Disneyland Paris

[disneynarula]

Has anyone been to Disneyland Paris. I know WDW like the back of my hand but am clueless about DLRP. We are living overseas for a few years and my wonderful husband booked us a trip to go to Disneyland, Paris in October. We are going for three days.
We will be traveling with DH, DSs (6 and 3) and our brand new DD! (she will nine months old when we go)

Any tips that someone could share?

[NJGIRL]

I wanted to bump this up. Has anyone visited Disney in Paris?

[MidnTPK]

I've been. Here's my brief trip report.

I'm happy to answer questions, but my experience is limited.

[divacat80]

I've been there 3 times, once a year. 2007, 2008 and 2009 (always in July - August)

where will you be staying? we always stay at Hotel Santa Fe, apart from being the cheapest option it's very convenient because there's a gas station outside in case you need some basic groceries

are you only going to disneyland paris or are you visiting Paris and the surroundings?

if you've been visiting WDW often then some things you might be willing to skip, but don't miss Space Mountain, it's way different from the US' ones and it has inversions!

have in mind that in october there won't be fireworks and you have to check if fantillusion will be playing nightly or not.

for some parisian shopping visit Val d'Europe (just a train station away from the parks) there's a big mall, an aquarium and a very "chic" outlet

feel free to ask any questions, though i'm no expert either.

a piece of advice, leave all expectations, prejudices and comparisons with the US parks outside the park's gates... you'll have more fun

to us disneyland paris is as magical as any other disney park, and we learned to appreciate the cultural differences

[andreallybadeggs]

Have been once but it was a day trip and 15 years ago so I've slept since then. Here's what I remember:
1) We DID enjoy ourselves
2) Loved the sleeping dragon under the castle
3) Not so crazy about the popcorn sugared rather than salted (kettlecorn is fine but this was just popcorn sprinkled with sugar) so we stuck to other snacks the rest of the day.
There are so many wonderful places to experience in France that I'm not sure I would devote 3 days to the DP. In fact, I wasn't sure I wanted to devote even 1 day but at the time our DD (who is now a CM) was 6 years old and that was HER day to choose what to visit. So we went somewhat reluctantly but then had a really good time. Enjoy your expat days!

[shdlwdw]

I've been on two different occasions and had a great time. As another poster mentioned, make sure to not try to make comparisons the whole time between the two parks. I did this the first time and definitely had a better time the second time around when I just enjoyed myself. Make sure you don't miss Pirates of the Caribbean as it's a lot different from the one in WDW and has a couple of drops. : ) I was a little disappointed with the Disney Village though, I think that they really lost some of the intended Disney magic here. I walked through it and really just was left wondering "This is it?" after finishing. It's really a great park though, with some unique attractions to experience! I keep hoping they'll bring Crush's Coaster over to the States. It's a ton of fun. : )

[disneynarula]

Thanks for the replies. We live in Europe temporarily. It looks like we will have plently of time to see DLP and the city of Paris itself. I look forward to sharing our trip report. I will keep and open mind. Maybe it will be easier since we are already living the European lifestyle. We are staying at the Davy Crockett cabins. It is a little more expensive but we want the extra room and kitchen. We calculated that if we bring our own food from home we can cook most of our meals and end up saving money.

[dlpmikki]

I stayed in the cabins once and they were very nice. Bear in mind you have to drive yourself to the parks from there - no transport is laid on by Disney. Great idea to do some coooking yourself, the prices for food are very high.

I am going for a day trip in August (not been for several years). If you can get hold of The Brits Guide to Disneyland Paris it is one of the best around - not so many choices on guides for Paris as Florida!

[disneynarula]

Thanks Mikki. I will see if I can find one of those guides. Glad you liked the cabins too. We will have our own car so transportation is a non issue. We are only a five hour drive so we are going to stock up at the Commissary before we head out. It is so strange for me to be heading into unknown territory Disneywise. I know all the USA parks by heart as do most of you.