DLP Christmas Season Interview

I interviewed Bronte who runs thedisneylandparisdarling about her experiences with the Christmas Season. Bronte has been a part of the Disneyland Paris community for a couple of years and is well versed in the history of the park. Since I wasn’t able to make it out to the park myself I thought it’d be great to have someone who experienced the season first hand, and who knew the park, to offer a fresh perspective on the entertainment and various refurbishments and upgrades. We also asked Bronte for some tips and trips for tackling a Disneyland Paris holiday.

1) You run a successful tumblr blog and active twitter feed – can you tell us what drew you to the Disneyland Paris fan community?

When I joined Tumblr I honestly had no intentions of making it Disney, within a year though I found other disney blogs and thought wow. I’m not the only person who’s obsessed ! Then at 19 I became involved in an abusive relationship, this is when I really started to make my Tumblr disney and Disneyland Paris, it’s my happy place so I also used it as an escape. I’m so pleased I did though because I’ve met so many like minded and amazing people. I joined twitter only recently entry because I found people where interested a lot more on twitter and since then I’ve found some amazing twitters and new people to interact with about the parks !

 

2) What is your first memory of the parks?

Yellow, yellow and rain. We went when Euro Disney still had yellow ponchos and we always went out of season, so it would nearly always be raining.

 

3) Do you have any pre-trip rituals or anything you HAVE to do as soon as you arrive?

 

I always do outfit planning, i really enjoy it, and I hate over packing. It even more fun with Disneybounds. I’ll watch Disney vlogs everyday up until my trip and I study the programmes and write down everything I want to do! It’s funny because once I arrive I don’t stick to the plan I make at all! When I first arrive to the park I skip down Main Street, take a quick glance at the castle. Then I run to frontierland, I can’t tell you how the view of Phantom Manor to Big Thunder Mountain makes me feel. I love it !

 

4) Do you prefer the christmas season at Disneyland Paris or Halloween?

 

Such a hard one ! Christmas and Halloween are my favourites, but after doing Christmas this season though it’s got to be Christmas. The atmosphere in the dark, the decorations and the shows this year where outstanding!

5) Can you give us a brief overview of your trip?

 

I booked for us to stay for five nights six days at the Cheyenne, with a premium half board meal plan. We also did the Buffalo Bill Wild West show on the second day. I would really recommend the meal plan, it was an incredible experience, if I hadn’t pre paid I would of never eaten in some of those restaurants! The newly refurbished rooms are fantastic, we had fresh towels everyday and the breakfast was great.

I also think five nights is a great length of time to go, we had a really relaxed trip and even went back early some days to unwind. We got to experience every ride and all the shows this trip and I left feeling like I’d done everything I wanted to do! It did rain heavily every day except one, which was fine as it actually made it quieter but I think I’ll go earlier next year.

 

6) What do you think of the new offerings this year? Things have picked up in the last couple of years.

I was amazed at the refurbishments they had done in the main park, I hadn’t seen hyperspace mountain, star tours or pirates. Star tours is like a brand new ride and it was so needed ! I was so

impressed with the ride queue area and the work done around the ride outside. I went into hyperspace mountain quite critical as I didn’t get the mish mash with Jules Verne, I honestly thought after riding, it’s done really well. The new visual effects are good and immersive and the coaster itself is still my favourite!

Pirates I’ll always love, it’s one of my favourites as I can almost see walt working on the original while I go round, the new lighting and fire on the ride is great. I enjoyed the new animatronics and I can appreciate the work but I did find the Barbosa out of place and felt like the ride didn’t have a story. I also road Phantom for the last time and I’m so excited to see what happens ! It really does need it refurbishment and deserves it.

 

7) Anything you’d like to see added next year?

Vincent price voice over on Phantom, it’s a long shot but maybe if we keep asking they’ll deliver

8) Favorite bit of entertainment on offer this season? I loved the look of Goofys Christmas.

Oh goofy, my first Love, my favourite thing I saw this year was Mickeys big band, the performers and singers are incredible ! What a show, 1920s jazz and tap was wonderful to see. Goofy was also involved as was Santa. I was so pleased. One of the male performers kept coming over and complimenting me and my partner as a couple, so I went all goofy myself but I love the interactions you get at Disneyland !

9) Did you meet any cool characters that are exclusive to the season?

I met Sandy Claws completely by accident because he was moved to the arcade due to the bad weather. I also got a hug from Christmas stitch which was lovely as he’s my favourite abomination. I’m not huge on character meets but I did meet goofy about 6 times because I’m obsessed haha.

 

10) Any tips you’d pass on for those considering a Disneyland Paris christmas season trip?

Take waterproof shoes and a hat, I didn’t so I had to wear shopping bags over my socks. Worked really well though. Go see all the shows, they are so incredible.

 

11) Where did you eat while at the resort and which was your top experience?

So because we had the premium meal plan we ate like kings for five days ! Sometimes I felt like I was rolling out the park I was that full. We did California grill first, which was amazing. Being inside the Disneyland hotel was great, we had a few of the castle and the staff are great.

The second night we did buffalo bills, great show with a few beers and I really enjoyed the cookout style food.

The third night was Walts restaurant, which was by far the best. I was given a table with a view of main street by our lovely server Andrea, the food was astounding, I had a Caesar salad to start the size of my head and dan had poached egg bacon thing that was melt in the mouth, for my main I had a pork chop with mac and cheese and dan had a burger that had been slow cooked for 34 hours. (My mouth is watering thinking about it) then came dessert which Andrea kindly brought out a little later as the parade was coming on, eating a very very good cheesecake and watching the parade was a slice of heaven ! We left Walts full and totally smitten with the place.

The next night was Remy’s, ratatouille is my favourite Pixar film and I was so excited, the theming inthat restaurant is a work of art. I did feel the size of a rat. Unfortunately the service lacked any lustre and it felt rushed, the food however was delicious. The best steak and ratatouille I’ve had in a very long time ! We finished our trip with a final meal in Captain jacks, with a seat right at the bottom so we could watch the boats, the Caribbean infused food with fish and well spiced flavours was delicious we had a great meal.

 

12) Favorite moment from your trip?

Our first morning in walt disney studios, with EMT we had done every big thrill ride in 1.1/2 hours, I’ve never laughed so much. I forgot how much crush’s coaster makes my stomach flip when it twists ! Also just the whole trip, I really enjoyed every minute ! Even with the rain.

 

13) Favorite ride or thing in Disneyland Paris?

My favourite thing in Disneyland Paris has to be the end of Main Street, after you’ve skipped down it you get to that point of “what part should we pick” I love having no other care in the world then that, I mean I always pick frontierland but I always pretend I’m picking. Favourite ride has to be hyperspace mountain, best coaster ever !

 

14) Anything you’d like to add or any last tips or tricks?

Be kind, you do see a lot of pushing and shoving ! One night we went to get a shuttle and a family with a wheelchair, had missed the last one because no one helped them on. We made sure they got on the next one and dan even unloaded the ramp on the bus, we also take the same approach with cast members. They’re trying there absolute best, be patient and understanding. We where upgraded on a few as a thank you from one cast member, even without these bits of pixie dust I would always be polite to staff it makes me cringe when people are rude. Enjoy it, even when its chucking it down. We introduced muffin o’clock, at 2pm I’d recommend muffin time to everyone. Head to main street sit down and relax with a delicious muffin, treat yo self.

Thanks and closing thoughts

I’d like to thank Bronte for taking her time to answer these questions so insightfully. She has really painted a great picture of the parks during Christmas season. She’s also offered some fantastic tips if your considering a trip of your own to the parks. It’s always great to get another viewpoint on the various seasons especially since I wasn’t able to make it out this year. It certainly sounds like she had a great trip and a really positive experience at Disneyland Paris. I am delighted that the christmas season has become her favorite.

Which is something we share. For me the entire place just take on the most amazing atmosphere. From the decorations to the food somehow everything is much more alive. I especially feel this is the case with Main Street. Although it’s one of my favorite places in the park Christmas really gives it a jolt. I often feel that the entertainment is also much stronger in the christmas season. Or at east it has been the couple of times I’ve been lucky enough to go.

Hopefully this year (or next!) I can make it out as well. Has Bronte’s trip report got you thinking about booking a DLP christmas trip?