Blown away

[mitch-fishguard]

Just back. Thought Id give some thoughts on a weekend with 2 grandkids (17 and 13).
Flew from Bristol to CDG and home from Orly.
Stayed Old Chaff Mill thursday night in a family room with parking
Flew 7.35 am and went to Santa Fe with Welcome Pickups.
Flew home sunday 15.45 and hit Bristol at 17.05. Got to fishguard at 10pm.
Right, not going to compare intentionally with Florida, but was disappointed with the "disney magic" at the hotel, impressed with the scenic walk to the parks and the regularity of the bus. But the parks, wow, I was blown away at the detail, cleanliness and the vivid colours everywhere. what a fantastic place, Disneyland Paris is. The rides were far better than Orlando (first comparison) and for a 60 yr old to love them, well.
Food was horrifically expensive, but of a very high quality. Cider wasnt prevalent, but managed to force down some Kronenbourg 1664 . Was surprised at the lck of disney tshirts etc, but I was happy to fly the flag for us Brits.
Queuing was very organised and polite. Everybody played ball, especially after the fireworks (very disappointing compared to Orlando ) leaving the park and so smooth out through the village. everyone was very patient and considerate.
The rides at night were magical in the dark and in the day, fair play. We only saw the lines get to an hour once. At Crush Coaster. The Studios are very well designed. Big ticket rides are spread well. Yeah. loved the parks.
So an unavoidable comparison because of the context of this final paragraph. Would I go back ? If I was planning a Florida trip in the near future, then No. Why ? Expensive way to spend a few days with a only so much to do. Florida has so much more than 2 parks to see and do. Unfair ? Yes. But Id go at the drop of a hat if Florida wasnt possible for a few years. I loved Disneyland Paris, but would definitely use cheaper hotels (like you would at I-Drive and Lake Buena Vista) and use their transport. So, yeah, a big thumbs up from this sceptic for the experience

[Wishtogoback]

Glad to hear you enjoyed it. Can you share where you ate and were happy with?

[Gill H]

Glad you had such a great time.

Offsite is incredibly easy - we usually use the Ibis Val d'Europe which is 5 minutes on the RER. Plenty of places in the area have self catering facilities and there's a big supermarket and lots of places to eat.

[mitch-fishguard]

We ate at the Santa Fe breakfast which was awful value. We also went twice to the Restaurant en Coulisse by the entrance to Studios where it was perfect for teenagers. Another one was New York Style Sandwiches where there were value combos that suited. Lastly, McDonalds and Earl of Sandwich. (not as good as Disney springs)
All told , very expensive, but hey, you know this before you go sadly

[mitch-fishguard]

Originally Posted by Gill H

Glad you had such a great time.

Offsite is incredibly easy - we usually use the Ibis Val d'Europe which is 5 minutes on the RER. Plenty of places in the area have self catering facilities and there's a big supermarket and lots of places to eat.

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Walking through the bus and train area, it became obvious that this was an easy plce to get around by the sheer number of different busses and people coming out of the train station. I was told there was a supermarket close by out of the Five guys entrance and alternatively the first stop on the train. Would use said supermarket for definite.

[Sandra & co]

We went for the day a few weeks ago and loved it but found it was a bit Everyman for themselves. Phones ups in the air for the parade and fireworks, pushing in front to get a better view. We stood there and then tall people carrying kids pushed in front so we couldn’t see much for both. But overall we loved it, it was dds 21st and she had a fantastic time. The meal in the steakhouse was lovely too.

[Beth_Disney]

Originally Posted by Sandra & co

We went for the day a few weeks ago and loved it but found it was a bit Everyman for themselves. Phones ups in the air for the parade and fireworks, pushing in front to get a better view. We stood there and then tall people carrying kids pushed in front so we couldn’t see much for both. But overall we loved it, it was dds 21st and she had a fantastic time. The meal in the steakhouse was lovely too.

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We had the same issue with the fireworks. We'd hung pretty far back anyway and still found that people pushed in from the sides, put people on their shoulders, phones up in the air throughout. It wasn't very civilised and I would have loved to have relaxed and enjoyed the drone show and fireworks. We didn't go back the following night and went for cocktails at Hotel New York instead.

It reminded me of why I don't hesitate to book a dining event to view the fireworks at WDW!

[Beth_Disney]

Originally Posted by Wishtogoback

Glad to hear you enjoyed it. Can you share where you ate and were happy with?

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I'll jump in too! We stayed at Newport Bay and had the half board package. We only booked the week before so I didn't have much time to research and there was limited availability.

We ate at Walt's in the evening of day 1 and Chez Remy's early afternoon on day 2. Loved them both! The theming was great, the food was lovely and we had very good service. Walt's was my favourite as it was a bit more peaceful.

We also ate at Earl of Sandwich and McDonalds. The upstairs terrace at EoS was a good spot for a decent priced cold beer.

[Gill H]

Dreams at DLP (plus the drone show) is superb. But yes, just like Orlando you get people shoving you out of the way and putting ipads up. All three of our WDW trips since 2010 featured this too.

For the 20th anniversary DLP offered a set meal plus a resrved spot for fireworks. We did it several times and it was excellent. Wish they would bring it back.

Looking forward to Tokyo where everyone sits down and you are not allowed to lift cameras above head height!

[sam7]

Thank you very much, your trip report has been very helpful. We are planning to go over mid October - it is very much a 'can't do Florida for a good few years'. I was aware that food costs were very high. But had been wondering if we would miss a lot of the magic by not staying on site - and you seem to have answered that (we are all adults).
Just waiting for DDs passport to come back before we can start booking for real and seeing what works out best value, how we can shave a few £'s off the cost of the trip