(Updated with Day 9/Cruise Day 4) Surf 'n Turf 5/28/11 Med & Disneyland Paris

Very good! I hope you will post of pic of DW & you so we can see who we are following!

& I hope you took lots of pics of DLP... I want to make it there someday! :goodvibes
 
Thanks for posting, we will be on the July 29 Med Cruise so I am looking forward to reading about you experience
 
Keep 'em coming! I'm really looking forward to seeing what you did at each port. We are doing all of them on our own so I'll look for any tips you have!

Also, you are very brave to fly stand-by. Years ago I used buddy passes from a friend (like 10 and 12 years ago) to go to Europe twice and it worked beautifully...only didn't get on two flights but they had another right away but then three years ago we tried using buddy passes to fly to Colorado and never got on. It was a nightmare as we had two of our littles in tow who didn't understand why we couldn't get on the plane. I said I'd never do stand-by again. So I'm very happy it worked out for you! I would have been a nervous wreck :)
 
Nice start! Looking forward to the rest! We'll be on the magic in 63 days! I'm contemplating doing a TR when we get back...
 
Day one ended and day two began with no sleep between the two.

It's is now 0600 on Tuesday AM, we have been up for 23 hours, and the aircraft has just taxied to the gate.

De Gaulle airport is huge, modern, and easy to use. Customs and Passport control went much faster then it has for me coming into the US on prior trips. Around 0700, we arrived at the train station, located under the airport.

Our pre-trip research indicated that it would be best to get the weeklong pass, called, and I may be wrong, the Navigo de ????. Sorry, I forgot the name, and we tossed out all of our reaseach away each day of the trip as we used it. This pass was better for us then the Visit Paris pass that they also have. Our pass was around 35 euros each, plus an additional 5 euro for the pass itself. We also had to go to a photobooth to get a passport sized photo each to stick on the pass. That added another 5 euro for both of us. All in all we spent around 80 euro on this pass for the two of us, but I did the math, and we saved around 30% by the end of the week. NOTE this pass is good from Monday to Sunday, no matter when you buy it. So for us, in town from Tuesday to Friday, it was a good deal. For others it may not be.

Even if it didn't save us anything, it is so much easier to just scan in at the turnstyles each time and not have to worry about buying a ticket and figuring out how many zones you would cross, and having exact change, ect.....

We took the Blue "RER" from the airport to Paris (about 30 mins) then a very easy cross-platform connection to the Red "RER", followed by another 30 min trip to Disneyland.

Could not have been any easier. There was direct bus and a direct high speed rail that would have cut the trip down to 15-30 mins, but would have cost the same as our weeklong Paris Metro pass. Time, was not an issue. The parks didn't open till 1000, so it was a easy choice. (The airport and parks are close by, but you have to take the train into Paris first then back out. Picture the airport a 1:00 on a clock and the parks at 4:00, but needing to go through the center of the clock first.)

On the RER, outbound to the Val D' Europe station.

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So when we ended up going a day early, we could not get another night at the Newport Bay at DLP. So we booked a hotel in the town next door, called Val D' Europe. (Kinda like celebration, a Disney built town) The hotel was called L' Elysee. Around 120 US for the night.

So we got off the train one stop prior to Disneyland, and checked into the hotel.

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Some thing I forgot to mention from day one. Rick Steves, who's guidebooks be used, advised to pack light. We did. We had 3 Hotel changes in 4 nights, and would be using the Metro as our transportation, so having big heavy bags was not an option.

We packed real light. One carry-on bag sized luggage each, that we checked, and one backpack for me and one laptop bag for her. That was it.

The one issue we had was my suit and her dress for the formal night and 2 semi formal nights. Not wanting to add another bag due to checked bag fees, we decieded to dress up for the flight. Might be why I didn't sleep. A suit is not the most confortable thing to where on a plane.

But in the end, it was worth it. So when we checked into the hotel around 0830, our room was not ready, so we changed, cleaned up the best we could, and then we left the bags with the front desk. We used money belts for security on the entire trip, but this day was the one without a hotel safe, so we had everything on our persons. But we did feel safe at DL.

We took the free bus to the park. It was slow, and we regretted not just taking the train as it was just one stop down the line. The station in Val D' Europe was just one short block from our hotel, and the stop at Disneyland is 50 yards, or should I say, meters, from the bag check at the entrance of the parks. The bus stops was around 1000 meters away.

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So bag check. Might have been the most unorganized, non-effecient, un- disneylike thing I have ever experienced. A 30 minute wait, at 1015 in the AM, on a very slow day at the park. To be fair, I only saw one other thing like this on the whole trip, (more on that later) so it was the exception, not the rule. They have 3 bag checks the size of the one in the picture, but only two where open this week.

So after that, we entered the park. But not before going through a well landscaped and well themed entrance, that included the "Disneyland Hotel" over the ticked boths and turnstiles. A great entrance to a great park.

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After the hotel, you walk under the Main Steet Train station.

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City Hall

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Main Street. Some buildings, look like WDW, others, like DL...very nice for someone who has been to both.

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After a nice stroll down Main Street, we headed to the first land on the left.

That is not Adventureland, as you might think.

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AL and FL are reversed. There is no "Liberty Square or New Orleans Square" in this park, so just reverse the two, and you can picture what it would look like.

We wanted to do BTM first, but the line was 45 mins and FP was not running, so, as the park had just opened about 45 mins prior, we wanted to get something "big" done before the crowds. So on to Adventureland and Indiana Jones...

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Overall, not what I expected. This would be the only time we did this. No wait at all,theming was decent, but you could tell you were on a basic, off the shelf type coaster, built AROUND theming, not though. Like I said, not bad, but not great.

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After that, we back tracked to FL, and rode the river boat.

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And got some great pictures of BTM, as it is built on an island around the Rivers of America.

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Then we were hungry, so after the first 2 places we saw on the map that looked good were closed for the day, we found a place in AL. Over all not bad, but with 2 weeks of eating 3 and 4 times a day, I decieded after a few nights to stop trying to remember every meal, let alone take pictures.

Sorry, this will not be a "Food Porn" type trip report. There was just too much else to cover.

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Ok, so I am going split this "Day Two" recap into the AM and PM, as Disneyland is not something you can rush. I will get the PM up today if I can, if not, I am on a work trip Monday through Wednesday, so I may not be able to update this blog for a few days. If I can, I will, so keep checking.
 
thanks for sharing
love all the photos
 
So after lunch we hit a few Adventureland and Frontierland attractions...thought I can recall the exact order, I know our goal was to get as much of the two lands done and save Fantasyland and Discoveryland for the next day.

So here are some pics....

Castle, from the Adventureland entrance from the HUB

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We hit up the Adventure Isle area, that is like much better then TSI in terms of caves and bridges and total size, and also has the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, although that was closed but not listed on the refurbishment list.

This ship from Pan, was also closed...

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We did PotC, and loved it. More like DL then WDW in terms of length and show sceens, it did not have the movie overlay to it, so it was nice to see the old school classic one again. That said, I still love the Jack Sparow overlay and am glad it is coming to this one too. About half of this version is like WDW, and about 75% is like DL, leaving around 25% of it completly different from the other two. There was no wait, yet the Q is much longer then WDW, if it was needed.

Then after doing one classic, we headed to FL for another. Phanton Manor.

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Again, another walk on, yet the Q could hold twice as many as WDW. You enter the porch from the left side, but do go in the main doors from the picture below...

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Overall, another great ride. Mostly the same, until the "Graveyard" that is replaced by a western gost town. Very nice addition.

Here is a poker game, with no one playing....

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The grave yard outside is also themed to FL.....

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I think I said we did the Riverboat earlier in the day, put now that I see the pics, I was wrong. Here are some from the Riverboat.

The boat is not like WDW's "Liberty Bell", as it is not really steam powered. That did take away a little for me.

Great view of BTM from the top deck prior to leaving the dock...

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2 seconds later....

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Baby ducks, just like Florida....

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KEELBOATS...still in action. Yet not today, or anyday we where there for that matter. For those counting, that is 3 attractions, allbeit minor, not operating so far.

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More BTM, from the back side.

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So after doing everything in both of those two lands, we decieded to take the train from the FL station to Main Street and head to the Studios. It was 1500 and that park closed at 1800, so we thought we could get a few minor rides done, leaving just the majors for the next AM. The train stops at Main Street, Frontierland, Fantasyland, Discoveryland and back to Main Street.

Thay had two trains running that day, like WDW, but have a total of 4 compaired to WDW's 3, so more could have been on the track.

This was were we hit the second issue in terms of long waits this trip. We waited about 10 min for the first train to arrive. They offloaded it, then only after everyone was off the platform, the loaded it, row by row.

Instead of just letting 20-30 people flood out of the gates and fill open seats, the loaded it row by row, one row at a time, from the front to back. This took about 5-7 mins, and would have been longer, but most guests stayed on, leaving few open seats. We did not make that train, and waited another 10 mins for the next one.

So now at just around 25 mins total, I am not one to complain about a short wait like that, but when it is being done wrong, it just kills me.

So train two arives at the 25 min mark, it again takes 5-7 mins to reload. We got on first, but then sat in the train till they finished every row. So at the 30-35 min mark, we left Fronteirland for Fantasyland. A fast 3 min ride, and we again went through a painfully slow unload and reload. Repeated again in Discoveryland, we hit Main Street, only to do once more. We should have gotten off here, but as the stretch of track from MS to FL has the Dinorama, the one part we wanted to see the most, we stayed on, not wanting to have to do this again on another day.

Maybe I was just tired, having been up for 30 hours at this point, but wow. A 25 min wait for a 40 min train ride, of witch less then 15 was actually moving, is a bit much. WDW takes 21 mins to do the full lap, and spends about 3-4 mins per station, tops. (I know they only have three stations, so the most you sit through is just two) (I also know that now, with Toontown closed, its just 1 stop)

This, and the bag check wait, were the only two complaints I had the entire stay. The rest of it was great. I don't want to come off as negative, but I feel I need to let you know, as it was very non-Disney like.

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Ok, so now its closer to 1630 so we head over to the Studios.

More on that in a new post.....
 
I'm so happy to read your report, also can't wait to read more. Thanks for writing it:thumbsup2 Our cruise is 27th August, and we're very excited about it:goodvibes Can't wait.....
 
This is great! Especially loving the pictures of Disneyland Paris. Seems like one of the best Disney parks around. Can't wait for the rest!
 
Lovin' the report. Thank you for the great photos & details. So far a European trip is just a pipe dream for me so am living vicariously through your report. Hehe...and I grew up in an airline family and can totally relate to the standby stress. I still feel strange as an adult being able to actually GET ON THE PLANE when they board, instead of waiting for them to determine if there's any empty seats :lmao:

Sigh...Paris....Or rather, Le Sigh....:cloud9:
 
My wife and I live in the Boston, MA area, are in our early 30's, without kids, and are big fans of the Disney. I grew up going to WDW every year as a kid, and have gone down there too many times to count. My wife and I have been down to WDW a few times together as well as 3 trips out to Disneyland in California, including our Honeymoon.

I haven't read through all of your trip report yet, but I just had to comment. My husband and I, who also live in the Boston area, were also on the 5/28 Mediterranean cruise, and also went to Disneyland Paris afterwards.
 
Great report!

I've done DLP and the Med cruise...just on separate trips! I love Paris. :)

Jill in CO
 

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