Disneyland Paris first timer

[Today4U]

Next summer I will be in Paris for about a month. I grew up on Walt Disney World and have also been to Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure. So a couple questions for those that have been there:

1. Is it worth going to Disneyland Paris? What rides must I go on and which may look appealing but are actually appalling?

2. Is it easy to get to Disneyland Paris using the metro?

3. Anything else I should know or keep in mind?

Thank you!

[Wonderlicious]

Next summer I will be in Paris for about a month. I grew up on Walt Disney World and have also been to Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure. So a couple questions for those that have been there:

1. Is it worth going to Disneyland Paris? What rides must I go on and which may look appealing but are actually appalling?

2. Is it easy to get to Disneyland Paris using the metro?

3. Anything else I should know or keep in mind?

Thank you!

1. Yep...you're in the region anyway, so any Disney fan may as well go, but regardless it is beautiful to look and be at, more so than WDW's Magic Kingdom. It has a more classical feeling, so at times, you'll feel like you're stepping into an early 20th century illustration. I'm not sure what rides excite you, and on the whole, all of the rides are good (aside from the Studio Tram Tour and the Armagedon thing in Walt Disney Studios). The best ones are

2. It's easy to get to Disney from the centre of Paris (or vice versa), the exact train and station I do not know though, so look at train times and lines somewhere.

3. A lot's in French, but English is spoken too, so there's no need to panic. Also, avoid August 15th and July 14th. The former is the Assumption of Mary and the latter is Bastille Day. It'll feel like you're going to Disneyland on the 4th of July.

[Dottie]

Paris is nice and especially Magic Kingdom is gorgeous to look at and not as small as WDW's seemed to me.
An absolute look-at is the outside of "It's a small world" Gorgeous! And IMHO the castle is the nicest in Paris too.

BUT, be prepeared that most people there will speak French there and will not like to talk to you in English.
The staff is also not as nice as in WDW and DL, and the park seems to be a bit messier and kind of less organized and run than the US parks.

This being said, it's still Disneyland of course and lots of fun. The rides in Disneyland are all great and modelled pretty much like in DL LA. Very similar to Walt's vision of Disneyland.

[Today4U]

Thank you for the info!

I like virtually all of the rides, except for the Dumbo flying garbage.

My French should be sufficient for the park, but it's good to be prepared.

And wonderlicious, your list of favorites isn't there--I'd love to know what you recommend! + Thanks for letting me know when the absolute worst days would be.

[darth_deetoo]

Check out my Myspace page for all of my Disneyland Paris photo's.

It's actually got the largest Magic Kingdom / Disneyland Park of all the Disney Resorts. The Walt Disney Studio Park has been getting a lot of work recently too, with 2 new attractions in there recently. My last trip was in March, but I'm going again in September, so I'm looking forward to seeing the changes myself.

General consensus I've seen on forums is that it's the most beautifully designed of all the Disneyland parks, and the theming is better than the US parks.

I've never had a problem with language. I speak very little French, but I've found that most of the cast members speak English, and have always found them to be very friendly.

Also check out Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in Disney Village if you get the chance.

[Jack Skellington]

You definetley should go there at least once, I've been there about 6 times, most of the attractions are pretty much the same as Disneyland or The Magic Kingdom, although their Space Mountain is really big if you compare it to other parks, so I highly recommend that, Sleeping Beauty Castle is obviously the most beautiful monument there, be sure to go upstairs to see the beautiful Sleeping Beauty stained glass windows gallery, and the Malefecint dragon liar is also impressive and unique.
Since youre in France, expect to find the most impressivley themed restaurants and food, The Cinderella Restaurant next to the castle offers beautiful french dining below a tower that resembles the place that Cinderella used to live in, also The Blue Lagoon has great seafood and a unique setting ! Disneyland Paris isn't the biggest Magic Kingdom Park, but it is very well themed and I highley recommend it !

[darth_deetoo]

Disneyland Paris isn't the biggest Magic Kingdom Park, but it is very well themed and I highley recommend it !

Ahem! Excuse me, but you're wrong. It might not be the largest Resort but it has the largest Disneyland Park / Magic Kingdom.

[candydog]

Whoa!!! Hong Kong Disneyland is small!!!!

Anyway, I've been to both Disney World in Florida and Disneyland Paris. When it comes to the "Magic Kingdoms" of these parks I don't really have a favourite, but here's a few things to know:

*Being a new(ish) park, the rides that may be considered "classics" in other parks, were built when better technology was available, and I'm inclined to say that many are better because of it (although I have heard of renovations in their American equivalents since), this really is the case with Space Mountain, which is much more of a thrill ride in Paris.

*Don't miss The Three Good Fairies' little shop outside the castle!!! They're my favourite Disney characters so it's nice to see that they have their own little place in Disneyland - it looks just like their cottage inside, and check in the fireplace while you're there too...

*Go into the castle galleries upstairs to see some amazing tapestries and stained glass windows depicting the story and Characters of Sleeping Beauty, check out the tunnel under the castle too to find a sleeping dragon. I'm not sure if it is actually Maleficent, but it would make sense with all the "Sleeping Beauty" themed shops and attractions based around the castle.

*There's a new parade on Main Street at last!!! After recycling the same floats over and over again for years, a new parade was constructed to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of Disneyland. I'm sure it will still be there next year though, I can't see them getting rid of it anytime soon as it's still so new.

Enjoy your time in Paris!!!

[Jack Skellington]

Well, it has fewer lands and less rides than the Magic kingdom or Disney Tokyo, Did you measure it with google earth by the way ?

[darth_deetoo]

That image is what someone else provided on a forum. As a huge fan of DLRP, it always annoys me when people criticise DLRP, and suggest it's not as good as other Disney Parks or isn't the real Disney.

I've had a look at the map for Magic Kingdom, and it doesn't seem to have anymore than Disneyland Paris in the main Disneyland Park, there are things we don't have at DLRP, but by the same token, we have things which are not in the US.

I'm not particularly interested in the other parks, and when I go to DLRP, I tend to spend most of my time in the Disneyland Park so the other parks aren't an issue for me. It seems the general consensus on forums I've visited that the theming of DLRP is second to none.

I just wish people wouldn't always put the place down. It's had it's struggles over the years, you can't deny that, but it's improving now in leaps and bounds, and it should be celebrated in it's 15th anniversary year, not criticised.

[Jack Skellington]

I also admire Disneyland paris, I've spent a lot of summers during my childhood there (I was 2 the first year I went there), so those memories are irreplaceable to me. But, you know Disneyland Paris is the most visited place in all of Europe, the least they can do is open Splash Mountain or Toontown there.

[darth_deetoo]

They HAVE opened Toontown, this summer.

[Jack Skellington]

That's the one at the Walt disney Studios called the Toon Studios, I meant the Toontown with Mickey and Minnie's House.

[darth_deetoo]

Well you can't duplicate everything at all the parks. I'd rather lose that and gain the animatronic dragon (which is amazing) any day.

[dizfan]

That's odd. It was always said that Tokyo Disneyland is the largest Magic Kingdom. It definatley feels larger than Disneyland Paris when you are there.

[Jack Skellington]

A good way to find out how big or small the disney parks are is by using google earth's ruler which can measure real places, just measure the length + width of the parks, multiply them for the area and compare.

[darth_deetoo]

There's nothing odd about it. Why can't you accept that what I've posted is correct?

I've just done a search on the net for 'largest Disneyland Park' and a number of sites confirm that Disneyland Paris has the largest Disneyland Park.

I don't make a habit of lying about things.

Disneyland Park is a theme park which is a part of Disneyland Resort Paris. Owned by Euro Disney S.C.A., it is one of two theme parks in the complex just outside of Paris, in Marne-la-Vallée, France.

The park is based on a formula pioneered by Disneyland in California and further employed at the Magic Kingdom in Florida and Tokyo Disneyland in Japan. Occupying 566,560 m² (140 acres), it is the largest Disney park based on the original in California. The park opened as Euro Disneyland on 12 April 1992.

The park is currently promoting its 15th Anniversary Celebration with a strong investment of new attractions and new entertainments to mark the occasion.

[dizfan]

There's nothing odd about it. Why can't you accept that what I've posted is correct?

[/quote]

It is odd. I've been to all the Magic Kingdoms, and Tokyo Disneyland seems much more expansive than Disneyland Paris. Whether it is or not, that is a different issue. But TDL does seem bigger when you are there.

I take it you have not been to Tokyo Disneyland?

[Today4U]

I went away for vacation and came back to a whole bunch of new posts... yay! Aside from the unimportant bickering, THANK YOU for all of the responses. I will definitely go there and print out the recommendations. Y'all are the best!

[Jack Skellington]

Unimportant Bickering ?
I guess this is the thanks that we get for trying to give you more accurate information !