Ascension Day & June 2022 with a teen: DLP, Paris, France tips welcome

[studiojmm]

My daughter (14) and I have just committed to spending almost 5 weeks outside of Paris starting at the end of May. (A little surreal given world events, but we've been planning this for a while so fingers crossed and really generous travel insurance purchased.)

This will be our 4th time visiting Paris and 2nd time visiting DLP but longest trip by far. My husband will join us for part of the time. We'll be doing some homeschool/remote work and don't need to tour every day but will likely do several sites per week.

We both have very limited French (mine was once decent, but suffers from 30 years of non-use; my daughter is in her 2nd year studying but is far from conversational). We're pretty patient about managing in non-English speaking situations and have happily muddled through in a lot of places.

We'll be about 40 min from many Paris destinations and about 1 hr from DLP. Open to day trips by bus/train and perhaps rental car. My brother lives in Germany and we may pop over for the weekend or meet him and his family somewhere.

DLP QUESTIONS
We visited DLP in May 2019 and stayed at Hotel Santa Fe. Found we did use early park hours but did not make it to fireworks. We've been WDW passholders for the past 2 years + pandemic extension (just let those go; we only renewed for a 2nd year because we figured international travel wouldn't be practical for us in 2021).

We kind of figured we'd buy passes and visit on several non-consecutive days. We love the idea of feeling no pressure to spend the whole day. However, we arrive May 26 and it looks like May 26-29 is Ascension day weekend (oops) and a Discovery and Magic-Flex AP blockout period. We'd consider a Magic Plus for the early entry, but not sure it's worth that Ascension Day weekend regardless. If we went, we'd go Thursday afternoon/evening to help us get on local time or Friday, probably. Not too worried about wait times since we wouldn't feel like we needed to do a ton, but wall to wall people isn't fun. Thoughts?

The last time we were there was Thu-Sun May 23-26, 2019. Sat May 25 was at 72% (orange) according to Queue Times. It was noticeably busier than Thu or Fri, but also the day we got there earliest and road BTMR 4 times in a row. As the day got busier, we noticed lots of random characters out and about with meet-queues everywhere, which we enjoyed since we'd ridden everything we wanted the previous two days. Not sure the same crowd management would be in effect this year. Accession Day 2019 the following week was 90% (red), btw.

PARIS AND ENVIRONS
She has not been inside the Louvre since she was a toddler. We were too tired the day we planned during her 8 yo trip and then the Louvre staff were on strike (or something, memory fussy) during our trip 3 years ago. So, she doesn't have a choice on that one. Palais Galliéra was also closed during our 2019 trip, so that's on the short list.

In past trips, we've visited:

• Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie
• Chatau du Chantilly
• Le Menagerie
• Musee de Cuny
• Musee d'Orsay (every trip I think)
• Musée de l'Orangerie
• Musee Marmottan Monet
• Musee Rodin
• Notre Dame (and gargoyle tour, so lucky)
• Pompidou Centre
• Parc Zoolologique
• Palais Versailles
• Sainte-Chapelle
• Tour Eiffel

We may visit some of these again, of course. Seems likely that we buy an annual pass to the natural history museums / zoos and get more than our money's worth in visits (this is a kid who can spend an entire day in Animal Kingdom and not ride anything).

Ideas? Favorite off-the-beaten path activities? Favorites for teens? For folks obsessed with animals/natural sciences? Best places for fun snacks?

Thanks!

 

[Karin1984]

I've never heard of the website queue-times,com, so no idea how reliable it is. I find websites who do not specialize but basically have all themeparks in the world on their list, I wonder if they get the proper data to make predictions.

Ascension day is a national holiday for most of Europe, a lot of people travel during this weekend. The good thing is, during Ascension the weather is usually good in most of Europe. So, a lot of people travel, but not necessarily all to Disneyland Paris.
If you are there five weeks in this period, I wouldn't go in that one weekend before the summer holidays that there is a holiday weekend. If you go during the week on any other day, you will have such lower crowds.

If you have so much time, I wouldn't spend a lot of time in Paris. I would do more outside. Rent a car, or go for organized day trips to Mont. St. Michel for example. If you are near Paris, take a train and do a day in Brussels (1,5-2 hours by train), Antwerp or Amsterdam (4 hours), take the train to London (2,5 hours). Or if you stay in France, go a day to Lyon, Strasbourg etc. Or if you rent a car, go explore. France is full of small beautiful villages. The weather is going to be gorgeous this time of year in France, flowers everywhere.

Think about Parc Asterix, which is becoming serious competition for Disneyland Paris.

Amnéville is supposed to be one of the better zoos in France.

Chartre has one of the biggest/most beautiful cathedras in Europe.

Palaces: Fontainebleau or Chenonceau (I loved this one), but there are dozens of great palaces in France with gorgeous gardens.

 

[Woodview]

As pointed out by Karin 1984 Go for Parc Asterix at Pially

70 Km from Disneyland Paris via A3 /E15

Another one to try ( You have the time ) is France Miniature at Elancourt S.W. of Paris &

20 Km from Versailles

 

[studiojmm]

Thanks. My Disney fan hasn't been interested in other theme parks in the US because rides aren't her primary interest. Parc Asterix doesn't jump out at me for that reason. How strong is the theming and enjoyment factor for someone who isn't ride focused?

The miniatures park actually might appeal, but I have trouble seeing us making a full day of it.

Also, dinosaurs? Natural History Museum definitely. Looking into doing an English speaking tour, but the one I found so far is pricy. Looks like other dinosaur sites/museums are pretty far away and may not make sense. Would have to be pretty in depth and different than what we've done before to justify a car rental and long drive.

 

[standardgirl]

Ascension weekend is one of the busiest time in at DLP. If possible, I'd avoid at all cost and personally I certainly would not pay extra for an AP that allows you to visit over Ascension weekend.

 

[Carol unsworth]

Also, the UEFA cup final is now being held in Paris on May 28 th, so you will be joined by thousands of rowdy football fans!

I only know this as we fly into Paris for our DLP stay on the 28 th as it is our half term week.

We will be visiting the parks on the Sunday but not expecting to do too much!

 

[Karin1984]

Also, the UEFA cup final is now being held in Paris on May 28 th, so you will be joined by thousands of rowdy football fans!

I only know this as we fly into Paris for our DLP stay on the 28 th as it is our half term week.

We will be visiting the parks on the Sunday but not expecting to do too much!

There is also an upside to this, the park will be quiet if France reaches the finals. We had that in 2016, France was in the finals and after 3pm everyone started to go home to watch the finals. The sports bar and Ludwig's bar in the Village were packed, but the park was empty. I rode Pirates twice in a row without leaving the boat and the second time it was a private boat.

Football is big in France, I suspect that even when France doesnt get far, it can also have a positive impact on crowds.

 

[Carol unsworth]

Come on PSG!

 

[hmkenn0]

My son (12) and I did the Catacombs, which I had never done before, despite 6 visits- and he LOVED it- in a super weird way. I'd say it's worth doing once- for teens, just prepared for a surprisingly long walk and do get the audio guide! Also, the Cites Sciences and Industrie (science museum) was GREAT and they have plenty in English and what is in French you will be fine with since it is so hands-on. It felt much more like a "real french" experience since it is outside of the city a bit (still easy to get to by Metro). They were donating all proceeds while we were there to Ukraine so even though I had the museum pass and got free (included) admission, I chose to pay to get in as well. In addition to just being cool, the building itself is really interesting, and my son liked the English/French stuff as he felt like he was learning a little scientific French while there. I'd also just say hanging out in Montemarte and doing the bikes at Versailles have always been hits with the teens I've been with (I've taken school groups there as well). Finally, they have one of the interactive films there (currently Cezane) called Les Atelliers des Luminaries (I think) it was FULL of Parisian teens but also couples and others, my son did not want to do it, but then LOVED it. There is a little restaurant down the road- Diggity- get reservations, you will remember the evening forever!!!!

 

[studiojmm]

I've tried and failed to convince on the Catacombs.

We visited Cites back when she was younger and it was on the list for this year. Good to hear it kept your teens interest.

Will look into Les Atelliers des Luminaries and DIggity.

Thanks.

 

[WeLoveABD]

We'll have a free afternoon in mid-June this year for the Catacombs. Sounds like about a 45 minute walk through them once in-- do you recommend the audio tour, and purchasing on line? Just the two of us, no teens! Thanks.