Trip Summary Of Disneyland Paris For The First Time In 12+ Years

Disneyland Paris Trip Details

The Not-So-Good

• The cast members - while nice and generally polite - do lack the excitement I'm used to at WDW
• The French language barrier can be somewhat awkward. I try to be polite and use some French, but it sometimes results in them not realising I'm English and then I have to stop them halfway through a sentence. I tried saying things like "Bonjour...hello", but I found it's just easier to speak English if you need a reply to something, and then and say thank you and bye in French to be as polite as possible
• As a lover of eating out and restaurants, there aren't many good places to eat. At WDW there are more phenomenal places to eat than on nights you're there, it seems to be the opposite at DLP
• While not as bad as I remember, people walking around smoking is an annoyance, even with designated smoking areas which some people do respect and use
• Just like at WDW, the wifi and app can be quite unreliable at times
• The merchandise selection wasn't particularly inviting. I didn't end up getting sucked into spending too much (maybe this should go in the good column actually)
• At park opening or when it's really busy, it's never totally clear where the end of a queue is if it's extended outside the attraction. At WDW you have cast members with signs standing at the end of the queue, there was no such thing happening here

The Good

• People who say there's no "magic" are wrong. Although DLP has a slightly different charm, there's plenty of charm there
• Casey's hot dogs needs mac and cheese option
• I'm so glad the attractions are mostly their own thing. Space Mountain, Phantom Manor, Thunder Mountain, Buzz Lightyear's Ranger Spin, for example. They have these attractions in WDW and DLP, but they're different enough to be able to enjoy both. As much as I love The Haunted Mansion, the attention to detail and differences in Phantom Manor were incredibly well done. Thunder Mountain is incredible as well.
• There were lots of characters out and about, with Mickey & friends greeting guests coming in and leaving in the evening
• There were characters that we saw that you don't often see in WDW
• Being able to walk back to the hotel at the end of the day was a blessing - no waiting for buses!
• The wait times on attractions were generally quite a bit less than the stated wait times
• The attention to detail in many parts of the park are apparent and fun to pick out
• I never realised how much I missed parades, the Halloween one was great!
• Lots of Marvel (including meet and greets) which is great, especially as Disney cannot use Marvel in WDW
• The general atmosphere and ambience. It's quite difficult to put these specific feelings and thoughts into words, but in essence, it has that Disney Parks feeling for sure

The Amusing

• Unlike being trusted at WDW, you have to pay for (most) buffet meals upfront before you eat, as well as order your drinks there and then
• On the contrary, the bars are table service, but to pay you have to go to the till on your way out. I don't think I've been anywhere in recent memory where a bar has worked this way. (The Royal pub operates like a normal English pub though where you go up to the bar and order and pay.)
• The way English and French are used interchangeably on attractions is funny at times, for example in Philharmagic when Ariel would stop singing in French halfway through the song and start in English (the only song that does this). I think the Cars Roadtrip attraction does this the best because two of the cars (one English and one French) are talking to each other, and even though you might not fully know what the French one is saying, you can easily guess what is being talked about
• How people still seem to struggle to scan their cards to get into the parks