Translation dictionary from WDW to DLP?

[mamadragona]

Hi all,

Just when I think I have WDW and DCL figured out, our return to Disney is at DLP!

I am a sort of newbie, having only done WDW and DCL each once. And like DLP, each seems to have its own set of tricks and need-to-knows. So where do I start? Any good threads to catch me up?

Our trip is in July - so less than 4 months out. Sequoia, 4 nights, 5 park days (that we probably won't all use but they were part of the package), half-board plan. DD will be 6, DS will be 9 the day after he returns stateside (US to London to DLP to US).

Arrive via train from London on 20th in the late afternoon.
21st Princess lunch
22nd Paris and Eiffel tower tour
23rd Birthday treat package
Leave mid morning of the 24th via Magical Shuttle bus to CDG.

I don't want to over schedule, since I know my kids really just want to lounge in the pool. I was thinking about just a few hours in the park each day.

Okay, where do I start?

 

[noodlesmum]

Great choice of Hotel - one of my favourites, do you have a Golden Forest room? That would be my first tip if it's something you can stretch to as personally I think the perks are fab (especially a calmer breakfast!! with pancakes!) I guess the first thing to do would be to round up your must do's. Are you looking to ride any particular rides? Or just the ones that are different to your home parks? Also you mention that you are arriving by train - have you heard of the magical express service? That will help your holiday get off to a head start too and save you lugging your luggage!

 

[mamadragona]

Thank you!
I've already booked and I don't remember mention of a Golden Forest room, so I'm guessing no? What are the perks? Is that an upgrade?

Magical express... We are doing that on the way out to CDG. Do they have an equivalent by train on our way in? Do I have to sign up for anything extra?

Rides - the kids and I are not one for roller coasters. In fact pirates and Soarin' were too scary at WDW. At WDW, the rides they liked the best were tea cups, toy story, star tours (okay maybe that is my favorite), Kilimanjaro water ride, and fireworks. I'll take recommendations, and I don't mind doing something we've done before. My understanding is that you get 1 fastpass/day?

They actually really, maybe even more do, enjoyed the characters and learning about people from other countries. And playing in the Honey I shrunk kids play area. Shows were mixed reception. I liked them, but they tend to be a little too loud.

The only other thing I forgot to mention above was they have a dairy and eggplant allergy. WDW and DCL were so phenomenal with food allergies, I am a little nervous about DLP. Dining recommendations are welcome. Do they have anything like the fireworks desert parties at WDW?

 

[A Small World]

Thank you!
I've already booked and I don't remember mention of a Golden Forest room, so I'm guessing no? What are the perks? Is that an upgrade? - The Golden Forest Room is an upgrade in SL where there is a separate room for breakfast and includes hot items as opposed to just the continental breakfast like other rooms at SL, lounge access where you can get drinks and cakes for a few hours a day and one room FP a day (more info on this later)

Magical express... We are doing that on the way out to CDG. Do they have an equivalent by train on our way in? Do I have to sign up for anything extra? Im assuming you are arriving by Eurostar direct to Marne la Vallee (DLP) station. If so you can pay for Magical Express where you get your park tickets etc on the train and then they tag your luggage and take it to the hotel for you. This means you can go directly to the park when you arrive and don't have to worry about taking your luggage to the hotel - although this is no major hassle during mid day as the free hotel shuttle buses are right outside the station or you can walk - a pleasant 10/15 min walk through Disney Village and round the lake

Rides - the kids and I are not one for roller coasters. In fact pirates and Soarin' were too scary at WDW. At WDW, the rides they liked the best were tea cups, toy story, star tours (okay maybe that is my favorite), Kilimanjaro water ride, and fireworks. I'll take recommendations, and I don't mind doing something we've done before. My understanding is that you get 1 fastpass/day? - DLP uses the old FP system and it works same as DL although the window for return is only half hour. You put your ticket in the machine and it gives you a time to return. You can get another FP once the time window has opened or after 2 hours whichever is the sooner. The one FP a day is an extra for certain rooms such as the Golden Forrest rooms mentioned above. This gives each person in the room one extra FP a day which can be used at any time during that day (although there are usually time restrictions printed on the ticket)

They actually really, maybe even more do, enjoyed the characters and learning about people from other countries. And playing in the Honey I shrunk kids play area. Shows were mixed reception. I liked them, but they tend to be a little too loud.

The only other thing I forgot to mention above was they have a dairy and eggplant allergy. WDW and DCL were so phenomenal with food allergies, I am a little nervous about DLP. Dining recommendations are welcome. Do they have anything like the fireworks desert parties at WDW? - Sorry I can't really help with allergies but it will be worth letting the hotel know so they provide alternative milk etc at breakfast. You could also get a card printed with the info in French so can show people if they don't understand what you are saying.
There aren't any desert parties like WDW

Answers above in red

Have a look at http://www.dlpguide.com as this has a page which lists all the rides and gives a description.
From the rides you mentioned there is no Soarin, no Toy story midway mania or water ride.
Don't miss the new ride Ratatouille - its similar to Toy story in that it spins and you wear the glasses but it doesn't have the games included
You will probably also enjoy Buzz lightyear Laser Blasters, most of the Fantasyland rides, Star Tours, Pirates is slightly longer than WDW and DL but is much better I think (and has steeper drops but not too bad),
Space Mountain is more aggressive and goes upside down so you might want to avoid
You will probably also enjoy exploring Adventure Land as there are caves, wobbly bridges and all kinds to discover
There are a lot of shows in the studios which re worth watching - Animagique and Cinemagique especially
Don't miss the end of the night show - Dreams. Its a mixture of lights, water fountains and fireworks and is fantastic.

Also have a look at the thread BadPink Think has started
http://www.disboards.com/threads/from-america-to-dlp-the-big-faq-thread-see-first-post.3496174/

Hope this helps a little

 

[DLPDreams]

I think a few of your questions have been answered. Just to add on the food allergies - honestly, DLRP really are not good with allergies - the US are much better at this - they just don't get it in France so much. A friend of mine (and myself on a separate occasion) witnessed food being mislabelled at Inventions buffet before - to be fair it could be down to guests as some tend to move the label card out of the way to get into the food if you see what I mean, but it is a worry.

My DD1 has a dairy intolerance - it used to be more allergy like but has actually settled into more of an intolerance over time. We have done a good few trips when she was at her worst. I just had to be super careful. If you mention an allergy to a CM they will just tell you that there are 'allergen free' foods they can give but they are microwave meal type bought in - they are not produced onsite and from what I've seen, they look horrible. They used to have soya milk at breakfast if your child can have that - unfortunately my DD has a soya intolerance too (again, has improved over time but still not 100% clear).

You might be best to try and stick to buffets so you can pick and choose food. There was a fairly recent post on here about someone's son having a dairy intolerance - might be worth having a look at that as she got some in depth answers. I also read about a lady whose son had hash browns which she was assured didn't contain dairy by the CM, poor child was ill for hours afterwards as they did in fact contain lactose or milk protein .

Here is a link to the meals:

http://www.disneylandparis.co.uk/guest-services/guests-with-special-dietary-needs/

Also, just one point, in Europe eggplant is actually called aubergine - I think you may find CMs don't necessarily know what you mean by eggplant so best to use the European word just in case.

 

[chelynnah]

I think a few of your questions have been answered. Just to add on the food allergies - honestly, DLRP really are not good with allergies - the US are much better at this - they just don't get it in France so much. A friend of mine (and myself on a separate occasion) witnessed food being mislabelled at Inventions buffet before - to be fair it could be down to guests as some tend to move the label card out of the way to get into the food if you see what I mean, but it is a worry.

My DD1 has a dairy intolerance - it used to be more allergy like but has actually settled into more of an intolerance over time. We have done a good few trips when she was at her worst. I just had to be super careful. If you mention an allergy to a CM they will just tell you that there are 'allergen free' foods they can give but they are microwave meal type bought in - they are not produced onsite and from what I've seen, they look horrible. They used to have soya milk at breakfast if your child can have that - unfortunately my DD has a soya intolerance too (again, has improved over time but still not 100% clear).

You might be best to try and stick to buffets so you can pick and choose food. There was a fairly recent post on here about someone's son having a dairy intolerance - might be worth having a look at that as she got some in depth answers. I also read about a lady whose son had hash browns which she was assured didn't contain dairy by the CM, poor child was ill for hours afterwards as they did in fact contain lactose or milk protein .

Here is a link to the meals:

http://www.disneylandparis.co.uk/guest-services/guests-with-special-dietary-needs/

Also, just one point, in Europe eggplant is actually called aubergine - I think you may find CMs don't necessarily know what you mean by eggplant so best to use the European word just in case.

That thread was on The Dibb in the DLP section. Funnily enough I just read it today. OP just google Dibb and you'll find the forum. It's kind of the European version of this ste, I'm just not sure I'm allowed to link. There was good info there, but the general consensus was that IN the park it's not so good (microwavee meals and misinformation), but a few of the restaurants outside the parks in Disney Village did have a separate allergy menu.

 

[mamadragona]

@A Small World - the list of rides is very helpful!

@dlp Dreams - thank you on the tip about eggplant. I normally wouldn't mention it except for seeing ratatouille on the menu at Chez Remy. And, my kids are both a protein intolerance (I just never use the term because people think lactose intolerance). I've heard similar about those meals. I was thinking ethnic selections (and forgive me, I haven't waded through the list yet) like sushi or Chinese food would have very little diary. I assume soya is a soy-based milk? My kids are also intolerant to that - not as bad as milk, but still unpleasant, so we try to limit tofu, soy milk, etc as much as we can.

@chelynnah - I just found the Dibb board, though finding the allergy thread is a little harder. That is a good link - it looks like a lot of information! We are no half board, so I can't imagine we will be out of the parks much - were any of those recommendations available with the meal plan?

 

[chelynnah]

@A Small World - the list of rides is very helpful!

@dlp Dreams - thank you on the tip about eggplant. I normally wouldn't mention it except for seeing ratatouille on the menu at Chez Remy. And, my kids are both a protein intolerance (I just never use the term because people think lactose intolerance). I've heard similar about those meals. I was thinking ethnic selections (and forgive me, I haven't waded through the list yet) like sushi or Chinese food would have very little diary. I assume soya is a soy-based milk? My kids are also intolerant to that - not as bad as milk, but still unpleasant, so we try to limit tofu, soy milk, etc as much as we can.

@chelynnah - I just found the Dibb board, though finding the allergy thread is a little harder. That is a good link - it looks like a lot of information! We are no half board, so I can't imagine we will be out of the parks much - were any of those recommendations available with the meal plan?

If you go to the Disneyland Paris Trip planning forum there are two threads on the first page, one starts with the title Gluten Free, the other is titled something like DLP restaurants -food intolerances.

Pop me a pm if you can't find them and I'll pm you back the links.

By 'out of the parks' I mean Disney Village which is still the resort area (you have to walk through there to get to and from the park and your hotel). I believe (though I've never done dining plan) that you can use your vouchers at some of those places, and the ones where vouchers don't cover everything you can use them at face value and pay the rest. Others can be more help on that than I can.

 

[mamadragona]

Ahh, I see now that Annette's and Cafe Mickey are in Disney Village so there are some Disney restaurants there. I'm still not entirely sure how the meal plan works, despite much reading - when it is face value and when is it a menu? I would like to celebrate my son's birthday at Cafe Mickey, so and on the Plus meal, I think it redeems for menu? Still slightly confused, but I think I'll get there... I hope.

Looks like Star Tours will be closed. Though there is a Jedi Training academy for 7 and up. My son could participate, but my daughter would be left out, which is probably a recipe for disaster. 1) Can kids bring lightsabers into the park? 2) Are they flexible on ages for JTA? We were at WDW for SWW last year, so it will be really hard to beat that experience. I'm thinking I may not even want to try to beat that and instead concentrate on the things that make DLP special. Dreams would be great, but 11pm for kids may be asking too much.

I did see somewhere that adults cannot dress up, but kids can. Are there any other rules that I may want to know about?

 

[DLPDreams]

I don't see why a child couldn't take a lightsaber into the park - it is part of dressing up anyway. You are right, children can dress up, but adults can't.

I love DLRP, but I don't think it will be a patch on Star Wars experiences in the US, so if that is the case, and your DD isn't included, then yes, I'd probably give it a miss and do something else. Unless of course your son really wants the experience. I can't help on whether they are strict on age, sorry.

You can use your meal vouchers at 'face value' in Disney restaurants. I am unsure what they are worth but it might be worth you posting a new separate thread about that on here as many will be able to help but may not look at this thread due to it's title (mainly because they may think they can't help with food allergies). I am a little rusty on meal plans as on all our visits we only used them once - we prefer to just pay as we go as it isn't restrictive.

Disney restos will offer the Namata menu if you say they have allergies - period. Unless as I said earlier, you choose buffet, or pick your way through what you think may be OK. They tend to shy away from any doubt so offer the microwave meals as a definite! I had heard about the non Disney restos offering allergy free food - Rainforest Cafe and Planet Hollywood may have them - you might be able to find more out on their websites with them being 'chain' restos.

My DD has an intolerance to protein - I didn't mention it earlier as, as you say, sadly most people don't understand unless it's something they have/have in their family. So yes, we had the soya issue (still do) and also she developed an intolerance to goat's milk eventually too. We had a few tough years but she can now have cheese, yogurt etc! We are making progress eventually. Some do, some don't. She has oat milk on cereal/to drink but that isn't available in DLRP so she tends to have waffles, fruit etc for breakfast. She can have milk in cooked products now as well as the protein changes when the food is cooked or processed in some way - hence how she can now have waffles or pancakes. Fingers crossed the same happens for you with your children. It makes travelling so much easier!

 

[cdsmiler81]

On a side note with regards to meal vouchers, we didn't have them, but I DID notice that some of the Village restaurants had them shown at the entrance with a big cross through them indicating that they don't accept them. I don't know if it was a SPECIFIC meal voucher.... and I'm afraid I can't remember which ones had the big crossed voucher - King Ludwigs was one of them. The other may have been Planet Hollywood or/and Rainforest Cafe.

Sorry, not overly specific, but thought I'd share. Worth investigating if you're doing one of the meal plans...

C x