"Don't anger the dolls"-A France and DLP Trip, June '18-COMPLETED (4/22-ride comparisons)

How you kept your cool with so many rude guests, I don't know. It sounds like every obnoxious parent and inconsiderate kid crossed your path. I had several issues with that on our first trip in 2016 but managed to avoid the worst of them last year. It definitely makes me look at WDW guests in a new light and not take some of their antic as seriously. I just remind myself it could be worse, they could be DLP-level bad. :rotfl:


The inside of the all the Main Street shops are gorgeous. It's worth a walk through just to check them all out.

I don't think I noticed the artwork matching the countries in World of Disney before. I have to remember to pawn the kiddos off on Alex next trip and go take a better look.

Sorry to hear the Plaza restaurant was such a dud. I remember you telling me how disappointing it was; such a shame because those restaurants are so expensive!

You say awesome dismeet...I think what you meant was "the update where my trend of other people's kids clinging to me and insisting I experience Disney with them continues.":rotfl::rotfl: While not the fireworks-level of that other girl you encountered, Landon sure did come close.:laughing:
 
Discoveryland looks really cool!

Sounds like a really frustrating dinner experience :( I'm sorry!

The princess show sounds fun, though I'm sorry you had to deal with rude guests!

I can't believe a guest stole one of the Aristocats!! :headache:
 
So, yeah, I don’t really recommend Plaza Gardens. I think other people do like it, but just not for me! I would have rather saved money and done QS or something like that.
I wish you had been able to meet some characters to give you a little joy in this otherwise awful restaurant experience.

As the show is going on (and I’m sitting on the ground), a woman lifts her kid OVER me and puts them on the ground in front of me! In the area beyond the rope/tape/ground markers! It was truly ridiculous. She did the same thing for her 2 other kids and I actually turned back and yelled at her, but she just motioned for them to stay there. And of course the kids ended up turning back and giving me a dirty look!
UGH!!! THis happened to us at the St. Patrick's Day parade this year!!! We were there almost an hour before it started to stake out our curb spot. After the parade began, not 1, but FOUR different mothers shoved their children between our legs out onto the street and eventually snaked through the crowd to join them. I was furious!!

he motor store (really apparel, but cool props, minus one Aristocat)
THis is completely ridiculous!!! I can hardly believe it.

(Also, I’m sure I looked pretty goofy as I did 2 laps around the store – which isn’t that large – taking photos of the ceiling!)
Well, I certainly appreciate it :) That was really cool how they grouped the movies by region.
 
Your meal at Plaza Gardens sounds awful! The horrid waiter, uncomfortable placement, and none of the food even looks appealing! And then that awful lady at the show! I just don’t understand people like that.
Yeah, it was really disappointing! Especially because WDWNT had been there a couple weeks earlier and loved it, so that's why I booked it. I have at least come to realize my opinions and theirs (at least for food) are not really the same. Not like Disney Tourist Blog - when they tend to like something, so do I! At least that is helping for planning for Asia!

Sorry to hear you had such a bad experience at Plaza Gardens. That really sounds like the absolute worst. I guess the one positive seems to be that they had those awesome gummy sharks. Always a small positive above anything. But like... is it a Plaza Inn without characters? What a waste.

All my UK friends on twitter and insta always rave about the waltz and it really does look so pretty. That stage they have by the castle just looks like such a cool use of space, I'd just be curious to see it without a show.

I'm really shocked that a guest just walked in and walked out with an Aristocrat statuette... like what? That's so wild. Paris, you lawless land.

Happy to hear after a rough day, you got an early night in. Looking forward to see how your last full day in DLP ends up being. :)
I do love that type of gummy candy, but these were actually a bit stale! :worried: Oh well!

I loved all the shows they did on that stage - the Princess vs Pirates one, the Princess Waltz, and one more I saw the following day (which I'll post about soon enough). At Halloween it also gets covered with the Malificent thorns (they spring up all around the castle) for the Halloween show!

How you kept your cool with so many rude guests, I don't know. It sounds like every obnoxious parent and inconsiderate kid crossed your path. I had several issues with that on our first trip in 2016 but managed to avoid the worst of them last year. It definitely makes me look at WDW guests in a new light and not take some of their antic as seriously. I just remind myself it could be worse, they could be DLP-level bad. :rotfl:
Yeah, it really does make me look more positively on any WDW guest interactions! During the waltz there was actually a solo guy sitting next to me. Afterwards we both rolled our eyes at each other for those girls. When he realized I was American (he was British), he commented on how orderly everyone was at Disneyland (CA). It made me laugh because before this trip I never would have referred to DL guests as orderly, but now I totally get it!


You say awesome dismeet...I think what you meant was "the update where my trend of other people's kids clinging to me and insisting I experience Disney with them continues.":rotfl::rotfl: While not the fireworks-level of that other girl you encountered, Landon sure did come close.:laughing:
Haha, I loved getting to hang out with your kids, especially having a great Disney fan in Landon! I'm working on my friends who live in San Diego, and think I have gotten the kids on board, just waiting for the parents to pull the trigger on a Disneyland visit! And to be honest, it was just great having some (new) familiar faces to chat with after being solo for several days!

Discoveryland looks really cool!

Sounds like a really frustrating dinner experience :( I'm sorry!

The princess show sounds fun, though I'm sorry you had to deal with rude guests!

I can't believe a guest stole one of the Aristocats!! :headache:
Yeah, definitely frustrating and crazy about rude guests! But the CM who replied "Yoga" just made me laugh!

UGH!!! THis happened to us at the St. Patrick's Day parade this year!!! We were there almost an hour before it started to stake out our curb spot. After the parade began, not 1, but FOUR different mothers shoved their children between our legs out onto the street and eventually snaked through the crowd to join them. I was furious!!
Argh! Just one of my biggest pet peeves! Like - if you want to get a good spot, then commit to spending time. Don't try to weasel your way in at the last minute!

Well, I certainly appreciate it :) That was really cool how they grouped the movies by region.
Yeah at first I just noticed - oh, pretty pictures. After I started paying attention I realized it was grouped by region! It really makes the "World of Disney" come true!
 


Day 18 - June 13

Part 1 – Disappointing Morning

This morning, I got up early with the expectation to line up before EMT at the studios and get a Mastercard seating for Marvel…

I showed up outside the gates at 7:55am, and turns out they open those gates at 8am. Most people ran off to Disneyland (literally ran), which I thought was silly since EMT wasn’t for another 30 minutes…little did I know.

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I went to the studios and sat and waited. I was the only one for a while, but eventually other people lined up.

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Right at 8:30 we were let in, and there was a momentary delay with my ticket at the turnstile, where someone on another entrance ran over and got in front of me at Guest Services. A line quickly formed behind me, all people waiting for mastercard tickets for Marvel. Well, that first person wanted 2. And there was no availability! WTH!

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They ended up having 1 seat, which she took. But nothing for anyone else! Ridiculous! People were pissed off, including me! I ended up getting one for the stunt show (really I should have just gotten Mickey, but whatever, I was annoyed that I got up early for nothing).

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Anyways, I got that and headed for my other EMT priority-Crush’s Coaster. Foiled again – the ride wasn’t working! There was a line and I waited for a few minutes before giving up (good thing too since it didn’t open until around noon).

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Instead I just headed over to ride Ratatouille, which was another walk-on and I even had my own mouse.

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I tried to take some photos (but 3D makes it not work well). The second time thru didn’t improve my opinion on the ride and I didn’t bother to ride again.

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Here you can sort of see what I’m talking about – you can see the screen and then the plain floor. Which really takes you out of the whole story! Not like Flight of Passage where I’ve always felt fully immersed even if I’m sitting on the edge! Or something like Gringotts, where the screen edges are covered with props!

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This is the best part of the ride, when you are going thru the pantry where you are in separate smaller screens and it feels more immersive!

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Another big screen and despite there being overhead props, the screen is still super obvious!

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Ok, this part was cool with screens above you and it feels warm like the broiler is turning on!

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More screen annoyances

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Also, you can see all the other cars, so it just doesn’t work for me!

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I took some photos of Little France area.

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Part 2 – EMT at Disneyland

And I was really feeling depressed – both of my priorities for the EMT were gone. And I was tired and hungry. At one moment I considered just going back to the room and going to sleep, but I didn’t want to walk all that way and it was only 9am. So instead I headed to Disneyland to see what rides I’d be able to do during that EMT (there was still 30 minutes left).

First, I did Orbitron, which always had a long wait during the day, but I was able to get on in about 8 minutes.

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I liked the astrology notes in the queue.

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The ride itself was pretty much like the one from Disneyland, which I prefer over the WDW version (that hard stop at the end physically hurts me).

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Ended up helping out a family from Australia when I overheard the mom/aunt tell the kids that they only got 1 FP per day. I turned and was like – um, no. You have one voucher for hotel FP, but you can get other FPs with your tickets. When we got off the ride, we were standing by Buzz, so I pointed out the kiosks and said they could do that during the day. The family was very thankful and said that Disney should really hire someone like me to answer questions. I just sort of shrugged my shoulders and moved on! (um, yeah it is explained…if you do your research…)

I headed thru castle and up to Pinocchio, which always seemed to have a longer line than it should. It was identical to Disneyland’s version, just had 3 rows in the car, not 2. I think it was missing the Blue Fairy hologram at the end though.

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Then I decided to do Dumbo, since non-EMT guests were about to be let into the park. About a 12 minute wait, not too bad in the scheme of things.

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Part 3 – Disneyland Railroad

At that point, it was 9:50ish. I ended up deciding to take a ride on the train.

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See, with DLP the train is a fickle thing. There is only one for the entire park, so if you miss it at your stop, you are going to have a long wait for it to return (it often posts 60 minute lines at Main Street station). The train also is very slow loading/unloading, as rather than having lots of rows, they have little u-compartments with gates. So every gate has to be opened, then they load people in (they escort people waiting to the compartments with space), close all the gates, do another check that they are closed, and then off to the next stop. So, if you don’t time it right, or get there immediately, it will be a long wait. I knew it started at 10am at Main Street, and the Frontierland station was currently down for refurb, so decided since I was in Fantasyland anyways, I could wait a bit for the first train of the day. It ended up being a 25 minute wait. Much longer than I’d ever do (willingly) at DLR or WDW, but whatever, I did it!

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Oh and I forgot to mention, I did a pin trade sometime the previous day. The CMs definitely have some good pins because people don’t really trade that often. (Though that is different than the Limited Edition Disneyland Paris pins, which are in such limited supply (like 300 pins), they sell out almost immediately).

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Train cars also are each named after a certain location. I spotted Los Angeles, and I think some other California places (but not sure).

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Originally I was put in a compartment with a couple who took up both spots next to the gate, which was a bit annoying. But at the Discoveryland station I realized people cleared out of a compartment 2 spots up, and it was empty so I moved up there. I don’t think anyone joined me on the drive from Discovery-main street (so fyi-if you are looking to board, do it at Discovery; much lower lines).

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A wonky panorama of the compartment

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I also took a video from Discovery-main street since I had a spot on the railing to steady my phone…

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(4x sped up)


I also took time lapse video at main street of loading/unloading. I noticed some people who were held back and waiting for the next train – not smart, it would be at least 30, more like 45 minutes until it returned…


I think between Main Street and Frontierland was where they had the Grand Canyon diaroma, but of course my phone’s camera decided to be weird about bright-dark (which it had done a couple times before), and the photos didn’t come out. But basically it’s the same as DLR. You do go along the backside of the geyser though, which I liked!

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At Frontierland we weren’t allowed off, but they did have to check everything which took a ridiculous amount of time.

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Between Frontier-Fantasy, we passed thru Adventureland. Now think about the route in DLR or WDW – you end up going thru part of Splash Mountain. They don’t have a Splash Mountain in Paris, so I didn’t expect any ride peeks. Well turns out instead it goes thru Pirates of the Caribbean! The very end with Barbosa and treasure heap! It was unexpected and cool! (also so unexpected I didn’t get any photos)

Got off in Fantasyland around 30ish min after boarding. Fun train ride. Not essential to go on if you have a limited trip due to the total time.

 


Part 4 - Some more explorations

I took some more photos at Adventure Isle since it was nice blue skies.

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Then decided to explore part of Frontierland some more. Of course Cowboy Cookout was closed and the Pueblo shop with all pins also closed, which was annoying because I wanted to check them all out again.

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I’ve heard they are starting these up again sometime in the near future?

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The Pochantus playground was roped off, but didn’t stop some guests who were playing. Until a CM came running down screaming for everyone to get down. I guess a safety hazard?

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I rode on Big Thunder again using another hotel fastpass.

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I’m interested!

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Part 5 – Even more exploring

I checked out the Coco restaurant (well the outside has just been rethemed as Coco). You can see how kids just keep climbing up on Dante statue.

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Wandered around the Frontierland shops and I loved the props and animatronics near the roof!

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Fun hat!

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I love that Chip & Dale are called Tic & Tac!

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Cute!

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Coming up: Lunch at Walt's and a great Dismeet!
 
Sorry to hear you had a not-so-great morning in the parks. You could not catch a break, I'd be so annoyed by all that.

That's so cool about the train going through Pirates. It's almost the antithesis of the Disneyland version since you technically go over Pirates on that one. So so cool!
 
I'm sorry the morning started off so crappy! But it sounds like you bounced back. The views from Dumbo are really pretty. And the train compartments are kinda neat!
 
Sorry to hear you had a not-so-great morning in the parks. You could not catch a break, I'd be so annoyed by all that.

That's so cool about the train going through Pirates. It's almost the antithesis of the Disneyland version since you technically go over Pirates on that one. So so cool!
Yeah, it was so aggravating that morning! But I'm glad I stuck with it because I did have a good day in the end!

I seriously can't get enough of Skull Rock!! :) I love that you keep posting pics of it from different angles, etc. This is seriously terrific theming!


You love Tic & Tac...I LOVE Dingo!!! LOL
I wish that shirt came in adult sizes!

And I feel like my policy towards the castle and skull rock - if I walk by it, I need to take another photo!

I'm sorry the morning started off so crappy! But it sounds like you bounced back. The views from Dumbo are really pretty. And the train compartments are kinda neat!
The compartments are pretty cool. Especially good if you have a family and can spread out over the whole thing, rather than being stuck in a row!
 
I do not understand how they set up the Mastercard tickets. Unless you know about it, how would a person ever guess that you could pick them up earlier over at the Disneyland Park??
What a bummer that Crush's Coaster was down. Man, that really was a letdown of a morning.

I didn't know the train went through Pirates; that's pretty awesome!
 
I got a front row spot (off-center though), but, of course, curse of the horrible park guest. As the show is going on (and I’m sitting on the ground), a woman lifts her kid OVER me and puts them on the ground in front of me! In the area beyond the rope/tape/ground markers! It was truly ridiculous. She did the same thing for her 2 other kids and I actually turned back and yelled at her, but she just motioned for them to stay there. And of course the kids ended up turning back and giving me a dirty look! I was sooo pissed off and just over it!
Ugh. I hate hate hate when people do this kind of stuff!!!!

k it out! I asked him how he can deal with all these horrible guests. His answer: “Yoga”!
Ha! Great answer.
 
The dinner at the Plaza buffet sounds so annoying, believe me I know about bad tables, yuck!

How rude of the lady with the kids, people can be so selfish and the bad behavior comes out!

It sounds like much more in Europe than here, I remember people in Italy and France being quite rude in certain circumstances more so than some of the other countries I have been to.

I miss WDW train, it would have been nice this past week!
 
Some more great wandering! It was nice to see some of the train ride, as I think it’s closed during my trip.
Oh thats too bad! I did like the real "travelling through the forest" feel.

I do not understand how they set up the Mastercard tickets. Unless you know about it, how would a person ever guess that you could pick them up earlier over at the Disneyland Park??
What a bummer that Crush's Coaster was down. Man, that really was a letdown of a morning.

I didn't know the train went through Pirates; that's pretty awesome!
Yeah, I think it was such a new system people had no idea! I'm still a bit bitter at some of the bloggers/twitter, because I'm pretty sure they knew the rules but wanted to make sure they got tickets in the mornings so didn't tell people.

Ugh. I hate hate hate when people do this kind of stuff!!!!

Ha! Great answer.
Yeah, some parents are just way too entitled!

The dinner at the Plaza buffet sounds so annoying, believe me I know about bad tables, yuck!

How rude of the lady with the kids, people can be so selfish and the bad behavior comes out!

It sounds like much more in Europe than here, I remember people in Italy and France being quite rude in certain circumstances more so than some of the other countries I have been to.

I miss WDW train, it would have been nice this past week!
Funny thing - when I was at my most frustrated I googled "why are european kids so misbehaved". And the only links were about how polite and behaving all the European kids were as compared to Americans! What! Either all the horrible ones made their way to Disney or those writers are idiots!
 
Part 6 – Lunch at Walt’s

It was getting close to my lunch ADR, and remember I hadn’t had anything yet to eat (I don’t think I even did a snack since I don’t have any photos).

Lunch was at Walt’s. It is so well themed, like a Club 33 open to the public!

The lobby/waiting area

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Upstairs I was seated in the Main Street room? At least that’s what I think it was. I did get a window seat though, which was very nice for people watching! Even though it was right next to the main aisle, they had a nice stained glass room dividing wall.

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Disney Tourist Blog loves this place, but for me I still felt the food was fine but not worth the price. I ended up ordering a la carte because I didn’t like the options for appetizers on the fixed menu.

Bread to start. I think I just got a regular white roll but they let you pick from a bread basket.
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Starter: Lobster bisque cream, smoked sweet corn and sorghum emulsion with tomato powder. Pretty good.
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Entrée: Grilled Angus beef tenderloin, Thelma potato, green beans, crunchy vegetables and Blue Cheese sauce. I asked for sauce on the side; and I realize now I didn’t get any green beans! I liked the steak well enough, but took a bite of the potatoes and realized it was covered with mustard – ick!
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Dessert: Chocolate cake with tonka bean ganache and cocoa nibs crispy biscuit. This was very rich.
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During the meal I people watched over main street. (A tip I saw from someone - get a later reservation time and you could still be at the window during the parade. Then you get an awesome view of it from above!)
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I caught a Chinese family get told off about selfie stick (which are officially banned from DLP, not that they actually care to enforce that). Then the CM walked away and they immediately pulled it out again; got yelled at again. He walked away and they complained to their other family about him… oh lawrd!
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Part 7 – Walking around Walt’s

After eating I walked around the restaurant a bit (I wish I had done that before eating because it was empty before then)!

The Frontierland room
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Discoveryland room
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Adventureland room
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Fantasyland room (sorry – I was trying to avoid people eating in the shot so I have a lot of the ceiling)
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And even though it wasn't necessary, I took the glass elevator down.
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