r/disneyparks

Imagine for some unknowable reason Disney decided to let you design a attraction, and it can either be original or based on anything they own. What would you create?

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.

I just returned from a great trip to my favorite place but several rides and experiences were completely ruined by live streamers/content creators. I'm talking a phone with some other equipment right in front of my face the whole time I sat on Living with the Land, pirates and frozen. Nothing like a bright light on a dark ride. Then there were the people filming parades and fireworks (love a big set up in the air, right in the way of people behind you) and the absolute worst was the walking and talking and filming with ZERO care or awareness of who was around them.

It baffles me that Disney allows these people to make money off of their intellectual property. Disney doesn't need more marketing, and these people are making money off of them.

It really soured my experience as a regular park goer and I'm wondering if its worth complaining in the survey I just got or if I should send a separate email? Or maybe they just don't care?

Need help planning a Disney trip for potentially 22 people. Is mostly adults, 1x toddler, 2x under 10 yrs, 5x teenagers, and the rest adults. Planning for next year 2027, the day after Thanksgiving.

One place I know for sure I want to take the 2 under 10yrs to experience the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. And it will be one of their birthdays (9th). Not sure what to do for the teenagers or grown ups. One thing for sure, we’re all foodies. So any restaurant recommendations would be great!

I think I have a good place for it stay, The Grove Resort & Water Park Orlando. It’s only a few miles away from Magic kingdom. And from what I can tell a shuttle takes you back and forth to the parks.

Any suggestions, on park packages, restaurants, things to do? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I haven’t been since elementary and that’s been (a few) decades since then, lol. I have know idea about anything Disney besides wanting to take my daughter to the Bibbidi boutique…

Should I get a Disney travel planner?

Today I went to Magic Kingdom and got stopped by the parade. After it was over and everyone started going down main street, I got my foot run over by an electric cart. There really was nothing I could do... people in front of me stopping everyone with their stupid selfies and people in carts behind me just barreling through. I really feel like Disney greatly contributed to this by having such a bottleneck on Main Street, queuing up everyone in such a small area by having the parade there, then providing absolute no employees to direct traffic, to stop the people who have to take selfies (and force everyone behind them to stop), and providing no paths or guidance to people with carts.

After leaving first aid, what made the day much worse was just the fact that guest relations (both in person and in chat) absolutely did not care what happened to me. No apology, no empathy, no offer for anything in return for their negligence... nothing. And even though neither company cared at all about what happened to me, they did share at least that it is corporate policy that they offer nothing to guests and they don't have the power to do ANYTHING. This company puts on such a fake front like they are such a great place who cares about guests and in reality they have terrible customer service just like any other end-stage capitalistic company. It is really saddening how far they have strayed from when they were first founded. And since they already have my money for the tickets, etc. I really have little recourse.

What Disney park in the world would you say is the park with the most fun/re-rideable rides, best views, coolest lands, and one with the most vibes. What park do you think would be most fun for me and all my friends? The park with the best overall rides and the most fun day that we will remember forever.

My wife and I (both 37) are visiting Japan for the first time in late Nov/early Dec. Our route is Osaka → Kyoto → Tokyo, and we’ll have limited time.

We’re not hardcore Disney fans, but we grew up watching Disney movies/cartoons and have enjoyed them. We also visited Universal Studios Singapore and absolutely loved it, so we do enjoy theme parks.

Our rough itinerary is:

Osaka – 2 days
Kyoto – 4 days (including Nara + Arashiyama)
Tokyo – ~6 days, including Mt. Fuji

Currently, we have one full day allocated to Tokyo Disneyland/DisneySea.

The problem is that this means giving up one of the many other things we could do — for example:

• Kamakura day trip
• teamLab
• another Tokyo neighbourhood/day
• or potentially adding more time to Kyoto

So I’d love opinions specifically from people who have visited Tokyo Disney/DisneySea but aren't huge Disney fans:

For a first-time visitor to Tokyo, is a full day at Disneyland or DisneySea worth sacrificing one of our limited Japan days for?

Also:

1. If we do only one, Disneyland or DisneySea?
2. Does Tokyo Disney offer something sufficiently different/special compared with Universal Studios Singapore?
3. For adults in their late 30s without kids, is it still a genuinely memorable experience?
4. If you had our itinerary, would you keep Disney or replace it with something else?

We’re particularly interested in opinions from people who love Disney AND people who are fairly indifferent to Disney. Trying to avoid making the decision purely based on Disney fans saying “of course you should go!”

Thanks in advance.

A few days ago we launched something we’ve wanted to make for quite a while: D-Tales Radio, a 24/7 online station built around Disney music.

The emphasis is very much on the parks: attraction soundtracks, area music, parades, nighttime spectaculars and resort music, mixed with songs from Disney films and shows.

We’ve been making a weekly Disney podcast in the Netherlands for ten years, but unlike the podcast, the radio station should make sense wherever you live. There is one slightly unusual thing: our short station IDs are in Dutch.

We decided not to translate them because we quite like the idea of a Disney radio station having a little European character. The music obviously needs no translation.

We’re also changing the sound of the station with the Disney Parks seasons, so Halloween music is becoming more prominent now, with Christmas following later in the year. At certain times we also play complete parade or nighttime-show soundtracks rather than breaking them into individual tracks.

It’s completely free and independent from Disney:

Listen live at radio.d-tales.nl

Or search for D-Tales Radio on TuneIn, or ask your smart speaker or Sonos to play D-Tales Radio.

Curious what Disney Parks fans outside the Netherlands make of it — particularly whether the Dutch IDs add some character or just sound confusing.

On April 2027, we plan to go to Disneyland California Adventure Park. What do you think is most doable among the options? or do you have any suggestions?

Two places here, we’ll be in LA and San Diego.

Coming from West Hollywood LA

A. Metrolink - Cheaper
Train to LAX Union Station > Metrolink > Anaheim > ARCTIC or OC bus?? / Uber

and Vice versa, will catch 7pm train

B. Amtrak - $16, but good reviews
Train to LAX Union Station > Amtrak > Anaheim > ARCTIC or OC bus?? / Uber

and vice versa, 7pm Train

Coming from San Diego

C. Go to Anaheim and book an overnight stay there near Disney
- this will be put in our last days in the itinerary since we need to go back to LAX for our flight

Disney itineraries come in many forms. Some look like military operations. Every ride, meal, reservation, break and bathroom stop has a place on the schedule.

Then there is the exact opposite: "We'll get there and figure it out."

Most of us probably land somewhere in between.

Where do you fall?

Do you usually:

• Plan the day pretty carefully, including rides, meals, reservations, breaks, etc.
• Have a general plan with a few things locked in, but leave plenty of room to improvise
• Make a short list of must-dos and figure out the rest once you're in the park
• Pretty much wing it

What happens to your plan once you're actually in the park? Do you generally stick to the plan you made at home, or does the plan tend to evolve as the day goes along?

I've had days where the plan looked great on paper and lasted about two hours once we actually got through the gates.

What's your normal approach?

The new Walt Disney scene in Carousel of Progress is getting a second Audio-Animatronic: a talking toucan that will interact with Walt. Walt Disney Imagineering showed the bird Sunday, October 4, at D23 Spotlight Series: 55 Magical Years of Storytelling at Disney’s Contemporary Resort