Points make Paris... TRIP REPORT COMPLETED 6/29 About This Page:

[DMA]

Originally Posted by chezp

Oh good grief - don't tell me that! I've checked quite a few times and they didn't seem too bad. I assume that's on a holiday?

I guess it depends on time of day and day of the week. And yes, holidays are definitely worse.
My parents used to have a cottage in Canada and many times on the way back home (usually late afternoon) we'd get stuck in border traffic.

[SharonK0527]

Beautiful garden photos!! Glad you made it home safely.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by DMA

I guess it depends on time of day and day of the week. And yes, holidays are definitely worse.
My parents used to have a cottage in Canada and many times on the way back home (usually late afternoon) we'd get stuck in border traffic.

That makes me feel a bit better. We'll be doing it probably on a Monday evening in September, nowhere near any holiday, so fingers crossed, it will be Ok. At least we're doing it that night and our flight is the next morning, so that's something.

[chezp]

Final thoughts:

I felt it was important to do a set of final thoughts to this trip report, even though I usually reserve final thoughts for longer trips. However, there was a lot I wanted to say at the conclusion of this report.

This was a very unusual Disney trip for us. Although we usually go away as just the two of us and meet up with friends when we get to the parks, we don’t usually start out travelling with others, and it was actually lovely to all go over together on the Eurotunnel, even if we did peel off very quickly. I think that first night, we made totally the right decision to stay in different hotels, as they were both perfect for our very different needs. I was so delighted the next morning when I saw Tom’s post on Facebook about what a great time they’d had with the hen party.

As far as our other hotel for the rest of our stay goes, the Disneyland Hotel is wonderful, although I will confess to having fallen a little out of love with it this time. Of course, the location remains superb, and it’s a definite bonus that you don’t have to clear security again once you’re into this hotel, whereas you have to with the other Disneyland Paris resorts. I can’t fault the theming or the public areas of the resort, but I just felt that the room needed a rehab and a bit of love. It doesn’t seem to have moved on at all since we first stayed there in 2010.

It was little things, but if you’re paying a huge amount of money to stay there (thankfully we weren’t as we were using our points), I’d be disappointed for example about the size of the TV, the lack of English channels on it (we only had the Disney Channel and BBC World News), how long it took to get hot water through the shower (ages both mornings ), the appallingly slow Wi-Fi (I couldn’t even get on Facebook or on to my emails at times) and the lack of power outlets in the room. I think we noticed it more, having come from a very modern and well equipped hotel the night before. I just feel the rooms need a little bit of love given to them to bring them up to the standards you’d expect from a hotel that costs this much.

An interesting aspect of the hotels, as I’ve alluded to, was the security. In some ways, it’s a bit intimidating to suddenly have so much more in place. They’ve had the metal detectors in place in the Disney Village for some years now (I have to confess to smiling at the hoo-ha on the Internet when metal detectors started to be introduced in Orlando, given they’ve been here for ages), but the security checks at the gates to the Disney resorts are new, along with the further ones as you arrive at the actual hotel.

To some extent, I thought the security checks were about as useful as the ones you see in Florida. What is the point of asking you to open the trunk of the car, and just peering in? As we said, it’s hardly as if you’d have wires poking out… I thought scanning all the bags was a good idea, but wanding people down when they enter the hotel only works if you do it to everyone. You can’t just pick and choose and then ignore beeps when someone does have something metal in their pockets. Why ask Mark to prove he had car keys on him, when I had exactly the same car keys and they didn’t ask me to prove it? I will say at least it’s a bonus that you don’t have the wait for security just before you enter the parks, which is nice.

The others all seemed to be very happy with the Hotel New York, although we never actually got to see their rooms. Every time we went over there, we got the impression that the place was a lot busier than ours, and we also immediately felt that, despite our gripes with the room, we’d much rather be in our hotel, so again we made the right choices for everyone.

Ok, so let’s get into the parks then. This trip was a real surprise in terms of crowd levels. Usually, it’s the Disneyland Park that is inundated, while the Walt Disney Studios Park has much lighter numbers of visitors. This time, things were totally reversed. I’m not sure why. Maybe people were put off by the huge amount of work taking place in the Disneyland Park? Perhaps it was the Disney performing arts they were putting on at the Studios? Whatever it was, it made for a very pleasant time in the Disneyland Park, but the Studios were a bit of a mob scene. It was a shame, as there was more I’d like to have seen there, but there was no way I was fighting my way through crowds to do it, especially not with a big group, and not with young kids.

I’ve probably already made my feelings pretty clear about the work being done at Disneyland Paris, but I do think it’s short sighted to cram so much in together all at one time. If there were massive discounts being given for those visiting while this work is going on, then fair enough, but the discounts are no better than at any other time. I’m so glad we weren’t paying for this (outside of our park tickets and getting there), as otherwise, I’d be very disappointed.

Despite that, we made the best of it, as we always do, and to a certain extent, the others wouldn’t have known how the park would usually look. I think we were probably the most disappointed ones, thinking about all the things we could’ve shown them, had they been open. And the truth was I don’t think it made the blindest bit of difference. On the way back, we asked Evie what her favourite thing was and she said Phantom Manor, and when it broke down! Who’d have thought it?

I don’t think we specifically asked Daisy what her favourite thing was, but I wouldn’t mind waging that it was probably meeting the characters, judging by the smile we saw from her when she was photographed with them.

It was certainly interesting touring as a big group. As I say, we’ve done it plenty of times before, but it’s been with friends, and we always have the understanding that we can wander off as and when we feel like it, and if we meet up again later, then great. If we don’t, the chances are we’ll catch up at some later stage. This was a bit different. While we weren’t exactly tied together at the hip, equally they were all here at our invitation, and we were hardly just going to run off and leave them. At the same time, we were conscious that this was very much their vacation. After all, we’ve been to Disneyland Paris many times already, and no doubt will add more trips to that tally in the future, so we’ve seen and done most things. By now, if we only do one or two attractions, that’s fine by us.

In the end, we settled for a middle road, with us guiding them, and suggesting things to do, but also asking what they wanted to do. The fact that Daisy ended up getting her face painted when we probably could’ve got on various attractions with a short wait was fine by us. As Tom and Sara said, it was probably the best €15 they’d spent for some time, given the joy she got from it, and that was fine with us.

I felt glad that we had been so many times and could play that guiding role, as without that, I think there would’ve been a lot more time lost trying to decide what to do. It was interesting to watch, as really there hadn’t been any planning gone into this trip, and of course, that’s how the majority of people travel to Disney. How many people have you heard complaining about the wait times or not being able to get into a popular restaurant? Fastpass was a revelation to them, and it really gave me an insight into what it’s like to tour the parks without having put that element of planning in beforehand or knowing something about Disney and how their parks operate.

I’m glad we managed to see both the afternoon parade and the fireworks and got to share it with the others, although it was a real struggle, given the behaviour of the crowds at both. I do not know what it is about Disneyland Paris, but it really does draw in an element of just plain rude, horrible and aggressive people, which is such a shame, as they then spoil it for everyone else. I wish there was an easy fix, and something Disney could do about it, but sadly I can’t think of anything. It is a huge drawback to visiting this resort, and it seems to get worse and worse every time we go.

Much as I loved all the time we spent together, I was also very glad we had some time to ourselves as well. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show had to be one of the highlights for me. I had no idea that it included cows, buffalo and even a donkey. I wanted to see it just because I thought it sounded fun, and it had the Disney characters in it, but it way exceeded my expectations. We will definitely be going back to do that again the next time we head for Disneyland Paris!

We already had high expectations for our other dinner at Inventions, and while it was a wonderful experience, made all the more special by my donkey buddy, the buffet offerings had declined somewhat, which is a shame, given how much they charge for this.

The weather was a bit all over the place, more so than I’d expected, given we were visiting in early May, but then again, I know this spring has been a bit freaky throughout the world. It could’ve been so much worse as well, given the original forecast was for torrential rain all day on the Saturday, and that would’ve been really miserable. Of course, just as we went to leave, it improved and warmed up, which is just typical. I still think, to a certain extent, Disneyland Paris was built in the wrong place. We’ve always said that it should’ve been in the south of France or the south of Spain, both of which have more consistently warm climates, but also there seem to be areas of the park that act like a wind tunnel on colder days, which is not much fun.

Although the drive there and back was exceptionally boring and so much to Mark for doing that, we both concluded it is probably the easiest way to get to and from Disneyland Paris. While taking the train is very tempting, and certainly less tiring, you’re tied to one departure a day each way, if you want a direct train. While that’s convenient, it’s not pleasant trying to board the thing at the Disneyland Paris end, and being able to travel with your own vehicle means you can arrive and depart whenever you like, and buy what you want.

However, our trip was a bit disappointing in that respect. We were surprised not to find more items we liked, but sadly Disneyland Paris is following those horrible habits of other Disney parks of a) having close fitted clothes and b) having clothing that’s wafer thin. Not what you want when you’re paying Disney prices. I still say Disney are missing a trick by not focusing more on adult clothing, but maybe that’s just me…

All in all, we had an absolute blast this trip, although it was nothing like our usual Disney trips. There was a lot less planning for starters, but having said that, I was really glad that we had booked our two dinners. Turning up for lunch for eight of us was certainly an adventure, and not something I’d ever try at Walt Disney World! It was fascinating to see the parks through the eyes of newbies and children, and it certainly gave us a very different perspective. I think they all ended up appreciating Disney a lot more than they did before this trip and, to that extent, I felt that our work was done in hopefully creating new Disney addicts. Sara and Tom were certainly talking about returning, perhaps even as early as next year to enjoy the 25th anniversary celebrations and, if that happens, we’d be delighted to join them again.

[DMA]

I very much enjoyed reading about Disneyland Paris, and seeing all your great photos of the place! Great final thoughts!

[cubfancolleen]

Thanks for another great TR. it was fun to read due to it Bing a bit different from your usual ones. You handled the group aspect very well, kudos to you!

[disney_duke]

Isn't it funny how going to a familiar place with first timers can just entirely change the way you look at things?! And usually in a very fun way too. Kind of like it breathes new life into the same old routine. So glad everyone enjoyed themselves. Well done!

And I will agree with you again and again on the merchandise front. I just don't get it.

[disneydeva]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us. I hope someday to venture over to see it in person, but for no it is fun to read and "live" it through someone else

[Colexis Mom]

Great final thoughts! So glad you guys had an amazing trip with your family!!

[manticorjenn]

Great final thoughts for a wonderful family trip!! I know that it will be a long time, if ever, for me to get over there. So, it is wonderful to see so many places through your TR's. Thanks again for sharing all of your adventures.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by cubfancolleen

Thanks for another great TR. it was fun to read due to it Bing a bit different from your usual ones. You handled the group aspect very well, kudos to you!

I felt it worked well, given we're not used to touring as a group.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by disney_duke

Isn't it funny how going to a familiar place with first timers can just entirely change the way you look at things?! And usually in a very fun way too. Kind of like it breathes new life into the same old routine.

Very much so!

So glad everyone enjoyed themselves. Well done!

And I will agree with you again and again on the merchandise front. I just don't get it.

What I just don't get is so many people seem to feel this way, so why doesn't Disney react to what it seems is the majority view on clothing?

[chezp]

Originally Posted by disneydeva

Thanks for sharing your trip with us. I hope someday to venture over to see it in person, but for no it is fun to read and "live" it through someone else

I hope you make it over this side of the pond to visit Disneyland Paris and, if you do, be sure to let us know.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by manticorjenn

Great final thoughts for a wonderful family trip!! I know that it will be a long time, if ever, for me to get over there. So, it is wonderful to see so many places through your TR's. Thanks again for sharing all of your adventures.

I love writing them and sharing them and I'm always glad when people enjoy them.

[SharonK0527]

Great final thoughts Cheryl! Thanks so much for sharing!!