Disappinted with DLP!! About This Page:

[CelticChick]

Just a note about the recent trip we took to DLP.

We travelled on Eurostar which was pretty cool. It took us about 40 minutes to get to Kings Cross/St Pancras on our tube system. We were quite early so had about an hours wait for the Eurostar. We were seated in Coach 18 and virtually had the who carriage to ourselves which was great. On arrival at DLP, we left our bags at the Disney Express check-in who would deliver them to the Sequoia Lodge where we were staying.

We headed straight over to the “Magic Kingdom.” The crowds were very heavy and most off the rides were averaging about an hour’s wait. We managed to do quite a few of them and then went to Casey’s Corner for a bite to eat. John and Caitlin had hot dogs and fries and I had chicken nuggets (although the order came out wrong and I was given hot dog with loads of cheese on it). All of this meal came out cold.
We carried on around the park and headed over to ride Big Thunder Mountain, which I have to say, is a much better ride then in WDW. The only bad thing about this ride was that we queued for about 1 and a half hours and there was so much queue jumping from the younger ones which wasn’t fair.

We decided to head back to the Sequoia Lodge to check-in and we were very lucky that we were given a free upgrade to a Suite which overlooked the Disney Village. The view was pretty awesome.

The next morning, we went down for breakfast in the hotel, which was a cold buffet style breakfast and was quite nice.

We headed off to the “Magic Kingdom” again as Disney guests had early entry from 8am-10am. We got so much more of the rides done again and had fun. The crowds then started building up and the queue jumping and shoving started again. We headed for lunch (I forget the name of the restaurant) and John and Caitlin had nuggets and fries and I had a burger (again, all of which was cold)! I can only think that both lunches were so cold because everything is just kept under the lights to keep the service moving.

When we were waiting to get character autographs, this was just a joke. When we waited for Daisy's autograph Caitlin was nearly knocked over. Daisy herself was using her own hand gestures to move the crowds back. I had a few "polite" words to the so called "Cast Member" who did bring her forward but it was all very off putting. We found this was the case with alot of the characters we “waited” for!!
We then went back to the Suite and decided to go for a swim in the hotel pool. We only brought a couple of hand towels down with us as we read that towels were provided. When we had changed and checked with the man at the desk about the towels, he said that we had to buy them and that they would cost 2 Euros. We said ok, and proceeded to swim. When we decided to leave the pool, I noticed that the two towels I had brought with me had been “stolen.” John went to the desk to buy a couple and was told that they didn’t have any and that we needed to buy them in the shop back in the hotel!!! So, therefore we had no towels to dry us and had to walk back into the hotel with our clothes over our wet costumes.

On our last morning, we went to “Cafe Mickey” for the Character breakfast which was only just an ok. Mickey hardly spent any time at the tables and King John didn’t come to our table at all, in fact he walked past three times as there was no “Cast Member” directing them. Minnie, Chip and Dale and Pluto were good though! Breakfast was virtually nothing compared to Chef Mickey’s.

The other downside is that John and I both don’t smoke and at DLP you could smoke anywhere in the parks and when queuing for rides, people next to us didn’t consider the younger children around them even though there were signs up saying no-smoking.
All in all, I would not recommend it to anyone and it will be a very long time before I would think about going back. To me, it was just like a normal theme park here in the UK and disappointed that it carries the "Disney" name as it is not the Disney that we know!!!

Good points: Excellent Eurostar journey
Upgrade to a Suite at the Sequoia Lodge
Very nice hot weather

Bad Points: Queue jumping
No orderly queue for character autographs/pictures
Smoking around the parks

[eff051102]

Oh so sorry for your bad time at DLP. I really want to visit there one day.
I hope that you made your issues known and that they will do something
about it.

[Colexis Mom]

Sorry you didn't have a good experience!!

[Mauimouse]

Sorry about your bad experience over at DLP. I do agree with you in regards to Big Thunder Mountain, it's a lot better than the one at WDW. Your room sounds fantastic, we had a room in what I call one of the out buildings, Yellowstone I believe, the elevator or lift was disgusting. I also agree with you on all the queue jumping, it's ridiculous over there.

[lauren-roxy]

Sorry you had such a bad experience.

[chezp]

I'm so sorry you had a bad experience and sadly I hear you about the points about smoking and the problems with the characters. Unfortunately, we've had similar experiences on both counts. That's why we won't go near the characters now at Disneyland Paris.

Glad you had a good Eurostar journey and a wonderful hotel room.

[Disneybine]

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience. I agree that the line jumping, smoking, and mobbing the characters is extremely annoying. And no, sadly, DLP isn't up to par with WDW.

However, I still love going to DLP. It's only a 7-hour drive from where we live, it's got some pretty cool attractions you can't find anywhere else (like Crush's Coaster), and it provides me with my much-needed Disney fix if I can't make it over the big pond to Florida. IMO, the key to having a good time at DLP is going during the week (Monday through Thursday, really), at a time when schools are in session. Crowds make or break your experience at DLP, as the parks don't handle large crowds well.

[sharon1970]

Teresa, I know exactly what you mean about the queue jumping and we found the people to be rude as well.

We only go there when we need a quick Disney fix but there really is no comparison when it comes to WDW and DLRP - WDW wins everytime.

[home4us123]

Sorry about the bad experience

[Tanzanite]

I Visited Disney Paris in June i to would never go back i flew to London took Eurostar to Disney we stayed 6 days loved Eurostar we dont have trains like that here in the states.My 3 children & i could not get pictures with charactors also there was 2 nationalitys that even the cast members told me were very rude one guy shouted at a cast member pushed people got very angry as his child coulnt get a photo we walked away and booked charactor meals to get pictures it was impossible M y oldest son hated the smoking could not believe how many people smoked with children & cigarette butts allover floor.We got snubbed by Mickey at Steakhouse brunch he walked past our table i asked manager when would he come to our table he said he would not be out for at least an hour then when we got up to pay he came out my son was shocked.At the train station a woman pushed past me to get on escalator and stood there i could not get on i said excuse me she called me a nasty name i have never met so many rude people . Also at our hotel they never left soap i went to front desk to get it we had a lot of dissapointments for the money i would go to our parks next time.I do love Paris though that was great will go next year when i go to London again.Sorry but i also got tired of people jumping lines.

[saremca]

We have friends who are Disney lovers and they've visited DLP 3 or 4 times and always speak about the line jumping, and smoking in the ride queues. I still would like to visit just to experience it once, but I've heard that the atmosphere at DLP is vastly different from WDW.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by Tanzanite

I Visited Disney Paris in June i to would never go back i flew to London took Eurostar to Disney we stayed 6 days loved Eurostar we dont have trains like that here in the states.My 3 children & i could not get pictures with charactors also there was 2 nationalitys that even the cast members told me were very rude one guy shouted at a cast member pushed people got very angry as his child coulnt get a photo we walked away and booked charactor meals to get pictures it was impossible M y oldest son hated the smoking could not believe how many people smoked with children & cigarette butts allover floor.We got snubbed by Mickey at Steakhouse brunch he walked past our table i asked manager when would he come to our table he said he would not be out for at least an hour then when we got up to pay he came out my son was shocked.At the train station a woman pushed past me to get on escalator and stood there i could not get on i said excuse me she called me a nasty name i have never met so many rude people . Also at our hotel they never left soap i went to front desk to get it we had a lot of dissapointments for the money i would go to our parks next time.I do love Paris though that was great will go next year when i go to London again.Sorry but i also got tired of people jumping lines.

I'm so sorry you had such a bad experience.

There are certainly issues with Disneyland Paris - and sadly, many of those do appear to be cultural. It's amazing how things vary around the world. Paris is the only Disney theme park that we've come across where there are such problems with the characters and I really wish they would do something about it. In Tokyo Disney, the characters just appear from nowhere and the Japanese are wonderfully orderly and you all get a turn with them. If only that happened in Paris.

[Tanzanite]

Hi thanks for your post .Thank you for your apology for Disney .Ithought it was a beautiful park well laid out my brother worked on constructing it he spent a lot of time in France & he loved working there but his complaint to was how difficult it was to work with some of the other people. I loved reading your trip report on Tokyo i lived there before i had my children worked for a shipping company posted there after working in London they shipped me there so i got to go to Disney land not Disney Sea wasnt built the people in Japan are the most orderly well mannered people ive ever met.I loved your photos with the Seven Dwarves we took pictures with them at Mickey Halloween party & will again this year but not individly like you did that was wonderful .I loved your trip report you went to many places.I lived in Akasaka near where you stayed it has changed a lot since last there judging by your photos.I hope to take my 3 children next year my oldest son will be 16 inJune so thinking of a special trip.I am just starting to read your Hong Kong report. thanksTanz.

[Fabulous Disney Mom]

I'm sorry you had such a terrible trip. My parents took me to DLP when I was little and I think I was too young to notice the bad things because all I have are good memories of our time there. I think if I went now and had those type of experiences I wouldn't go back.

[Tanzanite]

Originally Posted by Fabulous Disney Mom

I'm sorry you had such a terrible trip. My parents took me to DLP when I was little and I think I was too young to notice the bad things because all I have are good memories of our time there. I think if I went now and had those type of experiences I wouldn't go back.

Thank you it was worth it to see the different park it is a beautiful park & my brother wanted me to see his work. Iwant to go back to Paris i loved it my kids dont to much i would leave my 2 boys in London & take my daughter as we want to see Paris at night it looks stunning plus i want to stay at Hotel Crillion i hear its wonderful.