An American Mouseketeer in Paris - July 2016 (New 1/11)

I'm so glad I found your trip report! I love it so far. I've been to Paris but never to DLP (I need to change that!).
 
So loving your TR! I've never been to Paris (unless you count the airport, and on the train) but I nearly hopped off the train at the DLP stop! I was on my way to hike the Camino, so I decided I'd better not. It's still on my list, so I'll enjoy your TR as I wait to go! One day.

1st tip learned from you: Bring a power bar, so that I can charge multiple items. :) Well, with the adaptor.
 
Loving this trip report! Paris is my "home" park (Scotland/France, whatever) so it's always interesting to hear the perspectives of people who visit from around the world. Can't wait to see where you ate and what you thought of Newport Bay - we're staying there for the first time in a few months
 
Well, it looks like I owe everyone an apology! With my job I have pretty much two and a half straight months of business travel from Labor Day-mid November, and then with the holidays I essentially haven't been on the Disboards in almost 4 months. I do still want to finish this, so we'll keep at it!

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Going into the trip, we knew we would really only have the budget for one sit down meal (for my birthday, where I picked Remy) so I researched the quick service options extensively. After the rave reviews on multiple sites, I knew we had to try Restaurant Hakuna Matata and their Hakuna fries, not to mention chicken strips are one of Kevin's key staples. Off we went to Adventureland for sustenance.


I really appreciated how the menus would switch to English, even though I knew enough to get by with the pictures - it was still nice to see things in our native language!


An order for each of us of "Lightly Spiced" chicken strips and Hakuna fries - they were quite yummy!! The seasoning was the perfect amount in that it brought plenty of flavor but certainly wasn't what I would think of as spicy (imagine seasoned potato wedges any of my US-based friends here). Definitely one of the best quick service meals we had while at DLP.

Once we finished eating, it was approaching 1:00pm (or 13:00 ;) ). Our room was not due to be ready until 3:00pm, and I wanted to be at one of the hotels for their free Wi-Fi at 2:00pm. I was hoping to score Harry Potter and the Cursed Child tickets via the weekly lottery for our trip to London the following week, and so we had to be online right when the lottery went live in order to stand a chance. So with roughly an hour to go, we decided to meander through the shops on our way out of the park and grab a cocktail at Cafe Fantasia at the Disneyland Hotel while we borrowed their Wi-Fi.


I know this seems like nothing, but I was fascinated by the fact that all the princess dresses from DLP were hoop skirts. It just seemed so much more fantastic (as in fantasy) and a little more special than the American dresses


On either side of the shops lining Main Street were covered, heated promenades that ran the length of Main Street. We thought they were a fantastic addition, and I bet they really make a great getaway in the colder winter months!

Of course, the best part about the Disneyland Hotel is that steps after leaving the park, we were right there in the lobby! Probably my favorite part of the hotels was the abundance of windows around the place.



We navigated our way upstairs to Cafe Fantasia, grabbed a seat in the plushy chairs outside the bar, and within minutes we had some delicious alcoholic beverages in our hands I got the Kir Royal cocktail (champagne and creme de cassis) while Kevin got a beer.









Right at 2:00pm France time, we fired up our phones and got into the virtual cue for the tickets, but unfortunately we were unsuccessful. We decided to leisurely finish our drinks, and then once we we finished we figured we might as well continue onto Newport Bay Club in the hopes that our room would now be ready.

We walked back through Downtown Disney and collected our baggage back at Newport Bay Club before setting off to find our room, which ended up being in what felt like it was at the very end of the longest hallway in the entire resort. After 30 years of walking, we finally came across our door and walked into our home for the next two nights. The room was simply gorgeous! Easily one of our favorite hotel rooms in any Disney hotel.





The details on the headboard were probably my favorite!




We had a water view (even though we kept the drapes closed, since we were at ground level)




And the bathroom!! I very seriously might remodel my bathroom in these colors and style






As much as we wanted to stay on French time, our feet were absolutely throbbing from all the walking all around the resort, so we couldn't help but flop down onto the bed and of course once we were laying down, we ended up falling asleep. We ended up crashing for about 2 hours, which wasn't the worst thing in the world considering we had fallen asleep so early the night before and really wanted to make it to Disney Dreams, which was (if I remember correctly) at 10:00pm that evening. With several hours to go before then, we decided to pop over to Walt Disney Studios for a change of scenery.

Coming up next: An afternoon in the movies and an evening in Fantasy!
 


Joining the party late. Luvin the report so far.
We started bringing an extension lead with us when we go away to combat the lack of plug sockets in hotel rooms lol.
 
Following and enjoying your TR!

I'm planning a trip from NYC to DLP later this year and was wondering if I'd have the stamina to go to a park on arrival day, being jet lagged. I'm guessing probably not!

Newport Bay looks great, very similar to Yacht Club at WDW. Did you stay at Newport Bay after the renovations were complete?
 
We ate at Restaurant Hakuna Matata on a whim in DLP! I liked the seasoning on the Hakuna fries (and chicken), which is saying a lot for me, because I'm not a wedge fry person.

The promenades are such a great idea. I missed them in July when we were in California... :rotfl:

Oh, the lobby... The hotel is so pretty from the outside too. I definitely want to check out some lobbies when we go to WDW in September :laughing: The Grand Californian is one of the only "beautiful" hotel lobbies I've ever been in, so I want to see some more Disney lobbies!

Newport Bay Club looks lovely. I want to take DF to Europe/DLP sometime in the next few years, so I'll have to keep it in mind :goodvibes

Also, rereading your TR has reminded me to get my butt in gear and order a vacation charger I was eyeing... really just one with 6 usb ports but whether US or the rest of the world, hotels tend to lack outlets... and I want it for our WDW trip at the end of this month. Thank goodness for Amazon Prime!

Also, now I kind of want to do a 1-day photo TR from my trip to DLP... It's just so pretty!
 
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Nice room. Sorry that you didn't get the tickets. I'm glad to see you updating again!
 
Loving this so far! I totally know what you mean about how weird it is to not know your way around a Disney park...familiar, yet different.

Those fries and chicken tenders look amazing...:eek:
 
Hi there and welcome to this trip report! No better way to get started than to just jump into it, am I right?

The Who:


My name is Jenn, and the stubbly one would be my DH Kevin. We're a couple of 20-somethings from the States with many, MANY trips to WDW under our belts both as kids and as a couple (plus one Disneyland trip!), though the most memorable would have to be when we were married there nearly two years ago!


(Only wedding picture, I promise! You can read about that adventure in my signature below)


The What:
Our very first trip to Disneyland Paris! This trip was also the beginning of a two and a half week adventure to DLP, Paris proper and finally London.

The Where:
We stayed for 3 nights total - the first being our arrival night at Kyriad Disneyland Paris followed by a stay at Newport Bay Club

The When:
June 30-July 3, most importantly because it fell over my birthday!

The Why:
Because we had never been to Disneyland Paris and want to see all the parks someday, and because trying to affordably celebrate my birthday in the States is a nightmare (the joys of being born around a national holiday!) That and does anyone ever need a reason to go to Disney?!

Come on in if you enjoy lots of pictures, lots of words, and the perspective of an American seeing the beauty of DLP for the very first time :) Allons-y!

Table of Contents:

Day 0/1 - Travel Day
Day 1 - Disney Village and Hotel Exploring
Day 2 - Disneyland Paris!

Day 2 - Drinks at Disneyland and the Newport Bay Club


Look forward to reading your adventures - we are planning our 2018 DL Paris trip, along with our RCC Med Cruise, Portafino and Dubai stop on the way home. Cant wait to see DL Paris - we have only been to DL Anaheim. Rosa
 
Look forward to reading your adventures - we are planning our 2018 DL Paris trip, along with our RCC Med Cruise, Portafino and Dubai stop on the way home. Cant wait to see DL Paris - we have only been to DL Anaheim. Rosa

That sounds like an amazing trip. Can't wait for that trip report!
 
That sounds like an amazing trip. Can't wait for that trip report!

We have completed Disney Cruise Line Western Carribean Cruise on The Fantasy and visited LA, Anaheim (DL of course), Orlando and Miami. We have also cruised with Carnival Spirit South pacific Islands. We are now planning our 2018 Mediterranean cruise with a stop in Paris (my husband just wants to eat crossaints and my girls want to visit Disneyland Paris), Amalfi coast and a stop over in Dubai on the way home. We will be staying onsite in DLP. Have a 11 and 6 year old (girls) at the time of travelling - how many days would you suggest at DLP. We did 5 days at DL Anaheim and they luved each and every day we were there.
 
Joining in from Pennsylvania and I love your report thus far! We're hoping to take the kids to London for a week and DLP for two nights and sneak in some of the local Paris sites, too, in 2018. I'm a bit nervous because we don't speak French. Would love to hear how you made out with this outside of DLP. Thanks for your report!
 
As an American visiting DLP for the first time two weeks from now I've really appreciated reading your perspective on the resort. Hope there's more on the way!
 

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