DLP ..... Rethinking our plans for next year......

[Anne64]

My original plan for next year was to stay at CSR during free dining next August

However, owing to horribly mundane things like a leaking porch roof and a bathroom that is on its last legs we are looking putting my plan on hold for a year or two

Has anyone been to DLP and / or Portaventura??? I know they are not Orlando but what are your thoughts / experiences???

 

[lucy_love_]

been to dlp

its ok

not as good but you get your disney fix for the year

 

[wifey]

It's fine for a quick fix but you can do it in 3 days, we went for 5 and got bored but it was November when we went but we got a good price for a room at Sequoia Lodge and included our tickets. We booked cheap flights through Easy Jet which were fine and transport was quick and easy from the airport too.
You've just got to remember its no where near the size of WDW in Orlando

 

[mark&sue]

We have been to both and in 2010 looking to driving to both of them for my friend's 40th.

Although we much prefer WDW it is worth going to DLPR for a disney fix. This year was our 4th trip to DLPR but our first in the summer and we loved it.

Here is a link to my photo trip report

day 1 http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1904503

day 2 http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1904564

day 3 http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1904623

day 4 http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1904778

day 5 http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1904819

day 6 http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1904829

When we went to Port Ventura we stayed at the Port Ventura hotel which is good as the park stays open late.

I will reiterate what others have said it is nowhere as good at WDW but we can drive to both and I hate flying! Spain will obvioulsy have more chance of better weather than Paris.

Also DLPR is very expensive and as the pound against the euro is not so good Spain is becomming more pricey.

Let us know what you decide.


Susan

 

[Anne64]

Thanks for your replies. Wifey said she would go for 3 days to dlp. Do you agree? How long would you allow for Port Aventura ?

 

[gemmybear83]

Hi, I've been to all three!! Love them all but there all very different. If I was going to go to Port aventua I would go for a week and stay on site (you get universal express tickets) and also visit Barcelona for a couple of days (beautiful city) and go to the beach. I don't really like Salou I think its tacky/nasty........

I would go for say 5 days to DLRP and have 2-3 days in the parks and also visit Paris. DLRP doesnt need to be too expensive as there are "1 night free offers" and you can do a half board meal plan which can save you quite a few euros if you like a TS meal in a Disney restaurant everyday.

I much prefer DLRP's "Magic Kingdom" park, I find one in Florida quite dated. Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, and the Haunted Mansion are a lot better in France and there are few rides not in in WDW - the new Finding Nemo "Crush's Coaster" for one.

Why don't you have a look on the Disneyland Paris forum page on here .... were all a friendly bunch , you can have a look at lots of trip reports etc.

I do love WDW by the way!!!!!!!

 

[Rosie]

I have been lucky this year and visited both WDW and DLRP. I enjoyed both trips and I also suggest splitting a stay at DLRP with days to Paris. I don't agree at all that DLRP is a poor relation of WDW - the culture is just entirely different and of course WDW is huge.
DLRP offers some good value self catering accomodation if you are concerned about keeping costs down. We stayed at Adagio Aparthotel which is 5 minutes from the parks, and Davy Crocketts is also very good value.
Save the WDW trip for a year when you have fewer demands on your cash flow and you can afford to splash out!

 

[Cyrano]

Why don't you have a look on the Disneyland Paris forum page on here .... were all a friendly bunch , you can have a look at lots of trip reports etc.

I was going to say the same thing

 

[PoppyAnna]

I've just returned from 7 nights on-site at Port Aventura. Although not completed yet, I'm doing a little trip report here.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1946289

We went with our small children so didn't do many thrill rides and Port Aventura is great for thrill rides.

I've been to DLRP - Obviously it's a very different animal to WDW and I'm not sure I'd return there anytime soon. IMHO DLRP is great if you have quite a bit of cash and not much time (a lot of my self-employed friends taken their young kids there a couple of times a year).
Obviously Spain has better weather so you get a waterpark too.
I wouldn't hesitate to go back to Port Aventura. We've just had a great week there.

 

[tracipierce]

I did the same thing this summer, couldn't afford WDW so went to DLP instead for 3 days.... parks are ok, but stay away from Santa fe it was truly awful!!! So much so that it has put me off going back to DLP at all. Once I got back, I booked for WDW next summer (can't afford it but thats what DLP did for me lol)

 

[stubb]

hi Anne
we went to dlp at easter. we used to go every year with the children at feb half term so they went free. To be honest we were disapointed and felt for another £1500 we could have gone to florida for a fortnight{not during easter} It was expensive, took a long time to get there, weather was cold. We have booked a one night stay at port aventura when we go to Spain in Oct. I suppose we have been spoiled by the vast choice of florida. If you have small kids they will still love dlp but we will not go again.

michelle
ps we had the half board package which I would reccommend doing if you go.

 

[MazdaUK]

We went to DLRP at Easter and as others have said its good for a Disney fix. However, with our horrible weather this summer (DLRP was instead of going abroad in August as we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel, which is the BEST way to get full value out of staying onsite) I would certainly give Portaventura a go another time. DLRP is lovely, but 3 days is plenty to cover just about everything you want to do, so I don't feel I need DLRP for another few years.

If the US has a worse recession than us you could find 2 weeks in Florida almost the same price as going to Europe - the end of August is Value season if you book direct (as the US kids are back to school - oh, and its Hurricane season )

 

[Lizzybear]

I like DLRP I've been quite a few times and may well do next year (we're doing east coast US -NYC etc- for next year's 'big' hol and i'm not sure I want to go a year without a Disney trip!) I think it can be done reasonably as they seem to have offers for free nights and/or kids go free all the time. I don't look at it in the same way as a WDW holiday as IMO it's more of a short break than somewhere you'd visit for a week or more (you'd probably want to visit Paris or elsewhere in France if you did that, when I was a kid we tagged DLP onto the end of a few holidays to other parts of France) IMO Disneyland Park has some rides that are better than their Florida counterparts, especially POTC. Oh and it has a PINK castle

 

[Elise79]

This year we did 3 nights/4 days at DLRP and 5 Nights at WDW. We said after the DLRP trip that we would not be back for at least 5 years as we just found that there wasn't enough there to do. Here is what I thought of DLRP after my first visit (we booked to go as I was preganant and didn't think we would get to WDW for a couple of years but fate meant we got a short trip in April ):

Pros for DLRP:

• We took the Eurostar and arriving direct from London to the middle of the resort was amazing
• Being able to walk to the park from the hotel (we stayed at Newport Bay)

Negatives for DLRP

• Weather - although we went in February we had one nice day but one awful day
• I didn't get the 'Disney feeling' that I get a WDW - this might be personal though
• Character meet and greets are not organised at all - this made for a very negative experience as they tend to ignore the adults and favour the kids.
• 4 Days was more than enough as the Studios park is really small and has very few attractions.
• Park layout of the Disneyland park is a right royal pain in the **** it has some many little branches that it makes guest flow really annoying after a little while!

 

[dossie]

We have been really lucky this year - we did WDW in Summer 2007, then DLP in May halft term 2008 and have booked to go back to DLP for Christmas.

We took our 5 and 3 yo to Florida and they loved it and coped brilliantly, but they found DLP even better as it is more compact and had everything they needed.

I visited DLP in 1998 and thought it was bad but when we went this year I found it completey different and we had a ball. They have rethought a lot of it and the atmopshere was super - just not Florida. BUt as others have said - great for a quick fix and its nice to have everything on the doorstop if you are ony there for a few days.

Do it!!!! I reckon.

Have fun whatever you decide.

Now can someone persuade me that booking to go back to WDW next Summer is too extravagant and I should find something else to do??????? (so tempting with all the good offersw on at the mo!)

 

[team harris]

We've been lucky enough to do all three.

WDW wins hands down as so much more to do.

As said before, DLP is a great Disney fix, but will only take 3 days - why not combine with Paris sightseeing, easy enough on train from station outside DLP and many great sights.

Did Portaventura in 2006, stayed for 2 weeks in Cap Salou - so much nicer than Salou itself, nice quiet beaches and a small square of restaurants etc. Portaventura is about 15 mins away on a cheap and easy bus ride. Barcelona, as someone has said before is worth a visit too, beautiful buildings and if you are into shopping, some good named stores there.

Be warned though, Portaventura and DLP are full of Europeans who unlike us Brits and the Americans do not seem to grasp the concept of queuing!

 

[LORNA ANN]

Been twice to DLP, DH says never again 4 nights both times weather has been bad both times food expensive infact according to my DH everything expensive.Did like Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain but then we also like all of these rides at WDW equally as much.
Portaventura we had a week there stayed on site which made everything so easy, just a leisurley stroll to the park, hotel was good, so were the meals.Did it at Halloween it was very scary in the evenings !!would def go back one day although we hated Salou its self very dirty & tacky !
So for us it is definitly WDW that is a clear winner in every respect Parks, Hotels, Food, People & of course shopping

 

[Cyrano]

Be warned though, Portaventura and DLP are full of Europeans who unlike us Brits and the Americans do not seem to grasp the concept of queuing!

You have obviously been at different times than we have. The English speakers were definitely not the best behaved. There was one other nationality that daily demonstrated that they could compete equally as bad
I think most of us Disney fans think that it is a wonderful place and like yourself behave appropriately. The rest behave exactly as they would at any other holiday destination