Going next week - first time to DLP - help?!

[JnbTravels]

Hi,

We are going to DLP for the first time next week. We will arrive on April 1st and leave on the 5th, and we are staying at the Explorer. We have reservations at Cafe Mickey on the first night.

We have a 6yr old girl and a 3 yr old boy.
What rides or shows should we go on first? What should we get fastpasses for? What to avoid with young kids? What are some things that we definitely shouldn't miss?

We also plan to go into Paris one day - probably Tues or Wed.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[wendybird7]

Hi there, you must be so excited - and a bit stressed!

First off, don't worry - DLP is relatively small and easy to handle, and 5 days is plenty of time to see and do everything.

It may be an idea to make a list of attractions you would like to go on, here are my recommendations (and ones to be wary of)

Fantasyland Must Dos

It's a Small World
Peter Pan's Flight
Mad Hatters Tea Cups
Alice's Labyrinth
Storybook Land
Casey Jr Train
The Castle and the dragon

Be Wary of the Snow White & Pinochio rides, as these feature dark scenes that can scare young children, in particular the Snow White one. They are good rides, so if you think your kids will be OK if they can hold your hand then try it out.

Frontierland Must Dos

Big Thunder Mountain
The Riverboat

Be wary of Phantom Manor, fantastic ride but scary for young kids again, though I went on this when I was 6 and loved being scared.

Adventureland Must Dos
Pirates of the Carribean
Adventure Isle
Hook's Ship
The Aladdin walk thru ride
Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse

There is a rollercoaster in Adventureland called Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom which is quite good if you and your partner wanted to go on it, but IMO nowhere near as good as RnR coaster or Space Mountain.

Discoveryland Must Dos
Star Tours (however some kids may get a little scared/sick as it is a simulated ride)
Lion King show
Buzz Lightyear's Lazer Blast
Space Mountain for you and your partner
Perhaps Honey I shrunk the Kids, but some children will find this unsettling

My recommendation is to do the train first that goes all round the park, it will let you all get acquainted with it and it's a nice ride.

Do not miss the new parade, try to catch it at the Bella Notte restaurant near It's a Small world in Fantasyland as it is less crowded here.

In Walt Disney Studios, don't miss cinemagique, animagique, the art of animation, Flying Carpets of Agrabah, the Studio Tram Tour or RnR for you and your partner. there is also a parade here which is quite fun.

Def get fastpasses for BTM, Peter Pan and Buzz. Avoid the crowds, if you wait until the evening the park will be quieter and you won't have to queue as long.

Hope this all helps!

 

[isma]

Hi there,
I just wanted to add that it might be a good idea to head to Fantasyland first thing in the morning as it gets crowded fast. I don`t know if you are staying at a Disney hotel, but if so you should book a Good morning Fantasyland breakfast, it`s free and you have an earlier admission to the park to have breakfast there.

I agree with wendybird7s mustdos and tips. And don`t forget to check out the gallery in the castle, but be careful with the dungeon, as the dragon might scare the kids.

If you want to see the Lion King show be sure to check the times when they play it in english and if you want to sit in the audience you might have to queue in Discoveryland to get free tickets but you can also just have lunch at Cafe Hyperion and watch from a little further away.

 

[JnbTravels]

Awesome tips! Thanks!

We are staying at the Explorer hotel, so I don't think we can do the free breakfast in the park. Is that right?

We can't wait to try everything! I'm hoping that it won't be super crowded, but we'll just have to deal with whatever happens.

I've seen mixed reviews about the studios park. Is it worth checking out? Attractions for the little ones?

 

[tennisfan]

You can only do Good Morning breakfast if you stay in certain Disney hotels.

If you have passes for the studios then I would recommend it as they have the Stunt show, Animagique & Cinemagique shows. It is easier to interact with the characters here usually too.

 

[JnbTravels]

I know about fastpasses, but where do you get them?

Can you find out from the DLP website which shows are in english?

 

[isma]

I could only find the show times but I am sure it`s remarked on the parkplans when the lion King is played in english.
http://news.disneylandparis.co.uk/calendar/calendar.xhtml?day=1&month=3&year=2007

To get a fastpass you have to go to the attraction where you will find a Fastpass machine near the entrance. They have always a sign above where the time for the fastpass slot that you will get a time for is remarked. If the return time is ok for you,you just have to insert the tickets and will get tickets back where the return time to use your fastpass is written on. And of course you get your parkentrance tickets back
Hope that wasn`t too confused

 

[isma]

Oh, almost forgot: from what i understand you can now have only one fastpass for one attraction, and get a fastpass for another attraction when the slot is over, but maybe someone who`s recently been to DLP can confirm that.

And if you are staying at the explorers you have no good morning Fantasyland breakfast.

 

[wideeyes]

Last week the lion king shows in English were at 12, 2.30, and 4.30, though they may have more shows on next week as it is easter. You can get a program guide & park map from the park. The program guide will list all the times of shows, parades and character meet and greets. It is in a seperate leaflet to the map so make sure you pick up both as the map does not include show times now.

 

[JnbTravels]

Thanks everyone. Great info!

 

[wendybird7]

No problem! I'd love to hear a trip report from your guys first trip to DLP!!

Are your little ones excited?

 

[JnbTravels]

We just told the kids yesterday and they are soooo excited!

I will post a trip report when we get back. Weather forecast is looking pretty good, so I hope everything will go smoothly and that we will have a fantastic time.

What time should we try to arrive at the park in the morning? Do people start lining up early? We should have tickets before we get there, so I guess we would go straight to the entrance, right?

 

[JnbTravels]

Another quick question.

We arrive on Sun and will leave on Thurs. We plan to get a 3-day hopper ticket. We will spend 1 of our full days in Paris, so we will have 2 other full days for the parks and part of a 3rd day on either Sun afternoon/evening or Thurs morning. Any suggestions for which one - Sun or Thurs?

Thanks!

 

[tennisfan]

If the park is open late, I would say sunday afternoon/evening personally. If you already have your tickets then you can go staright through too the entrance.

Have a fantastic time

 

[esk]

For BTM, unless your 3 year old is very tall, he won't be able to go on...they wouldn't even let us queue holding our 2 year old.

So 5 year old and myself rode, and DH and DD went around the left side, to where the ride lets out and we did the "baby swap". 5 year old came off, we went down and I switched places with DH and the two of them went right back on, through the back of the ride, and rode with no waiting.

You can do this on most rides, but we only found this one that only one child could do.

5 year old LOVED Buzz and we made sure we got fastpasses for that one too...not sure that 2 year old could have gone, since it would be hard to hold her and point the lasers at the same time.

 

[poppyolivia]

Kinda all been explained to you but just wanted to wish you a fab time...and let us know how you got on

 

[JnbTravels]

Thanks for the tips!
Actually my 3 yr old is pretty tall. People always tell us that he looks like he's 4 or 5 yrs old. So he might make most of the height requirements. We'll see ...

 

[poppyolivia]

I am such a bad mother.....I put my daughter (then 5) on RnR even when the staff took her aside and said she would be scared. She was crying that she really wanted to do it so they said it was up to me, her height was JUST and I mean JUST reaching the requirement (and she had moon/snow boots on) but we went for it and she loved it!!!!
Later on that night in bed she woke up crying every 2 hrs saying she was falling out the rollercoaster!
In the morning she said she wanted to try it again but as you can imagine there was a STRICT NO WAY!!!! I have never felt so bad in all my life! Poor wee mite

 

[JnbTravels]

Hi,
We head off the DLP today. I'll let you all know how it goes when we get back.

Thanks for all your help!