtown Disney.

The Village has a brilliant location but just didn't work for me, the shops I found very poor much preferring the one's on Main Street USA. The restaurants are grossly over-priced, especially compared with some of the counter service one's within the Disneyland Park.
I just don't think it works, the theming is drab, the shops from the outside dreary and the merchandise within dull.
It should given the location be fab but for me it just isn't.

Comparing it to DTD where you have numerous stand out shops, restaurants all with nice structures, easy on the eye, plant life and plenty of nice places to sit.
You want to go inside. At the Village there is none of that.
Granted the Earl Of Sandwich is great and the new flagship Disney store will add something badly lacking.

I wanted to love the Village but sadly I didn't.

 

[Michael623]

It is truly impossible for a US park veteran not to make comparisons to DLP. I've been twice and tried really hard both times not to do it but I couldn't help it. It is very difficult not feeling cheated going to DLP after experiencing the US parks.

 

[sabrecmc]

It is truly impossible for a US park veteran not to make comparisons to DLP. I've been twice and tried really hard both times not to do it but I couldn't help it. It is very difficult not feeling cheated going to DLP after experiencing the US parks.

Well, we are FL residents and AP holders for WDW, but I didn't feel cheated at DLRP, so I beg to differ, lol. We really enjoyed it back in 2010. It was different, but I didn't expect it to be the same (or why go). There were things I liked more (the convenience of the DLH!) and less (the whole rushing the character thing, ick). But, we really had a blast. I thought the park itself was gorgeous and don't recall issues with cleanliness.

I do agree that the Studios portion was decidedly lacking in any coherent theming. Found DCA to be much the same issue, though we still enjoyed it.

 

[cola]

I found quite a few of the rides verging quite a bit into the scary area - Pinnochio, Snow White, Haunted Mansion, even Pirates seems much darker in themeing - all were very bleak, focusing on the more European side of the fairy tale than the sanitised Disney side, Snow White hardly appeared in the Snow White ride, it was all the witch!
I was very disappointed with DLP until I got to Fantasyland, there it at last got it's own character, the rest of the 2 parks felt rather half thrown together compared to the other parks I've been to, Hong Kong Disneyland might still be pretty small and basic, but it is much fresher than DLP. The Rock'nRoller Coaster was probably the best example - in Orlando it has a hhuge guitar and car on the neck of the guitar as you approach; DLP, it was just a billboard on the front of the building.

I'm really glad I went (I had to complete the set ), but I won't worry if I don't get back there.