We leave on Thursday! - Just a few questions

[steve_woodward]

Hi Everyone

I've been to Florida a quite a few times but this is my first trip to Paris. Just to fill in the background its me DW and DD(6) and we are going by coach (Goldcrest) and we are stopping at the Newport Bay club for 2 nights.

1. I realise its going to be very busy so what are our best options for getting as much done as possible. Do we need to go and collect as many fast passes as possible early on or are there better stratergies?

2. We are all into pin trading so can anybody help out with a few french pin trading phrases. Also is pin trading as popular here as in WDW and do you get lanyard pins here?

3. Is there anywhere outside the parks to buy snacks and drinks? I seem to recall that someone mentioned a shop at the station a while ago.

Thanks

 

[Cyrano]

Hi and welcome to the boards
Given your limited time you might want to spend most of it in the Disneyland park and leave the Studios for another visit.

I'd advise getting as many fastpasses as possible. Peter Pan generally run out of FPs by mid day and queues times can be up to 90 minutes. One good thing about FPs in DLP is you can hold a number of them at the same time. So you can head to Peter Pan, then Big Thunder Mountain, then Space Mountain etc to have a number of them - you get the picture

Another strategy is swap breakfast at the hotel for Fantasyland Breakfast inside the park. You get into the park an hour earlier; although recent visitors have not rated the breakfast.

Have a great time.

Reid

 

[Joanne UK]

Steve,

Get into the park as early as possible. We were there 2 weeks ago and up until about 10 o'clock there's not big queues anywhere. Yes it's worth getting Fast Passes for the more popular rides - Peter Pan have usually all gone by lunchtime but we managed to get Space Mountain ones at about 4pm for 6pm.

If you want to see the Lion King show you have to get tickets beforehand - give yourself at least an hour to queue for these to be on the safe side.

Can't help you with any pin trading phrases but it is quite popular. There's an area near the Plaza Gardens restaurant where pin traders gather at any time and also at The Emporium on Main Street at about 5pm - look out for a man in a black coat I was told when I enquired about it!

There's a newsagent at the station where you can get drinks and snacks - we got water there every morning - much much cheaper than in the parks. There's also somewhere where you can get coffee and sandwiches/baguettes also in the station.

Have a good trip,
Joanne

 

[Dee8197]

Pin trading isn't anything like has "big" in Paris as WDW

I only saw one Pin cart the whole time we were there and not one pin trader.
Plenty of pins in the stores but the Cast members were pretty vague - if you could get them to understand in the first place.
We tried to get a "Wishes" pin , all to no avail I,m afraid. The Cast members just looked at you gormless.
Best of luck
Have a great time

 

[Miffy2003]

Nothing to add to the great advice already given!

If there's somewhere you particularly want to dine, it's a good idea to get the hotel concierge (Newport Bay) to make them for you at the start of your trip so you know you will get to eat where you most want to!

have a fantastic trip!

 

[DisneyRGB]

I definitely agree with Reid that it would be a great idea to have the Good Morning Fantasyland breakfast. Your DD will probably want to go on the rides in Fantasyland a lot and you will be really glad if you can get on rides like Peter Pan and Dumbo as soon as they open rather than 90 minute waits!! I wholeheartedly recommend the Good Morning Fantasyland breakfast! It's also great for photo opportunities as you get into the park before most other people; we've got some of our best photos in the morning, and it's also good for meeting characters.

We wanted to see the Lion King show but didn't want to wait an hour for tickets and then have to queue up again to get a seat, so we got some food and managed to sit right at the front of the eating area of Cafe Hyperion - we had a great view and no waiting so this would be a good timesaver for you.

Haven't done pin trading myself but several people have commented that cast members have been good with kids when they've approached them to trade.

 

[steve_woodward]

Thanks everyone.

We are certainly going to start as soon as possible in the morning, is the fantasyland breakfast something you have to book or is it just an option you have.

Do the crowds start to thin out in the early evening or do most people stay till the fireworks?

Is the Lion King show really worth queing for an hour to get tickets for?

Also we are not really big on parades so are some of them better than others?

Lastly (i hope!) did I read about a shop somewhere that sells discounted merchandise like the Character Wharehouse shops in Florida?

Steve

 

[DisneyRGB]

Hi again Steve

You have to request the GMF breakfast so it'd be best to ring in advance - however there is no extra charge.

I love parades but I guess you've seen similar in Florida. I still think it'd be worth catching the daytime parade once and don't miss Fantillusion!

As you leave the main park there is a shop selling discounted merchandise but no big stores just for discounted merchandise that I know of.

 

[shoes99]

Have a great time. We are from NJ, and we spent 3 nights at the Hotel New York in May 2005. DH is an avid pin trader. Most CM's in the hotels and parks have lanyards. Most evenings between 5PM & 6PM we found CM Super Pin Traders at the Emporium on Main Street, and once on a weekend at 2PM inside the MK by Pinocchio's restaurant.
One good thing about the super pin trader CM's is that they have rack and LE pins on their pin trading board. You can trade an LE for an LE, or a Rack pin for a rack pin. It was fun to trade FL LE's for DLP LE's.
Have Fun.

 

[woody73]

. . . is pin trading as popular here as in WDW and do you get lanyard pins here?

Although pin trading at DLP is not as popular as at Disneyland or WDW, we had no trouble trading out all the pins we took to Paris. And the DLP cast members loved it when they received a pin from California or Florida. They would often joke that they wanted to keep it for themselves and show it to other cast members.

Woody