A Trip to Disneyland Paris? Pros and Cons

RMichael21

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Hi all. Since I have never been to Europe and of course, France, I have never been to Disneyland Paris before. My family is thinking about taking a trip to Europe sometime soon and we are going to go France (most-likely). Now, I mentioned Disneyland Paris to my family, and they pretty much disregared the idea of going to Disneyland Paris. I need some points to bring up to help me go to Disneyland Paris. If anyone could help that would be great. Also, if anyone has been to Disneyland Paris and could give me some tips that would be great. Thanks Everyone,

-RMicheal21
 

Animaniac93-98

Well-Known Member
The two main points I would make are:

- It's not a copy of the American parks (some rides are better, while some are exclusive to the resort)

and

- You don't need a week to see the highlights

I would sell DLP as a day-trip portion of a broader French vacation. It's easy to get to from Paris using a rental car or the RER/Metro and worth your time if you and your family are big Disney fans. If weather is a concern, tell them most things are indoor or covered.
 

RMichael21

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The two main points I would make are:

- It's not a copy of the American parks (some rides are better, while some are exclusive to the resort)

and

- You don't need a week to see the highlights

I would sell DLP as a day-trip portion of a broader French vacation. It's easy to get to from Paris using a rental car or the RER/Metro and worth your time if you and your family are big Disney fans. If weather is a concern, tell them most things are indoor or covered.
Thank you. I'll be sure to bring those points up!
 

Max Fan

Member
In summer vacation, 3 days it's maybe necesary (but the maximum !).
not in vacation, 2 days tThis is largely good !

In RER (Metro suburbs) you are in 45 minute of Paris (start to Disney).

In 1 week you can 2 or 3 days in Disney and 5 or 4 days to Discover the capital of France.
The airport is in 30minutes to Paris in RER (other line than Disney).

And, in july you are a futur great inovation of technology in a new attraction exclusive in Disneyland Paris -> Ratatouille.
And, the details are unique in the Disney Park in France and more immersive. Maybe the "Disney Sea" of "Magic Kingdom" (but with no money and real new attraction -new structure- in the Disneyland Park since 1998)
 
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marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
Disneyland Parc (Magic Kingdom) makes the US parks seem like cheap knock offs?

It cost 2 billion dollars to build in 1992 and you can see why.
 

wdrive

Well-Known Member
In my opinion Disneyland Paris is the worst of all the Disney Resorts worldwide. That might just be because it's the closest to me and it's a case of 'always greener on the other side' or that I worked there for awhile so being there everyday gave me enough magic to last me for awhile. However I still think it is the weakest. There's no real unique must see attractions (other than Crushes Coaster maybe) and both parks in Paris are both light on attractions. The maintenance, while improved, still lags behind every other Disney park. That isn't to say you shouldn't go. I'm sure if you do decide to go you'll have a great time. Walt Disney World gets blamed for penny pinching but compared with Disneyland Paris you'd think Disney World had a bottomless pit of money.

Anyway after all that bashing I really do think you should go, it's the most visited place in the whole of Europe and I'm sure you and you're family will have a great time if you go :)
 

dadddio

Well-Known Member
Our thoughts on DLP:

The park is beautiful.
The castle is the best of all the parks.
The CMs range from very good to somewhat rude.
The hotels are abominable. Stay off-site.
 

stalkingmickey

Active Member
I was also thinking of taking a day trip here after our Disney 2015 cruise.
Do they have fast passes there
are there any benefits of staying on site like early hours or late hours?
I heard there is a lot of construction going on things closed and they are not being upfront about this on the website. Anyone have info on this
 

peep

Well-Known Member
They do have fast passes, the same as any other Disney Resort.
Staying on site will get you morning magic hours in the Disneyland Parc, but the cost difference of staying on site vs off-site is huge, just bear that in mind.
There is a lot of construction going on, well, more refurbishments to keep everything looking good. They are being up front about this, just check http://www.dlrpmagic.com/calendar/closures-refurbishments/ for more details on the latest closure dates. They are starting some big refurbs over the next few years so it's worth checking. For example they're working their way through re-building Main Street so part of that will always be covered up over the next few years.
 

dajazz

New Member
I just got back from Paris 2 weeks ago and we went out to DLP Sunday afternoon and caught the train to the airport Tuesday morning. If we did it again we'd just do a day trip via the RER train and wouldn't spend any nights out there. We opted to stay off property, at the Radisson Blu, just a 7-8 minute bus ride away, considering the cost of staying on property I would not recommend it, just find a close place that has constant shuttle service, the Radisson departs the park every 30 minutes so we were never waiting.

As others have said the magic kingdom park itself is beautiful, easily the most visually stunning that I've been too. They were doing construction on main street, and a lot of the restaurants were closed and had signs telling you other restaurants to go to, only when you get to them you find they're closed so your options are rather limited if you want a sit down dining experience like we did. They do have fast pass on some of the rides, but we never utilized it as wait times were quite low, usually 10-15 minutes at most, often just 5 minutes, though we went off peak so I'm not sure what the times are like when the park is busier.

Disney Studios was a huge disappointment, the only reason I'd go back would be to see Ratatouille. It really needs 3-4 more decent rides to help spread out the crowds and give people something to do. We went on the rides, explored around, and switched parks after just 2 hours.
 

The Empress Lilly

Well-Known Member
I just got back from Paris 2 weeks ago and we went out to DLP Sunday afternoon and caught the train to the airport Tuesday morning. If we did it again we'd just do a day trip via the RER train and wouldn't spend any nights out there. We opted to stay off property, at the Radisson Blu, just a 7-8 minute bus ride away, considering the cost of staying on property I would not recommend it, just find a close place that has constant shuttle service, the Radisson departs the park every 30 minutes so we were never waiting.

As others have said the magic kingdom park itself is beautiful, easily the most visually stunning that I've been too. They were doing construction on main street, and a lot of the restaurants were closed and had signs telling you other restaurants to go to, only when you get to them you find they're closed so your options are rather limited if you want a sit down dining experience like we did. They do have fast pass on some of the rides, but we never utilized it as wait times were quite low, usually 10-15 minutes at most, often just 5 minutes, though we went off peak so I'm not sure what the times are like when the park is busier.

Disney Studios was a huge disappointment, the only reason I'd go back would be to see Ratatouille. It really needs 3-4 more decent rides to help spread out the crowds and give people something to do. We went on the rides, explored around, and switched parks after just 2 hours.
Awesome, you've been a member for eight years before lodging your first post! :)

I was there the exact same day you were, even did the Studios in the morning, DLP rest of the day routine! If you by any chance rode the Molly Brown, the steamboat, on its last trip of the day: I co-captained it! :geek:
If you by any chance rode Pirates and your boat was bombarded by another with M&Ms and flash photography and beer cans, I'm awfully sorry, we were terribly dru...uh, that wasn't me, that was @Spike-in-Berlin . :p

Those restaurants always have pretty miserable operating hours, but not as bad as when you were there. Crowds were superlight, in summer DLP is packed. That's the drawback of Paris - half the year the weather is too poor. So you are left with the option of overcrowded summer months, or empty but dreary and dismal winter months.
I'll second your verdict to just stay off-site or even in the city itself!
 

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