I'm in Europe for a conference and plan to go to Disneyland Paris, anyone with experience have a sense of the wait times? Is the fast pass worth it? It seems to work different than the US sites.
I get that "low tech, run down headquarters" is a thing in Star Wars, but it doesn't excite me.
Not to say that you're wrong for not being interested in it, but I would call the whole "low tech, run down" aesthetic as one of Star Wars' defining elements. Most sci-fi tends to go for a slick, high-tech feel, but Star Wars stood out back in the day in part because of things like the protagonist being introduced at a rummage sale or the franchise's most iconic spacecraft being "a piece of junk." Coruscant, Cloud City, Star Destroyers, they all serve as counterpoints to that.
This new land has ONE ride
$200 to build a light saber - which looks cheap and is a light show with Yodas voice.
$100 to build your own $30.00 droid.
$8 for "blue milk" that apparently tastes like crap
$12 for a "hot dog wrap" themed to Star Wars
What did they expect?????
I'm in EU so keep in mind it might be very very different from the experience in the US (I've never been to any park there, still very much dreaming to go) but last time I went to Portaventura (last year in october) I managed to cram in 23 / 24 rides + lunch that actually had a show, from 10pm to 7pm
Any time I go to Disneyland its always a bare minimum 14 rides in a day. It really is crazy that some of the waiting lines in the US are 3 fucking hours lol
I went and saw Chewbacca leave a guy hanging on a high five so that was pretty funny.
That said, the amount of fully grown adults I saw bugging people in costume when they were trying to interact with kids made me really feel for them. Like, come on guy, you're really going to interrupt this kid meeting their hero to take a fucking selfie?
I envy the patience of people working there.
They're gonna boost at the end of the summer when the passes unblockSo Rise of the Resistance is opening January 17th, apparently. Guess this means crowds will be staying small for a bit longer?
I'm ok with smaller crowds. As someone that is a CA resident but not SoCal, I go to Disneyland about once a year on average. the size of crowds over my lifetime has ballooned to absurd levels. It never used to feel as crowded when I was young, nowadays it's literally just a swamp of people in certain congested areas (Like outside the jungle cruise where the stroller parking is), where that never used to be the case. It actually has super negatively impacted my enjoyment of the park tbh.I dont think entry prices are the reason for smaller crowds. 2017 saw and increase of 3% in disneyland attendance and 2018 saw and increase of 2%. Anecdotal but my last few visits (thrice last year, twice this year) were very, very packed. It is possible that a lot of factors have changed since last year, but in my anecdotal experiences (I have a LOT of family and friends who go to disney probably 10+ times a year) they're all waiting to go later because of fear of crowds from the new park lol
I'm ok with smaller crowds. As someone that is a CA resident but not SoCal, I go to Disneyland about once a year on average. the size of crowds over my lifetime has ballooned to absurd levels. It never used to feel as crowded when I was young, nowadays it's literally just a swamp of people in certain congested areas (Like outside the jungle cruise where the stroller parking is), where that never used to be the case. It actually has super negatively impacted my enjoyment of the park tbh.
Wikipedia lists Disneyland Paris as having 14.8 million visitors in 2017. In 2016, Disneyland had 18.2 million visitors, and Disney World had 20.5 million. I've heard (but never seen myself) that the Paris park is not very crowded, but that may just be in comparison.
I know the last time I went to Disneyland, we could only do ~3 rides per day, and Splash Mountain was almost a 2 hour wait. If I can just stroll into the Paris park and have my pick of the place without any planning or reservations, then that sounds worth the flight! It's what made Hersheypark so fun.