My DLRP highs and lows

[Leanne1977]

Well we got back last night after 5 wonderful days at Disney. I thought you might be interested in my highs (lots) and lows(few).

Holiday Highs.

The castle, absolutely beautiful. Loved the dragon underneath.

Big Thunder Mountain. Better than the Florida one.

Animagique. Fabulous. My boys loved this and so did we. Wonderful show with my favourite, Donald Duck.

Character Tea Party at Plaza Gardens Restaurant. This was excellent value for money. We paid £9 each when we booked the holiday. All you can eat cake and dessert buffet with one hot and one cold drink each. Lovely restaurant, reminded me of Crystal Palace at WDW. Great character interaction. We saw 8 different characters, they were... Eeyore, Pinocchio, Geppetto, Daisy Duck, Mr.Smee, Donald Duck, Prince John, Pluto and Goofy.Highly recommended to all those planning a trip soon.

Pirates of the Caribbean. We didnt do this in WDW as we didnt really know what it was and thought it might be scary for our boys. However, after reading these boards, we realised we had missed a great ride. We rode this countless times and all thought it was great.

Peter Pan ride. Another one we missed in Florida. This was definately my boys favourite ride.

The wonderful World of Disney Parade and the Disney Cinema Parade. Great parades with excellent floats and character interaction.

Stunt show at Disney Studios. We did this twice and it was certainly a highlight.

The look on my 3 year olds face when Minnie kissed him and Captain Hook shook his hand. His two favourite characters, and it was priceless.

Hunters Grill at the Sequoia Lodge. Lovely restaurant and loads of good food. Sequoia Lodge in general, a lovely hotel. Friendly staff, nice restaurants, great pool. We had booked a Montana room and was told upon check in that they would upgrade us free to a lake view room which was stunning. We could see the lake, Rainforest Cafe, Cafe Mickeys, Panoramagique and also the top of the castle.

There are probably loads more things that i cant think of right now. Now for the lows.

Holiday lows.

Smoking. Not as bad as i thought but still very annoying and non Disney.

The crowds on Saturday our last day. We were so pleased we had booked to go midweek and depart on a Saturday. The crowds were big. 60 mins for Star Tours and Big Thunder Mountain. With fast passes running out very quickly. We were glad that we had done everything we wanted to do by Saturday and anything else was a bonus.

Lack of queuing for character meets. We did notice that some characters seemed to have particular areas roped off which worked well as people were forced to queue. However, most characters were just wandering around the parks with crowds of people around them pushing their way through. We had waited a couple of days to meet Stitch as we hadnt seen him. Then on our way to Its a Small World he is suddenly walking right towards us. Somebody was getting their picture taken and then we were next. He signed our books and while we were trying to get our picture done, some stupid woman kept pushing her child in with her autograph book. Stitch had to physically move them back. He then skipped off in the other direction without signing their book and i must admit i did think good job.

The cold. The first two days were fine, really mild. But then the cold hit us on Thursday. FFFRRRRREEEZZZIIINNGG!!! The whole Lake froze. Friday was much the same. Saturday was a little warmer, thank god!!

Prices. We did find that the shops and restaurants were expensive. We only have the WDW prices to compare it to but everything was pricey. DH nearly had a heart attack when he had to pay £5 for a beer in Planet Hollywood. We took a trip to the Hypermarket and it was all very reasonable there.

I think thats about it. Sorry for the long post but i know how helpful it was to me to read everyones views before we went.

A great trip with lots of great memories and photos ( i will post them when i work out how to ).

 

[Cyrano]

Leanne glad that the highs were more than the lows.
All I'll say about the smoking is come to Scotland after the 26th March

Interested in your Plazza Gardens review as although I've enjoyed the buffet felt the tea wasn't "my cup of tea" Think we'll try this out next time

 

[Bexx]

We've got a pretty good Disney park, haven't we?!!!

Your lows are also the main complaints we (all) have about the place - the supermarket is always our first stop of the trip!!

 

[kevankiki]

the supermarket is always our first stop of the trip!!

How easy is this to get to if you have no car? And, is it worth it if you are only there for 3 nights anyway?

 

[Leanne1977]

We didnt have a car and it was really easy to find. It was only one stop on the train and as you come out of the train station its right there. We went mainly just to have a bit of a nose. But we got some beers (very cheap), snacks etc, just for nibbling on round the park and at the hotel.

 

[Bexx]

How easy is this to get to if you have no car? And, is it worth it if you are only there for 3 nights anyway?

As Leanne says, it's very easy to get to on the train. The choice there is huge - it's quite an attraction in itself!!! We only stay for three nights, so we visit the afternoon we arrive, which then sets us up nicely for our visit!!

 

[kevankiki]

Silly question I know but is it obvious which train you need to get and where to get off?

I have this fear of ending up in the wrong place, or even not being able to find my way back

 

[Bexx]

There are two stations at DLP, next to each other. Go to the RATP station where you catch the RER. Marne La Vallee - Chessy (the station at DLP) is the end of the line, (so you can only go one way) so take the train to the next stop Val d'Europe. Coming back just catch the train back to Marne La Vallee - Chessy.

Nice and easy.

 

[disneyangel]

Glad you had a great time Leanne- Animagique was one of our faves too

We might try visiting Val D'Europe on our trip in October. We arrive on a Sunday wil it be open?

 

[Ware Bears]

Thanks for listing your highs and lows

I agree that your lows are probably on most of us Diser's lists!

I also really loved Animagique, we saw it for the first time at Christmas and I can't wait to see it again.

 

[Cyrano]

We might try visiting Val D'Europe on our trip in October. We arrive on a Sunday wil it be open?

The hypermarket was shut when we visited on a Sunday

 

[kevankiki]

Thanks Bexx

Okay, next question, can anyone tell me what time the Hypermarket would close on a Thursday?

I guess the best plan might be to send our luggage off to the hotel, head for the park, then do the hypermarket a bit later on (thus saving the need to take the stuff we buy back to the hotel or having to lug it round)?

 

[Cyrano]

Annette sorry can't help with your question. You might be best to start a new thread as more people will see it

 

[Bexx]

Okay, next question, can anyone tell me what time the Hypermarket would close on a Thursday?

According to this site the Auchan supermarket is open until 10 pm. So time for a quick shop after park closing!!!

 

[Magamagò]

According to this site the Auchan supermarket is open until 10 pm. So time for a quick shop after park closing!!!

Ahah! I usually do my weekly shopping at the Auchan supermarket here in Rome!
The food labelled with the Auchan brand is quite good and cheaper.

 

[kevankiki]

According to this site the Auchan supermarket is open until 10 pm. So time for a quick shop after park closing!!!

Even better, providing it's 'safe' for myself and my 13 year old daughter to be traveling around after dark...

 

[SandraVB79]

We always bring drinks and snacks from home (in our suitcase yes; I have also been known to take bottles of water with me to California, because water in DL is expensive, and when you don't have a car there, you can virtually not go to a store)

Except for snacks and drinks in the parks, I think all the rest is not too expensive... but that's just my idea
And yes, you have to FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT if you want pictures with the characters

 

[ladyandtramp]

Regarding the Character visits - does DLP not have the "Character Handlers" that establish the queues and manage the "guests" like they do at WDW or DL?

 

[TK421]

We didnt have a car and it was really easy to find. It was only one stop on the train and as you come out of the train station its right there. We went mainly just to have a bit of a nose. But we got some beers (very cheap), snacks etc, just for nibbling on round the park and at the hotel.

According to this there is a bus that goes from the park to the Hotel L'Elysee at Val d'Europe. Has anyone tried taking it the hypermarket? I fancy getting some provisions when we arrive on Saturday night.

 

[Leanne1977]

Regarding the Character visits - does DLP not have the "Character Handlers" that establish the queues and manage the "guests" like they do at WDW or DL?

They do have CMs that stand with the characters but they don't really do anything. They just allow people to crowd around the character and its all a bit disorganised. We did find this annoying at times so just be prepared for it to happen.