Disneyland Paris thoughts!

Started by Malin, May 19, 2012, 11:33:08 AM

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Malin

I have just come back from Disneyland Paris with many thoughts which I'll share a bit later. But many positives things to report and a few negatives. The worst one being how shocking some of the Animatronics and various ride effects were in the various attractions. Main ones being Pirates and Phantom Manor. Some minor improvements were made during the week. But I know a lot of the problems were evident last month. And that's even more shocking that these issues have yet to be fixed. Don't let pictures of refurbishments that some have been posting on various message boards fool you. Yeah the park looks good on the outside but the same love and care has not been shown to the attractions. I'll rant on this a bit more later and in my view a Resort suffering in ride capacity, entertainment, and we even had the Characters go on strike on one of the days. But I'll also report back on the positives like how amazing Disney Dreams the new show was and some other stuff.

davewasbaloo

#1
Sounds like my experience for the 20th. All the attractions had noticeably bad broken effects/AAs (enough for a 6 and8 year old to notice and get angry). And the restaurant situation was a nightmare as half the counter service places were shut all day(this is during the 20th anniversary and the Easter vacation remember - high season). And the prices for food and merchandise were ridiculous. So although we loved Dreams andthe cosmeticrefurbs were great,my kids are not bothered ifwe evergo back.That is not cool.

And when the 20th was so bad for closures andcrowds (last chance cafe, lucky Nugget,ColHathi, toad hall, pizza planet and Chalet la Marionette were allclosed and table services were all booked), rather than wait an hourforcold mediocre counter service meals at 15euro and the likelihood of a need to sit on the floor as many did, we went ahead and left the park and went to the village to Annette's for lunch. In fact this was an issue many days, so in the end we went to the Val d Europe or back to the villa for a number of meals. The result is other than our APs,Disney probably got 20% of our business that week. Verypoor.

But the experience of the birthday itself was fantastic, for one day, entertainment in the park,DLP felt like a real Disney park. And the refurbs and dreams are great. But the park still has so many problems, we will now probably only go back for the 25th anniversary. But we cannot wait to return to Puy du Fou
since 2001 (many before that)

dagobert

#2
I expected that, since friends of mine had same experience in April. It's always the same. DLP does cosmetic refurbs and we Disney fans go crazy about the improvent, while the truth is that the main problems, like ride effects or AA don't get fixed.

It's like in 2010 when we have been the last time and before we went some rides got refurbs. They looked nice and new on the outside, but the inside was as bad as before.

Sadly more people care about the outside than about the ride itself.

Malin

#3
QuoteAnd when the 20th was so bad for closures andcrowds (last chance cafe, lucky Nugget,ColHathi, toad hall, pizza planet and Chalet la Marionette were allclosed and table services were all booked), rather than wait an hourforcold mediocre counter service meals at 15euro and the likelihood of a need to sit on the floor as many did, we went ahead and left the park and went to the village to Annette's for lunch.

The Counter Service situation was a joke. You constantly had long lines all day because not all the counter service venues were open. In the one instance I used Hyperion the line was 20 deep on each side. And a lot of the time people you had Cast Members standing around waiting to take orders but couldn't because customers were waiting to pay. That's not a way anyone would run a business even in France. I booked ahead and reserved a lot of table service and the food was good at all locations I have to give them credit. Also rather quick and in fact it became a bit of a joke where table service was quicker than standing in line for fast food. But it really was the case at all the places I visited.

The prices is something I'll be wishing to discuss. 3 euro's for a coke. What a joke!

QuoteSadly more people care about the outside than about the ride itself.

Sadly no one seem to care. People were more concern and upset that the Characters had gone on strike.

ed-uk

#4
I think that just goes to show how popular the characters are for many people. They can forgive some broken AAs ( if they even notice and know the rides well enough), but they might not forgive closed rides, cancelled parades and no characters. When I've been in the past, I've noticed that not all of the restaurants are open at the some time all day, even in the summer. And true, some of the counter service venues could do with more CMs, I notice this in  The Cable Car Bake shop, and have done for sometime.
Ed & David

Epcot_Boy

#5
Quote from: "ed-uk"When I've been in the past, I've noticed that not all of the restaurants are open at the some time all day, even in the summer. And true, some of the counter service venues could do with more CMs, I notice this in  The Cable Car Bake shop, and have done for sometime.

These days I rarely if ever eat my main meals in the parks but prefer to eat in one of the Hotel restaurants. What I have noticed interestingly is that the hotel restaurants seem to be overflowing with cms :)  Recently at the Parkside and at Cape Cod I was amazed at how many cms were just hanging around waiting to serve someone, and on both occasions the restaurants were quite busy :shock:
I would have thought some of these could be redeployed in the Parks, serving quickie meals etc :)


David

Malin

#6
It appears the issues with food have not gone unnoticed.  http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2012/ ... after.html