Well sorry guys, I don't do diaries, so I'm afraid you won't be getting a trip report in the traditional sense. You've got our comic, and here's a collection of thoughts about DLP - hope thats enough for you:
Disneyland Park: Really liked themeing and atmosphere. Didnt notice any difference in size to WDW Magic Kingdom and thought some rides eg POTC, BTM, Buzz were better. Even thought IASW seemed brighter and fresher.
Studios: Cant work out why it gets a bad press as really enjoyed this park. Much more interactive than many theme parks will be even better when Toon studios and ToT opens. Especially liked Art of Animation, Cinemagique and Studio 1 (were grabbing a quick lunch here, sitting at the tables on the road just people watching when one of the film productions started up right next to us it was great fun). Only slight disappointment was that wed measured DD before we went (124 cm) so told her she could go on RnR but she actually came in just under the CMs measuring stick. Thought it was 120 cm restriction, but maybe its 125.
Disneyland Hotel: Worth every penny, will definitely stay again. Two main reasons the closeness to the parks so as soon as youre tired youre there no long treks or bus transfers. Secondly, the atmosphere was a real respite from the parks rather than an extension of them. We may be Disney lite but we really appreciated a change of pace in the hotel, it made us feel like we were getting a grown-up holiday and a kids one all in one. Some people dont seem to like the pool, but for us it was just right somewhere to have a swim as a relax rather than continued hyper-activity of slides etc. DD appreciated this too. Breakfast also great as was character meet and greet outside. We asked to see how much it would have cost to upgrade to Castle Club but there was no availability. Not sure we would have paid it anyway the main advantage for us would have been the unlimited FPs.
Food: This really made it for us, and was a winner in the comparison with WDW. The signature restaurants at WDW are top notch, but we felt that the DLP ones came out on top. WDW has great fun experiences eg 50s Primetime but sometimes you feel the food takes second place to the theme. What was really great at DLP was the standard of food at restaurants that wouldnt be considered signature. Heres some highlights:
California Grill Outstanding. Pricey yes but definitely worth it. Service impeccable, food to die for. Especially impressed by kids menu. Admittedly you need to have kids who enjoy the restaurant experience, but if they do theyre treated like royalty and the kids menu is brill see my comic for Mickey / Cream cheese starter and Mickey painter dessert (white choc jigsaw you make up then paint using food colouring paint and brushes). Recommend Tanzanian Chocolate Dessert as an Adult pud.
Inventions How cool was this, this all you can eat buffet really stood apart from the WDW ones. Where else can you get veal, asparagus, goats cheese, bresola, seafood etc. etc. etc. on an all you can eat buffet and characters too.
Walts we really couldnt believe we were eating this standard of food inside a theme park. Recommend the tomato tartare starter and a tip the large carafe of house wine is perfectly drinkable and only 6 E (£4) for the equivalent of 2/3 of a bottle of wine.
King Ludwigs again really good food and lots of it. The Sauerkraut is excellent but be warned you do get a lot of it. Another tip before you order the 1 litre stein check its not happy hour as youll end up with two see my comic. We needed a walk around Disney Lake after that meal.
Café Mickey Loads of characters and again really good quality food for what is ostensibly more of a diner. Probably didnt think this quite matched up to Inventions for a Character Dining Experience and the Price difference wasnt huge (106E for 3 including beer at Café Mickey, 151 E for 3 with wine at inventions). Might be tempted to pay the extra and stick with Inventions next time
We also ate in the Studio 1 Food Court and New York Style Sandwiches, and had great ice cream on Main Street.
We generally tipped at around 10% - what do others do?
CMs: We really thought this might be one area which didnt quite work in France. But we had just as much Disney magic from the CMs as we did in Florida. Highlights include the parade marshall playing catch the Donald ball with DD, Pirates chasing us on the Pirate ship, BTM CMs, the waiter at the California Grill, the railroad attendant wanting to steal Eyore from DD it goes on.
Queuing: It was obviously a busy time, with queues for the headliners quickly reaching over an hour. But we wont join a line thats saying anything above 30 minutes, and found that with the luxury of having 5 days to play with and judicious use of Fast Passes, queueing really wasnt a problem for us. To give a few examples: One day we went to Discoveryland for about 10:10, got an FP (return at 11.30) for Buzz, and walked straight on to Star Tours. Another Day got a FP for BTM first thing and walked onto POTC (could have gone round again), then teacups, then Snow White and looked round The Castle before our FP time was up at 11.20. There are also lots of things you dont need to queue for when you have a 6 year old, eg the Castle, the Dragon, Adventure Isle etc. The evening extra magic hours were great as the crowds really thin towards the end hope they become a permanent feature.
Speaking French: We really tried to use our (awful) French as much as we could. It was obviously appreciated, especially when DD gave it a bash but equally we were nearly always outed as wed ask for something in what we thought was perfect French and get a response in English. One of my highlights was placing a complete order in New York Sandwiches in French and getting a French reply.
Weather: We struck lucky in Easter week as it was sunny every day. We felt the French climate much more amenable to theme parks than Florida admittedly we did visit Florida in August, its probably much more bearable at other times.
CONCLUSIONS: We had a great holiday and will definitely go back probably at Easter again. Whilst we loved America, and hope to have lots of holidays there in the future, we well be happy to get our Disney fix from France. We liked the compactness and the ease of getting around (especially staying in DLH) Admittedly there are things in Florida that DLP doesnt have, but for us those werent so important. We preferred Disneyland Park and Studios to the WDW ones. There are some great attractions in Futureworld at Epcot, but wed rather visit the real countries than the Pavilions in World Showcase. Animal Kingdom is great, but were members of Chester zoo so see a lot of animals anyway. There arent water parks at DLP but then again we wouldnt travel to WDW just for water parks.
We may well not be hard core Disney fans, but Inventions really summed up the DLP experience for us. On the one hand you have the great Disney fun for kids and adults, but youve also got that bit of sophistication to balance it out.
Disneyland Park: Really liked themeing and atmosphere. Didnt notice any difference in size to WDW Magic Kingdom and thought some rides eg POTC, BTM, Buzz were better. Even thought IASW seemed brighter and fresher.
Studios: Cant work out why it gets a bad press as really enjoyed this park. Much more interactive than many theme parks will be even better when Toon studios and ToT opens. Especially liked Art of Animation, Cinemagique and Studio 1 (were grabbing a quick lunch here, sitting at the tables on the road just people watching when one of the film productions started up right next to us it was great fun). Only slight disappointment was that wed measured DD before we went (124 cm) so told her she could go on RnR but she actually came in just under the CMs measuring stick. Thought it was 120 cm restriction, but maybe its 125.
Disneyland Hotel: Worth every penny, will definitely stay again. Two main reasons the closeness to the parks so as soon as youre tired youre there no long treks or bus transfers. Secondly, the atmosphere was a real respite from the parks rather than an extension of them. We may be Disney lite but we really appreciated a change of pace in the hotel, it made us feel like we were getting a grown-up holiday and a kids one all in one. Some people dont seem to like the pool, but for us it was just right somewhere to have a swim as a relax rather than continued hyper-activity of slides etc. DD appreciated this too. Breakfast also great as was character meet and greet outside. We asked to see how much it would have cost to upgrade to Castle Club but there was no availability. Not sure we would have paid it anyway the main advantage for us would have been the unlimited FPs.
Food: This really made it for us, and was a winner in the comparison with WDW. The signature restaurants at WDW are top notch, but we felt that the DLP ones came out on top. WDW has great fun experiences eg 50s Primetime but sometimes you feel the food takes second place to the theme. What was really great at DLP was the standard of food at restaurants that wouldnt be considered signature. Heres some highlights:
California Grill Outstanding. Pricey yes but definitely worth it. Service impeccable, food to die for. Especially impressed by kids menu. Admittedly you need to have kids who enjoy the restaurant experience, but if they do theyre treated like royalty and the kids menu is brill see my comic for Mickey / Cream cheese starter and Mickey painter dessert (white choc jigsaw you make up then paint using food colouring paint and brushes). Recommend Tanzanian Chocolate Dessert as an Adult pud.
Inventions How cool was this, this all you can eat buffet really stood apart from the WDW ones. Where else can you get veal, asparagus, goats cheese, bresola, seafood etc. etc. etc. on an all you can eat buffet and characters too.
Walts we really couldnt believe we were eating this standard of food inside a theme park. Recommend the tomato tartare starter and a tip the large carafe of house wine is perfectly drinkable and only 6 E (£4) for the equivalent of 2/3 of a bottle of wine.
King Ludwigs again really good food and lots of it. The Sauerkraut is excellent but be warned you do get a lot of it. Another tip before you order the 1 litre stein check its not happy hour as youll end up with two see my comic. We needed a walk around Disney Lake after that meal.
Café Mickey Loads of characters and again really good quality food for what is ostensibly more of a diner. Probably didnt think this quite matched up to Inventions for a Character Dining Experience and the Price difference wasnt huge (106E for 3 including beer at Café Mickey, 151 E for 3 with wine at inventions). Might be tempted to pay the extra and stick with Inventions next time
We also ate in the Studio 1 Food Court and New York Style Sandwiches, and had great ice cream on Main Street.
We generally tipped at around 10% - what do others do?
CMs: We really thought this might be one area which didnt quite work in France. But we had just as much Disney magic from the CMs as we did in Florida. Highlights include the parade marshall playing catch the Donald ball with DD, Pirates chasing us on the Pirate ship, BTM CMs, the waiter at the California Grill, the railroad attendant wanting to steal Eyore from DD it goes on.
Queuing: It was obviously a busy time, with queues for the headliners quickly reaching over an hour. But we wont join a line thats saying anything above 30 minutes, and found that with the luxury of having 5 days to play with and judicious use of Fast Passes, queueing really wasnt a problem for us. To give a few examples: One day we went to Discoveryland for about 10:10, got an FP (return at 11.30) for Buzz, and walked straight on to Star Tours. Another Day got a FP for BTM first thing and walked onto POTC (could have gone round again), then teacups, then Snow White and looked round The Castle before our FP time was up at 11.20. There are also lots of things you dont need to queue for when you have a 6 year old, eg the Castle, the Dragon, Adventure Isle etc. The evening extra magic hours were great as the crowds really thin towards the end hope they become a permanent feature.
Speaking French: We really tried to use our (awful) French as much as we could. It was obviously appreciated, especially when DD gave it a bash but equally we were nearly always outed as wed ask for something in what we thought was perfect French and get a response in English. One of my highlights was placing a complete order in New York Sandwiches in French and getting a French reply.
Weather: We struck lucky in Easter week as it was sunny every day. We felt the French climate much more amenable to theme parks than Florida admittedly we did visit Florida in August, its probably much more bearable at other times.
CONCLUSIONS: We had a great holiday and will definitely go back probably at Easter again. Whilst we loved America, and hope to have lots of holidays there in the future, we well be happy to get our Disney fix from France. We liked the compactness and the ease of getting around (especially staying in DLH) Admittedly there are things in Florida that DLP doesnt have, but for us those werent so important. We preferred Disneyland Park and Studios to the WDW ones. There are some great attractions in Futureworld at Epcot, but wed rather visit the real countries than the Pavilions in World Showcase. Animal Kingdom is great, but were members of Chester zoo so see a lot of animals anyway. There arent water parks at DLP but then again we wouldnt travel to WDW just for water parks.
We may well not be hard core Disney fans, but Inventions really summed up the DLP experience for us. On the one hand you have the great Disney fun for kids and adults, but youve also got that bit of sophistication to balance it out.
But I do know really that it is a wonderful place, with many great qualities of it's own to appreciate, as well as that Disney magic. 
The same, but different!! I feel very lucky that I have the opportunities to visit both WDW and DLP. Whichever one I go to I have a great Disney holiday - just a different experience! 
