Disneyland Paris v. WDW

J_Carioca

Well-Known Member
Space Mountain at Disneyland Paris is comparable to Rock N Rollercoaster, launched start, several inversions, special effects inside, onboard soundtrack, dark etc. Extremely fast and rough ride lol Best Space Mountain :)

Wow, thanks. REALLY glad I read that as I will never go on SM at Disneyland Paris now! ;)
 

Azerin

Active Member
In theming and overall feel, TPFKaTD-MGMS is miles better than DSP. ... In actual attractions I enjoy experiencing, DSP wins by a bit.

I basically agree with the statement and especially once Ratatouille opens (assuming it is at least half as good as it is being hyped as being) will prefer attractions at DSP... the only big thing that DHS has over DSP (attraction wise at least) for me is Fantasmic! and that isn't what it used to be either (and pails in comparison to Disneyland's Fantasmic so we don't normally bother with it anyway).

Pizza Planet was decent at DLP the one time I tried it in '09. I think it's a buffet now, though.

Yes, Pizza Planet is a buffet now and actually not a bad one food wise; however, it is by far the worst (and cheaply) themed restaurant in a Disney park that I have ever seen and the fact that everything else in Parc Disneyland is so amazing just makes it seem even worse... for this reason I would never recommend it to anyone :/
 

Azerin

Active Member
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2012/12/photo-gallery-its-a-joyeux-noel-at-disneyland-paris/

Great pictures Tom!

And unfortunately the one taken from the Disneyland Hotel does show the lights issue you mentioned if one looks closely. Otherwise it is a fantastic view! Where exactly was it taken from? From what you said you did not stay there, so I guess it was not taken from your room...

Yes, great pictures!! and congrats on being on the Parks Blog!

I think that one was probably taken from the Founders Club... here is one I took from there:


DLP Dec 2010 - Eating Breakfast at the Founder's Club by PeterPanFan, on Flickr
 

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
Is it true SM is getting new trains next year (ones that will be less likely to throw people around)?
I believe new wheels (again) but also this time new head restraints and seat restraints, to better handle the ride.
Also the onboard audio should be worked on.
 

Expo_Seeker40

Well-Known Member
Having been fortunate enough to have been both a DLP and WDW AP in 2011, I can safely say that DLP's Magic Kingdom surpassed WDW's Magic Kingdom for me on numerous levels. I haven't been that blown away with a Magic Kingdom park since the early 90s.
 

Tiggerfanatic

Well-Known Member
I believe new wheels (again) but also this time new head restraints and seat restraints, to better handle the ride.
Also the onboard audio should be worked on.
Thank goodness. I liked the ride itself, but it and Indiana Jones both gave me such a headache from my head being banged around in the headrests. We could have ridden both again with little or no wait, but there was no way I was going through that again.
 

FrankLapidus

Well-Known Member
When did you visit?

It was June of either 2008 or 09, I'm struggling to remember which one now but I'm leaning toward 08. One thing I'm curious about if anyone has been on the Crush Coaster in the Studios Park, is it a particularly good attraction? All while we were there the queue was never less than an hour while Tower of Terror and R&R Coaster were both practically walk-ons so did we miss out on something really worthwhile there? We might be going back to DLP next summer so hopefully if we do go again we'll get a chance to do the rides and see the effects that we missed the last time.
 

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
Crush is good, but not amazing. It suffers from being a new coaster in a small park with rather slow loading. It has a line so must be good, so more people get in line. A bit like TSMM.
 

WDWFigment

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I didn't find the story flimsy at all. What I also loved was that it wasn't Princess-centric and that it featured many films, especially Hunchback of Notre Dame, that get left out of Disney shows in favor of the Toy Story gang or Nemo.​

And it's about time they built a nighttime show around Peter Pan instead of Tinker Bell.​

I have never been at Christmas, so I have nothing to compare it to. But the only resorts that update their Christmas entertainment regularly are the Asian ones. TDL has a new parade practically EVERY year. I realized last year in Anaheim (where I hadn't been for Christmas since 2007) how truly tired The Christmas Fantasy Parade is. And looking at pics of the MK, it seems like the decorations are the same ones that were up 20 years ago (or more). You need to change things up.​

So so true. From having a dragon in the castle dungeon with a 'secret' entrance in a shop to the props around BTMRR to the signage on Main Street, there just is a layering that you only get at TDS as a whole.​

Placemaking will never work for that park. Did you notice the one key element it lacks that can be found in every other Disney Park in the world?​

It was built on the cheap and to ensure Disney didn't lose the land. But it has a depressing vibe that I've never felt in other parks. That said, it actually has some wonderful attractions. Cinemagique is one of the best at the resort. Anamagique is very good too. Armageddon is the best special effects show of its type. ToT is the same as DCA and has some great CMs. I prefer RnRC at DSP when the effects are working fog and stage lighting beat plywood cutouts in O-Town. I even would enjoy Stitch Live over Turtle Talk, but that's a personal taste. I like Crush's Coaster as well, but agree it isn't worth the waits it regularly has.​

My strong recommendation would be to stay off-site even in Paris and train in. The resorts were pretty much ignored for 20 years. Only Sequoia has had a full renovation and, even there, I noticed many corners were cut. I stayed in a Grand Villa at the nearby Marriott Village, which was amazing. But usually I'll Priceline a very nice hotel in Paris (4-star) for between $80-150 a night. The Disney service at the Parisian resorts generally makes WDW's look top-notch.​


WoD wasn't open in the spring. But the entire Village needs (and will be getting) a major makeover. It is very ugly and was always the weak point of the resort from an architecture standpoint.​

That's always been my experience and my French is likely no better than yours. Most CMs speak English or understand enough to help you. The only resort where you won't find this is Tokyo.​

One of the worst aspects of WDW, to me, is the 'Have a MAGICal Day' nonsense or the "Welcome Home' crap. I love that the other resorts don't participate in this hokey 90s way of pretending to care, but still try and attain a high level of genuine guest service. I know some folks need those hokey greetings as part of the Pixie Dust addiction, though.​

You can see plenty of strollers in more crowded periods. But they are not the giant double-wides that make WDW a living hell on moderately busy days. And ECVs ... well, you'll only see those if someone has a medical need. There's not the morbid obesity issue that we have here (although those UKers seem to want to be like us!)​


Trash hasn't really been a problem on my visits (and I've had an AP for something like five of the last eight years), but I have seen the walking on the grass and camping out for parades and shows in the planters/ walled off areas. Some people like to blame the Spanish (sorta the way WDW fans will attack Brazilians) but I've seen people clearly from all over the world do this there. And, unfortunately, the cast does let them get away with it.​


I always suggest WDW regulars to visit DL before anywhere else, but when traveling beyond, DLP is the first place I'd advise a US Disney fan to go. It's beautiful. Has many unique attractions and features. And the cultural differences aren't as great as going to Asia. DLP offers a lot and I wish I were headed back before my AP expires (not likely). I'd only suggest that there really is more worthwhile in DSP than you gave it credit for. It isn't a park for great photography, though, and since that's a part of your trips I understand why you'd want to be at the beautiful Parc Disneyland instead.

Finally have some time to respond to this... (Well, not really...but it's either this or helping bake cookies--when did it become some sort of rule that when you demand your family make a certain type of cookie, you have to help make it?! No one volunteers to help me mow the lawn, despite that clearly being 'my' job...but I digress...)

There's no denying that there were things we missed as first timers. I would have noticed at least the glaring problems and non-moving AAs though, so I'm pretty comfortable with my high-level remarks.

The popcorn light thing really bothers me, and that's actually something I notice more than others because I see those on the computer screen when I edit photos.

Several things were closed at WDS the day we went: CineMagique was the big one, but Armageddon was also down. We didn't do the Stitch show because we were so fed up with the park after seeing that CineMagique was closed and because the sky was starting to clear up for the first time all trip, meaning I had my first chance at daytime photos with a blue sky (I don't bother taking daytime photos when the skies are overcast) and knew that only would last a couple hours (at most), and didn't want to waste that on WDS.

I still stand by my rather harsh opinion of WDS. AniMagique was the highlight for me, and that was definitely pretty good. No matter how great the collection of attractions, the package containing them all is just so irreparably flawed that I can't imagine ever enjoying that park. A BVS+Cars Land style makeover wouldn't even fix it. They certainly help, but DCA at least had the foundation to start with. WDS doesn't.

As for what it doesn't have that every other park has... "quality," "character," "landscaping," or "sensible layout?" I could go on, but most of the responses would be snarky, so I'll spare everyone.

As far as hotels go, you're absolutely right. If you want to get to the park first thing in the morning (which is probably wise during busier seasons), the Paris recommendation might be a bit extreme. It's a good 45 minutes from Paris, plus time to walk to the train.

We rented an apartment in Paris, and found that to be an awesome (and cheap!) way to experience the city. Not only did we dine at restaurants, but we also went to the grocery stores (an experience in itself) to grab some interesting stuff.

I think we might have seen more issues with guests, trash, etc. had we visited during a busier time. Finding a spot to view the parades was incredibly easy. There were open spots on the curb even after the parades started. Oddly, the most difficult thing to view was the Christmas tree lighting ceremony (which I enjoyed a great deal).
 

Patricia Melton

Well-Known Member
Overall, DLP seemed like it was in excellent shape. I didn't notice any non-working effects in any attraction besides PotC, which sporadically was without its swinging pirate during our visit, and Mystic Manor, which was without its headless "Dreamfinder" Mayor for the duration of our trip. That said, I have never watched any ride-through videos of DLRP attractions, so other things could have been missing or not working and could have gone unnoticed by me.​

There is no "Mystic Manor" in Disneyland Paris.

"Mystic Manor" is being built in Hong Kong.

Perhaps you meant to say "Phantom Manor", which is the Parisian version of "Haunted Mansion".

I'm surprised you'd make a mistake like this, considering all the E-books you sell on Disney.
 

Patricia Melton

Well-Known Member
Dining options were also pretty bad in DLP. We ate at Walt's and Blue Lagoon and our meals were so bad at each of these restaurants that we nixed plans for California Grill and Inventions (we still ate at the latter for breakfast). I've heard that dining at DLRP is just so-so, but these meals were truly bad, and I consider myself somewhat forgiving of Disney dining. If you go to DLRP, save your dining budget for (real) Paris, where the food is amazing just about everywhere.​

I think people should take your opinions on food with a grain of salt. You and your wife Sara come across to me as "food snobs" in this regard. I remember once on your site you went on and on about how much you dislike Eddie Merlot's, the steakhouse...which happens to be my favorite restaurant in Indiana. I've never had a bad time there, but you and Sara seem to never have a good time (in a lot of places you two go).

It was then that I realized you and I have a very different expectation when going to a restaurant. You seem to go there as a food critic looking for something negative to write about in a review (you remind me of Anton Ego more than a little) and I go to a restaurant looking to have a nice time (and a break from cooking).

It takes a lot to make a meal "bad" in my opinion...but it seems to take a lot more to make a meal "good" to you.
 

Tom

Beta Return
I think people should take your opinions on food with a grain of salt. You and your wife Sara come across to me as "food snobs" in this regard. I remember once on your site you went on and on about how much you dislike Eddie Merlot's, the steakhouse...which happens to be my favorite restaurant in Indiana. I've never had a bad time there, but you and Sara seem to never have a good time (in a lot of places you two go).

It was then that I realized you and I have a very different expectation when going to a restaurant. You seem to go there as a food critic looking for something negative to write about in a review (you remind me of Anton Ego more than a little) and I go to a restaurant looking to have a nice time (and a break from cooking).

It takes a lot to make a meal "bad" in my opinion...but it seems to take a lot more to make a meal "good" to you.

Dang, Tom. He/She certainly put you in your place, you wannabe food critic. I can't believe you dislike his/her favorite Indiana dining establishment (one which I've never heard of, after growing up here for 32 years). How dare you! You probably hate St. Elmo's too, you hethen.

Take your opinions on Disney products somewhere they're welcome, like an online fan forum or some other such web-based discussion medium.

The nerve of some people. Makes me sick.

Now where the hell is that old :rolleyes: smiley from the old software?
 

Ralphlaw

Well-Known Member
Does every thread get nasty at some point? Here are 2 things I'd like to point out:

1. Sometimes things come off as nasty even when the writer thereof does not mean for it to be nasty.
2. Go back and insert a kind word or two at the begining after you've written the substance of your post.

Here's an example: "You and your wife come across to me as food snobs." It comes off nasty, but probably wasn't meant that way. Therefore, do not take offense.

With that being said, here's a nice little rewrite that tones down the perceived nastiness: "We travel with whiny kids, but you and your wife seem to expect more from vacation dining beyond the gobble and go crowd like us." Note how this is self-deprecating, thereby toning down the nastiness and actually shoving any possible insult back at yourself and your alleged whiny kids. Readers, in my experience, like versions like this better.

We're all united in our love of Disney and travel, so let's be a little more civil.

With that being said, I'm thinking of traveling to Europe with the family in 2014. Should I stay at the Disney Resort hotels for a few days, or not? And, by the way, how long of a train ride is it from Paris, and what train station connects to DLP?

Thanks everyone.
 

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
Ralph, if you can afford it stay on property. It's rather different to WDW or DL. DLP is quite remote from the surroundings for the average visitor. If you have a car it maybe different, a train (the RER station at Chessy/Marne le Valle if I recall) is about 40 minutes from Paris, but if you're a fan then going all that way and not staying at a mod if you can afford it would be plane wrong.
 

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