Disneyland Paris, Paris

Favorite thing: Just came back from Disney Paris.  Actually it' our second time.  This time we had nice time only because of our good spirit. The rides were extremely crowded and not everything has a fast pass. Grown ups squash us when they see me with 2 small children and take our place.  In all the corners of the park and on the green areas where we lined up for the rides you see cigarettes, papers and garbage. Bees are everywhere and they chase you to death if you have a lollipop or anything sweet in your hands.  So, imagine what happens if a bee attacks my 1.5 years old baby while eating anything sweet.  The toilets are filthy.  It looks like they are cleaned only once a day when the park closes or maybe not at all.  Peter pan ride needs maintenance as at the end of the day it feels like it's boats are going to crash.  It's not the same when you ride it in the morning.  A lot of the rides were not working and we were very disappointed.  The staff in the rides are not friendly.  Maybe they were also affected by the financial crisis? They were dull, not funny, not smiley, it's like someone has cut off their salaries and work for free and they are not happy about it.  Or maybe they feel bored doing the same thing every day??!! Even some of the characters were dull and felt like they want to get over with it like "belle" whose lips were sealed and she had that "don't come near me" all over her though we were the first ones to greet her.  Maybe she didnt speak English????  Everything is extremely expensive.  The food, the toys, the gifts.  This is supposed to be a place to have fun and it's ok to spend but all over it certainly is overpriced.  It's like you are being robbed.  Imagine if you have 2 kids and they want each a costume which are priced at 60 and45 euros, you end up spending only on the costumes 105 euros without the accessories.  Not to talk about the food cause you can somehow break your child's heart and don't get them the costumes but you can't stay without food. Generally, the park is not like it was before, it needs a lot of maintenance and cleaning. Rules and regulations across the park need to be reviewed, like some priority or rules need to be set for small children so that they don't get squashed or their places taken by inconsiderate grown ups. And generally disney's concept need to be reviewed when it comes to the staff's attitude and the prices across the park.

Favorite thing: I have been to France several times to different places.
Last time i went to the Euro Walt Disney park!
I had a fantastic time with lots of friends, stayed in the park itself in a great hotel called
The Newport Bay, a very luxury hotel, great food and on walking distance from the attractions:-)

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Fondest memory: Transportation to Walt Disney- Paris

Favorite thing: Hotels:
Part of the Disney Park is opened for two hours each day only for those staying at these hotels and parking is free. Otherwise you will only go to your hotel to sleep and couldstay offsite cheaper. Our room at the Hotel New York was small though well designed for two adults and 2 kids. The hotel was close to the park. The included breakfast was excellent (two restaurants we could use for this - the Manhattan restaurant was MUCH more scenic). The luggage porters, reception staff and waitresses could not have been more kinder. The room was very expensive for its size and the bathroom was tired. I was disappointed that the lavatory and basin hadn't been wiped over.
Queues: in the second half of the afternoon (in October at least) the queues die down and in the evening you have to queue much less. If you can visit during the two hours a day kept only for hotel guests the park is relatively quiet then as well - particularly at the start. So do the busy rides then. In the middle of the day plan to eat (book ahead, even on the day, to avoid queues) or go for a rest, or to a show.
Rides:
1. Buzz Lightyear the adults favourite and our 8-9 yr old kids loved it too.
2. Roller coasters - Space Mountain narrowly ahead of Thunder Mountain and Aerosmith. At night Thunder Mountain is beautiful. Indiana Jones had the highest height restriction but was pretty much the same.
3. Fantasyland rides. Our 8 year old loved the teacups and Carousel. Dumbo is very similar to the Rockets in Discoveryland and the Flying Carpets in the Studios. All were favourites. Queues for all these were 45 minutes or more for a VERY short ride - definitely wait for a quiet time! It's a Small World is charming and WARM. Although our guideboook spoke well of Peter Pan we found the ride very jerky and it hurried ridiculously fast through the scenery. Our guide was much less enthusiastic about Snow White or Pinocchio but these were equally good and the queues were shorter.

Fondest memory: Shows: in the Studios the shows were SUPERB, especially Cinemagique and extraordinary Moteurs driving show. In the Disney park Honey I shrunk the kids was an OK 3D film using polarised light but with a dull build up. The Lion King was good - however some were queuing for over an hour and were then turned away: I was amazed that the staff weren't warning people they wouldn't get in. Rather than queue go into the Videopolis fast food area in the same building. The seating area of this is effectively just the rear seats for the show. We got straight in here even when the huge queue had been turned disappointed away. I'm ashamed to say we didn't buy any food but had a great view.
4. Food: we had read appalling reviews of the quality of food and the high prices but were actually very impressed. I particularly liked the Blue Lagoon (scenic though the name didn't really fit) with superb cuisine. At Walt's the lights were rather dim. At Annette's Diner the Burrito was very good indeed. At all three children's menus had nice and healthy options and were reasonably priced. The staff were lovely. Next time I go I will take some apples, drinks and rolls but we will certainly eat in restaurants too. It is certainly worth making a restaurant booking, even on the morning of your visit, because we saw people being turned away. Take away hot dogs from a stall were a little expensive but pretty nasty - restaurant food was much better.
5. Hairdressing and makeup: a highlight for us. A two hour plus queue for a free service rapidly developed but we queued from the moment the park opened an hour before the stall started and got straight in. Our son sported a mohican and our daughter a glorious back-combed confection. Well worth that much waiting. 5*!!
6. Ticket admin. I LOST my ticket for the park and the office replaced it without fuss and without charge because I was at the hotel: impressive.

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Favorite thing: My favourite thing about Paris was Disneyland and this was my main reason for going to Paris, but instead of just staying at Disney I wanted to see Paris itself too, even if it wasn't in a very thorough way. I'm so shocked at how different it all was to my expectations, I thought my favourite thing would be the beauty of Paris but I preffered Disneyland which was a lot better than I imagined.

My trip was split in two parts 3 days in Disney for the children, three days in Paris for the adults. We had two children with us aged 6 and 9 so the Paris part had to be child friendly, they didn't want to que for long periods and would get tired walking alot, with this in mind I bought our Louvre & Disney tickets before we left so that we never had to que, and booked tours to see Paris by day and by night. But to be honest Paris was hard work, and this was due to the people mostly.
We found it easier to feed us and the children in Disneyland as in Paris near our hotel (Les Halles) everywhere seemed to be shut at the times we wanted to eat apart from non French places, one of which gave my a bad stomach and Hippopotamus which I really liked.

The boat cruises on the river Seine were nice but disappointing, on the one by day the children felt ill due to the heat of being under glass and we had agro trying to get off when it stopped to alight some people, and the one at night was meant to be part of an illuminations tour but it was still light, so nothing was illuminated

I would return to Paris but without children to enjoy the Moulin Rouge and other tourist night life hot spots and would know to expect a snappy answer before I even finsih the sentance.
I would most definately return to Disneyland but this time I would stay there and would plan for a more relaxed pace to enjoy it all.

Fondest memory: My fondest memory is seeing how delighted the children were to see the Disneyland, and seeing the Eiffel tower sparkle for 6 minutes on the hour, whch I knew nothing about so that was a pleasant suprise.

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Favorite thing: Disney village, just outside the parks is a mixture of restaurants and shops with something for everyone. We dined at Annetts which looks like a 1950.s american diner where the waiters get up on the bar to dance to Street Lighting, pulling some of us up too. Outside there are the two cars that look like the ones from Grease the movie.
There is also Buffalo Bills, Planet Hollywood and several more to choose.

Favorite thing: This stained glass window is found in Sleeping Beauty's Castle. It's a favourite for kids to run around and the stained glass windows situated around the castle depict the tale of Sleeping Beauty in a unique and splendid way.

Fondest memory: This is another example of the intricate detail and efforts gone to in the Park.

Favorite thing: This is found in the Walt Disney Studio section of the Park. The water comes on with a timer and you can pretend you are Mary Poppins, singing in the rain! There are all sorts of things like this placed throughout the Park, which add to the magical experience of the day.

Favorite thing: This creative piece is found as you exit Sleeping Beauty's Castle. There are some children's rides nearby and then you go into one of the four other sections of the Park: Frontierland, Adventureland, Fantasyland or Discoveryland.

Favorite thing: Disneyland Park is divided into 5 sections: Mian Street, U.S.A, Frontierland, Adventureland, Fantasyland and Discoveryland.

Fondest memory: These 5 imaginary lands are there to enjoy, wiht lots of rides, both for kids and the hardened riders!

Favorite thing: Everything has been so well thought of and laid out in the Disneyland Park. Nothing is there by chance. From the landscaped animal-shape shrubs to the buidling of the rides. Everything is well thought out beforehand for utmost enjoyment.

Fondest memory: The giraffe was my personal favourite landscaped animal ~ but there are so many to actually choose from. There is simply NOTHING that hasn't been 'placed' carefully and for a specific reason.