Not too impressed with DLRP

[poppyolivia]

haha me too. I have to say.. my recent trip in mid Nov... bar the crazy busy saturday.. which i just enjoyed in other ways, walking around pocahontis village, studios.. getting photos etc.. the other 4 days..were so magical! Its all so quaint and unique.. i love that. If it was all flashing lights, booming and crazy... it wouldnt be the same.... its almost as...

ok.. wierd way to put it.. but this is how it worked in my head
disneyland paris - shows the soft side.. snow white, sleeping beauty, the old drawings, music and magic, ladya nd the tramp... its all old fashioned and CHARMING!!

Where as studios/ disneyworld etc etc- are all much more... nemo/ incredibles. very impressive effects, colours, bright, and very "wow" factor... but not quite as ... charming!!


does that make sense to anyone but me??

I think thats a lovely way to put it!

 

[hollymattbenmilo]

oh good.... haha

i would love to save up and go to WDW when children are a bit older... for the rides, the water parks, the weather... i loved animal kingdom.. they are all very impressive and "wow"... but not ..."disney" enough for me.. for the romance etc.. I love dlp.

We loved our lovely hot baths and showers in sante fe.. and we had more towels then we needed... and there was a child and a baby... and I am an obsessive hair washer...!! haha... I am suprised to hear sante fe and cheyenne were so different??

 

[poppyolivia]

oh good.... haha

i would love to save up and go to WDW when children are a bit older... for the rides, the water parks, the weather... i loved animal kingdom.. they are all very impressive and "wow"... but not ..."disney" enough for me.. for the romance etc.. I love dlp.

We loved our lovely hot baths and showers in sante fe.. and we had more towels then we needed... and there was a child and a baby... and I am an obsessive hair washer...!! haha... I am suprised to hear sante fe and cheyenne were so different??

I think they aren't different in fact if I have been reading right the Cheyenne hotel is themed better etc?? I think OP was very unlucky thats all!

 

[mommy2ash]

i am so sorry you didnt have a good experience. tbh i think that sometimes if you have been to another park you spend so much time comparing the two you miss out on all the good points of the park you are in. i had a wonderful holiday in oct and stayed at the sf which is in the same league as the cheyenne. i had no problem with the hotel, i thought the beds were a good size, the rooms were warm and cleaned every day. you dont get a kettle so im not sure what you meant by that. yes baths over there are smaller. i think to be fair the things you are complaining about are kinda small complaints and they could have been forgotten about. like i had to hold down the stopper in the bath in the santa fe but i didnt let it get to me lol. i was having too much fun to care. and it couldnt have been more magical in my mind. but each to their own. i hope you have a better time on your next holiday

 

[hollymattbenmilo]

Thats a shame. yes i thought the hotel did look better then the sante fe if i am honest.

I had to ask for a cott.. even though i had reserved one, but they bought it quickly... it just didnt bother me. I think having a holiday is like anything in life... nothing is ever going to be perfect, but it down to your attitude etc... I told myself... right no getting stroppy with oh... let the children do what they want etc... no family fall outs, or obsessing over what kids ahve eaten.. just enjoy! I have been so ill for a gal of my age this year, its been very unfair. So.. I needed this. I needed to see my childrens faces brighten up... to walk around.. not dazed out on morphine or hormone drugs etc. You can take things for granted... even feeling well... you take it for granted.
For me... every cloud had a silver lining. and I just happened to really feel i had the best time of my life on my recent trip. It was... a memory I will treasure always, and I would do anything to be able to repeat it again this next year.... here's hoping!

 

[poppyolivia]

Thats a shame. yes i thought the hotel did look better then the sante fe if i am honest.

I had to ask for a cott.. even though i had reserved one, but they bought it quickly... it just didnt bother me. I think having a holiday is like anything in life... nothing is ever going to be perfect, but it down to your attitude etc... I told myself... right no getting stroppy with oh... let the children do what they want etc... no family fall outs, or obsessing over what kids ahve eaten.. just enjoy! I have been so ill for a gal of my age this year, its been very unfair. So.. I needed this. I needed to see my childrens faces brighten up... to walk around.. not dazed out on morphine or hormone drugs etc. You can take things for granted... even feeling well... you take it for granted.
For me... every cloud had a silver lining. and I just happened to really feel i had the best time of my life on my recent trip. It was... a memory I will treasure always, and I would do anything to be able to repeat it again this next year.... here's hoping!

aww thats really nice but sad at the same time!

 

[hollymattbenmilo]

oh... haha... didnt mean for it to sound sad!! .. just ... when your a really acitve person..with two young kids and normally spemd your days walking on beaches etc.. it horrid to be so ill for over a year.. so.. i ahd to be so careful to even go on holiday.. i couldnt risk eating really while i was there.. and had to take meds for so many things.. i had to be so careful. haha. was quite funny. as i didnt want it ruined!! so a cott turning up late was hardly going to ruin my fun!!! and i guess i am saying... why get hung up on those little details, if you smiled, saw your children smiled, were able to walka nd sing etc.. then its just magic!!

 

[mommy2ash]

oh... haha... didnt mean for it to sound sad!! .. just ... when your a really acitve person..with two young kids and normally spemd your days walking on beaches etc.. it horrid to be so ill for over a year.. so.. i ahd to be so careful to even go on holiday.. i couldnt risk eating really while i was there.. and had to take meds for so many things.. i had to be so careful. haha. was quite funny. as i didnt want it ruined!! so a cott turning up late was hardly going to ruin my fun!!! and i guess i am saying... why get hung up on those little details, if you smiled, saw your children smiled, were able to walka nd sing etc.. then its just magic!!

i am so sorry you havent been well but that is exactly the same attitude i went with yes ash had her meltdowns and a cm gave her coke and i got food poisoning but so what i was there to have fun and thats what i did. its all in the attitude. mine was im going to enjoy it if it kills me

 

[poppyolivia]

oh... haha... didnt mean for it to sound sad!! .. just ... when your a really acitve person..with two young kids and normally spemd your days walking on beaches etc.. it horrid to be so ill for over a year.. so.. i ahd to be so careful to even go on holiday.. i couldnt risk eating really while i was there.. and had to take meds for so many things.. i had to be so careful. haha. was quite funny. as i didnt want it ruined!! so a cott turning up late was hardly going to ruin my fun!!! and i guess i am saying... why get hung up on those little details, if you smiled, saw your children smiled, were able to walka nd sing etc.. then its just magic!!

It puts it into perspective doesn't it!?

Hope you are feeling better

 

[poppyolivia]

i am so sorry you havent been well but that is exactly the same attitude i went with yes ash had her meltdowns and a cm gave her coke and i got food poisoning but so what i was there to have fun and thats what i did. its all in the attitude. mine was im going to enjoy it if it kills me

I'm sorry thats too funny!!!

 

[mommy2ash]

I'm sorry thats too funny!!!

yeah i guess it is but it was exactly the attitude i went with. i could have a list as long as my arm of things that went wrong, arguments with my sis but the look on ashleighs face the first time she saw the castle and said wow that was it for me. worth every penny and every letdown. now i cant wait to get back

 

[poppyolivia]

yeah i guess it is but it was exactly the attitude i went with. i could have a list as long as my arm of things that went wrong, arguments with my sis but the look on ashleighs face the first time she saw the castle and said wow that was it for me. worth every penny and every letdown. now i cant wait to get back

A holiday is what you make it, you have to 100% go with the right attitude!

 

[hollymattbenmilo]

hahaha... i know! but i was the worst!! I hang my head in shame... my son has a dairy allergy... now its not serious... just gets excema (sp).. and i am so good... i bake our own bread, bake cakes for him, even do the blooming toskshire puds... but on this trip... he had coissants...chocolate... etc etc!! haha.... I had one very itchy but HAPPY child!!

 

[poppyolivia]

hahaha... i know! but i was the worst!! I hang my head in shame... my son has a dairy allergy... now its not serious... just gets excema (sp).. and i am so good... i bake our own bread, bake cakes for him, even do the blooming toskshire puds... but on this trip... he had coissants...chocolate... etc etc!! haha.... I had one very itchy but HAPPY child!!

thats hilarious in a nice way!haha!

 

[hollymattbenmilo]

hahaha.... a wee bit of itching was well worth seeing him indulge himself!! As he has to eat so sensibly at home. hahaha

 

[london75]

Just a quick post to hopefully clarify a few things. I was in a particularly bad mood when I wrote the post but have had time to reflect.

One thing has to be clear, we enjoyed the holiday. My wife has also pointed out it was only a 2 star hotel so I perhaps expected too much but my point with the whole post is I expected more from Disney.

The hotel could have been better at very little cost, why should I need to request towels, hot water, crib, coffee, cups, bedding without holes in. Surely those sort of things are all part of the customer service package. I liked the theming and the exterior of the hotel but if a company takes your money, it should keep it's standards up. Like I said, to a company the size of Disney, a duvet cover will probably cost about a pound, maybe a couple for harder wearing. There is no excuse for things to be that run down.

This is my point with the parks as well, the decor and general upkeep seems to have been neglected, in Orlando, there is always a section here, a section there boarded up (for no more than a day generally) being repainted. The staff relay the floor overnight to be repaired for the next morning. If DLRP is now in profit, I think they need to get this kind of mentality before considering another park.

Another example is the Carousel which Daisy adored, we rode it time and time again, but the illusion of it being a grand victorian Carousel was ruined by almost every horse being damaged with fibre glass protruding from some area or worn paint showing plastic rather than wood.

The whole park is about illusion in America, Tokyo, Paris, wherever, I just felt the standards had slipped in Paris and they didn't seem to have the desire to keep it "magical" and it felt more like a plain old funfair than a "Magic Kingdom"

Nice park, good holiday but need to start sprucing it up rather than adding more rides and/or parks.

Hope that gets my point over better.

EDIT: My feet hung off the end of the bed and got very cold so think that counts as too small and for whatever reason, we had a small kettle in the room that had the base screwed to the table opposite the bunks, maybe a practical joker did it!

 

[poppyolivia]

see, that sounds abit better, think I might even like you now!

 

[marcus.ka]

Thank you for making your point a little bit clearer.

But I have to add two things anyway: The Cheyenne is on of the most beautiful two star hotels I have ever seen.

We have been there in November (the second time after 1995) and we loved it immediately. The room looked brand new and we had enough big towels. Everything worked and we had no reason to complain.

I also loved the DL park; Everything was so magical. I am still thinking every day back to our trip in November. The park was in a very good shape and Disney does many refurbishments during the year but they stop them during December and during July/August because the crowd level is very high in these month.

And it is possible that you find an attraction in a not-so-good shape. The reason is Disney can not close for example the Carousel every two month to make it look brand new. But I think the same applies to all Disney parks around the world.

And with different employment laws in Europe than in the US, it is also not possible to do refurbishments over night. That's why Emporium was covered for several months.

I visit DLRP on a regular basis every year and the overall experience is getting better and better and even more magical.

The result is: Almost 2 Million more visitors in 2008 than in 2007!

 

[oh toodles!!!]

Hiya,

we stayed in the Cheyenne and had a kettle in the room. I guess that must have been by mistake as any literature I had read suggested we had to hire one from reception and, yes, the base was screwed to the table. I suppose that so no-one would go to the trouble of hiring a kettle and then finding out there's no way of boiling it. Now that would be frustrating!

I also knew/noticed at check-in that you could buy a basket of tea/coffee but we didn't bother.

I also confirmed at check-in that we had a cot in the room. The CM made a phone call and by the time we arrived at our room it was being set up.

DH is 6'2" and the beds were alright for him and the bath was no smaller than we have in our own bathroom at home.

The only thing I would agree with was that the towels were a little small but that didn't bother us at all.

The room itself was no smaller than most of the budget hotel rooms I have stayed in around Britain.

We, literally, only slept, washed and got dressed in the room, and we knew that's all we needed it for. That was one of the main reasons we chose the Cheyenne over the more expensive hotels (that and the bunk beds). No point paying a fortune when you're not going to be using it for two-thirds of the day.

We've been to WDW before and thought this was just as magical, if not more. But that was, perhaps, more to do with us having kids this time round rather than just our two selves.

 

[london75]

And it is possible that you find an attraction in a not-so-good shape. The reason is Disney can not close for example the Carousel every two month to make it look brand new. But I think the same applies to all Disney parks around the world.

I won't start arguing but I think that's a little accomodating of you given how much money you've no doubt given them.

All it would take is 4 spare horses to operate in rotation, swapped out with each set of 4 on a weekly basis. Horses could be swapped out with rotation horses in a couple of hours one evening after park closes. Then when repaired, they'd be swapped out for the next set.

The railings in Dumbo needed a damn good sanding and painting, that was a good year or more of neglect, not months. Other sites manage it, they just have better management I imagine. Although cheaper labour probably helps.

I'm a Project Manager so tend to think solutions rather than excuses. Why are there holes in Dumbo's waiting area roof, dripping on people and staining the netting permanently when a colour coded patch must cost 10p and take minutes to glue. Why are the lights in the Dumbo area all covered in cobwebs, clean em damnit, the list goes on.

Other gripes aside, it was nice but could try harder.