Cast: DH, myself, DS 13, DD 11, DD 8.
At DLP on March 16, 2004
Stayed offsite (in a flat in Paris for 9 days).
As noted before, the weather was lovely. AT DLP the "rope" is not just one rope at the end of Main Street, but several, at the entrance to the various "lands." We walked directly to the castle and were able to wait for rope drop at the base of the castle. It really is a beautiful castle, living up to what everyone has said about it.
At rope drop we sped to Peter Pan. No wait, but by the time we got off there was about a 10-15 minute wait. I agree that the ride went too fast. Also, I could have used a bit more lighting...I had a hard time seeing in there. Next we went to Dumbo, then the tea cups. (The queue areas - and even the tea cup ride itself - really are covered, so don't be afraid to come out in bad weather.) Then on to Snow White and Pinnocio.
It was in Fantasyland that we bought our autograph books and had our first negative character encounter. The Queen of Hearts took her "mean" role a bit too seriously, IMO. She teased my girls, wanting them to kiss her hands for an autograph, ran away from them, and never would give them an autograph!
We moved over to Big Thunder Mountain RR...just terrific! Much better than DL in CA...it's on an island and without giving anything away, it's beautifully themed and great fun. We rode twice in a row and grabbed a fast pass for later.
While in the neighborhood we went to Phantom Manor. Beautifully themed. Haunting music. The story is a bit hard to follow. I can't say it's better than the US Haunted Mansions, but it's at least as good and it's nice that it's different.
From there we tried to go to Indy, but they were having technical difficulties, so we went to Pirates. The ride was quite nice, but the end spoiled it. Their timing was all off, and we waited in a long line of boats to be able to get off.
Next was Space Mountain. The whole time I was thinking: Never again! The ride was truly painful, with my ears being hit hard between the restraints. The most painful coaster I've ridden.
Star Tours was fun, as was Small World. I love Small World, but they had the same timing problems that Pirates had, with about 6 boats full of people sitting at the end, waiting to disembark.
We eventually rode Indy (3 of us - the 8 yr old was not tall enough and I was glad to stay with her), Haunted Mansion several more times, Space Mountain again (everyone but me).
We enjoyed both of the parades. We watched the Princess Parade from the seats for the Pooh stage...I enjoyed being on a bench rather than a curb.
Although the park is truly beautiful and we really enjoyed ourselves, I think that DLP is really missing the boat with food and merchandise sales. The park closed at 8 pm, but by 5:30 or 6, the food carts and several of the restaurants were closed...it was very difficult to find anything for dinner. We ended up at Casey's Hot Dogs...just like I've read in othe trip reports, it took forever! There were about 6 people in front of me, all they serve it hot dogs, cheese dogs, chicken nuggets and drinks and it truly took 35 minutes for us to be reached in line!
We took the food to where DH had been saving a place in front of the castle to watch Fantilusion...that was a nice parade. After that the park closed and boy did it...no riding one last ride.
We walked around a shopped a little at Disney Village and then boarded the RER for our flat.
Three more notes:
As has been reported, there is little merchandise saying "DIsneyland Paris" to buy and not very many snack kiosks.
Wear your fanny packs. Since were based in Paris, and had been told that wearing a fanny pack is huge faux pas there, I wore my sylish black bag to DLP also. What a pain. Wear that fanny pack! Don't worry about not being chic...I don't know what happens in the 45 minute train ride from Paris to DLP but (with all appologies to the Brits and Germans and French) no one is chic at DLP...the folks look like they do at any other theme park, so dress for comfort!
It is more relaxing to visit a theme park where most people speak a language you don't understand...I'm sure there must have been parents saying ugly things to their kids just like at every other theme park, but I couldn't understand them!
At DLP on March 16, 2004
Stayed offsite (in a flat in Paris for 9 days).
As noted before, the weather was lovely. AT DLP the "rope" is not just one rope at the end of Main Street, but several, at the entrance to the various "lands." We walked directly to the castle and were able to wait for rope drop at the base of the castle. It really is a beautiful castle, living up to what everyone has said about it.
At rope drop we sped to Peter Pan. No wait, but by the time we got off there was about a 10-15 minute wait. I agree that the ride went too fast. Also, I could have used a bit more lighting...I had a hard time seeing in there. Next we went to Dumbo, then the tea cups. (The queue areas - and even the tea cup ride itself - really are covered, so don't be afraid to come out in bad weather.) Then on to Snow White and Pinnocio.
It was in Fantasyland that we bought our autograph books and had our first negative character encounter. The Queen of Hearts took her "mean" role a bit too seriously, IMO. She teased my girls, wanting them to kiss her hands for an autograph, ran away from them, and never would give them an autograph!
We moved over to Big Thunder Mountain RR...just terrific! Much better than DL in CA...it's on an island and without giving anything away, it's beautifully themed and great fun. We rode twice in a row and grabbed a fast pass for later.
While in the neighborhood we went to Phantom Manor. Beautifully themed. Haunting music. The story is a bit hard to follow. I can't say it's better than the US Haunted Mansions, but it's at least as good and it's nice that it's different.
From there we tried to go to Indy, but they were having technical difficulties, so we went to Pirates. The ride was quite nice, but the end spoiled it. Their timing was all off, and we waited in a long line of boats to be able to get off.
Next was Space Mountain. The whole time I was thinking: Never again! The ride was truly painful, with my ears being hit hard between the restraints. The most painful coaster I've ridden.
Star Tours was fun, as was Small World. I love Small World, but they had the same timing problems that Pirates had, with about 6 boats full of people sitting at the end, waiting to disembark.
We eventually rode Indy (3 of us - the 8 yr old was not tall enough and I was glad to stay with her), Haunted Mansion several more times, Space Mountain again (everyone but me).
We enjoyed both of the parades. We watched the Princess Parade from the seats for the Pooh stage...I enjoyed being on a bench rather than a curb.
Although the park is truly beautiful and we really enjoyed ourselves, I think that DLP is really missing the boat with food and merchandise sales. The park closed at 8 pm, but by 5:30 or 6, the food carts and several of the restaurants were closed...it was very difficult to find anything for dinner. We ended up at Casey's Hot Dogs...just like I've read in othe trip reports, it took forever! There were about 6 people in front of me, all they serve it hot dogs, cheese dogs, chicken nuggets and drinks and it truly took 35 minutes for us to be reached in line!
We took the food to where DH had been saving a place in front of the castle to watch Fantilusion...that was a nice parade. After that the park closed and boy did it...no riding one last ride.
We walked around a shopped a little at Disney Village and then boarded the RER for our flat.
Three more notes:
As has been reported, there is little merchandise saying "DIsneyland Paris" to buy and not very many snack kiosks.
Wear your fanny packs. Since were based in Paris, and had been told that wearing a fanny pack is huge faux pas there, I wore my sylish black bag to DLP also. What a pain. Wear that fanny pack! Don't worry about not being chic...I don't know what happens in the 45 minute train ride from Paris to DLP but (with all appologies to the Brits and Germans and French) no one is chic at DLP...the folks look like they do at any other theme park, so dress for comfort!
It is more relaxing to visit a theme park where most people speak a language you don't understand...I'm sure there must have been parents saying ugly things to their kids just like at every other theme park, but I couldn't understand them!
OUCH! I can't wait to read about the rest of your trip
