What’s Paris like after only having done Florida?

[jemrock]

I've been to Florida four times (last time in 2017). I just went to DLP for the first time in April but we really liked it and got annual passes - I've just come back from another trip and have now booked to go again in early December!

I think they are such different holidays you can't really compare them. I love the Florida parks because they are really immersive - we go for two weeks, stay on property and just really relax. DLP is a 3 - 4 day mini break and we stay in Air BnBs offsite and drive/take the RER train in. We go with quite different expectations but both still feel very Disney to us. We LOVE not having to take a 10 hour plane ride to get to DLP and not being restricted to the onsite (very expensive Disney hotels). DLP also requires a LOT less planning than Disney World so in some ways it's an easier holiday.

Are people as friendly?

We find the cast members in Paris on the whole to be as friendly as the American ones - you get one or two for who it's clearly just a job but we have seen that in Florida as well. I also think the interactions in France are a lot more genuine - I find the feigned enthusiasm in America a bit tiring sometimes. We still had magical moments in DLP - one cast member on Small World sang us Flower of Scotland last time we were there. There's more interaction the friendlier you are/the quieter the park is.

General atmosphere?

We don't find DLP quite as atmospheric as Florida and weirdly I think it might be because of the lack of smells! In Florida they pump bakery smells etc into Main St which they don't seem to do in France. We also think there is less music being played in lines (but there's still lots of random on street entertainers). Having said that DLP is much more detailed than the Florida parks and we love exploring at night.

Weather?

Really dependent on the time of year. We quite like it not being so hot though!

Expensive food?

I think in the parks the food is about the same price in both locations. At Florida we get food deliveries to our rooms to avoid buying breakfast on site. At DLP we stay offsite and take breakfast in with us and also bring packed lunches and snacks to save money on buying food in the parks. We also duck into Disney Village sometimes for dinner.

On both trips to DLP we have met people who complained that it wasn't as good as Florida but to be honest it felt like they had come with that mindset in place before they got there which was a shame. It's certainly not as big but that's why you go for a few days not a couple of weeks. I think it's really what you make of it. We have really enjoyed having our annual passes and we've been able to do the three trips so far this year without spending half of what one Florida holiday would have cost us. Having said that - we'll probably go back to Florida again once our annual passes for DLP run out!

[Elodie]

I’ve only been to WDW once and DLP three times, so I’ve got a much more rounded view of DLP and can only base my opinion of WDW on one trip. Our next trip is supposed to be WDW because the children have never been, but if it was just for me I’d go back to DLP instead.

Are people as friendly?
We have friends we made in DLP that we’re still in touch with, but didn’t make any friends in WDW. I don’t think it was that anyone was unfriendly though, just that none of us got chatting to people the way we did in DLP.

I don’t remember much about the CMs in WDW, but the DLP ones have always been great with my children. They’ve given us free fastpasses (even for rides that don’t have fast pass), little gifts (eg a Crush keyring for my daughter’s bag), sung happy birthday to my other daughter in a queue - she gave him some candy sweets to say thank you for being so lovely, and he came and stood with us in the queue to share them with us. CMs in shops and at rides have given my children big hugs and invited us to wait to sit at the front of the next ride if we wanted, etc. Those are just a few examples, but the lovely CMs have given us some of our best DLP memories.

General atmosphere?
I loved the atmosphere in both, but especially DLP at Christmas - that was pure Disney magic!

Weather?
Changeable in both! We had torrential downpours and warm sunny days in WDW (November.) We never found it too hot in WDW, but it was unbearably hot our first trip to DLP. That was obviously down to the weather while we were there though. You’d probably be best looking at average temperatures and rain levels for the month you’d want to go. I can tell you the weather when we went (in August, December, May and June) but obviously that doesn’t mean you’d get the same, even at the same time of year. We had a week of relentless 37 degree heat in DLP in August, which was really much too hot, a week of 30 degree sun and the odd short shower in May/June, which was perfect, and a mild December (10 degrees with light showers), which was just right for Christmas.

Expensive food?
Yes! We spent around €100 per day for four of us, and had taken our own breakfasts and snacks. I’m sure it can be done cheaper, but we like the buffets and wanted to enjoy the food as well as the rides and shows. For our Christmas DLP holiday, we spent around €200 per day on premium breakfasts and character dining every day, but that was a treat after winning a decent sum of money. I can’t compare to WDW, as it was too long ago and anyway, we existed on hot dogs and brownies so can’t compare it to buffets and character dining.

How many days to see it all?
We always go for five days in the school holidays, and that’s just right to go on everything we want to, see all the shows, do some character meets, and fit in lots of repeat rides on our favourites. We could do it in fewer days in term time, but that’s not an option for us.

[johnnysharp2]

Been to Florida 14 times and Paris 4, planning another return to DLP next year, partly because our autistic son hates flying and was taken quite ill on our last flight in 2017 to Orlando, where he had a seizure mid flight and needed oxygen.

Florida is where we would rather be but the risk health wise to our son is too high a price to pay.

I honestly do not think you can compare them, they are so different.

I would also add maybe in a snobbish way that the Disneyland Hotel is the only one we would stay at, partly because it's literally just yards from the park and means we spend more time there than we would at WDW, simply because it's right by our hotel.
It also means myself or my wife can have a stroll down Main Street on our own, and have a proper browse through the shops something we have never been able to do at WDW.

If you can go off season and be lucky with the weather it's a nice place to be.
The main downside of DLP is the Disney Village which needs a serious overall, I know they have added new shops and restaurants but a lot more is needed. It cannot be compared with Disney Springs or even Downtown Disney and given the location so close to the hotels it should be so much better than it is.

I have found the CMs and professional people (in the stores, restaurants and hotels etc), to be just as friendly but overall the attitude and culture of the Europeans is less hyper than the yeehaw "we are at WDW" over excited approach you see in WDW.

The theming of the DLP Studios park is lacking a little also, it's just a mass of concrete built attractions with not a lot of landscaping or nice places to sit, though the Ratatouille area I believe is very nice.
The main Disney park is comparable to Magic Kingdom, though Main Street USA is not as long.
The Disney shopping is good, though lacks those more special one off stores Disney Springs has.

Val d'europe is a lovely mall and the outlet La Vallee Village very nice also, though some brands are high end designer and still expensive.

Dining is expensive at both, the supermarket prices in the US are much higher than in the UK.

It is a natural thing to compare, we like them both, prefer WDW but then getting there has become very difficult for us, DLP is a wonderful option closer to home.

Sat at the Café Fantasia bar at the DLH or relaxing watching the world go by on Main Street felt as good an experience as it has walking down Clearwater beach, or strolling through Naples, we have good memories that last a lifetime at both.
It's a fab hotel.

I know it's a snobby thing to say but for us staying at the DLH elevates the holiday to another level, the breakfast is wonderful and we have had better character interaction there than we have in 14 tripe to Florida, Chip & Dale even pushed our boy's wheelchair down the corridor one year. If you can get a discounted deal to stay there it's worth it in my opinion. And you are literally at the park entrance.
We have never been to the firework displays at WDW, because we can't get out of our accommodation with our boy later in the day, but at DLP we are right there so it makes it so much easier.

Both have their flaws the monorail transportation system broke down a few times last May meaning actually getting to MK was difficult, and with the heat and other factors our son doesn’t usually want to go out later in the day. They are also increasing lots of charges, irs $22 just to park at the theme parks now, and the cost of park tickets is ridiculous. Obviously there are many advantages though, in our circumstances it’s handy just being minutes from the park gates at the DLH and means Joshua will happily go back there also later in the day.

Overall we love Florida, so many memories and good times, but it's 1000s of miles away and a difficult journey, DLP fits the bill therefore for us. Our son has always been happy there and had an enjoyable time, probably because he hasn't had the long flight to contend with, that counts for a lot for us.

[martyn321]

I agree with what everyone else has said, for us (please no one reply with "thats because its european and they have big lunches") that there is no way near the amount of cool snacks we where expecting having been to florida so often, it was a real let done (for us).

Also - pause gourmande! omg, what a joke!

[johnnysharp2]

Originally Posted by martyn321

I agree with what everyone else has said, for us (please no one reply with "thats because its european and they have big lunches") that there is no way near the amount of cool snacks we where expecting having been to florida so often, it was a real let done (for us).

Also - pause gourmande! omg, what a joke!

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I don't necessarily disagree, that said we found staying close to the park snacks were great. You could walk easily to the cake shop, candy shop and more.
Some of my favourite chocolate items have been at DLP. Candy apples, chocolate marshmallows and so much more.

[Ben1993]

Pretty much agree with other opinions here, they are different and to be appreciated as such. I love both but DLP has a special place in my heart, the actual content in terms of rides and themeing is probably superior in Paris to be honest, but it can't compete with WDW as a holiday/vacation destination with the endless resorts, dining, recreation etc. It kinda comes down to if you are a theme park fan or a fan of the holiday aspect, if you get what I mean.

I think if you appreciate things on their own merits then you'll find love for them both, as I have loved every resort I've been to worldwide.

[clochette]

I also agree with what has been said before. Is it as good as Florida? Difficult to say because it is so very different. We have never found the staff to be unfriendly and if you try to speak French, it goes a long way, but as others have said it might be Disney, but it is still European.

The park is much prettier than Magic Kingdom (in my opinion) and the castle is just beautiful. In addition, it has unique attractions such as Alice's Curious Labyrinth as well as those already mentioned.

I have been to Florida twice and DLP eight or nine times, so it must have something going for it but it is not a main holiday destination, more of a short break.

[HFJohnson]

Originally Posted by bentheben

The Magic Kingdom park isn't as large as Florida, but its full of awesome rides!

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Sorry, just had to point out that that's not actually the case - the main park at DLP is actually bigger than Magic Kingdom (126 acres vs 105 acres according to a quick google search).

I agree with the other posters in that you just can't compare the two. Florida is amazing but I still love DLP and it will always be my home park. The main park is absolutely beautiful and several of the rides are better than their Florida counterparts (Pirates, BTM) and it's great that everything is so close together. DLP has it's flaws, there's no doubt about that, and I know a lot of people miss the american approach to customer service, but there have been a lot of improvements over the years and a lot of exciting stuff still to come.

For a great review of DLP search up Justin Scarred's vlogs of his visits and in particular Fantasyland where he focuses on all of the little details that make the park special.

[MissJRabbit]

I’ve only been to WDW once and DLP quite a number of times. I grew up going to DLP as we couldn’t afford WDW so I love the place. I think you need to go in with no expectations, don’t expect it to be anything like WDW and you will have a great time.

1. Generally cms aren’t as friendly as the US counterpart as it is culturally different. Customer service isn’t he same, but at least you don’t have to tip! There are some wonderful CMs though that I find to be better than some of the CMs I encountered in Florida. Other guests I find culturally different in terms of smoking, queuing etc. The CMs try to manage this and it’s getting better but it’s still different to the US.

2. The atmosphere I think is very similar. I didn’t think the atmosphere was exceptional in Florida. There is more streetmosphere in WDW, but you will still get some of that in Paris.

3. Weather is like England. Unpredictable. I’ve been snowed in during February, sunburnt in April and washed out in August! When it’s hot it’s not humid which is a bonus!

4. Food is expensive and not generally good quality like you would find in WDW. You are going to pay €70 for a character meal with average food. Counter service meals are €15. They are decent enough, but I had the dining Plan at WDW and the quality of quick service food was better than the DLP equivalent. There are plenty of food options in the village though - earl of sandwich, five guys, rainforest cafe, Vapianos

5. I would say 4 nights, 5 days is a good amount of time. We usually do that and we’ve been many times. It gives you enough time to catch all the shows, do the rides multiple times, actually sit and eat, go back to the hotel for a swim/rest.

Generally I think a lot of the attractions are actually better at DLP and some are very different.

I would also recommend buffalo bills show, which is a Wild West show with characters and live animals.

[martyn321]

Originally Posted by johnnysharp2

that said we found staying close to the park snacks were great. You could walk easily to the cake shop, candy shop and more.
Some of my favourite chocolate items have been at DLP. Candy apples, chocolate marshmallows and so much more.

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I find this interesting, do you think in off peak times they cut down on the snack options (we went 1st week of xmas theming and a lot of the little stalls where closed), literally all we could get was very standard items and a very poor (by disney standards) chocolate crepe in the village.