Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
I actually find Euro to be the best of the Western Hemisphere parks (I know Paris is on the border...I’m including it with its stateside anglofrench descendants)
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
I Miss WDW More Than DL..
- Thread starter Model3 McQueen
- Start date
Mickeyboof
Well-Known Member
Agreed
EPCOTCenterLover
Well-Known Member
I find DLP very magical. Can you put into words why you didn't? I'm very curious.
bryanfze55
Well-Known Member
I’m interested/curious about all this love for Disneyland Paris. I’ve heard the park is very, very beautiful with an awesome Frontierland but little else. Lacks the charm of the original Disneyland. Poor food quality, poor maintenance, less rides, no Splash Mountain. And I’ve heard Walt Disney Studios Park is even significantly worse than DCA and DHS. I’m thinking this is just a case of rose-colored glasses due to the exoticism of being in a foreign country.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
I was there in 2006 (and will return in 2021)...and didn’t find that the case at all
Food “quality” is very subjective...and that’s a hard place to judge because Paris has 5,000 restaurants that are all Better than 95% of the food to be had in the US...but it’s not bad.
And Disneyland’s restaurants are bad...and WDW’s quick serves are Aramark grade (casey’s...Blech
)...it’s relative.But I have to say: it seems like you’re using the old stereotypes on Euro...like NYT clipping from 1993
That complex’s main problem is that they misread the cultural and social system and it has suffered from massive debt as Disney tried to “engineer” Tokyo 2 while not having to foot the bill.
But from a guest perspective...there’s a lot to like...now that they did something with the awful studios park
bryanfze55
Well-Known Member
I was there in 2006 (and will return in 2021)...and didn’t find that the case at all
Food “quality” is very subjective...and that’s a hard place to judge because Paris has 5,000 restaurants that are all Better than 95% of the food to be had in the US...but it’s not bad.
And Disneyland’s restaurants are bad...and WDW’s quick serves are Aramark grade (casey’s...Blech
But I have to say: it seems like you’re using the old stereotypes on Euro...like NYT clipping from 1993
That complex’s main problem is that they misread the cultural and social system and it has suffered from massive debt as Disney tried to “engineer” Tokyo 2 while not having to foot the bill.
But from a guest perspective...there’s a lot to like...now that they did something with the awful studios park
Well I may be misjudging it but not from 1993 lol. I was barely alive. I am going off what I’ve heard from friends who’ve made a day trip of it while they’ve been in France.
I actually like Disneyland’s food. Quick service is usually good IMO. WDW, not so much. Obviously Disneyland doesn’t have much table service, but I think what they do have is great. Cafe Orleans? Come on!
I just don’t really see how DLP could be objectively better than the original Disneyland. It’s bigger (not necessarily a good thing) but far fewer rides. That’s not subjective, that’s just looking up a list of attractions. It just doesn’t seem like it would supply the charm and variety of Disneyland. I mean, the Storybook Land Canal Boats in DLP don’t even have a CM guide. Lame.
bryanfze55
Well-Known Member
Isn’t it also like $50 a day to get Fast Passes for three rides at Disneyland Paris? And even more expensive if you want more Fast Passes?
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
The master plan is a big advantage for the new parks over DL...they pull on “nostalgia”
I like them all...to be fair.
Disneyland’s restaurants are 50% as good as WDW’s...and those are 50% what they used to be since before the DDP.
Do like the quickserve at Disneyland
You’re not gonna get wdw if you visit Paris...especially not the day.
And here’s a secret:
The workers are not American. Only in America do they charge a fortune, give the workers minimum wage, and encourage you to kiss the customers butts.
Which is Orlando...and ridiculous if you think about it??
bryanfze55
Well-Known Member
The master plan is a big advantage for the new parks over DL...they pull on “nostalgia”
I like them all...to be fair.
Disneyland’s restaurants are 50% as good as WDW’s...and those are 50% what they used to be since before the DDP.
Do like the quickserve at Disneyland
You’re not gonna get wdw if you visit Paris...especially not the day.
And here’s a secret:
The workers are not American. Only in America do they charge a fortune, give the workers minimum wage, and encourage you to kiss the customers butts.
Which is Orlando...and ridiculous if you think about it??
Agree on the last point. I’ve never been to Europe, but I’m aware that the ***-kissing culture that exists here is not a thing over there, and that extends to customer service. We could debate the merits of French vs American culture all day long. All I’m implying at the end of the day is I don’t see how Disneyland Paris could really objectively be better than Disneyland Park, unless one has strong affinity for walkthrough attractions, smoking cigarettes in ride lines, or is giving Paris additional credence for being new, foreign, exotic, etc.
bryanfze55
Well-Known Member
But your opinion is definitely valid and respected. I’m not challenging it. Was just curious to see how people backed up the high opinion of DLP.
Not everyone speaks french, so if they want a cm guide they need to remake the whole loading station and queu. It's just not worth it.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
Ok....i’m Gonna highlight and not comment...we’re heading to political misconceptions here
bryanfze55
Well-Known Member
Ok....i’m Gonna highlight and not comment...we’re heading to political misconceptions here
Other than the smoking comment not really, but this is just your way of not having to actually defend DLP being a better park lol. Talking in circles...
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
This is a slippery slope.
What good would it do me to defend a park you haven’t seen? My two D words can’t really translate to a 3D environment.
You know where they smoke a lot by today’s standards?
No joke - California
PiratesMansion
Well-Known Member
Is Disneyland Paris a better park than Disneyland? For me, no.
But that is not the same as saying that Disneyland Paris has no merit. It is easily the best designed Magic Kingdom, designed with the same level as a Tokyo DisneySea or an Animal Kingdom. Which park is more charming is somewhat subjective, but DLP is, at the very least, the single most charming park Disney has ever built since Disneyland, and I don't see that changing. Somehow they successfully married the scale of a Magic Kingdom with the charm of Disneyland, and that's worth celebrating.
It doesn't have Splash Mountain, but Hong Kong and Shanghai don't either. And while Hong Kong and Shanghai have some incredible attractions that Paris can't match, Disneyland Paris is easily a better, more complete park than either of the Chinese parks.
I'll grant you that the Studios Park and the resort as a whole are still something of a mess, but I don't think anyone who says they love DLP is ever hiding that. The maintenance problem was very real at one time but has now been rectified. Consensus seems to be that it's now far better than, say, WDW.
The smoking is endemic of Europe and much of the rest of the world. I don't love it, but it's not my soil. It's not going to stop me from going if I have an opportunity.
Can Disneyland Paris be frustrating at times? Yes. Should you go anyway if you have an opportunity? Yes. You just can't judge a theme park from the web, or even from what other people are saying.
Finally, I think that it's important to remember that there's more that goes into measuring the worth of a park than its ride count. No other Disney park has the same number of rides as Disneyland, and that's unlikely to change. While Epcot and Animal Kingdom, for example, don't have tons of attractions, there is at least some truth to the notion that you can get just as much out of those parks by really exploring them and immersing yourself in some of the details. While Disneyland is very detailed in its own right, I'd argue that there other parks or areas where the level of detail *surpasses* what you will find in California, including much of the main park in Paris. Parks are so much more than their attraction counts. Walt Disney Studios has more rides than Hollywood Studios, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a better park.
Only you can determine which is better for your own needs (preferably after you have experienced both in person), but it's not fair to say there's nothing at Disneyland Paris of value.
EPCOTCenterLover
Well-Known Member
Let me offer my two Euros.
I fully agree with post #56! As a fan of great Imagineering, the design crew created something unique that requires stopping to savor it all- and more time to discover all its hidden gems. (This park is the 100% opposite of the Studios park next door.)
I write about this park often (over 200 times on my blog), but I see DLP as the Disney Theme Park as a Work of Art. I used that title for this lengthy article on my blog. I'll spare everyone pasting it here. Just to to this link if you want to read it and see the photos for yourself.
bryanfze55
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the detailed description. I find your insight to be very even-keeled.
I will say, I hope I didn’t come across as implying that Disneyland Paris has no merit. I’ve only been to 6 of the 12 Disney theme parks, but I can heartily say that all of them have their own merits. And as far as castle parks go, DLP does appear to be the most beautiful.
What I did mean to imply is that I think there are people who are dejected enough about the way that Disney has run the American parks recently, and they will view the foreign parks with particularly rosy lenses.
While DLP looks beautiful, I just don’t feel there’s a whole lot there that I can’t already experience in Disneyland for half the cost. The park alone isn’t that much cheaper when you consider you have to pay for Fastpasses. However, if I ever do make it to Paris I will be sure to visit DLP. I’m not against non-US Disney parks. I’m just not making a special trip to see them. Well, maybe DisneySea...
bryanfze55
Well-Known Member
After going back through this thread, I will add that there is one thing that takes away from the Disneyland a Resort as compared to WDW, and that is the only US park that seems to be actively going in the wrong direction is DCA.
DHS has become a good full day park, and more importantly it’s thematically coherent. It’s the “Hollywood” park. No reason it can’t be a highlight of Disney IPs. Sunset and Hollywood Blvd and Echo Lake and even Grand Avenue... all great areas. DAK has made great progress to becoming a full day park. Epcot is at least receiving significant investment to become something worthwhile again, even if it’s not the Epcot of the 80s and 90s.
DCA is a mess though, outside of Grizzly Peak and Cars Land. I’ve never felt like I was at Six Flags at a Disney park, but that is how I feel in Pixar Pier, Paradise Gardens and the Hollywood area. I guess Dino-Rama is even worse, but that area is easy to avoid if you so desire. That’s not the case at DCA. Unfortunately, I think the addition of Avengers Campus will only add to the garishness of DCA.
DHS has become a good full day park, and more importantly it’s thematically coherent. It’s the “Hollywood” park. No reason it can’t be a highlight of Disney IPs. Sunset and Hollywood Blvd and Echo Lake and even Grand Avenue... all great areas. DAK has made great progress to becoming a full day park. Epcot is at least receiving significant investment to become something worthwhile again, even if it’s not the Epcot of the 80s and 90s.
DCA is a mess though, outside of Grizzly Peak and Cars Land. I’ve never felt like I was at Six Flags at a Disney park, but that is how I feel in Pixar Pier, Paradise Gardens and the Hollywood area. I guess Dino-Rama is even worse, but that area is easy to avoid if you so desire. That’s not the case at DCA. Unfortunately, I think the addition of Avengers Campus will only add to the garishness of DCA.
Mickeyboof
Well-Known Member
I’d rather have the DCA (with its IP mess of Pixar Pier and Avanegers Campus) than Hollywood Studios with its awful boring aged stage shows, Aerosmith IP, that terrible layout. The entry and Chinese theatre is wonderful, as is Sunset Blvd.... until you see the stucco Aerosmith building that screams Edgy Eisner and ruins the vibe.
The studios parks will never make sense as long as they keep stage shows open. Stage shows are theatre, they’re not Hollywood. Stage shows are New York. Boring, dull, lifeless.
I’ll keep DCA as is over anything Hollywood Studios is doing.
Phroobar
Well-Known Member
Totally agree. DHS still is a half day park with very few rides. The stage shows date back in the Clinton administration at Disneyland. The layout is terrible. DHS needs more smaller rides and less dated shows. Fantasmic is like the cliff notes version of the Disneyland version. The Aerosmith IP is really dated. The only decent thing at that park is the ToT and the water shooting AT-AT.