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Thread: DLP Trip Report [NY Hotel - June 2007]

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    DLP Trip Report [NY Hotel - June 2007]



    Background

    Me, 34, DVC owner at VWL. I have been to every park several times except for the one in China which I havent been to at all. I started going to WDW when I was around 6 or so but didnt make it to the original DL until I was about 28 or 29. Around that same time, I got to Tokyo Disneyland. Ive been to WDW countless times, DL about 4-5 times and Tokyo DL about 4-5 times. This was my second visit to Disneyland Paris but I first went in 1995 when the park was still very new and quite underdeveloped so this was almost like a first time visit. My point here is that all these Disney visits make for very interesting comparisons. WDW will always be my favorite both because of its immensity and ability to completely submerge oneself into a true Disney World. That being said, I like the original Disneyland park more than the Magic Kingdom both because some of the key attractions like HM, PoTC and Space Mountain have always been better there and I guess because thats got so much of the Disney history right there. Outside of that, I find Tokyo Disneyland extremely well done and their DisneySea park is also great. But hey, this report is really about Disneyland Paris, so lets get back to that. I was doing some business travel in Europe (UK and Brussels) and because I needed to spend the weekend in Brussels, I had booked a night in Amsterdam over the weekend, but someone who knew my affection for Disney said they were surprised that I didnt plan for a Disneyland Paris trip. Well, I honestly hadnt thought of that, so I looked up how to get a train from Brussels to Marne la Vallee/Chessy/Disneyland Paris station and cancelled my Amsterdam plans. Well I am glad. I dont think Amsterdam would have given me half the fun of Space Mountain Mission 2

    Hotels

    I decided to book at the Disney New York Hotel since I couldnt get into the Disneyland hotel. The New York hotel is the other deluxe hotel but based on the price per night, I dont think it really compares to the Disneyland hotel, which I couldnt find time to get into. However, the New York Hotel is themed in, you guessed it, New York stuff. The place is like homage to skyscrapers, the Chrysler building and the NY Mets and Yankees. The elevator plays Tony Bennett songs. The room theming was nice and had things like an apple design (Big Apple) on the chairs, there was a table light in the shape of the Chrysler building and some other items. Not quite as strong theming as you might find at a WDW deluxe hotel, but still nice. The rooms had mini-bars in them and Im not sure any WDW hotels do The room was clean, standard two full bed sort of thing. No DVD players or flat screen TVs.
    The in-room video had 3 versions of the What to know before you go video. I watched the French and English (British English) one probably about 3 times each. I had checked in about 11pm on the 29th, so I had it on in the background as I unpacked, planned before hitting bed. Interestingly enough, the script is really tight so much that even the body motions were identical from video to video even though they were different actresses. (e.g. they use the same script even down to the same body motions for referencing things and reacting to the environment.) I never noticed this at WDW since I never watch the Spanish version, but next visit to WDW (November), I will need to check that out.
    The Disneyland hotel is right in front of the MK park and actually overlooks the park. A short walk away is a rectangular lake surrounded by 3 hotels, New York, Hotel Sequoya and Newport Bay. The Hotel Sequoya is kind of like a Wilderness Lodge Inn Its got similar theming but doesnt quite capture the grandeur of the WL. Its also not really as seemingly isolated but does have lots of surrounding pines etc. I didnt make it over to the Newport, but it looked a bit like the OKW but I would imagine it was more like the Inn version as well. So I went to sleep in anticipation of Day 1.

    I started with breakfast at the hotel since it was included in the cost of my stay. This was a basic buffet with scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon, fruit/yogurt etc. Nothing special but they were pretty gross eggs.. almost like there was too much moisture in them or something. Im sure this is the way they were meant to be prepared, but in Europe I find that some basic food items are prepared much differently than what I am used to. At least the coffee was good. I went out and actually did my quick tour of the Sequoya before heading to the parks. It was a bit overcast and slightly rainy, but I didnt need an umbrella and fortunately the afternoons cleared up.
    I decided to hit the Disney Studios first since I was the least familiar with it. They didnt exist the last time I was there and I was a fan of the Lights, Motor Cars thing they brought to WDW. I really wanted to see Animagique and also try the new ride Crushs Coaster which just opened June 9th. I figured I could hit the initial hot spots and then head over to the Magic Kingdom.
    So first stop was the Rock N Roller Coaster with Aerosmith.. the key difference here was that the pre-show video was different and it didnt have much dialogue it was more of Stephen Tyler talking about the design of the roller coaster and equating that design to specific lyrics of their songs going down a la Love in an Elevator.. The ride itself lacked the Toads Ride sort of dark ride and was really just a roller coaster in the dark.. WDW has this one beat.
    Interestingly enough, the Tower of Terror was under construction. So that was interesting to see. As a side note, I recently took a trip to Tokyos Disney Sea and while the theming and construction of their ToT is better, the ride itself is all around better at WDW.
    I went on to see Anamagique which was a wonderful show. It is basically a character/costume/black light show which has Donald stealing the key to the animation vaults and opening up song and dance from all sorts of Disney movies. Very cool. The main thing I noticed is that they didnt have a move all the way down to the end of your row speech so you would have folks scrambling to find enough seats before the start of the show. Nevertheless, the show started on time.
    I then went to the Magic of Animation which had a great opportunity to learn how to draw Donald Duck. I think they have something like this at Epcot but I forget.
    This park also has the BEST Haunted Mansion. Look it up! Its got the whole storyline with the Bride, although I havent seen any of the DL or WDW updates yet!

    Some other observations..

    Disney railroad- no safety chain? People could really jump/fall right off the train. However, I guess most use some common sense here. Funny, I could only think of the US lawsuit mindset

    There is an Arcade area for accessing backs of all shops which can be really convenient during inclement weather or crowds.

    On Main Street, there is Walt's restaurant. As I imagined, it must be pretty good for them to put Walts name on it! It was very good. I was able to enjoy some beer (yes in the MK) as well as watch the parade on Main Street. The restaurant is on the 2nd floor so yes, the 2nd floor is not just an illusion in Paris, but actually used! Ask to sit by the windows and you will get a great view of parade at 4pm for a dinner meal.

    There is a Large Pirate area that dwarfs WDW and DL, even Tokyo Disney. There is a huge pirate area playground as well. The ride was not yet updated with movie characters (Sparrow, Davey Jones, Barbossa etc) so it was nice to see the original again. The pirates are also still chasing the women in this one. The story is a bit cleaner also and begins with the town being attacked by pirates. All the WDW intro skull stuff is at the end, so the ride almost seems backwards from what I am used to. Unfortunately, No down the waterfall/up the waterfall idea as in the DL original.

    In the dungeon of the castle is an audioanimatronic Dragon that has moving tail and fingers/claws.. very cool.

    The Castle also has walkthrough of Sleeping Beauty story. You can walk up to second floor of castle and hang around outside on a balcony/porch walkaround with a great view of tomorrow land and fantasyland

    Space Mountain Mission 2 is the BEST space mountain there is. This one has a loop, rocket launch ala RNRCoaster and excellent space effects. I tried to use an expired Fastpass for this one. The person did hesitate to let me on, but I played my confused foreigner look and he let me on.

    There is also a Downtown Disney type area and in this was the highlight of my Trip - Buffalo Bills Wild West Show- Bill Cody, Annie Oakley, teams (ranches) in competing games. Similar to HoopdeDo style but huge arena with real animals etc.. I dont know why they dont bring this show to WDW. It would fit in great to the Wilderness Lodge/FW area.

    Crushs Coaster - long line, brand new attraction. I waited 2.5 hours to ride this thing, it broke down before I got on it. I came back just before I had to catch my train back to Brussels. It was worth it. This is a roller coaster in the dark that spins around as you ride it. Cool.


    Thanks to this link which I read before I went.
    http://mouseplanet.com/paris/american.htm
    Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
     

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    Excellent forum

    Hello everyone! It is my great pleasure that I found this site in the since it explored me in some tourism in the world. This is an easy to get information and more clarifications through the interactions and suggestions of someone. You can impart your knowledge here too so as others will know. Welcome and be one of the knowledgeable persons. Hope you enjoyed


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