Mini-trippy: Paris and DLP in 3 days!

[Guest]

Cast: Me, DH, DS(17)

Absent without leave: DBIL, DSIL, DNephews (12 and 8) and DNiece (PrincessEllen)

We've been to WDW 6 times, 4 times with the absentees. This is our first time in Paris, and we are approaching our DLP visit with some trepidation. We probably would not have visited except we were already spendiing a couple of days in Paris and it seemed rude not to go and welcome the ToT to Europe!

Monday 16th - getting to Paris

We had decided to take hand baggage only to travel light and avoid the carousel queues, and were alarmed to find that DS's little suitcase would not quite fit into the Jet2 hand-luggage size tester as it has sticky-out legs. The check in attendant hummed and ha-ed for a bit and let us through anyway, but be warned if you are planning to do the same.

The flight left Leeds Bradford on time and was uneventful. OK, so you have to pay for your food and drinks, but £3.50 for a chunky ploughmans sandwich was really not too bad. Coupled with a drink and a small tin of Pringles it was £6 which is positively cheap in comparison to Paris... but I'm telling you the plot!

On arrival we sailed past the baggage reclaim and made the short walk to the RER terminal. Buying tickets from the little green machine (you can select English instructions) we were on the train within a few minutes and headed for Paris Chatelet station. However, we had not realized that there was a rail strike and the train terminated at Gare du Nord and then went back the way we had come! So... we hopped off at the next station, waited half an hour for another train, were slightly alarmed by the presence of very young armed military on their way somewhere, and made it back to Gare du Nord at 11 pm - an hour after we first arrived there. Our only consolation was that several French people did the same.

From there it was two short tube rides to Gare du Lyon and the Terminus Lyon hotel, which sounds grim but isn't. The night manager was lovely and spoke very good English, and in a few moments we were in our room. I had selected our hotel from Tripadvisor as it was in the right location, of the right price and had many good reviews. The poor ones were all of the "room small", "lift very small", "noise from road" and "staff don't all speak English" variety, none of which we thought were good reasons for not going there, especially the latter!

Our room was small, but had two comfortable double beds with plenty of pillows, ample storage space including many coat hangers, a reasonably priced mini-bar (though we didn't use it), and a nicely refurbished bathroom with a fantastic shower.

The restaurant downstairs was still open, but we were tired and not all that hungry so we bought a pizza from a small takeaway and ate it in the room.

Tuesday 17th - a day in Paris, and rock and roll all night

After persuading DS to get up (he'd spent the weekend at Download and was short on sleep!) we had a continental breakfast in the little cafe style breakfast room. It was nothing special, but it was plentiful and good. The server spoke less English than I do French, so we conversed very well in Pidgin French, sign language and smiling!

It was a beautiful hot sunny day, so we walked across the river to the Batobus Riverboat station and bought a day ticket for 12 euros each (sorry can't make my keyboard do Euros!). This meant we could sail up the Seine all the way to the Eiffel Tower, seeing the sights along the way. There is no commentary on the Batobus, but we had a map so we knew what everything was.

It was almost 12 when we arrived at the Eiffel Tower which was too late, really. The queues were already huge, and we decided just to photograph the tower and move on to make the most of the day.

From there we walked to the Place d'Etoile, so called "Star" because 12 roads intersect there, with the Arc de Triomphe in the centre. You have to approach the centre via a subway from the end of the Champs Elysees. Adults are 9 euros, under 18s are free and 18-25 are about 4 euros, which is good value for a great view and a contribution towards the upkeep of the Tomb of the Unnamed Soldier. You are supposed to show ID for concessions, but we didn't need any for DS.

The view from here is fabulous - both into the distance and downwards. The Place d'Etoile is one huge and terrifying roundabout. There are no lane markings, no traffic signals and room for at least 8 lanes of traffic around it. Bicycles mix with trucks, there is surprisingly little hooting, no-one appears to have right of way and no-one got squished while we were watching. Unbelievable!

Toilet stop note: for those of you who like to know these things there is a very clean, attended and free public "toilette" at the top of the Champs Elysees.

After that we headed down the Champs Elysees, stopping at a small cafe for an alarmingly expensive and unspectacular sandwich and coffee, all the way to La Place de la Concorde. It's a pleasant if long walk, probably made more pleasant by the lovely sunny weather. Stopping to buy a slushy and water from a vendor (expensive!) we walked through the Tuileries gardens (very pleasant) up to the Louvre to see the glass pyramid. We already knew it was closed on Tuesdays, but we wanted to see it anyway.

From there we walked down the bank of the Seine to the Pont Neuf, onto L'Isle de la Cite and took a quick tour around Notre Dame. Notre Dame is free to enter except for access to the towers and one of the chapels. It is a spectacular piece of architecture, but we all preferred La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. The "tat" shops selling tacky Paris souvenirs detract from its splendour.

After that we walked through the Ile St Louis, looking at the little arty shops on the way, and then back to the hotel to rest our poor, poor feet for an hour and have a little snooze.

Before long it was time to put on the black and white face paint and silver platform boots (OK, not really) and head off for the Omnisports arena at Bercy, a short walk away from the hotel, to see KISS. I'm not a fan, really, but the only time they were playing in the UK was at Download. DH and I no longer do squalor, I fancied Paris and we all fancied DLP.

I have three things to say about the Omnisports:

1. The beer is insanely expensive
2. The venue is great - shorter than the MEN arena so you don't feel out of it at the back
3. The beer is absolutely heart-stoppingly expensive.

Kiss were fantastic - a great spectacle. I'd recommend it to anyone. We met up with some friends, giddy from their meet and greet with the band, had more expensive drinks and walked back to the hotel and collapsed.

Wednesday 18th - DLP

No lie in as we needed to be up and across the road to the RER station and away to DLP!

We bought our tickets self service at the green machine and then headed downstairs to the platform, a little anxious as the red line goes in several directions, and only one of them was the one we wanted! But we need not have worried: the board clearly stated the destination and in less than 40 minutes on a busy train we arrived at DLP.

Be warned, the signage is not great. We were half way to the car park before we decided that the finger post for the Santa Fe had been gesticulating in the general direction of the Disney Village, and the signs for the reception of the Santa Fe were only for car drivers. But we arrived, and went to our room in Monuments, which was OK. Very similar to a Travelodge, but with no kettle. But given that it worked out cheaper than staying at the Ibis in Val D'Europ we weren't complaining.

A quick change of clothes and we were out to the parks, starting with the Disney Studios Park.

To get into the park proper you have to walk through Studio 1 which is a large covered hallway - to one side is a counter service restaurant and to the other a large shop, all of which are behind facades of retro shops and palm trees. We tried to see it with Disney Virgin eyes and were impressed with the theming. Beyond it is a strange hybrid of WDW's MGM (it will always be MGM to me!) and Universal Studios because of the soundstages. It's a small park and easy to get around.

First stop: fastpasses for ToT as the wait time was 30 mins, and then straight over to RnR. I was disappointed by the lack of marbles door on entry - but maybe that makes the WDW one so much more special? (No-one ever knows what I mean by the marbles door. I'll get me coat...). The pre-show is shorter, and the prevalence of teenagers in black much greater, but the rest of the ride is much the same. We all wanted lunch and the rest room, but RnR was only a 5 minute wait so we had to ride it again just to be sure we liked it. We did.

After that it was time to use the fastpasses for ToT, and the regular wait was only 5 mins, so we did this twice in quick succession too. It's very similar to the WDW ToT, except that you back into the lift shaft and don't move forwards, but the ghostly appearances are just the same, and dare I say it, the ride is better. Plenty of air time and lots of screaming.

By this time we were really hungry and decided to eat at the counter service restaurant inside Studio 1. All I can say about the food here is that it is much more expensive, much smaller in quantity and much poorer quality than WDW. After lunch we went to Crush's coaster, which was temporarily out of action, and the tram tour which, after queuing and getting onto the tram, also became temporarily out of action :angry: so we gave up and went next door to the Disneyland Park.

Now the Disneyland Park is strange. It feels almost like MK, but not quite. I am convinced it's smaller than MK although the Brit's guide says it's bigger. I'm quite sure it takes ages to walk from Pirates to Buzz at WDW, but the equivalent walk from BTMRR to Buzz at DLP feels much shorter.

We headed for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril which we have re-named the Temple of Mild Concern as it wasn't very scary at all, and then Snow White as it was a walk on and we had missed it the last couple of times at WDW. I was more scared on this than on Indie! We then visited the Taniere du Dragon under tha castle. This is an animatronic dragon and not to be missed, although it would be quite alarming for little ones.

After that we tried to go to Discoveryland but were cut off by the parade (I can take or leave parades) and there wasn't any way round or across that we could see, which seemed un-Disney. We were forced to buy ice creams while we waited.

Finally, went to Space Mountain Mission 2 which was suspiciously similar to RnR, except it was much more violent and all our heads hurt afterwards. The Brit's Guide says this is one of the smoothest coasters you'll ride. I disagree. I'd rather ride Gwazi.

We all needed something safe and familar next, so we went on a sedate trip to Endor, but it turned out our Star Tours pilot was a reckless novice droid and we ended up fighting on the Death Star and almost crashing into a tanker.

Next stop Pirates. Now this is different. A few of the scenes are the same, but most are not. It makes an interesting change, but I am quite fond of the Jack Sparrow appearances at WDW, and there is no Davey Jones special effect.

Phantom Manor is also the same but different. The effects are newer and the graveyard scenes spookier with none of those screaming heads. There are no spiders either. As we were travelling up and down in our Doom Buggy, we decided that the one thing really missing from DLP is Spaceship Earth, which we all love for no adequate reason.

By this time we were almost comatose so we dragged our weary bodies to Planet Hollywood to use our Brits Guide voucher. And once again, the food was fairly terrible in comparison to the US version. A medium sized burger, no extra salad, and a small sad bowl of rapidly cooling thin fries. At least it only cost 12 euros instead of the 15 before discount. The service was good, though.

After a brief stroll around the Disney Village, which is as much Citywalk as Downtown Disney, we were all in bed by 11.

Thursday 19th

Up and out early as we had a breakfast reservation inside the park at the Chalet de la Marionette. After some deliberation about what to do with the bags we decide to stow them free of charge in the hotel and lock waterproofs (it was cloudy) and valuables in a park locker. However this was a bad plan. The lockers are not functioning, and in any case they look to be half the size of the WDW ones. There is guest storage outside the park, but it is 2.50 euros per item, and we had several items and no bag. So we carted the PSP and MP3 players etc. around with us all day. This is really not impressive. Surely in a European park where the weather can do anything, guests need to have somewhere to stow their stuff?

Anyway, the breakfast fare was adequate and plentiful, and we were soon ready to see the park. Or not. Hardly anything is open during EMH. We rode Pinnochio and then went to Mission Space again, which we rode out of desperation and because we have never learned to give the painful rides a miss! Buzz Lightyear was next, and then it was time for BTMRR to open. And this was the ride I've been waiting for. Genuinely thrilling and fast and not at all painful.

From here we went back next door to Crush's coaster. I would normally not wait for 45 minutes for anything, but as this is a visit unlikely to be repeated we did queue and it was worth the wait. It's dark and fast but smooth and the special effects are excellent.

ToT had long queues so we got fast passes and escaped from the rain in Cinemagique while we waited. This was surprisingly enjoyable and amusing. We also had time for the Backlot tour which was a walk on (this would benefit from a museum exit like the one at MGM) and another spin with Steven Tyler before our final drops on ToT. By the time our fastpass opened the queues were 5 minutes so we rode it twice. This time we had sinister attendants which really makes the experience complete!

We returned to the Disneyland Park for lunch - half a chicken (quite tasty) and more sad fries at Chalet du Marionette - and became over excited at seeing a Dole sign at one of the little refreshments huts - only to find it was closed and probably didn't do the whips anyway

And then we had time for another go on BTMRR, the obligatory trip on IASW (truly alarming, although I would buy a small nodding goat if they sold them) and then some rather good pastries from a shop on Main Street, before we headed back to collect our luggage and caught the TGV to the airport.

The TGV is quite unusual. You buy a ticket for a specific train at the desk at the back of the station and then you have to validate the ticket by feeding it into a little yellow machine before going onto the platform. Also the TGV station is a short shuttle train (a bit like the MCO monorail) ride away from terminal 3 where Jet2 fly to, so the coach might have been more convenient.

The End.

Epilogue

An enjoyable if exhausting time was had by all. Highs and lows of the DLP experience:

Highs

BTMRR

ToT

Crush's Coaster

Taniere du Dragon

Getting a Disney fix

A hot and sunny Wednesday

Lows

The absence of our usual companions - would we have liked the parks more if they had been there?

Expensive food

Poor quality food

Unpleasant toilets (no attendants, no paper and smelly even first thing in the morning)

No lockers

Rain on Thursday

Disney fix was actually falling off Disney wagon and now we are really wanting to book another WDW trip.

And the very worst bit... one of the full head characters (Baloo, perhaps) was talking to one of the CMs on a float as it was going up Main Street. You'd never see a character out of character at WDW, would you?

So..would we go again? Probably not, but it was a good experience on the whole.

Thanks for reading, if you are still awake!

[Bondy007]

We've found that at DLP people (AKA: French/Germans... etc...) don't like to stand in line and wait their turn...
The park despite what facts and figures say, has to be much smaller that MK. It doesn't feel like it takes 5 minutes to get around it.
But, that said it is alright for a wuick Disney fix if you aren't sure when your next REAL fix will be...

[Gill H]

Thanks edie, we have just got back from our holiday and will need to do a DLP trippie soon too!

[Guest]

Thanks for the report, we've been toying with the idea of a quick Disney fix at DLP ... (still not sure)

I bet Kiss were good !

[Guest]

Originally Posted by emilysdad

Thanks for the report, we've been toying with the idea of a quick Disney fix at DLP ... (still not sure)

I bet Kiss were good !

See more...

KISS were amazing! A great show even if you're not really a fan.

I don't know whether to recommend DLP or not. It is good, and the rides are great, but it is very, very expensive. I'm sure 4 or 5 days at DLP would set you back as much as a fortnight in Florida, and in Florida you also have Universal, SeaWorld and Busch Gardens.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Bondy007

We've found that at DLP people (AKA: French/Germans... etc...) don't like to stand in line and wait their turn...
The park despite what facts and figures say, has to be much smaller that MK. It doesn't feel like it takes 5 minutes to get around it.
But, that said it is alright for a wuick Disney fix if you aren't sure when your next REAL fix will be...

See more...

We didn't have too much of a problem with people pushing in - less than I expected and considerably less than at Port Aventura. There was one episode when we were on a packed bus from the hotel with our cases and some silly women tried to get on before we got off (how can people be so dense? ) and a young man barged past us at RnR almost falling over me, but apart from that relatively civilized.

[Guest]

thanks so much for sharing... I personally love DLP and cant wait for our return in Oct ( I do agree it is very expensive though)
KISS must have been brilliant... I can imagine the atmosphere
We are going to try the train from Terminal 2 this year... thats the only thing worrying me
thanks again...I really enjoyed reading your trippie
Elaine

[Guest]

Originally Posted by lainey5565

thanks so much for sharing... I personally love DLP and cant wait for our return in Oct ( I do agree it is very expensive though)
KISS must have been brilliant... I can imagine the atmosphere
We are going to try the train from Terminal 2 this year... thats the only thing worrying me
thanks again...I really enjoyed reading your trippie
Elaine

See more...

Thanks.

If you are going to use the TGV just make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get to the station. It's about 5 mins brisk walking from Terminal 3, then another 5 on the shuttle to the TGV terminal, and another couple of minutes to the TGV platform. I don't know where you get the tickets from though as we bought ours from DLP.

[Peter H]

You can buy tickets online but they have to be for a specific train. Otherwise you have to queue up (at the right-hand queue, not the left-hand one - guess which queue we spent 20 minutes in before being told it was the wrong one ...)

Next time I'd go Eurostar for sure. Getting out of CDG was not fun.

[disney owl]

thanks for sharing