Disneyland Paris - Anyone?

[lovebeingmama]

Anyone been there? Comparisons to WDW Magic Kingdom?

[pagas]

We just went as a day trip from Paris and had a fantastic time. The train lets you off right at the park, it is really easy. We got a day pass and hopped between the two parks, mainly focusing on the rides and experiences that we couldn't do in WDW/DLR (Alice area, Phantom Manor, Toy Story, etc...). We also did the character dining in Fantasyland, which was quite neat because there were princesses AND princes.

[anna7602]

I haven't been to WDW (Orlando)!since I was a kid, but have been to Disney in Paris 3 times since June 2013. I find it very manageable from a planning standpoint. The character meals don't seem to require as much advance planning as the ones in WDW, from what I see on the MMM board. I booked a meal at the Cinderella castle (can't remember the name) for Easter Sunday in 2014 about a month in advance, no problem.

It had a lot of the rides I remember loving as a kid- it's a small world, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted House, etc. and my daughter, who was 5, 6, and 7 for each respective visit, loved it. It's super easy to get to from Paris on the local train lines, but you can also stay at a hotel there (no info for you on that, however).

[bronxgirl]

I have no advice, but I'd love to go there someday.

[wannabe]

We had so much fun at Disneyland Paris. Their Space Mountain is AMAZING. And their Indy ride is a kick ass roller coaster! Here's my blog posts about both parks: www.wanlifetolive.com/2013/06/bonjour-mickey.html

www.wanlifetolive.com/2013/06/bucket-list-eiffel-tower-check.html

[dulcemariamar]

I spent 4 nights last September at Disneyland Paris. It is an easy trip to do and requires very little planning. The best character meal is on Sunday for the brunch at the Disneyland hotel. There are two parks and you can do everything in two days but if you want to make a vacation of it then I like going two days at Magic Kingdom and one day at Hollywood Studios.

The hotels are pretty good especially since they are all in walking distance to the parks. Most of them went under renovations recently.

[lovebeingmama]

Thanks, everyone. We've taken the kids to WDW, and we would love to go back this year. But, we are currently living in Europe, and while a trip back home and going to WDW is possible, it just seems like too much money and hard to deal with 10 hour flights and jet lag. So rather than a big WDW vacation, we are considering going smaller and doing a day or two at Disneyland Paris. I've just heard mixed reviews about it, especially from die-hard Disney World fans. We had such a good trip to WDW last time, I'd hate for our Disney memories to be spoiled by Disney Paris, and that was a my main concern,

[dulcemariamar]

Mar 10, 2016 5:41:49 GMT -5 lovebeingmama said:

Thanks, everyone. We've taken the kids to WDW, and we would love to go back this year. But, we are currently living in Europe, and while a trip back home and going to WDW is possible, it just seems like too much money and hard to deal with 10 hour flights and jet lag. So rather than a big WDW vacation, we are considering going smaller and doing a day or two at Disneyland Paris. I've just heard mixed reviews about it, especially from die-hard Disney World fans. We had such a good trip to WDW last time, I'd hate for our Disney memories to be spoiled by Disney Paris, and that was a my main concern,

I don't think it will be spoiled as long as you don't expect it to be the same. They are still theme parks and you can still have a lot of fun. Plus, you have the bonus of having Paris right there so you can combine it with a city break. Avoid the weekend/ and high season and it will be great since you wont have to deal with the crowds like you do in Orlando. You will be able to walk on most rides.

[cookietime]

We went for a day during a trip to France several years ago, and really liked it. The only bad thing was the counter service restaurant we went to for lunch, which was terrible. It was so inefficient, you ordered, paid, and got your food all before they would take the next person's order, so the wait was soooo long.

[gigem]

Hey! I'm jumping in here because I am thinking of going with my very young kids as sort of a random hey what not side trip to our stay in Paris in April with my parents. Also both kids will be free since they are under 3 yrs and I doubt my mom will come along and it will be a weekday, so cheaper tickets for just 1 park for me and my dad.

anna7602, dulcemariamar, wannabe, pagas, cookietime, sorry to tag so many of you... I think you are everyone who replied saying they had been. What do you honestly think of me going with such young kids? DD will be 3 in June and DS is 18 months (he is a pretty good walker though already). I looked at the website and there are a decent number of rides without height restriction. DS is very tiny, only 9kg and 76 cm, so obviously won't get to the 81cm limit in the next month... but DD is over the 81cm limit so I think there might be some rides then for her specifically.

And what would I need in terms of transporting them around the park if/when they are tired... options are a double stroller, or single stroller with the ride a long board be okay? Single stroller and baby carrier? Will us adults also be exhausted? It isn't nearly as big as WDW right? Take the train or drive my car there (not a bad drive because we are already east of Paris near Vincennes)?

I never thought about this until someone on the Travel board mentioned it yesterday but now I am all giddy with the idea of going- I grew up in Florida and have fond memories of WDW.

TIA!

[anna7602]

Hmmm, I have taken my daughter both to Disney Paris and Universal in the last 7 months or so and did not bring along my son either time. He was 11 months and 18 months for these trips and I thought it would greatly reduce our overall enjoyment of the parks to be going at his pace. But, my kids are 6 years apart. There's a world of difference in the rides they can go on right now and my daughter can walk all day with no issue/no need for naps/etc. while my son tends to get tired and overstimulated quite easily. If they were closer in age and I had to deal with the same set of issues for both, maybe it wouldn't matter? I guess it all depends on your expectations and your children's temperament.

DD was 4 the first time at EuroDisney and didn't use any kind of stroller. (She had been out of the stroller for about a year or more already and was used to walking longish distances in Paris and NYC.) So I don't have any advice on that front. Generally, when I am out and about with DS for a full day, I like having a carrier and a stroller with me.

The train (RER) to Disney is super easy, especially if you're already coming from the Vincennes side. I have no idea what traffic or parking are like, so I'd look into that before deciding. I can see the benefit of just having your own car with children that small.

[gardengal]

Mar 15, 2016 5:15:26 GMT -5 gigem said:

Hey! I'm jumping in here because I am thinking of going with my very young kids as sort of a random hey what not side trip to our stay in Paris in April with my parents. Also both kids will be free since they are under 3 yrs and I doubt my mom will come along and it will be a weekday, so cheaper tickets for just 1 park for me and my dad.

anna7602 , dulcemariamar , wannabe , pagas , cookietime , sorry to tag so many of you... I think you are everyone who replied saying they had been. What do you honestly think of me going with such young kids? DD will be 3 in June and DS is 18 months (he is a pretty good walker though already). I looked at the website and there are a decent number of rides without height restriction. DS is very tiny, only 9kg and 76 cm, so obviously won't get to the 81cm limit in the next month... but DD is over the 81cm limit so I think there might be some rides then for her specifically.

While I haven't been to DL Paris, I have been to WDW with a 16mon old & am taking an allllllllllllmost 3yo to DLR this summer. Note, my kids don't know who most of the characters are. We don't watch the Disney channel and we've only seen a few Disney movies bc we rely on Netflix & they don't have many. They still had great times!

Even at 16mon, he LOVED it. He start bopping around and chattering with excitement as we'd take him out of the stroller to get in line for a ride. Not sure if DL-P has it, but his favorite ride was Buzz Lightyear. We rode that like 3x! He was actually rather afraid of the Little Mermaid ride, though.

When my youngest was too small for a ride his brother wanted to ride, we just divided and conquered taking a kid each and then meeting up after the ride was over. It worked out well.

It was really such a great time.

[gigem]

Mar 15, 2016 7:58:46 GMT -5 gardengal said:

Mar 15, 2016 5:15:26 GMT -5 gigem said:

Hey! I'm jumping in here because I am thinking of going with my very young kids as sort of a random hey what not side trip to our stay in Paris in April with my parents. Also both kids will be free since they are under 3 yrs and I doubt my mom will come along and it will be a weekday, so cheaper tickets for just 1 park for me and my dad.

anna7602 , dulcemariamar , wannabe , pagas , cookietime , sorry to tag so many of you... I think you are everyone who replied saying they had been. What do you honestly think of me going with such young kids? DD will be 3 in June and DS is 18 months (he is a pretty good walker though already). I looked at the website and there are a decent number of rides without height restriction. DS is very tiny, only 9kg and 76 cm, so obviously won't get to the 81cm limit in the next month... but DD is over the 81cm limit so I think there might be some rides then for her specifically.

While I haven't been to DL Paris, I have been to WDW with a 16mon old & am taking an allllllllllllmost 3yo to DLR this summer. Note, my kids don't know who most of the characters are. We don't watch the Disney channel and we've only seen a few Disney movies bc we rely on Netflix & they don't have many. They still had great times!

Even at 16mon, he LOVED it. He start bopping around and chattering with excitement as we'd take him out of the stroller to get in line for a ride. Not sure if DL-P has it, but his favorite ride was Buzz Lightyear. We rode that like 3x! He was actually rather afraid of the Little Mermaid ride, though.

When my youngest was too small for a ride his brother wanted to ride, we just divided and conquered taking a kid each and then meeting up after the ride was over. It worked out well.

It was really such a great time.

thanks so much for the encouraging reply! i think we are in the disney grey area like you describe, they haven't really watched anything (Frozen, Jungle Book, Lion King for maybe the first 30ish mins) but DD knows Minnie and Mickey (Huggies diapers!) but I figured the energy and the music and the general feel would be enough to excite them. 

I can't remember all the rides, I just looked quickly this morning, but many look familiar to me (small world, dumbo, haunted mansion, pirates...)

I am pretty sure I am going to do it... DH said, yes go now because we won't go when I'm there- what a grump haha. My mom also refuses to go but my dad is super pumped about it! 

[gardengal]

Mar 15, 2016 8:10:02 GMT -5 gigem said:

Mar 15, 2016 7:58:46 GMT -5 gardengal said:

While I haven't been to DL Paris, I have been to WDW with a 16mon old & am taking an allllllllllllmost 3yo to DLR this summer. Note, my kids don't know who most of the characters are. We don't watch the Disney channel and we've only seen a few Disney movies bc we rely on Netflix & they don't have many. They still had great times!

Even at 16mon, he LOVED it. He start bopping around and chattering with excitement as we'd take him out of the stroller to get in line for a ride. Not sure if DL-P has it, but his favorite ride was Buzz Lightyear. We rode that like 3x! He was actually rather afraid of the Little Mermaid ride, though.

When my youngest was too small for a ride his brother wanted to ride, we just divided and conquered taking a kid each and then meeting up after the ride was over. It worked out well.

It was really such a great time.

thanks so much for the encouraging reply! i think we are in the disney grey area like you describe, they haven't really watched anything (Frozen, Jungle Book, Lion King for maybe the first 30ish mins) but DD knows Minnie and Mickey (Huggies diapers!) but I figured the energy and the music and the general feel would be enough to excite them. 

I can't remember all the rides, I just looked quickly this morning, but many look familiar to me (small world, dumbo, haunted mansion, pirates...)

I am pretty sure I am going to do it... DH said, yes go now because we won't go when I'm there- what a grump haha. My mom also refuses to go but my dad is super pumped about it! 

My husband was super grumpy about going but ended up having a great time. He was shocked, lol. They really do customer service well!

One idea is to load a tablet for a few movies that maybe relate to rides they might want to do for your plane ride to Paris (I don't know where you are travelling from). I did make a point to show them Peter Pan before we left, for example, because I remember that ride from when I was a kid!

[gigem]

gardengal, great idea for the movies related to the rides! i have to fly into Paris alone with the two of them from southern africa... So the more movies the better

[dulcemariamar]

I went twice. Once when my DD was 20 months and then again the following summer when she was 2.5.

At 20 months she loved meeting the characters, seeing the shows, and going on some rides like it is a small world and the carousel. I found that the people at Disney could care less about height restrictions. They let us take her on the Pirates of the Caribbean. Big mistake since I forgot what it was like. Besides the fact that it is dark and scary there were two pretty big drops.

At 2.5 my daughter could do more rides and overall "got" the experience more. She knew the characters and loved going on rides. But then she had more opinions on what she wanted to do.

There are two parks. I like the Hollywood studios as well for this age group because they have two shows, one being a Disney Junior show, that is good for this age.

Meeting characters is a PITA in the parks because the lines are super long. My main recommendation is to book dinner at Inventions, it is a restaurant at Disneyland Hotel. The hotel is located at the entrance of the park. It is expensive but the food is actually really good and you are guaranteed to meet at least 6 characters (2 being Mickey and Minnie). The brunch on Sundays is better since you get to meet 8. It is so worth the money for good food and not having to see wait in lines. Plus, you can reserve a table to see the firework show at night. (They only have characters for dinner except Sunday brunch)

I have always traveled by train and found it super easy. Avoid the weekends and try going on a Tuesday/Wednesday.