Wismgari
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2013
- Messages
- 89
I think this may end up being pretty long, sorry!!
I went on my first ever trip to DLP from 19th 21st January (travelled down the day before on the 18th). I have been to Florida once before, two years ago and absolutely loved it and have been desperate to go back since. I went with my bf, who had never been to any Disney Park before but was very excited about the trip.
Highs:
Dream Castle hotel We stayed there the first night before moving to Santa Fe. I loved this hotel! The theming was amazing. On check in, I asked if they had a nice quiet room available as I was tired after my day of travelling. She upgraded us to a huge family room even though there were only two of us and the section of the hotel we were in seemed pretty deserted Didnt hear a thing the whole time I was there. I was very sad to leave (especially as we didnt have the best time at the Santa Fe see the lows!)
Parks were so empty it was great! Didnt wait over 10 minutes for any ride (although did do single rider for Ratatouille in the middle of the day, as the wait was a huge 25 minutes!). Princess pavilion was a 60 minute wait most of the time though, so I didnt go to meet the princesses
Character interactions characters were really good with us, even though we have no kids! I had a great interaction with Stitch (my favourite character) as I had a Stitch hat on and he took it off me and wore it himself! He kept waving at me, was so cute! Also met some characters I had not seen before, including the Mad Hatter, tweedle dee and tweedle dum and Rabbit.
Ratatouille ride Wow!! We both loved this ride so much!
Toy Story Playland this area is so beautifully themed, I loved it
Big Thunder mountain So much better than WDW, I rode this over and over. At night it was amazing
Dreams nothing else needs to be said about how amazing this show is!
Half board vouchers We had these included in the package I booked and I wasnt really sure about the idea of the buffets before I went, but I changed my mind very quickly! I am a picky eater and I found plenty to eat Plaza Gardens and enough to eat at Restaurant des Stars. Was really nice to have a big lunch after a busy morning in the parks.
Earl of sandwich loved this in WDW so was very happy this was in Paris as well!
The weather it was very very cold as I was expecting, but we were so lucky there was some rain and snow on Monday morning but it was dry for the rest of our trip. Pretty perfect for January really.
Lows:
Eurostar! Although we were actually very lucky in the end, it just didnt feel like it at the time! We travelled on Sunday the day after the fire. We had been told there was a normal service until we arrived and our train had been cancelled! They managed to book us on a train an hour later, and then we were waiting at the tunnel for 90 minutes and had to get a later connection in Lille, but we got there finally on Sunday night! Then on the way home, our train to Lille was late and we would have missed the last Eurostar of the day, but luckily they held the train for us. Then we had a 45 minute wait at the tunnel as well. Ending up getting into London 1.5 hours late and missed our connection back to Cardiff we were able to get on the last train of the day instead (Eurostar stamped our tickets), but meant getting home at almost 3am so it was a long day!! Considering all of the problems we were very lucky, was just exhausting and stressful for my first every trip on Eurostar! I think I would rather go direct next time if I can.
Santa Fe We arrived at 8am and got our room straight away which was great! Apart from when we got to our room there was a travel cot left behind and a dirty nappy in the bin!! Straight back to reception where they promised it would be sorted out and the whole room cleaned again whilst we were at the park. Got back at 10.30pm, absolutely exhausted to find nothing had changed, apart from the room now smelt pretty bad. Back to reception again, where they gave us a new room, we were just pretty tired by the time we then went back to our old room and moved our own stuff to the new room not the best start! Our heater also turned out to be broken and the fan was so noisy in the bathroom (seemed to be rattling in the wall) that I found it difficult to sleep. I think we were just unfortunate and I did like the theming a lot, but I dont think I would go back! I need to win the lottery so I can afford the Disneyland Hotel next time
Smoking I had read the forums and was expecting this, but it still gave me a horrible cough and made my asthma play up
Cast members the majority were fine and polite, so I suppose it is not really a low. It is just my only experience is WDW and the staff in France just seemed bored and that they didnt want to be there, in comparison with my previous experience. Just made the whole experience a bit less magical for me.
Lack of shows to me it could have done with a few more shows in the studios I did cinemagique and animagique, as well as Stitch Live (four times I really love Stitch!). Perhaps this is just because I dont like thrill rides so was missing out on a few things at the Studios.
Overall, I had a great time and I was happy to get my Disney fix. There are definite bits that are better than Flordia the theming in studios is great, the proximity of the two parks and the village was so convenient and some of the rides are better in Paris (Big Thunder Mountain and Ratatouille for example). Also, there was a Stitch show, so for a Stitch obsessed big kid, this made me very happy! The main downside was that it didnt seem as magical to me, probably from the smoking and the cast members seeming less cheerful and over the top. It is a shame Santa Fe wasnt better as I do love Cars, but I would stay in a Disney hotel again, but would probably try another one next time. I will definitely go back!
I went on my first ever trip to DLP from 19th 21st January (travelled down the day before on the 18th). I have been to Florida once before, two years ago and absolutely loved it and have been desperate to go back since. I went with my bf, who had never been to any Disney Park before but was very excited about the trip.
Highs:
Dream Castle hotel We stayed there the first night before moving to Santa Fe. I loved this hotel! The theming was amazing. On check in, I asked if they had a nice quiet room available as I was tired after my day of travelling. She upgraded us to a huge family room even though there were only two of us and the section of the hotel we were in seemed pretty deserted Didnt hear a thing the whole time I was there. I was very sad to leave (especially as we didnt have the best time at the Santa Fe see the lows!)
Parks were so empty it was great! Didnt wait over 10 minutes for any ride (although did do single rider for Ratatouille in the middle of the day, as the wait was a huge 25 minutes!). Princess pavilion was a 60 minute wait most of the time though, so I didnt go to meet the princesses
Character interactions characters were really good with us, even though we have no kids! I had a great interaction with Stitch (my favourite character) as I had a Stitch hat on and he took it off me and wore it himself! He kept waving at me, was so cute! Also met some characters I had not seen before, including the Mad Hatter, tweedle dee and tweedle dum and Rabbit.
Ratatouille ride Wow!! We both loved this ride so much!
Toy Story Playland this area is so beautifully themed, I loved it
Big Thunder mountain So much better than WDW, I rode this over and over. At night it was amazing
Dreams nothing else needs to be said about how amazing this show is!
Half board vouchers We had these included in the package I booked and I wasnt really sure about the idea of the buffets before I went, but I changed my mind very quickly! I am a picky eater and I found plenty to eat Plaza Gardens and enough to eat at Restaurant des Stars. Was really nice to have a big lunch after a busy morning in the parks.
Earl of sandwich loved this in WDW so was very happy this was in Paris as well!
The weather it was very very cold as I was expecting, but we were so lucky there was some rain and snow on Monday morning but it was dry for the rest of our trip. Pretty perfect for January really.
Lows:
Eurostar! Although we were actually very lucky in the end, it just didnt feel like it at the time! We travelled on Sunday the day after the fire. We had been told there was a normal service until we arrived and our train had been cancelled! They managed to book us on a train an hour later, and then we were waiting at the tunnel for 90 minutes and had to get a later connection in Lille, but we got there finally on Sunday night! Then on the way home, our train to Lille was late and we would have missed the last Eurostar of the day, but luckily they held the train for us. Then we had a 45 minute wait at the tunnel as well. Ending up getting into London 1.5 hours late and missed our connection back to Cardiff we were able to get on the last train of the day instead (Eurostar stamped our tickets), but meant getting home at almost 3am so it was a long day!! Considering all of the problems we were very lucky, was just exhausting and stressful for my first every trip on Eurostar! I think I would rather go direct next time if I can.
Santa Fe We arrived at 8am and got our room straight away which was great! Apart from when we got to our room there was a travel cot left behind and a dirty nappy in the bin!! Straight back to reception where they promised it would be sorted out and the whole room cleaned again whilst we were at the park. Got back at 10.30pm, absolutely exhausted to find nothing had changed, apart from the room now smelt pretty bad. Back to reception again, where they gave us a new room, we were just pretty tired by the time we then went back to our old room and moved our own stuff to the new room not the best start! Our heater also turned out to be broken and the fan was so noisy in the bathroom (seemed to be rattling in the wall) that I found it difficult to sleep. I think we were just unfortunate and I did like the theming a lot, but I dont think I would go back! I need to win the lottery so I can afford the Disneyland Hotel next time
Smoking I had read the forums and was expecting this, but it still gave me a horrible cough and made my asthma play up
Cast members the majority were fine and polite, so I suppose it is not really a low. It is just my only experience is WDW and the staff in France just seemed bored and that they didnt want to be there, in comparison with my previous experience. Just made the whole experience a bit less magical for me.
Lack of shows to me it could have done with a few more shows in the studios I did cinemagique and animagique, as well as Stitch Live (four times I really love Stitch!). Perhaps this is just because I dont like thrill rides so was missing out on a few things at the Studios.
Overall, I had a great time and I was happy to get my Disney fix. There are definite bits that are better than Flordia the theming in studios is great, the proximity of the two parks and the village was so convenient and some of the rides are better in Paris (Big Thunder Mountain and Ratatouille for example). Also, there was a Stitch show, so for a Stitch obsessed big kid, this made me very happy! The main downside was that it didnt seem as magical to me, probably from the smoking and the cast members seeming less cheerful and over the top. It is a shame Santa Fe wasnt better as I do love Cars, but I would stay in a Disney hotel again, but would probably try another one next time. I will definitely go back!
