BrianL
Doom Buggy Driver
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2013
- Messages
- 28,349
Okay, so I finally made it to Paris and DLP - I've been wanting to for so long and it kept getting put off or whatever. Anyway, I was there on March 11 & 12. The first day I was solo - went right from the airport basically - in park at open on no sleep. On the second day, my mom, stepdad, and sister joined me. It was pretty wet and rainy the first day, but I slapped on a plastic poncho and went with it. Here are a few thoughts:
- The park is beautiful and I really like the layout. It feels small because of the number of attractions, but is big based on walking! I love Adventureland with Skull Rock - man!
- I went straight to Phantom Manor! I've been dying to see this version of my beloved HM. It's interesting - different in a lot of good ways. Some parts aren't as good, but I love the graveyard scene and how it takes you underground with the bones, and then there is a Beetlejuice style ghost town - it's my favorite version of that scene. The Phantom character is cool - seemed to be a newish animatronic of him, similar to Hatbox?
- Pirates may be my favorite version that I've ridden so far. I love that it has a multi-level approach, with lifts incorporated. I am not sure that I love how the opening scenes are all at the end, but overall, I was digging it, especially the ghostly Barbosa animatronic!
- There are a lot of walkthrough attractions, but they are kind of charming. The hedge maze is more fun than you might think, and a lot of it is just cool to look at. The Nautilus is a favorite of mine, though it was maybe a tad underwhelming. I love the castle and the stained glass and tapestries from Sleeping Beauty, and, of course, the dragon living underneath!
- I got over to The Studios park, and it...needs help. And it's getting it, but I just missed the grand re-opening so it was what it was. I found that I really liked Avengers: Flight Force - nice job on the reskin and gives me hopes for The Muppets RNRC. That Cars Road Trip though - what? I know they were working with what they have, but, man.
- Mickey and the Magician may be my new favorite theme parks show! I saw it twice - I told the family that they had to go watch it. Everyone loved it. It's kind of a similar story to Mickey and the Magical Map (which I loved), but the staging and everything is so cool.
- What's up with Stitch being like, everywhere?
- Back to DLP proper, while I praise the layout, I noticed a lack of detailed signage. In fact, I found all of Paris to be like that (even worse outside of Disney). It's not very efficient - as a country! Navigating can be a little difficult, but they seem to expect you to know what to do. I know I'm not stupid so, what's the deal?
- I had heard that DLP cast members aren't that good and can be rude - I found no such thing at all! I thought everyone was delighful for the most part - very friendly and helpful. Sometimes the cashiers lacked a little urgency - like if there are three people in line, forget about it, but that seems to be the laid-back culture in general. Everyone was so nice! Shout out to Bryce at the coffee stand near Indiana Jones - he chatted with my mom and made her day!
- The food was fine I thought. I had a hot-dog for my first meal in france!
It was a currywurst from Chateau de la Marionette. Not bad really, though those may have been the worst fries in history! Disney park fries aren't great anyway, but man. Yeah, I ate them all too. - We also ate at Agrabah Cafe - now this was good! They had some delicious things on the buffet, like the thing with cooked-down grapes. Very tender lamb - well cooked! The chefs were super nice, though the efficiency of checking in was lacking. What was the point of having the ADR? At least our line was short compared to what built behind us!
- I did almost witness a fight here! Something happened in the buffet line - which was a bit of a free-for-all as opposed to flowing one way - and this guy got agitated. He was screaming at another guy and I was pretty sure he was gonna throw a punch. That fortunately did not happen, but man! I know it happens in the parks sometimes, I've just never seen it.
- I enjoyed Disney Stars on Parade. I have listened to the soundtrack many times, so it was nice to see. It seems like it was designed to be similar to Festival of Fantasy, which I also love.
- So, Space Mountain was something that I thought I hated after the first ride. The coasters were making my teeth hurt, but I think it was just me being on no sleep from the plane ride. It was better on day two, and I recongnize it is a pretty wicked coaster.
- That said, the theming is a mess. How do they slap Star Wars on this victorian moon-launch cannon? I can usually roll with stuff, but it's just incongruous!
- Okay - Disney Tales of Magic? WOW! WOW! WOW! What a show! I think it may be my new favorite. Maybe not musically, but overall, it was spectacular with the drones and all. I made my family stay for it, though they cancelled the drones on the second night due to the wind. Bummer.
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