We're thinking of going at the end of June for the Marvel stuff, but it might end up being July in order to work with holiday dates.
Yesterday we returned from our annual Disneyland Paris trip and we had a great time. We stayed from Sunday to Saturday and went to Paris for one day. In recent years we always stayed off site, but this year we decided to try a Disney hotel again. We chose the Cheyenne, because it was renovated recently. I was always against the toonification of the Disney hotels, but honestly the Toy Story characters add a much needed Disney touch, because the Disney hotels in Paris are a little bit underwhelming compared to the Disney hotels at WDW, except for the Disneyland Hotel. Maybe that's becuase they were designed by famous architects instead of WDI. Our room was located near the main building with the reception, the Red Garter Saloon, the restaurant the store and Starbucks, and we really enjoyed our room. The Starbucks was a great addidtion to the hotel, because on our way to the parks we got our coffee there every day. The coffee house was even a little bit themed. Hopefully the other Disney hotels will also get a Starbucks and although DLP recently announced that Starbucks will not come to Main Street USA, I still hope they find another place in the park for Starbucks. They should use the Annual Passport Bureau. While the parks looked good, they could use some touch ups here and there, Disney Village is in a terrible need for a makeover. Still it has some nice places, like the World of Disney Store, Earl of Sandwich, Starbucks or the Sports Bar. At a recent fan event, DLP announced that they are currently working on a plan for a makeover. A great addition to Disney Village is Vapiano, but unfortunately it is located outside the security area. We ate there twice for lunch and we were happy with the service, the speed and the quality of the food. Speaking of security, DLP is using security gates like the ones found at airports. Even the bags have to go through the scanners. We visited Disneyland Anaheim two years ago and the security there was a joke. It took the CMs forever to search the visitors, but maybe that has changed in the meantime. At DLP even at the hotels CMs scan the bags, however only with a mobile device. As you may know, my wife and I are vegan, so eating at Disneyland can be a struggle. While WDW and DLA are very vegan friendly, DLP is a nightmare. The only good options for vegans at DLP are Agrabah Cafe, Vapiano and Earl of Sandwich. The counter service restaurants only offer pasta neapolitana, which is okay but nothing special. How hard can it be to offer a vegan veggie burger? Additionally the CMs could also be a little bit faster. In general the Cast Members were not as friendly as in recent years, but they weren't terrible or very unfriendly either. For example the check in was very disappointing. At least I expect the receptionist to ask if we had a pleasant journey. As I mentioned before, the parks looked really good in terms of maintenance, but some areas could use some touch ups, like new paint. I have to admit, I have never seen the parks as clean as this year. I never had the impression that DLP was littered, like many others claim, but this year we saw so many CMs out in the parks cleaning. Since we visited right before the Summer season started, some attractions are curretly closed for refurbishment. During our visit Space Mountain, Tea Cups, Phantom Manor and RC Racer were closed, but we still had a lot to do. Pirates returned from the refurb and it looked really good. Star Tours was also a hit among us, because we got to see the Last Jedi addition Crait and Batuu from Galaxy's Edge. Since Rock'n'Rollercoaster will be gone soon we rode it every day. On the one hand I'm a little bit sad that it has to go, because I really like the ride and Aerosmith, but on the other hand I'm a big Marvel fan and can't wait to see the new Marvel land. In the Studios we only did RNRC, TOT, Ratatouille and Crush's Coaster. Unfortunately we didn't get to see Mickey and the Magician, because we kept it for the last day and then it was always completely full when we arrived. Since we had seen it so many times already, it wasn't that bad. We were also hoping for a soft opening of the new Marvel show, but that didn't happen either. We didn't watch any parades or nighttime shows, because we aren't into parades and we rather went out for some cocktails than waiting for a mediocre castle projection show. We saw Illuminations last year and it was so far behind Disney Dreams, which I really miss, so we didn't bother watching it. While we had a fantastic time, there are a few things at DLP that really bug me, like the aforementioned vegan food options. What bugs me the most however is that DLP is turning into a kiddie resort. You can't order beer anymore without buying something to eat. In the US Disney is adding bars to the parks, while at DLP alcohol is removed from the parks. Charge 10 Euros if you want to control the alcohol output. Luckily Cafe Fantasia inside DL Hotel or Disney Village aren't that far away. Now we are looking forward to Tokyo Disney Resort in September.
Sounds like it was a good trip overall. It's great to hear that the parks are looking good! That's interesting that they're requiring food purchases along with alcohol, particularly since there haven't been problems (to my knowledge) with unruly guests. The US parks have expensive drinks but no food requirements; I wonder if they're considering bringing that policy here as well. As a business move, they may make a little extra money on the first drink, but I bet it significantly reduces the number of people who get multiple drinks throughout the day, limiting the overall profit How were the park operations? Are they still opening things (especially restaurants) late and closing early? Did they seem to run attractions with high enough capacity?
@FerretAfros Yes we had a good trip overall. The weather was always nice and the crowds were okay. Park operation was okay, but there is still room for improvement. However given that we were at DLP during off season it was totally okay. Some restaurants were still opening late and closing early, but most of them stayed open until 22:30. DL was open until 23:00 every day and the Studios closed at 19:00. Extra Magic Hours are at both parks from 08:30 until 10:00. Some attractions in Fantasyland cloed early due to Illuminations. Attraction capacity was also fine, because wait time was most of the time between 5 minutes and 60 minutes (BTMRR). As for the alcohol, we had never encountered any unruly guests at WDW, DLP or DLA. Maybe there were some incidents at DLP that lead to that policy. DLP has so many great places for bars. Ironically Bistro Chez Remy has opened a nice outdoor seeting area in front of the restaurant that offers French wine. Unfortunately it was not open during weekdays.
Happy to hear this. Thank you for the report. I would love to see DLP someday but doubt we will make it.
