I have written 36 blogs about the Disneyland Paris Resort, and I’ve barely just scratched the surface.
Although the Walt Disney World resort is larger, take a look at how many pages the Allears.net website includes to try to describe everything. A Paris website would also have to be enormous to cover all of the information there is about the resort. My goal was simply to give you an overview and try to point out some of the highlights.
As I’ve mentioned earlier, Disneyland Paris is my favorite of the five Magic Kingdom-type parks. And it’s my second favorite Disney park after Tokyo DisneySea. If you’re into theme parks, you definitely should see this one.
I know I was somewhat harsh in my description of the Walt Disney Studios Park. But I haven’t been there in three and a half years and the Imagineers are making some decent progress to bring it up to snuff. It is worth seeing.
Also, the overall resort is very nice. I’ve spoken to many Disney World fans that tell me they enjoy hotel-hopping. They find pleasure discovering what each inn has to offer, even if they never stay there. Well, there are six themed hotels to explore at Disneyland Paris. Not to mention Disney Village and all of its shops and restaurants.
As I mentioned in my first blog, I would try to separate the Disney portion of my trip from the rest of my European travels. Plan on spending two or three nights at Disney and immerse yourself in the magic. I feel that you should plan on spending two full days at the Disneyland Paris Park. You can see everything in less time, but I can guarantee you that you’ll want to experience a number of the attractions twice – maybe more.
I think most guests could see all of the Walt Disney Studios Park in one full day. This would leave you some time to see CinéMagique twice.
I would avoid visiting in the winter. It gets cold! Very cold! It snows.
Well that’s it. I’m going to post a few more pictures just to whet your appetite.
Bon voyage.
About a year ago I informed you on the terrible state of some Disneyland Paris’attractions, well, everything is starting to look better everyday!
“Le Parc” is getting ready for it’s twentieth anniversary, Le Château is already as good as new, Hook’s galleon is, at last, being replaced and even the Fantasyland paving that has been tortured by the quite harsh Parisian winters has been replaced.
Hope to see you around in our ‘homepark’in the near future!
Jack’s Comment:
This is wonderful to hear. I hope to make my third visit to DLP sometime next year. Thanks a million for letting me know.
Hi Jack,
First of all, thanks for this great collection of articles. I found very little info online and the official Disney site is helpfully unhelpful.
I would appreciate your input, though: we are planning on visiting Disney Paris this October with our soon-to-be 5 year old son (whom I have taught as much Disney love as possible in Israel, where the Disney channel has only been added to our TV’s last week). So he knows his characers and is very much into Princesses (and Prince Charmings) and Villans.
Do you think it is safe to assume he will be able to go into all Fantasyland rides ? How about Thundermountain, Haunted Mansion (Phantom Manor) ? — he is tall for his age, so should I assume height requirments are the same as the US ones ?
Also, any special recommendations ? I loved the idea of seeing Dragon-Malificent under the Castle, so anything similar would be great.
We only have one day, to my regret.
Thank you so much for all your writing,
Dorit from Israel
Jack’s Answer:
This is always a difficult question for me. You, as a parent, know your child far better than me, as a stranger. You know what frightens him. You know what delights him. But I’ll do my best to answer your question.
First, I have no idea as to height requirements in France. Check out their official page: http://www.disneylandparis.com/
Everything in Fantasyland should be acceptable for a 5 year old (with the exception of the Tea Cups). You’ll have to decide on that one. Unless he’s frightened easily, the dragon under the castle should also be okay. Be sure to check out Storybook Land.
Phantom Manor, although tongue-and-cheek, can be frightening to a young child. If you’ve been on the Haunted Mansion in the States, the ride is very much the same.
Once again, Thunder Mountain can be intense for a soon-to-be 5 year old. It is a rough ride. Indiana Jones is even rougher.
Since you only have one day, DO NOT try to see both parks. Stick with Disneyland Paris and skip the Studio.
A question I often pose to parents of young children going to a Disney park for the first time, “Whose dream is this, the parent’s of the child’s?” Answer that question and you should be able to tailor your day appropriately.
Have a fantastic time. Disneyland Paris is the most beautiful of the five Magic Kingdom’s around the world.
Just started reading your blogs, an now discover you stopped blogging about the Disneyland Park. Just want to tank you for the work you did.
Hey good stuff…keep up the good work! 🙂
I just want to thank you for a wonderful blog. I am going to Paris next month and was looking for a web site that would help me decide what to do in Disneyland Paris. This was perfect. I loved the pictures and your descriptions of everything. I look forward to reading your other blogs. Many thanks!
Hey Jack, I know you have probably mentioned this before but I just became a Jack Spence blog fan and have just begun reading your blogs. My family found out the hard way, there is a big difference in attendance to Disneyland Paris Resort during the week and a weekend. We were there over a Thanksgiving week and were spoiled over short lines during the week. (It was strange the locals did not celebrate Thanksgiving there for some reason). But when Saturday came, watch out. We stayed in the Disney Hotel above the gate and throngs of people were entering the park as we were getting ready to go to another leisurely day in the park. Lines were crazy. There are millions of people within a few hours drive of Disneyland Paris Resort so when the weekend comes, its a great place to take the family. I do agree, we really liked the park, just go during the week.
Hey Jack!! Thanks again for the series on Disneyland Paris. I was going to “complain” that I enjoyed reading them for so long but now they’re done and there’s nothing to fill the void. I was also going to urge you to do one for Tokyo or another park until I saw that you already have. It looks like I’m running out of grievances so before I start my virtual trip through one of the Asian parks I’ll just ask ‘when we can expect the next uber-blog?’. I don’t want to push too hard though…I realize you need to catch your breathe. Thanks again.
Hi Jack, I am so envious of you being able to visit the other Disney parks around the world. But I am also so thankful for such wonerful blogs on these same parks. I too want to visit them sometime in my life, but getting more doubtful every day with the current economy. I’ll just have to be content reading blogs like yours and watching 2 DVD’s I purchased off of Ebay, one is Tokyo DisneySea, and the other is the magic kingdom at DLRP. From what I’ve seen on those DVD’s, I agree with your assesment that these are the 2 best Disney parks in the world. Thanks again for a wonderful read, can’t wait til your next posting. Bill
Thankyou for your terrific blog on the Disney Paris Resort, the timing of your bog was perfect for me as I have a trip to the resort planned.
Originally from the UK I now live in Australia and visited the Paris resort way back in the early 90s.
I am returning to the UK for a holiday June, July time and will be taking the Euro Star to the resort and staying in the Disneyland Hotel for 3 nights. I have always wanted to stay at this hotel!! It will be interesting to see how things have evolved.
I particularily found your critique on the New Hollywood park fascinating and as a confirmed Disney fanatic I want very much to like all of Disney’s new ventures and I will now have the opportunity to make up my own mind.
The picture of the “Nautilus” made me do a double take. It wasn’t until I went through your other blogs, that I realized that this is not a ‘ride’ but a ‘walk through’ attraction. My question is this, do you have any idea why Disney World couldn’t have revamped the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride into something like this? It breaks my heart to walk through Fantasyland and not see it there anymore.
Jack’s Answer:
The reason Disney never did anything with the 20,000 Leagues Lagoon is two-fold. First, money. It was cheaper to just close the attraction. But there’s more to it than just that.
For the most part, Disney feels they have enough attractions at the Magic Kingdom. They really see no need to add any more. With three other theme parks to enjoy, they feel there is plenty to keep a family busy for a week.
I too wish something more elaborate than a Pooh playground graced this spot, but I don’t see anything grand happening here for a long time.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading all about Disneyland Paris. My husband and I only recently decided to take a trip to Paris (want to get it in before we have kids) and we’ll definitely spend a day at DL Paris! I wish we could afford to stay on property a couple of nights but it will be a shorter trip than most take so we’ll have to settle for one day at Disney.
Thanks for the fantastic blog, Jack. I’ve visited Disneyland Resort Paris three times, twice with my family and once solo. We really love it! Now, I just need to find a way to get to Tokyo! Cheers!
Hi Jack!! We just got back from our Paris trip and we did get our 1 day venture into Disneyland Paris!! It was very crowded and we did not get to it all but what we saw we LOVED!! The castle is now my favorite castle of the three Disney parks that I have been to! It was great to be able to explore that as much as we wanted!! Small world was just the best as well!!! We did get to ride that 2x’s!!! Our lines were very long and we actually waited 1 and 1/2 hours in line ( with a 6 year old) for Big Thunder Mountain but in her words “That was awesome and totally worth the wait!!!) It was longer and better than WDW in Fl. Overall we had a very nice time and want to go back just to go to the parks and stay at the hotels!! WDW in Florida will probably always be my favorite,mostly because we are so familiar with it, but oh how great it was to see Disneyland Paris!! Thank you again for all your great tips and information!!
Hi Jack,
I really enjoyed your blogs and just maybe someday I will get a chance to experience this park!
Thanks again for the beautiful photos!
I wanted to thank you for this wonderful series on Disneyland Paris. Since I will most likely never get to see it in person (hate to fly!) this was a great way to experience this beautiful park!
Just in response to the message from Diane C, my husband and I visited Walt Disney Studios back in January of 2006 and watched the Motors Action Stunt Show during a really heavy snow storm – we have some great video-footage of the cars and motor-bikes whizzing around with snow coming down incredibly hard. It amazed me that the show was still able to go on under such conditions – I guess Disney are prepared for nearly everything!!
Hi Jack,
Merci for a great blog (that’s about the extent of my French!)!
I was interested in your comment about the cold winter weather. I can’t comprehend the notion of enjoying a Disney theme park visit when it’s snowing! I just wondered if you knew what the park does to accommodate visitors in bad winter weather (I’m assuming it’s open all year round? Or do they close for the worst of winter?)? It must be tough to enjoy a spin on Dumbo when the flakes are flying!
Jack’s Answer:
Disneyland Paris was built with cold weather in mind. They have many indoor queues and places to “hide” from the cold. The Liberty and Discovery Arcades, which run along each side of Main Street, are another example of this. These thoroughfares are indoors so you can escape from the elements.
I really don’t have any idea how severe the weather would have to be before they close the park, but I know this is a “last resort” at Disneyland and Disney World. Disney management is keenly aware that many people may be visiting their parks for the first time and may not have the opportunity to return soon — or ever. They will do their best to keep the parks open as long as it’s safe to do so.
Hi Jack – thanks for these blogs – I’ve really enjoyed reading them and as I’m going back to Disneyland Resort Paris in just over 4 weeks, it’s really got me in the mood for my upcoming trip.
Just one small thing, on the comment you made about not visiting Paris during the winter. For me, this is one of the BEST times to visit. Yes, it gets very cold, and there is even snow on occasion, but personally, I love wrapping up in my hat and gloves and enjoying the Christmas atmosphere the parks have to offer. I guess living in the UK, we are a little more hardy to this harsh winter-weather, but it’s definately worth it if you are visiting around Christmas/New Year. Just grab a hot cup of cocoa, pull on your wooly hat and enjoy the winter magic – there’s nothing quite like watching Fantillusion travel down Main Street, whilst snuggling up with loved ones at this time of year – trust me, it’s worth it!!
Jack’s Comment: I was definitely putting my biased opinion about cold weather into my blog. You are absolutely right. If you plan for the cold weather, you can have a great time. And from the pictures I’ve seen, Disneyland Paris does a fantastic job decorating their parks for the holidays. I always recommend that people come to Disney World to see the Christmas decorations, so why not Disneyland Paris or Tokyo Disneyland.
Thanks for setting me straight.