WDS Daytrip 8/10/14: A very very rainy but magical TR! +Lots of tips for the Studios

[Cruzinmaniac]

Hey everyone! Welcome to my TR for our 2nd daytrip of the year. (I posted a highs/lows for the first one but not a TR.) Today we had a very fun but very rainy day at the studios. We rode every ride that was open in 8 hours. Not bad, eh?

Expect to see lots of tips for visiting the studios in this TR. I hope to have the 1st installment up tomorrow. Of course it's just one day so there won't be many installments, but we'll have lots of fun anyway. I hope you'll come along for the ride!!

Cast: Me, DH, DD1 (14), DD2 (10), DS1 (7), DS2 (4)

See ya real soon!
Sariah x

 

[cdsmiler81]

Glad you had a great day!! Looking forward to reading your TR!

C x

 

[Cruzinmaniac]

All 4 of our kids are in French schools, so normally they would have had school, but there was some big meeting with all of the teachers or something and in any case school was canceled, so we decided it would be a perfect opportunity to go to WDS and get the rides out of the way without crowds, because the rest of the year will be filled with holiday stuff. (TIP: Go to the studios on a Monday-Thursday. Trust me. The park is small in area and when it's filled with people it's not really enjoyable. Disneyland can be enjoyed in crowds but the studios is quite a bit more difficult. WDS also has the two consistently longest waits in the park: Ratatouille and Crush.) Another reason for choosing the studios is that it was scheduled to rain pretty much the whole day. (TIP: The studios is better for rainy days because it is less spread out and has more indoor shows and attractions.) We woke up at around 7 and got ready to catch our RER at 7:58. From where we live we have to take 3 different RERs to get to Disneyland. It takes about 80-90 mins.

Sure enough, it was raining hard the whole travel time. I discovered quickly that my sneakers were not waterproof at all and my feet were wet the whole day.
(TIP: It rains a lot in Paris. Bring waterproof shoes or rain boots if you have them. Also, wear wool socks if you have them or buy them. There are cute Mickey rain boots for sale now in the parks too if you want a souvenir.)

We arrived at Marne la Vallée Chessy at about 9:28 and speed walked to the studios. There was no queue at the turnstiles, we walked right in and there was a super sweet and bubbly cast member who was very welcoming while checking our tickets.

Then we headed straight for la Place de Rémy. (TIP: The passage between Crush/Cars and Toy Story Playland/Place de Rémy is often closed, and in any case is a huge bottleneck. To avoid potential delays it's better to go towards Tram Tour and then turn right to get to TSP and PdR.) It was basically empty; it was so magical! Even though it was pouring rain. We got in the queue in front of the standby entrance. At about 9:45 they opened the FP machines and we got some for 10:20-10:50. (TIP: If you arrive around 9:30 and queue up outside Ratatouille, keep an eye on the FP machines so you can have a second ride right after!) At about 9:50 they let us into the (covered!) outdoor queue to keep out of the rain, then of course at 10:00 they opened the ride and indoor queue. We basically walked right through the queue and on with almost no wait. (TIP: Many people say it's essential to ride the ride via standby once the first time to see the theming in the queue. While it is cool, it's not as cool as the ride itself so don't have your expectations super high. I would say if you are there over several days ride it via standby first, but if you only have one studios day, go to crush first then get a FP right after for Ratatouille. The FP line sees a little bit of the theming, but unfortunately the Single Rider skips it entirely.)

I'm not going to rehash the whole ride here (you can find scene-by-scene descriptions on the internet but videos will not be impressive so I wouldn't recommend watching them) but it'll suffice to say it didn't disappoint.

It's an awesome ride; the props mixed with 3D and the motion of the vehicles (omigosh the vehicles are so cool!) makes you really feel like you're in Remy's world. The scenes with Skinner are pretty scary though; there's one specific part I always flinched at!

After the amazing ride and while waiting for our FP, we decided to go into Toy Story Playland and hit all the rides there since it was still raining but not pouring anymore. This is a cute land but all the rides are pretty uncreative. We hadn't done anything here on our last trip because the queues were too long; but this time they were all between nothing and 2 minutes. Granted it was still only like 10:15.

RC Racer was actually pretty scary; you're basically suspended parallel to the ground on both ends. DD2 and DS1 loved it though. On parachutes we actually got a longer ride because they started it, then stopped it because a little girl was freaking out and screaming, then restarted it. It was ok but really the only reason to do it is the view. Slinky Dog is really boring but y'know...it caters to a young audience.

After conquering the TSP we went back for another spin on Ratatouille. The FP queue is pretty boring but that's ok. We had basically no wait but the single rider line had even less. (TIP: If you're traveling without kids the single rider line is a great option to avoid waits.) I should add that by this time (10:35ish) the standby was at 30 mins.

Now we decided to go check out the wait for Crush. This wasn't our priority because Ratatouille was new for us and Crush wasn't, but we do like it. We passed Buzz and Mickey doing meet 'n' greets on the way but didn't stop. I really regret not stopping though because we never made it back there and DS2 loves characters, esp. Mickey.

When we got to Crush the wait times were 30 mins in standby and 10 in single rider. We were super happy with that and got in the queue. I had thought that DS2 would be too short, but he barely made it. Bonus!

Unfortunately we couldn't get the new WiFi game to work. But that wasn't a big problem because we hardly spent any time in the outdoor queue anyway. The real problem is that while we were in line DS2 announced that he needed a bathroom trip. By this time we were almost in the indoor queue so we told him it would probably be just about 20 minutes longer and not to worry. We tried positive reinforcement by sticking a hat on him and saying "This is a magic hat. As long as you're wearing it you don't need to go to the bathroom anymore." We really didn't want to get out of the queue since he was super happy to be tall enough for the ride.

I'm going to end the first installment there, with a bit of suspense. Hope you all liked reading it!

See ya real soon!

 

[Disneyfanswicklow]

What a great start....looking forward to reading more ;-)

 

[Ms Poppins]

Sounds like a successful day so far We love the studios too and always find lots to do there - I love all the indoor stuff too

I have to say - if I only lived 90 minutes away from DLP I think I'd be there almost every day

 

[Cruzinmaniac]

What a great start....looking forward to reading more ;-)

Thank you very much! I'm working on the 2nd installment now.

Sounds like a successful day so far We love the studios too and always find lots to do there - I love all the indoor stuff too

I have to say - if I only lived 90 minutes away from DLP I think I'd be there almost every day

Haha maybe...though I feel like it's the awkward middle where it's long enough to be tiring but not long enough to justify paying for a hotel. You see, when you go you do the transport once and then can crash in a hotel every night, whereas we have to do the transport every day...idk.

 

[Cruzinmaniac]

So we left off in the queue for Crush...DS2 needed a bathroom trip...dun dun dun...

Everything was fine though in the end. When we were kinda close to the front they asked for a group of 2 so DH and DS2 went up and got on faster. We met up afterwards at the Art of Animation toilets. (TIP: Before getting in a long line, make sure none of your kids need the bathroom!)

We all love this ride, but the capacity and queue problem is really a shame. (TIP: If you're on here you've probably heard, but the only way to ride this ride without long waits is to get there before rope drop and go straight there.) I also think the main part of the ride is a little boring as far as theming after the cool beginning, but oh well. (TIP: If you like roller coasters but don't like spinning, I would still try this; they make it seem like the spinning is a huge part of it but you don't actually spin that much imo. Although it can mean you go down hills backwards or sideways!)

After the ride and our bathroom break we decided to go to the Tower of Terror. DH had gone there earlier to get FPs, only to be told they weren't running them that day. I found that a little annoying but whatever. I did see people getting let in to the FP line though---I think they were using hotel or VIP FPs.

The wait for ToT said 25 mins but it felt longer. I don't really know why. DS2 had been really excited for this ride and was super happy to clear the 102cm required for ToT, BTM, and Star Tours. He talked about it every time we mentioned Disneyland, although he called it the 'Tower of Doom.'

The CM at the gates was very good and in character. I think ToT would be one of the most fun places to work at Disneyland. Anyways, the line moved really slowly. Finally we got into the library. DS2 got very spooked after the film though and was suddenly very apprehensive about the ride. When it came time for us to line up on the little circles outside the elevators he started freaking out. I considered taking him out the chicken exit but I really thought he would like the ride so I encouraged him to do it. Really, the thing he was scared of was getting hit by lightning so we all assured him it was pretend and there was no lightning. He calmed down a little but he was still scared.

After this time another awesome CM arrived and we went into the elevators. DS2 went with DH (he's really a daddy's boy). For the intro part with the lightning he held DH's hand and cuddled with him but when it got to the drops he liked it! Later in the day when he was asked what his favorite ride was he always said ToT. All's well that ends well! At the end of the ride the awesome CM came back and rapidly counted us before doing a dramatic "phew!" when she discovered that we were alive. She was really good!

After this we spent a lot of time in the shop. I bought a pin with Mickey on that says "Disneyland Paris 2014" for my fab 5 pin collection, and DD1 got the Halloween booster set for hers for 18.99 euro. (TIP: When starting a pin collection the cheapest method is to buy a booster set and trade them with CMs for ones you like. On our Summer 2013 cruise DD1 started her Minnie-themed pin collection by buying a 6 piece booster and trading all of them except the Minnie.)

DD1 also got an autograph book and pen to use for the year, and DD2 got an adorable journal with Minnie on that has a removable fabric cover so you can refill it with a new notepad when the first one runs out. They had several other designs like this and they were all 10 euros. The autograph book was 8 and the pen was 3.
DS2 really wanted a Maleficent dragon plush, which was really cool but 26 euros and out of his budget. We proposed several smaller plushes to him but he didn't like them. In the end he bought a keychain with a posable Jack Skellington.

Overall this is a nice big shop with lots of fun merchandise including large sections of plushes and pins as well as a section of exclusive merchandise. In particular I eyed a winter hat with a Minnie bow on and Mickey rain boots for the boys, but decided in the end that it was too expensive for something that would be a little weird to just wear around normally.

After our shopping trip we head up into the backlot. DH, DD2, DS1, and I rode Rock 'n' Roller Coaster while DD1 stayed with DS2. The wait was only 5 mins even though it was probably around 12-12:30.
FPs weren't running there either. (TIP: This ride can probably go last on your morning priorities as it doesn't draw very long lines.) This ride is ok but I feel like it beats you up a bit. After this we went into Meet Spiderman which was listed at 20 mins. There are plenty of outdoor switchbacks but there were so few people there that they weren't being used. Only one row of indoor queue was full. That said Spidey did take a nice amount of time with each person so it wasn't that short. The set in here is really fun: it makes you look like you're in a newspaper that says something like "Spiderman and friends save the world" but I don't remember exactly. It's set up with a Photopass photographer but they let me in front to take pictures.

I wasn't really expecting Spidey to talk but he does. He asked everyone how their day was going and he asked DS2 what his favorite ride was to which he replied ToT. Both DDs got autographs from him too. He does have a cool autograph with a spider and everything.

When it came time for pictures Spiderman had a spiderweb strand thing so he looked all heroic, but the rest of the family just stood there and smiled. The pictures actually look pretty funny but oh well. (TIP: We always forget to strike a cool pose with characters, but it really makes the pictures more fun!)

After this we would have liked to ride Armageddon and see Moteurs...Action as they were two things we've never done, but they were both closed. (TIP: Check out the ride closures list on dlpguide.com before your trip so you know if any attractions will be closed certain days for your planning.) Armageddon I knew about, but I didn't remember seeing Moteurs Action on the list.

I'm going to wrap it up here. The next installment will be the last one. We left early because the kids had school the next day!

 

[Disneyfanswicklow]

Glad he was able to hold it in Sounds like a wonderful day. I love the cms at TOT especially if they really get into their role it really adds to the spooky atmosphere. Looking forward to reading more about your adventures

 

[Cruzinmaniac]

Hey everyone! I figured I should really finish this considering we're going again tomorrow...and I'm so slow compared to Julie who just finished her 5-day trip report and she only got back on Thursday! I'm very impressed, that's all I can say...

So we left off as we were leaving the Spiderman meet 'n' greet. By now we were all getting hungry. I had brought food from home, but we didn't really want to just sit down on a bench or something as they were all wet so we headed into Blockbuster Cafe. We ordered 2 croque monsieurs which were much bigger than I was expecting! We sat in the Pirates section which was fun and they played Pirates music which is my favorite!!

We shared the croque monsieurs and supplemented with our own madeleines and potato chips which we brought. (shhhh! ) If there had been tons of people there I would've felt weird doing it but it was practically empty. The croque monsieurs were really delicious and we took our time to eat slowly while staying out of the rain. (TIP: Eat in the Blockbuster Cafe, sit in the pirates section, and get croque monsieurs! Trust me. )

When we got out it wasn't raining anymore, so we did the Parapluies de Cherbourg umbrella photo op with the rain. We were just looking for rain, I guess...anyways. Then we walked over to the Cinemagique area (the name of this area just left me! ) where the Stars 'n' Cars meet 'n' greet was just finishing up! I was soooo confused...everyone had made a big deal about how this was being removed from the Programme and all, but I guess they just kept it going in secret! If I had known it was going on, we would've totally showed up...plus there was practically no one there, which was probably due to the fact that no one knew about it. I felt really dumb and I was kind of upset, but oh well.

We saw that Stitch Live had a "English show starting now" sign up, so we went over there to be told that the English show had been over for a while and they hadn't realized that the sign still said that. (TIP: The Stitch Live showtimes aren't given in the programme, it just tells you to go to the attraction, which is inconvenient. If you want to know the show times, the best way is to download the DLP app, which will tell you all the show times in all the languages. Plus, it has wait times and the restaurant reservation number! ) So, we left and went to the Tram Tour, which said 20 minutes. Unfortunately, it was a lot longer than 20 minutes, as there was only one tram working of which 4/6 cars weren't even being used. After forever, we finally got on the ride. It was ok, but they were also having technical difficulties with the narration on the screens, and they weren't working half the time. Catastrophe Canyon is always fun though. (TIP: The Tram Tour attracts long lines, but I don't really know what to tell you to avoid them, as they seem to always be long. You might want to ask a CM if the trams are all working though...)

After this we looked around in the Studio 1 main shop, but we didn't see anything we wanted and DD1 couldn't find any pins she wanted to trade for, so we left and went to Stitch Live. We had done Turtle Talk with Crush at DLR before, but never this. I think it's better than Crush personally, just because Stitch is a bit more fun as a character, but that's just me. At DLR, DD2 got picked to ask Crush a question, and she asked him what his favorite fin was. He said no one had ever asked him that before and then proceeded to show off all his fins and talk about how each one was useful in its own way...I don't remember which fin he said was his favorite in the end, but it's a fun memory.

I find the process at Stitch really confusing, so I'm going to explain it here. (TIP: After going through the turnstiles, you go into a little area with a big screen. The purpose of the screen is just to display "# minutes until the show starts" messages. In this area, you want to make your way close to the door, which is on the left side as you face the screen. From there, you go into the building, and you start in the intro video area. Here, you want to get a seat on the long bench at the back, on the right half of the room. This is because when the intro video is over, they will open the doors on both sides of the room, but the doors on the right open into the front of the theater, whereas the doors on the left open into the back of the theater. If you want good spots, go to the right. When they let you in, just find a seat and enjoy the show. The kids sit in the front on the floor.)

This was really fun! DD1 sat with us on the benches, but DD2 and DS2 both got picked to talk! DD2 got picked by Stitch, who asked her if she was married or had a boyfriend after she told him she was 10. I should hope not! DS2 got picked as the best monkey by the CM. He got his picture taken making a silly face, then Stitch said he would keep the picture close to his heart and proceeded to eat it!! It was super funny and we all loved this.

After this we went to Animagique. We had seen Cinemagique in September, so that was the only thing we weren't worried about doing. The rest of the family liked the show, but I fell asleep! I've read about other people who find Animagique sleep inducing as well, but it was still funny. Then we went to Cars, which said 5 minutes but was basically a walk-on. This ride is actually really fun. I was worried I might feel sick on it but it wasn't bad at all. Then we found a bench and ate sandwiches that we had brought from home.

For our very last ride of the day, we went on the carpets. This said there was a 5 minute wait but again, basically a walk-on. The FPs weren't running either. It was fun, but I felt bad for one family who had put their kids in the front row and they weren't making it go up! (TIP: The lever in the front seat moves the carpet up and down, while the "magic scarab" in the back seat tilts it forward and backward.) The ride was a nice, calm way to end the day with some nice views.

Overall, it was an awesome day. It was a good decision, I think, to come on the day we did, as there weren't many people there. Granted, it was raining. We did every attraction that was open except for Cinemagique, which we could've done if we'd stayed for the last 2 hours; plus we ate lunch, did some shopping, and met Spiderman! I can't wait to go back again tomorrow and see the main park all decorated for Halloween!

Thanks for following along everyone!
Sariah x

 

[DLPdaft]

great stuff Sariah, I always park-hop every day at DLP so its really interesting that you made a whole day out of one park .

 

[Disneyfanswicklow]

Brilliant ...you fitted so much in! Thanks for all the tips too

As a grownup I didn't ever bother with the stitch show until our last trip and both dd and I really liked it

Thanks for sharing

 

[Ms Poppins]

Hey everyone! I figured I should really finish this considering we're going again tomorrow...and I'm so slow compared to Julie who just finished her 5-day trip report and she only got back on Thursday! I'm very impressed, that's all I can say...

I'm a maniac when it comes to trip reports. I like it done, photos uploaded etc in case I either lose my notes or there is a technical catastrophe that loses all my photos

Your day sounds fab We like doing a full day in one park too - you get so much more done that way. I find the tram tour not very good these days, long waits and it's not a patch on the original version.

Hope you have a great day tomorrow - I'm not jealous at all

 

[Anemone]

Lovely TR - look forward to reading about tomorrow too.

Not at all jealous about you living 90 mins from DLRP.

 

[Cruzinmaniac]

Just got back! So sad...:'(

great stuff Sariah, I always park-hop every day at DLP so its really interesting that you made a whole day out of one park .

Thanks! I feel staying in one park fits our touring style better; with so many kids and a stroller and all we take a long time to do anything!

Brilliant ...you fitted so much in! Thanks for all the tips too

As a grownup I didn't ever bother with the stitch show until our last trip and both dd and I really liked it

Thanks for sharing

Thanks and you're welcome!

I'm glad you liked the show! It is pretty cool, and funny with the interactions! When DS2 told Stitch his name, he said "That's a funny name for a girl!"

I'm a maniac when it comes to trip reports. I like it done, photos uploaded etc in case I either lose my notes or there is a technical catastrophe that loses all my photos

Your day sounds fab We like doing a full day in one park too - you get so much more done that way. I find the tram tour not very good these days, long waits and it's not a patch on the original version.

Hope you have a great day tomorrow - I'm not jealous at all

Haha I will never be that dedicated!! But good job anyway

I agree with everything you said there

Lovely TR - look forward to reading about tomorrow too.

Not at all jealous about you living 90 mins from DLRP.

Thanks for following along!

One thing that's important to note is that it's 90 minutes if you make your connections. Today, the ticket doors at the metro station closed on DS1's head and then we missed our connection, which added about 20 minutes. Oh well...