Cast: DH, myself, DS 13, DD 11, DD 8.
At WDS and DLP on March 18, 2004
Stayed offsite (in a flat in Paris for 9 days).
This morning we got a bit of a later start on the RER from Paris and were midst of the commuters. I have never ever ever been so crushed standing on a train. I don't know how my girls survived it. My advice would be to leave quite early for the parks, even if you have to sit at the park entrance for a while.
We went over to DLP to buy the tickets for WDS...they didn't open the ticket window at WDS until they were letting folks in the park! At rope drop we raced to Rockin' Roller Coaster and rode it twice in a row. It was lots of fun and not too terribly rough (until we rode in the first car later in the day.)
After that we took the tram tour...the flood/fire is fun but the rest is kind of a let down. We really enjoyed Imaginique...very very clever. Animagique was cute, but not all that different from what we see at the State Fair. Motours Action was alright....probably just not my thing...I closed my eyes a few times. The kids really enjoyed it.
Carpets was fine...felt nice and smooth...ended up riding it 3 times so all the kids could "drive." The parade was nice - not as good as Fantilusion, but fine. The Story of Animation (or whatever it was called) was entertaining. I'm glad we had seen it at DCA, because wearing the headphones and listing to the English version while you can still hear the French version is pretty difficult. DS and DH went to the attraction that is like "Backdraft" at Universal (I foget its name)...the girls rode RR at that time.
I can't understand how people can "do" WDS in a half day. We were there at rope drop and left at about 5:10 (to go back to DLP). We were able to do everything but the virtual roller coaster. Mind you we rode RR 6 times, but we really needed the whole time to do everything in the park - and all the rides and attractions were walk on.
Parents of young kids - don't hesitate to spend time at WDS. The animation land is very nice. After the movies at the Story of Animation there is a room with about 6 cool activities to do (Dubbing your voice into a movie scene, etc.). You could easily spend 60-90 minutes in that area. Also, Mickey holds court in the annimaton courtyard and appears to be the only character for which a queue forms. That was certainly nice after having to push for the few other character autographs we were able to get.
Overall, I would highly recommend spending time at WDS. Since so many of the attractions are of the "sit down for 20-30 minutes" nature, it was probably the only day of the whole trip to Paris where our feet weren't throbbing at the end. It may not be a "destination" park, but I think it's a decent complement to DLP. It's so nice that the park is physically small.
But with that said, I'm a 46 yr old woman whose parents were very in to old movies. Of all the themes to present in Paris, why Old Time Hollywood? I really enjoyed it, but imagine that most of the old movie references are meaningless to younger people, even younger Americans.
Food at WDS was pretty much a wasteland, as I had heard.
As I mentioned before, at about 5:10 we walked over to DLP. Rode BTMRR a couple more times, Space Mountain (again, everyone but me), Small World, caught the 360 degree movie, rode the train and went into the Main Street shops.
I neglacted to mention before how terrific the castle is. The upstairs tells the story of Sleeping Beauty in beautiful stained glass...and of course, the dragon is down stairs.
I am very glad that we included 2 days at DLP in our trip to Paris. I think a family staying on site could easily fill 4 days.
At WDS and DLP on March 18, 2004
Stayed offsite (in a flat in Paris for 9 days).
This morning we got a bit of a later start on the RER from Paris and were midst of the commuters. I have never ever ever been so crushed standing on a train. I don't know how my girls survived it. My advice would be to leave quite early for the parks, even if you have to sit at the park entrance for a while.
We went over to DLP to buy the tickets for WDS...they didn't open the ticket window at WDS until they were letting folks in the park! At rope drop we raced to Rockin' Roller Coaster and rode it twice in a row. It was lots of fun and not too terribly rough (until we rode in the first car later in the day.)
After that we took the tram tour...the flood/fire is fun but the rest is kind of a let down. We really enjoyed Imaginique...very very clever. Animagique was cute, but not all that different from what we see at the State Fair. Motours Action was alright....probably just not my thing...I closed my eyes a few times. The kids really enjoyed it.
Carpets was fine...felt nice and smooth...ended up riding it 3 times so all the kids could "drive." The parade was nice - not as good as Fantilusion, but fine. The Story of Animation (or whatever it was called) was entertaining. I'm glad we had seen it at DCA, because wearing the headphones and listing to the English version while you can still hear the French version is pretty difficult. DS and DH went to the attraction that is like "Backdraft" at Universal (I foget its name)...the girls rode RR at that time.
I can't understand how people can "do" WDS in a half day. We were there at rope drop and left at about 5:10 (to go back to DLP). We were able to do everything but the virtual roller coaster. Mind you we rode RR 6 times, but we really needed the whole time to do everything in the park - and all the rides and attractions were walk on.
Parents of young kids - don't hesitate to spend time at WDS. The animation land is very nice. After the movies at the Story of Animation there is a room with about 6 cool activities to do (Dubbing your voice into a movie scene, etc.). You could easily spend 60-90 minutes in that area. Also, Mickey holds court in the annimaton courtyard and appears to be the only character for which a queue forms. That was certainly nice after having to push for the few other character autographs we were able to get.
Overall, I would highly recommend spending time at WDS. Since so many of the attractions are of the "sit down for 20-30 minutes" nature, it was probably the only day of the whole trip to Paris where our feet weren't throbbing at the end. It may not be a "destination" park, but I think it's a decent complement to DLP. It's so nice that the park is physically small.
But with that said, I'm a 46 yr old woman whose parents were very in to old movies. Of all the themes to present in Paris, why Old Time Hollywood? I really enjoyed it, but imagine that most of the old movie references are meaningless to younger people, even younger Americans.
Food at WDS was pretty much a wasteland, as I had heard.
As I mentioned before, at about 5:10 we walked over to DLP. Rode BTMRR a couple more times, Space Mountain (again, everyone but me), Small World, caught the 360 degree movie, rode the train and went into the Main Street shops.
I neglacted to mention before how terrific the castle is. The upstairs tells the story of Sleeping Beauty in beautiful stained glass...and of course, the dragon is down stairs.
I am very glad that we included 2 days at DLP in our trip to Paris. I think a family staying on site could easily fill 4 days.
