DLP Some points from a recent trip

[Guest]

Arrived home from DLP at 10:30 last night. A superb time was had by all especially DD1 & DD2 (6 and 18 months respectively). Rather than a full blown report I thought I’d detail a few points below, covering the good and not so good and some points that have been debated recently!

• The Good
o Customer Service. Disney delivered everything they said they would that I detailed in an earlier post. We were upgraded on arrival to the Admiral’s floor and given a letter that entitled us to breakfast at the Captain’s Quarters. VIP Fastpasses were waiting for us at City Hall. The only thing they missed were the VIP viewing passes for the parade, but this didn’t cause us a problem.

o Queues – Despite our fears of going over the Easter period both parks were quiet. Obviously the FP helped but even non FP rides we never q’d more than 30 minutes. And none of the big rides ever had Qs of more than 60 mins, except for Easter Monday when the parks went ballistic, there was even a 45 minute Q for Alice’s maze!

o Weather – Despite rain being forecast, we only had sporadic downpours. Was overcast most of the time but never really cold.

o The New Generation Stage Show (in front of the Castle) – This was superb, one of the best shows we’ve seen.

o Free half board vouchers – Made excellent use of these. They did appear better value to use them as their cash equivalent rather than the set meals, unless you’re happy with burgers the entire holiday!

o Parade – As usual was very good, now has some new generation characters added and we find the best place to watch is at the end of the arcade where it finishes, always easy to get a spot!

• The Bad
o Customer Service – Not the actual cast member themselves, but the staffing levels. It looks like staff levels have been pared right down, this left Walt’s short staffed on the Sunday, and despite having a table booked for 12, we didn’t start eating until 1:00pm! Also the princess stage, when we’ve been before there were always two signing books, this time there was only ever one!

o The Room – Not bad particularly, but it was in need of a bit of a refurb, with the décor looking tired!

o Exchange rate and prices – Obviously the exchange rate can’t be helped, but you were looking at 70 euros for a princess dress!
o Nothing special done for Easter

o Recycling – From what we could see DLP do not recycle at all!


• Recently debated
o Smoking in Qs. Never had a problem with this previously but after recent debates I made a specific point to look out for it. I can honestly I didn’t see one person smoking in a Q! People were smoking elsewhere in the parks rather than designated areas, but not so much that it caused a problem, no different from what you’d experience in an English high street.

o Characters and Pushing – Yes there was the usual scrum in the park, I guess this is just a European thing. However some characters (pleases step forward Jack Sparrow) have started to refuse signatures for people who push too much, especially adults. However there are ways to avoid any of this. Book a character b/fast or dinner. Then you can concentrate on who you don’t get there. Take advantage of the character meet and greets at the hotel.

• DLP vs. WDW (Haven’t been to WDW for 6 years, so this may not be entirely accurate)
o For DLP

o The eclectic mix of languages and accent that hits you when you first enter the park. This gives me a real sense of the world coming together to enjoy themselves.

o The Magic Kingdom at DLP is definitely prettier!

o Travel Time – Left home at 7:30 and was in the park by 2:00pm

o Being able to walk between parks and hotels

o Breakfast included

o Experiencing different cultures

o The parade – You don’t have to stake out a place about 3hrs before the parade starts

o For WDW

o The weather

o Bigger parks

o Customer Service – Not really a problem in DLP but you just can’t beat the yanks

o Sense of Wonder/Excitement – Nothing beats arriving at the Magic Kingdom on the ferry

o The water parks

o Disney Village – Much prefer the Florida version, DLP never seems as relaxed!

• Unexplained Disney
o As someone who will ride anything I can’t get my head round this one. DD1 (6 yrs old) is now tall enough for all the big rides. But I can’t explain why she loved the ToT so much that we’d keep running round to ride again, but then refused BTM after one ride because parts of it were too dark!

All in all we had a great time. I am now in work trying to recover. DLP is an excellent way to get your Disney fix, especially when like me this year time is limited and I will continue to recommend DLP to anyone who will listen!

[squishy]

Thanks for your comments - which hotel were you in?

[Guest]

We were in the Newport Bay. It was a good hotel and the staff were very efficient. Just felt the decor in the rooms was a bit tired, wallpaper peeling at the corners etc. Nothing major that would spoil the stay though. However had we not got the invite for b/fast in the Captains Quarters it may have been a different view. Just seeing the Q's for breakfast was scary, without the thought of having to join them!

[wickesy]

Originally Posted by Nazeing 97

• Recently debated
o Smoking in Qs. Never had a problem with this previously but after recent debates I made a specific point to look out for it. I can honestly I didn’t see one person smoking in a Q! People were smoking elsewhere in the parks rather than designated areas, but not so much that it caused a problem, no different from what you’d experience in an English high street.

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This was something that surprised me as well when we were there a couple of weeks ago - I had expected to see a lot of smokers around the park but I don't think I saw anybody smoking at all.

[Katie C]

Glad you hada good time!

[JamelUK]

Thanks for the comment wrt smoking.

As I have always said, some people seem to amke a real issue about something that only exists if you spend every waking minute looking for it.

Not sure if it is fair to do a comparison between DLP and WDW - they are two completely different resorts aimed at different markets with different approaches.

People never compared Disney Tokyo Sea with WDW, so why compare DLP?

Good report though Nazeing.

Im going to move this over to Trip Reports as its better placed there.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by JamelUK

Thanks for the comment wrt smoking.

As I have always said, some people seem to amke a real issue about something that only exists if you spend every waking minute looking for it.

Not sure if it is fair to do a comparison between DLP and WDW - they are two completely different resorts aimed at different markets with different approaches.

People never compared Disney Tokyo Sea with WDW, so why compare DLP?

Good report though Nazeing.

Im going to move this over to Trip Reports as its better placed there.

See more...

Thanks for you comments,

with the smoking I only conciously saw two people smoking and the were both memorable for different reasons. One was a heavily pregnant woman smoking outside Caseys, the second and most bizarre was a chap outside the station who was busking by making out he was a statue, and very good he was too except for the time we saw him with a ciggie in his hand. But after all the recent debate I did conciously look for smoking in Qs and as far as we were concerned it was non existent. We also spoke to a family on the train on the way home about all things DLP and smoking never came up once. I'm not saying there was no smoking in the park as I'm sure there was, but it wasn't enough to cause us any problems or concerns or even take notice!

With the comparisons I'm in complete agreement that you shouldn't compare, but after all the DLP bashing that's gone on recently by using WDW as a comparioson I thought I would try and highlight that both have their good points. I certainly don't hold the view that DLP isn't really Disney, because 1 - How can you tell a 6 yrd old that she hasn't been to the real Disney. The smiles in the photo's prove she has been to Disney! and 2 - If you follow that argument to it's logical conclusion then the only real Disney would be the one in California as that was the original!

The thing that did cause me slight worry for DLP (although it benefitted us!) were the crowd levels. As it was Easter weekend I really expected the parks to be rammed, but apart from Easter Monday the crowd levels were pleasant with alot of rides being walk ons.

Would I go again, yes certainly would, in fact already planning the next trip for a couple of years time just before youngest daughter starts school and the WDW a couple of years later just before oldest daugheter starts secondary school. Although if I have my way we will do WDW first simply because I haven't been since 2001.

To anyone due to go or thinking about booking DLP, do it now it's worth every penny especially when you see your kids faces light up with those huge big smiles!

[stace&tink]

Hi nazing97, I really enjoyed reading your comments, I was in DLP in Feb and found I compared almost everything to WDW, as have you.
WDW for me is far more magical, and I do love the Yanks haha. Tbh dont think I'll be returning to DLP anytime soon even though we did have a good time.
Trip reports are linked below should you wish to take a look.

[Guest]

Great report. DLRP has certainly improved over the last few years. They do cut back on staff though in out of season times - although one would imagine Easter to be busy.
One little nit pick and sorry for mentioning it: The main park at Paris is Disneyland Park Paris not Magic Kingdom. The name, MK, is at Orlando only.
It's better not to try and compare to WDW because it was designed for a completely different market. Top number of visitors are French, British and Dutch. Germans don't feature in high figures.

[Guest]

Well in MHO the Germans have the right idea. DLP is not a patch on WDW. The sheer arrogance of the French is enough to put you off for life & as I'm part French I feel I have the right to voice this opinion!