First Timer Questions

[Jen1330]

I accidentally posted this in the Trip Reports forum. Oops!! Here's my original post. Any help is much appreciated!


Hi all,

I'm a long time Disney fan, having grown up just 20 minutes from Disneyland in California. However, I'm new to DISBoards and have been loving reading all the posts!

My boyfriend and I are embarking on a European vacation in 15 days (eek!), and 1 of our 10 days abroad will be spent at DLP. We were originally planning on just visiting DLP, but got a good deal on 1-day park hoppers, so we thought we'd visit both parks (but spend most of our time at the main park.

Having been to Disneyland, California Adventure, and WDW, I have some questions about some of the rides. I've already read that Phantom Manor and Pirates are very different from their US counterparts, and I'm so excited to see those! I've heard Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, and Big Thunder are also different. I think I can handle Big Thunder, but I'm nervous about Space Mountain and Indiana Jones. I tend to get sick on real jerky loopy rides. Are these like that? I generally do okay on Space Mountain in the states, but I wasn't sure how different it is in Paris.

I was also wondering what Crush's Coaster is like. I don't know that we will have time to wait in the line anyway, but on the off chance we do, I wanted to know if it's super spiny like teacups or if it just rotates every once in a while, more similarly to Haunted Mansion.

Last, but not least, we are going on a Saturday in July, so I know the parks will be crowded. This was the only day it really fit in our plans. Any suggestions for how to get the most out of both parks and the Disney Village? Any and all suggestions are welcome!

 

[Christieand]

I can only really help with your question about Crush - in my opinion it is VERY spinny, definitely more like teacups than Phantom Manor! I think the general opinion on Space Mountain is that it's very jerky, but I have never been on it. I last went on Indiana Jones about 8 years ago and the only thing I remember is not being very happy about the inversion!

 

[HappyPanda]

I haven't been to any other Disney parks so can't really help with the comparisons, but can give you my opinion on the rollercoasters you've mentioned:

Crush's Coaster

Very, very spinny and quite fast too. You are sat in a tortoise shell with two people on each side, facing out. It starts of quite gentle (this is the bit you can see from outside, so can lure you into a false sense of security!) but once you get instead the real spinning starts. I personally found it to be a great ride and really different from your normal rollercoaster - but if you don't like spinning rides, it's probably one to avoid.

Space Mountain

From what I've been told it's very different to its American cousin. The one in DLP has inversions and is really quite rough. You have to make sure you keep your head pushed right back against the headrest or you will come out with very bruised ears! Last time I went on, I felt like my brain had taken and a bashing and haven't ridden it since.

Indiana Jones

Another one that has an inversion, this one can also bash your ears quite a bit - I've not been on it for a while though, so it might have improved.

HTH

 

[addverbaan]

Best tip I can give you if you do decide to ride Crush Coaste is to be at the gates to the Studio at 9.30am as often they open the gates up then, then RUN to Crush - we normally manage to ride it with a 15 minute or less wait time this way - the rest of the day I would expect a queue time of 90mins plus in the summer.

 

[Jen1330]

Thank you so much for the advice. I think it's safe to say I'll be staying away from these coasters!

 

[HappyPanda]

Last, but not least, we are going on a Saturday in July, so I know the parks will be crowded. This was the only day it really fit in our plans. Any suggestions for how to get the most out of both parks and the Disney Village? Any and all suggestions are welcome!

There are a few plans of action I could recommend, but it depends on (roughly) how early do you think you'll be able to arrive at the park and how late do you think you could stay?

 

[Jen1330]

The park is open at 10. I told my boyfriend we will be on the train by 8 so we can be there early (we are staying in Paris.) we will stay until closing.

 

[Jen1330]

Another question: anyone know which rides offer fast passes? And do they frequently run out during the day?

 

[markpsych]

Another question: anyone know which rides offer fast passes? And do they frequently run out during the day?

In the Park: Big Thunder Mountain, Peter Pan, Indiana Jones, Space Mountain Buzz, and Star Tours

In the Studios: Tower of Terror, Flying Carpets (I think?) and Rock n' Roller Coaster

Peak season, some of the more popular fast past rides may run out by early evening.

 

[HappyPanda]

The park is open at 10. I told my boyfriend we will be on the train by 8 so we can be there early (we are staying in Paris.) we will stay until closing.

Perfect!

When you arrive, you will be allowed into Main Street and down to the castle until the other lands open at 10am. I would wait near the Frontierland gates and then head straight to BTM. After you get off, you can then collect a Fastpass to come back later in the day.

In the morning, I would focus on getting on the rides that have fast loading times - POTC, Phantom Manor, It's a Small World are the main ones.

I would then go to get an early lunch, make the most of the resturants being quiter early on and this also means while other people are having lunch you can crack on with some more rides. You could then do the same with dinner.

If you do want to do the Studios, I would recommend doing this a few hours before they close - it's generally the quietest time to go. But you will need to check the schedule to make sure the shows you want to see are on at that time.

You will have the Parade at 7pm I think, and then there will be dreams at park closing time... Dreams is unmissable! But, I would say don't worry about camping out for a space for hours beforehand - use this time to do any rides you've not had a chance to do yet (the queues will be considerable shorter by then) and then find a place to sit/stand about 20 minutes before. As it's all projected on the castle, you can stand as far back as the entrance to main street and still have a great view.

Hope this helps a bit!

 

[Lisa_C]

You will have the Parade at 7pm I think, and then there will be dreams at park closing time... Dreams is unmissable! But, I would say don't worry about camping out for a space for hours beforehand - use this time to do any rides you've not had a chance to do yet (the queues will be considerable shorter by then) and then find a place to sit/stand about 20 minutes before. As it's all projected on the castle, you can stand as far back as the entrance to main street and still have a great view.

Hope this helps a bit!

Parade is currently at 7pm - BUT Dreams is extremely busy right now because of the warm weather - my Pirate went to check it out Thursday and it was packed with people staking their places early. Summer season you to have to get there a bit early if you want a good view of the fountain projections on the moat

 

[sky13]

BTM was the busiest ride in the park on my last couple of trips - had around 120 minute wait times on a December/March weekend! And even with Fastpass the wait was around 20 minutes... Would highly recommend using Fastpass for this!

I would expect Dreams to be very crowded on a July weekend - it was bad enough on a May weekend (I wandered past the hub around 10pm when Dreams was at 11pm on a Saturday at the end of May, and it was completely packed!). It's still a good experience watching it from further along Main Street, but the best experience is watching it from a good location in the hub!

I think the crowds also went down slightly after dinner on all my visits - e.g. I remember PoTC had a wait time of around 40 minutes during the day, which dropped to around 5 minutes after 8pm or so...

 

[Jen1330]

Thank you all of you! Those tips are super helpful! I had seen advice to do the Studios first, but my thought was also to do it later when the crowds died down a little.

 

[Jen1330]

This might be a silly question, but are the Cinemagique and Animagique shows in French or English? I want to see them, but I don't know any French!

 

[Christieand]

This might be a silly question, but are the Cinemagique and Animagique shows in French or English? I want to see them, but I don't know any French!

They are in both at the same time - some things are said in French, others in English, so you know what's going on even if you don't speak both languages

 

[Jen1330]

Thank you so much! That helps!