Disneyland Paris for spring break part 2

[pdrlkr]

4/25:

The taxi picked us up at 8:30 am for Disneyland Paris. It took about 45 minutes to get there from our hotel. The trip was a little uncomfortable because the driver kept complaining about how they destroyed the forest to build Disneyland. Believe or not, most of the earth was forest at one time including Paris.

We arrived at Disney's Newport Bay. Oddly enough, we had to put our bags through the X-Ray scanner before taking them into the hotel. The check in otherwise smooth. The staff was very polite and even made fun of how rude the French usually are. The room was normal size similar to the moderate resorts at WDW. However, the TV was rather small about 19 inches. Another odd thing we noticed was that neither hotel had washcloths. I guess its a French thing.

We took the bus to the Disneyland park. The bus ride was awful. it was overcrowded, took about 20 minutes and had no AC. They dropped us off at Gare Marne-la-Vallée/Chessy TGV, the train station at DLPR. It was about a 5 minute walk to the parks from there.

The Disneyland park is very similar to The Magic Kingdom at WDW and DL CA. The layout is nearly identical. The main difference is Tomorrowland which is called Discoveryland.

One big disappointment was Sleeping Beauty Castle. It was covered with scaffolding front and back. The only part to take pictures of was the top. Also the dungeon was closed. This was the one big thing I was looking forward to taking pictures of. Big Thunder Mountain was also broken the whole time we were at DLPR. A few rides were a little different than WDW and DL CA. Space Mountain launches you like Rock-n-Roller coaster and goes upside down. Buzz seemed much shorter than the others. The cars at Autopia didn't smell bad. Phantom manor didn't have a narrator and was a bit more scary. They did have Adventure Isle instead of Tom Sawyer island. It looked like the giant skull from Neverland and had a Pirate ship in front of it.

It did have some ride not at the others. There was Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril. This was a small roller coaster that last less than 1 minute.

One very impressive thing was the detail in the buildings was much better inside and out. The buildings were also much more colorful. There were also a lot more plants and trees than the other two parks.

We had lunch on Main Street at a sandwich shop called Market House Deli. It was better than expected for fast food.

We had dinner at a mediterranean buffet in Adventureland called Restaurant Agrabah Cafe. It was a bit of a disappointment in comparison to the sandwich shop.

There is no fireworks show at DLRP. Apparently they are seasonal. So, we then headed to Disney Village to check out the shops. Disney Village is small in comparison to the other two. It was nice though with a variety of restaurants and a large Disney store.
this is where discovered that we could walk back to the resort. It was about 10 a minute walk around the lake. Much better than the bus.

4/26:

We got up early and had breakfast the went to Walt Disney Studios Park. The park looks a lot different than WDW. Its smaller but again the buildings seem to have more detail inside and out. We got there just before opening and went straight to Tower of Terror and got fastpasses for Rock-n-Roller coaster. TOT is very just like DL CA. The Cast Members put on a great show too. RNR was also similar to WDW. Although the music wasn't as load and the cars looked different. We then saw Moteurs... Action! Stunt Show Spectacular. Nearly identical to WDW except Lighting McQueen has a part in the show.

We had lunch at Restaurant en Coulisse. Fast food with burgers, pizza and chicken nuggets. No different than any other fast food place.

When then went to the Studio Tram Tour: Behind the Magic. This was more like the original at WDW.

The lines for the rides were getting long so we checked out CineMagique and Animagique. I really enjoyed these two shows especially CineMagique.

We walked back to the resort for a break then headed back to Disney Village for dinner. We ate at King Ludwig's Castle. The menu was American/German and was pretty good.

Next more DLRP.

[Zawadi]

Enjoying report so far

It's a shame that Sleeping Beauty's castle was covered by scaffolding. Did you go up to the chamber where the story is told in the stained glass windows?

BTMR was closed due to an incident that resulted in 5 guests being injured when their train hit some scenery that had fallen onto the track.

I'm glad you agree that both CineMagique and AniMagique are excellent shows

Looking forward to the next installment.

[pdrlkr]

The Chamber was also closed!

[faline]

This is a place I'd really like to visit at some point! Thanks for the report!

[PrettyMinnie]

I would love to explore DLP! I love all the comparisons between the parks we know and the new one you are exploring. Fascinating!

[Disney-4-Me]

Sorry about the castle and other closings.

Now you have an excuse to go back at another time.

[RedSoxFan]

That is a real bummer about the castle. Same thing happened to us when we went to DL in 2004 --- castle was covered for renovations.

[KylesMom]

While you had some really great times and seemed to enjoy yourselves over the past two days, I can imagine how disappointing it was to run into all of the closures/refurbs - especially the castle dungeon.

Great details in your report - it's really cool to read about the differences in the attractions and buildings.

The cars at Autopia didn't smell bad.

That sure would be nice!

I absolutely love the idea of Adventure Isle with Skull Rock & the pirate ship!

Thanks for another great report. Looking forward to Part 3!

[princessgirls]

Fun time at Disneyland Paris!!

Thanks for reporting!

Julie

[emerzmom]

Thanks for this trip report. I have always wondered what Disneyland Paris was like.

[vizsla]

Thanks for the report.

[MinnieMommie]

Thanks for the report. Your taxi ride remined me a bit about some of the taxi ride conversations in Two Days In Paris. It really made me laugh!

[mouseketeer mom]

Oh! This is so exciting!!! Was it all in french? Or English as well?

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Sounds interesting. Thanks for the report