First time at Disneyland Paris

[adam19]

This summer, I will be traveling with a group of friends to Europe, and of course, I will be visiting Disneyland Paris. None of my fellow travelers seem too excited by this idea so I assume I will be making this visit alone. As a frequent visitor to Disneyland, I am eager to see the differences between the two parks. And with that said, I have a few questions..

Are there any rides in particular that are significantly different? I assume at least that most of the dark rides are pretty similar, but what can I expect big differences on? As I will probably be there only one day, I will have to choose what rides I go on carefully and budget my time wisely, doing my best to see everything that I can.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I haven't been able to find too much specific information on attractions. Thank you in advance.

[nathan detroit]

There was a similar request a few weeks ago. Follow this link for the ensuing arguments!

http://micechat.com/forums/showthrea...unt-95227.html

And welcome to MiceChat!

[adam19]

Thank you for your reply, that thread was very informative. I'd still like to find some more specific comparisons between rides at Disneyland and Disneyland Paris, if possible. Anyone who knows the parks well and could give me some insight would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

[davewasbaloo]

Originally Posted by adam19

Thank you for your reply, that thread was very informative. I'd still like to find some more specific comparisons between rides at Disneyland and Disneyland Paris, if possible. Anyone who knows the parks well and could give me some insight would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

what do you want to know. I grew up at DL with 300+ visits over the last 33 years, and have notched up 49 trips to DLP in the last 16 years. There is much to tell, and I do not have huge amounts of time to tell it (I once gave a 3 day in depth tour to DLers). If you are more specific, I am happy to answer questions.

[adam19]

Originally Posted by davewasbaloo

what do you want to know. I grew up at DL with 300+ visits over the last 33 years, and have notched up 49 trips to DLP in the last 16 years. There is much to tell, and I do not have huge amounts of time to tell it (I once gave a 3 day in depth tour to DLers). If you are more specific, I am happy to answer questions.

Thanks for your response, I appreciate it. I'm just really interested in being able to see what's noticeably different ride-wise. For example, if Peter Pan at DL and Peter Pan at DLP are nearly identical, I will most likely be skipping it on my visit.

[nathan detroit]

As far as I am aware, nothing in DLP is a complete carbon copy of the US rides although some come pretty close. If nothing else Peter Pan, Pinocchio and Snow White offer the ride soundtrack in French - an interesting slant that you will get nowhere else!

Seriously though, my suggestion would be to go and just enjoy. Prioritize the DLP exclusive attractions and then go with the flow. There is much to enjoy that cannot be found elsewhere but telling you absolutely everything will surely spoil part of the fun!

[davewasbaloo]

Nathan Detroit has some good advice here. What I will say however is that you can skip Star Tours (French), HISTA (French or english, headphones available) and Buzz as they are pretty much identical (as are the spinners).

The dark rides in fantasyland are similar, but they seat more. The scenes are slightly longer in all of them as well, but marginally. Snow White has an AA of Snow White and Prince Charming at the end rather than just a painting. That kind of thing.

Do not miss the mountains, Phantom Manor, PotC, IASW and the walk through attractions. Also Storybook land has different scenes on offer than DL with no narration.

One little tip I will share. At Pinnochio Village house in DL, there is a painting of Figero pulling the exit sign over with a rope (they made a mistake in the 1983 redo). In the Paris version, the exit sign over the door is in the right place and Figero has his thumb up saying "yay, we got it right this time"

There are litterly 1000's of these little touches (like Lily Disney's delft pottery in the park, or the little bird that inspired the Tiki Room and AA's in Walts). Hence why I am saying, any questions?

[adam19]

Thank you so much both of you for your great advice on everything. I think I've gathered a lot of great information for my visit between the two of you and the thread that nathan detroit posted. I really appreciate all of your help as I am looking forwatd to this trip greatly and don't want to miss anything. When I return, I will do my best to write up a trip report complete with pictures.

[mark]

Don't miss Adventure Isle! (I actually just posted a map of it on my blog- go see why you need to do it!)

Also, IASW, Phantom Manor, Pirates, Space Mountain, BTMRR are just a few of the awesome attractions that are different than the American parks. Explore the castle- the upper regions and the dungeon with the dragon.
You will be amazed at how beautiful this park is!

[Le Saboteur]

Hi Mark,

I know this is a little late, but hopefully you find it useful. I just had my very first visit ever to DLRP, and Space Mountain: Mission 2 is the ish! I'd write more, but walking into it without any first hand knowledge made it that much better for me. It absolutely blows the one at DLR out of the water.

Biggest difference I can think of: Frontierland. It takes up a majority of the park, with Big Thunder Mountain Railroad being the central attraction, iconic peak. You'll also find realistic replica guns for sale in the stores, which went bye-bye years ago at Disneyland.

Be sure to go into one of the bathroom and much about with one of those rad new Dyson hand dryers. They're bound to be a source of envy until the other parks submit and install them throughout their facilities.

Call ahead and get yourself a shave and a haircut at Dapper Dan's. It's one of the best shaves I've had all across Europe. Don't forget, that it's a rather small park, so you can see a great majority of it in one day without hurrying yourself.

[CheriBibi]

Hey there !

I love comparing Disney parks and actually devoted a whole blog about it : 5 Kingdoms.... One problem, it's only a month old so not much is covered yet Anyway, you must check our Big Thunder Montain, for being the best I think and i've seen them all. Space Moutain has nothing to do with the other ones it's more hardcore if you know what I mean We don't have Jungle Cruise, but the space is filled with Adventure Isle our own Tom Sawyer Island Adventureland Style, walk throught it, it's so deep in paths and surprises. Dark rides are the same (but without the black lights), Pirates is different and very well detailed, but if you've not rode your Pirate very recently you shouldn't notice any difference beside the overture. (it's not as great as Disneyland though)
That's all I can think of right now oh and go to Walt's the Restaurant, unique ambiance, it's a Club 33 open for all. Don't mistake our Blue Lagoon for DL's Blue Bayou though, it's more popular and noisy, but very different in style. Go to Pizzeria Bella Note, it's the only italian area in any Disney Magic Kingdom (check my article here)

Enjoy your trip, don't go on week end and don't blame us for the crowds, we just can't afford as many cast members are in any other Disney Parks, in france an employee salary cost as much in social charges.

Tata !!

[nathan detroit]

Originally Posted by CheriBibi

Hey there !

Dark rides are the same (but without the black lights),

Don't mistake our Blue Lagoon for DL's Blue Bayou though, it's more popular and noisy

I don't think I would agree with either of the two above statements.

[CheriBibi]

Originally Posted by nathan detroit

I don't think I would agree with either of the two above statements.

Why not ? I didn't say the Blue Lagoon wasn't worth the experience, but it is very different from Disneyland's Blue Bayou wouldn't you agree ? i don't think a person very fond of DL or TDL's Blue Bayou would appreciate the Blue Lagoon if he expexted the same experience as in those two restaurants. That was my point.

As with the Dark Rides, europeans doesn't seem to like black lights compared to US parks where every Dark rides overuse them, I think. Now exept for a few animatronics variation, I know for a fact that Snow White, Pinocchio and Peter Pan are very similar to their DL and WDW counterparts. I don't like calling Pirates or Small World dark rides, I think they're more than that.

[Aura of Foreboding]

Be sure to go inside Sleeping Beauty Castle and visit the Dragon's Lair underneath the Castle. Both are unique to Disneyland Paris.

[nathan detroit]

Originally Posted by CheriBibi

Why not ? I didn't say the Blue Lagoon wasn't worth the experience, but it is very different from Disneyland's Blue Bayou wouldn't you agree ? i don't think a person very fond of DL or TDL's Blue Bayou would appreciate the Blue Lagoon if he expexted the same experience as in those two restaurants. That was my point.

As with the Dark Rides, europeans doesn't seem to like black lights compared to US parks where every Dark rides overuse them, I think. Now exept for a few animatronics variation, I know for a fact that Snow White, Pinocchio and Peter Pan are very similar to their DL and WDW counterparts. I don't like calling Pirates or Small World dark rides, I think they're more than that.

Point 1 - The Blue Lagoon is in fact NOT worth the experience (and has lost a lot of it's former popularity due to that)

Point 2 - The dark rides are similar (as stated above), not the same (as initially stated). And Peter Pan's Flight is a black-light-fest at DLP.

Maybe I'm just being picky...