Photo TR: The Ray's do the TPR Europe 2010 trip!

[smells_like_team_disney]

Fernando gets an up close look.

Why do you hate me?

 

Yeah, I couldn't remember what the statue was so I just threw that one out there. I'm waiting for Alfredo to come by and remind me.

We were looking for the chick with no arms (Venus de Milo). You're welcome.

 

On another note, not bad with the pictures at all. The Louvre was definitely my favorite part of Paris. Very impressive, the building itself is a work of art, and we were only in there for about 90 minutes! While the people we encountered were rude, and the city was kind of dirty, there were so many amazing pockets throughout the urban core, such as the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, and Notre Dame. Our lunch on the Eiffel Tower was probably the best meal I had in Europe, and I had the best Indian food ever not far from our hotel. I would definitely go back for the Louvre alone, just to find the chick with no arms.

 

P.S. The Mona Lisa was highly overrated. I found the picture below, which is on the wall facing Leo's "masterpiece," far more impressive.

[smells_like_team_disney]

The statue was probably the Venus De Milo

 

Yep, Bob beat me to the punch. Thanks.

[jray21]

^^*FIXED! Haha, I can't believe I did that again! Sorry about that! I also thought that the picture you posted was incredible!

[jray21]

EDIT: There was a post up there....Hmmm, guess they decided to leave

 

^The place your looking at staying looks very nice, but I've never stayed there so I couldn't tell you if it's good or not. We stayed at the Holiday Inn - Notre Dame http://www.holidayinn.com/hotels/us/en/paris/parnd/hoteldetail It was a little small, but was really modern and new, and was in an excellent location. We were about 3 minutes walk from a subway station, a bakery, a bunch of cafe's, and a very short walk to Notre Dame. We got a special rate because it had just opened, but if the price was right, I would definitely stay there again!

 

DIsneyland Paris will be posted very soon!

[jray21]

Next up we hit Disneyland Paris! We are Disney nerds so we couldn't pass the opportunity up. We decided to do two days so we would be able to get everything in. We stayed in Paris, so the ride to the parks was a little long, but it was much cheaper to stay in the city for us (plus we had a hotel with air conditioning). I was warned by many many people that we would be disappointed, and we were somewhat. I really wanted to love this park, and while some things are definitely better, like the castle, overall it was not a good experience. They had the rudest employees out of any park I have ever been to. We only had two, that's right, TWO people smile at us the entire time, and both were from a different country! They were efficient, but they were not friendly at all. Also, the park was really dirty, and the custodians seemed to just walk around in groups talking. The food was also a major let down. Being in France, you would think they would have some of the best food out of any Disney park, but they didn't. I also didn't like the Studios. It seemed extremely small, and they did not have that much for us. We were finished with that park in about 4 hours. I really didn't like the theming either. Disneyland Paris has some really good theming, and the Studios seems to be the complete opposite. Well, in all honesty, they nailed the Studios theming, but that's the problem, it looks way to much like a real studio. Like warehouse and office building studios. I really, really wish we would have loved the parks, but it was really a let down. I am splitting the last two days geographically, and will cover 'lands,' instead of days. Well, on to the pictures!

The entrance to Disneyland Paris was through the hotel. Very nice looking.

Outside the entrance! After today, only one more Disney park credit to go, Hong Kong!

Andrew and Kiki (sorry if the spelling is wrong) taking a nice picture.

I mean, Andrew and Kinky!

This castle is definitely the nicest one!

Awww, how nice.

Main Street had these awesome 'hallways.' They were on the sides so you could avoid the parade crowds!

Hidden Mickey lamps.

And we see the awesome castle again!

There are supposed to be soda bottles in the 'ice', and this cart was open. There were a lot of little details like this that were missing.

This sink was clogged the morning we arrived. It was still clogged the next day an hour before closing!!!!

There was trash like this everywhere.

More trash in the main queue.

This trash sat there for over an hour. There were only a few tables so it wasn't like an extremely busy huge eating area.

They didn't even clean up a dead bird!

And this what we saw all the sweepers do all day. They just walked around in pairs talking to each other the whole time. Too bad Allison wasn't there to beat them into shape.

At least the castle is pretty!

Another view.

Tinkerbell died and is entombed in gold at the top of the castle.

The fireworks were pretty good.

The courtyard was nice and relaxing.

This was a lunch buffet with the somewhat new Remy animatronic. It was really cool, but there was no way to get close enough for a picture. Now, I'm used to Disney character dining where the characters go from table to table in a nice orderly fashion. It was the complete opposite here. Remy came out, walked in a straight line and was mobbed by everyone, and then left.

In Europe, people treat barriers and fences more like guidelines. This lady actually set up a hammock!

Ok, so this Gelato was one of the best items at the park.

Next up is the Studios. I didn't like it, so there are barely any pictures.

This was 'main street.' It looked like a 100' section of Downtown Disney. Really uninspiring to me.

Well, I guess with a name like Liki Tiki it can't be all that bad.

Clever signage that I am surprised to see at a Disney park!

Crush's coaster was pretty fun. It would have been more fun if the stupid lady in line behind us didn't physically push us out of the way and run to the forward facing seats. We were backward the entire time and it was kinda annoying.

The entrance to Rock 'n' Roller Coaster looked really cheap and cardboard cutout looking.

The video didn't really work for me, and the quality wasn't as realistic as WDW's.

TOT looks very similar to California's version.

The Earful tower, at least it fits better than a giant sorcerers hat!

The entrance to the park. A little too realistic/plain for me.

Now we head back to Disneyland and enter Adventureland.

Wait a minute, is that the Tree of Life?

Adventureland definitely had an Animal Kingdom feel to it.

They had some really cool bridges and caves. Kinda like a larger Tom Sawyers Island.

Skull Rock and the pirate ship were pretty cool as well.

Pretty high in the air!

We found the treasure!

Cool face in the rock.

There was also an odd Arab/Middle East style to Adventureland. This was the beginning of the Aladdin walkthrough. I guess the flying carpet has become a flying horse!?

Ok, so they do have the Disney version.

The dioramas were pretty impressive. They were similar to the ones in the windows of Main Street stores.

This is the dungeon under the castle similar to the expanded walkthrough that Tokyo used to have.

The dragon sleeps for a while....

...then he wakes up and breathes smoke.

Hidden Mickey

Next up was Indiana Jones. I didn't like Raging Spirits, and I didn't like this one.

It was pretty rough, but at least it's another credit.

And they say American's have no fashion sense!

ICE!!!! There's finally something absolutely incredibly awesome about Disneyland Paris!

The food at the Blue Lagoon (similar to Blue Bayou) looked great, but really wasn't good.

This was very bland, and seemed 'off.'

The lagoon was really nice.

Next up was Pirates!

The loading platform.

Robb definitely likes this version better.

This swinging pirate is not found in the other versions i've seen.

They still have the 'classic' scenes.

And the old captain.

No Jack here.

Somewhat newer looking in some places.

The scenes weren't much different.

Some effects were added, at least I think the 'flame' isn't in the others.

They had some California version scenes.

Eye see you! Get it? Eye, like I? Nevermind.

The treasure room.

This reminded once again that we are at Disneyland Paris. These two pirates were supposed to be sword fighting. Instead, the one on the left had a broken neck and only looked to the left and swung his sword at the ground. That's it for this portion of the report, the next, and FINAL, update of the trip will be of the rest of the lands!

[ginzo]

^You should have gone to DLP with us in 2008. We had ERT on Big Thunder Mountain. There was a queue full of angry Frenchies glaring at us.

[Trumple]

It's just the relaxed, neglectful South European mentality that you'll experience in South and Central America too. Americans generally have a more hasty, entrepreneurial spirit that has its roots in Britain, Holland, Germany and Scandinavia. We West Europeans find this South European attitude of mind very annoying, but have become accustomed to it over the years.

[jray21]

^You should have gone to DLP with us in 2008. We had ERT on Big Thunder Mountain. There was a queue full of angry Frenchies glaring at us.

 

ERT on Big Thunder would have been awesome! Seeing people glaring at you while doing ERT is the best! Steel Eel on the 2009 Texas trip was like that for about an hour! There were only 4 of us riding it for about an hour while the line got really long and they looked like they wanted to kill us!

 

It's just the relaxed, neglectful South European mentality that you'll experience in South and Central America too. Americans generally have a more hasty, entrepreneurial spirit that has its roots in Britain, Holland, Germany and Scandinavia. We West Europeans find this South European attitude of mind very annoying, but have become accustomed to it over the years.

 

I definitely witnessed it, and it does make sense.

[amyzoo]

Disney Paris is really nice looking (except for the random trash they don't pickup) it had really good theming. I liked the dragon under the castle. But the French workers made it not a very good experience.

[SharkTums]

Oh Disney Paris...you're so pretty...yet so terrible.

[RCFreak]

As bad as it may seem, I still want to go! Awesome pictures, can't wait for the rest. On the one hand, I'm sorry I didn't see these pics sooner. On the other, I'm glad I shouldn't be waiting two months for another update!

[jray21]

Finally, the end is here!!! Last post for this trip report! This is the second half of the Paris Disneyland Resort. This part includes Westernland, Tomorrowland, and Fantasyland. Enjoy, and thanks for following this report! Hope you enjoyed it!

They have Toad's! But unfortunately, it's only a food place

Amy loves Alice in Wonderland...

but it was closed! I'll find some managers and make sure to boooo really loudly and demand that they open it!

We need a chair like this!

Watch your hands Drew!

Time for the Casey Junior powered coaster credit.

I think this castle is even bigger than Disneyland's!

So that's how they move the boats

The train ride was pretty fun, but the load times were much worse than Disneyland's

Here are some of the Dioramas. First up is The Little Mermaid.

Peter and the Wolf!

Chernobog!

The Cave of Wonders entrance instead of Monstro.

Fun little ride.

Beauty and the Beast

That's cool, they had the Emerald City.

But they had the characters from the worse version of the movie.

It looks beautiful, but the operations, employees, and trash definitely overpowered the good.

Time for It's a Small World, just to say we did it.

My peoples!

I don't want to know why there is a pair of panties on this ride.

This is their view of America!

I guess America is just the wild west and farming, and nothing else.

The exit queue was pretty nice!

I'm sure no one has taken this picture yet!

Hey, this Snow White ride actually has an ending!

Pinocchio is pretty similar.

The area around Dumbo was much nicer than the other parks, but unfortunately, it is still in Paris.

They had some incredible theming.

From the castle looking back

This is an example of the character meet and greet disorganization. No lines or anything. Its literally just a free for all.

Next up is Tomorrowland, and the worst version of Space Mountain.

Some areas looked a little similar to Disney Sea's Port Discovery Area.

Buzzlightyear was pretty standard.

Autopia had a horrendous line like always

Space Mountain was only open on one side with a massive line.

We got our Captain EO Paris credit!

So, this transition from land to land isn't very good.

Nice looking at least!

Star Tours had the longest line, and it wasn't even the new version!

This is Westernland, but should be called Southwesternland.

Not in public!!!

Big "Falling Apart" Mountain, and "Psycho House" Haunted Mansion!

This is where Paris Disneyland really failed. See those chips? Those are supposed to be Nachos! No, not nacho flavored, but actual Nachos. The menu showed chips with shredded cheese on them.

Maybe we just got the Hate America meal. This was one of the horrible BBQ chicken wings.

This was supposed to be dessert! Supposedly, it's supposed to be fresh fruit with a Rasberry coulis sauce.

At least they had the old fashioned 'light' version shooting gallery. One flash from the camera and every single thing goes off!

The loudest single moment on a ride is experienced right after this part. It was much louder than the Dinosaur ride time machine transition at AK.

They had a big graveyard area at the Haunted Mansion you could walk around.

Too risque for most of the other Disney Parks!

This thermal area looks similar to the BTMR at MK.

Ready for the re-imagined version!

They just need mother in the window.

Creepy piano player.

This version is definitely more gruesome.

This creepy guy jumps out at you.

"Let me out. Let me outta here."

Old west piano player.

This guy was pretty scary. I'm sure a bunch of kids freak out seeing him.

It was cool seeing the different stretching room pictures.

Ok, this was terrible. Their "Madame Leota" was incredibly fat and weird looking.

The dining room scene had a few cool changes

The bride has an incredibly creepy mirror. I need it!

If I had this character as a mask I could scare the crap out of a ton of people!

Another creepy skeleton reaching out

They have the busts!

Dreamfinder! I couldn't believe they still had him after all of these years!

This one was also pretty creepy like the previous one.

A ginger bride! Now that is much scarier than the other version. Heck, a ginger will make anything scarier!

The ghosts were much scarier, but weren't 'with' you.

Good thing this didn't start a fire! We were using a foreign plug converter and surge protector and it obviously didn't work. I called callpod and they didn't care at all (their plug is supposed to prevent these things).

On the plane home this was the preview shot for the kids movie "The Rescuers!" I can't believe this slipped through quality control. Thanks so much for following! I may have some videos later so make sure you leave some comments!

[jray21]

As bad as it may seem, I still want to go! Awesome pictures, can't wait for the rest. On the one hand, I'm sorry I didn't see these pics sooner. On the other, I'm glad I shouldn't be waiting two months for another update!

 

It really is at least worth one trip. I think if this park was in the US it would still be ten times better than most US parks. Unfortunately, as a Disney park it's pretty bad. They really need to fix customer service, operations, foods, and janitorial. Hope you liked the update!

[Drachen77]

^ I agree. We were lucky enough to get over to Paris while I was stationed in Germany. We went to Disneyland in October '09. The staff at the hotel (We stayed at the Magic Circus Hotel) was very nice. They even helped me speak some servicable French during our stay. They gave us tons of info on how to use the trains going in to Paris and the best ways to get around and see the most stuff. However, inside the parks things were terrible. They were dirty and not maintained well at all. The cast members were rude and didn't care to try and help anyone, not just us crazy Americans. Like your picture showed, there was no crowd control with anything and really did become every man for himself.

 

I realize that your standards go up a bit after going to Disney World, but they are the same company. In my honest opinion, it felt like Disneyland Paris had been totally forgotten by the Disney Corporation.

 

Anyway, thanks a ton for the great trip report!

[OldJJman]

I have to agree with you Joey about the Disney parks. They're beautiful, but.... they're still in France.

 

Food was terrible, cast members were blasse' about everything, and it was dirty.

 

The only things I really like about both parks in total are: Crush, Big Thunder (and yes, ERT with pissed off people in line was AWESOME!), Phantom Manor and the architecture/themeing. Yes, they are nice parks, but they really are lacking when it comes to providing the "Disney" experience! If there ever would be a Six Flags Disneyland, this would be it.

 

I was also surprised to read that you didn't like Raging Spirits. I really enjoyed that ride, once I got there when it was open. It had been down on my first two trips to TDS.

 

 

JJ

[beatle11]

Great report! I really do expect the best from Disney though. That seemed very disappointing. It does look pretty though.

[jray21]

I was also surprised to read that you didn't like Raging Spirits. I really enjoyed that ride, once I got there when it was open. It had been down on my first two trips to TDS.

 

 

It wasn't a 'bad' ride, just not really good for me. I went on three different versions of the ride and they were all pretty rough. I was expecting it to be smoother and more intense. I definitely wouldn't pass it up if I was offered a ride!

 

^thanks! It does seem like they put all their money and efforts into the building if the park and kind of forgot about the rest. I would still say that it is a bit better than a lot of American parks.

[amyzoo]

I'll have to say this day was slightly better, maybe because we already experienced the French and now were expecting as bad. Two workers actually smiled today, but they weren't French! I did like Phantom Manor, it was creepy. I was sad that the Alice in Wonderland maze was closed. I think the funnest part of the day was using the camera flash to set off all the stuff at the shooting range. We probably laughed for 20 minutes doing that!