Family_Furie take on DLRP

[furie]

Last year we planned on going to Europa Park for 40th-birthday-of_furie. It took a lot of arguing and convincing to make it Europa instead of Disney. The park is a better family park in terms of attractions, it's quieter, more efficient and still gorgeous.

However, the boiler broke, so we had to downscale from Europa Park to Scarborough, where Madame_Furie wanted to go.

This year it was decided - as Madame_Furie had only gone to Cannock for her 40th birthday - that she would get to pick the holiday destination this year. So she chose DLRP :roll: :lol:

I suggested Florida, but she likes France. I also suggested Scarborough, but apparently that's a **** place to have a 40th birthday holiday

We've been to DLRP twice, back in 2001 and 2004. The second time the Studio Park had only just opened, but there's been a lot added there since. The main park has just gained the Buzz Lightyear ride.

So, it was time to see if the stunning park of 2004 had degraded as much as was promised, and is the Studio Park as awful as people seem to think...

Obligatory shot in front of the entrance of Step-Sister-In-Law_Furie and Maxi-Minor_Furie. It looks good. It's a little weathered, but it's sparkly and exciting. MMF is beside himself with excitement by this point.

I wish I'd made a note of what time we arrived*, but it was early afternoon, sunny and exciting!

The hotel still looks lovely. Everything looks good so far... The only real disappointment is the baggage check area between the station and the village/entrances. Still - if it keeps out the riff raff....

Equally as obligatory shot in front of the castle. The park was busy, really busy. Okay it's a bank holiday and we were expecting it, but it heaved and heaved...

I love the complexity of the castle, the complexity of the theming as a whole. It's superb and I can't see why everyone complains so much about the park?

I always head to Frontierland first, because I love it. The scale of Big Thunder Mountain and Phantom Manor up on the hill side. The entire area is great.

Winnie the Pooh makes Phantom Manor much scarier!

We grabbed Phantom Manor as it only had a five minute queue. Everything else was 60 minutes plus. I thought it was a bit naff. I remember it being really good, but for some reason I was massively disappointed. It's really plastic and "meh". Lots of dead spaces (harhar) and not much going on. A couple of highlights don't really make up for the entire thing. I'll come back to this later

I loved the Spring Time displays in the centre area in front of the castle. It's this kind of thing that really sets the park apart from others I've been too. There's such a lot of effort.

Important things though, meeting up with Sister-of-madame_furie, nephew-three-of-Madame_Furie and fiance-of-sister-of-Madame_furie and.... COASTER FIFTY FOR MMF!

I loved the original Space Mountain. Not so much for the ride, but for the whole experience. I loved the entire theme and the way the ride worked so well with the music and images. It was a brilliant ride, with a mediocre coaster.

MMF is trying not to show that he's pooing himself in terror at the ride. It looks big and loud and potentially scary. I spent half the (40 minute by now - phew) queue calming him down. Fortunately you rush through the indoor bit once they've let you into the building.

Oh look - I see head banging in my future...

I found the ride surprisingly smooth for a looping Vekoma. I didn't get battered at all - it was fine. Awful though - what have done to the brilliant ride experience??? Why make such a devastating change to the ride? A ride that was a work of art to this travesty? Dreadful.

MMF loved it, really, really enjoyed it. He wasn't keen when I told him he'd inverted as he's terrified of doing inversions. That's got that out of the way anyway, as the inversions were his favourite bit. He also didn't get too bashed about.

SSIL_Furie did however and came of complaining that if she wasn't already deaf, she would have been after the battering her ears had just undergone.

We met up with the extended family who were half an hour ahead of of us on Space Mountain. They all hated the ride and had got properly beaten up by it. Haha! Smug!

We then headed for Star Tours and allowed the entire queue thing to sink in. It's horrendous the sheer amount of queueing. I was expecting it, but even so, it was bad. Again, I'll cover that more as we go through the week.

This looks rubbish now that Eva's bush has grown out. It feels very 70's.

I should have taken more care of my shot of the X-Wing, but I was tired and looking at an hour queue for Star Tours...

IT'S A TRAP!

Lots of Star Tours photos, as we had a lot of time to take them...

"I'm bored! Do a Jarrett!!!"

Tired now and hungry after 4 hours in the park and three rides, we hit Rainforest Cafe for dinner. MMF loves visiting his real father there:

I was now feeling like DLRP was draining my time, my energy and definitely my money. Yet there's still something about the place that kind of drags you in. I had a long conversation with FOSOM_Furie about how DLRP is pretty much all kids rides and it's a miserable place for adults.

On the way back into the main park, we stopped off at the Town Hall to see what they could do for SSIL_Furie, as she's got problems standing for long periods and falls over in dark queues. She got a disabled pass to go on rides via the exit. I love coming in the exit, so I was happy with this.

We tried it first on Buzz Lightyear thingy ma doodab

We went through the exit and to the station, to be turned around by the ride op who frog marched us back to a gate we'd passed through, checked the card SSIL_Furie was holding and then frog marched us back to the station.

This was very common we discovered. The disabled access is hidden near the exit and barriered off. You are supposed to wait until some kind of psychic signal alerts a ride op to come down to see if there's somebody there and then they bring you to the ride after filling out what looks like a game of disability lottery on a card on a clipboard. It worked well on some rides, but others you would just stand there for five minutes, then have to go and get shouted at by a ride op to get back. Then the op would come and attend to you and be all polite. It's a very odd system, but better than massive queues

I love Discoveryland in the dark, Orbitron especially

It's so funky and Steam Punk!

Autopia doesn't run in the dark, but it looks fab!

We finished the day with a slightly side on view of Disney Dreams. It looked superb, but a bit wonky. It's a brilliant idea though and it really finished the day off.

Here's the castle just before the show started:

And that was it for Day 1! We slunk back to the hotel (Cheyenne) to collect our bags and bed down for the night. Slightly underwhelming first day to be honest, but there was a lot of promise too.

Day 2 involves mostly the Studios park... I'll write that when I get a chance.


*

 

[peep]

When the hell did MMF grow up?

I've been looking forward to this report, can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip.

 

[furie]

You're either getting old John, or the world has shrunk...

 

[nealbie]

At this rate of growth even I won't be safe for very long!

 

[Smithy]

haha aye pictures of mmf making me feel really old now too.

Disney is such an odd one for me to place, I've got next to no desire to go for reasons you've gone into about it not seeming like a place for adults, and I've never really been into most Disney films. Girlfriend on the other hand was brought up on Disney so I know she'd love every last bit of it.

I just fear that I'd come away feeling underwhelmed as I wouldn't appreciate what makes it 'special' for so many people.

 

[maxi-minor_furie]

Day 1 ride reviews!

Phantom Manor
It's like Duel, only without the things to shoot at, and everyone was speaking funny. No spiders either, but the cars playing themselves was fab. 9/10

Space Mountain
How do you fit the infinite expanse of space into a mountain? It's nonsense. It was like the time my Dad put me in the tumble drier because I got wet. Only with people speaking funny. I LOVED IT! 10/10

Star Tours
It was like the simulator thing they have in town at Christmas, only more Star Wars and with people speaking funny. 8/10

Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast
It was like Duel, only without the monsters. You shot things and it was very bright. Everybody spoke funny - 9/10

We also queued for Orbitron, but was spited by nephew-of-mother-of_me having to leave to get a train. So I watched Dreams, which was like the Fireworks in town at Christmas, only with people speaking funny.

 

[marc]

It's a strange one tbh and I know what you all mean.

The first time I went to Orlando I could not wait to get out the mk I hated it. Rides were all for kids etc.

For some reason this changed the 2nd visit. It really depends who you go with, 1st time I was with mates all 20 year olds looking for the big rides. 2nd time I new what to expect so took it for what it was.

California and Orlando I feel like a big kid I really leave everything outside the gates and just forget about everything.

Dlp does not have that affect and I don't know why, never been able to put my finger on it.

I still like the parks though.

Great report so far . Was looking forward to this as it will be from a none Disney fan boy and from someone who went with family.

 

[Ian]

I'm enjoying reading this because a) it's a furie_report and b) it's from a family perspective, who Disney are aimed at, not 20-something year olds who should know better!

 

[Jordanovichy]

^Yeah, it's great to read a trip from a family point of view rather than a solo trip or an adult friend group. Great report Furie and MMF. Looking forward to part 2!

 

[bob_3_]

I went to DLP for the first time a few weeks ago! God knows why I waited till I was 24 to go... I don't think I spoke to anyone for an hour or so after entering the park. I found it alot to take in.

I kinda dreaded it as I hate sugary-sweet-happy things, but weirdly I was totally engrossed in the whole thing! I fell in love with Thunder Mountain. I was singing along to almost every disney tune that popped up and one of the highlights was running around the bridges and caves in Adventureland and just exploring.

I also found myself getting all nostalgic over Pirates and that Blue Lagoon restaurant. I've pretty much been brought up on Monkey Island, and I could see how must influence the ride had the game's creators (yes I know not specifically the paris version..but hey), something about it just turned on the kid in me.

I literally turned into a child and I think I've been converted =/.

 

[furie]

Bob_3, I'm going to do a subtle kind of assessment as I go through the reports, but I'll do a summary which I'll use to directly answer yours (and other's) comments

Day 2
We had a lie in until about 8:30 (wasting our "magic hours" because we had the spacker band) and went in for the all you can [strike]steal[/strike] eat breakfast. It's pretty "meh", but you can stuff your [strike]bags[/strike] self silly and not have to [strike]buy[/strike] eat lunch.

Before we left the UK, I'd found Minor_Furie's autograph book from 2004 and as I'm tight as a gnat's chuff, I gave it to MMF to fill in when we got there (€8 saved - thank you). He loved the idea of meeting characters and doing a "gotta get 'em all" hunt for the sig creds. I cheekily asked Jack Skellington for one as he wouldn't be on the park - which (until day 4) was the highlight of the trip for MMF - Jack sent it to me on Facebook.

Pluto was in the lobby...

... But left before we reached the front of the queue. So we ended up with Goofy.

It was here I discovered the wonderful joy of trying to guess when the character "handler/bouncer" would lose his rag with the impatient, pushy, obnoxious goits that push and shove and rush in through the exit area to meet the characters.

It's usually about four minutes before their plastic smile fades, and seven minutes before they're yelling in several languages to WAIT!

The bar has saddle seats. MMF was impressed

I also liked the hotels kind of abandoned, derelict Western theme. It was like it had been built 20 years ago and left to rot...

I imagine it looked stunning originally, but it's a bit faded and potholed now. They had horses you could ride up the main street though (upcharge) which I thought was a really nice touch. Actually, there are a huge number of nice touches, and so much detail... Hmmmm...

First photo and autograph down though, breakfast [strike]stolen[/strike] eaten and it's off for our first full day in the park - this time, Studios!

Of course, this is family_furie we're talking about, and they've spotted...

UPCHARGE FAFF!!!

I refused. They didn't. MMF took photos of the Earl of Sandwich and balloon ropes. also this shot of the New York hotel and Cheyenne sprawling behind it (and some car parks).

Now of course, we'd spent so long getting from breakfast to this point that we needed a toilet break. So approximately two hours after leaving for breakfast, we got to the studios park - we were meeting SOMF, FOSOMF and NTOMF at 10:00... So only half an hour late, that means there was time to go shopping :roll:

To be fair, the shopping was for this awesome Zero toy:

So the faff can be forgiven, especially as the others weren't responding to my text saying we were finally in the park.

By 11:00, we were through to the main area:

Now, I know the Studios Park gets a lot of stick, but I actually really like it. I like the art deco style to it, that 1920's/30's feel.

I also really like the Tower of Terror here that matches. It's my first time seeing one in the flesh and it looks impressive. I love the scale of the ride and the effort that's gone into making the entire area work.

I wanted to get FLying Carpets and Crush out of the way, so we headed right and you see the problem with the park. It's small so the theme clashes. The images above are 10 yards from the two below:

It's all individually lovely, but it intrudes and removes the sense of disbelief you get on entering the park.

The horrid blue fence around Flying Carpets ruins it even more. I don't know if Crush would look good in a "studio" way without it, but it looks awful with the Flying Carpets boarded off.

I couldn't remember people saying it would be closed, but whatever, it's just Orbitron/Dumbo anyway.

I was a little worried about Crush. I hated Spinning Killertron at Camelot (the same layout) and MMF hated Sonic Spinball. Before the trip though we'd talked with MMF and agreed that as this was a big trip and probably the only one he'd go on, that he should try everything. So we headed for the disabled entrance (and went in, then got frog marched back out...)

I like the way you have the pre-lift section outside, it's cool seeing worried looking kids white knuckling before the ride even starts.

We got to queue inside, and Madame_Furie was realising that after being up on your feet for three and a half hours and doing nothing was tiring:

We were shoved onto the ride within about ten minutes (as opposed to the 90 minute main queue).

I enjoyed the ride a bit. I think like most rides, being in the dark adds something, but the effects and scenery seems little and far between. A bit up the lift hill and then not a great deal else. It seemed a bit of a wasted opportunity to be honest. It wasn't rough though, which was nice. I'd have liked to have gone on it again to cement my opinion, but I was ready to die by the end of the day and walked around taking park guide photos instead.

Heading to Toy Story Playland, we spotted Buzz and Mickey doing the autograph thing. It was about a 45 minute queue for Mickey and 20 for Buzz. So SSIL_F and MMF got in the Buzz queue with me:

While Madame_Furie obnoxiously saved us a queue place for Mickey:

Despite the queues, I was really, really impressed with the time the characters were willing to put in with the kids visiting them. It never felt rushed, or anything. It was a little pocket of attention for the kids after all the queueing and it was excellent. All the on-park characters were the same, it's really great and it shows in how happy all the kids came away. Good work.

Toy Story Playland next then. This is a place I was excited about and had been since I saw it announced. I love finally getting somewhere that you followed construction of. I was a little worried though as I secretly adore Toy Story and I'd heard bad things about the area.

The giant (talking) statue is a good start.

Then it all goes wrong...

I love the detail to the theme. The Brio bench is my favourite:

But no photos can really explain just what a tight, bottlenecked, crowded, dead end this is. It's just the three rides lumped in a small space. It's almost rancid. It reminds me of Dark Forest at Alton, only really well themed.

The other end of the family was apparently just arriving (somebody tardier than us? Wow) so we waited on the Brio bench. Then got bored and did the rides.

The Rat Dopers was "interesting", a bit of willy lift, bu not worth the 65 minute queue we didn't wait for.

We queue skipped the Arsey ride, which didn't take long (I think two cycles) with the disabled card.

I was amazed that a ride that only went in a straight line could rattle so much! It was good fun, but was a bit Thorpe Park and stopped just as it was getting fun. It's no Rush, but it's good.

We faffed for photos around Rex... There was a French bint with three kids there though. You had a queue of people waiting for photos with Rex, and she was just letting her kids clamber over the statue and stuff. They had no intention of leaving, so her kids are now on the internet forever...

... Probably on a dozen people's photos.

The other side of the family had finally arrived (they'd done the Tram Poor apparently while we were sitting waiting for them :roll: ) and wanted to go on everything we'd already done. We let them have Slinky Dog.

I was amazed by the size of the ride. It looks tiny in photos, but it's really enormous. In the panoramic photo I took, I tried to convey the size, plus how crowded and nasty Playland is:

Having gathered everyone together, I was desperate to go on Tower of Terror. All I've heard for years is how it's one of the best rides ever and one of the greatest drop rides. So much to go wrong as it can't live up to the hype and I hate vertical airtime. So I really need to get on this thing and get the disappointment over and done with.

So we need to stop for the toilet. Then for a drink. Then somebody else needs the toilet. Then the parade starts... Lots of photos of the parade incoming:

Good start.

Turd

Okay...

Really??? I never expected him! Awesome!

OMG - Stitch!!!

Everywhere needs more Stitch!!! (see day 4).

Their plastic smiles and cold dead eyes scare me...

I'm not keen on Ratatouille, but the characters are excellent.

Ooooh, baddies

Does anybody actually like Donald Duck? Miserable Ducker!

So wahay! I grab everyone to get to the Tower, but there's some delay... We literally ar estood outside the entrance of the ride for five minutes doing nothing... I have no idea why.

The parade finishes and everyone heads out to Tower of Terror turning the five minute queue into a 25 minute queue. Sigh.

SSIL_Furie is moaning that she wants to queue skip, but I know this is a ride where you need to be immersed by the entire queue and pre-ride section. So she's miserable about queueing. Everyone else is miserable about queueing. I'm miserable because we would have to if people could all do things simultaneously - like go to the toilet and buy drinks all at the same time...

Ah well :lol:

I'm actually almost excited. I love the look of the ride and while trepidation is there about disappointment, I can't wait to see more.

The lobby area is very cool. It's got that magic way Disney manage to suspend disbelief, yet it's still a functional queue line.

By the entrance doors, nobody is quite sure what to expect (yes they are sure, we've seen the ride from the outside ).

What I wasn't expecting? It to be any good. It was amazing. The ride continues to suspend disbelief. It never hides behind the fact it's false, which gives it an air of authenticity. The ride sequence is perfectly paced (without spoiling), leading you in and then working you brilliantly. The actual ride itself is superb fun and stops after the perfect amount of time. Probably the most "perfect" ride I've ever been on. It easily takes Hex's crown as a holistic ride experience. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! Even FOSOMF is smiling! He's smiled twice today actually.

Group photo:

I'm looking at the ground as I have lots of bags I've been burdened with. It's a recurring theme of on-ride photos this week.

We split up for a bit while I took SSIL_Furie, MMF and FOSOMF to Rock'n'Rollercoaster. The others didn't want to do it after their bad experience with Space Mountain.

It was closed. We were sad. I wasn't sad, I think it's a POS. It opened just as we were going to ask when it would open. I was sad.

We got on the first train and near the front. I've only done the back before, so at least it would be a little different. The launch is more powerful than I remember, but still nothing great. In the breakdown, somebody must have turned out the lights inside, so it was pitch black. It was actually really good in completely darkness. Well, the first half of the ride, then the rest was almost as boring as ever. I was looking after the bag...

FOSOMF screamed for the first half. MMF screamed the entire ride. He then got off and went "Can we go again???" So he did. They did. I didn't - it wasn't that good.

We met up for ice-cream and faff outside and then all did Armageddon. I don't know why. It's rubbish. We all thought so. Have a boring photo of a boring attraction

STUNT SHOW!!!

I really enjoyed the Stunt Show the last time I was here. It was amusing, tight and exciting. It's now been ruined by a huge red turd

The show doesn't flow any more, it's awkward and it started to rain. Much disappointment.

We decided to call it a day at the Studios, as both kids wanted to go on Buzz Lightyear again and we needed food.

It was absolutely chucking it down, but I needed to head back to the hotel for Madame_furie's medication (she needs it to stay living with me).

So the idea was the others found somewhere to eat and then I'd meet them. I walked back to the hotel, got the medicine, back to the Village and called to find out where they were. They were still in the studio park having failed to move 15 feet in 25 minutes. You can't make this stuff up!

We headed into the main park, and tried restaurant after restaurant. Full, closed, closed, closed, crap but open for 45 minutes. All the while we were getting rained on and were cold and miserable with aching feet from faff related illnesses.

It's quite scary when you look at a menu and think "13€? That's cheap!" Disney is a drain on your time, energy and pocket for sure. Still, the food was substantial, tasty and almost worth it.

There was a fab rainbow over Gay Mountain as we headed back to Futurelandthing.

Everyone rushed on to Buzz Lightyear (but me, who required strong painkillers and a bath more than a ride), then they rushed on to Orbitron and SSIL_Furie, MMF and FOSOMF rushed on to Space Mountain - all with big grins on their faces.

The change over the day from the previous day was incredible. We were all tired and aching, irked by lack of food places, but still smiling and getting into the mood of the thing.

Everyone else watched Dreams from the disabled spot while I slunk off to the hotel for said painkillers and bath. There wasn't a bath plug though - denied

Apparently Dreams is absolutely stunning from the front - hurrah

Late night and tomorrow was an early morning too as we'd booked 7:30 breakfasts. I'll get Day 3 up as soon as I can...

 

[Jordanovichy]

this just gets fabber

I can imagine the faffing really annoys you Loving these reports

 

[maxi-minor_furie]

Day 2

Breakfast
Was like any other breakfast, only with 20,000 more people and lots of people stealing croissants. Everyone spoke funny. 9/10

Meeting Pluto
Rubbish as we didn't understand the funny speaking man and I ended up meeting Goofy instead 0/10 Goofy is rubbish.

Hot air balloon
Brilliant! I took loads of really good photos of the ropes and stuff my dad didn't seem to like. I was too high up to hear if anybody was speaking funny or not. 10/10

Buying Zero
Great. He doesn't speak! 10/10

Crush's Turtle Twist
Like Sonic at Alton Towers in the dark. Only it was actually better! I went on it twice. Fish don't talk do they? 9/10

Buzz and Mickey
Was like meeting Dora and Spongebob at Blackpool, only they didn't smell of dirty fish. Nobody talked. 10/10

Paratroopers
Great fun. It mad my willy feel funny like when I cuddled Rapunzel on day 3. The speaking was all normal! Hurrah! 10/10

RC Racer
Like the Pirate Ship at Drayton Manor. It was lots of fun. We skipped the queue and afterwards my Dad shouted at some silly woman speaking funny who was letting her kids climb on Rex so nobody could get a photo. 10/10 for RC, 0/10 for silly woman.

Slinky
Good fun, he barks. I understand barking. 7/10 because it was a bit boring, but it's a dog.

The parade
Good. It was like watching the parade in town at Christmas, only fewer people were being arrested which made it a bit more boring. 8/10. It had Stitch! 10/10!

Tower of Terror
Brilliant! I loved it. It was just like the bouncing thing at Twin Lakes- inside the same and everything! 10/10

Rock'n'Rollercoaster
The best ride EVER!!!!!!! 20/10! It was like when Dad crashes his car with his rubbish music on!!!

Armageddon
WTF? 1/10

Stunt Show (Yawn). Lightning McQueen (YAWN!). Person on fire? 10/10!!!

More Crush's and it's still fab. Food! NOM! 1/2 a chicken just for me? Please! Buzz is still good, Space Mountain is still great and Orbitron was circular and up and downy 8/10.

Dreams
Really good, but people speaking funny again... 10/10

Bed
0/10. SSIL_Furie snores funny too

 

[furie]

I can imagine the faffing really annoys you Loving these reports

Yeah, the faff drives me insane.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not obsessive about doing things at certain times, and being spontaneous is also important. It's just useless time lost for no good reason that irritates me. If you need the toilet, that's fine - but everyone goes at the same time. If you need a drink and the toilet, send somebody with a strong bladder to get it while you're on the loo. That kind of thing.

Otherwise you just end up missing out on so much. It doesn't need to be a rush or a race, just a constant pace. Get to where you're going, do it, move on. Shopping can wait for the last day, all the merchandise is available somewhere else, photos at the hotel, etc. Just keep on moving, standing still cripples my back and puts me in a bad mood :lol:

 

[nealbie]

Haha, totally agree furie.

Ali has fibromyalgia and can get really fatigued and lethargic (especially in cold weather) and if it wasn't for me being efficient during his physical downtime then it would drive me insane. This was most evident at Disneyland when we went before Christmas the last couple of years.

Actually, how do you go about getting a disabled exit pass thingy, we'd probably be able to get hold of one! :lol:

 

[furie]

You head into the Town Hall in Disneyland Parc and ask. They want some kind of evidence, but are really good about it.

 

[marc]

Great report on day two, same problems we had trying to get a drink and food in the main park.

Glad you enjoyed Tower, it is the whole build up that makes the ride as good as it is.

 

[ATTACKHAMMER]

Awesome report Furie! Thought everyone loved Donald Duck though, as he is the best Disney character! Tower of Terror is so awesome!

 

[furie]

Great report on day two, same problems we had trying to get a drink and food in the main park.

It's ridiculous. There are what? At least two restaurants per land? Three or four in some? Yet they closed "clusters" of them.

Glad you enjoyed Tower, it is the whole build up that makes the ride as good as it is.

Tower of Terror is so awesome!

Every piece of the ride works brilliantly. It's clearly the kind of thing John Wardley always wanted to achieve. The ride starts by simply presenting itself in such a huge fashion. It's bold, over the top in scale, beautifully crafted and you see what's coming. There are no shocks.

Then the queue and pre-show just add to it. It all draws you in and is very well executed - though not massively better than say Hex or The Haunting - but it's done with flair rather than cheese - yet it retains a sense of humour. I don't know how they managed it.

Dispatch keeps you in the right frame of mind, you're captivated still by everything to that point and the basement setting leaves you in the world. You don't believe it for a second, but you really want to.

Getting into the ride is really odd. It's obviously a ride, but it also portrays "service elevator". Again, you're always on the crux of believing in the entire thing.

When the ride starts, it's a shock. You don't expect it to do what it does on the cycle...

Spoiler

The way it moves backwards into position with the Twighlight Zone stuff going on is great. You just expect it to go up and start dropping.

Then you go up the two floors, not far and you have the wonderful skull scene. You now expect the drop and... It lowers gently. The pacing is utterly fantastic. It's so misleading. There's brilliant little show real and the Twighlight Zone thing again. Wonderful and you now know you're only one floor from where you started, so you expect to go up again for the drop.

BAM! You get the drop. It completely blindsides you, it's absolutely brilliant. It's so cleverly done.

If the drop was too harsh or too soft, then it would ruin the ride, but the floater airtime on it is sublime. It's like riding a B&M airtime machine. It's lovely and just last the right amount of time, with the right number of throws and drops. You've enjoyed it, but don't mind it ending.

Exit through a really pretty and well stocked gift shop and the experience is complete. If the ride was bad, the front end couldn't save it. The ride is absolutely enhanced by the front end though, giving you that belief in what is going on and allowing you the fantasy that you're involved. As a whole, it's just absolutely spot on, every part of it perfect.

And this is DLRP, one of the alleged worst of the Towers!

It's just a superb all round ride experience, perfectly executed. Best overall ride I've ever been on.

Awesome report Furie! Thought everyone loved Donald Duck though, as he is the best Disney character!

He's a miserable, obnoxious, angry, impulsive little git. I don't like Mickey either, he's a wet blanket, but Donald is just an arse.

 

[marc]

Tbh it's just a bit different to Orlando's, some people prefer this version and others like me prefer the whole moving through the ride. Again more of a build up.

It's small details like in Orlando you don't walk through a clearing to get in the lift, doors open it's there. It's just small things like that.

I also prefer the pre show in Orlando, the full length version.

The actual drop is meant to be more forceful on the Paris version, I did not think so.

It's just a different experience but the same lol.

I think it all depends on which version you ride first.

And yes I agree it's probably the best ride built for overall experience.

I was also lucky enough to do the original Tower of Terror and wow not shocked it was changed. The drop was amazing.