Impressions of Disneyland Paris, before you first visited...

[dagobert]

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.

[tubbsy]

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!    (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  
I didnt find this place until just before our last visit with Rob. How did I manage before???  :lol:

[montaguewarner]

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    )

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!

[SM:M3]

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.

[tubbsy]

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:

[tianasdream]

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    

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

[Owain]

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!"  

[disneylandparisgirl]

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!  

[Kobato]

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.

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!"  

My favourite non-Disney film ever .

[SwipatronSparks]

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... =]

[Disney_Dreamer]

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.

[simonandwendy626]

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'    /

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

[disneyisthebest]

I thought that Mickey would actually be somewhere

[momotaro]

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.

[gingajen]

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  
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.