What Makes DLP Unique?

[SuperMuscleMan]

I was wondering what makes DLP unique and special for our American friends? In addition what would you like that WDW or DLC has that we don't?

With the studios expansion I hope the Galaxy edge experience is different and better in some ways of our version is going to be smaller. I would however really like to see a new attraction come to the main park. It's really in need of it.

To me it's the space and scale of the attractions that make it special and unique. Although it's a shame DLP won't have any e tickets that are unique now Ratatouille has gone to Epcot.

 

[HelsBels16]

The dragon under the castle!

 

[OldSchoolReasons]

I was wondering what makes DLP unique and special for our American friends? In addition what would you like that WDW or DLC has that we don't?

With the studios expansion I hope the Galaxy edge experience is different and better in some ways of our version is going to be smaller. I would however really like to see a new attraction come to the main park. It's really in need of it.

To me it's the space and scale of the attractions that make it special and unique. Although it's a shame DLP won't have any e tickets that are unique now Ratatouille has gone to Epcot.

I'm not American, but I have been to every single Disney park in the world so I'm gonna chuck my two cents in.


Disneyland Paris has the best castle, and I love the whimsical park design. It has the best mansion ride, the best version of Big Thunder and the best Space Mountain. I love it's compactness, and that you can walk from your hotel to the parks. I like the hotel designs (erm not Santa Fe or New York) though



I do think it's missing the immersive experience of the WDW bubble and it doesn't have the world class staff or unique second park of Tokyo. It could do with a decent bar - I'd love
to I see a Trader Sam's.

 

[OldSchoolReasons]

Just realised I slightly misread your post hahah. I do think that Disney Paris has a slightly European nonchalance that contrasts differently to the American every-but-the-kitchen-sink service. Personally I prefer it as I am not keen on American OTT service. The food is obviously dire and not comparable to any of the other parks.

 

[Karin1984]

Besides what already has been mentioned as most amazing castle and Big Thunder Mountain. It is just a very pretty park and feels like a park to stroll through. I think the size of the paths are just right, the US are too narrow and the Asian parks are too wide. In Shanghai you are really crossing a street on Mickey Avenue as it is so wide. It is wide with a clear reason, but it also feels that something is off.

And I think what people tend to forget is that Paris has the most difficult audience. The US parks are aimed at US guests, Tokyo for the Japanese, Shanghai for Chinese and Hongkong for... I am not sure what at the moment is the PC term. Paris has to cater to half a dozen cultures, yes, it is mainly French, but the % of UK, Spanish, Belgian, Dutch, German guests etc. is larger than Brazilians in Florida (uneducated guess). That complicates the park immensely. When there is an announcement, you hear it in 6 languages. But also makes a thing like 'queues' harder as queueing is not the same in all these cultures. And it adds to its uniqueness.

 

[angelmav]

They have that terrible Armageddon attraction. Thanks for the migraine DLP!

 

[BadPinkTink]

They have that terrible Armageddon attraction. Thanks for the migraine DLP!

Queen Elsa used her powers and now its gone

 

[Karin1984]

Oh, and what I really like about DLP are the little things, like Aladdin's walk through and the submarine.
And I think the maze is a very unique thing as well, later copied by Shanghai. In France you have loads of mazes in corn fields near castles etc. I think this is also a unique more European type of distraction.

 

[SuperMuscleMan]

I'm not American, but I have been to every single Disney park in the world so I'm gonna chuck my two cents in.


Disneyland Paris has the best castle, and I love the whimsical park design. It has the best mansion ride, the best version of Big Thunder and the best Space Mountain. I love it's compactness, and that you can walk from your hotel to the parks. I like the hotel designs (erm not Santa Fe or New York) though



I do think it's missing the immersive experience of the WDW bubble and it doesn't have the world class staff or unique second park of Tokyo. It could do with a decent bar - I'd love
to I see a Trader Sam's.

I'm with you 100% on the staff! For me, food service and even getting a drink is painfully slow. Don't ever expect one prior to illuminations.

I also think the projections and fountains during illuminations are very special.

Just realised I slightly misread your post hahah. I do think that Disney Paris has a slightly European nonchalance that contrasts differently to the American every-but-the-kitchen-sink service. Personally I prefer it as I am not keen on American OTT service. The food is obviously dire and not comparable to any of the other parks.

It would be nice to have a kind of midway between the two.

Besides what already has been mentioned as most amazing castle and Big Thunder Mountain. It is just a very pretty park and feels like a park to stroll through. I think the size of the paths are just right, the US are too narrow and the Asian parks are too wide. In Shanghai you are really crossing a street on Mickey Avenue as it is so wide. It is wide with a clear reason, but it also feels that something is off.

And I think what people tend to forget is that Paris has the most difficult audience. The US parks are aimed at US guests, Tokyo for the Japanese, Shanghai for Chinese and Hongkong for... I am not sure what at the moment is the PC term. Paris has to cater to half a dozen cultures, yes, it is mainly French, but the % of UK, Spanish, Belgian, Dutch, German guests etc. is larger than Brazilians in Florida (uneducated guess). That complicates the park immensely. When there is an announcement, you hear it in 6 languages. But also makes a thing like 'queues' harder as queueing is not the same in all these cultures. And it adds to its uniqueness.

I think that is problematic and fun, definitely the different cultures at illuminations show. I also notice a lot of Indian visitors. Us Brits love a queue, whereas the Spanish and French don't really and my experience has not always been great.

I would say that its a shame our second park is poor, but with the terrible attraction gone to become Spiderman and the 2 new lands coming, I have hope!

Are you excited by the changes to the studio park, and do you hope the Frozen ride is unique?

 

[tink2424]

I agree it is the most beautiful park by far. I also really love Big Thunder Railroad. Funny enough for me & my family we loved the food. We had great meals at Walt's & Chez Remy but maybe it is because I was expecting the food to be bad that I was impressed. We also had a free half board plan so we were lucky that we didn't have to pay out of pocket for most of our meals.

 

[SuperMuscleMan]

I agree it is the most beautiful park by far. I also really love Big Thunder Railroad. Funny enough for me & my family we loved the food. We had great meals at Walt's & Chez Remy but maybe it is because I was expecting the food to be bad that I was impressed. We also had a free half board plan so we were lucky that we didn't have to pay out of pocket for most of our meals.

What do you make of the service?

 

[tink2424]

What do you make of the service?

The service was definitely slow compared to other restaurants but they were very nice & accommodating. I really like Chez Remy & Walt’s. I will definitely go back to them on my next trip.

 

[Corien]

What makes DLP really unique to me is that it has an actual low crowd season. I came in November 2019 and I don't think I waited in any queue for longer than 15 minutes. So yeah, if you want to ride your favourite ride time and time again (for me that was Tower of Terror 6 times during four days), you can. Another thing that I like about DLP is that it is really affected by the seasons. During the winter there might be actual snow and it might be cold during the Halloween or Christmas seasons.

Also it's great that the parks are walking distance to the parks from the hotels.

Also theme-wise the Disneyland Park is so very well themed, with the pirate caves you can explore, or how you feel like you actually go into a cave to go on Pirates of the Carribean instead of entering a building like in MK, and the massive pirate ship.

 

[Alicefan]

I was wondering what makes DLP unique and special for our American friends? In addition what would you like that WDW or DLC has that we don't?

With the studios expansion I hope the Galaxy edge experience is different and better in some ways of our version is going to be smaller. I would however really like to see a new attraction come to the main park. It's really in need of it.

To me it's the space and scale of the attractions that make it special and unique. Although it's a shame DLP won't have any e tickets that are unique now Ratatouille has gone to Epcot.

We don't have the Crush Coaster here so there's still that! Nor do we have that spinny thing on the U shaped track that is in the Toy Story area. Forgive me, I have no idea what it was. I hate that the parks just rehash the popular rides over and over again at all of the other parks. I want a reason to visit EACH park. I wish all of the parks were more like Tokyo Disney Sea, where you know you are going to be seeing something you've never seen before!

For me, I love that the rides are mostly in French. Even though I don't speak much of it, I hate that English speaking people go there and expect to be accommodated. The charm for me is hearing familiar things spoken in a beautiful language. I do wish it were bigger with more to do, but not just rides thrown on a concrete slab like at WDW. The Magic Kingdom in Florida is the most disappointing to me after going to Disneyland for many years first. MK has zero charm like DL and DLP.

 

[Tinkerlund]

Most things have been mentioned previously. Theming of park and ride, dragon under castle etc. The Disneyland Hotel is something special that I think would be special for American guests more used to visiting WDW. The hotel has such a great design, it almost feels like it is part of the castle. The entrance is under/through the hotel so it very much feels like it is part of the park.

What I would wish we had at DLP is better snacks. I also feel that not having any food festivals is a missed opportunity for a Disney park located in a country that is known for its good cuisine.

 

[Karin1984]

Most things have been mentioned previously. Theming of park and ride, dragon under castle etc. The Disneyland Hotel is something special that I think would be special for American guests more used to visiting WDW. The hotel has such a great design, it almost feels like it is part of the castle. The entrance is under/through the hotel so it very much feels like it is part of the park.

What I would wish we had at DLP is better snacks. I also feel that not having any food festivals is a missed opportunity for a Disney park located in a country that is known for its good cuisine.

We had a mini food festival in 2018 and 2019. It was very small with foods from all different regions from France. And somehow I remember Belgium.
Food has never been DLP's focus as the culture around food is different. It's not fast cuisine and that's the thing with a theme park.

Lee Cockerell mentions some things about it in his book Creating Magic. He was head Food & Beverage at the opening of DLP. I don't remember the exact issues he ran into, one was the option to sell wine / alcohol at the parks. That was not a thing Disney wanted to be known for, but it was such a part of French culture, it was impossible to do without.

 

[SuperMuscleMan]

We don't have the Crush Coaster here so there's still that! Nor do we have that spinny thing on the U shaped track that is in the Toy Story area. Forgive me, I have no idea what it was. I hate that the parks just rehash the popular rides over and over again at all of the other parks. I want a reason to visit EACH park. I wish all of the parks were more like Tokyo Disney Sea, where you know you are going to be seeing something you've never seen before!

For me, I love that the rides are mostly in French. Even though I don't speak much of it, I hate that English speaking people go there and expect to be accommodated. The charm for me is hearing familiar things spoken in a beautiful language. I do wish it were bigger with more to do, but not just rides thrown on a concrete slab like at WDW. The Magic Kingdom in Florida is the most disappointing to me after going to Disneyland for many years first. MK has zero charm like DL and DLP.

While I agree about most of it I disagree with the language. It was a park designed for Europe, not just France. Mutiple languages should be common. I'm actually dissapointed more technology is not used to make the rides adjust soundtracks for the languages of visitors.

You would be surprised how many Indian and middle East visitors are in the park.

Options for Star tours etc have been made in English and I believe Spanish but the staff (the biggest problem at DLP) don't adjust for the visitors often.

 

[tink2424]

We had a mini food festival in 2018 and 2019. It was very small with foods from all different regions from France. And somehow I remember Belgium.
Food has never been DLP's focus as the culture around food is different. It's not fast cuisine and that's the thing with a theme park.

Lee Cockerell mentions some things about it in his book Creating Magic. He was head Food & Beverage at the opening of DLP. I don't remember the exact issues he ran into, one was the option to sell wine / alcohol at the parks. That was not a thing Disney wanted to be known for, but it was such a part of French culture, it was impossible to do without.

I will say I was surprised by how good the food was, although it was very expensive. Luckily we had free half board and were staying at the Disneyland Hotel so we were able to get the higher level options. We ate at Walt's & Chez Remy and all loved our food. I am a very picky eater who is also vegetarian and I ate better there than in the US parks. Our bill for 3 people at Walt's & Chez Remy was 200 euro. We would never have wanted to pay that.

 

[Karin1984]

I will say I was surprised by how good the food was, although it was very expensive. Luckily we had free half board and were staying at the Disneyland Hotel so we were able to get the higher level options. We ate at Walt's & Chez Remy and all loved our food. I am a very picky eater who is also vegetarian and I ate better there than in the US parks. Our bill for 3 people at Walt's & Chez Remy was 200 euro. We would never have wanted to pay that.

If we go for table service at DLP, it's usually in Disney Village where the prices are a bit more reasonable. We did do Remy once, the food was okay, the service so-so, but the ambiance wasn't that special to justify the price.
Sometimes we do splurge at the Fantasia Bar in the Disneyland Hotel for drinks and snacks, or chocolate milk in Winter.

I had the same when I went to WDW for the first time (2012). I had the regular Dining Plan included in my offer, and paid about 200 EUR extra to upgrade to Deluxe. I think I made about 400 euro profit ;-) I would never had ordered a 3 three course meal for lunch and dinner and pay out of pocket!

 

[tink2424]

If we go for table service at DLP, it's usually in Disney Village where the prices are a bit more reasonable. We did do Remy once, the food was okay, the service so-so, but the ambiance wasn't that special to justify the price.
Sometimes we do splurge at the Fantasia Bar in the Disneyland Hotel for drinks and snacks, or chocolate milk in Winter.

I had the same when I went to WDW for the first time (2012). I had the regular Dining Plan included in my offer, and paid about 200 EUR extra to upgrade to Deluxe. I think I made about 400 euro profit ;-) I would never had ordered a 3 three course meal for lunch and dinner and pay out of pocket!

Yeah, we did a meal at Annette's Diner as one of our half board meals and it was also really good. For our last day when we didn't have an evening meal we paid for quick service at Toad Hall Restaurant and their veggie burger was also very good. So yeah, I wouldn't normally have a 3 course meal (especially because about 2 months prior to the trip I had weight loss surgery so I couldn't eat very much). The next time I go I would definitely go back to Chez Remy as I did like the atmosphere & the food. But I know everyone has different tastes. Hopefully I would get a deal with free half board again...