As mentioned, the worse thing you can do when going to Disneyland Paris (especially coming from WDW/DL) is to compare. Each park is unique but is formed by the people who work there and the guests who visit it. Each park is built for their own audience. And for a lot of things there are reasons why a park was built a certain way.
Whenever you travel, you need to keep an open mind and expect things to be different from home. With Disneyland Paris it's the same, the name 'Disney' on something doesn't make it the same all over the world.
Question: When are you going?
Crowds depend a bit on when you are going. Disneyland Paris still has a low/high season as the holidays in Europe are all roughly around the same period and Disneyland Paris is not a destination like WDW is.
That said, when you are going in one of those holiday periods or are visiting on national holidays, then yes, it can be busy.
The good:
It will feel less crowded than Magic Kingdom or DL. You can see they learned from the US parks and improved upon it. For example, our paths are wider, parallel to Main Street there are 2 covered walkways, this helps to spread the crowds when leaving the park.
The park is also more spread out than the US parks. It will take you longer to walk from one side to the other, but it will be more pleasant.
Without a doubt, Disneyland Paris is the most beautiful park. It was made to stroll through, like the French do in the city parks. When you look at how Phantom Manor (Haunted Mansion) is situation, for example. The ride is tied in with Big Thunder Mountain and the entire Frontierland. While you walk by the frontierland-stores/restaurants, you see the mansion up the hill. The landscaping is different, there are more creepy bushes and trees leading up to the mansion.
Or the landscaping around the castle, on the left you see the square trees as in Sleeping Beauty, but when you look at the right, you see how the castle is build in on the mountain, like it's carved from there.
Great rides:
Big Thunder Mountain is the best in the world, Crush Coaster' is a great coaster. Personally not a fan of our Space Mountain, but it is a great ride, and the vehicles are way more comfortable than in WDW. I do think our Pirates is better. 2 drops and photo opportunity (and in my biased opinion, I always feel the scenes in the WDW version is in the wrong order).
Little distractions
Disneyland Paris has some nice little distractions, like Alice' Labyrinth, Aladdin's walkthrough. The dragon under the castle is always a favourite among American guests. But also the Gardens of Wonder for the 30th anniversary are nice things to look at, walk by, admire it etc. You can really take your time to explore the grottos around PIrates of the Caribbean.
So what else...
Disneyland Paris is really good at shows nowadays. If you love shows, Disneyland Paris your park.
And I am going to say it as I went to WDW last week: Disneyland Paris' 30th anniversary castle stage show, and pre-fireworks drone show is much better than the Royal Friendship Fare and the beacon of lights in Magic Kingdom. Sorry, WDW, but DLP did a better job. It's fresh, it's modern and your show is just same-old, same-old.
Okay, the bad/ugly:
- I do not notice it anymore, but smoking.
For non-European visitors it's very noticeable. Smoking in France is habit that you used to be able to do everywhere, anytime. They have some laws in place, and the park is officially non smoking, but it is a cultural change that is necessary and that takes time. It has gotten less and less, and CMs feel more comfortable to address guests and tell them the smoking areas. Covid has definitely helped, as France had very strict measures. You can't smoke with a mask on.
- Food
Also this is one not to compare.
Food was never a priority in Disneyland Paris, because of French cuisine and dining habits. The French are very proud of their food culture. A good night out eating can easily take 2 hours or more. A themepark wants to feed as many guests as possible in the shortest amount of time.
As there are so many amazing places to eat in Paris, they just didn't bother to compete with it, I guess.
A lot is average themepark food, not inedible, but also not great. It's fine. Some restaurants are definitely better than others.
WDW on the other hand, especially Epcot, is a place where some people go just for the food.
- Cultural differences
As mentioned before, CMs are less cheerful than Florida CMs (California CMs are also different from Florida CMs). This is because American culture is much more cheerful in general. And in Europe we didn't grew up with Disney the way Americans did. We didn't have good old Uncle Walt on tv when we grew up. We had the movies, but that's basically it. In the US, for many CMs it is a lifelong dream to work for Disney. In France, it's a job like any other. France has many problems with unemployment. Any job is better than no job.
In addition to this, In Europe we do not think people are constantly happy, and we distrust people who are constantly smiling. If you do, you are probably lying or hiding something. At the very least, something suspicious is going on. To European guests in Florida WDW CMs are usually too over the top.
(For example, when I was in Magic Kingdom on my birthday, wearing my button, I got almost stopped in the streets by CMs to congratulate me. At a certain point I took it off, as 50 birthday wishes within an hour was too much ;-) )
Not that CMs in DLP are bad, they are more (for lack of a better word) toned down than in the US. We have some gems. If you come across Sergio Paolo, in crowd control for at least a decade. He's your pre-show entertainment at the 30th anniversary show. Fun, always smiling, messing around with guests.
Other things to keep in mind:
- Disneyland Paris has hotels, not resorts.
Most people have a hotel to sleep at. Going back to the hotel during the day is not a thing for many. So there are less amenities, also less decor.
Hotel rooms are in general smaller than in the US, mattresses are firmer.
- Merchandise
Merchandise is different here. Especially when it comes to clothes. You will see less people walking in Disney shirts, less girls in princess dresses. Therefore also less clothes in the stores. Ears are not really a thing (no matter how hard DLP tries to push it). Also keep in mind that sizing is different, an S in the US is a lot bigger than an S in France, and sizing rarily goes over XL.
- Refills
Free refills are not allowed by French law, to combat obesity.
- Nutella is a thing in France
Peanut butter is not.
