Littlebit's Trip to Disneyland Paris via her dad

[LITTLEBIT]

Well here is the trip report from my Dad when he was able to take a one day trip to Disneyland Paris. He was in Paris for the weekend and skipped over to DLP for a few hours before he had to head back to Germany. My dad has been to DL several times and is a Resident AP to WDW with 100 trips under his belt but he loved it. Well I'll let him tell you.

I am heading to Disneyland Paris today. I know that the subway goes all the way but it’s about 20 miles or so outside Paris and the subway goes there but you have to get a different ticket. Its early Sunday morning so no one is in line at the information booth. I spoke to the lady and she gave me directions and a ticket for RER “A” subway for 7.00€ one way. I was told it should take about 40 – 45 minutes to get to Disney. She was right; I arrived in Disneyland at 9:30 AM. It wasn’t more than 200 feet from the subway to the park entrance.

I saw a big beautiful building and the ticket booths were underneath it. I didn’t realize at the time, that building is the Disneyland Hotel. You come out of the hotel and you are at the entrance to the park. That sure would be nice.

I got a discount coupon at the hotel and the ticket cost 51€ ($75.00) here to get in. It is the same ticket you would get in Disney World; I got a Daisy Duck ticket. I walked on in to the park and came to Main Street. There is some difference to the square, but very much like Disney World. There are several restaurants along Main Street and on the square. (I would like to see more affordable sit down restaurants like this in Disney World). The shops on Main Street are open, but the park won’t open until 10:00 AM. I have about 15 minutes to wait so I thought I’d get in line to go towards Frontierland towards the Phantom Manor. After a few minutes the parks were opened and most of the line rushed to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I went to the right to Phantom Manor and was in the first group to ride the ride. As we walked up the entrance to get into the “stretching room” we walked by the pictures that change shapes. In Disney World you are already in the Doom Buggy when you go by the same pictures on the wall. The stretching room does the same, but the photos on the wall that unroll are different. The narrator was speaking French, but since I’ve been to Disney World so many times I knew what was being said. We then got into out buggy for the ride and it is a lot like Florida, but the difference is that this one, to me, is more of zombie than ghosts. The fortune teller was there and one verse was in English then her next verse was in French. At the end you still get a ghost to take home with you. (I prefer Disney World Haunted Mansion.) When you leave the Phantom Manor you can go out the exit or go through the grave yard to see some grave markers and crypts.

Since the BTMRR is right next door, now is a good time to ride it. By the time I get there, the wait time is 70 minutes. Thank goodness the have “Fast Pass” also. There is a 10 minute wait just to get the Fast Pass. It says 11:05 AM but by the time I got the pass, it was 11:15AM on the ticket. Since I have a few minutes, and there is a popcorn machine right next to me, I have some with a Diet Coke. To my surprise, the popcorn is kettle corn. I like kettle corn, but I was all set for regular butter corn. Also here in Europe there is no Diet Coke, there is only Coke Light. It taste like regular Coke, but I think they use artificial sugar so it is diet, but taste way too sweet.

To kill a little time until I can get on the BTMRR, I walked around Frontierland and checked out a couple of different restaurants. There was a good looking BBQ place but it isn’t open until 11:30 AM. Just next to the BBQ is a play park named Pocahontas Indiana Village. Several kids are playing there, looks like something you might see back in the old western days. While I was there I saw the big paddle boat steaming up the water. I went to the riverside and watched the boat go by. If I couldn’t read the name on the side of it I would think it was the one in Florida.

I looked in a couple of shops to see how I can spend my money. One of the shops came out right by the entrance of the Frontierland. I didn’t notice this when I came in but this is like the fort on Tom Sawyers island. There are several stairway and you go across the entrance and look down on Frontierland. It is a little bigger that Tom Sawyers place, and real nice.

It’s time to get in line for Big Thunder, surprisingly it isn’t too long. It takes me about 10 – 15 to get to board. The train is the same and so is the loading. As we take off I noticed that the ride starts out in the dark for a minute or so then comes out ready to go up the mountain. The ride takes off but as we continue through the turns I noticed that this ride is a little faster and longer that Disney World. By the time we get back to the station, I think we went about half again as far on this ride that the other. It’s a great ride!

All this walking makes me hungry. The pizza shop is here in Frontierland so now is a good time to stop and have lunch. I ordered the deluxe pizza which included about 6 pieces of some kind of meat and a couple of black olives. The combo includes a drink and a desert; Tiramisu. The pizza was nice size, but I only ate about half of it and Tiramisu has a coffee flavor cake. I ate the pudding on top but left the rest of the desert.

Time to head towards Adventure Isle, and see The Pirates of the Caribbean. On the way I went by what I guess is the Swiss Family Robinson tree house. I stopped to look, but like the one in Florida it is closed for remodeling. There is only a 15 minute wait, so it’s not worth getting a Fast Pass. The line moved right along, and I had to stop the line a couple of time just to take some pictures. It’s a lot like “our” Disney in Florida until you get to the loading station. With all the palm trees there it looks more like an outdoor eatery that a loading station. I climbed into the boat and just as we left the dock, I noticed on the right side are people dinning right next to the water. This is like inside the Mexico pavilion in the World Showcase. It is the Blue Lagoon Restaurant. I was considering eating there and watching the boats roll by, but it starts at 25.00€ which is about $37.00 US. Anyways, the Pirate ride had a lot of the same scenery as the original, but I never saw Jack Sparrow at all. It kind of started out with the guys in jail trying to entice the dog over with a bone. There were a few things different but mostly the same as the old Pirates of the Caribbean.

On the Island there are several caverns that run into each other and like on Tom Sawyers Island, they go in the dark and come out at the top to walk across the suspension bridge. This was fun, but after a few minutes I was ready to go do the Indiana Jones ride. As I was walking around the area I noticed that there is a waterway which was low on water and there was placed there was no water at all. The big thing I noticed was the trash in the water and around the park. It’s not as clean as Florida or California. Time for another Fast Pass, so I get my ticket but within a few minutes I saw the wait time went from 30 to 20 minutes. So I thought I’d do the 20 minute line and if I liked the ride I’d go back when my Fast Pass ticket was ready. Since Florida doesn’t have an actual ride, this is totally new for me. It looks like a jungle as you walk through the line and has a camp site where I was looking for Indiana Jones. The line was moving real good for a few minutes then it came to a stop. After about 10 minutes they made an announcement, but since I don’t understand the French language I have no idea what they are saying. A few of the people got out of line and left the ride. I decided to stay for a while and see what happens. A few minutes later they made another announcement and this time everyone started to leave. I’m not sure what they said but I’m bet it’s something like “the ride is closed”. When I finally get back out I see they have the ride roped off and no one is allowed close to it. I never heard what happened but of course I would understand if someone did say what happened.

That is all I wanted to do on this side of the park, so I’ll head over towards the Castle. The outside is a little different; it looks like the Castle is carved out of the side of a hill or mountain. I liked that when I got inside the Castle there are staircase that goes up to a balcony. The place plays out the Fairy Tales of Cinderella with stain glass and displays. With the sun coming in, they were beautiful. You can go all the way around the upstairs then I went outside to see the rest of the park from this view. I can see It’s A Small World from here.

As I got close to the ride I can see the boats comes outside the building just like it does in California. There is a pretty good line here, but I think it shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes. Surprisingly, I was close. It didn’t take long and I was in the boat with that darn song in my head already. There are several different dolls and characters here that I haven’t seen before. It’s nice to see something different this time. It takes about the same amount of time to see this, maybe a minute or two more.

Leaving this ride I’m close to Discoveryland, so I’ll head in that direction. It’s getting close to time that I have to leave to catch my subway ride back into Paris and get to the train station, so I better get moving or I’ll miss the rest of Disneyland Paris. It’s a sunny warm day and the park is getting very busy.

I’d like to do Buzz Lightyear, but it’s a 50 minute wait, Autopia is 70 minutes and Space Mountain is 45 minute wait. I could get a Fast Pass but I can’t use it until 7:00 PM, so I’ll just take some pictures and finish my shopping. There is a food court that is neat, it’s the Videopolis. It has a stage and a movie screen. I can only assume they have plays and movies or cartoon while you eat lunch and dinner.

I got some photos of Space Mountain as the ride is going up the telescope but I wasn’t able to get any pictures inside. With time getting short I’ll just get some pictures of the area and maybe come back again sometime. I have shopping to do so I’ll head to the Emporium and see what I can find. I started at Casey’s Hot Dog stand and headed towards the front gate. I have a couple of minutes so I think I’ll take the train around the park and get more pictures. As I went up the stairs I see the line and it wraps around several times before getting close to the front. They assign your seating on the train which is taking a longer time that I have so I back out of the line and finish my shopping. There are several shops behind Main Street; one is a book store that I found interesting. I found a few post cards and some items I wanted to get so after purchasing my presents I’m heading out to the front gate.

I see the Walt Disney Studio Park as I leave and it’s only a couple hundred feet from the front gate. I think it’s like Disney MGM or now the Hollywood Studios.


After this he jumped back on the subway and headed back to Paris. He had a great time and took a ton of pictures. Now I just need to go.

[Soarin08]

Loved reading this. I'm hoping to work there someday after I get more French under my belt, but for now, visiting would be amazing. I have a very dear friend from my last college program who works over there and so that's another motivator to get me to visit. I'd love to see some photos! I think their castle is the most beautiful of all the parks.

[cy1229]

Sounds like he had a good time. It's good to know the subway station is so close. If ever we are in Paris (hah yeah right) we'll know it's relatively easy to get there. Thanks for passing the info on!

Soarin~ My older daughter is taking French in high school. That should at least help us order food and find a rest room.

If we ever hit the lottery, a trip to all the Disney parks will be on our agenda.

[Amy]

He is right, the subway station is right at the park entrance. It is a nice surprise!
Soarin', I haven't forgotten about you and getting some DLP photos up in my photo trip report, I just haven't taken the time to do it I should have a little more time in a few weeks ~ hopefully!!

[Soarin08]

He is right, the subway station is right at the park entrance. It is a nice surprise!
Soarin', I haven't forgotten about you and getting some DLP photos up in my photo trip report, I just haven't taken the time to do it I should have a little more time in a few weeks ~ hopefully!!

Eh, you've been busy, don't worry about it.