Disney Paris?

We're headed to Paris in April. We'll be there for 5 full days (plus arrival and departure days). My kids (13 and 15) are Disney nuts and begging to go.

I am uncertain. It seems easy enough to do as a day trip - train goes right there, it's small like DL so you can go between the two parks, focus on rides you can't do at WDW or DL. Food, cleanliness, cast members, "magic" isn't supposed to be as great as US ones according to DisBoards.

Have you been, is it worth it? I mean, we'll be right there. But we'll be in Paris with all the Paris stuff!

(Plus, as a surprise we are possibly taking them to WDW for DD1's bday in the fall. DH says bc of this we should skip DL Paris. But it's Paris, not exactly the same... hmm.)

That's tough! I love Disney too and it does sound like an easy trip. I think what makes it hard for me is that is just SO SO easy to spend five days in Paris! I could spend 5 days in the Louvre. Maybe make a list of everything you want to do and see if Disney ranks up there? Your kids are older so don't need "down" days as much as little ones might.

We’re huge Disney fans and doing an Adventures by Disney Seine River Cruise in August, so I’ve been reading a lot about Paris. Everything you stated in your second paragraph agrees with my research. And you’re going to get plenty of people who say no way, do other stuff in Paris, and people who are Disney fans who say go for it.

If I were you, I’d think big-picture...do your kids get a “say” in vacation planning?

Gosh, that is tough. I have to admit when I saw the headline I thought "but it's Paris, explore Paris!" But reading your post, I can totally see myself in the same position. We are huge Disney fans too, and I can see my kids begging to go to DL Paris. Cost might play into it for me. It seems like a one day trip would be expensive with train tickets for everyone, park passes, food, souvenirs. It will probably be a lot more expensive than just another day in Paris.

We went to Disney Paris about 10 years ago. The train trip out was super easy and we had no problems. The magic just wasn’t there for me though (and I am a Disney nut who went to the World on my honeymoon).

That said, I don’t regret going at all! It’s an experience and I’m happy to say I’ve been there, done that. We had our Paris sight seeing completely mapped out in advance and knew we’d be able to fit in everything we wanted to.

So, I say do it if you know you won’t regret missing something in Paris.

I haven’t been to Paris, but when I was in HS my family went to Japan and spent a day at Tokyo DL. It wasn’t the same, didn’t have the same magic, etc, but it still was really cool to get to go there. If your kids want to go, and you have enough time/$$, go for it. It won’t ruin a later trip to DW.

I was there last year. We combined it with a trip to Paris, and had a great time. You're right - getting there from Paris is super easy, and it's simple to move between the two parks. However, I'm not a ton of help because I haven't been to WDW since I was a teen, so memory is hard to compare. But I will say that I found Disney Paris to be lots of fun, but primarily because I was there with my two young children and their joy in being there made it great. It didn't feel "magic". It wasn't absolutely amazing or any of the many descriptors I so often hear about Disney.

Because I currently live in Europe, fairly close to Disney Paris, I know a bunch of people who HAVE been to both the Paris one and WDW/Disneyland. What you're finding online seems to match with what I hear people say. Basically, the people who go expecting it to be "Disney" are disappointed. But the people who go knowing it is something a little different and not quite so intense go and still have a really fun time and are happy they went. Some of the Disney fanatics loved going because it feels good to hit another Disney site, and for that reason it was worth it even if it's not quite the same standards. (Oh, and I've never eaten this myself, but some people warn it's a deal breaker....no Dole Whip at Disney Paris!)

I really think it comes down to how you want to spend your time in Paris! I agree with the idea of making a list of everything you'd possibly want to do, then prioritizing the list and seeing where Disney falls. You could easily fill your time without Disney, but you could also see a lot of great stuff in Paris and still do a day of Disney, if that's what you want. Personally, if I knew I was going to WDW soon after this trip, I would happily skip it in Paris and see more Paris.

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Originally Posted by sariana

I haven’t been to Paris, but when I was in HS my family went to Japan and spent a day at Tokyo DL. It wasn’t the same, didn’t have the same magic, etc, but it still was really cool to get to go there. If your kids want to go, and you have enough time/$$, go for it. It won’t ruin a later trip to DW.

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For some reason Tokyo Disney is more appealing to me than Disneyland Paris.

We were in Paris for the same amount of time last year and did take a Day to go to Disney. Older DD requested it and she’s not really a huge Disney fan. It is definitely an easy day trip and we all enjoyed it. It is not the same as Disney in the US but we enjoyed comparing and contrasting the parks. For us, it was a good change of pace from touring and museum visits,although we had also just come from a tour-heavy week and a half in Italy. I think it’s worth a day trip if the kids are asking to go and are big Disney fans.