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Disneyland Paris: General Discussion

I was away in Europe last week which included 3 days at DLP where we stayed on Resort at Newport Bay Club and had the plus dining plans. A few points from the trip:
  • Having one card (the magic pass) that works as your park tickets, hotel room key and dining plan is so much better than the endless amounts of paper etc. you used to get when checking in
  • We ate at Walt's on our first day and it was outstanding. 3 courses complete with wine pairings and a cocktail to round it off. Possibly the best meal I have eaten inside of a theme park
  • In contrast, the food at Bistro Chez Remy was a disappointment, notably the main course. The steak was a poor cut and the chips very average
  • Disneyland Park was looking fantastic, it really is the most beautiful Disney castle park. My only real critique in terms of presentation would be that Casey Jr and Le Pays des Contes de Fees are in need of a touch up
  • Notable improvement in the amount and variety of snacks/treats across the parks, which is always welcome
  • With Big Thunder Mountain and It's A Small World both down for maintenance, the lack of rides in Disneyland Park really did show. Thankfully we did manage to get a couple of rides on BTM when it soft opened later on our last day there. New rides for this park are essential
  • It appears kids no longer have to go to school as the parks were very busy (it was similar at Efteling earlier in the week). My previous visits to DLP have always been September/October weekdays before any holidays, and the parks have tended to be rather quiet. Disney must be making a fortune, so there really is no excuse for not investing right now
  • There was some sort of mini food/wine festival on in Walt Disney Studios that we were not aware of with stalls featuring food and wine from different areas of France and some other European nations. Helped give the park a nice atmosphere and the provision of much wine was a nice unexpected bonus
  • I was slightly concerned that ToT had a modified story, but thought it actually worked quite well. And it now means that all versions of this ride system are unique. The new drop sequence was very fun!
  • The new Disney D-Light show featuring drones is awesome, so clever
Finally we got to experience the new Avengers Campus which has replaced the old Backlot in Walt Disney Studios Park. Needless to say that it is a vast improvement on what was there before. A few thoughts on it:
  • The area itself has been done really nicely and feels completely different to how it was before. The buildings have character, the pathways are quite cool with reflective strips/blocks that change colour and there is some much needed greenery. Is it comparable to Disney areas such as Galaxy's Edge or Pandora? No it is not. However, it is a big step in the right direction for this park
  • Web Slingers was slightly better than I was expecting. The pre-show is good, but the actual ride felt rather on the short side; it could have done with an additional scene. I find with any ride of this sort, where you are chaotically interacting with it, that you find it difficult to follow the story
  • I really like the Flight Force exterior and the queue is pretty decent, but the ride itself needs work. All you really have are some screens with projections. More effects and/or theming is needed. This should not be hard to rectify
Overall an enjoyable trip. It was good to see the parks so busy even if it did mean we weren't able to enjoy the experience that we are used to. I just hope that some new rides are being planned for Disneyland Park and that they don't just wait until they've finished over in Studios which will probably take up to 10 years.
 
Rob said:
I just hope that some new rides are being planned for Disneyland Park and that they don't just wait until they've finished over in Studios which will probably take up to 10 years.
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Only thing I'd like back for Disneyland Park or bring me back period to DLP these days is the return of the moon version of Space Mountain and all its Jules Verne steampunk glory, honestly two of the worst choices they made for that park by bringing in Mission 2 and then Hyperspace Mountain.

#BringBackTheMoon
 
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Yes I meant to add that to my post actually. Hyperspace Mountain is a pretty good overlay and the effects work well, but it has more than overstayed its welcome now. They got the lovely new Space Mountain themed trains yet they have only ever operated as Hyperspace. A great pity, I'd like to say I think it will be changed soon but I do not think that.

In terms of new rides, there is a nice piece of land behind the Railroad tracks between Discoveryland and Fantasy Land where Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Train would possibly fit quite nicely. Sure it would not be a unique ride but it would be more than welcome.
 
Rob said:
Yes I meant to add that to my post actually. Hyperspace Mountain is a pretty good overlay and the effects work well, but it has more than overstayed its welcome now. They got the lovely new Space Mountain themed trains yet they have only ever operated as Hyperspace. A great pity, I'd like to say I think it will be changed soon but I do not think that.

In terms of new rides, there is a nice piece of land behind the Railroad tracks between Discoveryland and Fantasy Land where Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Train would possibly fit quite nicely. Sure it would not be a unique ride but it would be more than welcome.
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Yeah, the fact they got those lovely steampunk themed trains does hint to the fact that a return to it's original version is on the cards.

Keep hearing that we might see something for 2025 for the anniversary though some have said that a retrack is needed though I'm not sure if the track is undergoing that much pressure and if they had to, how can they do it within that structure? The new trains I'm sure have made it less of a rough rider admittedly though it does make you wonder.

Either way, if Discoveryland was to be brought into its full glory, would be nice for them to attempt on the lost concept of Journey to the centre of the Earth that was supposed to be part of the original Disneyland plans. Granted, it won't be a Tokyo Disneysea clone though would be nice to have another Jules Verne related themed ride in that area for the first time since the area opened.
 
I'd like to see the trains lose the OTSR's personally. They are really uncomfortable.

There was rumours that the Iron Man retheme of RCRC was going to have lap bars only but that never came to fruition sadly.
 
I don't find the new vest restraints too uncomfortable personally, they are a big improvement on the original restraints. It is a shame that Flight Force did not get new trains, or even just new restraints.
 
Benjsh said:
I'd like to see the trains lose the OTSR's personally. They are really uncomfortable.

There was rumours that the Iron Man retheme of RCRC was going to have lap bars only but that never came to fruition sadly.
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I don’t agree with this for Space Mountain. I found the new trains to be very comfortable and the ride felt much smoother as a result. Though I may be slightly biased as Paris’ Space Mountain is one of my favourite rides. Due to the darkness and unexpected turns I think a lap bar only would make it more uncomfortable, same goes for Flight Force, though wish it had the Space Mountain restraints.
 
geo4chg said:
I don’t agree with this for Space Mountain. I found the new trains to be very comfortable and the ride felt much smoother as a result. Though I may be slightly biased as Paris’ Space Mountain is one of my favourite rides. Due to the darkness and unexpected turns I think a lap bar only would make it more uncomfortable, same goes for Flight Force, though wish it had the Space Mountain restraints.
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You're probably not a big chap I take it? I'm not over weight but I'm very tall. 6ft 5 to be exact. If you were as tall you'd despise OTRS's believe you me.
 
I thought Space Mountain and Flight Force had vest restraints rather than traditional OTSRs?

I could well be mistaken there, though, as I haven't been to DLP...
 
I’m 6’4 and honestly have no issue with the restraints on either coaster. Lap restraints wouldn’t be much help in the majority of cases due to them being indoor dark coasters it would be difficult to brace against the turns and drops
 
Benjsh said:
You're probably not a big chap I take it? I'm not over weight but I'm very tall. 6ft 5 to be exact. If you were as tall you'd despise OTRS's believe you me.
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I can imagine how the Vekoma vest restraints might be more uncomfortable the taller you are. Is them digging into your shoulders the main issue?
 
I don’t find them unbearable, and they’re a great improvement over the old Vekoma OTSRs, but I certainly don’t think they’re 100% perfect as some people make out. They’re not a silver bullet that will improve absolutely any coaster.

Shoulder digging is a bit of an issue for me on them (at just over 6ft 3 and fairly slim). The problem is a combination of the vest itself being quite rigid plastic and the belts inside them being very taught. I’ve done a few Vekoma vests now and it’s always the same thing. They really pull down hard on your shoulders and staple you into the seat, with all the pressure being on the tops of your shoulders because the rest of the vest doesn’t have much flex in it to spread the contact over a larger area. You get two really bad pressure points and I find if I want to try and ease it you have to put real force against them in the station to release some slack.

Compare them to the B&M vests used on wing and flying models, which are very soft, malleable and wrap around you without feeling like they’re dragging you back into the seat. The belts move quite freely until the row is locked, without you needing to actively push out hard against them.

The rollers behind the shoulders that guide the belts down into the seat back could do with being on sliding brackets like you find in most car seatbelts, so that they can move up slightly if you’re taller (naturally you’d probably want a locking mechanism on this to stop them moving up once the restraint is locked on smaller guests). You want them more or less level with, or slightly below, the top of the shoulders so that they don’t have this downward force pulling on your shoulders.

As I say though, still a great improvement over the old ones, and Space Mountain is still one of my favourite coasters. But having never found too much issue with head banging on RnR it doesn’t bother me not having vests. The improvement would be negligible compared to SM.
 
Rob said:
I can imagine how the Vekoma vest restraints might be more uncomfortable the taller you are. Is them digging into your shoulders the main issue?
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Yeah that in a nutshell. The SLC's for example are bad for everyone I know but for me they are just a total non starter.
 
Here's a look at how the expansion of Walt Disney Studios is coming along:



You can clearly see the lake now, and groundwork for the Frozen area is well underway. I'd love to think this might all be done for 2024, but knowing Disney it will be 2025.
 
Rob said:
Here's a look at how the expansion of Walt Disney Studios is coming along:



You can clearly see the lake now, and groundwork for the Frozen area is well underway. I'd love to think this might all be done for 2024, but knowing Disney it will be 2025.
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Well I have a feeling they might aim for 2024 with the Olympics happening. It will help with capacity plus be something unique that will bring in more international tourists. It adds 2/3 new attractions (more if playland expands!) The dlp does new new rides in the original park. Am I right in saying all opening day e ticket attractions have now had the major overhaul in the last 10 years once iasm has been done?
 
I didn't realize It's a Small World was getting a revamp. Is that confirmed or do you mean when it eventually gets done?

When they do it I hope to god they get that Ceiling sorted out. It's really poor they left it that way. Looks like the ceiling you find in a typical office block.

The main park badly needs a new major E Ticket Ride too.
 
Benjsh said:
I didn't realize It's a Small World was getting a revamp. Is that confirmed or do you mean when it eventually gets done?

When they do it I hope to god they get that Ceiling sorted out. It's really poor they left it that way. Looks like the ceiling you find in a typical office block.

The main park badly needs a new major E Ticket Ride too.
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It's been having a major refurb over the last 6+ months. No end date in sight!
 
Benjsh said:
Ah didn't know. No end date in sight? Typical Disney then. Hahahaha
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A big part of the project is removing asbestos from the building, which is apparently proving tricker than planned.

I believe the entire ceiling in the attraction (that you referred to earlier) is also being entirely replaced.
 
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