Disneyland Paris/EuroDisney - Questions & Answers

Oaks

Day 3 Saturday, cloudy

Woke up and the sky was noticeably darker then I discovered that the French time had moved forward by 1 hr and luckily my phone readjusted the time automatically.

Breakfast at 745am, observed a small queue but was directed by the staff to walk straight into the front of the queue!! I thought to myself 'hmmm' but was not gonna protest. By 8am, queue has extended all the way to the hotel reception. We quickly finished our breakfast and got to the Disneyland Park at 8:30am. Lots of ppl jumping the queue at the bus stop, no yelling fr me would have made the slightest difference, so I resorted to brute force and raising my voice just b4 the bus doors opened, it did help as some kids retreated from my sights.

Went to Fantasyland again, by this time, we were bored of the Mad Hatter and the Dumbo. So we just strolled leisurely and then left the Disneyland Park at 930am for the Disney Studio Park. Surprisingly, we were allowed to enter the Studio Park before 10am, thinking tht Early Entry Privilege was only meant for the Disneyland Park. Walked thru Studio 1 without stopping to get to Crush Coaster, wait time 80min (My heart sunk immediately). This was the longest time we had to wait for a ride, i guess there were more visitors in the weekend. Since it was a popular ride in the Disney Studio, long queue was inevitable and I guess I had to bite the bullet. Even my daughter became agitated after 40min, then I revealed my secret weapon and tht kept her occupied until it was our turn for the ride (relieved).

secret weapon > Store Disney's cartoons in a viewing device, in my case, I had Snow white, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast in my htc phone.

While queueing for the Crush Coaster, a couple of young spanish girls were pushing, making lots of noise and jumped queue. There was no way they would go past me so I challenged them when they got near me. They may not understood what I said but my tone said it all and they quietly retreated. The girls' father knew exactly what they were up to and refused to do anything. Shocking!

Later, we tried to get on the Parachute drop and Slinky Dog but were beaten by the long queues. So we changed to Plan B and went to Cinemagique, wait time 15min. Then had photos taken with Sulley from the Monster Inc near Animagique, wait time 20min. Again, there were a few who were oblivious to the queue and walked straight to the set, only to be 'enlightened' by the staffs manning the set!! did she really think we queued just for the fun of it? or did she play dumbed? Next was the Stitch Live!, wait time 20min. By this time (1:00pm) we were hungry so we had buffet lunch at the Lucky Nugget, reservation made for 1:30pm, inside Disneyland Park. Main reception was a bit disorganised and proper tables were reserved only if there were more than 4 of you. So, we were shown to take our seats along the table top but this was ok. Food was ok and plenty of choices. There was band playing live at short intervals and we were disappointed to see when other parents could not control their children and allowed them to treat the restaurant as if it was their home. We saw a few Disney characters too (Pluto, Mickey Mouse, Tigger and Mr Smee from Petar Pan), they all made an effort to visit every table, so more photo opportunities. Stayed for abt 1hr and went to Phantom Manor, wait time 35min.

We then returned to the Studio and continued our little exploration. By 4pm, we started queueing for the Moteurs...Action! and that turned out to be the highlight of the day, a very entertaining show that lasted 45 min. While we were leaving the set, the sky opened up and we decided to take shelter inside Studio 1 and had an early dinner. Ordered a kid meal (cheeseburger, small drink, chips and a yogurt) and one Menu 2 (adult sized cheeseburger, chips, large soft drink and a ice cream) for around 20 euros. As soon as I thought the rain was stopping, it started to rain which meant more time inside the gifts shop. I decided it was no point in lingering any longer as the weather was getting more gloomy by the minutes. So we returned to the Hotel by 6:30pm and yes, sure enough those kids next door were jumping up and down on the beds again but stopped quickly this time. Lights out at 8pm. Tomorrow >> catching up day

Main gripe > smoking inside DLP !!! not just at designated areas but all over the park. Why can't DLP enforce its non smoking policy properly??!! Even I got headache from inhaling the second hand smoke in the Parks.

Oaks

blue_monkey wrote: »

Great review!!

I had to laugh at the above, must have been honeymooners, there is no way you could find time for that 'after' theme parking with kids all day...... Is there?? :rotfl: I am just glad to fall into my pit!! LOL.

hmm.... pretty sure they were kids, I was all getting too excited until I heard the kids screaming.....:rotfl:
not even honeymooners would still have tht kind of energy after a full day walking in Disneyland.

snaphappyone

SurfBowlSC wrote: »

We only found 2 working fountains last week, both near the toilets at the Studio entrance.
None of them in the park itself were working.

Actually, thinking about it, the one in the studio's was the only one we actually used, and I did notice the ones in the castle were broken! Good point SurfBowlSC!

Must have been good fun being Stitch's victim! Not sure if I envy you or not though. I'm sure it would have enhanced the experience for your family.

myalphabetgirls

We approached our junction exit at 4.28am today after driving back from dlp to Calais, ferry crossing then a 4 hour drive back to Bristol. Beyond knackered - yes, worth it - yes!

Whole trip started off as a sun deal (£9.50) which we ended up extending to a 2 night/3 days in park trip and even then stayed a further night in a nearby campanile travel lodge style hotel (69 euros) and went into Paris to see the Eiffel Tower and experience the metro etc.

We stayed in the Kyriad hotel, outside Disneyland which was faultless. Free parking, free shuttle bus. Lovely hotel, clean, tidy, and well run.

My husband has said if we go again, he will borrow a mains/battery small fridge for your own cold drinks supply. We got caught out - and bought quite a few drinks inside the park - 2.60 euro for a 500 l bottle :eek: but the train station shop has a 1.5ltr bottle for the same - so from day to 2 we topped up.

Actually, as other posts on here, we took extras into the park from buffet breakfast for some snacking but just accepted that some snacking would be essential and OH went to a nearby Lidl for some other stuff.

The whole trip can be as expensive or as shoe=string as you want to make it - just be prepared for a lot of shops all selling the same things at highly inflated prices. My daughter was desperate for a dressing up dress (tangled) - 59.95 euro. Of course we gave in on the last day and she was thrilled, the icing on the cake of a wonderful much appreciated trip.

The parades are lovely and the awe and wonderment on little faces is priceless.

I am quite sad to be home (although my feet are relieved) - wish we could go again soon.

If I could change anything it would be my wish that the stretch of road straight from the port to the toll areas had cats eyes at least. When we embarked last Wed night, it was foggy and the roads unlit. Not good for the nerves! As for going round the roundabouts the other way - so wrong on so many levels - I just closed my eyes! (I wasn't the driver bythe way!).

Can't wait for another opportunity to go and I would def recommend the kyriad (3 star).

Jeffiner

Great replies from everyone, very helpful, thanks so much! I'm quite excited now, only 3 days to go till our trip A little apprehensive about the long drive but stopping overnight in Calais so that will help I guess. I will of course add my opinions/tips etc when I return home!

carbbit

Hi!!

We leave for Disney in 2 days! We are flying into Charles De Gaulle and I thought we could take the TGV to Val D'Europe where our hotel is. I've tried looking on the rail Europe site for tickets but it doesn't recognise that as a station (even though it says hotel is directly opposite train station). Can anyone shed some light on this please? TIA!

Edited to add that it looks like we'd have to go to Marne le Vallee and then double back to Val D'Europe but it says there are no tickets available

balletshoes

carbbit wrote: »

Hi!!

We leave for Disney in 2 days! We are flying into Charles De Gaulle and I thought we could take the TGV to Val D'Europe where our hotel is. I've tried looking on the rail Europe site for tickets but it doesn't recognise that as a station (even though it says hotel is directly opposite train station). Can anyone shed some light on this please? TIA!

Edited to add that it looks like we'd have to go to Marne le Vallee and then double back to Val D'Europe but it says there are no tickets available

The TGV doesn't stop at Val d'europe - you go from Paris CDG to Marne la Vallee on the TGV. Then you get off and head for the RER platforms (you can buy your train tickets between Marne la Vallee and Val d'Europe very easily at the ticket counters at Marne la Vallee station). A carnet of 10 single tickets between Marne la Vallee and Val d'Europe costs around 12 euros. You don't need to book a train for this one stop as the trains run back and forth all day every day every 5 minutes or so.

carbbit

balletshoes wrote: »

The TGV doesn't stop at Val d'europe - you go from Paris CDG to Marne la Vallee on the TGV. Then you get off and head for the RER platforms (you can buy your train tickets between Marne la Vallee and Val d'Europe very easily at the ticket counters at Marne la Vallee station). A carnet of 10 single tickets between Marne la Vallee and Val d'Europe costs around 12 euros. You don't need to book a train for this one stop as the trains run back and forth all day every day every 5 minutes or so.

Thanks Balletshoes If I go to the french train site, I see tickets are available for €51 (for 2 people), looks like the time we are arriving means it's a bit more expensive Do I need to book the TGV or just buy a ticket when we get there?

balletshoes

carbbit wrote: »

Thanks Balletshoes If I go to the french train site, I see tickets are available for €51 (for 2 people), looks like the time we are arriving means it's a bit more expensive Do I need to book the TGV or just buy a ticket when we get there?

you can buy a TGV ticket when you get there - you'll need to be able to use the ticket purchasing machines, or be prepared to wait at the ticket counter at CDG (its a hub station so can be busy). I always buy my tickets about a fortnight in advance, and have them posted to my home. There are peak times of travel on the TGV, which you do pay more for.

Oaks

Day 4, Clear, 17 degrees

Since we would be leaving in the afternoon, the plan was to do all those things we did not get a chance to do for various reasons. So, lots of catching up.

Breakfast at 7:45am, got to the Disneyland Park at 8:40am, left our luggages at the 'Guest Storage', each suitcase (big and small) was 6 euro a piece, carry bag was 3 euro a piece. We could have left our luggages at the hotel for free but that would mean wasting at least 30min of our time and besides we had better plan in mind. More photos and gifts/souvenirs inside the Park. While exiting the Park, there were lots of ppl queueing at the gate waiting for the Park to open at 10am. They were like greyhounds waiting to be let loose, scary!! Hence, straight onto the Disney's Studio at 9:10am and grabbed a Fast Pass ticket for the Terror Tower. Queued up for the Parachute Drop, wait time 35min, let the staff in a small booth just before the queue know if you intend to ride alone as there was a single rider line and was considerably faster with virtually NO waiting time. Then Slinky Dog, wait time 25min. Followed by the Armageddon, wait time 15min. Then we separated for a while as my wife and daughter wanted to experience Stitch Live! again, so I went to The Twilight Zone Tower using the Fast Pass tickets, wait time 5 min. More photos around the Studio before joining the queue for the Playhouse Disney Live On Stage! at 12:45, wait time 25min. There was a big screen with Disney animation to keep the kids occupied in the waiting area so not too bad. At the end of the show, I had trouble getting up as I have lost all normal sensation on my legs apart from 'pins and needles'. I could not change my legs position as there was literally no space to turn around without bumping into a kid as i was on the second row. To see how much my daughter enjoyed the show, I guess I could endure a little bit more suffering.

Time to grab some food, so went back to Restaurant en Coulisse inside Studio 1. Ordered Menu 3 (cheese pizza, large drink, ice cream and chips) to share and a kids meal for the little one. All under 20 euros.

Since we had done most shows and rides by that time, we decided to take up our position for the Stars 'n' Cars Parade (2:45pm). I must have missed out the 'intel' on this parade some how and did not expect there would be a show on the stage in the square. So stand in front of the stage if you want to see the show, if you prefer to interact with the Disney's characters, take up your position behind the stage where all the characters would step out of their cars and interact with the public. Anyway, I had enough photos and clips of the parade and decided to finally say 'au revoir' to Disneyland Paris. Went back to collect my luggages and then to the train station (platform no. only shows up 10 minutes b4 departure, it could do with a bit more time to avoid ppl rushing).

By the we reached home, the time was 8pm.