Talk to me about Eurodisney

[SybilBeddows]

MIL is taking us all in the spring.
I am aware we are very lucky. But it is not the kind of holiday we usually have.
What is it going to be like? What do we need to know?

thanks.

Try a search. There have been hundreds of threads on DisneylandParis (not been Eurodisney for many years).

How old are your dc? Are you staying on-site?

I will say upfront that we hated it, and we love Disneyworld Florida. We seem to be in a minority tho and most of MN seem to rave about it. Food is horribly expensive. We were told that before we left but not how much. A bog-standard meal for 2 adults plus a 4 yo, mains and puds with non alcoholic drinks was ?70- 80 (and we don't eat meat either).

People push in everywhere. From the blatant 'joining family at the front of the queue', to sliding in from the side. The staff turn a blind eye to it. One tip is they don't like it when you do it back . People also smoke everywhere, and not just in the designated areas. That includes in the indoor ride queues. There were queues for the toilets all day. Apparently there are 15 sets of ladies toilets in the park but presumably we didn't find them.

The parades are very good but you have to queue early to get a good spot (and be aware that as soon as it starts more people will magically appear in front of you/ next to you and expect you to move up). The Tarzan show was fantastic. Lots of high ropes and gymnastics. If you are on the end of an aisle your children might be gathered up by the apes to play instruments towards the end of the show.

When we were there they didn't open the queues or the FastPass for the Runaway Train until about 30 mins after the park opened. It was quicker to go straight on because the queue for the FP was horrendous.

We were also shocked by how few of the staff spoke English, and how miserable a lot of them were.

You will get a completely different response from other people on here, but I wish someone had told us straight before we went because we were bitterly disappointed, expecting it to be like DW. It wasn't.

We went at the end of July and didn't have the same experience as Tallulah at all. The children (6 and 4) absolutely loved it and as they were so happy we were all happy! Yes the food is expensive for nothing very special but we did have decent meals in the Rainforest Cafe and King Ludwig's Castle. We stayed in the Disneyland Hotel (the pink castle one) which was fab. Lots of characters wander about the hotel so you don't have to join the queues in the park to meet them. Make the most of the fast passes and magic hours, if you are staying at a Disney Hotel. Keep an eye on times for all the performances - my dds loved the shows probably more than the rides. The favourite rides were Peter Pan for dd1 and Dumbo for dd2. Just take it for what it is and have fun!

Meant to say that we didn't experience the pushing in, or the smoking on inside rides and that any staff we had to deal with were perfectly pleasant.

We went towards the end of August. DC (4&7) loved it - DH & I didn't cos we're obviously getting too old for all the inevitable queueing for a short theme park ride. WE didn't evidence that much pushing in nor smoking though. Definitely worth staying in a Disney hotel for the free magic hours - well worth it. We were complete wimps and basically did the rides from 8 - noon and then decamped to the nearby shopping outlet for a more leisurely lunch and to escape the crowds. We then had a siesta and then went out again in the evening refreshed for dinner, a few more rides, the evening parades and the fireworks. We only got organised on the final day - you need to make the most of the free magic hours although it was only 7 rides (and not all of them). Then you need to start queuing for say a FastPass ticket before the masses got in and then run to queue for the first ride before going for your first FastPass slot ride. In reality, the park was quite heaving by 9.30am although technically, the gates don't open to the public before 10pm. (I did see lots of people seemingly entering the park under the ropes before way before 10pm - don't think that their security can cope!) Food is a complete ripoff within the resort but then they have a captive audience - more so than you might expect so be warned!

WHy would you be shocked that a lot of the staff didn't speak English? You were in France after all.

We went at Easter a few years ag abd it was freezing - take cold weater clothing.

Remind you children to go to the look every time you pass then as they are few and far between dd sh was then 6 ended up having an accident inthe queue

Food in the park is expensive and very little choice. If you are staying in a Disney hotel then book breakfast in the park and you can make up a packed lunch for later (they do bread rolls, cheese, ham etc)

If you have a dd buy and take your own princess outfit. All the girls were wearing them in the park and hotel and they are twice the price over there - the only difference was they seemed to have crinoline hoops on.

I completely agree with you tallulah!

we went 3 years ago when dd2 was 3.5 and dd1 was 8. Food was incredibly expensive and dire in the restaurants. There were very few vegetables. But..it was 4 days after all. We went in the Hotel New York.. pool a bit cold but breakfast (included) great and we made rolls from cheese, ham, etc for lunch. Important to me was not having a scrum at breakfast (which it never was) / a scrum to get on coaches to take us to park, etc etc..and we cd walk from HNY (on site)..I've heard that scrums exists in some of the other hotels. We did experience some French mothers being especially rude..pushing in..discourteously..but the staff at the hotel were fab (I welcomed the fact that thye didn't speak English and encouraged kids to say goodmorning, thankyou, etc in French)...We were given fast passes byt he hotel (think some of the hotels include this) and they worked well. PeterPan ride was a hit...all the ground staff stayed in character and were very happy and smiley and I found myself smiling back..(despite it being not the sort of hol we would have gone on..paid for by my mum)..

We stopped last month just for a day on the way back from a week in the South of France, it was manic and we were all exhausted at the end of the day but it was so worth it, our boys aged 3 and 9 loved it!

It was busy but probably not as busy as it would have been in the height of Summer, the longest we queued was an hour for Thunder Mountain and then after that 20 mins max for rides like Dumbo and Pirates of the Caribbean.

We already had planned where to eat from a website that showed you menus and prices and went for the snack food hot dog and chips option to keep costs down rather a table service.

I didnt see any pushing in or smoking either although I had read before pushing in could be a problem. Everything seemed well organised.

Didn't stay in the disney hotels either as it was cheaper to book somewhere close as we had our own car.

Hi Sybil,
There have indeed been quite a few threads about Disneyland Paris ( it has not been called EuroDisney for many years now ) if you scroll through as suggested.
You cannot really go by other people's experiences as this can depend on many factors - the time of year ( seasons vary in DLP so you don't see the same shows etc all year round ), what kind of weather people had, and how busy the parks were.

You have not given your dates, so I don't know if you are going in the Easter holidays, when resort will be very crowded. Weekdays in term time are much less busy, so shorter queue lines for rides / attractions, but there may be more ride closures for maintenance/ refurb at these times, and fewer show times.
Electrical parades and fireworks are only on at certain peak times of the year, so don't expect to see those at quieter times, and the parks will close earlier as well.

I have been going there regularly for 19 years since it opened in 1992, when our boys were young, and they loved it. They still go when they can, even though they are now 20 and 25. I still go as often as I can afford!
We have also been to WDW Florida 5 times, but still enjoy the atmosphere and compact size of DLP for a few days. You do need at least 2 weeks in Florida to see all the theme parks and waterparks there, so it is a very different type of holiday.

I have answered quite a lot of questions in detail on Mumsnet in the past about DLP, so have a look for those using the search box as suggested, or join us on the Trip Advisor Disneyland Paris/ Marne La Vallee forums where we will be happy to answer any questions you may have to make your trip more successful.
Fortunately you have plenty of time for trip planning. Next year is the 20th Anniversary, and celebrations will begin in April.

You can find me and other DLP fans on this link. You will be very welcome.

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowForum-g2079053-i21935-Disneyland_Paris_Marne_la_Vallee_Seine_et_Marne_Ile_de_France.html

There are lists of Top Questions on both the forum pages - they are not the same, so look at both lists. They should give you a starting point, along with previous topic threads ,then please feel free to ask your own questions if you join TA.

We have a running thread for Prices of merchandise etc to help with budgeting spending money, and you can see menus and food prices on this website which is very good.

www.dlrpmagic.com/planning/

We also have a lot of Trip Reports written by posters following their holidays in DLP, which can be very helpful, so worth reading through some of those with similar aged kids to your own. many include some good tips and advice.

See the sticky at the top of the Topics list for the TRs.

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowForum-g226865-i2224-Marne_la_Vallee_Seine_et_Marne_Ile_de_France.html

Hope to meet you on our forum - it is very friendly.

Myron's advice is good. We have been three times and didn't experience smoking/bad behaviour other than kids pushing in to get autographs.

Twankie - if yopu were given VIP fastpasses at the Hotel New York then you must have been in an Empire State room. These are only given to guests staying here, in Castle Club rooms in the Disneyland Hotel, and in suites in the Sequoia Lodge, Newport Bay, New York and DLH.
Guests staying in standard rooms in the DLH are given one Fastpass ticket per day for one ride. The VIP FPs can be used any time all day for rides that have this facility, so they are worth having at busy times of the year.

I was there for the beginning of Halloween Festival 2nd - 5th October, and most rides were only 5 mins or less. The most popular ones were no more than 30 mins at the busiest time of the day.

So it does depend very much on the dates that you go.
Food prices - wise, I don't find DLP any more expensive than our own theme parks like Thorpe Park, Alton Towers etc, but the buffets are far better. Plenty of choices of different foods ( all you can eat ) including salads and vegetables, pastas, meats, fish dishes, seafood, soups, desserts, cheese & biscuits, and a separate section with foods that most kids like.

With a good breakfast in the hotel, and a buffet for dinner, you don't need lunch in the parks as well which saves time for rides.

P.S. The Tarzan Show that Tallulah mentions is very good, but was only on for the summer season, so has finished.
This theatre in Frontierland will now be used for Mickeys Winter Wonderland ice skating show during Christmas / New Year season.

That's why it is not really helpful going by previous reviews and experiences regarding shows and parades. You need to know what will be on when YOU are going, which you can see on the park programme about a week ahead. It is currently showing Halloween Festival programmes.

news.disneylandparis.co.uk/UK/EN/Neutral/Images/ShowsAndParades.pdf

Magnify to 100% to read it!