Review: Disneyland Paris
Having to cover some 500+ kilometers forced an early departure (5:30) to still be able to enjoy a bigger part of the day (arrival at around 13:00). Starting off at the Movies Studios, where there are about some 5 big attractions. Ranging from Live Actions show featuring some very live stunts, to a few rollercoaster rides to some mellow site seeing type of shows. Dual language is the keyword here, though the accent the French have, it’s hard to understand what they’re saying. About a third of this section is for food (mostly fast food) and merchandising. The second day was reserved for the bigger Disney Park itself. Divided in some five themed sections, this has even more site seeing styled shows, and only a few rollercoaster rides. Also more children friendly attractions are in abundance here. The dual language setup in the Movie Studios did not apply here though, more and more French was overtaking the attractions, and the sparse spoken English were spoken by people who tried to remember the words without knowing what it really means, so it becomes a bit garbled after so many repetitions. The fast food chains and merchandising ratio are even higher in this region, and a rough calculation shows the total queues equals some 40 mid-sized McDonald’s at work. With the prizes some ranging from 10 to 30 percent above the normal prizes, it’s a mystery why Disney is still making a loss at this resort (did I mention 12 euros for a rollercoaster snapshot picture ?).
Just a walking distance outside the park is the Disney Village, where even more food and merchandising is at work, freely accessible for public. Also situated is a train station (probably where the Thalys makes a stop), and a big movie theatre, showing mostly Disney (and Touchstone Pictures) related movies.
2 halve days are a little bit short, and 2 or 3 full days is recommended for full enjoyment of the whole park.
Hotels are also flooding the area surrounding the park. Most are just within minutes away with the free busses commuting every 10 minutes or so. Most hotels are HUGE, and quite luxurious, though still keeping it simple, nice and clean.
All in all, for not too much money, you can have quite a nice vacation if you plan it right.
Time for some pictures, take a look here.