What's new

Disneyland Resort Paris - 30/03/09 - 03/04/09 Big PTR

Crazycoaster

Giga Poster
So I went to Disneyland Resort Paris on the 30th of march for 5 days.

I had a great time at the resort, myself being quite the disney fanboy. In terms of the magic kingdom park, I feel that Paris's version is far superior to florida's (the only other one I've visited), mainly due to its higher attention to detail and increased knowledge when they were designing it. The rides and areas are all better themed, with greater effort put into the flow from one section of park to the other.

Walt Disney Studios was Disney's all time lamest efforts at making a park, however it does make a nice excursion for a couple of hours, and the good news is that they've seen the error of their cheap ways and are trying to inject a soul into the park with their planned improvements, so hopefully one day it'll be a much more complete park, like Hollywood Studios.

The downsides of the parks I feel are the overall atmosphere. In comparison to its Floridian counterpart, the whole resort seemed to lack in it. It didn't feel quite so 'magical'. Due to its location, Disneyland paris seems to not be able to decide what language it wants to speak, which made the resort feel disjointed, especially concerning the shows.

Another thing I had a problem with was alot of peoples attitudes at the park, it was a constant fight to keep your own place in the queuelines as most europeans are uneducated when it comes to the complex (aka.. not complex) method of queueing. A number of times I had to confront people about trying to push is. The cast members didn't seem to care either.

These factors along with the price of £ against Euro added up to the conclusion that I think i'd wait atleast a couple of years to go again, and have the preference of paying slightly more to go to florida.

Aanywhoo, I took quite a big bunch of photos and decided to make a biiiig trip report of the place. Whoop. I tried to make it heavy on the photos, light on the commentary, and apologies in advance for my lame attempts at being funny. ON WITH THE SHOW *dramatic fanfare*

Part One – Fantasia Gardens & Mainstreet USA

S7302121.jpg

HI DISNEYLAND WE SEE YOU! =D

S7302245.jpg

The Disneyland Hotel is located bang infront of the Magic Kingdom park, you enter underneath which is also where the ticket booths are located. Handy!

S7302251.jpg

I added this picture because you get a completely different perspective of the hotel.. slightly to one side. Ooh. Plus its portrait. Ahh.

S7302252.jpg

Fake Hippos like ‘Hay doods, check out my moves!’

S7302253.jpg

It has a big clock and all that jazz..

S7302254.jpg

The famous plack, Slightly altered for lack of tomorrow-ness and extra french-ness.

S7302116.jpg

Welcome to Mainstreet USA. This is a train station, Yup.

S7302115.jpg

The backside of the hotel. Heh, Backside.

S7301827.jpg

Yay for pink castles!! Infact yay for pink castles AT SUNRISE. See they were having a bit of trouble with the weather on our visit, one minute it seemed to be sunrise..

S7302114.jpg

…Then suddenly it would be the middle of the day! City hall is all like guest services.. what a hoe.

S7302257.jpg

AHHH DISNEY SHOPS NOOO.

S7302256.jpg

More Disnizzle Shizzle.

S7302255.jpg

GEEKY FACT ALERT. Take a look at the Main Street Transportation Co. buildings silhouet. It was infact shaped after the original Sleeping Beauty Castle off of Anaheim. Apparently.

S7302113.jpg

Time for some dramatic bus action: AHHH IT’S A BUS!!!

S7302097.jpg

The hotel looms over mainstreet like some sort of maniacal dictator hellbent on the destruction of ALL MANKIND!! NOOO.

S7302547.jpg

Because of Europes less sun more rain Disney decided apon adding two Arcade walkways down either side of Mainstreet. Originally the design of mainstreet was going to be much more like japans World Bazaar with a huge cover, but these inside walkways were considered much better an idea. On the right-hand side we have the Discovery Arcade..

S7302088.jpg

Its all like ‘YEAH LETS GO AND MAKE UP A FUTURE WITH BLIMPS AND OLD FASIONED IRON’

S7302463.jpg

Then we have Liberty Arcade, which bums that big green statue thing in America somewhere or something.

S7302503.jpg

EVERYBODY CELEBRATE MICKEY AS YOUR NEW WORLD LEADER! BOW TO HIM OR FACE YOUR DOOM YAAAAY!!!

S7302054.jpg

They have like.. fountains and stuff.

S7302109.jpg

One last look at the evil dictator thingy hotel. Oh and suddenly its SUNRISE AGAIN =O Whaaaa.

Next up ‘Le Chateau De La Belle au Bois Dormant’ roughly translated into ‘The castle of the popular, attractive girl or woman who was sleeping’. Personally, 'popular, attractive girl or woman who was sleeping' was one of my favourite Disney films, don’t you agree?

If anyone wants higher quality versions, feel free to ask.
 

marc

CF Legend
I dont understand your views tbh lol.

Better flow from one land to the next? Its half the size of the Orlando one so all the lands are on top of each other.

From one land you can see the next and thats not what Disney ever wanted.

If you want to see attention to detail go to Disneyland, it blows Orlando and Paris out the water. I still find the detail in Paris very 2d I dont know why though every time I go I have a different view.

I 100% agree with the lack of atmospehere and the problems was shows and queue lines, these are the reasons I get put off the park.

Also the walk through arcade part was to allow people to go past main street when the parades were on, not to keep out the rain :)

Cool report though and some nice pictures.
 

peep

CF Legend
^What are you on about Marc? Paris has the biggest Magic Kingdom and the side walkways were designed for the European weather, they just happen to be handy for when parades are on. Did you know you can get round to all the lands under covered walkways?


Some fantastic pictures Crazycoaster. Was that the new Mickey party show on the main stage? How bad was it?
 

Crazycoaster

Giga Poster
^^ Actually I disagree. Take the hub for example, Floridas has a very open one due to the rivers/ponds. The entrances to the lands can all be very clearly seen which spoils the victorian feel of Mainstreet. In paris's version the entrances to the lands are all set back from the central circle of the hub and are concealed by trees which stops the differences in theme from wrecking mainstreets theme.

Also take a look at the way the lands flow together. Adventure land flows well into fantasyland due to the similar themes present, Pirates of the caribbean and peter pan flight, both with piratical elements placed next to each other was no fluke. Frontierlands Pueblo-mexican themed area then also blends really well into the similar architecture of the african mud huts section of adventureland.

With regards to the arcades, they were infact for the weather. Much like Japans covering of World Bazaar. It could also be in part to the parades, but Disney try to encourage the shoehorning of guests into stores when the parades are on.

Peep, yes it was. I went on the week they were transforming from 15th year celebrations to mickeys magical party. For example on monday they'd stuck up a huge gaudy gold thing on the front of the castle, which was taken down on tuesday and replaced back on friday (pictures in the next section) The show was a bit too hyper and 'eurotrash dancing' for my liking, as was the weird stitch dance show in discoveryland, but i spose they're designed for kids not 20 year old males lol.
 

marc

CF Legend
The making of Disneyland Paris DVD said different Peep. Infact it was the making of Euro Disney. I am not sure if anything has been added since then? But if they are saying its bigger I bet now they count all that land after the lake of BTM where there is nothing other than the train track.

I know wikipedia says different. 140 for Paris 104 for Orlando, so yes you are right.

It gave reasons for the arcades and the size of the park. I think its 1/4 smaller so yeah me saying half the size was wrong.

I agree that the lands are close but I felt they just sort of become one land and thats something Walt would have not liked. But the walk from Discovery Land to Fantasy Land is bad, there is like nothing there.

Out of the 3 parks I have been to Paris is the weakest. And for the reasons you gave that it lacks atmosphere.

Anyway sorry about that in you trip report.

Glad you had a good time and its a shame about how people behave other there, I fully understand what you mean. The worst we saw was for Stitch.
 

Mark

Strata Poster
Indeed Marc, we are all too used to the attitudes of the people in the park. It really brings down the general atmosphere and I also think that the American Disney parks all buy into the Disney Ethos a lot better.

Glad you enjoyed it besides the obvious though!
 

Crazycoaster

Giga Poster
Part Two – Sleeping Beauty Castle & La Taniere Du Dragon.



S7301879-1.jpg

Frenchy frenchy. Ooh la la.

S7301829-1.jpg

Definitely my favourite of all the Disney castles, mainly due to the fact it looks like it was ripped out straight from the pages of a fairy tale.

S7301874-1.jpg

Its set on a hillside which is good cuz of stuff or something.

S7301876-1.jpg

Everything of this castle screams gorgeous.

S7301878-1.jpg

HELLO WINDOW I SEE YOU.

S7301880-1.jpg

Apparently this one has the most elaborate interior, which is cool. Probably.

S7302428-1.jpg

Inside the castle you can take a tour which tells the story of Sleeping Beauty, much like the Californian one.

S7301882-1.jpg

Preeettty.

S7302429-1.jpg

Random glowey stone for no apparent reason.

S7302432-1.jpg

They tell some sort of famous story of something.. I dunno.

S7302430-1.jpg

Preeetty windows *sparkly anime eyes*

S7302431-1.jpg

Aaand again just for fun.

S7302433-1.jpg

If ever you get here, watch this window for a short while and see if you can see anything magic happen.

S7302437-1.jpg

This wheel was really disappointing IMO. At risk of sounding ridiculously sad, I don’t think it really fits in, The whole of the castle was done up immaculately, and then they go and add a fake looking plastic spindle. Thumbs down!

S7302442-1.jpg

In the film, Aurora acts all nice to the woodland creatures but really she evil and just wanted to turn the poor animals into castle decoration.

S7302445-1.jpg

More pink castle.

S7302446-1.jpg

Looking up!

S7301887-1.jpg

Castle Butt.

S7301954-1.jpg

Underneath the castle is another walk through area 'La Taniere Du Dragon.'

S7301955-1.jpg

Inside rests Maleficent trapped as a dragon. She moves about a bit every now and then. Its entertaining.

S7301958-1.jpg

One of my truly awful attempts at dark shooting. But it gives you a jist of the lighting.

S7301877-1.jpg

The setting of the well is much more idyllic here compared to floridas.

S7301911-1.jpg

It’s the well and me. Well and I? Me and the well? Whatev.

S7301910-1.jpg

HELLO CASTLE I STILL SEE YOU!

S7301912-1.jpg

More reasons why Paris’s castle owns. Now for some extra random shots I have of the castle:

S7302478-1.jpg

OMG SPACE MOUNTAIN IS GUNNA BLOW UP THE CASTLE *DUM DUM DUM*

S7302258-1.jpg

Strange rituals to the mouse god are performed daily.

S7302504-1.jpg

Aand finally, heres a shot of the castle with the HIDEOUS Mickeys celebration of stuffs er.. thing? I personally hate the look of it, it looks far too plastic-y and out of place. Although I don’t really understand this whole celebration thing they’re doing this year

Next up will probably be Frontierland I suppose.
 

Screaming Coasters

Strata Poster
southend_marc said:
Better flow from one land to the next? Its half the size of the Orlando one so all the lands are on top of each other.

Actually you're wrong.

Disneyland Paris' Magic Kingdom is the biggest of all Magic Kingdoms around the world.

Just thought I'd throw that fact in ;)

Edit - I should have read we established this one lol.
 

marc

CF Legend
Cool pictures, the park is so nice in the sun :)

Yes Erol lol, biggest amount of land but not used to its full look it up on google how much is actually used for attractions. Out of 140 acres only 75 is used for attractions, god knows why they done that maybe future growth?

It the biggest smallest park lol.
 

Ben

CF Legend
I much prefer it to Florida's Magic Kingdom, which I thought was a bit too 70s and crappy *shrug*

Plus, Paris is beyond gorgeous. See: castle pictures.
 

marc

CF Legend
Yes the castle is stunning easily the best one out the lot, as is the Space Mountain building.

Being there when the sun was out was a big plus, before last October I had only ever seen it in the rain lol.

I prefer Disneyland main park in California to Orlando anyway, apart from the castle lol. As you say Orlando's Magic Kingdom is showing its age for some reason California is not.

Paris one is my 2nd favorite.
 

Nemesis Inferno

Strata Poster
I didn't like California's Disneyland... Felt that some of the paths were way too compact, particularly in Adventureland...

Paris has some of the best theming, all it needs is a couple of water-based classics (Splash Mountain and Jungle Cruise are two that could be good additions) as long as it is to the same level of detail the rest of the park has...

As Ben said, the Space Mountain building is definitely the best one there...
 

Crazycoaster

Giga Poster
Ben said:
I much prefer it to Florida's Magic Kingdom, which I thought was a bit too 70s and crappy *shrug*

Plus, Paris is beyond gorgeous. See: castle pictures.

I agree. I found that the big thing that really appealed to me about Paris is that you could spend atleast a whole day just taking in the landscape. I went there once before when I was younger and completely missed out Adventure Isle, which you could spend atleast an hour exploring due to the intricate riddle of caves.

southend_marc said:
Out of 140 acres only 75 is used for attractions, god knows why they done that maybe future growth?

It the biggest smallest park lol.

This is REALLY noticeable on the train, especially towards the back of adventureland, where they have huge open fields.

But I think its a positive, because while DLP is the largest, it still retains the close together charm of Anaheim which Florida lacks. And all that space has huge potential for Paris to make huge new rides. We can dream though..
 

marc

CF Legend
We do have to remember that Euro Disney built the park, well the people who were involved in that. Had it been a full Disney project that land would probably not be as it is now, Disney only actually own 39.78% of DLP.

But then again had this been a fully Disney project Space Mountain probably would be like the others.

I also think had they gone for English and not French they could have built the Jungle Cruise and other well known older attractions. I dunno I alway feel Adventure Land and Frontier Land are half finished with not much there. There is nothing between BTM and Indiana Jones, to me more wasted land.
 

Crazycoaster

Giga Poster
Part 3 – Frontierland

S7301919.jpg

Outside the front entrance of Frontierland is a small Teepee Village which is mood setting and all that.

S7301918.jpg

At the entrance they have a large fort structure. Disneyland Paris does not have the Tom Sawyer Island, so the fort was placed here instead.

S7301920.jpg

Fort fort fort.

S7301951.jpg

Normally this is somewhat of a walkthrough. BUT YOU WERE CLOSED >=(

S7301922.jpg

Welcome to Thunder Mesa.

S7301923.jpg

Thunder Mesa is the name of the ‘town’ portrayed in frontierland. Its all very mine-y and stuffs.

S7301950.jpg

See.

S7301926.jpg

Yee-haw cowboy.

S7301932.jpg

All saloony.

S7302715.jpg

Home to the Mark Twain and Molly Brown steamboats that travel around the rivers of the Far West.

S7301949.jpg

Yep. They go along there all boat like.

S7301928.jpg

Towards the back of Thunder Mesa, the architecture turns much more Mexican, but the two main sections of the town fit seamlessly together.

S7301929.jpg

Heres a picture of a building. Enjoy.

S7301931.jpg

These are toilets, interesting no?

S7301921.jpg

Instead of Tom Sawyer Island, Paris has Thunder Mesa; they incorporated BTMR into an island which it travels to and from underground.

S7301943.jpg

The rockworks all like ‘LOOK AT MY GREAT BIG HOLE’.

S7301924.jpg

I took this picture because I didn’t think anyone would ever have seen a shot from this angle before.

S7301927.jpg

The main attraction in Frontierland, which seems to be the most popular ride in the park, is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Definitely a MUCH better version of the ride to Florida. Especially the final tunnel section.

S7302606.jpg

It goes Whizzzz.

S7302608.jpg

And zooom.

S7302609.jpg

And sploosh. And all other sorts of wonderful noises.

S7302612.jpg

It has track. I’ve heard that’s quite important for coasters these days.

S7302610.jpg

AND IT HAS DONKEYS. Which is important ya'know.

S7302617.jpg

Dunno what the heck is going on with my hair here..

S7302096.jpg

The trains are preeetty.

S7302713.jpg

The other main attraction is Phantom Manor.

S7302093.jpg

This Disney ghost house has definitely got the best back story, as it plays in with the rest of the town. Or so Im told, I don’t speak enough French to understand what the guy was saying in the pre-ride warm up sections. Gutted for me.

S7302094.jpg

Theming in the garden of Phantom Manor.

S7301948.jpg

Definatley a much spookier looking house compared to florida. The ride seems to have been a much more serious, less comical ghost house.

S7301947.jpg

The house has a superb view of the Mesa.

S7301945.jpg

Phantom Manor THROUGH THE TREES. The ride exit spews you out into a graveyard which shows signs of an earthquake. This very earthquake killed the owners of the Manor, Henry and Martha Ravenswood.

S7301944.jpg

Random Grave thing.

S7302619.jpg

They also have the River Rogue Keelboats. Which are only open ‘in season’, which confused me. The parks open all year, so surely it always IS in season?! Gaaaah.

S7302525.jpg

And towards the back of frontierland is Cottonwood Creek Ranch, which is a farm with a bbq place and what i can assume 'used' to be critter coral? This part of frontierland definitely seems like filler material, just waiting to be torn down and turned into a splash mountain.

S7302524.jpg

This picture isnt blurry, this is what france really looks like. Its got a condition yep.

S7302521.jpg

It said this was an attraction of sorts, I think it used to be a petting farm which is now used to for character meets.

S7302515.jpg

Heres a couple of shots from the train. Choo choo and all.

S7302518.jpg

Chugga Chugga.

S7302520.jpg

Traain station. This station was modeled after the original Frontierland station off of California, which got retired when they built the New Orleans station.

Now I leave on a random rant about Disneyland Railroad here, SERIOUSLY WTF Eurodisney?! 45 minute queues on a dead day?! This is one operation where florida seems MUCH better organized, it took ages for Paris’s ONE train in operation to circle the park because the operators proper faffed about loading and unloading and basically squeezing everyone in together as tightly as possible.
 

peep

CF Legend
Your photos are awesomes.

I love how Frontierland has a massive back story. I'll try and remember what I can...That earthquake you mentioned, well you actually experience that on BTM. BTM travels through the mines in Thunder Mesa which Henry Ravenswood owns. He lives in, what is now, Phantom Manor. I forget the Phantom story but its highly detailed and imo the ride doesn't really tell it fully (I've read an English translation somewhere). Some of the gravestones outside Phantom also have mini stories about the mines etc but I can't remember them either :p
 

Crazycoaster

Giga Poster
The story is something along the lines of Henry's daughter melanie got engaged to a local miner, which henry was greatly against. Before he could act tho he and his wife were killed in the earthquake. What is said to have happened is that Henry came back as the phantom and killed the groom to be (he is the hanging man in the stretch room scene) and so Melanie spent the rest of her life and death trapped inside the manor.

I believe thats the story anyway.
 

Crazycoaster

Giga Poster
Part 4 – Adventureland


Adventureland is to the top left hand side of Disneyland Park, unlike its sister parks in cali, Orlando and Tokyo, where Adventureland is located to the bottom left. Im not sure why it was changed round, but I do know that the location for the original Adventureland is located in its spot because of a row of large Eucalyptus trees which were found on the original site. They figured the trees would make a perfect background to City hall, and also to create a barrier from the jungles to ‘civilization’ on Main Street;

Disneyland%20Postcard.jpg

Hong Kong Disney is a bit different, as it doesn’t contain a Frontierland yet.



S7302603-1.jpg

YAY! From Frontierland you come into this entrance to Adventureland. There are 4 in total, an Arabian one and a Jungle-y one from the Hub, and then one from Frontierland and one from Fantasyland.

S7302046-1.jpg

In the background you can see Indiana Jones. I couldn’t work out whether I liked this ride or not.

S7302034-1.jpg

Well I like that it had 5 minute queues!

S7302037-1.jpg

And the theming is pretty swish.

S7302040-1.jpg

Haaarrr Im a snaaaake!!!!!

S7302041.jpg

The ride lacks somewhat though..

S7302042-1.jpg

Lots of people don’t realize it goes upside down. Stupid people.

S7302043-1.jpg

It has a station, which is convenient, cuz it means you can get on and off it.

S7302602-1.jpg

To the left of Indy, you can see the Pizza Outpost. This used to be a full service restaurant, but they figured out pretty quickly that visitors don’t want to spend their day in a restaurant and changed it to a pizza servery.

S7302025-1.jpg

Infront of you is the ‘Tree of Life’, the famous landmark from Animal Kingdom.

S7302028-1.jpg

To the right is a small section of random Africa for some apparent reason.

S7302050-1.jpg

Africa then turns into Arabia.

S7302500-1.jpg

It has theming and stuff.

S7302499-1.jpg

It also has a walkthrough attraction about Aladdin. WHICH WAS CLOSED >=( This isn’t a picture of that either. I just thought I’d tell you cuz I couldn’t think of any captions.

S7302053-1.jpg

More random theming.

S7302048-1.jpg

Aaannd one more time.

S7302022-1.jpg

In the centre of Adventureland is an Island. Or Isle. Whats the difference? *Shrugs*

S7302027-1.jpg

It has the Tree of Life! Yaaay for the Tree of Life.

S7302385-1.jpg

Danny was fascinated by all the different types of lamp they had. Really he was. He is very cool.

S7302466-1.jpg

That’s how you spell Tree of Life in French apparently. ‘La Cabane Des Robinson’

S7302471-1.jpg

Waaaterwheeel. God I’m awful at captions.

S7302380.jpg

Treeeeehouuse.

S7302480-1.jpg

This is me.. Posing like a bellhat.

S7302483.jpg

A b’loon. Yay for B’loons.

S7302484-1.jpg

OMG! The tree of life ISNT REAL?! =O WHAA.

S7302487-1.jpg

This version of the Tree of Life is less Tree of life, more treehouse. Weird huh?

S7302492.jpg

Adventure Isle is pretty err… Pretty!

S7302600-1.jpg

Its all like.. Yaarr I have waterfalls and rocks and caves and.. things..

S7302045-1.jpg
See. It does. Rocks.

S7302044-1.jpg

And bridges.

S7302497-1.jpg

Much like the tree of life has that weird show about Bugs Life in AK, this one has caves. Its not really much like it at all is it..

S7302030.jpg

More tree.

S7302465-1.jpg

After exploring plenty of caves and stuff you can go up high, yay.

S7302373-1.jpg

And go across a rickety bridge! How lucky.

S7302379-1.jpg

Whaaaat caan heee seeeeee… In the paaralleeell dimentiooooon?!

S7302376.jpg

It even has a shipwreck.

S7302353-1.jpg

Grrr IM SCARY CAVE EYES GIVE ME YOUR CHILDREN.

S7302375.jpg

It has Hooks boat too.

S7302047-1.jpg

boat boat boat.

S7302356-1.jpg

Florida doesn’t tho. Gutted florida.

S7302023-1.jpg

It also makes a funking awesome tie in to PotC and makes the area much more pirateee.

S7302601-1.jpg

BYE ADVENTURE ISLE WE MISS YOUU.

S7302009-1.jpg

Not really sure what happened to the sign, but its ripped slightly. I wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be like that?

S7302008-1.jpg

WE STILL SEE YOU ISLE

S7302018.jpg

Skull rock. IN BAD LIGHTING WOOO.

S7302012.jpg

This version is themed like a Spanish Fortified Port. Heh, a Fortport.

S7302699-1.jpg

I took some random, terrible pictures of the inside. Like this one.

S7302701-1.jpg

This ones pretty bad too.

S7302706-3.jpg

I took this with flash and didn’t even realize there was this big massive building cuz you couldn’t really see it. Well done Disney, they make amazing theming then hide it away…

S7302707-2.jpg

This is looking down the lifthill. Im not sure about the Cali or Tokyo versions, but Orlando doesn’t have one of these. The boats just magic back to the loading station. I bet its pixies that do it.

S7302014-1.jpg

Heres su’more outside for ya.

S7302711-2.jpg

And finally LOL at our terribly taken cheapo POV shot.

Next up, Fantasyland!
 

peep

CF Legend
Once again, nice photos.

Are you making a joke about it being called tree of life? You do realise that it is actually the Family Robinson treehouse? Confused :?
 

Mark

Strata Poster
peep said:
Your photos are awesomes.

I love how Frontierland has a massive back story. I'll try and remember what I can...That earthquake you mentioned, well you actually experience that on BTM. BTM travels through the mines in Thunder Mesa which Henry Ravenswood owns. He lives in, what is now, Phantom Manor. I forget the Phantom story but its highly detailed and imo the ride doesn't really tell it fully (I've read an English translation somewhere). Some of the gravestones outside Phantom also have mini stories about the mines etc but I can't remember them either :p

Being a huge Disney Fan (but more knowledge currently based on the US Parks) I would definately like to learn more about the varying back stories and so on. Any chance you can actually cite some references for me to read up from please...
 
Top