American trip report to DLP

[mjr0483]

I just got back from our trip.
2 Days London
Eurostar
2 Days Paris (Versaillies & Paris Center)
4 Days DLP
In that order

I wish we did one day less DLP and 1 more day Paris.

The park and grounds were beautiful. The rides were either the same, better or worse experience depending. The big winner for same ride was Big Thunder Mountain in DLP was so much better then WDW.

It was great being there but we just felt we were missing something since we go to WDW so often. I guess we felt home sick.

Disneyland Paris Illuminations is amazing. Between the projections, lights, fireworks, fountains and lasers. What a fabulous show.

Also Mickey and the Magician is another highlight. Nothing like it in WDW or DL CA.

So with all the raves, why the disappointment?
Even with half the attractions in French and or switching back and forth, it didn't bother us and we made due.

My biggest complaint as an spoiled American is the smokers. The DLP motto is everyone smokes, all the time and everywhere. Nothing more disgusting then standing, waiting and watching Illuminations or the parade surrounded by cigarette smoke. The only place people didn't smoke was on the rides.

The second issue is the food. I wouldn't dare compare the food to outside the park but DLP to WDW, DLP is not good. The only highlight was Remy. We did Inventions, Remy, California Grill, The Steakhouse and Auberge de Cendrillon. The food was expensive even by park standards and not good.

We didn't really do any counter service. And every snack cart seemed to have the same exact stuff. Boy the French must really love donuts because they were everywhere. We would have killed for a Mickey Bar.

We stayed in Sequoia Golden Forest Room. The afternoon snacks were good and it was nice to have access to drinks and waters. Even the breakfast was good, but after 4 days of the same stuff it was just blah.

Any questions, let me know and I will see what I can do.

 

[mjr0483]

Another couple points while I am thinking about them.

Security, I like it.
It is MUCH more stringent then WDW and I would like to see WDW get there.
Then even X-Ray your bags going into the hotel.

There is no security in front of the parks and it extended to how you enter the bubble. (Kind of what the Magic Kingdom is finally doing) For us walking from Sequoia is one of the multiple entrances to Disney Village. Again, X-Ray for the bags and Metal Detectors. The lines went super fast and no pulling stuff out of your bag while a guard pokes around your stuff with a stick and flashlight. Hello WDW it's 2017. Buy the X-Ray machines already.

No AC. I read in another post, I think the person was there the same time as me. They have the AC for the entire resort shut down and the room was hot and stale. I got the same response, open the window. Which only opens a couple inches and doesn't have a screen. Go figure. I would figure guest comfort would come first but no. I understand it is 50 outside but it is 80 in this room. Suck it up your hot box.

 

[aprincessatlast]

Thanks for your review! I am trying to manage expectations with the smoke. I wonder if we would look crazy if we brought medical mask? LOL Would that even work? hmm.... We do not think WDW food is great outside a few restaurants, so what that will mean in terms of DLP food I am not sure. Only plan on Remy and Plaza and the Aladdin one.

The AC part is crazy! One reason I am happy we are going cheap with the Davy Crockett Ranch as we will have our own AC. Sure we will have to drive but it will be in a rental with AC.

 

[donsullivan]

I was just at DLP for a few days around the 25th Anniversary and I'm headed back at the end of May for a more complete visit to France and Germany including 3-1/2 days at DLP staying at Sequoia Lodge.

While the smoking was certainly more than you see in the US parks (it's Europe, it just is that way most everywhere), I didn't find it nearly as objectionable as I feared I might. There is definitely a general disregard for the operating rules of the park (including smoking) by guests and CM's have been beaten down in attempting to enforce most of them it seems. The most fascinating thing I saw as far as poor guest behavior was during the parade in the afternoon. There were countless guests jumping the fences into the landscape areas on the perimeter of the hub and climbing up on the hills and rocks in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle to get a better view of the parade and CM's just seemed to ignore it.

 

[zavandor]

Thanks for your review! I am trying to manage expectations with the smoke. I wonder if we would look crazy if we brought medical mask? LOL Would that even work? hmm.... We do not think WDW food is great outside a few restaurants, so what that will mean in terms of DLP food I am not sure. Only plan on Remy and Plaza and the Aladdin one.

In a scale from 1 to 10, I would rate Tokyo Disneyland at 11, Disneyland and Disneyworld at 7, Disneyland Paris at 3.
There are a few exceptions: inside the park, Cowboy Cookout BBQ and Agraba Cafe and on par to US Disney standards; outside I like Annett's at the village and the New York hotel buffet restaurant (Park side diner, I think it's called) and a couple of new good chain restaurants are opening/have opened at the Village: Vapiano and Five Guys.

 

[cdsmiler81]

The smoking has gotten MUCH better in the years we've been going. Wasn't great in 2012, but getting better each year. And I've seen CM's be strict about it with people!

C x

 

[Angelhalo]

We just went in September and are going back in a week. We are also American. And, I have to agree about the smoking. It is EVERYWHERE and it is so obnoxious! You can't even walk through Disney Village without being in a cloud of smoke. I'm aware that there are no non-smoking rules in that area but, it is still annoying. Inside the parks, people smoke everywhere not just designated areas and cast members don't do anything about it. I'm aware that it is Europe and there is just a lot of smoking there but, it definitely does put a damper on things. It's not enough to keep us from going back or anything but it is totally disgusting.

 

[Halloweenqueen]

Thanks for sharing your experience. We are staying at Sequoia for 4 nights in mid September. Your AC comments have me worried. I hate to be hot. Guess I should probably bring a portable fan.

We are staying in Paris for our first five nights. We are going to leave early in the morning to make our way to DLP, but I may spend more time in Paris if we missed anything and not rush to the parks. Sounds like four full days might be too much?

 

[Firsttimer15]

We've just been for 4 days too and I saw only 2 people in total smoking. What I noticed was that the park was spotless. No waste anywhere and as soon as someone dropped something it got cleaned up immediately.
What I also noticed that people were friendly. I read a lot about French being snotty but everyone we met was nice in Disney and Paris too. Strangers offered help without us even asking.
The food I agree is not that good, could be better and we even had Walt's for dinner one night which didn't wow me. It would be nice if one could substitute stuff like in wdw.
All in all I also like Wdw much better.
I was glad we had a balcony so we could open the door for air

 

[taximom00]

I just got back from our trip.
2 Days London
Eurostar
2 Days Paris (Versaillies & Paris Center)
4 Days DLP
In that order

I wish we did one day less DLP and 1 more day Paris.

The park and grounds were beautiful. The rides were either the same, better or worse experience depending. The big winner for same ride was Big Thunder Mountain in DLP was so much better then WDW.

It was great being there but we just felt we were missing something since we go to WDW so often. I guess we felt home sick.

Disneyland Paris Illuminations is amazing. Between the projections, lights, fireworks, fountains and lasers. What a fabulous show.

Also Mickey and the Magician is another highlight. Nothing like it in WDW or DL CA.

So with all the raves, why the disappointment?
Even with half the attractions in French and or switching back and forth, it didn't bother us and we made due.

My biggest complaint as an spoiled American is the smokers. The DLP motto is everyone smokes, all the time and everywhere. Nothing more disgusting then standing, waiting and watching Illuminations or the parade surrounded by cigarette smoke. The only place people didn't smoke was on the rides.

The second issue is the food. I wouldn't dare compare the food to outside the park but DLP to WDW, DLP is not good. The only highlight was Remy. We did Inventions, Remy, California Grill, The Steakhouse and Auberge de Cendrillon. The food was expensive even by park standards and not good.

We didn't really do any counter service. And every snack cart seemed to have the same exact stuff. Boy the French must really love donuts because they were everywhere. We would have killed for a Mickey Bar.

We stayed in Sequoia Golden Forest Room. The afternoon snacks were good and it was nice to have access to drinks and waters. Even the breakfast was good, but after 4 days of the same stuff it was just blah.

Any questions, let me know and I will see what I can do.

Did you book yourself forbthe hotel? Were Park tix included?

 

[ronandannette]

We've just been for 4 days too and I saw only 2 people in total smoking. What I noticed was that the park was spotless. No waste anywhere and as soon as someone dropped something it got cleaned up immediately.
What I also noticed that people were friendly. I read a lot about French being snotty but everyone we met was nice in Disney and Paris too. Strangers offered help without us even asking.
The food I agree is not that good, could be better and we even had Walt's for dinner one night which didn't wow me. It would be nice if one could substitute stuff like in wdw.
All in all I also like Wdw much better.
I was glad we had a balcony so we could open the door for air

Agree on both these points completely. We made a single-day visit two weeks ago and I'm glad it was just to "check a box" because if we'd have been looking for a familiar Disney experience we didn'n find it. We paid €49 for a hamburger and fries at Walt's - that's scandalous and we should have up and walked out. But I do certainly agree with you about the people in Paris. Not sycophants by any means but perfectly congenial - we loved it there.

 

[budgie]

I'll chime in. I am yet another American and I found the food at DLP really hit or miss when I was there last Feb. Some of it was really good. The Agraba Cafe and Silver Spur were 2 of my favorites but some of the 'fancier' ones we went to like The Steakhouse and the yacht club were not good at all. The food at the Yacht club was really overpriced for what we got and the staff at The Steakhouse was really rude and didn't seem to want to bother with us at all (which was the only time we experienced anything like that from a cast member). We had the full board plus dining plan so I didn't pay particular attention to the prices but I did notice a few times that it seemed more expensive then it should be for what you get. Its probably silly but the one thing that bothered me the most was their 'snack' options for the tea time treats. As a diabetic it would have been nice to have a healthier option instead of just donuts and cookies all the time.

It was really cold so we didn't try the A/C at the Sequoia but I will say the room we had which was supposed to be a newly refreshed golden forest room looked very tired. The windows had chipped paint and didn't close completely. Also another silly thing but WDW resort rooms.. the tv has full 'cable' service including quite a few Disney dedicated channels which aside from being entertaining are just fun to keep the mood going. I know its really digging for complaints but the tv service at the resorts in DLP is just lacking.

 

[teruterubouzu]

The park and grounds were beautiful. The rides were either the same, better or worse experience depending. The big winner for same ride was Big Thunder Mountain in DLP was so much better then WDW.

Isn't it amazing? The park was very busy when we were there and I was sad to only get to ride Big Thunder once. I was thinking I wouldn't need to go back to DLP, but now I'm thinking it might be fun to experience it during a time that is less crowded and get more chance on BTMR.