kleeblatt

In Germany, near the border of Switzerland, is a terrific theme park called Europapark. I've been there with kids many times. It's clean, reasonable, quaint and has great rides.

I've known many people who have been to Euro Disney and Europapark and they all prefer the latter.

It's not an alternative for those who are looking for a daytrip from Paris, but if you are in the area, it's definitely worth going with the kids (and great for adults too).

xyz123

Neopatrick...

Good point about the specials available from the RATP that includes return RER/metro fare and park admission...it's also a big time saver as the queues to buy tickets at Parc Disneyland range from long to very very long...

If you go, don't miss the Adventures of the Lion King included in your aqdmission and a reasonable fascimile of the show playing in London and New York (of course much much abridged but free (well not really free, it's included in the stiff price of admission))...read the brochure they give you to find out where and when the tickets are distributed. There are at least 4 shows a day with 2 of them in English and 2 of them in French.

Also if you are staying the day you might consider the Buffalo Bill Wild West Extravagansa held in Disney Village twice nightly...it's the typical American dinner show arrangement with a fixed dinner, all the beer, wine or coke you can drink, and a show about the American wild west. Interesting to see the reaction of the French and other Europeans to this piece of America; the European kids seem to love it...the show is done 1/2 in French and 1/2 in English...it's expensive but a good break in the day if you're staying late or even just to eat a different kind of dinner if you ever tire of French cuisine. (I know, I know, who ever tires of French cuisine but you'd be surprised what some kids think of what they are served in a French restaurant...hard stale bread, no butter and slow service)....

alyssamma

You can buy the RER+admission tickets at any RER ticket booth. Basically, it gives you a free train ride (i.e., the total cost is equal to the cost of DLP admission alone).

When we went, my thoughts were as follows:

1) Many rides are better than DW and DL in the US. There are some very cool things there.

2) The Disney "magic" is mostly missing. If you don't understand what I mean by this, I'm not sure I can explain it At DW there is just a magic in the air...the people who work there are excited to work there and that spills over into the general feel of the park. I didn't see that at DLP. The workers weren't rude...but it was like being at any other park.

Hopefully this helps

Kevin

Rd

We are also from South Africa and we did go to Disney Paris a while back, why? curiosity I suppose. There's a train service that takes you directly to the park. Would I recommend it? not really it's expensive and there are always queues.

TommieG

To avoid queues; try to go on a weekday! Especially in June (not really a holiday-month yet for Europeans) the crowds will be relatively low.

But hey; in what themepark are queues non existent.....probably one not worth visiting!

A good and practical site to plan your visit; www.dlrpmagic.com

Anoukaimee

We went to Disney Paris with our son. It was...ok, wonderful for children. The food was the WORST I have ever eaten in my whole life. Paris was next door. It felt like a huge sacrifice. You only do this for your children, I guess.

annhig

hi, pieter,

here's another vote for parc asterix. we and our kids, then aged about 15 & 12, loved it. It's very french, some pretty exciting rides, and the food is french and good.

beeats that dratted mouse any day!

regards, ann

kerouac

Actually, the food became bad at Disneyland Paris by popular demand. One of the fast food places in Adventureland used to have things like couscous, shrimp curry and kebabs, keeping in line with the theme of the area. A lot of children won't eat that stuff, so it was transformed into a pizza place.