Mister Toad
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2010
- Messages
- 356
Hey, just got back a few days ago from a long trip in Europe. We decided to tack on a few extra days to our Paris leg and just check out DLP. We were there on Sunday July 24 and left shortly after lunch on the 26th. We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel and really liked the park. Here are my thoughts (from an American perspective).
Hotel: Disneyland Hotel was awesome. It was great being so close to everything, we could just run back to the room and drop off shopping if we needed to, or to take a quick rest. The room was big, well decorated and the theming was great. All in all, we were really happy with the hotel.
Food: We ate dinner at Walt's and Blue Lagoon. Both had good food and really cool atmosphere. We wish that Walt's wasn't being repainted but didn't hurt the inside. The themed rooms were really cool, and the food was great. Blue Lagoon was really good theming too, we love Blue Bayou at Disneyland and thought this was a cool swing on that, but goes Caribbean over US Southern food. Service at Walt's was great and Blue Lagoon was good. I think that service in general in the US is different but these were some of the best restaurants from a service perspective we were at the whole trip.
For lunch we just did counter service. We ate at Toad Hall (Had to right?) and the theme was awesome. My wife was wearing a Mr. Toad shirt and I don't think anyone really realized Mr. Toad is a ride at Disneyland in California, they seemed confused. We also ate at Fuente del Oro and Hakuna Matata. Both were good too, especially Hakuna Matata.
Rides: It was really cool to ride some different versions of the same rides. We loved Crush's Coaster and wish they brought that to the US. Toy Story Playland was also cool (RC Racer was fun). We both thought that Big Thunder was a really fun ride. I personally like it more than both Disneyland and Disney World versions from what I can remember. Space Mountain was crazy, much more intense than the other versions, I couldn't ride that more than once a day, it kinda tossed me around. Indiana Jones was fun too, but I still like the ride at Disneyland more but I love Indy so anything themed to that was great. One negative I had, all the rides seemed to break down a lot. I think Big Thunder must have broken down 4 times that we saw in the 2 1/2 days. It was kinda crazy how often rides seemed to be down and the lack of information that you are given from the cast members. I know its a newer park, but we also thought there was a lot of open space. It leaves room to grow in the future and the park hasn't always been the greatest financial success but I was surprised they hadn't expanded into some of those areas (notably the gap between Discovery Land and Fantasy Land.
Language: I know, we were in France. I get that. But its Disney still, and I felt like VERY VERY little was in English. We did the Armageddon attraction and the cast member in the first room asked who spoke French, about 1/3, and asked who spoke English, about 2/3. Then said basically "too bad, this in going to be in French, look at the monitors." I felt like every ride was in French or a partial mix at best. I can't help but think there are many more people at the park that understand English (Germans, Italians, British, Spanish, etc., most know English long before French) and I just wish they would have incorporated that more into the rides. Probably just my soapbox on the language.
Parks: Theming in Disneyland Paris was really great. There were a lot of small hidden details that we liked. The dragon was cool and the castle interior was awesome with the stained glass. Walt Disney Studios kind of struck me similar to what California Adventure was when it opened. There are a lot of cool rides, but it doesn't really seem to have an identity. They are working to incorporate that but I just think like California Adventure, it still needs a little something.
Shows/Parades: We caught the afternoon parade a little and the night time parade as well. Both were pretty good, not the best I had ever seen but I enjoyed them. We stayed on the first night to watch the fireworks. Sorry if I upset people here, I know my perspective may be off as on the 4th of July in the US every town puts on a big fireworks show, but I am used to being blown away at Disney fireworks. The Enchanted Fireworks were so far from that. I saw it as a total ground show, without a single launch high into the air and explode traditional firework that I am used to. I was really let down on the fireworks, but as people seemed to really like them, maybe I am just too used to the fireworks at Disneyland and Disney World that look to cost many many times as much and are much more impressive.
Guests and Cast Members: I know this has been covered before, and I know its not the US so there are cultural differences. But I got so tired of people, adults included, just going under the ropes and cutting in line. Then when I say something they just totally ignore it. Different manners, customs, whatever I was really annoyed at how nobody could figure out how to make and keep a line. We waited 2 mornings for Crush and when the lines started moving so many people tried to jump in. Thankfully, that was the only instance that I saw Disney cast members stopping them. The rest of the time they didn't really care. If any line opened up wider than a person or two across, people would start shoving their way forward. Not even polite enough to say "excuse me" in whatever language they speak, at least acknowledge that you are shoving past me. My other complaints were smoking and general disregard for rules. In Disneyland and Disney World I can count on one hand how many people I have seen smoking outside "designated" areas, and they have always been stopped by a cast member. And people with one hand holding a cigarette and the other their 3 year old kids hand, really? Not too healthy for your kid. Also, I saw many people climbing over fences to sit on the grass and eat a sandwich or something, ad no employee stops them. I have never seen that in California or Florida. Last complaint on many of the guests, CONSTANT talking. Every time we were in Phantom Manor with other guests, people talked over the preshow. I don't speak much french, but I can get the idea of the story if I can hear. The cast member had to constantly circle to shhh people but it didn't work. That was new as everyone is always quiet in the US parks and you can always hear. Not sure if it relates back to them not understanding the language or what, but really frustrated me. I can't really blame it all on the guests cause the cast members didn't even bother stopping them. I really think its an issue of enforcement that they have the rules, they need to enforce them and the problem will remedy itself. All in all, the cast members were ok. I think there are just some differences in the culture again, while I saw some FANTASTIC cast members, most of them appeared to be pretty senior and big time, so it made sense that they were spectacular. I saw one restaurant manager who made every child in the restaurant laugh and crack up, you don't see that every day at any park I have been to. The general cast members seemed less into in than their US counterparts. At the very end of the night we were at Phantom Manor and the door opened, there was the cast member for that ride in the main room with a train conductor and what looked like a friend of theirs, so they didn't seem to separate as much.
Overall: We really liked the park and are glad we went. We wouldn't make a trip out of it but if we found ourselves in Paris again, I would like to stop by for another brief trip. Despite my diatribes about the guests, we both really enjoyed ourselves.
Last Question: What's the deal with Stitch? He was EVERYWHERE. Is he super popular in Europe or something? I couldn't wrap my head around it, the top 3 characters had to be Mickey, Minnie and Stitch.
Hotel: Disneyland Hotel was awesome. It was great being so close to everything, we could just run back to the room and drop off shopping if we needed to, or to take a quick rest. The room was big, well decorated and the theming was great. All in all, we were really happy with the hotel.
Food: We ate dinner at Walt's and Blue Lagoon. Both had good food and really cool atmosphere. We wish that Walt's wasn't being repainted but didn't hurt the inside. The themed rooms were really cool, and the food was great. Blue Lagoon was really good theming too, we love Blue Bayou at Disneyland and thought this was a cool swing on that, but goes Caribbean over US Southern food. Service at Walt's was great and Blue Lagoon was good. I think that service in general in the US is different but these were some of the best restaurants from a service perspective we were at the whole trip.
For lunch we just did counter service. We ate at Toad Hall (Had to right?) and the theme was awesome. My wife was wearing a Mr. Toad shirt and I don't think anyone really realized Mr. Toad is a ride at Disneyland in California, they seemed confused. We also ate at Fuente del Oro and Hakuna Matata. Both were good too, especially Hakuna Matata.
Rides: It was really cool to ride some different versions of the same rides. We loved Crush's Coaster and wish they brought that to the US. Toy Story Playland was also cool (RC Racer was fun). We both thought that Big Thunder was a really fun ride. I personally like it more than both Disneyland and Disney World versions from what I can remember. Space Mountain was crazy, much more intense than the other versions, I couldn't ride that more than once a day, it kinda tossed me around. Indiana Jones was fun too, but I still like the ride at Disneyland more but I love Indy so anything themed to that was great. One negative I had, all the rides seemed to break down a lot. I think Big Thunder must have broken down 4 times that we saw in the 2 1/2 days. It was kinda crazy how often rides seemed to be down and the lack of information that you are given from the cast members. I know its a newer park, but we also thought there was a lot of open space. It leaves room to grow in the future and the park hasn't always been the greatest financial success but I was surprised they hadn't expanded into some of those areas (notably the gap between Discovery Land and Fantasy Land.
Language: I know, we were in France. I get that. But its Disney still, and I felt like VERY VERY little was in English. We did the Armageddon attraction and the cast member in the first room asked who spoke French, about 1/3, and asked who spoke English, about 2/3. Then said basically "too bad, this in going to be in French, look at the monitors." I felt like every ride was in French or a partial mix at best. I can't help but think there are many more people at the park that understand English (Germans, Italians, British, Spanish, etc., most know English long before French) and I just wish they would have incorporated that more into the rides. Probably just my soapbox on the language.
Parks: Theming in Disneyland Paris was really great. There were a lot of small hidden details that we liked. The dragon was cool and the castle interior was awesome with the stained glass. Walt Disney Studios kind of struck me similar to what California Adventure was when it opened. There are a lot of cool rides, but it doesn't really seem to have an identity. They are working to incorporate that but I just think like California Adventure, it still needs a little something.
Shows/Parades: We caught the afternoon parade a little and the night time parade as well. Both were pretty good, not the best I had ever seen but I enjoyed them. We stayed on the first night to watch the fireworks. Sorry if I upset people here, I know my perspective may be off as on the 4th of July in the US every town puts on a big fireworks show, but I am used to being blown away at Disney fireworks. The Enchanted Fireworks were so far from that. I saw it as a total ground show, without a single launch high into the air and explode traditional firework that I am used to. I was really let down on the fireworks, but as people seemed to really like them, maybe I am just too used to the fireworks at Disneyland and Disney World that look to cost many many times as much and are much more impressive.
Guests and Cast Members: I know this has been covered before, and I know its not the US so there are cultural differences. But I got so tired of people, adults included, just going under the ropes and cutting in line. Then when I say something they just totally ignore it. Different manners, customs, whatever I was really annoyed at how nobody could figure out how to make and keep a line. We waited 2 mornings for Crush and when the lines started moving so many people tried to jump in. Thankfully, that was the only instance that I saw Disney cast members stopping them. The rest of the time they didn't really care. If any line opened up wider than a person or two across, people would start shoving their way forward. Not even polite enough to say "excuse me" in whatever language they speak, at least acknowledge that you are shoving past me. My other complaints were smoking and general disregard for rules. In Disneyland and Disney World I can count on one hand how many people I have seen smoking outside "designated" areas, and they have always been stopped by a cast member. And people with one hand holding a cigarette and the other their 3 year old kids hand, really? Not too healthy for your kid. Also, I saw many people climbing over fences to sit on the grass and eat a sandwich or something, ad no employee stops them. I have never seen that in California or Florida. Last complaint on many of the guests, CONSTANT talking. Every time we were in Phantom Manor with other guests, people talked over the preshow. I don't speak much french, but I can get the idea of the story if I can hear. The cast member had to constantly circle to shhh people but it didn't work. That was new as everyone is always quiet in the US parks and you can always hear. Not sure if it relates back to them not understanding the language or what, but really frustrated me. I can't really blame it all on the guests cause the cast members didn't even bother stopping them. I really think its an issue of enforcement that they have the rules, they need to enforce them and the problem will remedy itself. All in all, the cast members were ok. I think there are just some differences in the culture again, while I saw some FANTASTIC cast members, most of them appeared to be pretty senior and big time, so it made sense that they were spectacular. I saw one restaurant manager who made every child in the restaurant laugh and crack up, you don't see that every day at any park I have been to. The general cast members seemed less into in than their US counterparts. At the very end of the night we were at Phantom Manor and the door opened, there was the cast member for that ride in the main room with a train conductor and what looked like a friend of theirs, so they didn't seem to separate as much.
Overall: We really liked the park and are glad we went. We wouldn't make a trip out of it but if we found ourselves in Paris again, I would like to stop by for another brief trip. Despite my diatribes about the guests, we both really enjoyed ourselves.
Last Question: What's the deal with Stitch? He was EVERYWHERE. Is he super popular in Europe or something? I couldn't wrap my head around it, the top 3 characters had to be Mickey, Minnie and Stitch.
that was a great read Mr Toad - Stitch does seem to be very popular at DLP. Last year Angel joined him and there was Stitch/Angel merchandise everywhere in the parks.
I think he's some super pirate/skellington
I would like to take advantage of the EMH's at the 
I've never actually seen a class starting right after the show, so the whole combined thing became Animation Academy in my mind.
The smoking is very annoying, especially as the UK has had a ban in place for a few years now and also out theme parks now enforce it, but to be honest, we tend to ignore it and don't let it spoil our trip. If a person is smoking in a queue next to me I have NO problem in letting it known they are disobeying the rules!!!! I know to take a few different language programmes with me and point them out 
