Hong Kong Disneyland and Disneyland Paris TR

[queenie82]

An important stop, which we made before the train was Dumbo. It was before Phantom Manor actually. Because I have a feeling only Fantasyland and Discoveryland were open for Early entry. I honestly can’t remember. I was still a bit jetlagged. But anyway…

You see although having been to DLP many times, DL once and WDW a few times the BF had never ridden Dumbo. Blasphemy? Yes I quite agree. But it did mean it could be something special for us. So here he is sitting in Dumbo before takeoff.

As I am familiar with Dumbo I got him to shove over so I could sit on the inside before takeoff. Centrifugal force

 

[queenie82]

After the Disney Train we through we went over to Discoveryland. Yes…Discoveryland.
Not Tomorrowland.
With it being so busy we did some looking around and went to one of those lesser known attractions. Les Mystères du Nautilus

It’s kind of cool. It is just walkthrough but you end up in a room of sorts with an organ and a creature who appears ‘outside’. I like it.

We also found my friend Wall-E and Eve. Both of us love these guys

At this point we thought it was time to travel across to the studios to see how things were over there.

Yes you enter through that building I’m standing in front of. And it is that dark and lit up in there. It really is something kind of cool. On the right hand side is eateries. On the left hand side is shops. I’ll include some photos taken at another time to show you what it’s like. I’ll admit at this point my BF was my official photographer on this trip. I’ve spent the last 10 or so years as official photographer. But BF loves photography and has a lovely Canon DSLR. No I don’t know what it is. It’s big with a long lens. Does this picture help? He’s holding it…

It isn’t that I don’t like photography. I do. I have a good quality point and shoot that does pretty well. All the Hong Kong photos were taken with it. But it was a nice change not being the photographer.

Moving along…I was on a MISSION…
You see there was a certain ride I was getting BF on if I had to strap him in myself. He is fine on coasters and isn’t scared on rides. But after suffering damage to his inner ear he can no longer dive and doesn’t do well on spinning things. Or going backwards.
I had agreed I didn’t wish to be covered in vomit so the teacups were ruled out.

(Yes this is my pin)

But I wasn’t going to budge on Crush’s Coaster. This is the most amazing coaster I’ve been on. Ever. I’ll include photos he took another day at this point to show you the exterior. The model of it you see kept moving and spinning which was NOT making things any easier for me…

But I have some powerful angelic and magical eyes and he did submit (medicated) so long as he didn’t have to wait over an hour.
Now I never thought this was going to be an issue but sadly we were experiencing a very busy weekend. The wait on arrival was 80mins. So we walked on into another land…

 

[PrincessInOz]

.... BF loves photography and has a lovely Canon DSLR. No I don’t know what it is. It’s big with a long lens. Does this picture help? He’s holding it…

Yup. No doubt about it....It's a CANON, with a big long lens. Thanks for the picture!

.... But I have some powerful angelic and magical eyes and he did submit (medicated) so long as he didn’t have to wait over an hour.
Now I never thought this was going to be an issue but sadly we were experiencing a very busy weekend. The wait on arrival was 80mins. So we walked on into another land…

These are powerful angelic and magical eyes....

80 mins?? Is that long for waiting for a ride at EuroDisney during WINTER? What must it be like in Tourist Season??

 

[areweindisneyyet]

Wow you're brave going around the royal wedding.
I didn't know about the issue with Wednesdays. But I know we timed around the UK half term. But the weekend was still crazy.

Word is many Poms are leaving town during the wedding due to combining its public holidays and others to get about a week off. So I don't know if they're off to Paris Disneyland

I wish you the very best with it all

We had already booked our tickets JUST when the wedding was announced. We will head to london a couple of days after the wedding. Will try to get DL done earlier in the week as you would assume an influx in English visitors given they have a four day weekend.

Love the look of crushs coaster. Have just found out that the dlp castle is being renovated at the moment. There is scaffolding and a painted facade around the bottom with the three fairies from sleeping beauty holding it up. Alice's labrinyth is also closed.

It looks quite different and the photos are making me get very excited.

 

[queenie82]

We had already booked our tickets JUST when the wedding was announced. We will head to london a couple of days after the wedding. Will try to get DL done earlier in the week as you would assume an influx in English visitors given they have a four day weekend.

Love the look of crushs coaster. Have just found out that the dlp castle is being renovated at the moment. There is scaffolding and a painted facade around the bottom with the three fairies from sleeping beauty holding it up. Alice's labrinyth is also closed.

It looks quite different and the photos are making me get very excited.

Bad luck with that but I'm sure you're seasoned enough to cope. I was originally looking at going to the UK using the multiple public holidays around easter and I couldn't work out why it cost so much more travelling on various days. The BF then connected the dots of the wedding being the 29th meant movement from Easter until then is just crazy. Accommodation prices et al.

That is a real shame about the work on the castle. I didn't realise.
Shame about the Labyrinth too. We didn't take any photos this time but we did stroll through after Dumbo. Nearly walked the BF into a Hedge or two By accident of course
but I do have some of the Labyrinth from my previous visit. I adore it.

Yup. No doubt about it....It's a CANON, with a big long lens. Thanks for the picture!

No worries

These are powerful angelic and magical eyes....

They are...I adore Wall-E...

80 mins?? Is that long for waiting for a ride at EuroDisney during WINTER? What must it be like in Tourist Season??

I didn't encounter that ever before. I would think it is more of a peak season wait time. As you can see in the photo we went on it when it was 45min. This is normal for the most popular ride in the park.

 

[queenie82]

So walking away from Crush's coaster and its long queue we went to Toy Story Playland.

I hadn’t seen this before and it really was very nice. Because it was also busy we took some photos now and some later. This is a blend. We never rode anything as nothing really appealed and the queues were ridiculous. But I just loved the details.
I love Bugs land at Disneyland. I love the queue for Toy Story Mania. Just lovely details.

Between Crush and Toy Story Playland is Guido and Luigi. My FAVOURITE characters from cars. Thankfully the BF loves them too and in his ‘adorable’ Stitchy voice said GUIDO! If you don’t remember them well…and don’t know which is which…you didn’t see the movie properly. WATCH IT!!!

After we said hello we found one of the 2 entries.

This is one entry Detail…

This…is the other…

Now before going into the area I have to ask. Is this pose by Buzz as French as you can get? When I first saw it I burst out laughing. I couldn’t help it. The grin…the size…the stance. I had to convince the BF to take a photo for me as a ‘quirky’ memento. Because it was just so ridiculous.

Anyway…I soon found the PIXAR BALL!!!! I adore this. It is in all Pixar films.

We realised Andy was a bit careless with his toys…

This is one of rides. RC. It is like a U shaped coaster track and RC goes up and back and up and back. With waits of at least 25mins whenever we passed we never bothered. I would equate it with those Pirate ship rides. Only it is on a track.

It is a lovely small section with 3 rides. But we didn’t ride any of them. I just enjoyed the decorations.

 

[queenie82]

Ok...so I just realised I can link to my photos from my Feb 09 trip to Paris...

Go HERE to have a look at them.

There are ones of the Labyrinth on there too.

 

[DizOz]

Queenie,

I am so jealous. We are still to get to Paris and Tokyo.

As you have been to all the parks how do you rank them?

 

[Jade+3]

I had never really wanted to go to DL Paris, until now.

I would also love to know how you would rank all the parks.

 

[queenie82]

Queenie,

I am so jealous. We are still to get to Paris and Tokyo.

As you have been to all the parks how do you rank them?

I had never really wanted to go to DL Paris, until now.

I would also love to know how you would rank all the parks.

Rank them?? Oh dear... :

Fantasyland

- This is important with smaller children so I have to say that the Fantasyland in the original Disneyland is the best. All the little rides and the lovely full building for Small World.
- The Small World at Hong Kong also has lovely colour and brightness and the characters...but a few different characters.

Castles

1 - Paris
2 - WDW
3 - Tokyo
4 - Disneyland
5 - Hong Kong. I'm being a bit harsh on Hong Kong because although the decorations made it look VERY cool. The base is the same as Disneyland so tradition I think dictates.


Ranking OVERALL though...
1 - WDW.
WDW has everything. I adore EPCOT so that is special. Cinderella Castle is much bigger than Sleeping Beauty.

2 - Tokyo.
Tokyo is completely unique. It is a completely different Disney experience. It has the VERY BEST of anything it got. The quality of each attraction and the cleanliness of the park. The CMs drive you bonkers. And photographers - NO TRIPODS!!!! AT ALL!!! EVEN GORILLA PODS!!!
But...once you get through the cultural shock and just look at the parks. They're amazing.

3 - Paris.
Phantom Manor...nuff said
You want more...oh ok...
The Castle complete with the Dragon
More?
The Big Thunder Mountain here is the best version of them all. Hands Down...
Pirates is also very good because it doesn't have Jack Sparrow. The restaurant in there is lovely. Similar to Blue Bayou but also different. It's called Blue Lagoon. [which I've completely left out as I have no photos. It is quite dark in there and flashes kill the ambience (although there were plenty going off of others sending me blind.) But we went there 2nd day between Disneyland and the Studios...mea culpa in timing ]
The Studios I really like. The shows Animagique and Cinemagique are great. Crush's coaster is amazing.

4 - Disneyland.
It's tough seeing Disneyland in 4th because I adore California Adventure. I REALLY do. I loved it the way it was. None of the changes have excited me and the removal of the letters and the Golden Gate Bridge makes me fume
But Paris gives you more I think. So that's why Disneyland is in 4th

5 - Hong Kong Disneyland.
It's too small. I enjoyed it mostly. But it lacks a Haunted Mansion...

 

[PrincessInOz]

Just a suggestion (no pressure)....but given the level of interest...it might be worth putting a picture of each castle up.


I LOVE your pictures of the Cheshire Cat. And Guido is the blue skinny Car....

 

[queenie82]

Castles

PARIS

By Day

By Night

TOKYO

By Day

By Night

WDW

By Day

By Night

Disneyland

By Day

(Can't find a night one in my folders...)

HONG KONG

By Day

By Night

 

[PrincessInOz]

Thanks Queenie.

I see what you mean. Paris is a bit different, isn't it. The HK and DL castles look nearly the same and I think that the Tokyo and WDW versions look pretty similar too.

 

[queenie82]

Hope they help...

Tried to get similar angles but also angles that help 'flatter' the features.
Paris is unique.
Tokyo I think is a bit smaller at the back but is essentially Cinderella Castle.
Hong Kong is a replica of Disneyland/Sleeping Beauty Castle so far as I can tell.

Do you notice something a bit different in Hong Kong though...in the background...

 

[queenie82]

This one too...I know we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves...but HKDL is unique...

Anything a bit different....in the background...

 

[PrincessInOz]

Um....The World is NOT flat??

 

[queenie82]

Um....The World is NOT flat??

It is very weird when you are walking through the park seeing mountains around you. But very cool in Adventureland

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

I'm really enjoying the trip report Queenie. As I hope to maybe fingers crossed a million times head to DLP around April 2013, these photos have gotten me very excited. I am really enjoying your details and inside info and opinions on what's hot and what's not.

And of course, loving the photos.

 

[queenie82]

Resuming regular programming…

So back in little ol’ Disney Paris if we rewind a bit there is a restaurant we dined at for lunch. The restaurant choices were made by the BF based on previous experience. And I was happy with all of them. I never did food porn so I’m sorry about that given I understand why people like it. But all the food was very tasty.

Blue Lagoon as I said is in the Pirates of the Caribbean Ride. It is positioned a bit differently and bigger I think than blue bayou. Or at least a different layout. There are 2 levels. A ‘river side’ level and an upper level. We got allocated riverside level next to a ‘palm tree’ in front of the upper level. In a way literally next to the river is better but I was actually quite happy in this location. More ‘intimate’ if you like. Although the chairs were very big and heavy and low…lol. But it does cater for everyone. The upper section is slightly better lit than the lower section as it is where the servers go to and fro with their trays.
But it is overall very dimly lit with a candle on each table and very ‘tortuga’ type lighting. Similar to that found in the boarding area

And yes that was the ‘wait’ when we went for a ride before leaving the park on the Monday. Trust me it wasn’t like that this day though. And here is a rule to remember…

If you can see the queue for Pirates of the Caribbean from the outside, it's going to be a long wait.....

Because Paris has a very long and wide interior queuing system with lots of little details to see on the way. We could have spent a lot of time trying to photograph them. But the lighting is really so dim it is very hard.

So if you see people here…

Go somewhere else…

It IS a very good Pirates of the Caribbean though. It is classic Pirates too. I’m not saying I don’t like Jack Sparrow. He’s kinda cool. But it is nice getting classic Pirates…in French…

Back to our lunch. I was very happy with the atmosphere and food. In the past the BF had only ever managed to score a booking once. But although only ringing a couple of weeks in advance if that? He got one for us for 2pm. When we got there we only waited a few minutes.
The service was typical speed. They do have semi fixed menus with 3 options in each (starter and main or Main and dessert), which are a reasonable price. Otherwise it ain’t cheap. But we decided on a Main from the regular menu and a dessert. I got Veal medallion I believe and the BF got Caribbean chicken columbo as it featured coconut. Yes…that was the reasoning. We were very satisfied.
I can’t remember exactly what he got for dessert but I got the bananas 3 ways. It had like a mini smoothie, banana icecream, banana chips etc. Lots of little ways of having Bananas. Lovely.
Not sure what the BF got but I have a feeling there was a coconut component. Again he was very happy.

A funny part was when we realised there was a section of the “sky” that was rather brightly lit in the distance, and no boats had floated by lately. Something clearly had gone wrong. Eventually a whole series of empty boats went by before resuming loaded ones again and someone turned the lights off.
When we left we saw the effect of this. There was a queue out the entry to Pirates. Them people were gonna be there a while…

 

[queenie82]

Back to the Studios…

After wandering around Pixar land we decided to check the programming and catch a show. After being decontaminated…

We went and watched Cinemagique. Now I quite like this show actually, as does the BF. It stars ye ol’ Martin Short, whom I’ve never found appealing in movies, but has done a good job in this and the current O’Canada.
Anyone who is a Cinema buff would enjoy this. More so than kids. But there is enough silly humour and action that most kids seem to enjoy it too. So give it a go. The editing really is quite good.

After that we considered Stitch Live but the English show wasn’t on at that time. And Animagique wasn’t on then either. So I went to the bathroom and Mr Photographer had some fun

Let’s try that again…

hmmm…

ARGH!!!!

The Art of Animation

I’d really had an earful by now…

…and returned to Mr Photographer having finally managed to weave through the queue for the changing table to the queue for the actual toilets. And extracted myself again.

I’m not sure exactly what we did next but we filled the rest of the time with something and then went for dinner.
Tonight we were going to Planet Hollywood, which is in the Disney Village. The menu is pretty much the same as the one in Orlando from what I could tell. But it was very good.
It was also busy though. We had called in earlier to ask about making a reservation but they only take a few reservations for each block of time and there were none left. So we returned that night to queue. The wait I believe was about 30mins at most? From getting to the queue for the check in. To getting our table. But we filled that looking around a bit and getting some cocktails at the bar. I will say one thing for Planet Hollywood…great cocktails.

After having our lunch at 2pm we weren’t THAT hungry. But I had to have the starter chicken strips. They are just heaven on earth. So juicy with a crisp coating. They taste exactly the same as the ones in Orlando. YUMMO!!!
We both ordered burgers. Which as always were great. BIG servings and so some bun and fries were left on the plate. But it was delish!

When we finished we attempted to rise and walk…slowly…and rejoined the crisp fresh air outside.
On the topic of weather the weather was always very mild. Like a cool Sydney or Melbourne winter’s day, but just not getting as warm during the day. It didn’t rain at all. With the main complaint being the overcast day we started with.

A wander through the village perusing shops on the way back to Sequoia lodge and we fell into bed stuffed full.