Just returned home from 10 days in Europe with myself and the wife. We started with 3 days and 2 nights at DLP before moving on to Paris and Belgium, and I wanted to deposit my thoughts while they were fresh in my mind. Hopefully this is interesting to some, or possibly helpful for those who are planning on visiting.
Some of our history just for some background on where my thoughts/opinions are coming from. We both love the parks (we were married in Epcot), but I am fully able to see their shortcomings and where things have fallen and where they are getting better. Been to WDW and Disneyland numerous times and have had two visits to Tokyo Disney/Disney Sea. Our last and only visit to DLP was in 2019, and it was a single day trip from the city and we did not visit the studio park. We enjoyed that trip, but it felt disjointed and like we didnt really experience it.
I tend to think you cant get the full experience and vibe of the various disney parks until you are able to stay on property and wake up and go to sleep within the Disney bubble (for better and worse). This time, we booked two nights at Sequoia Lodge and spent the better part of 3 days in the parks. Im going to deposit most of these thoughts into shortish bullet points to keep this somewhat short and legible. Here we go:
-Took pre-booked car service from CDG to the Hotel. Highly recommend doing this over taxi and public transport. Its more expensive, but I highly advocate spending a little more for peace of mind and minimalizing stress.
-Weather. Man was it cold. We live in Portland, OR and are not strangers to chilly weather, but Ill admit we were probably not prepared for sub freezing temps the whole time. We had on plenty of layers, but at that temp, eventually it breaks you down a bit. Luckily it was dry, but I would gladly have taken another 5 or 10 degrees and then we would have been fine.
Sequoia Lodge Thoughts
-We booked Golden Forest Club and im glad we did, the Hotel was packed! Lobby was a zoo, so it was great to walk right to the Golden Forest Reception for a quick check in and bag drop off. Breakfast buffet was good each morning and avoided the need for reservations and high crowds as well.
-Hotel Christmas vibes were great and the common areas were nice. Similar vibe to Wilderness Lodge, but without the wide open lobby.
-Rooms are definitely dated and in need of a refresh, which we knew going in. Best word to describe them - serviceable.
-Easy walk from Hotel to Parks, felt about the same distance as going from Disneyland Hotel to the parks, similar vibe as both take you through Downtown Disney
Disneyland Park Thoughts
- What a beautiful park! Based purely on themeing and asthetics, it is head and shoulders above the other castle parks (havent visited HK or Shanghai)
- Going from Main Street>Frontier Land>Adventure Land may be my favorite stretch of any Disney Park. The storytelling, space, theme, atmosphere is top notch, and it really feels like a fully formed vision from its creators, right up there with the best parts of Disney Sea and Animal Kingdom
-Phantom Manor, this was closed for refurbishment last time, which was a heartbreaker, but man, this is right near the top of my favorite attractions. I love Haunted Mansion, and this is clearly my favorite version of it. Love the story of the Bride and how well…haunting it is. Genuinely some creepy moments as the Phantom looms over her. Loved every bit of it.
-Thunder Mountain. The pinnacle of this ride, no other version is close.
- Pirates. The best parts of WDW and DL combined to tell a story that makes sense, best version by far, although the movie tie ins does feel the most out of place.
-Fantasy Land. Admittedly the area I tend to spend the least amount of time in. Love having Casey Jr and Storybook Boats. Peter Pan and Pinocchio are always fun, didn’t ride Snow White. Small World was closed for refurbishment.
-Discovery Land. Like all of the “Tomorrow” lands, probably the part of the park that struggles to keep a cohesive theme. I would love for them to lean back into the Jules Verne aspect and give the whole area a proper refresh, but I doubt that will happen. The Star Wars overlay for Space Mountain is pretty terrible if Im being honest. I would love to have experienced this attraction in its original form. For those that did, was the que always so sparce? Only the last little bit has any theming, was the rest removed for Hyperspace or was this always the way it was?
-Main Street/Castle Hub. Just incredible. Love the Arcades on either side of Main Street and the working gas lamps. Everything looked to be in good shape. Loved the steam coming out of the coffee sign, lots of great little finishes that really makes this Main Street shine. The castle is a stunner, and the dragon and walk-through make it my favorite.
-30th/Holiday additions. The additional 30th and Christmas decorations were great. Always something to look at. I enjoyed all the character statues around the hub, and the Christmas decorations were great. Just a great energy in the park.
-Walts. We had a late lunch at Walts, and it was great. The space itself is just jammed packed with details; I wish it wasn’t so crowded so I could have had more time to explore the walls without feeling like I was hovering over the diners. The food was also better than I was expecting. Nothing earth shattering, but it was nowhere near being bad. Also had great service.
Studio Parks Thoughts
-I was pretty curious to see the worst Disney park, and while I understand why it holds that title, we did have fun with our time there. We basically treated it as another land, visiting for a couple of hours before closing and rope drop followed by a couple of hours riding rides before going back to DLP.
-Avengers Campus. Havent seen it at Disneyland yet, so this was my first visit to an Avengers Campus. Visually its not much to look at, but it was clean and in good shape. The outside of Flight Force was pretty cool, kind of reminded me of test track.
-Web Slingers. These game attractions do nothing for me, and this one was no different. Disappointing that this is what they built around Spider Man.
-Avengers Flight Force. For a retheme of Rockin Rollercoaster, this exceeded expectations. The building and Iron Man animatronic are top notch. The story is nonexistent. The ride itself is fun, and it kind of feels like a beta version of what they ended up doing for Guardians at Epcot. Not amazing, but we did enjoy the experience. Feels like all the budget went to the building and pre-show, then they threw 3 or 4 screens inside the ride building and called it a day. Why can Disney not do a bona fide starfield on any of these indoor space rides?
-Tower of Terror. It was great to ride a ToT that was not in terrible shape like the one of WDW. Really liked the little girl focus of this version. The projections were crisp and the drop profile felt long and really diverse. Great ride.
-Ratatouille. If you can make yourself ready for a cute C ticket attraction, its enjoyable, but its hard to not see how it could have been so much more. I did enjoy how it ended at the restaurant, which helped tie things together.
-Remy’s. Worth eating at for the theme, as they nailed it. Food was firmly average at best.
-Crush’s Coaster. This was very fun. Some nice show elements before it sends you into the main ride building, which is kind of like a much better version of Primeval World or Goofys Sky School. We liked it, but would not wait the normal hour plus for it. We did it at the very end of the night with a 15 minute wait.
-Like I mentioned above, our first visit to Studios was to go for a 6pm Remy dinner, and after dinner we were able to walk around, ride Ratatouille, Web Slinger, Flight Force, Tower, and Crush all before the park closed at 9pm. This is probably the best way to experience the park. The lighting at night was great and that stretch of time was some of the most fun we had the entire trip. As an all day park where waits quickly build at all the rides, its severely lacking, but for a night out riding some fun attractions, it was great. Tons of room to expand and improve if they ever decide to sink more money into it. Even with the Frozen expansion, it will still be a half day park at best I think.
Conclusion
This is already too long, so Ill just wrap by saying that it was a great trip to DLP. Overall the park is in great shape, and in many ways are head and shoulders above what we have in the States. It is great to be able to travel out of the country again and visit places like DLP and Tokyo Disney where the magic is alive and well. Something I cant really say for WDW, but I wont deviate this into another thread about whats wrong in Orlando. Cast members were welcoming and it was a warm holiday vibe around the parks. Great time, and cant wait to get back. Now I need to decide where it stack in my personal rankings of Disney Parks.
Hope some of you find this interesting. If any of you are planning visits, Im happy to answer any questions based on our experience.
Some of our history just for some background on where my thoughts/opinions are coming from. We both love the parks (we were married in Epcot), but I am fully able to see their shortcomings and where things have fallen and where they are getting better. Been to WDW and Disneyland numerous times and have had two visits to Tokyo Disney/Disney Sea. Our last and only visit to DLP was in 2019, and it was a single day trip from the city and we did not visit the studio park. We enjoyed that trip, but it felt disjointed and like we didnt really experience it.
I tend to think you cant get the full experience and vibe of the various disney parks until you are able to stay on property and wake up and go to sleep within the Disney bubble (for better and worse). This time, we booked two nights at Sequoia Lodge and spent the better part of 3 days in the parks. Im going to deposit most of these thoughts into shortish bullet points to keep this somewhat short and legible. Here we go:
-Took pre-booked car service from CDG to the Hotel. Highly recommend doing this over taxi and public transport. Its more expensive, but I highly advocate spending a little more for peace of mind and minimalizing stress.
-Weather. Man was it cold. We live in Portland, OR and are not strangers to chilly weather, but Ill admit we were probably not prepared for sub freezing temps the whole time. We had on plenty of layers, but at that temp, eventually it breaks you down a bit. Luckily it was dry, but I would gladly have taken another 5 or 10 degrees and then we would have been fine.
Sequoia Lodge Thoughts
-We booked Golden Forest Club and im glad we did, the Hotel was packed! Lobby was a zoo, so it was great to walk right to the Golden Forest Reception for a quick check in and bag drop off. Breakfast buffet was good each morning and avoided the need for reservations and high crowds as well.
-Hotel Christmas vibes were great and the common areas were nice. Similar vibe to Wilderness Lodge, but without the wide open lobby.
-Rooms are definitely dated and in need of a refresh, which we knew going in. Best word to describe them - serviceable.
-Easy walk from Hotel to Parks, felt about the same distance as going from Disneyland Hotel to the parks, similar vibe as both take you through Downtown Disney
Disneyland Park Thoughts
- What a beautiful park! Based purely on themeing and asthetics, it is head and shoulders above the other castle parks (havent visited HK or Shanghai)
- Going from Main Street>Frontier Land>Adventure Land may be my favorite stretch of any Disney Park. The storytelling, space, theme, atmosphere is top notch, and it really feels like a fully formed vision from its creators, right up there with the best parts of Disney Sea and Animal Kingdom
-Phantom Manor, this was closed for refurbishment last time, which was a heartbreaker, but man, this is right near the top of my favorite attractions. I love Haunted Mansion, and this is clearly my favorite version of it. Love the story of the Bride and how well…haunting it is. Genuinely some creepy moments as the Phantom looms over her. Loved every bit of it.
-Thunder Mountain. The pinnacle of this ride, no other version is close.
- Pirates. The best parts of WDW and DL combined to tell a story that makes sense, best version by far, although the movie tie ins does feel the most out of place.
-Fantasy Land. Admittedly the area I tend to spend the least amount of time in. Love having Casey Jr and Storybook Boats. Peter Pan and Pinocchio are always fun, didn’t ride Snow White. Small World was closed for refurbishment.
-Discovery Land. Like all of the “Tomorrow” lands, probably the part of the park that struggles to keep a cohesive theme. I would love for them to lean back into the Jules Verne aspect and give the whole area a proper refresh, but I doubt that will happen. The Star Wars overlay for Space Mountain is pretty terrible if Im being honest. I would love to have experienced this attraction in its original form. For those that did, was the que always so sparce? Only the last little bit has any theming, was the rest removed for Hyperspace or was this always the way it was?
-Main Street/Castle Hub. Just incredible. Love the Arcades on either side of Main Street and the working gas lamps. Everything looked to be in good shape. Loved the steam coming out of the coffee sign, lots of great little finishes that really makes this Main Street shine. The castle is a stunner, and the dragon and walk-through make it my favorite.
-30th/Holiday additions. The additional 30th and Christmas decorations were great. Always something to look at. I enjoyed all the character statues around the hub, and the Christmas decorations were great. Just a great energy in the park.
-Walts. We had a late lunch at Walts, and it was great. The space itself is just jammed packed with details; I wish it wasn’t so crowded so I could have had more time to explore the walls without feeling like I was hovering over the diners. The food was also better than I was expecting. Nothing earth shattering, but it was nowhere near being bad. Also had great service.
Studio Parks Thoughts
-I was pretty curious to see the worst Disney park, and while I understand why it holds that title, we did have fun with our time there. We basically treated it as another land, visiting for a couple of hours before closing and rope drop followed by a couple of hours riding rides before going back to DLP.
-Avengers Campus. Havent seen it at Disneyland yet, so this was my first visit to an Avengers Campus. Visually its not much to look at, but it was clean and in good shape. The outside of Flight Force was pretty cool, kind of reminded me of test track.
-Web Slingers. These game attractions do nothing for me, and this one was no different. Disappointing that this is what they built around Spider Man.
-Avengers Flight Force. For a retheme of Rockin Rollercoaster, this exceeded expectations. The building and Iron Man animatronic are top notch. The story is nonexistent. The ride itself is fun, and it kind of feels like a beta version of what they ended up doing for Guardians at Epcot. Not amazing, but we did enjoy the experience. Feels like all the budget went to the building and pre-show, then they threw 3 or 4 screens inside the ride building and called it a day. Why can Disney not do a bona fide starfield on any of these indoor space rides?
-Tower of Terror. It was great to ride a ToT that was not in terrible shape like the one of WDW. Really liked the little girl focus of this version. The projections were crisp and the drop profile felt long and really diverse. Great ride.
-Ratatouille. If you can make yourself ready for a cute C ticket attraction, its enjoyable, but its hard to not see how it could have been so much more. I did enjoy how it ended at the restaurant, which helped tie things together.
-Remy’s. Worth eating at for the theme, as they nailed it. Food was firmly average at best.
-Crush’s Coaster. This was very fun. Some nice show elements before it sends you into the main ride building, which is kind of like a much better version of Primeval World or Goofys Sky School. We liked it, but would not wait the normal hour plus for it. We did it at the very end of the night with a 15 minute wait.
-Like I mentioned above, our first visit to Studios was to go for a 6pm Remy dinner, and after dinner we were able to walk around, ride Ratatouille, Web Slinger, Flight Force, Tower, and Crush all before the park closed at 9pm. This is probably the best way to experience the park. The lighting at night was great and that stretch of time was some of the most fun we had the entire trip. As an all day park where waits quickly build at all the rides, its severely lacking, but for a night out riding some fun attractions, it was great. Tons of room to expand and improve if they ever decide to sink more money into it. Even with the Frozen expansion, it will still be a half day park at best I think.
Conclusion
This is already too long, so Ill just wrap by saying that it was a great trip to DLP. Overall the park is in great shape, and in many ways are head and shoulders above what we have in the States. It is great to be able to travel out of the country again and visit places like DLP and Tokyo Disney where the magic is alive and well. Something I cant really say for WDW, but I wont deviate this into another thread about whats wrong in Orlando. Cast members were welcoming and it was a warm holiday vibe around the parks. Great time, and cant wait to get back. Now I need to decide where it stack in my personal rankings of Disney Parks.
Hope some of you find this interesting. If any of you are planning visits, Im happy to answer any questions based on our experience.
