Pride Rock Royalty and other DLP upcharges

[dolewhipdreams]

I saw this posted over on the news board and was wondering if some DLP veterans could weigh in:

https://www.laughingplace.com/w/new...royalty-add-on-the-lion-king-jungle-festival/

I'm trying to decide if this would be worth it for my DH and I to add on for our trip in September. We don't have any kids so it would just be two adults and it looks like part of the cost includes lunch, a 15 euro gift card, and a souvenir drink/mug, plus the other perks like priority seating and special character greets.

Can anyone comment on generally when events like these at DLP tend to be worth it?

I know that this is a very vague question and that a lot of posters will be tempted to answer "it depends," but I would like to know some personal thoughts and opinions so that I can decide for us!

 

[BadPinkTink]

ok I havent done any of the up charge events but if I were to do this, this would be my thoughts

It doesn't say but the show will be in The Chaparral Theatre in Frontier Land. In 2016 I saw The Enchanted Forest Show here. I would say the theatre is comparable to the theatre in Disneyland California which has Mickey and The Magical Map. The best seats will probably be the front section, BUT you will have a great view no matter where you sit. You could in theory wait in line and sit either in the row directly behind the reserved area or to the side of the reserved area if you just wanted to see the show.

The lunch is at Restaurant Hakuna Matata This is the menu https://media.disneylandparis.com/d4th/en-ie/images/P1AR07_restaurant-hakuna-matata.pdf
Do you enjoy character meals? Would you eat the food at Restaurant Hakuna Matata?

Do you enjoy character meet and greets?

Do you collect or have an interest in Lion King merchandise?

Would you enjoy the drumming session?

 

[Karin1984]

Disneyland Paris doesn't have a lot of upcharges. The only thing I can think of now are the paid fastpasses. We do have VIP tours of course, but other then that... So will it be worth it? Your guess is probably as good as mine.

The Chaparral Theatre is currently being refurbished, so hard to say what they will do with the seating. But if this part of the theater will remain roughly the same (probably get upgraded with better views for all, as there were big pillars in the way), there are plenty of good seats around. In the old theatre, there were over 1.300 seats available. With the other shows like Frozen, The Enchanted Forest, Tarzan, they had at least 5 shows a day. So I wouldn't spend the money just for priority seating. If you are at DLP for a few days, and you have time, I would get in line on time and secure myself a good seat.

I wonder about the part where you can meet Rafiki & Mickey at the Hakuna Matata restaurant, as there isn't really a place to make it private. More likely it will be a roped off area.
They are planning to refurbish Colonel Hathi's Pizza Outpost into a character dining. Maybe this is a plan to see how people react to characters in this environment. Currently Hakuna Matata and Colonel Hathi's have the same jungle vibe over them.

The drumming session is probably done by the regular street entertainment you can find near Hakuna Matata.

But back to the figures:
Lunch for 2 would be about 30EUR, and if you are planning to spend at least 15EUR on merchandise, and plan to buy a mug, and you are into characters, I think it could be good value. And I think you can better spend your money on something like this, which will be more memorable (I think) than splurging on a restaurant.

When will you be in Paris? September is a good month, except for the last weekend when they have the Run Weekend Then it will be busy.

 

[dolewhipdreams]

Really great questions @BadPinkTink !

I love character meals & meet and greets. My DH doesn't care for them but he doesn't hate them either. And Hakuna Matata is on our list of restaurants to try.

The drumming session is probably the thing I'm the most unsure of, simply because I have no idea what it is. We're both very musical so that sounds fun but it may be geared toward 5 year olds, in which case we would be out of place.

 

[dolewhipdreams]

@Karin1984 very good points!

When will you be in Paris? September is a good month

We'll be there Thursday-Saturday during the beginning of the month so I'm hopeful for lower crowds.

 

[olafLover]

.

 

[dolewhipdreams]

Last year they had two similar up charges. One included a high tea with characters and the other a diner with Marvel characters. I did the high tea one, there were some goodies, a VIP fast pass and the high tea. It was expensive, but a lot of fun. The thing with the goodies is, it is stuff I probably wouldn't have gotten myself, but I use the autograph book and lanyard, so it's hard to say it's worth it.
This sounds more like the marvel one, that one had an extra character meet and a gift card. I know friend did it and really enjoyed it.

Thank you for sharing your experience- that's very helpful.

 

[olafLover]

.