So on July 4th, my family celebrated American Independence Day at Disneyland Paris! It was the final day of a ten day trip through Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and France, and it was the perfect way to end our teenage kids' first trip to Europe.
We were staying near the Denfert-Rochereaux RER station, and we had no problem figuring out how to get to the DLP stop. Although it had been 30 years since I'd taken 4 years of French in high school, I was amazed at how much came back to me. I was able to communicate pretty much anything I wanted, although I did have difficulty understanding the responses if they were spoken too quickly. The French people really seemed to appreciate my efforts to speak the language even though it was far from perfect - we found everyone to be polite and friendly.
We caught a train that would get us to DLP at 9am for the 10am opening. Our plan was to hit WDW Studios first since DL Parc had early opening for resort guests. We were amongst the first few people on line at the Studios gates, and we were allowed to enter the park and line up at any attraction we wanted at 9:30am. My family wanted to ride Crush but I was concerned it might be too intense for me, so I went straight to Ratatouille to get us all FPs. Turns out I probably made the wrong decision missing Crush, but that's okay. By the time the rest of the family got off Crush (which was BEFORE 10am and which they seemed to really like), I was ready with the Ratatouille FPs for a short while later.
In the meantime we went to RnRC which hadn't opened yet due to technical difficulties, but was opening just as we got there so the line was quite short. I was expecting a similar ride experience to WDW. I was not prepared for how much more intense the Paris version of the ride was with what seemed to me like many more inversions and corkscrews. I nearly broke DS's hand squeezing it! That said, I did enjoy it and was glad I had gone on it unknowingly. LOL
From there, we returned to Rataouille with our FPs and got right on. We all agreed that this was our favorite attraction of the day. It was so unique and well done. Some of us were a tad queasy from the simulator effects, but it did not detract from how cool we thought the ride was.
At this point, DS wanted to go on TOT, but the rest of us felt like we should experience some attractions that were unique to DLP, so we went to Armageddon. Apologies to all who disagree, but we all agreed that this was the stupidest attraction we experienced. Perhaps it would have been better if all of us understood French, but I understood enough myself, and I kept waiting for something interesting to happen, and found the whole thing very anticlimactic. Perhaps we also would have enjoyed it more if we could have sat down. Paris was experiencing a heat wave last weekend, and it was nearly 100 degrees outside, so we were constantly fatigued and desperate for air-conditioning and a chance to sit at every attraction.
Next we went to Animagique. DD and I thought this was fabulous while DH and DS found it a tad corny. I would highly recommend this to anyone visiting DLP for the first time. We considered checking out Cinemagique and some of the rides in Toyland, but it was nearly noon, and we wanted to have time for the other park. So we left the Studios and headed towards Disneyland Parc, stopping for a quick lunch in the food court at the entrance to the Studios - nothing special but reasonably priced and filling and quick. At that point, it started to rain briefly, so we used that opportunity to check out a few souvenir shops, and the rain stopped quickly.
At the Parc, we immediately picked up a FP for BTMRR (which was already up to 6pm, but the standby line was a 90 minute wait so FP was the way to go), and headed over to Phantom Manor. We enjoyed the Paris version of Haunted Mansion, and got a kick out of hearing it in French (which to the rest of my family was complete gobbledygook!). Then we went to POC. This was our longest queue of the day - only 30 minutes even though the park seemed moderately crowded. The queue was excellent, and the ride was also wonderfully long, like in California, and quite excellent. DH and I appreciated the lack of Johnny Depp.
After that, the kids wanted to ride the Indiana Jones coaster. I did not, and DH decided not to as well because I had read on this board that it was rather jerky, so we left the kids there with strict instructions to remain at the exit if we weren't back by the time they got off. None of us had cell phone service in Europe so we had no way to communicate if separated. While they waited on line and rode the coaster, DH and I returned to the cemetery at Phantom Manor which we realized we had missed on the way out. Honestly, after seeing it, we felt like it hadn't been worth the walk back there, but on the plus side, we bought these ice pops called Twisters that EVERYONE seemed to be enjoying in the park on our walk back.
We met up with the kids, and headed over to the Castle for a walk-through and a visit to the dragon's lair below. We all thought the dragon was a very nice touch. Then we picked up FPs for Buzz Lightyear and headed over to Fantasyland to check out Alice's Labyrinth. Because our time was limited, that was the only attraction we made time for in Fantasyland since it was unique to Paris. It was a cute little diversion although the kids were at the age where they were "too old" for it. I guess I was old enough to be "young enough" for it!
At that point, we made a stop for cotton candy - in large part because it was called "Candy Floss" and we got a big kick out of that since DH is a dentist and floss is not usually associated with a sugary dessert in the US! LOL. We went back to ride Buzz, and after some big talking about how the rest of us were "going down," DS proceeded to get the lowest score of all four of us! LOL (123,600 for DH, 98,400 for DD, 93,400 for me, and 61,800 for DS). This attraction seemed nearly identical to me to the one in Florida.
From there, we returned for out 6pm FP at BTMRR. I had read that this version was the best of the three, but I wasn't sure why. I think I know why now, although I personally have to disagree. Like RNRC, I found the Paris version of BTMRR much more intense than the United States versions. Not crazy scary, but definitely more intense, and that was not something I wanted. I like it as a kiddie coaster. So for me personally, I'd have to say that the California version is my favorite, but the rest of my family loved the Paris version.
It was now almost 7pm, and the kids still wanted to return to the Studios to ride TOT. We let DS try the Shooting Gallery in Frontierland on our way towards Main Street. DH and I got hot dogs at Casey's Corner (good but not as good as Florida), and the kids got salads and sundaes. We didn't have time for any sit-down meals. We bought some souvenirs for everyone, and then headed back to the Studios. I am not a fan of that stomach dropping feeling in TOT, so I waited while the rest of the family rode. Although the ride had had over an hour wait earlier in the day, by now it was 8:30pm with a 9pm closing time, and the wait was only 10 minutes. When they got off, I considered trying Crush before closing, but it still had a 45 minute wait, and we didn't have time. We had an hour trip back to our hotel in Paris by train, and we had to finish packing and get up at 5:45am the next day for our flight back to NY. That also meant that, unfortunately, we couldn't stay for Disney Dreams either.
But all in all, it was a wonderful day, and I'm so glad that I got to experience the Paris version of Disney. If it had just been DH and I alone on this trip, we probably would have felt guilty spending a whole day at Disney when there is so much sightseeing to do in Paris. However, the kids had done so much sightseeing on this vacation (including visiting the Louvre, Montmartre and Sacre Coeur, the top of the Eiffel Tower, the Arc du Triomphe and Champs Elysees the day before), that spending a day at Disneyland Paris was the perfect way to end our family trip.
I want to thank everyone on this site who was so helpful in the planning process. I'll be happy to share more about the other places we travelled on this trip if anyone is interested. And I'll post some pics below as soon as I upload them.
We were staying near the Denfert-Rochereaux RER station, and we had no problem figuring out how to get to the DLP stop. Although it had been 30 years since I'd taken 4 years of French in high school, I was amazed at how much came back to me. I was able to communicate pretty much anything I wanted, although I did have difficulty understanding the responses if they were spoken too quickly. The French people really seemed to appreciate my efforts to speak the language even though it was far from perfect - we found everyone to be polite and friendly.
We caught a train that would get us to DLP at 9am for the 10am opening. Our plan was to hit WDW Studios first since DL Parc had early opening for resort guests. We were amongst the first few people on line at the Studios gates, and we were allowed to enter the park and line up at any attraction we wanted at 9:30am. My family wanted to ride Crush but I was concerned it might be too intense for me, so I went straight to Ratatouille to get us all FPs. Turns out I probably made the wrong decision missing Crush, but that's okay. By the time the rest of the family got off Crush (which was BEFORE 10am and which they seemed to really like), I was ready with the Ratatouille FPs for a short while later.
In the meantime we went to RnRC which hadn't opened yet due to technical difficulties, but was opening just as we got there so the line was quite short. I was expecting a similar ride experience to WDW. I was not prepared for how much more intense the Paris version of the ride was with what seemed to me like many more inversions and corkscrews. I nearly broke DS's hand squeezing it! That said, I did enjoy it and was glad I had gone on it unknowingly. LOL
From there, we returned to Rataouille with our FPs and got right on. We all agreed that this was our favorite attraction of the day. It was so unique and well done. Some of us were a tad queasy from the simulator effects, but it did not detract from how cool we thought the ride was.
At this point, DS wanted to go on TOT, but the rest of us felt like we should experience some attractions that were unique to DLP, so we went to Armageddon. Apologies to all who disagree, but we all agreed that this was the stupidest attraction we experienced. Perhaps it would have been better if all of us understood French, but I understood enough myself, and I kept waiting for something interesting to happen, and found the whole thing very anticlimactic. Perhaps we also would have enjoyed it more if we could have sat down. Paris was experiencing a heat wave last weekend, and it was nearly 100 degrees outside, so we were constantly fatigued and desperate for air-conditioning and a chance to sit at every attraction.
Next we went to Animagique. DD and I thought this was fabulous while DH and DS found it a tad corny. I would highly recommend this to anyone visiting DLP for the first time. We considered checking out Cinemagique and some of the rides in Toyland, but it was nearly noon, and we wanted to have time for the other park. So we left the Studios and headed towards Disneyland Parc, stopping for a quick lunch in the food court at the entrance to the Studios - nothing special but reasonably priced and filling and quick. At that point, it started to rain briefly, so we used that opportunity to check out a few souvenir shops, and the rain stopped quickly.
At the Parc, we immediately picked up a FP for BTMRR (which was already up to 6pm, but the standby line was a 90 minute wait so FP was the way to go), and headed over to Phantom Manor. We enjoyed the Paris version of Haunted Mansion, and got a kick out of hearing it in French (which to the rest of my family was complete gobbledygook!). Then we went to POC. This was our longest queue of the day - only 30 minutes even though the park seemed moderately crowded. The queue was excellent, and the ride was also wonderfully long, like in California, and quite excellent. DH and I appreciated the lack of Johnny Depp.
After that, the kids wanted to ride the Indiana Jones coaster. I did not, and DH decided not to as well because I had read on this board that it was rather jerky, so we left the kids there with strict instructions to remain at the exit if we weren't back by the time they got off. None of us had cell phone service in Europe so we had no way to communicate if separated. While they waited on line and rode the coaster, DH and I returned to the cemetery at Phantom Manor which we realized we had missed on the way out. Honestly, after seeing it, we felt like it hadn't been worth the walk back there, but on the plus side, we bought these ice pops called Twisters that EVERYONE seemed to be enjoying in the park on our walk back.
We met up with the kids, and headed over to the Castle for a walk-through and a visit to the dragon's lair below. We all thought the dragon was a very nice touch. Then we picked up FPs for Buzz Lightyear and headed over to Fantasyland to check out Alice's Labyrinth. Because our time was limited, that was the only attraction we made time for in Fantasyland since it was unique to Paris. It was a cute little diversion although the kids were at the age where they were "too old" for it. I guess I was old enough to be "young enough" for it!
At that point, we made a stop for cotton candy - in large part because it was called "Candy Floss" and we got a big kick out of that since DH is a dentist and floss is not usually associated with a sugary dessert in the US! LOL. We went back to ride Buzz, and after some big talking about how the rest of us were "going down," DS proceeded to get the lowest score of all four of us! LOL (123,600 for DH, 98,400 for DD, 93,400 for me, and 61,800 for DS). This attraction seemed nearly identical to me to the one in Florida.
From there, we returned for out 6pm FP at BTMRR. I had read that this version was the best of the three, but I wasn't sure why. I think I know why now, although I personally have to disagree. Like RNRC, I found the Paris version of BTMRR much more intense than the United States versions. Not crazy scary, but definitely more intense, and that was not something I wanted. I like it as a kiddie coaster. So for me personally, I'd have to say that the California version is my favorite, but the rest of my family loved the Paris version.
It was now almost 7pm, and the kids still wanted to return to the Studios to ride TOT. We let DS try the Shooting Gallery in Frontierland on our way towards Main Street. DH and I got hot dogs at Casey's Corner (good but not as good as Florida), and the kids got salads and sundaes. We didn't have time for any sit-down meals. We bought some souvenirs for everyone, and then headed back to the Studios. I am not a fan of that stomach dropping feeling in TOT, so I waited while the rest of the family rode. Although the ride had had over an hour wait earlier in the day, by now it was 8:30pm with a 9pm closing time, and the wait was only 10 minutes. When they got off, I considered trying Crush before closing, but it still had a 45 minute wait, and we didn't have time. We had an hour trip back to our hotel in Paris by train, and we had to finish packing and get up at 5:45am the next day for our flight back to NY. That also meant that, unfortunately, we couldn't stay for Disney Dreams either.
But all in all, it was a wonderful day, and I'm so glad that I got to experience the Paris version of Disney. If it had just been DH and I alone on this trip, we probably would have felt guilty spending a whole day at Disney when there is so much sightseeing to do in Paris. However, the kids had done so much sightseeing on this vacation (including visiting the Louvre, Montmartre and Sacre Coeur, the top of the Eiffel Tower, the Arc du Triomphe and Champs Elysees the day before), that spending a day at Disneyland Paris was the perfect way to end our family trip.
I want to thank everyone on this site who was so helpful in the planning process. I'll be happy to share more about the other places we travelled on this trip if anyone is interested. And I'll post some pics below as soon as I upload them.
