Sazzle
TS Administrator
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
NB: I am personally biased because I love the place, but I am currently infuriated and felt this needed to be raised and ranted over!
Well, well, well... what do we have here. According to the Daily Mail (groan), 5,000 people from 'around the world' have signed a petition started by a Belgian roller-coaster enthusiast to say that DLRP is falling apart, and the standards are declining.
I recently visited the park (like, last week), and I have to admit... I saw very little to evidence these claims! I can absolutely accept that the parks aren't sitting where they should be, but that doesn't mean that guests are being given an inferior experience. I never once felt like I was being up-sold, cheated by fast-track, sold food that wasn't up to what I thought it should be, nor felt like I was emptying my piggy bank into some fat-cat's pocket (I happily parted with my cash based on contentment).
Firstly, 5,000 signatures on a petition where the gate figures are 16,000,000 per year is quite frankly insignificant and I wouldn't blame Disney for laughing at this and filing it under 'C' for crapola.
Yes the gate prices are extortionate, but I saw a discarded ticket on the floor while visiting last week and it said 25E, so clearly there are offers available (similar to the Merlin parks in the UK?). Also, packages for the hotels generally include access to the parks, so this surely accounts for a large proportion of guests? Value for money includes things like food (see below points), overall experience (see below points), and also overnight accommodation (also see below!) - all points which can be countered in terms of there being value for money.
Well. Out of 49 attractions, 2 being closed really isn't noteworthy. How many days has The Smiler, Rita and Thirteen been closed all on the same day this year? High number of attractions breaking down.. ever been to Thorpe Park?
With regards to food, I ate at two of the higher-end eateries during my trip; Silverspur Steak House (Frontierland) and Walt's Restaurant (Main Street USA). Neither of these meals led me to believe my meal was microwaved. The meals were well presented, of good size and excellent quality, and were genuinely delicious. The service was faultless, the atmosphere was wonderful, and the surroundings were immersive. I also ate at two of the self-service, fast-food style eateries; Hyperion Cafe (Discovery Land) and Au Chateau de la Marionnette (Fantasyland). These meals were exactly what I expected - convenient, on the cheaper end of the scale and of satisfactory quality. The service was quick, the staff were polite, and the atmosphere was amicable. The prices are of an equal level to food on offer at PortAventura in Spain and Parc Asterix not far from DLRP (though admittedly somewhat more than Europa Park/Phantasialand, for example). I point you in the direction of Burger Kitchen for an example of over-priced, sub-standard food served en-masse with barely any personal interaction at busy times, with a sterile environment within the seating area.
As for the 'enthusiast' being *shocked* by the cancellation of shows... why the hell hadn't he checked before he went? I have been aware for quite some time that there are no shows at the Chapparell Theatre, and there hasn't been a show in the Videopolis theatre since my first visit in 2011 (there is a large seating area where Disney/Pixar short films are looped for guests to relax and enjoy - Hyperion Cafe is inside the same building). Shows are being cut from many parks - Busch Gardens Williamsburg (USA) & PortAventura (Spain) just to name the few I'm aware of.
Wow. What a statement. A resort with three times the amount of parks and attractions, blessed with high temperatures and blazing sunshine is well ahead in the field when it comes to guest satisfaction - WOOP! Brains! They're not comparable in any of those points as far as I'm concerned. What is comparable is the detail and effort within Parc Disneyland and Magic Kingdom, and between WDS and Hollywood Studios, though even then the parks are all completely different. In my opinion:
As for 'kevin210894' and his amazing video skills of Space Mountain's "decay", this was fixed last week when I went. Has he recently visited Alton Towers with its array of genuinely rotting theming (Nemesis station, green Air track, rotting Toadstool, Ug-land-Forest)? Visited Drayton Manor with its wonderful zoo? Visited PortAventura with its chewing gum infested walls? Been over to Parc Asterix with its amazing Splatch rotting water ride? All parks have issues like this, with many of the problems owing to weather causing sudden issues. The one thing I have to pick up on is that Disney generally fix their problems quickly, as opposed to many other parks where broken/rotting/ailing eyesores are left to worsen or simply removed.
I stayed in Sequoia Lodge, which has recently been completely refurbished. My room was beautiful and modern with new beds & bedding (I haven't slept that well for years - seriously!!), new lighting, a new flat-screen TV, and new bathroom fixtures and fittings. The restaurants were large enough to accommodate large numbers of guests at breakfast without problem, the bar was beautiful with ample table service and pleasant staff, and the pool building was quite simply delightful (Russell and I were the only 2 people there on a Thursday morning at 10.30am - madness!!). I will admit that my stay at Newport Bay Hotel last September showed me that particular hotel to be run-down and tired, and in need of a full overhaul... which they are doing shortly. I was told by staff at Sequoia that Newport will receive a massive facelift and renovation on a large scale in the next year or so.
I will state I booked my deal using the 40% sale offer that is currently running, and got a very good deal for 5 days and 4 nights on a B&B basis (we drove, using P&O ferry crossings booked seperately).
I'm not going to be blind to the problems the park has had, most noticeably the BTM theming falling onto a guest last year, but it doesn't mean the whole place is falling apart. For every problem at DLRP, there are three in other parks.
There is reference to this 'Disney standard', which begs the question.. what do we expect? Disney standards are very high in Florida (and I guess California), but we must remember that Paris has been under very tight restrictions on their purse strings, where they have been made to make do with a very different budget to their sister parks over the Atlantic. What they have done, they've done to the best of their ability.
The only thing I could see which appalled me was the state of the Treehouse in Parc Disneyland - the leaves were blue/grey and it was looking rather bare and run down (though I imagine this is due for its annual renovation?), and I couldn't see anything else that was in need of desperate maintenance.
I feel like I'm ranting so will stop here, suffice to say I'm really quite annoyed at the way the Daily Fail have tried to paint DLRP in some hell-hole light. The parks are a world away from the likes of any Merlin attraction, and it's quite unfair to say the resort is falling apart! If you look for fault anywhere, you will find it.
Well, well, well... what do we have here. According to the Daily Mail (groan), 5,000 people from 'around the world' have signed a petition started by a Belgian roller-coaster enthusiast to say that DLRP is falling apart, and the standards are declining.
I recently visited the park (like, last week), and I have to admit... I saw very little to evidence these claims! I can absolutely accept that the parks aren't sitting where they should be, but that doesn't mean that guests are being given an inferior experience. I never once felt like I was being up-sold, cheated by fast-track, sold food that wasn't up to what I thought it should be, nor felt like I was emptying my piggy bank into some fat-cat's pocket (I happily parted with my cash based on contentment).
Daily Mail said:
Firstly, 5,000 signatures on a petition where the gate figures are 16,000,000 per year is quite frankly insignificant and I wouldn't blame Disney for laughing at this and filing it under 'C' for crapola.
Daily Mail said:
Yes the gate prices are extortionate, but I saw a discarded ticket on the floor while visiting last week and it said 25E, so clearly there are offers available (similar to the Merlin parks in the UK?). Also, packages for the hotels generally include access to the parks, so this surely accounts for a large proportion of guests? Value for money includes things like food (see below points), overall experience (see below points), and also overnight accommodation (also see below!) - all points which can be countered in terms of there being value for money.
Daily Mail said:
Well. Out of 49 attractions, 2 being closed really isn't noteworthy. How many days has The Smiler, Rita and Thirteen been closed all on the same day this year? High number of attractions breaking down.. ever been to Thorpe Park?
With regards to food, I ate at two of the higher-end eateries during my trip; Silverspur Steak House (Frontierland) and Walt's Restaurant (Main Street USA). Neither of these meals led me to believe my meal was microwaved. The meals were well presented, of good size and excellent quality, and were genuinely delicious. The service was faultless, the atmosphere was wonderful, and the surroundings were immersive. I also ate at two of the self-service, fast-food style eateries; Hyperion Cafe (Discovery Land) and Au Chateau de la Marionnette (Fantasyland). These meals were exactly what I expected - convenient, on the cheaper end of the scale and of satisfactory quality. The service was quick, the staff were polite, and the atmosphere was amicable. The prices are of an equal level to food on offer at PortAventura in Spain and Parc Asterix not far from DLRP (though admittedly somewhat more than Europa Park/Phantasialand, for example). I point you in the direction of Burger Kitchen for an example of over-priced, sub-standard food served en-masse with barely any personal interaction at busy times, with a sterile environment within the seating area.
As for the 'enthusiast' being *shocked* by the cancellation of shows... why the hell hadn't he checked before he went? I have been aware for quite some time that there are no shows at the Chapparell Theatre, and there hasn't been a show in the Videopolis theatre since my first visit in 2011 (there is a large seating area where Disney/Pixar short films are looped for guests to relax and enjoy - Hyperion Cafe is inside the same building). Shows are being cut from many parks - Busch Gardens Williamsburg (USA) & PortAventura (Spain) just to name the few I'm aware of.
Daily Mail said:
Wow. What a statement. A resort with three times the amount of parks and attractions, blessed with high temperatures and blazing sunshine is well ahead in the field when it comes to guest satisfaction - WOOP! Brains! They're not comparable in any of those points as far as I'm concerned. What is comparable is the detail and effort within Parc Disneyland and Magic Kingdom, and between WDS and Hollywood Studios, though even then the parks are all completely different. In my opinion:
- Parc Disneyland has a better Pirates of the Caribbean than it's Floridian counterpart (owing to the second drop & lack of Jack fricking Sparrow)
- Hollywood Studios has a better Tower of Terror (thanks to its upgrade to random sequence)
- Parc Disneyland has a better castle
- WDS has a better entrance area and layout
- Magic Kingdom has Splash Mountain (though this is owing to the Florida climate - it wouldn't be suitable for Paris)
- WDS has a cracking indoor themed coaster in Crushes, despite the throughput issues
As for 'kevin210894' and his amazing video skills of Space Mountain's "decay", this was fixed last week when I went. Has he recently visited Alton Towers with its array of genuinely rotting theming (Nemesis station, green Air track, rotting Toadstool, Ug-land-Forest)? Visited Drayton Manor with its wonderful zoo? Visited PortAventura with its chewing gum infested walls? Been over to Parc Asterix with its amazing Splatch rotting water ride? All parks have issues like this, with many of the problems owing to weather causing sudden issues. The one thing I have to pick up on is that Disney generally fix their problems quickly, as opposed to many other parks where broken/rotting/ailing eyesores are left to worsen or simply removed.
Daily Mail said:
I stayed in Sequoia Lodge, which has recently been completely refurbished. My room was beautiful and modern with new beds & bedding (I haven't slept that well for years - seriously!!), new lighting, a new flat-screen TV, and new bathroom fixtures and fittings. The restaurants were large enough to accommodate large numbers of guests at breakfast without problem, the bar was beautiful with ample table service and pleasant staff, and the pool building was quite simply delightful (Russell and I were the only 2 people there on a Thursday morning at 10.30am - madness!!). I will admit that my stay at Newport Bay Hotel last September showed me that particular hotel to be run-down and tired, and in need of a full overhaul... which they are doing shortly. I was told by staff at Sequoia that Newport will receive a massive facelift and renovation on a large scale in the next year or so.
I will state I booked my deal using the 40% sale offer that is currently running, and got a very good deal for 5 days and 4 nights on a B&B basis (we drove, using P&O ferry crossings booked seperately).
I'm not going to be blind to the problems the park has had, most noticeably the BTM theming falling onto a guest last year, but it doesn't mean the whole place is falling apart. For every problem at DLRP, there are three in other parks.
There is reference to this 'Disney standard', which begs the question.. what do we expect? Disney standards are very high in Florida (and I guess California), but we must remember that Paris has been under very tight restrictions on their purse strings, where they have been made to make do with a very different budget to their sister parks over the Atlantic. What they have done, they've done to the best of their ability.
The only thing I could see which appalled me was the state of the Treehouse in Parc Disneyland - the leaves were blue/grey and it was looking rather bare and run down (though I imagine this is due for its annual renovation?), and I couldn't see anything else that was in need of desperate maintenance.
I feel like I'm ranting so will stop here, suffice to say I'm really quite annoyed at the way the Daily Fail have tried to paint DLRP in some hell-hole light. The parks are a world away from the likes of any Merlin attraction, and it's quite unfair to say the resort is falling apart! If you look for fault anywhere, you will find it.
