kitashus
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2005
- Messages
- 661
On this trip: Me, DH, DD10, & DS..who turned 6 the wk after our trip. We are from Southern California, US.
We stayed at the Movenpick from May 23 to May 27. We arrived via Eurostar train from London. The train station is right next to the entrance to the Disney Village, Disneyland Paris, and Walt Disney Studios Parks. To get to our hotel, we had to go to the bus area (next to the station) and get the pink bus #54, which goes to MyTravel, Movenpick, Kyriad and Holiday Inn hotels.
This is the view from our room:
This is the view from that same courtyard looking out:
The day we arrived, after check-in, we took the bus back to Disney Village and walked around. We had lunch at New York Sandwiches. It was very good and the people were very nice. We looked at some of the Disney hotels, walked around the lake, let the kids ride the motorized cars.
Here is a pic of Disney Village entrance:
Our first two full days in Paris, we spent in Paris by taking the train (bought Visite Passes) in and out each day. We did the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and walked all over Paris. We found out our first night coming back that the buses stop running pretty early...and we were lucky to get a ride back to our hotel!!!!
We went to DLP on our last day of our trip, which may or may not have been a good thing. That day the park opened at 9 am but we did not get there until 10. We had been in Paris the night before and were very tired, so we just didnt get there at opening.
Here is the first park entrance you come to:
It was so exciting to see the park. We had been staying at the resort for three days, and had not laid eyes on it yet. The gate was quite pretty. We had bought our tickets at our hotel so we went straight to the entry. It was very crowded already!
We decided to get on the train to get an overview of the park. Unfortunately, some woman and the people with her decided to ignore the queue and walk in front of us. When I questioned her as to what she was doing she acted as if *I* was at fault. The NERVE of her! (I was steaming mad for quite awhile over this). It was not the last time we saw this sort of thing happen.
Here are some pics of the train and pics I took from the train station:
After the train ride all the way around, we walked down Main Street. The castle looked just beautiful. We decided that Pirates had to be the next ride (as it is closed now at Disneyland (DL). The area around the ride is very cool. Very Piratey. I was a bit amused by the fact that two families left for what appeared to be reason of it being too scary for the children (more on this scary factor later). The queue area was neat, it had caves you could look into with pirate skeletons and such. When we got to the boarding area there was more evidence of a lack of understanding of how queues work. <roll eyes> The CMs at DLP dont seem to handle the crowds and queues very well there. Im not sure why that is, but Ive never seen anything like it at DL. The ride was GREAT! It was really fun to see a different Pirates ride, since I have grown up with the one at DL. Some of the scenes were backwards to me, some were exactly the same, and some were completely different.
Then we went to the castle to see the dragon. He was big! DS enjoyed seeing him, and did not want to admit that he was just a little scared. Lol
From there we went to Phantom Manor (to me Haunted Mansion). It looks totally different from the outside. Like the Pirates ride, some of the scenes are the same, some very different. We got a kick out the American Western scenes though. These scenes are not in our Haunted Mansion.
We then went to get fast passes for Big Thunder Mountain. While in line, we found out that we could have gotten fast passes for all the rides at the same time. At DL, you can only get one FP at a time. Wish we had known that!
By this time it was almost time for our Birthday Tea at Plaza Gardens. I checked in to see how it worked, and Im so glad I did. We had time to do a little shopping on Main Street, but then came back and got in line. Even though we had reservations, you still have to get in line. We waited in line for 30 minutes to get in. We were a little disappointed in the tea. It was not what we expected. I thought we would have finger sandwiches and such, but it was a lot of sweets and they had one platter of salami and cheese and another platter of breads. We had ordered a cake. The cake was HUGE! We only ate about half of it. It was delicious. Too bad we had to leave the rest. The characters came by. DS LOVED it though, and DD too. DS got a Mickey Mouse that sings Happy Birthday to take home.
From there, this was our only chance to head over to Walt Disney Studios.
We only got one ride in the Tram Tour.
There were all these signs about it being scary and stuff and I was a little concerned about DS. He did not like the tram tour at Universal Studios. But, wow, there was NOTHING scary on that ride. What is it with the European definition of scary???? I guess we Americans are used to things more scary on rides?
The only remotely thing scary was this...the fire of a dragon:
Anyway, it was too bad the Studios closed so early and that our time there was so limited, there was a lot there I had wanted to do.
We headed back over to the main park. Did Star Tours, which was no different, except that some of it was in French. DH was a bit miffed, cause someone took his hat that he had put under his chair.
From there we went to its a small world.
It was more colorful than ours, and more cartoonish. I dont mean that in a bad way. It was really beautiful. There were many more American scenes in this one than the one at DL. This ride did not last as long, either.
Next, it was time for Big Thunder. What a great ride! Unfortunately, we got stuck for about 10 minutes. Lol So I took a few pics while we sat there. The best part, was that we got to go again!! This ride is BETTER than the one at DL. It is much smoother. It is my kids favorite ride at DL. I wish it was smooth like at DLP, Id ride it a lot more often, to my kids delight. It also started raining on our second time around, but we were laughing and enjoying the ride so much we didnt care.
After that, with the rain and how tired we were, we walked around a little, did a little more shopping and decided to go back to the room to pack up. So we did not even see the fireworks (if they did them). With the clouds and rain, I would be surprised if they did the fireworks.
So that was our DLP experience. It was fun, but it was at the end of a very tiring trip to London and Paris. So we didnt really get to see and do everything. But Im glad we got to do what we did.
We stayed at the Movenpick from May 23 to May 27. We arrived via Eurostar train from London. The train station is right next to the entrance to the Disney Village, Disneyland Paris, and Walt Disney Studios Parks. To get to our hotel, we had to go to the bus area (next to the station) and get the pink bus #54, which goes to MyTravel, Movenpick, Kyriad and Holiday Inn hotels.
This is the view from our room:
This is the view from that same courtyard looking out:
The day we arrived, after check-in, we took the bus back to Disney Village and walked around. We had lunch at New York Sandwiches. It was very good and the people were very nice. We looked at some of the Disney hotels, walked around the lake, let the kids ride the motorized cars.
Here is a pic of Disney Village entrance:
Our first two full days in Paris, we spent in Paris by taking the train (bought Visite Passes) in and out each day. We did the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and walked all over Paris. We found out our first night coming back that the buses stop running pretty early...and we were lucky to get a ride back to our hotel!!!!
We went to DLP on our last day of our trip, which may or may not have been a good thing. That day the park opened at 9 am but we did not get there until 10. We had been in Paris the night before and were very tired, so we just didnt get there at opening.
Here is the first park entrance you come to:
It was so exciting to see the park. We had been staying at the resort for three days, and had not laid eyes on it yet. The gate was quite pretty. We had bought our tickets at our hotel so we went straight to the entry. It was very crowded already!
We decided to get on the train to get an overview of the park. Unfortunately, some woman and the people with her decided to ignore the queue and walk in front of us. When I questioned her as to what she was doing she acted as if *I* was at fault. The NERVE of her! (I was steaming mad for quite awhile over this). It was not the last time we saw this sort of thing happen.
Here are some pics of the train and pics I took from the train station:
After the train ride all the way around, we walked down Main Street. The castle looked just beautiful. We decided that Pirates had to be the next ride (as it is closed now at Disneyland (DL). The area around the ride is very cool. Very Piratey. I was a bit amused by the fact that two families left for what appeared to be reason of it being too scary for the children (more on this scary factor later). The queue area was neat, it had caves you could look into with pirate skeletons and such. When we got to the boarding area there was more evidence of a lack of understanding of how queues work. <roll eyes> The CMs at DLP dont seem to handle the crowds and queues very well there. Im not sure why that is, but Ive never seen anything like it at DL. The ride was GREAT! It was really fun to see a different Pirates ride, since I have grown up with the one at DL. Some of the scenes were backwards to me, some were exactly the same, and some were completely different.
Then we went to the castle to see the dragon. He was big! DS enjoyed seeing him, and did not want to admit that he was just a little scared. Lol
From there we went to Phantom Manor (to me Haunted Mansion). It looks totally different from the outside. Like the Pirates ride, some of the scenes are the same, some very different. We got a kick out the American Western scenes though. These scenes are not in our Haunted Mansion.
We then went to get fast passes for Big Thunder Mountain. While in line, we found out that we could have gotten fast passes for all the rides at the same time. At DL, you can only get one FP at a time. Wish we had known that!
By this time it was almost time for our Birthday Tea at Plaza Gardens. I checked in to see how it worked, and Im so glad I did. We had time to do a little shopping on Main Street, but then came back and got in line. Even though we had reservations, you still have to get in line. We waited in line for 30 minutes to get in. We were a little disappointed in the tea. It was not what we expected. I thought we would have finger sandwiches and such, but it was a lot of sweets and they had one platter of salami and cheese and another platter of breads. We had ordered a cake. The cake was HUGE! We only ate about half of it. It was delicious. Too bad we had to leave the rest. The characters came by. DS LOVED it though, and DD too. DS got a Mickey Mouse that sings Happy Birthday to take home.
From there, this was our only chance to head over to Walt Disney Studios.
We only got one ride in the Tram Tour.
There were all these signs about it being scary and stuff and I was a little concerned about DS. He did not like the tram tour at Universal Studios. But, wow, there was NOTHING scary on that ride. What is it with the European definition of scary???? I guess we Americans are used to things more scary on rides?
The only remotely thing scary was this...the fire of a dragon:
Anyway, it was too bad the Studios closed so early and that our time there was so limited, there was a lot there I had wanted to do.
We headed back over to the main park. Did Star Tours, which was no different, except that some of it was in French. DH was a bit miffed, cause someone took his hat that he had put under his chair.
From there we went to its a small world.
It was more colorful than ours, and more cartoonish. I dont mean that in a bad way. It was really beautiful. There were many more American scenes in this one than the one at DL. This ride did not last as long, either.
Next, it was time for Big Thunder. What a great ride! Unfortunately, we got stuck for about 10 minutes. Lol So I took a few pics while we sat there. The best part, was that we got to go again!! This ride is BETTER than the one at DL. It is much smoother. It is my kids favorite ride at DL. I wish it was smooth like at DLP, Id ride it a lot more often, to my kids delight. It also started raining on our second time around, but we were laughing and enjoying the ride so much we didnt care.
After that, with the rain and how tired we were, we walked around a little, did a little more shopping and decided to go back to the room to pack up. So we did not even see the fireworks (if they did them). With the clouds and rain, I would be surprised if they did the fireworks.
So that was our DLP experience. It was fun, but it was at the end of a very tiring trip to London and Paris. So we didnt really get to see and do everything. But Im glad we got to do what we did.
It is my only bugbear about DLRP but I pass it off as "cultural differences" and just accept that it's one of the differences between the US parks and DLRP. 
