Missus Toad
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2004
- Messages
- 1,018
We had a terrific time on our first visit to DLRP! Good, bad and ugly below (forgive me if I re-state the obvious or strike sore points, but these are the things that jumped out at me):
Good:
Disneyland is a beautifully designed park. I cannot say this enough-- it is that huge an aspect of my enjoyment. You can see what improvements were made in the layout in this iteration, and it works well. Lots of wide walkways, alternative routes, and so many lovely scenic vistas within the park. The arcades were wonderful back door exits during parade time. The flower designs were fabulous. I love the taller flowers which gave things a less structured, more natural feel. Great color combinations. Dining spaces are also unique and well designed.
Lots of counter service options at DLP. It seemed like every time I turned a corner, there was another interesting spot.
Pirates, Peter Pan, BTMRR were all improvements over the WDW and DL versions, IMO. I love the little area for Casey Jr. and the Storybook Boats. The RR is the best.
Cast members were quite friendly and fluent in English.
RER transit couldn't be more more convenient.
Princess for a Day was terrific fun. Sophie was lovely to my daughter and her makeover was fabulous!
Excellent: Birthday party at Cafe Mickey! My daughter couldn't have been more thrilled or surprised by the celebration there. I was too, for that matter! Good times.
Bad:
Phantom Manor was okay, but I felt there were a lot of corners cut aesthetically-- not as tight as the other versions. Don't know why this stands out to me so much.
While I appreciate the open spaces, there seem to be big gaps in Frontierland and Adventureland. They need more rides.
WDS (particularly Toy Story Playland) was maddeningly crowded. TSP is not well-designed to accommodate even moderate crowds.
The hotel situation seems lacking. I only visited the DLH and stayed at HNY. Forgive me for being blunt, but HNY seemed comparable to an All-Star in terms of decor and design materials. DLH felt like a WDW mod. Just lots of cut corners in materials, design and scale. It should have been so much more, IMO, especially being the pricey flagship for the resort. I also had a good amount of black mold on the grout in my HNY shower, which I complained about to no avail. Since we were staying only two nights and had access to the bathroom in a connecting room, I didn't feel the need to change rooms, but it was a complaint I made more than once. Hopefully, they do something about it for the next guest.
The pool situation was irritating, simply for the whole locker room, wristband, towel rigamarole you have to go through to get in the water. Not a huge deal but mildly annoying, especially with the one blatantly rude CM I encountered running the show.
There are some really rude guests. I suppose this is everywhere, but the lack of respect for a queue here is unparalleled, in my experience.
Ugly:
A big issue for me was the astounding condition of the pavement just outside DLP and in Disney Village I mean, if you're traveling with the very old or very young (as I was), it gets downright dicey. In some well-trafficked areas there are huge gouges and gaps of about 2 inches deep, which to me is unacceptable, both aesthetically and in terms of safety.
The garbage in the bushes, flower beds, waterways and on queues is awful. Who are these people who leave trash just anywhere like that? I'm sure people do this in the other parks too, but it seemed to be piling up here.
Smoking. Wow. Just wow. Everywhere.
At the end of the day, despite the negatives, I really did enjoy my visit, and would like to return someday. I would adjust my expectations and hope for improvements, and not spend so much to stay at a deluxe. I'm in Paris for the next 2 weeks, so maybe the spirit will move me to do another day trip.
Good:
Disneyland is a beautifully designed park. I cannot say this enough-- it is that huge an aspect of my enjoyment. You can see what improvements were made in the layout in this iteration, and it works well. Lots of wide walkways, alternative routes, and so many lovely scenic vistas within the park. The arcades were wonderful back door exits during parade time. The flower designs were fabulous. I love the taller flowers which gave things a less structured, more natural feel. Great color combinations. Dining spaces are also unique and well designed.
Lots of counter service options at DLP. It seemed like every time I turned a corner, there was another interesting spot.
Pirates, Peter Pan, BTMRR were all improvements over the WDW and DL versions, IMO. I love the little area for Casey Jr. and the Storybook Boats. The RR is the best.
Cast members were quite friendly and fluent in English.
RER transit couldn't be more more convenient.
Princess for a Day was terrific fun. Sophie was lovely to my daughter and her makeover was fabulous!
Excellent: Birthday party at Cafe Mickey! My daughter couldn't have been more thrilled or surprised by the celebration there. I was too, for that matter! Good times.
Bad:
Phantom Manor was okay, but I felt there were a lot of corners cut aesthetically-- not as tight as the other versions. Don't know why this stands out to me so much.
While I appreciate the open spaces, there seem to be big gaps in Frontierland and Adventureland. They need more rides.
WDS (particularly Toy Story Playland) was maddeningly crowded. TSP is not well-designed to accommodate even moderate crowds.
The hotel situation seems lacking. I only visited the DLH and stayed at HNY. Forgive me for being blunt, but HNY seemed comparable to an All-Star in terms of decor and design materials. DLH felt like a WDW mod. Just lots of cut corners in materials, design and scale. It should have been so much more, IMO, especially being the pricey flagship for the resort. I also had a good amount of black mold on the grout in my HNY shower, which I complained about to no avail. Since we were staying only two nights and had access to the bathroom in a connecting room, I didn't feel the need to change rooms, but it was a complaint I made more than once. Hopefully, they do something about it for the next guest.
The pool situation was irritating, simply for the whole locker room, wristband, towel rigamarole you have to go through to get in the water. Not a huge deal but mildly annoying, especially with the one blatantly rude CM I encountered running the show.
There are some really rude guests. I suppose this is everywhere, but the lack of respect for a queue here is unparalleled, in my experience.
Ugly:
A big issue for me was the astounding condition of the pavement just outside DLP and in Disney Village I mean, if you're traveling with the very old or very young (as I was), it gets downright dicey. In some well-trafficked areas there are huge gouges and gaps of about 2 inches deep, which to me is unacceptable, both aesthetically and in terms of safety.
The garbage in the bushes, flower beds, waterways and on queues is awful. Who are these people who leave trash just anywhere like that? I'm sure people do this in the other parks too, but it seemed to be piling up here.
Smoking. Wow. Just wow. Everywhere.
At the end of the day, despite the negatives, I really did enjoy my visit, and would like to return someday. I would adjust my expectations and hope for improvements, and not spend so much to stay at a deluxe. I'm in Paris for the next 2 weeks, so maybe the spirit will move me to do another day trip.
