I just got back from Disneyland Paris and I'm already looking forward to going back. I went in with pretty low expectations (as low as you can have when you're visiting a Disney park) because of everything I'd read and heard, and honestly, I loved it. So I wanted to share a bit of my experience and my thoughts.

General overview

I went with my partner and we spent a total of 3 days with tickets for both parks, from Sunday 27/09 to Tuesday 29/09. We really enjoyed both parks, although it's true that because it coincided with the start of the Halloween season, the crowds were quite high, especially with adults.

Getting to the park

In our case, we came from the north of Paris, as we'd spent the previous week sightseeing around the city, and getting to the park by RER was really easy.

Accommodation

We decided to stay in an Airbnb in the Serris area and we really liked it. It's a very quiet and safe area, even at night. We were about a 25-minute walk from the entrance to Disney Village and less than 15 minutes from Val d'Europe shopping centre.

We took a bus both ways, which dropped us right by the park entrance.

There was also a free shuttle option, but it was packed every day. We preferred to pay €2 each way and travel a bit more comfortably. On the way back, buses run every 30 minutes. In my opinion, they should run more frequently, especially around park closing time.

The parks

Without a doubt, Disneyland Park was our favourite. It's a beautiful park with a very unique atmosphere. That said, it really lacks new attractions and more modern technology. They need to give this park some attention because the foundations are basically perfect.

On the other hand, we thought Disney Adventure World was a good park, but you can still tell it's a work in progress. The attractions are much better, and it'll be interesting to see how everything looks once the Lion King area is finished. Even with that expansion, though, I think they should keep adding more lands and content.

It's a park with very little attraction capacity for the number of people it gets every day. The queues in this park can be endless.

Attractions

Without a doubt, my favourite attraction was The Hollywood Tower of Terror. It's a work of art and, for those of us who enjoy thrill rides, it's an absolute dream.

After that, I'd put Pirates of the Caribbean ahead of Frozen Ever After (although that's just personal preference). I really enjoyed Frozen as well.

Big Thunder Mountain disappointed me a little. I expected it to be more intense, although the theming and the layout are spectacular.

And Phantom Manor is simply incredible. It's definitely another one of my favourites.

If I had to make a quick tier list, it would look something like this:

• Top: Tower of Terror, Phantom Manor, Pirates of the Caribbean, Frozen Ever After
• Surprised me / Really enjoyed: Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast, Flight Force, Big Thunder Mountain, Star Tours, Thunder Mesa Riverboat, Le Pays des Contes de Fées (the boat ride in Fantasyland).
• Disappointed me: Hyperspace Mountain (the coaster is pretty rough), Disneyland Railroad (the train ride), Ratatouille (I enjoyed it, but expected more), Spider-Man W.E.B. Adventure.

The rest of the attractions are enjoyable and perfectly fine.

Shows & Parades

This is definitely one of the park's strong points. The shows have an incredibly high level of production for a theme park.

Mickey and the Magician and the Lion King show are definitely the highlights for me.

If you have time, I'd also recommend seeing PhilharMagic. "A Celebration in Arendelle" disappointed me a bit. It's basically only worth it for Olaf's animatronic.

As for the parades, for me the only one that's really worth seeing is Disney Stars. It's incredible. The princess parade and the Halloween one were pretty average in comparison.

And what can I say about the nighttime shows... INCREDIBLE.

If I had to pick just one, and this might be an unpopular opinion, I'd go with Cascade of Lights. I think they do an amazing job combining lights, drones, music, etc. There's also loads of space to watch it without any problems, and you can even sit down.

Merchandising

Not much to say here. They have an incredibly wide range of merchandise.

If I had to find one downside, I'd say I would have liked to see more attraction-specific merchandise. There was some, and I actually bought a few things, but I think Disney could do much more in that area.

Crowds & queues

Since we went at the start of the Halloween season, crowds were moderate to high across all three days. It was particularly noticeable in Adventure World because the park has less capacity and fewer attractions.

I think Disney has some really good operations and, in general, the queues don't feel too bad on most attractions thanks to the theming and pre-shows.

However, I think the biggest problem Disney has in both parks is Premier Access.

I'll make another post about this in more detail later this week, but personally I think they should get rid of it. It's the main reason why queues that could be 30–40 minutes end up becoming 70, 80 or even 90 minutes sometimes.

As a tip, if you're staying for several days and you're staying at one of the Disney hotels, make the most of Extra Magic Time. It's really useful.

If you don't have that option, I'd head straight to one of these attractions as soon as you enter:

• Big Thunder Mountain
• Peter Pan's Flight
• Tower of Terror
• Ratatouille

It's also worth mentioning that there are Single Rider lines, and they're really useful.

Final thoughts

Overall, the resort itself is pure magic. It's the kind of place where you leave already thinking about coming back.

But at the same time, it frustrates me that they have so much potential and so much room for improvement, yet they seem to be settling for what they already have.

It could be one of the best theme parks in the world, but unfortunately, I don't think it is at the moment. I'm not even sure I'd call it the best resort in Europe.

They need to think more about the guest experience instead of treating visitors like a bag of money. They don't need to squeeze every last euro out of people. Visitors are already going to spend money without having to constantly push them to do it.

I'm leaving Disneyland Paris with a very positive experience overall, and I'm already thinking about coming back in a few years. Hopefully by then we'll have seen several new additions and improvements across the resort.

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Many years have passed since my last visit to a Disney park, and this afternoon I finally booked a trip with my partner to visit Disneyland Paris.

What surprised me was that after buying the tickets, the confirmation emails were completely lacking in theming, storytelling, or magic. Zero magic.

Maybe it's a silly thing, and for most people it isn't important at all. But last year we visited Efteling and Phantasialand, and their emails were beautiful. They told a story, kept you updated about the park, and generally helped build excitement for the amazing experience you were about to have.

At least so far, I haven't seen any of that from Disney. I'm hoping that as the trip gets closer, I'll receive some emails related to the visit, park updates, tips, or anything that helps build anticipation.

What do you all think? Have you had the same experience, or am I expecting too much?

//////////////// UPDATE //////////////////

It seems that the point of my post hasn't been entirely clear.

Of course I'm excited and looking forward to visiting Disneyland Paris, and I'm sure I'm going to love it. My disappointment comes from a different place.

I believe the "magic" should begin the moment you purchase your tickets, and part of that comes from having a well-designed communication system with engaging emails, useful information, recommendations, tips, and content that builds anticipation for the trip.

Based on many of the replies I've received, it sounds like this is actually something that Disney should be doing.

So to be clear: I'm not disappointed about the trip itself—quite the opposite. I simply expected a little more from Disney when it comes to the pre-visit experience.

I'm planning a 10-day trip that will include Paris, Disneyland Paris, and Parc Astérix. It's been more than 10 years since my last visit to Disneyland Paris, and I have a few questions.

We'll be visiting during the "low season", although I'm not sure Disney really has a low season anymore. Our goal is to ride as many attractions as possible, enjoy the parks, and watch the shows. We're not planning on spending time doing character meet-and-greets.

Here are my main questions:

• How many days would you recommend spending at the Disneyland Paris Resort? I was initially thinking 3 days, but I'm wondering whether 4 days would be the better option.
• Which accommodations outside the resort would you recommend that have good transport connections to the parks? I don't think we'll be renting a car, so I'm unsure whether it's worth paying the extra cost to stay at one of the Disney Hotels.
• How many days would you dedicate to Parc Astérix? I was thinking 2 full days.
• Is there any way to check which attractions are likely to be closed for refurbishment during that period? For example, Efteling publishes planned maintenance and ride closures on its website.

Those are my main questions for now. Any advice, recommendations, or tips would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

I visited Energylandia last Friday (15/05) and Saturday (16/05), and I wanted to share some conclusions and my overall experience in case it helps anyone in the future.

Park layout

The park is basically divided into two areas:

• The older area: Honestly, it’s pretty chaotic. It’s the first area you see when entering the park, and it feels like a huge collection of attractions placed without much order, theming, or structure. It can be difficult to orient yourself and figure out where everything is because there are so many intersecting paths.
• The newer area: This is where they started building proper mini-lands, and everything feels much more organized and themed. It starts around the “Formula” area and continues across the road with “Aqualantis,” “Sweet Valley,” and “Smoczy Gród.”

Tickets

I recommend buying tickets in advance through the official website. They usually have some kind of promotion active, and overall the park is very affordable considering everything it offers.

How many days do you need?

If you’re visiting during high season (summer or holidays), I’d recommend at least 2 days. The park is huge, has a massive ride lineup, and crowd levels depend heavily on the weather.

If rain is forecast, the park will probably be nearly empty. If the weather is very good, crowds can increase a lot. During weekdays, a big part of the attendance comes from school trips. I went on a Friday and it was full of school groups; on Saturday it rained a bit and the park was practically empty.

So overall: if you’re not visiting during peak season and just want to do the main attractions, 1 day is more than enough.

Queues and wait times

This is important: the wait times shown on the app and screens are almost never accurate. If it says 20 minutes, expect 30–40.

For example, we rode “RMF Dragon” on the first day. The app showed 20 minutes, and we ended up waiting almost an hour.

Then there are rides like Zadra, where you’ll spend more time walking through the empty queue than actually waiting. The queue design is really inefficient in that sense because you still have to walk through the entire line even when there’s nobody there. It’s literally around a 5-minute walk from the entrance to the station.

Food

There’s a decent variety of food options with pretty standard theme park prices, although it’s mostly fast food.

One recommendation: try the fried chicken. They have several options, but the wings were by far the best thing we ate.

Attractions

The park has an incredible lineup of both coasters and flat rides. Here’s my top 5 with some quick thoughts:

1. Zadra. Without a doubt, the best coaster in Europe that I’ve personally ridden so far. Ride it in the back row… it constantly feels like it’s trying to throw you out of your seat. Absolute insanity from the drop to the brake run. 10/10

2. Abyssus. My biggest surprise in the park. Extremely fun and super enjoyable, with constant airtime throughout the ride. Great sensations overall. 9/10

3. Hyperion. This one disappointed me a little bit. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still very good, but I expected more. There’s tons of airtime, but if you’re seated on the outer seats, the train vibrates quite a lot and becomes a bit uncomfortable. 8/10

4. Formula. Very fun… but WAY too short. It doesn’t even last 30 seconds. 7/10

5. Dragon Roller Coaster. I was genuinely surprised by the forces considering it’s a family suspended coaster. Really interesting ride. 7/10

My biggest disappointment was definitely Choco Chip Creek. I expected a more interesting layout, and overall it felt like it didn’t really add much to the park.

Shows / Entertainment

I think this is the aspect where the park most needs improvement.

I know it’s more of an amusement park than a true theme park, but the shows are pretty weak and very short. Unfortunately, I couldn’t watch the stunt show because it was canceled due to low attendance.

There’s also barely any street entertainment, and the park can feel strangely lifeless, even in the newer themed areas. That’s a shame because the park has huge potential.

Queue etiquette / Rules

I’m mentioning this because it’ll probably surprise some people: people will cut the line, or at least try to, multiple times and very confidently.

The staff usually won’t say anything, and most of the queue often doesn’t react either. It’s simply something you’ll probably experience during your visit.

I think that’s everything! If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments. Hope this post helps someone!

The other day I made this post, and this topic came up—IPs in theme parks.

In my opinion, in parks like Universal, Disney, Plopsaland… it makes perfect sense, since they were created for that purpose—to make the most of their IPs. That said, I don’t like when classic attractions get rethemed with newer IPs, because it takes away their original essence. Also, at least in Disney’s case, they have some amazing rides that don’t rely on IPs at all, like Tower of Terror, Living with the Land, or Haunted Mansion.

With Universal, I like that they sometimes use less mainstream or more classic IPs, like The Mummy, E.T., or Transformers.

The issue for me is when parks like Six Flags, PortAventura, Alton Towers, Chessington World of Adventures… rely too heavily on IPs and pay for them instead of focusing on building a strong original concept and story that makes the attraction unique.

As positive examples here in Europe, I’d point to Efteling, Phantasialand, Europa-Park, Toverland…

What do you all think? Do you like the use of IPs in parks, or do you think it’s overdone?