Is Disney land Paris magical or naff and tacky?

[Wanttoretirebefore90]

Has any skeptical person been there and really enjoyed it? I think it's going to be expensive, ripped off all the time, dated, rude staff, long lines and not magical at all

Me and my husband had a great time with all our children there, I wouldnt say it was tacky at all. My brother can be a bit of a grump but he absolutely loved the place when he took his kids.

Hmmmm. It’s both those things! My son adored it, he totally ‘got’ the magic. I’ve been to Florida one so for me it was more expensive, tiring and not as special. That said, it absolutely has its place. If you go, you have to throw yourself into it completely and try to bury your inner cynic, otherwise it is easy to find it a bit rubbish.

Me! We went earlier this year (me, dh, DS (4), and GPs) and I loved it. I thought it might seem like a glorified theme park just with the added bonus of it being Disney related, and as I'm not really into Disney wasn't sure how much I'd enjoy it.

I absolutely loved it though. We loved looking round the village, the walk round the lake is lovely, we had some really nice meals and the whole thing just felt magical. Even just wandering through the parks the things you spot, seeing everyone having a good time, watching the parade and having the characters wave to you, the fireworks etc, everything just felt right!

We definitely got more out of it with having DS, I don't think we'd ever go, just me and dh though. We are all going back in 2020 as well.

I loved it and I am the most jaded person out there. That said, we went during term time in October. The weather was mild and we walked on almost every ride so it wasn't particularly challenging for us.

I agree its both. Compared to other theme parks like efteling it's gaudy and brash. Efteling in holland is truly magical and stunningly beautiful. No one would ever call efteling tacky.

So for us Disney Paris was a shock, it was very lights, glitz, brash. In efteling the paving is real little block stones for instance or real cobbles. At Disney it's pretend...

Having said that it's brilliant fun! The area around the castle is lovely. I went this Xmas and it took my breath away when I first walked in and saw the castle glistening with Xmas lights and the tree etc.
After extensive research on meal plans, hotels, the German Disney site etc I realised the cheapest way to do Disney was to buy magic plus annual passes and stay off site in partner hotels. Our first short visit was a finding feet excersise we never queued more than 20 mins on any of our four visits. You have to be quick, plan and organise.

Use fast passes, self cater a little.
We definitely feel we got our monies worth out of Disney rather than the other way round.
Efteling is beautiful and magical, and great fun, Disney does shows and parades better but it's definitely more like a circus fair ground. But still huge fun!

Its naff and magical depending on your mood. It is pricey, with the booking system the queues aren't too bad and the staff are polite and helpful. Unleash your inner child and enjoy it.

Neither of those, but it's a good theme park. I've been a few times and I've never been disappointed by it.

Just to specifically answer your points though, for your first time I'd suggest booking a package through a travel agent, that includes your meals, park tickets, transport etc so you've only got souvenirs and the odd drink to buy while you're there.

We stayed at sequoia lodge golden forest rooms with a package including hotel, Eurostar, transport, park tickets, luggage transfer and a 'half board plus' food package which included a buffet breakfast, evening meals and hot and cold snacks late afternoon. For 5 people it cost around £3800 for 4 nights with park tickets for 5 days. We took tonnes of snacks with us so just bought souvenirs and the odd ice cream while we were there.

You can do it a lot cheaper by eating breakfast in the park, staying off-site, McDonald's for tea etc but we found it easier to get everything included the first time.

All staff that we encountered were friendly, really helpful and nothing was too much for them.

You also get fast passes with the hotel which you can show at any time to join the date pass queue rather than the normal one, and some rides also have there own fast pass system which tell you to come back at a certain time.

It is tacky but magical at the same time, and you just need to go with it!

It's brilliant, we loved it. I ended up being the embarrassing mum who got Donald Duck in a death grip and told him I loved him. I'm not allowed back.

I was 15 when I went so a bit old for the magic and felt it was a bit run down tbh but I think as a child it would probably be magical.

We went in an August heatwave.
The whole water/mines type area was closed for refurb, almost a quarter of the park and the bit we would have liked most
Fast Passes didn’t work out for us, very frustrating trying to sort them
Ratatouille was not working for most of the day
Queues for major rides were 45 minutes plus, I felt shepherded and conned.
There seemed to be queues for characters too, less/none of them wandering around freely like when I went to DLP in my youth
I get that August was a bad choice, and we did have a fun day overall, but my honest verdict was disappointed. We do like theme parks.

Drogo, it was run down apparently but has had a huge face lift for its birthday.

Re price our annual pass cost 200 each, off sites hotel (free shuttle) was on average 90£ per night and was part of the experience as we loved it at the hotel too and the delicious French baguettes and food from supermarket, kettle in room (many on site hotels don't even give you a fridge or kettle).

With annual pass you also get a separate entrance to by pass queuing hotel guests at early magic time which can be huge, you also get small % off food, drinks, souvenirs.

The counter service restaurants are well priced and yiu can splash out on character dining if yiu want.

Most people on the Disney face book sites agree meal plans etc can be v expensive and restrictive too.

I'd always check black out dates and costs of annual pass before buying any package

Off site but partner hotels are divided into 2 sides. One side is explorers and the Vienna Castle the other which is in the town and huge supermarket, train station etc, all are still very close to the Disney park. They were all built for the park.

I'm not sure we spent 3800 or close to that on any of our four trips this year!

We drove and used tesco vouchers for part payment for tunnel.

Save the money and go to Florida, it feels considerably more immersive than DLP.

DLP is good, but a bit small compared to the US parks. If it's your first experience of a Disney theme park you'll like it (provided you have a reasonable tolerance and expectation of queues, prices etc).

Haven’t been to the Paris one but as one of the most cynical people in the world who only went to DisneyWorld Florida to hate it and the saps who spent all that money going there I absolutely loved it and am going back again this year for a longer holiday and I cannot wait.

I was dreading it, didn’t think it was my bag at all but it was honestly great. So much more to do than a theme park. I’d say go to some shows and see the parade rather than just going for the rides. Queues for rides can be huge but you can use your fast pass and they really go down quicker later in the day. Take your own food so you’re not wasting time queuing or having to be at a restaurant at a particular time. Avoid the merch stalls. You don’t have to buy all the crap. We went for a day, took our own food and only bought ice creams and drinks. Didn’t feel ripped off.

I was very skeptical about Euro Disney but have been a few times and really enjoyed it. Personally I liked the convenience of staying on site, whilst it was more expensive there was no stress about train times etc. Also it meant Grandma could head back to the hotel if tired and we didn't all feel like we had to leave. If travelling with young children I would recommend Sequoia Lodge too, it's about the same distance from the park as the New York, but a bit more relaxed, with a good pool.

We actually went to Florida this year and I was very surprised at how similar the Disney parks where to the Euro ones, made me appreciate Euro Disney even more.

@Drogosnextwife

How long ago were you fifteen though?!

Do you think a 10 year old boy would enjoy? And those saying Effling... would you say that or Disney? TIA

Save the money and go to Florida, it feels considerably more immersive than DLP.

Good point. You get more for your money in Florida.

I took my mum and 2 boys and we really enjoyed it. I did a fair bit of research to determine the best time of year to go and joined a couple of fb groups which was so helpful in terms of help with the fast past system.

If you've never been to Disney before it's lovely, but if you've been to Florida, the 'downgrade' makes it a little disappointing!

My kids were completely underwhelmed by both Paris and Florida. They didn’t enjoy it. IMO the only park worth going to is universal

I took two of my D.C. a couple of years ago, even though I really didn't want to. I'd been a few times when it first opened, and was feeling a bit grumpy about it to be honest. I'm not into Disney or theme park rides BUT I had a great time. I'd got used to Alton Towers and Lego Land but it was a much much better experience than a UK theme park. The only downside was the overpriced food. And yes, it is totally overpriced. Even my sugar freak DC ended up craving vegetables.

I couldn't face a week in Florida, there are many more places I'd rather spend my money going, but DD and I will probably go back to Disneyland Paris fur a couple of days next summer. I might actually look forward to it this time

If your kids are young enough to go outside of school holidays then it’s a short journey, not too expensive and not too busy (food is awful though and many staff are rude).

If they’re a bit older, I reckon you’re better off waiting and saving for Florida

If you will be able to go save your money and do Florida instead as it has both of the parks you get in Paris plus another two and two water parks and you have universal as well.

If not dlp is ok, it doesn't quite have the Disney magic of the US, try and go out of season and say in one of their hotels. The Eurostar is worth doing if you can get a good price. But Efteling is a far nice theme park with better rides.

With a 10 year old boy, probably both. But I'd say efteling to catch that last innocence of youth in the fairy tale wood. . Plenty of exciting rides and little play areas 10 year old would enjoy.

Lego land in UK is fun but it's not on any scale comparable to Disney or efteling at all. Both are far far superior.