Weird how I've put this off for so long when I have literally nothing to do with my time at the moment....
I haven't taken many pictures, since there are millions around anyway, and there's nothing people here haven't seen before. I only really take pictures at parks that haven't undergone the trip report treatment a million times.
Anyway, I woke up on the Thursday morning after having very little sleep thanks to catching up with old friends, got to the RER station and got stuck behind a dumbass American family who somehow managed to take close to half an hour to get tickets by the time they'd asked the woman behind the counter about a million questions, and were very, very proud of themselves when they managed to say, "merci" at the end of it all, oblivious to the huge queue of Eurotrash forming behind them, hopping from side to side like a line of distressed penguins.
The same family tried to ask me a question as we were all getting on the train. Obviously, the inquisition at the ticket counter, plus the massive, easy-to-understand screen on the platform wasn't enough. I gave them my best French shrug and walked 5 carriages down, just to be on the safe side.
Most people have probably stopped reading now, so here’s a picture!
I’d bought a 2 park, 1 day ticket online and actually headed into the studios first. I was in the park about 20 minutes after opening and already Crush’s Coaster had a 45 minute wait.
I thought this was pretty good really. I hadn’t seen or read much about it beforehand, but I’d put it as my number 2 spinner, behind Comet Express.
Grabbed a fast pass for Tower of Terror, which was a mistake, and went for the park’s other coaster.
Again, really enjoyed this coaster, too. It had a 5 minute wait all day from what I could see, so had a fair few goes on it. I’d been wanting to try this type of coaster for a while, and it didn’t disappoint.
What did disappoint was that ToT was now down when I went back with my fastpass.
The tram tour only had a few minutes wait, so I gave that a go. Not much to say about that really. The fire/water bit was cool, but the rest was a waste of time really.
ToT was still down, so, extremely glad I hadn’t taken most people’s advice and opted for a full day here, I headed to the main park.
I should just point out that the picture was taken later in the day, just before the parade was due to start. The park wasn’t too busy at all really.
I can’t remember the exact order of stuff, but I think I rode Thunder Mountain first, which I ended up waiting about 20 minutes for.
It was ok, not great but ok. I liked the dark sections a lot, but the whole thing just felt a bit slow really. I know it’s a family coaster, but it just didn’t do anything for me. I want to try and avoid comparing to other parks too much, but when it’s Disney it’s hard not to do that. Tokyo’s version is a lot better, with a decent drop, which Paris just doesn’t have.
Next up was Phantom Manor, which I thought was great.
The outside is easily the best-looking of the bunch, and the ride inside is much better than the others I’ve tried, too. The “ghost in the car” effect wasn’t working, but still a great ride.
I was expecting to really dislike Indiana Jones, since it’s essentially the same thing as Raging Spirits, which I think is poo.
I liked this though. Raging Spirits is really smooth; Indiana Jones isn’t. I didn’t find it rough at all, but the fact that it wasn’t glass-smooth actually gives it a personality that RS doesn’t have. The theming of Indiana Jones is much better, too.
Sorry, but on to some more bitching. Pirates. What happened? It looks fantastic from the outside, much, much better than the non-descript entrances elsewhere, but it was a really big letdown.
I can’t remember any of them scene for scene, but this version seemed to be missing a lot to me. Another ride that gets completely trounced by Tokyo, and their version is older.
Casey Junior was closed, which I was expecting, so no major disappointment there. Peter Pan was as lame as the others I’ve been on. I didn’t bother with Snow White or Pinnochio, since I couldn’t imagine they’d be much different from any other versions, so it was on to Space Mountain: Mission 2.
I’ve bitched about this POS in a couple of other topics now, so not going to do it too much again here, but I hated it. As a stand-alone coaster, it would be crap. The effects are really nowhere near as amazing as I’ve heard them made out to be (maybe just on that day, who knows?), and I later noticed bruises on my shoulders.
I tried it a second and third time, and it did seem a bit better, so maybe I was sitting awkwardly the first time, but it’s still crap.
After a while, I headed back to the Studios to see if ToT was back up and running.
It was, luckily, and had a “half hour” wait. Just as I got inside the building, they closed it down again, and turned away everyone in the queue who wasn’t already inside. Only one elevator was working at this point, but they kept it going to clear the queue.
So, luckily, I’d just made it inside in time to ride, and ended up in the last elevator of the day since it didn’t reopen, but ended up waiting an hour for it.
Again, have to make a comparison here. The Tokyo version looks much, much better from the outside and has a much, much better preshow. However, the drop sequence on Paris’s version seems to be a lot stronger. Tokyo’s tower is actually pretty weak, so Paris “wins” with regard to the towers.
Cinemagique was about to start after I got off ToT. All I’m going to say about that is that Martin Short is never appropriate, but it was nice to sit down for a while.
Ok, so some overall impressions. I hate to say it, but Paris is my least favourite Disney park/resort. It’s still great, don’t get me wrong, when compared to 90% of parks elsewhere, but when compared to other Disney places, it just didn’t measure up for me.
Despite the studios having some very good rides (what there are of them), I found it to have absolutely zero atmosphere.
I also found it to be slightly pointless having Mission 2 and RnR right next to each other. Maybe it’s different if you do the parks on different days, but they just seem so similar in type
Before anyone jumps on me for that, I know how different they are in terms of layout and theme, but looking at it from the GP’s perspective, they come across as very similar rides. You’d never know/ be able to work out the layouts from a ride or two. They’re both indoor, dark coasters. They’re both launched. They both have soundtracks/lighting effects, and they both invert.
Anyway, I’ve written way too much, and sorry if the report seemed a bit whiney, but I was just expecting a lot more from a Disney park.
I haven't taken many pictures, since there are millions around anyway, and there's nothing people here haven't seen before. I only really take pictures at parks that haven't undergone the trip report treatment a million times.
Anyway, I woke up on the Thursday morning after having very little sleep thanks to catching up with old friends, got to the RER station and got stuck behind a dumbass American family who somehow managed to take close to half an hour to get tickets by the time they'd asked the woman behind the counter about a million questions, and were very, very proud of themselves when they managed to say, "merci" at the end of it all, oblivious to the huge queue of Eurotrash forming behind them, hopping from side to side like a line of distressed penguins.
The same family tried to ask me a question as we were all getting on the train. Obviously, the inquisition at the ticket counter, plus the massive, easy-to-understand screen on the platform wasn't enough. I gave them my best French shrug and walked 5 carriages down, just to be on the safe side.
Most people have probably stopped reading now, so here’s a picture!
I’d bought a 2 park, 1 day ticket online and actually headed into the studios first. I was in the park about 20 minutes after opening and already Crush’s Coaster had a 45 minute wait.
I thought this was pretty good really. I hadn’t seen or read much about it beforehand, but I’d put it as my number 2 spinner, behind Comet Express.
Grabbed a fast pass for Tower of Terror, which was a mistake, and went for the park’s other coaster.
Again, really enjoyed this coaster, too. It had a 5 minute wait all day from what I could see, so had a fair few goes on it. I’d been wanting to try this type of coaster for a while, and it didn’t disappoint.
What did disappoint was that ToT was now down when I went back with my fastpass.
The tram tour only had a few minutes wait, so I gave that a go. Not much to say about that really. The fire/water bit was cool, but the rest was a waste of time really.
ToT was still down, so, extremely glad I hadn’t taken most people’s advice and opted for a full day here, I headed to the main park.
I should just point out that the picture was taken later in the day, just before the parade was due to start. The park wasn’t too busy at all really.
I can’t remember the exact order of stuff, but I think I rode Thunder Mountain first, which I ended up waiting about 20 minutes for.
It was ok, not great but ok. I liked the dark sections a lot, but the whole thing just felt a bit slow really. I know it’s a family coaster, but it just didn’t do anything for me. I want to try and avoid comparing to other parks too much, but when it’s Disney it’s hard not to do that. Tokyo’s version is a lot better, with a decent drop, which Paris just doesn’t have.
Next up was Phantom Manor, which I thought was great.
The outside is easily the best-looking of the bunch, and the ride inside is much better than the others I’ve tried, too. The “ghost in the car” effect wasn’t working, but still a great ride.
I was expecting to really dislike Indiana Jones, since it’s essentially the same thing as Raging Spirits, which I think is poo.
I liked this though. Raging Spirits is really smooth; Indiana Jones isn’t. I didn’t find it rough at all, but the fact that it wasn’t glass-smooth actually gives it a personality that RS doesn’t have. The theming of Indiana Jones is much better, too.
Sorry, but on to some more bitching. Pirates. What happened? It looks fantastic from the outside, much, much better than the non-descript entrances elsewhere, but it was a really big letdown.
I can’t remember any of them scene for scene, but this version seemed to be missing a lot to me. Another ride that gets completely trounced by Tokyo, and their version is older.
Casey Junior was closed, which I was expecting, so no major disappointment there. Peter Pan was as lame as the others I’ve been on. I didn’t bother with Snow White or Pinnochio, since I couldn’t imagine they’d be much different from any other versions, so it was on to Space Mountain: Mission 2.
I’ve bitched about this POS in a couple of other topics now, so not going to do it too much again here, but I hated it. As a stand-alone coaster, it would be crap. The effects are really nowhere near as amazing as I’ve heard them made out to be (maybe just on that day, who knows?), and I later noticed bruises on my shoulders.
I tried it a second and third time, and it did seem a bit better, so maybe I was sitting awkwardly the first time, but it’s still crap.
After a while, I headed back to the Studios to see if ToT was back up and running.
It was, luckily, and had a “half hour” wait. Just as I got inside the building, they closed it down again, and turned away everyone in the queue who wasn’t already inside. Only one elevator was working at this point, but they kept it going to clear the queue.
So, luckily, I’d just made it inside in time to ride, and ended up in the last elevator of the day since it didn’t reopen, but ended up waiting an hour for it.
Again, have to make a comparison here. The Tokyo version looks much, much better from the outside and has a much, much better preshow. However, the drop sequence on Paris’s version seems to be a lot stronger. Tokyo’s tower is actually pretty weak, so Paris “wins” with regard to the towers.
Cinemagique was about to start after I got off ToT. All I’m going to say about that is that Martin Short is never appropriate, but it was nice to sit down for a while.
Ok, so some overall impressions. I hate to say it, but Paris is my least favourite Disney park/resort. It’s still great, don’t get me wrong, when compared to 90% of parks elsewhere, but when compared to other Disney places, it just didn’t measure up for me.
Despite the studios having some very good rides (what there are of them), I found it to have absolutely zero atmosphere.
I also found it to be slightly pointless having Mission 2 and RnR right next to each other. Maybe it’s different if you do the parks on different days, but they just seem so similar in type
Before anyone jumps on me for that, I know how different they are in terms of layout and theme, but looking at it from the GP’s perspective, they come across as very similar rides. You’d never know/ be able to work out the layouts from a ride or two. They’re both indoor, dark coasters. They’re both launched. They both have soundtracks/lighting effects, and they both invert.
Anyway, I’ve written way too much, and sorry if the report seemed a bit whiney, but I was just expecting a lot more from a Disney park.
