I'm wanting to visit the park next October with my wife and two kids for 3 or 4 nights.

When is the best time to book and what tips can people offer, best hotel etc.

I am conscious of cost and don't want to pay over the odds but I want to have a good time with no regrets over choices made.

I look forward to any advice you can offer.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38928629

Some good news for the resort.

Disney have confirmed they're buying even more of the park back which should now give them total control, spending €1.5bn on debt clearing and improvements. Think they're nearing the threshold where they can force the remaining stakeholders to sell.

The cleanup seems to be making a big difference so far and hyperspace mountain, star tours and season of the force seem to be good short term measures.

Hopefully we'll get some news sometime soon on more future additions. An altered, higher capacity version of Frozen ever after would be neat addition, especially given the lack of water rides at the parks.

abigsmurf wrote:

An altered, higher capacity version of Frozen ever after would be neat addition, especially given the lack of water rides at the parks.

Noooo don't give them ideas!

In all seriousness this is great and I can see the future of DLP being very bright. I could see the addition of Splash Mountain, the Seven Dwarfs Mine train and Slinky Dog coaster being a nice fit, and possibly some form of Star Wars land if they really want to go all out (a long way into the future obviously).

As many people will know, Star Tours has been closed for a fair while now in order for it to be refurbished in time for the 25th anniversary celebrations. Today, the Resort have released some further information about the re-vamped version of the ride which re-opens on 26th March, as well as a new piece of concept art:

** Star Tours: The Adventures Continue **

To celebrate its 25th Anniversary, Disneyland Paris is offering a new and completely redesigned version of the Star Tours attraction. Introducing Star Tours: The Adventures Continue*.

Star Tours: The Adventures Continue has a number of surprises in store, with a new experience, new destinations, a new pilot, new characters, new technologies and more. The attraction returns with an all-new, action-packed intergalactic voyage, all in 3D.

** New journeys in 3D to better explore the galaxy far, far away...**

Guests join the Rebellion aboard a Starspeeder 1000. The ship is meant to be piloted by droid AC-38, but in the end it is C-3PO behind the controls at take-off. From this point, there are more surprises to come...

Along the way guests can meet heroes never encountered until now such as Princess Leia, Yoda, Boba Fett to name a few. And watch out for Darth Vader... each scenario, journey and story is random to ensure guests can enjoy an original experience every time.

With state-of-the-art technology, flight simulators, digital 3D, Audio-Animatronics characters, special effects in the cockpit and epic music, guests are fully immersed in the universe of the Star Wars films. Episodes I to VII inclusive.

There will be a multitude of new scenes from the Star Wars saga. With more than 70 different mission combinations, it invites guests to enjoy an experience that is unique every flight. They never know where the Force might take them.

Each of the multiple destinations offers its own surprises, with journeys through the worlds of Jakku, Naboo, Hoth, Tatooine, the Death Star and much more...

I am incredibly excited for the 25th anniversary. Cinemagique will be closing end of March sadly according to a few reliable sources within the DLP twitter community to make way for a new marvel based show in the theatre in the future.

Star Tours looks fantastic and the addition of Adventures Continue to Paris was a very strong move. Having been at the closing ceremony for the original I'm very excited to see what the future holds

Ahead of the start of the 25th anniversary, Disneyland Paris have announced a restructure to their annual pass system. From 29th March guests will have the option to purchase one of four levels of annual pass - Discovery; Magic Flex; Magic Plus; and Infinity. Each level has its own associated benefits with only the Infinity pass giving you access to the parks for the full 365 days a year, the other three tiers all have blackout dates (the precise details of which are to be confirmed).

Perhaps the most striking difference is the increase in price for the top tier pass. Currently the top tier is the Dreams pass which gives you 365 days access, 20% retail discount, 10% restaurant discount, free parking, and a selection of other perks for a cost of 223 Euro. The new Infinity pass which will offer the same benefits as the Dreams pass, plus a photopass included, priority parking, VIP viewing areas for the parades, and a dedicated VIP phone line and desk in the Annual Pass Office, however the cost will be 399 Euros - an increase of 79%!

For those who currently hold any of the Annual Passes they now have a choice - keep their current pass and benefits, but have to choose one of the new tiers at renewal, or upgrade to the new system before renewal. What currently isn't clear is what is going to happen to people who have purchased a pass under the current system and have been sent a temporary pass to activate within 6 months - if they activate prior to the new system taking effect on 29th March then they will be fine, however if they are activating after 29th March it is not known if they can keep the product they originally purchased or if they will have to choose which of the new options to convert their pass into. ED92 sum up the decision faced by many pass holders:

You will notice that, in order to not lose any of your benefits (and win a few), you will need to upgrade to a Pass that will cost more than the Passport you currently own.

If however you would like to keep the same price range, you will lose a number of benefits and access days, and pay slightly more than you currently do.

They also have a detailed article exploring all the changes.

This seems to be a rather interesting move by Disney and I'm not quite sure if it's a good one. Many people are upset by the changes, especially the stripping away of benefits and access days from the lower tiers.

You can only visit 150 days of the year on the lowest tier? That's really terrible, I wouldn't even call it an annual pass.

The full pass requires you to visit ~6 times to get your money's worth (compared other companies passes that are typically 3 times) , hard to see many people managing that.

So with the park soon celebrating their 25th anniversary here are some general updates about them and the resort in general.

Firstly, Star tours is making very good progress with the riders safety sign going up.

Meanwhile space mountain or now Hyperspace Mountain has had the sign for the attraction put up!

Show wise, the park has been improving the castle stage near Fantasyland/ discovery and with the stairs and revolving platforms have had some work done.

For the parade, there have been work on the floats

Finally, the best update is this video of the beginning of illuminations so I will just show the link https://mobile.twitter.com/ED92live/status/837655602725859328/video/1

Just want to give ED92Live credit for the pictures

There isn't really a disney general park topic so I thought to post this BBC article about using AI and robots at Disney parks http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-39245946

Photos and a short video have appeared today of testing of the new trains on Hyperspace Mountain as it prepares to re-open with its new Star Wars overlay. The ride is currently expected to open on May 6th. The photos are below, whilst the video can be found on ED92's Twitter

Not been to DLP in years, Ive heard mix reviews about the state of the park and rides. Is it worth going or to wait for a few years and hope for a few more addtions?

I've heard mixed reviews too, but I guess that's quite subjective and is the same for any park really.

A few of the team are heading over at Easter so we should be able to give a decent trip report when we get back!

I'm here ATM I personally think it's great
There's noticeable amounts of general maintenance going on (especially first thing during early magic hours)



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I will post videos of the new 25th anniversary videos later but anyway, it does look spectacular. Cars on Parade certainly has some incredibly unique floats which have a lot of motion, and there's the festival of fantasy dragon!!! Personally I really like the soundtrack but I feel it lacks any big finale because as impressive as frozen is, it isn't the best ending. At least, we should be getting a new princess float in 2018.

Illuminations also is rather good and certainly bears resemblance to Shanghai Disneyland Ignite the Magic. It is basically about Mickey mouse going through all the films such as pirates of the carribean, 2017 beauty and the beast, star wars and the little mermaid. I feel as though the soundtrack is not as strong as stars on parade but at least it uses lots of effects from some fireworks (not that many), fire and water fountains.

The whole park has had new 25th photopoints as well as 2 new shoes for the castle stage. Both look alright but at the end of the day, it is just dancers, characters and water fountains so it doesn't compare to the illuminations and stars on parade.

I look forward to hearing more about people's thoughts on the 25th Anniversary celebrations. I'm planning a short break there in december when (hopefully) ride availability should be better. Haven't been since I was 4 so looking forward to lots of new experiences

Ibizarocks16 wrote:

Not been to DLP in years, Ive heard mix reviews about the state of the park and rides. Is it worth going or to wait for a few years and hope for a few more addtions?

I've been a fairly vocal about the park as I went when it was close to rock bottom.

Since Disney financed the park it sounds like they've moved it in the right direction, spending a lot of time and money on just getting the theming back up to the standard of the other parks. Sounds like they're getting to the end of the beautification stuff now (now they just need to buy the paths outside the park from the French government so that people leaving don't have to weave between dodgy tat sellers).

I'm hoping we get new ride announcements soon, possibly at D23. The Star Wars stuff is neat (going to Disney Studios made me see just how great the Jedi Academy stuff would be for any kid into star wars) but it needs a new AAA ride.

That was the main things I have heard, The park had fallen away with its standards and could just do with a lick of paint all over and a good clean up. Hopefully with the new finances they can add a much need 5* Ride, Is another coaster needed or a few flats?

They tried building lots of flat rides for the Studios ride and they were fairly disappointing, fairly standard rides with Disney skins. Even if they put a big effort into a new one, it would just get lost amongst those.

They've got lots of untapped recent properties they could use; A Moana log flume or rapids ride would be good, they appeal to all ages, have high capacity and fill in a much needed gap. An Avengers ride, possibly either using Test Track tech or updated Indiana Jones is another possibility.

Epcot is allegedly getting an ride based on Gigantic, maybe they could build one at Paris at the same time (or close after).

I imagine most people here wouldn't be too thrilled at the prospect of Tower of Terror getting the Guardians of the Galaxy treatment.

I look forward to a nice report at somepoint! Im debating to go in October or wait a few years and see what happens really.

Hi all

I'm off to DLP in 5 days time with my partner. It's our first time going to DLP. I've done Florida but have a few questions I hope people can help with.

I've seen a few vlogs online and ive ssen that some of the preshows are in French. Haunted mansion and Ratatouie come to mind. Do any of these rides have English pre shows ? as I'm gonna admit I don't have a clue with French. School as such a long time ago. I want to experience the full rides.

Also we have dining included does this include the day you arrive as we get off the Eurostar in Disney itself about 2:30pm French time?

Just really gutted that Hyperspace mountain opens just after we get back.

Many thanks