Wuzefelix
Thinks of himself as the #1 Disney fan ever...
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2007
- Messages
- 137
Hi,
I'm just back from a 3 day / 2 night trip to DLRP and since I don't go there quite as often as I used to, this is an excellent opportunity to share my Highs & Lows. Except: I'm going to do it the other way around because all in all we had a fantastic trip, so the High's are what matters in the end
.
Lows:
-Maintenance
Oh my god, after having been to all the Disney Parks in the world, it is just shocking to see in what a bad condition the entire Resort in Paris is. Many attractions were really dirty and in desperate need of a paint job. The special effects in many attractions were broken, there was moss growing on the speakers in Walt Disney Studios, broken lightbulbs everwhere, etc. This has been constantly getting worse in the last 10 years if you ask me...
-Hotel New York
Even with promotions such as 2=4, the value does not come close to justifying the prices. We had issues at check-in, a broken room lock, housekeeping not bringing new toiletries, etc. With the old-school television and the general wear and tear on all the furnishings and wallpaper, you can really see this hotel went 20 years without receiving a well needed facelift. I didn't let it spoil the trip though.
-Food
Incredibly slow service and high prices at the counter service restaurants are not new to us. The disappointment this time was that the selection at the buffet restaurants was reduced to a bare minimum. While I'm certain they did it only because of the low crowd levels this week, we still paid the same prices as usual, so we expected similar value.
Also, we were bummed that the Earl of Sandwich no longer offers the PB&J sandwich. When we asked about it, they said it wasn't popular enough among the French customers. What a shame, it used to be our favorite.
-Cast members
While nothing out of the ordinary happened, we were just reminded once again that most Parisian cast members don't come close to the level of service their colleagues provide in Hong Kong, Orlando, Anaheim or especially Tokyo.
-Sales
The 2nd Wednesday in January is the beginning of the big sales in France. DLRP is no exception. With the constant decline in merchandising quality, we didn't find anything nice though. They used to have many fine collectibles or high quality clothing. At least it saved us some cash.
Highs:
-Disney Dreams
After almost a year, Disney Dreams is still amazing. It is a little short on fireworks but we can easily look over this flaw, because it means we get to experience the nightly show even in the winter and on slow days. It is such a great finale to a fun day in the parks and I hope it stays with us for years to come!
-Character Interaction
The interaction my little niece got from Mickey Mouse at the Hotel New York was fabulous! It's probably because there were hardly any other guests.
-Crowds
There weren't any! Like always, weekdays in January were so slow you could hop on most rides without any waiting in line. Most rides were less than 5 Minutes except Crush Coaster (15 Minutes) and Big Thunder Mountain (10 Minutes). We did many rides 5 times each
.
-Parade
At 5pm it was already getting dark and with the misty weather, the parade lights sparkled beautifully. There were fewer floats than in the past but it was really magical!
-Family and Friends
A trip to any Disney Park is an excellent opportunity to spend more time with family and friends. That's part of the magic for me. This trip was no exception.
All in all we had a great time and will be coming back in spring or summer. We'll try cutting back on trips to DLRP though to save the money for going to the international parks more frequently. Also, we can't really recommend staying in the Disney Hotels until they get a full refurbishment.
Best Regards,
Wuzefelix
I'm just back from a 3 day / 2 night trip to DLRP and since I don't go there quite as often as I used to, this is an excellent opportunity to share my Highs & Lows. Except: I'm going to do it the other way around because all in all we had a fantastic trip, so the High's are what matters in the end
.Lows:
-Maintenance
Oh my god, after having been to all the Disney Parks in the world, it is just shocking to see in what a bad condition the entire Resort in Paris is. Many attractions were really dirty and in desperate need of a paint job. The special effects in many attractions were broken, there was moss growing on the speakers in Walt Disney Studios, broken lightbulbs everwhere, etc. This has been constantly getting worse in the last 10 years if you ask me...
-Hotel New York
Even with promotions such as 2=4, the value does not come close to justifying the prices. We had issues at check-in, a broken room lock, housekeeping not bringing new toiletries, etc. With the old-school television and the general wear and tear on all the furnishings and wallpaper, you can really see this hotel went 20 years without receiving a well needed facelift. I didn't let it spoil the trip though.
-Food
Incredibly slow service and high prices at the counter service restaurants are not new to us. The disappointment this time was that the selection at the buffet restaurants was reduced to a bare minimum. While I'm certain they did it only because of the low crowd levels this week, we still paid the same prices as usual, so we expected similar value.
Also, we were bummed that the Earl of Sandwich no longer offers the PB&J sandwich. When we asked about it, they said it wasn't popular enough among the French customers. What a shame, it used to be our favorite.
-Cast members
While nothing out of the ordinary happened, we were just reminded once again that most Parisian cast members don't come close to the level of service their colleagues provide in Hong Kong, Orlando, Anaheim or especially Tokyo.
-Sales
The 2nd Wednesday in January is the beginning of the big sales in France. DLRP is no exception. With the constant decline in merchandising quality, we didn't find anything nice though. They used to have many fine collectibles or high quality clothing. At least it saved us some cash
.Highs:
-Disney Dreams
After almost a year, Disney Dreams is still amazing. It is a little short on fireworks but we can easily look over this flaw, because it means we get to experience the nightly show even in the winter and on slow days. It is such a great finale to a fun day in the parks and I hope it stays with us for years to come!
-Character Interaction
The interaction my little niece got from Mickey Mouse at the Hotel New York was fabulous! It's probably because there were hardly any other guests.
-Crowds
There weren't any! Like always, weekdays in January were so slow you could hop on most rides without any waiting in line. Most rides were less than 5 Minutes except Crush Coaster (15 Minutes) and Big Thunder Mountain (10 Minutes). We did many rides 5 times each
.-Parade
At 5pm it was already getting dark and with the misty weather, the parade lights sparkled beautifully. There were fewer floats than in the past but it was really magical!
-Family and Friends
A trip to any Disney Park is an excellent opportunity to spend more time with family and friends. That's part of the magic for me. This trip was no exception
.All in all we had a great time and will be coming back in spring or summer. We'll try cutting back on trips to DLRP though to save the money for going to the international parks more frequently. Also, we can't really recommend staying in the Disney Hotels until they get a full refurbishment.
Best Regards,
Wuzefelix
I'm happy to hear about the crowd level. We are going tomorrow and I'm hoping for short waiting time on all the big rides...
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