Train info and 1st-time advice...

SweaterInJune

Your Game Driver & Expert Safari Guide for the nex
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Aug 22, 2006
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I will be visiting Paris in a week and a half with my friend Laura, who is from Australia, and therefore, has NEVER been to a Disney park! We will be visiting Paris for the first time and neither of us speak French, although I do know a few phrases(have spent the past 13 years studying Spanish and German, though).

We will be staying in Paris (11ème) and need to take the trains to DLP, at least one day, but hopefully for 2. I have heard that the trains are easy to navigate, but I've also heard that they are very unsafe, especially in the evenings. Any advice for 2 young women (early to mid-twenties) traveling alone? Is it okay to stay until the parks close and commute back? Will there be a lot of Disney travelers heading back to the city then?

Also, as I believe this is high season at DLP, is there any park-specific advice you can offer. Am I right to try planning on two days vs. one to see all the highlights? (Granted I would spend a week there or longer if I could just to soak it all in...) I imagine it's difficult to enjoy it if trying to cram 2 parks into one day...

Thanks in advance for all of your help!
 
2 days is always better than 1 :goodvibes It will allow you to take a day in each park, which actually gives you 1 day in the Studios plus 1 and a bit in the Disneyland park because of the 11pm closing.

With the 11pm closing in mind though, I'm not sure I'd personally fancy navigating the railways after closing, especially as it will probably require navigating the Paris Metro at some point. I've never really noticed a problem during the day, but I'm not sure how much I'd trust any "traditional" train (i.e. not the Eurostar / Eurotunnel) that late at night.

I'd agree with your other statement though; they are pretty easy to navigate.
 
You will get by speaking english but if you try to speak the basic french such as Bonjour etc it will go down better.

I can't answer about getting a train back into Paris, personally I wouldn't go back that late on the train.

It is likely to be busy so try & get a fast pass for the rides that allow it.

2 days is better then 1
 
Well, here I am now, back from my trip to Rome and Paris. Unfortunately, time being what it was, we only had time for one day at DLRP... It was a fabulous day, even though we dealt with rain on-and-off all day.

Our morning started at WDS, raced to Crush's Coaster to queue and then while Laura held our spot, I went for RnRC FPs and browsed a bit. The park was adorable...and very tiny! Back to the queue which was just beginning to move (they opened the gates at 9:30, but not the attractions). Crush was fun, but something must have malfunctioned because after passing the jellyfish, we were plummeted into total darkness for the duration of what became a terrifying ride first thing in the morning! Please tell me that was a lighting error...if not, someone in Imagineering dropped the ball!

After this, we walked around the park a bit and caught the short parade, and the 10:45 showing of Cinemagique... Very interesting. I absolutely love film, so this was great. Following the show, we headed off to ToT for a 60 min wait. I knew the format was different than WDW, and more like DL(which I've never been on), but I was not expecting the drop when it came!

We rushed off to RnRC after this and I must say I prefer the WDW much better. Even knowing the "story" of this...it was weakly executed, although the ride itself was the same. The lights alone did noting for me.

We decided at this point to head to DLP. We meandered down Main Street...a very surreal experience for me as I know MK so well I can navigate with my eyes closed. The castle was LOVELY!

After picking up FPs for SM:M2, got something to eat, and then backtracked to Frontierland, and as tradition for me would have it, queued-up for Phantom Manor. I was very excited knowing the story, and seeing the detail on the outside of the Manor and Thunder Mesa. Unfortunately, aside from a few details, I didn't think PM compared to WDW's HM in terms of quality. It seemed VERY short. I still enjoyed it, but it was below my expectations. We spent time afterward looking around Boot Hill and the burial sites. Again, excellent theming.

BTM was down when we got to it, and at 2 points in the day, we were told to come back in 2 hours... Onwards to Adventureland: FPs for Indiana Jones and then a ride on PotC, which blew me away! It was fantastic...and so nice not to see Captain Sparrow and the other rubbish from the movies. Indiana Jones was nice, but not exactly what I was expecting.

We headed to Tomorrowland after this for SM:M2, again, I found this superior to SM in MK. Much more interesting to look at. You actually felt like you were flying through celestial objects and not a dome with a disco ball inside.

The dragon under the Chateau was interesting and I enjoyed Pinocchio. Peter Pan was well worth the LOOOONG wait, as expected. It also surpassed my expectations!

Laura's favorite attraction on her first visit: Small World. I was dumbfounded! Granted, again, my expectations were a bit too low... I enjoyed it and I let her talk me into riding it again to help her get photos for her class(she's a teacher).

We also rode the teacups as either that or Dumbo is an essential element of one's first trip to a Disney park.

The day, unfortunately, at 14 hours, was too short...we went back to Frontierland hoping to catch BTM. It was a 70 min queue, but we rode! As another favorite of mine, I was very pleased! :-) It's a lot of fun...

At this point, we took the 2nd ride on Small World. We wanted to get a spot for the nighttime festivities when we got off, but it was POURING, so we weren't sure they would happen. We stopped into the Emporium for what was meant to be a brief shopping excursion--bad idea! Within 5 minutes, you couldn't move in there!

The rain stopped, and after losing a nice viewing area we opted for dinner. Caught a nice portion of the parade still.

The Candleabration and fireworks were near impossible for us to see, even from Main Street due to the uber-tall fathers hoisting much-too-tall-for-that children on their shoulders. It was disastrous viewing, wet, so we left... :-(

We headed for the train... And just for anyone who is considering taking the RER-A4 back at night: NO WORRIES! It's easy and there were no problems... Tons of families were on board. It was so busy, many didn't have seats though, so arrange to be there before the masses or be prepared to sit on the steps/stand.

A great trip...I only wish we had had more time... I look forward to returning someday :-) Sorry this was so unstructured and, most likely, boring to read...

Thanks to all of you on here who helped to make our trip successful! :flower3:
 

Glad you had a good trip even if you were limited for tme:goodvibes
 
Thanks for sharing. :) Glad you both enjoyed your trip :goodvibes and it's reassuring to know that you felt safe on the train back into Paris late at night. Hope you enjoyed Paris and Rome too.
 
NO Jack Sparrow? :scared1: I love me some Captain Jack! :love:
 
Thank you :goodvibes


I love Jack Sparrow too, but it was nice to see a classic version of the ride--the way I remembered it from my first trip to a Disney park...
 
Yeh, its nice they left it the same, seeing as the DLRP Pirates ride was the one where a lot of the inspiration came from apparantly.
It'll be weird to have a ride inspiring a film, so then convert it to something else, some could call it a bit of film history :)
 
Thank you :goodvibes


I love Jack Sparrow too, but it was nice to see a classic version of the ride--the way I remembered it from my first trip to a Disney park...

I understand the nostalgia. Until the Eisner years, things changed very little at the parks. My children looked forward to sharing their favorite aspects of Disney with their children....unfortunately several of those things are long gone. I don't mind the injection of Captain Jack into POTC...it is very subtle. That's for your review. My family will be in Europe next June and appreciate any insight or advice.
 
You're quite welcome :-)

I don't mind Jack being added in POTC either really--I never protest to seeing Mr. Depp, even as an animatronic. It was just a surprise to see a version without it. I enjoyed it. It brought back a lot of memories and created new ones as this version is longer with multiple drops, etc. When all is said and done I would probably love POTC in any version that exists.

TLSnell1981, are you visiting Europe next summer or coming to live? For how long and where to? I moved to the Bavarian Alps last November to work as a nanny for a year. I love Europe, but in January, I think it's back to Orlando...
 











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