Moosie3005
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- May 9, 2017
This was our first trip to Disneyland Paris and before we went I really enjoyed looking up tips and information about the place. I therefore thought people might be interested in a report on our trip, especially as we did not stay on site - to say thank you for all the help we'd been given.
Logistics: We flew EasyJet, got private shuttle transfer to our hotel (using EzyShuttle, who were spot on. Booked in advance, 70Euros each way paid to the driver, met at Arrivals and outside our hotel for return) Stayed at Ibis Budget, in Val d’Europe. This is a standard Ibis Budget, if you’ve ever used one before. Tiny rooms, shower cubicle in the room, basin in the room, separate room for tiny toilet, bunk bed over the double bed. But clean, comfy bed, friendly, and quiet...and cheap. Also a great location as it is right next to the RER station. You can’t get any closer without sleeping on the tracks!
Getting to Disneyland: Couldn’t be easier. We bought two sets of 10 adult tickets and 1 set of 10 child tickets from the ticket machine. Each ticket used for a single journey – put into the barrier, barrier opens, get onto train signposted Disneyland, got off one stop later. Getting back is even easier because the trains only go one way as Disneyland is the end of the line. When you arrive at Val d’Europe, there are two exits (‘Sortie’ in French) One is to ‘Centre Commercial’ and that takes you out into a big square with lots of restaurants and the entrance to the big shopping centre containing the supermarket Auchan. The other is to ‘Centre Hospitaler’ and that takes you to a little square with the Ibis hotel, Ibis Budget and Residhome Apartments. There is a little sandwich shop at the small entrance where we always bought a baguette for lunch. There is no problem eating your own food in Disneyland. Sometimes the train tickets didn’t open the barrier, apparently because they had been demagnetised by something in the wallet. This is common, and not an issue – train staff will open the barrier for you if it happens.
Although Disneyland opens at 10, the ticket barriers are open from 8. You can get into the park from 8, but not past the rope barriers into the ride areas unless you have a hotel ticket or a top level annual pass. You can, however, wander down Main Street, and get closer to where you want to head to at ‘rope drop’ time.
Salon Mickey: Thanks to the online forums, I had found out about buying shares and becoming a member of the Shareholder Club. This is now closed to new members, unfortunately, but allows members to knock on the ‘secret’ door and enter Salon Mickey. Why do this? Well, it opens at 9am, lets you bypass the queues to get through the turnstiles, and you can pick up a hot drink, orange juice or water, as well as two baked goodies each – muffins and cookies were our preferred option.
Then to the parks. We had aimed to have a low key first day and to pace ourselves, so we only went to the Disneyland Park, saving the Studios. We still overdid it and could barely walk on the 2nd day!
Things we learned, or confirmed:
There really are water fountains everywhere, so take a water bottle or two in with you and just refill them. The water tasted a lot better than our hotel water.
Use the Fastpasses wisely. Before you join a queue for a FastPass ride, check the time that the FastPass is offering. For example, join a 45 minute queue for Big Thunder Mountain at 11, and you may see the FastPass time is 11:40. So when you come off, you can use your FastPass and go straight back on again! The Big Thunder mountain FastPasses go quickly so by lunchtime, the FastPass times are often well into the evening.
Go left! If the queue forks, and it is not obvious which side will be the shorter one, pick the left hand one. Most people pick the right hand side. We went on Big Thunder Mountain with an advertised 45 minute queue time, and were on within 15 minutes because most of the queue had picked the right hand side.
If you watch the parade close to the start, but on the side of the park nearest DiscoveryLand, you can get on Autopia or Buzz with a short queue time because the end of the parade is still winding its way through Main Street. Around parade time, some of the rides in Fantasy Land have almost no queue – we walked straight on to Snow White 15 minutes before parade time.
The character meetings are really cool. We are not into characters, and had no desire to queue to see Minnie or whoever, BUT it was lovely to watch as the characters made each guest feel special. There was no rush. There are set points to meet particular characters but we queued to meet Eeyore and Tigger down the side of Casey Junior Train – not a set point and not advertised characters, so a pretty short queue. The best ones were the Storm Troopers in the Studios. They were a lot of fun, interacting with the crowd. We also saw Sully from Monsters Inc gatecrash Belle’s formal meet and greet. As I said, there is a lot of interaction; it is not just a photo op.
The Rides: Indiana Jones – never again! It rattled, bounced my head and was far too extreme for me. None of us did HyperSpace Mountain either. Not our thing. Tower of Terror was also a one off, although I am glad I did it because the theming was very cool. I joined my family in the queue for Star Tours because the theming was excellent there, but had to duck out as I can’t do motion simulators. What did we enjoy most? Buzz, Big Thunder Mountain, the Riverboat, son liked Crush, and we had multiple turns on Small World! Also, remember to visit the dragon under the castle. I missed getting a horse drawn carriage ride because the Main Street vehicles are only out and about in the mornings, when it is quieter.
The Shows: There were fewer rides but more shows in Walt Disney Studios; and these were great. The stunt show was cool, we saw Mickey and the Magician twice and would happily watch it again, Stitch Live was fun. The animation show was hard going because it was done in French but with a translation through a headset – too noisy for me, and not worth it. The other disappointing ‘show’ was the Jedi one in Disneyland because it was just clips from the movies and nothing added in. However, it was a good place to sit down in air-conditioning on a hot day! People were also using the Videopolis theatre in DiscoveryLand as a place to chill in, as the Jedi Training Academy was not on. The Nautilus submarine was also quiet and cool – in both senses of the word. Just a steam-punk sub to walk through, but a nice diversion.
Grab a map and a programme as you go in the park. The Disney Village also has entertainment on, but the programmes for that are in the City Hall (on the left as you enter the park) and I only found out on the last night! You can also get a birthday badge from the City Hall and cast members will wish you a Happy Birthday as you go round.
Food and drink is expensive, but you can look up menus online. Also check opening and closing times. We’d planned on having dinner in Toad Hall, but it was shut after the parade. Many places sell Magnums and lollies; a few places sell scoop icecream. The Gibson Ice Cream Parlour at the top of Main Street, for example. One scoop is about 3E50. Two scoops is about 4E19. So we got two scoops and an extra spoon – nothing says you can’t share a double.
Short cuts – if you go up the Liberty Arcade, on the left of Main Street from the entrance, then turn left into another covered walkway, you will end up in the fort in FrontierLand. Useful if it is hot or raining. There is also a shortcut between SmallWorld and DiscoveryLand when the park is busy – apparently sometimes shut off by gates.
Finally – be nice to the staff! I had a lovely chat with one of the cast members working in one of the shops, talking about how she met people from round the world – she said she travelled without leaving her place! We had a lovely discussion and when I mentioned my son was Welsh she said she’d like to meet him and say hello. Because I was, apparently, the nicest customer she’d had all day, she wanted to give him a voucher so he could buy anything in the shop! (Up to 25E!) Unbelievable, but it made all our days! It had been a treat just talking with her but that was amazing.
We are now planning for our next trip
Logistics: We flew EasyJet, got private shuttle transfer to our hotel (using EzyShuttle, who were spot on. Booked in advance, 70Euros each way paid to the driver, met at Arrivals and outside our hotel for return) Stayed at Ibis Budget, in Val d’Europe. This is a standard Ibis Budget, if you’ve ever used one before. Tiny rooms, shower cubicle in the room, basin in the room, separate room for tiny toilet, bunk bed over the double bed. But clean, comfy bed, friendly, and quiet...and cheap. Also a great location as it is right next to the RER station. You can’t get any closer without sleeping on the tracks!
Getting to Disneyland: Couldn’t be easier. We bought two sets of 10 adult tickets and 1 set of 10 child tickets from the ticket machine. Each ticket used for a single journey – put into the barrier, barrier opens, get onto train signposted Disneyland, got off one stop later. Getting back is even easier because the trains only go one way as Disneyland is the end of the line. When you arrive at Val d’Europe, there are two exits (‘Sortie’ in French) One is to ‘Centre Commercial’ and that takes you out into a big square with lots of restaurants and the entrance to the big shopping centre containing the supermarket Auchan. The other is to ‘Centre Hospitaler’ and that takes you to a little square with the Ibis hotel, Ibis Budget and Residhome Apartments. There is a little sandwich shop at the small entrance where we always bought a baguette for lunch. There is no problem eating your own food in Disneyland. Sometimes the train tickets didn’t open the barrier, apparently because they had been demagnetised by something in the wallet. This is common, and not an issue – train staff will open the barrier for you if it happens.
Although Disneyland opens at 10, the ticket barriers are open from 8. You can get into the park from 8, but not past the rope barriers into the ride areas unless you have a hotel ticket or a top level annual pass. You can, however, wander down Main Street, and get closer to where you want to head to at ‘rope drop’ time.
Salon Mickey: Thanks to the online forums, I had found out about buying shares and becoming a member of the Shareholder Club. This is now closed to new members, unfortunately, but allows members to knock on the ‘secret’ door and enter Salon Mickey. Why do this? Well, it opens at 9am, lets you bypass the queues to get through the turnstiles, and you can pick up a hot drink, orange juice or water, as well as two baked goodies each – muffins and cookies were our preferred option.
Then to the parks. We had aimed to have a low key first day and to pace ourselves, so we only went to the Disneyland Park, saving the Studios. We still overdid it and could barely walk on the 2nd day!
Things we learned, or confirmed:
There really are water fountains everywhere, so take a water bottle or two in with you and just refill them. The water tasted a lot better than our hotel water.
Use the Fastpasses wisely. Before you join a queue for a FastPass ride, check the time that the FastPass is offering. For example, join a 45 minute queue for Big Thunder Mountain at 11, and you may see the FastPass time is 11:40. So when you come off, you can use your FastPass and go straight back on again! The Big Thunder mountain FastPasses go quickly so by lunchtime, the FastPass times are often well into the evening.
Go left! If the queue forks, and it is not obvious which side will be the shorter one, pick the left hand one. Most people pick the right hand side. We went on Big Thunder Mountain with an advertised 45 minute queue time, and were on within 15 minutes because most of the queue had picked the right hand side.
If you watch the parade close to the start, but on the side of the park nearest DiscoveryLand, you can get on Autopia or Buzz with a short queue time because the end of the parade is still winding its way through Main Street. Around parade time, some of the rides in Fantasy Land have almost no queue – we walked straight on to Snow White 15 minutes before parade time.
The character meetings are really cool. We are not into characters, and had no desire to queue to see Minnie or whoever, BUT it was lovely to watch as the characters made each guest feel special. There was no rush. There are set points to meet particular characters but we queued to meet Eeyore and Tigger down the side of Casey Junior Train – not a set point and not advertised characters, so a pretty short queue. The best ones were the Storm Troopers in the Studios. They were a lot of fun, interacting with the crowd. We also saw Sully from Monsters Inc gatecrash Belle’s formal meet and greet. As I said, there is a lot of interaction; it is not just a photo op.
The Rides: Indiana Jones – never again! It rattled, bounced my head and was far too extreme for me. None of us did HyperSpace Mountain either. Not our thing. Tower of Terror was also a one off, although I am glad I did it because the theming was very cool. I joined my family in the queue for Star Tours because the theming was excellent there, but had to duck out as I can’t do motion simulators. What did we enjoy most? Buzz, Big Thunder Mountain, the Riverboat, son liked Crush, and we had multiple turns on Small World! Also, remember to visit the dragon under the castle. I missed getting a horse drawn carriage ride because the Main Street vehicles are only out and about in the mornings, when it is quieter.
The Shows: There were fewer rides but more shows in Walt Disney Studios; and these were great. The stunt show was cool, we saw Mickey and the Magician twice and would happily watch it again, Stitch Live was fun. The animation show was hard going because it was done in French but with a translation through a headset – too noisy for me, and not worth it. The other disappointing ‘show’ was the Jedi one in Disneyland because it was just clips from the movies and nothing added in. However, it was a good place to sit down in air-conditioning on a hot day! People were also using the Videopolis theatre in DiscoveryLand as a place to chill in, as the Jedi Training Academy was not on. The Nautilus submarine was also quiet and cool – in both senses of the word. Just a steam-punk sub to walk through, but a nice diversion.
Grab a map and a programme as you go in the park. The Disney Village also has entertainment on, but the programmes for that are in the City Hall (on the left as you enter the park) and I only found out on the last night! You can also get a birthday badge from the City Hall and cast members will wish you a Happy Birthday as you go round.
Food and drink is expensive, but you can look up menus online. Also check opening and closing times. We’d planned on having dinner in Toad Hall, but it was shut after the parade. Many places sell Magnums and lollies; a few places sell scoop icecream. The Gibson Ice Cream Parlour at the top of Main Street, for example. One scoop is about 3E50. Two scoops is about 4E19. So we got two scoops and an extra spoon – nothing says you can’t share a double.
Short cuts – if you go up the Liberty Arcade, on the left of Main Street from the entrance, then turn left into another covered walkway, you will end up in the fort in FrontierLand. Useful if it is hot or raining. There is also a shortcut between SmallWorld and DiscoveryLand when the park is busy – apparently sometimes shut off by gates.
Finally – be nice to the staff! I had a lovely chat with one of the cast members working in one of the shops, talking about how she met people from round the world – she said she travelled without leaving her place! We had a lovely discussion and when I mentioned my son was Welsh she said she’d like to meet him and say hello. Because I was, apparently, the nicest customer she’d had all day, she wanted to give him a voucher so he could buy anything in the shop! (Up to 25E!) Unbelievable, but it made all our days! It had been a treat just talking with her but that was amazing.
We are now planning for our next trip
