Going to Disneyland Paris! Need some honest advice.

I love DLP and went 4 or 5 times over a year. I did 7 days in the summer which was too long. Now because DS17 and I are huge pin traders we go over especially for Trading events which take up 1 full day (Saturday) we now do Friday arriving at 8am (driving overnight) and leave on Sunday or Monday at 8pm (Driving back over night)

We are now more into browsing the parks and going on the rides that take our fancy, and of course pin trading. The Studios can be done in a day and the Main park I would say 1.5 days, this is for all rides and parades ect.

The tours are fab - and take up a whole morning or afternoon.

The Cheyenne is also my fave hotel tied with the New York.

I know people are down on DLP especially after visiting WDW and comparing the 2 but for a park in it's own right I love it. It's also fun to take an afternoon/ evening and visit each one of the 7 hotels and have a drink in each one. They are all very different and the theming is fab.

I would say the only downside is cost. You can pay as much if not more than a visit to WDW (from the UK utilizing deals)but DLP does provide a change of pace, not so much planning or time required.

Never been to DLP, but good friends went a few years back and weren't that impressed and also thought the Euro wasn't good value for them,but hey, everyone has different views on different holidays,what they didn't like I maybe love...I think it all depends how you look at it..They did go to WDW last year and loved it..A bit like us when we went to DL in California in 2001.To me it was a part of our three week vacation but I wasn't gobsmacked until I went to WDW in Orlando...I say go and enjoy yourselfs..Any Disney vacation is better than sitting at home..

I am a big fan of DLP but it has its faults so I'll do you a handy pros and cons list

Pros
The disnyland park is solo beautiful, it really puts the magi kigdom to shame, it's more intermit and so much more detailed it feels more like a real place. The fantasyland is beautiful but the main street and adventureland looked lived in.

Everything has a backstory, frontier land is all tied together thunder mountain and phantom manor are connected in story.

The high end resturants are suppierior to Wdw, walts on Main Street is amazing as is inventions at the disneyland hotel.

You can sleep in the park, by staying at the disneyland hotel.

Character dinning isn't as crowed

Characters still walk around the park

Lots of older rides that are gone from Wdw are still there like star tours 1.0, snow whites scary adventures, ect...

Lots of exculsive attractions, the dragon, hooks boat, Alice's maze, phantom manor, crushes coaster, Ratouille,

Discovery land is better then tomorrow land.

Cons

Rides are in French
The public mob characters
The public are rude, will smoke everywhere
Euro pines do not queue
Maintains is needed
Counter service food is bad
There is nothing for veggies to eat
Food is expensive
The studios park is the worst disney park in the world
Toy story play land is awful
Cms are often rude (French) the American ones are great though

I would go two days one day just in disneyland park, then a breakfast at downtown disney in chef mickeys or at inventions inthe disneyland hotel, followed by a morning in the studios to see the shows and exculsive rides and then spend the afternoon in the Disneyland park.

So, can you buy me some pins while you're there?

Zz.

Did 4 days in DLP last year and that was enough. They didn't really get pins out there, we wore our lanyards but didn't see many people with pins.

In response to the cons - It is France (and with no disrespect to any of our French friends here), they tend to be quite brusque with their behaviour. It can come across as pretty rude, but at the same time they are being apologetic.

I went to DLP for 2 days over a long weekend, bookending the trip with days in Paris (1 on each side). It is possibly just about enough time - you'll cover the entire park in that time and should be able to ride most things.

Yes, all of the rides are French audio but if you're aware of the rides from DL and WDW, then you'll have the audio running through your heads as you wait in any case. I had to translate using my pigeon French to my two companions...that was fun as I tried to match what I understood with the narration from the American counterparts!

Hopefully you're going at a time when all of the CMs are working. I had the misfortune to go during a strike and believe me, the CMs (French or otherwise) make a HUGE difference to creating the atmosphere to the point where I wondered whether it was all worth it or not!

In any case, enjoy your trip....!

I don't know if you've already seen it, but you may want to check out disneytouristblog.com and everything he's written about Disneyland Paris! As someone who wants to visit all of the Disney Parks abroad, Tom appears to be one of the best resources for this.

He is indeed, and he has a very high standard of reporting, as well as being my absolutely favorite Disney photographer!

Yes! His pictures are the best! Really makes me feel like I'm experiencing things with him