Paris Day Trip About This Page:

[mattjs]

Made a great day trip from Paris to DLRP. No way was I getting within 40 minutes of a Disney Park and not going And a day trip from the city is about as easy as it gets. Paris has a fantastic subway system. Links up with an equally fantastic commuter rail system to the suburbs/outskirts of the city. We just took the subway to the Chatelet-Les Halles stop, and changed there to the commuter rail (the “RER”). The Disney RER train literally runs every 15 minutes all day long, so you don’t even need to plan your timing around the train.

Chatelet-Les Halles is a HUGE but amazingly well marked station. Finding your way from the subway to the RER lines couldn’t be easier. Bought a ticket for the “A line” RER train to Marne-la-Vallee/Disneyland Parc and then followed the signs again to the platform. Again, really well marked. Once you get to the platform, there’s a sign with station stops where each stop lights up when the next train will take you there. When “Marne La Valle/Disneyland Parc” is lit up…you get on the next train that rolls through. Easy as that. It's about a 35min ride. Disneyland's the last stop on the line, and the park entrance is literally right across from the station.

One tip. After you buy your RER ticket, you use it to enter the RER portion of Chatelet-Les Halles through a set of gates. Don’t throw it away. When you arrive at Marne-la-Vallee you need that same ticket to get through the exit gates (same thing on the way back).

Before leaving home, I bought Park Hoppers online (1Day – 2Parks). Works a little different for DLRP (or at least if you buy online from the states anyway). You immediately print your tickets at home on regular 8.5” x 11” paper. Each has a barcode, plus the persons name on it. At the gates they checked our passports against the names on the tickets so don’t forget to bring your passport to the parks. Also at the gate, everyone gets thier own FastPass ticket, and a hand stamp for re-entry. Worked great. Though you also have to keep the printed paper tickets for re-entry. I was hoping they’d swap them out for a hard ticket but no big deal.

Really loved the parks. We had a full day and needed every second of it. Didn’t remotely get to everything, but we hit everything on the must do list.

The Studios:
A little small and not the greatest themeing, but the rides they have are solid. Fun to hear the preshows in French. Slight nod to the WDW versions of both Tower and RnR. Exact same track layout, but the preshow/storyline for RnR is really different. Aerosmith is designing a roller coaster or something like that. They probably should’ve just kept the WDW storyline.

Crush’s Coaster is amazing! My new favorite ride anywhere. Can't call it a spinner. Primeval Whirl is a spinner…......and Crush is nothing like Primeval Whirl. The cars rotate in synch with the corners/drops. And it’s dark, so you have no idea what’s coming. At one point it actually felt like we were free falling. It’s awesome They HAVE to get this into WDW somehow.

The Disneyland Park:
Is amazing! Hard to admit it but, overall it’s better than the Magic Kingdom. Which shouldn’t be a surprise I guess since it was built 20+ years later. It’s really, really nice. Great themeing, landscaping, rides. Top notch.

Space Mountain is incredible. Probably the most intense Disney coaster there is. I’d say wilder than RnR for sure. I love the nostalgia of the WDW Space Mountain, but I’d be psyched to have this version in Orlando.

Pirates is a much longer, really, really fantastic version. Big advantage to DLRP. Big Thunder is a also a longer, slightly faster, more intense version. Again, advantage DLRP. Phantom Manor (Haunted Mansion) was a disappointment. I know some people like the Paris version, but it didn’t work for me at all. Not nearly dusty, nor dirty enough inside. And the ending was just plain bizarre. Big advantage WDW for that one.

We had an awesome day! Stayed till park close and caught the last train back to Paris (1:00AM or so...trains about every 15-20min after park close...wasn't crowded at all on the way back). Pictures at my flickr page – Flickr: dmspics' Photostream – though not nearly as many as I’d like (page two of the stream and in the Paris gallery) . Was a serious marathon day to see everything we could. A lot more racing than camera time Really fun though. If you’re in Paris, and have an extra day, it’s so easy and totally worth it.




Other notes copied from the other thread:

In the Disneyland Park, use FastPasses for Big Thunder and anything in Fantasyland.

Big Thunder is the hottest ride in the Disneyland Park. 60min wait times until maybe an hour before park close. That and every ride in Fantasyland (just like all the parks)

Space Mountain never had a bad line (40min max on the board at mid-day peak-time...which really turned out to be only a 30min wait). Pirates, Mansion and Indy all had long lines middle of the day (60min+), but dropped to maybe 20min or so after 6PM.

Hyperion Cafe in Discoveryland was great for burgers (and fixins bar). Lots of tables. Cowboy Cookout in Frontierland also has tons of seating. Didn't have time for a sit-down meal but the atmosphere at Blue Lagoon (inside Pirates) looked fantastic. Not sure about the food/price, but the themeing is top notch. If we had time for a sit-down, it would've been there.

In the Studios Park, Rock n Roller and Tower of Terror lines weren't bad at all. 20-40min most of the day (35min max at RnR and 60min max at ToT...but an hour later TOT was down to 20min). If you FastPass at the Studios, Tower seemed like the way to go, but the wait times really did vary a lot (we FastPassed it...when we went back for our time the line was only 20min). Everything else in the Studios had zero lines. Except for Crush.

Crush doesn't have FastPass (though I guess they've been experimenting with adding it...it wasn't up for us though). Had 90min wait times 90% of the day. About 2 hours before park close it dropped to 75min. Was totally worth the wait. Can't say enough about that ride.

Walking between the parks is super easy. They're right next to each other. We crossed back and forth 3 times through the day

[jimmymac]

Glad you had a good time. Thanks for the report

[chezp]

Thanks for the review - I think you also included some great advice, like the RER tickets. That's something I just don't think of, as I'm used to travelling around Paris.

[Colexis Mom]

Glad you had a great time

[mattjs]

It really was a great trip. I wondered if it would have that unmistakable Disney feel. Walking up Main Street and seeing Casey's on the corner, I was hooked. It's Disney all the way.

And I almost forgot. Travelling abroad was awesome with my my old school " Passholder" thingy. Perfect size to hold Passports, credit cards, cash. city map, metro passes. Everything I needed. I love travelling with that thing, but this trip I didn't even take my wallet. If you're goin to Europe, you need a Passholder Pouch

[mcc0313]

Sounds like a great day....glad you were able to fit it into your schedule and that traveling over was easy and convenient...

[BeachBabyBongo]

Great report!

I took my daughter in March of 2007, and had a great time. The only problem with our trip was the weather. Unfortunately, it was cold and raining most of the time. We were actually on Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril while it was snowing. I definitely want to go back someday at a better time of year. And, I too thought the RER was amazing! For someone as directionally challenged as I am, I had no problems getting around Paris. The transportation system is very !!

Thanks for the report. I'm glad you had such a wonderful time!!

[Disneybine]

Thanks so much for your report, Matt! I feel the same way about the attractions you mentioned. Crush's Coaster is my favorite roller coaster ever! And I, too, like the DLP Space Mountain a lot better than the WDW one. In fact, the first Disney roller coaster I have ever been on was DLP's Space Mountain So it's got sentimental value for me.

Again, thanks so much for sharing your experience with us!

[shellybelly72]

Glad you had a good time. Thanks for the report