u/OkForce5633

Hi, everyone!

I just wanted to share my experience.

I’d like to preface this by saying that we went last year at the beginning of July (again during a heatwave!) to Paris and Disneyland for the first time. We were basically deer in headlights, and we had quite a few bumps throughout the trip. So much so that the first thing we did when we got home was plan a do-over.

And that’s exactly what we did… only to arrive during another heatwave! We had planned, budgeted, and booked everything so far in advance for a week in Paris that we just thought, “Right, we’re going with it.” Thankfully, we live in Europe, so it’s only a three-hour flight.

Okay, so the very first thing we did was book the Premier Ultimate Access, and for us, that was non-negotiable. It made ALL the difference. We literally had no wait times at all. We would walk right up, and within one or two minutes, we were on the ride. It was an absolute lifesaver in the heat.

Travelling date: 23rd of June

It was my husband, our 9-year-old daughter, and me, along with our friends who were already there: two adults and four children aged 3–10. They were staying at a Disney hotel for three days and were paying their way with individual fast-access passes. In the end, they said they wished they had stayed less and just paid for the Ultimate Access instead.

The very first thing we did when we arrived was head to the show we had booked for 11:15. Again, we walked straight to the front of the line, waited around 10 minutes, and were the first ones in. We watched Pixar’s Together, and it was fantastic. Everyone loved it.

Next, we did:

• Cars Road Trip — It was fine, but I would have been quite disappointed if I had waited over an hour for it.
• Ratatouille
• Frozen — I was worried about the drop, but it was actually so much fun and not scary at all! (For me who is a wuss!)
• Tangled Spin

We didn’t do:

• RC Racer (not for us)
• Slinky Dog (it was closed)
• Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop (it doesn’t have Ultimate Access, and we had all agreed we weren’t waiting in the heatwave for any ride)
• Flying Carpets

Then we moved on to:

• It’s a Small World
• Casey Jr. Train — no Ultimate Access, but only around a 10-minute wait
• Peter Pan

We skipped:

• Dumbo (It was closed and opened in the evening)
• The carousel
• The teacups (Closed, opened later if I recall right)
• Pinocchio

After that, we did:

• Big Thunder Mountain
• Phantom Manor
• Star Tours: The Adventures Continue

Orbitron was closed but opened later on. Autopia was closed, and we had already done Avengers Assemble last year and honestly didn’t enjoy it much. Pirates was also closed.

We caught the A Million Splashes of Colour parade, but due to the heatwave it was reduced to only about four floats. The nighttime Disney Tales show also seemed shortened.

We browsed most of the shops and did some shopping. I also received my birthday pin at the information desk, as my birthday was within the 20-day window. Everyone is supposed to say “Happy Birthday” when you wear it. Some people did, most didn’t (which I was completely fine with!). A Cast Member at Phantom Manor did, however, sing “Happy Last Birthday to You,” which was hilarious! hahaha

We had some snacks along the way: Mickey pizza, beer, ice cream, etc. We also brought fruit, chips, and lots of sandwiches/wraps with us.

All in all, at the beginning of the day we weren’t tired at all, and we had actually finished everything quite early. We were just waiting around for the nighttime show. That’s when the heat and tiredness really started to catch up with us.

We went on It’s a Small World and Phantom Manor again (I was honestly just grateful to rest my feet!).

Around 7:30pm, some of our group went on Big Thunder Mountain two more times. The second time, the Cast Member didn’t even bother scanning our Ultimate Pass, and another time they just waved them through. The same thing happened at Ratatouille.

Most of the smaller refreshment stands were closed (which honestly made sense because it was so hot). We had brought our Stanley cups with us and just refilled them at the various water stations around the parks.

Overall, it was fine, but I don’t think we would go back. The lines are just too long if you don’t have fast passes, many of the rides feel a little outdated, and it’s very expensive for what you get.

On our last day in Paris, we went to Jardin d’Acclimatation and paid for unlimited ride access. The kids actually liked this park much more. I think it was more suited to younger children.

The only downside was that it was extremely hot that day too, and we honestly couldn’t wait to leave Paris and head back home to the beaches near our house!

So, for our next amusement park visit, we’ll be trying Europa-Park. Our friends, who came with us on this trip, go every year and absolutely love it, so we’ll be giving that one a go next time.

I think that´s about it, thanks for reading!

Hope you’re all staying cool!

P.S. We also had mini fans with us and umbrellas!

Hi everyone, just going to post my experience so far.

We arrived Monday morning, (we had paid for early check-in so we went straight to the hotel)

Our only criteria was/is air conditioning, so that is a life saver for us. Our friends' hotel's air-conditioning was out so it was a nightmare finding another one for them. Everything was booked solid. They eventually found one close to Disney land (we were sitting at trocaddero just searching for hotels with AC lol) we had planned to have a picnic at the Eiffel tower but we were wiped out after that and we all called it a night.

We went to Disneyland on Tuesday, the ultimate access fast pass was our saviour. Anything without it which had a line we didn't even think about, completely overlooked it.

While we usually get around by using the metro- underground-bus, this time round, we are solely using Uber-taxi, we went on the underground and bus once and it was unbearable.

The museum d'orsay and la orangerie and Montmartre was fine, not crowded, but our saint chappelle booking which was for today (Thursday) was cancelled due to the heatwave. We were planning on doing that with Notre dame, but no. We had also planned on going to Luxembourg gardens, jardin de plantes, and other places, but now, I don't know yet.

Today, to be honest, I'm not brave enough to venture out, so I'll be staying at the hotel all day. My husband and daughter will be meeting our friends and their kids in the evening, and if I feel better, I might go out at night if we plan on having our picnic after all. Otherwise, I'm not risking going out today.

We leave Saturday night.

We had booked everything months in advance and had made a few sacrifices so we didn't want to pull the plug, but henceforward I don't think I'll ever want to travel again during the summer 🌞.

Well, I hope everyone is doing well and staying cool!

Take care!

p.s. our fans and umbrellas have helped!

Hi there,

I live in Greece and in my particular neck of the woods the water is atrocious and my hair is looking all the more worse each passing day, help!

Can anyone recommend a decent filter I can purchase for the shower head?

Thank you 🙏 😊

Hi everyone!

I have awful bumpy chicken looking goosebump pimples on my upper arms. The only product I have tried is ceraves SA cream without any luck.

Has anyone had any success with a certain product?

Hi, all!

We are off to Paris in 20 days and are thinking of going to the Asterix park (there are 5 kids between us ages 3-10) on one of the days where we haven't really planned anything. Any advice? Is it worth it?

In addition, any feedback regarding the natural museum of history, (building with the animals, I think it's the evolution one) would that be something fun for the kids as well?

(P.S. We will also be going to Disneyland if that makes any difference)

Hi everyone, I'm trying to find a restaurant which is kid friendly and its close to the aquarium, I think it had a dining area which had something like bones overhead?? We are racking our brains as we can't recall what it's called, help!

Last June we saw Tales of Magic and absolutely adored it, we had goosebumps, even though on that particular night the drones were out, but that's how much we liked it. We are going again this June (one day) and while logic is telling me to see Cascade (and I don't think we'll be back at DLP for a good while) my heart is leaning towards Tales. What do guys prefer?

Hey guys,

Could anyone let me know what the weather is like at the moment in the evenings/night? Is it cold? I'm stumped regarding outfits and layers to get sorted!

Thanks!

Hey guys,

Could anyone let me know what the weather is like at the moment in the evenings/night? Is it cold? I'm stumped regarding outfits and layers to get sorted!

Thanks!

Hi all,

We'll be in Paris June 20th and we'll be hitting the following:

D'orsay

La orangerie

Natural history museum

Saint chappel / Notre dame

(Maybe Rodin)

(Maybe Jardin de plantes zoo)

And was wondering how long in advance should we book tickets for those places?

Last year, we stumbled upon a heatwave in June and missed Notre Dame as the line was ridiculously long and we hadn't booked anything besides the Louvre. So, we definitely want to avoid that this time round.

Thank you!