Can you remember the time before you visited Disneyland Paris (and this message board) religiously? Before you knew the ins and outs of every ride, the secrets of every land?
What kind of picture of the place did you have in your head back then? From reading the brochures, seeing the advertisements, poring over the map for hours on end, what did you expect?
I remember looking at Main Street station on the old 1995-2002 map and just thinking "how is that possible?!" How does the train track go right through the main entrance of the park? Is there a level crossing? Surely that's a nightmare?! I could never have imagined the incredible station there, elevated above the entrance... (brought up on UK theme parks, see)
Now for a funnier one. I thought the parades ran on the tram/trolley tracks. Very confused when they ended and the parade route continued, as the ImagiNations parade rolled by...
What did you imagine, before you stepped through those gates?
Hey
good question!
I remember I didn't look up too much about the place before I went because I wanted to be surprised. I am actually so shocked now that I didn't! :shock: I was just so excited to be going to 'A' disney park or 'Any' disney park! It was my dream all my life and to be honest I never even thought about the fact there was different ones in different countries etc! I feel kinda stupid now thinking about how much I now know!
All I could think of was that it was disney, a whole park, a whole holiday full of Disney! How amazing that was going to be!! A whole resort dedicated to the thing I am most passionate aboout in my life!
The one thing I always wanted was to stand infront of a disney castle and see the fireworks, so actually that was the one thing I did look up a lot .... I remember sitting at home watching Wishes on youtube and just thinking wow!!! And when I seen it in real life I almost broke into tears!
I had got the dvd that used to be free with the brochure so I had watched that but appart from making me go wow, I guess It doesnt mean the same when you havent been! lol
I think I did expect that there would be more characters walking about and stuff like the adverts portray, whereas I only met 3 the whole time and all of those where in the studios!
I got on every ride praying it wasn't a rollercoaster! I had an idea what space mountain, rock n'rollercoaster was and you can see thunder mountain so I avoided those lol! me and my friends fell in love with Peter pan's flight!
aww the innocent days! :D
My wife (then my girlfriend) and I went to Paris for a short break in August 97 after we had been together 8 or so months.
Sarah had always wanted go to Disneyland but had always believed it to be unattainable.
I had never really been bothered as Disney was tacky, corporate Americana and superficial.
We had spent the first few days of our holiday doing the usual Paris things, and decided to go to Disney simply because it was nearby and would be something different.
I remember being distinctly uninterested in the planning and had done no preparation at all.
We purchased our tickets at a Metro station and boarded the RER. I was desperately trying to be cool and sophisticated (after all, I was 24 and too old for Disney).
Then a problem arose.
When I arrived at Fantasia Gardens and looked up at the hotel and walked through the turnstiles I was hooked.
I was 7 years old and in a great place.
Cynicism and coolness left forever!
I was never intrested in disneyland the first time i went it was just a school trip i was excited and then i went again with parentals and fell in love with it :D my parents thought it was gunna just be a theme park and were BLOWN away by the fact it was so detailed and now im just a lil bit obsesed :D :D/
I was 11 years old when"Euro"- Disney opened and there had been a tv- show called Disney Club,where they showed lots of things about the "new" Disney Resort. I think it aired around 1990 for the first time and they continoued showing reports even from the unfinished Park. And it got me completely hooked...I read Mickey-Mouse Magazines too, and there was a lot of disneyland in there...
And the opening night of our Magic Kingdom,oohh I still remember begging my parents to allow me to watch it...but they wouldn`t,cause they didn`t care at all about Disney and since we only had one tv they decided to watch something else...
However as the years passed by I read more and more about Disneyland Paris.
And I have to say I had a very clear picture of what to expect,except for Space Mountain. I thought it`s a simulation of a flight into space. That was what all the ads were about:" Between the earth and the moon" I was quite surprised when i first rode Space Mountain, can only say that I couldn`t stop screaming...didn`t expect a roller coaster...:-)
So my first trip finally happend 1997 at the age of sixteen, after years of dreaming of this. And the whole trip through I couldn`t believe it,this is Disneyland ....I´m in Disneyland ...I didn`t know the smell on Main Street before, I didn`t know about the music everywhere,I didn`t know how beautiful everything looks in reality...
I had a wonderful ,wonderful time there and in the end I was even more hooked.....hihi:-)
Interesting. I think my situation is very different than everyone's on this board. I grew up going to Disneyland since I was a baby. I do not remember a time "not knowing" what it was all about. When I moved to the UK in 1986, I was depressed because I was leaving my beloved Disneyland, a place I have been going to about every two months for my entire life (sometimes more often). My obsession.
But I was lucky, I had been in a focus group with Tony Baxter, and had an incling of what was planned. I was able to visit the building site in 1990 and 1991, and saved up to be there opening day. I followed every bit of media I could find (the Sun, Mirror and Renault Owner's club had the best preopening coverage). But I still did not know what it would be like. I knew the attraction count was going to be much smaller than Disneyland or the Magic Kingdom, and it worried me. But to get a park in our part of the world was amazing.
When I got there, my jaw hit the floor. It was the most beautiful park Disney had ever built to that point. The international vibe of EuroDisney was amazing. The quality of the merchandise and the live entertainment. It was better than I could imagine.
I took on 2 more jobs so that I could return that opening year, even on a day trip. It was amazing again. And I was hooked ever since.
But the last 17 and a half years have been a roller coaster ride of awesomeness (Space Mountain opening; Mulan, Tarzan and Lion king shows; WDSP, Crescend'O) and a lot of heart break - cut backs on almost everything including the really dark years of maintenance before the 15th Anniversary.
But even still, I am amazed by the level of detail WDI put into DLP, more than any other MK style park on the planet. And that is why I get grumpy, I want DLP to continue to be the best. But when it comes to ops, it is far from.
I had no idea what to expect. I had never been to any theme park my nearest experience being Blackpool over 30 years ago :lol: :lol: :lol: I was bowled over by the characters and their interactions with my son. Ben had never watched any disney before we went but fell in love with them and the rides instantly. I had read the guides so I "knew" the rides but you havent a clue until you get there. The atmosphere is just so different to anything I have ever experienced(admittedly not a lot) but I just had to go back.
I think it spoilt me a little cos I was totally let down at Alton Towers this summer.It doesn't have the magic and Ben much preferred the waterpark.
I was always a bit of a sceptic before- couldn't see the attraction in a spinning teacup- but its the way its put together that makes it a jouney worth taking. Can't wait to go back!
I had been to WDW many times before ,so was kind of prepared for what to expect, but followed every bit of press and news prior to the opening ! All the pre opening adverts and info showed parts of WDW so gave no real impression of what it would be like ! We planned a trip a few weeks after opening "to let the huge crowds die down" !!! LOL !Which of course never happened ! Like Davewasbaloo I was so impressed with the park ,the Castle alone was the most beautiful thing I had seen , it left the other parks way behind ! and the attention to detail and overall theming was amazing :D I was really suprised and pleased about how well it had been created , a real plus on WDW.
One of the best things was that the park was so incredibly quiet , it was mid week , Main Street and Central Plaza with about 30 other people around ! And every ride and restaurant was open even though no one was there , something we knew we would never see again ; must look for the pictures to post on here !
when I was a little child, I used to watch all the Disney Movies that went out... I remember Lion King was the first movie I ever watched in cinema.
Disney Movies were always something special for me, I got them when I was really ill or have done something very good. There always was this kind of special thing on watching those movies and there was this advertisment of the young girl with curles and propably her granddad in the tea cups. Both were smiling and I wanted to go there so badly, since I was about 6 years or so.
My parents never went with me, since I live in Germany they never took the long driving to Paris.
Two years ago, I booked a trip with a youth group to Disneyland and was so happy to actually go there, that I have read everything about Disneyland what was there. I knew what all the rides were about, where the special things were hidden and so on.
After ten hours of bus driving we finally arrived at Hotel Chayenne and when we got into the yellow bus, I was totally excited.
The first thing I saw was the big pink hotel and then, of course, the beautiful castle. It looked so beautiful and I felt like a little child again. I was a bit angry of myself, cause I knew everything from the beginning, but it helps to see more things, because two days arent so long in Disneyland.
I was absolutly stunned and i think it is so amazing, that I booked the trip for last year and arrived in the halloweenseason... even more stunning! In March I will go again, but the big dream is to go there on Christmas!
I remember thinking that it was just a cheap and rubbish version of WDW and you would never catch me in that place called Euro Disney lol
Oh how times have changed :lol:
One of my friends even said it was cheap looking version of Alton Towers and that in a day you would get everything done.
What did she know eh? :roll: :lol:
Quote from: "davewasbaloo"And that is why I get grumpy, I want DLP to continue to be the best. But when it comes to ops, it is far from.
But isnt being positive a wonderful thing! Look how far the Resort has come in 18 years, it really is outstanding!
It took Disneyland 45 years to get its 2nd Park. And tokyo Disney took what was it, 15 years to get its own hotel onsite?
I remember watching The Little Mermaid on video, then seeing the preview that followed the film. My parents had already told me and my sisters about Walt Disney World as they had already been. I kind of got the impression from my parents that Euro Disney wouldn't be a "proper" Disneyland. A couple of years later in 1993 my parents took us to WDW, so I kind of forgot about Euro Disney.
I started to become more aware of Euro Disney when friends at school would go and tell me about it, it sounded fun but I still viewed it as a poor imitation of it's American cousins.
I first went in 2004 with my college as part of a choir trip. We stayed at Davy Crocket Ranch and had a lot of fun. We also performed at the Fantasy Festival Stage with our choir which was awesome. We were only there for 4 days though, so I don't feel like I had enough time to explore the resort.
I went back the following year with my friend, and that was when I fell in love with DLP. Now I can't imagine ever thinking of it as a sub-standard Disney park.
p.s... Happy 18th Birthday Disneyland Paris :)
I came back from disneyland 3 weeks ago after visiting for the first time, to say i was a little sceptical is an understatement, i thought it would be just like any other theme park, how wrong was i lol.
I did alot of research before i went to make sure i was prepared, and loved every second i was there, even my boyfriend, who very rarely smiles at anything enjoyed it, i was so sad to leave, it just takes you back to your childhood.
Going again on the 20th-23rd december and soooooooooooooo cant wait :D/
xx
I remember watching the Space Mountain advert on my Lion King video, which was the first thing that told me about DLP.
My memory is quite vague, but i remember being quite terrified whenever it came on as i would run behind the sofa (Hey, I was 3 years old at the time.) I couldn't get my head round what the attraction was suppose to do, :oops: but this was the first time I ever heard of DLP.
However my memory is much clearer when WDS opened as the adverts would be on all the time, of course i thought it was a rubbish version of the one in Florida. (I had been to Disney Hollywood Studios in 2000)
I don't really remember much else apart from that, but did anyone else get scared of that Space Mountain ad?
My first memory is when my dad told us that they were going to build a Disney park in Europe. We had recently been to WDW and for me that was the most incredible place: when we walked into Main Street in WDW, the first thing I saw was Snow White saying hello to a little girl. Snow White!! Right in front of me!! Pure magic. So having one closer to us, I couldn't wait!!
I remember when they were discussing whether the park would be in Spain or France (I think I was still living in Spain at the time), and being quite happy once they decided to build it outside Paris since by then I was in Luxembourg so it was a lot more convenient.
I remember impatiently waiting for April 1992, and thinking it would never come... And once, when we were driving from Luxembourg to Spain, my dad told us we would go and check on the progress of the construction, and took us to what I now guess was the information center, but to us at the time was the entrance to the park... I was so excited about seeing that it was all I could think about all the way to Spain (and it was a long drive... we used to get up really early, leave Luxembourg around 3am, and drive all day to Madrid, we got there around 10 in the evening... fun fun fun).
But then, when the park actually opened and my parents took us there (to be honest I can't remember the date, it could have been after the summer in 1992), I hardly remember it :lol: I remember looking up Main Street towards the Castle and thinking it was the greatest place on earth (I know, I haven't changed much :roll: :lol: ). We only went for one day, again leaving from Luxembourg early in the morning and driving back after the park closed, but I was so excited about it, that I don't really remember much about the visit... :roll:
At first I wasn't really interested in Disneyland Paris. I knew that it is near Paris, but I didn't know anything about the park, although I had already seen some pictures about it. I always thought that it is mainly for children.
In 2000 there was a tourism convention in my hometown and I went there with my dad. Neckermann, a German tourism company, had a small info kiosk about DLRP and my dad got a catalogue and some brochures about Disneyland.
At home we looked through all the brochures and one was from Disneyland Paris. I still wasn't very interested in it, but I looked at all the brochures and cataloges and so I got more infos about it and I thought that it could be a great place. So after some time my siblings and I asked our parents if we could go to DLRP and they thought about our idea. My parents said, if we are going there we also have to go to Paris and so they booked a hotel in the city for eight days with two days of park entry. We did Paris first and the last two days we spent at the park.
It was still a long time until summer and so I tried to get as much info as possible about Disneyland and I got more and more excited about it.
Finally the time went by and when I saw the castle for the very first time I was in love with Disneyland and I knew that I had to return.
Three years later I met my girlfriend and it took me additional three years to convince her to go to DLRP, but I have to admit I also wasn't so interested during this time to go there again.
In 2006 I went the first time with my girlfriend and she also fell in love with Disneyland. Since then we have been to DLRP four times and once to WDW. Now we try to go to DLP once a year.
I remember so much information being around whilst DLP was being built. I've always been a big fan onf Disney but my parents (with 6 kids) would never be able to afford for us to go to WDW.
I was married a year before DLP opened and things were tight as we started setting up our home. We looked at staying in Day Crockett but other things took priority.
Steph came along. We moved to Germany. I would watch any article that came on the telly and thought it looked amazing, the castle the rides, the characters, ....Eeyore! :D (although the thought of Space Mountain scared me-and I have never been on it! :lol: -and yes I remember the advert before Lion King-Stephs favourite film!) But I never thought we would get to go.
So when we did finally get to go my excitement was unbelievable. And it has lived up to everything I imagined :D
I didnt find this place until just before our last visit with Rob. How did I manage before??? :lol:
I remember thinking that Disneyland Paris was just a rubbish sister of the US parks, I'd been to WDW and we were planning to visit DLR in California!
Then a surprise visit to DLRP came about and to say i was sceptical is a huge understatment!
I remember thinking, I'll just get the monorail to Downtown Disney and do some shopping!
Then i got there and it hit me! Suddenly WDW seemed all a bit tacky and less detailed compared to this wonder!
I still think WDW is rather like a field of asphalt sometimes (...WDS :P )
Okay so i was disappointed there was no monorail! But I sort of like Disney Village instead of DD in a strange way!
And Magic Kingdom Park was blown out of the water by Disneyland Park!
Okay so WDS has a little catching up to do! But that Front lot is stunning! Just a bit of work on the backlot please, that was a bit of a disappointment!
I just though, disgusting corporate America, horrible characters, somewhere I would never want to go, I had never been on a rollercoaster before SM:M2 so that didn't appeal to me...
Then I went on a school trip there
WHOAH
Never looked back,wonderful place, yeah the Studios was nowhere near as good but could be excused.
Quote from: "SM:M3"I just though, disgusting corporate America, horrible characters,
I just had this image of Bart Simpson on a train, wearing ladies underwear pop into my head! :roll: :lol:
Before I first booked I didnt have a clue what to expect then once I had booked, I thought do I really want to go? Its just a theme park . . . well how wrong was I. Although a lot of people I talk to now who have never been say its just a hyped up theme park :o
I looked up loads of info online before first going and found it all very overwhelming and on our first trip altho we had a fab time we got hardly anything done, didnt meet many characters and just lived off counter meals
Quote from: "tubbsy"Quote from: "SM:M3"I just though, disgusting corporate America, horrible characters,
I just had this image of Bart Simpson on a train, wearing ladies underwear pop into my head! :roll: :lol:
"I'm the mascot of an evil corporation!" :P
My first knowledge of disneyland was I think when it was being built there was a documentary I found while channel hoping it was saying about how they built the castle I was only 4/5 years old and was fascinated!
I begged my parents for years and years for us to go! [-o<
In 1997 i finally got my wish! I was nearly 10 years old and it was completely magical and everyhting I thought it would be! We stayed offsite that year!
We returned in 1998 and stayed at the Cheyenne and then in 1999 I got my real dream we stayed in the big pink hotel (disneyland hotel) as I called it then and I've loved it ever since! :D
Before my first visit, I didn't have many impressions of it. I had seen some advertisings of it on my VHS (yeah, VHS), when the WDS was going to be opened, another of HISTA (with a big dog that attacked people XD)...
I just thought it would be something really awesome and beautiful at the same time.
Finally, in 2007 (I was 10 years old then), my mother booked a trip of 3 days in Disneyland and 4 in Paris. When I arrived, it was completely different as I thought. I was even more magical! We stayed at the Newport Bay (the only hotel I have stayed in Disney, we have stayed on it since then) and everything was perfect. Everything was magical even if it rained!
Since then, it has been even better (and now we stay more time at Disney :) ), and I visit it each year. I think I'm a bit obsessed since then.
Quote from: "Owain"Quote from: "tubbsy"Quote from: "SM:M3"I just though, disgusting corporate America, horrible characters,
I just had this image of Bart Simpson on a train, wearing ladies underwear pop into my head! :roll: :lol:
"I'm the mascot of an evil corporation!" :P
My favourite non-Disney film ever :D.
my first knowledge of disneyland that i can remember was seeing the advert for disneyland on a disney video i had, i can remember the one with the parade in it and goofy on BTM, then the other advert i can remember seeing was the one for sapce mountain... i didnt even realise it was a ride! nyhoo my first time at disneylad i was 10 years old (it was in the march of 2001) and i was told about it at christmas... and proceeded to forget all about the fact that i was going :oops: i cant remember when it was that i remembered that we where going, but we went on the coach for like 3 days or something, stayed in the sequoia lodge, and from what i remember i loved it, we proceeded to go back again and again... =]
I first wished to go to DLRP after seeing an advert on the tv - i was about nine but we couldn't afford it at that time. I got my wish when I was 13 and went for the first time, staying in newport bay club hotel. It was so magic when we went. We crammed loads in, a character breakfast the second morning in Cafe Mickey, went on loads of rides, saw both parades and firework show 'Wishes'. It was great. It was the first proper holiday we'd had in ages and we all loved it, even my mom and dad. We have been three times since and it gets better every time we go. I would seriously consider it to everyone - even staying in the DIsneyland Hotel once so you get a feel for the hotel. We stayed in the Disneyland Hotel for the first time this year and it exceeded our expectations. It was brill. It was great to see some of the characters about the castle as you went to breakfast every morning and it is in a fantastic location if you want to go into the park early during the Early Magic Hours.
I can remember watching Disney time on the TV through the 80's as i was growing up and seeing Tink flying round the castle and being excited about the magic kingdom, then watching the video of the little mermaid seeing the balloon floating over the castle and thinking I must go.. :thumbs:
Then in 1993 I surprised my then Girlfriend (now wife) with a trip to paris including 2 days at Disney. I was already excited as we got on the RER that I was going to a Disneyland that I could hardly contain myself. I can remember walking upto the hotel looking up at the clock thinking even then, (even before going on a single ride) I want to come back. :ears:
We had a fantasitic 2 days in the park, I can remember that we had left train around the park until the end when we suddenly saw a ride we hadn't been on whilst in the tunnel before fantasyland,I can still remember turning to Wendy and saying ' what was that.. lets get off and see if we can find it' :D/
I can t remember much of that first ride on Pirates except getting off and going straight back on, since that moment It has always been our favorite ride
Then there was the main street electrical parade and we decided there and then that we would come back again the next year for a week and stay in the resort
anyhoo nearly 20 years later and 20 trips later we still get excited before going and alway head straight for Pirates
I thought that Mickey would actually be somewhere
i was in disneyland for the first and only time in 1994 when i was 20 years old. we were supposed to go in 1993 (my mum died that year so my dad wanted to take my brother and myself so wed take our minds off the grief for a bit). unfortunately we couldnt go that year so dad, brother and i went in july 1994, stayed at sequoia lodge.
we were told that we were the first serbian guests at disneyland paris.
so now, 18 years later, were going back in october, this time my husband, son of 3 and myself. staying again at sequoia. :=)
back when i went for the first time there were no such information as they are today.
hubby is also somewhat anti-disney (anti-multinational companies, etc) so wasnt too thrilled when i mentioned it (he and his mother are the conspiracy type of people lol), but hell survive. :)
I can't really remember seeing or reading anything about the Park before we went. I do remember that is was the July of the year it opened, I was 7 years old and we stayed about 15 miles away from the resort in our touring caravan. We had met up with other family and friends and there were 10 people crammed into a 4 berth caravan and awning :D
I remember the sheer number of people was amazing, the music as we walked towards the park and the smell, which hasn't changed at all.
It was stupidly hot and busy. I'm ashamed to say I don't really remember much else about the day. I think it may have been overwhelming. However an image that stands out is one of our group going down the moving walkway to the carpark after about 15hrs in the park and she was falling asleep. standing up! It's hard work enjoying yourself.
I vaguely remembered it opening, but my wife (who had been to WDW) had suggested it for our honeymoon and I thought it was a good idea as I liked Alton Towers. From the brochure I actually thought that you would be forced to go on everything in WDS! I remember thinking that the flying carpets was actually a dark ride (like Peter Pan) and that the actual attraction was just the pre-show, then you would get off and go through the set behind into the attraction. Not a bad thought though! At the time I wasn't keen on the idea of parades, as I could just remember being bored as a child watching town-centre carnivals. Fantillusion and the princess parade soon sorted that out!