Annual Pass Review
It was after finding myself at Disneyland Paris for the third time this year that I decided an annual pass was probably in order
. Initially, being from the U.S., I hadn't really believed that Disney was possible as a day trip. However, after having gone 3 or 4 times now, I must admit that it is not only possible, it is enjoyable...for the most part. After that piece of culture shock sunk in, I had to decide which of the three types of passes to buy: the Francilien, the Fantasy or the Dream Passport. ( A note to those not living in France: you do NOT have to live in France to buy one of these annual passes, and sometimes it makes economic sense to do so.)
The Francilien is the cheapest of the lot and fairly bare boned. It has roughly 65 Blackout Days throughout the year. There is a 10% discount on restaurants but be aware that this is sit down restaurants only. It does not apply to food that you buy at the stands in the park. It also does NOT apply to all restaurants in Disney Village, so do your homework. In addition there is a 25% discount on Halloween "and other special party night tickets"
. Parking is not included although you can add it. Adequate but too many buried clauses for someone like me.
The Fantasy is the mid cost option. It has 30 blackout days per year and includes the same restaurant and party discounts as the Francilien. It also includes parking, a 10% discount on boutiques at Disney. There is a 25% discount on Disneyland Hotels as well, and this can save you quite a bit of money. In addition there is a 20% family discount, a 10% discount on 1 Day park tickets for friends and a 15% discount on the Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show...whatever that is. I am not a big fan of the cowboy genre so I doubt anyone will be able to rope me into going to a Buffalo Bill show. Eeewww, I can't believe I just made that awful pun. (Or is it a pun actually?!?) Anyway, getting the train of thought back on track, to make this work economically, I figured that I would need to go to Disneyland at least 3 times a year on a standard 2 park ticket price
. No problem. However, the cost of this was not THAT much less than the Dream, so read on.
The Dream Pass is the top of the line. It gives you all the advantages of the previous passes except you get 50% off parties, 20% off on boutiques, 35% off on hotels, and 20% off one day park tickets for friends. You also get some extra advantages including, but not limited to, invitations to special events, free aperitif at table service restaurants (yawn), free use of a stroller and luggage storage AND, and this is what got me, extra magic hours access. This means that on many days, one can get in 2 hours before the park opens so you can "ride some of your favorite rides before the lines get too long". So this is the pass that I chose. I figured that I would have to go to the park at least 4 times a year on a standard 2 park ticket price. As we had already gone 3 times, this seemed like a no brainer. I was also really intrigued by the "extra magic hours' . I sort of "discounted" almost everything else, including the discounts
. This proved to be a bit backward, as the extra magic hours have some drawbacks that make it less appealing while some of the discounts really do add up.
The Low Down on Extra Magic Hours: There are many ways to hide clauses in something like this, so I feared that the number of days they were available would be severely limited. While they are not every day, they are a lot of days, so that is not an issue. What is an issue is that 1) it only applies to the Disneyland side and not the Walt Disney Studios side and 2) very few of the rides are actually open even on the Disneyland side. They sidestep this with the wording "some of your favorite rides" which makes a person think "my favorite rides" and not "favorite rides at the park". In truth, the only rides that are open during the "magic hours" are Peter Pan's Flight, Le Carousel de Lancelot and The Mad Hatters Teacups in Fantasyland, and Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast in Discoveryland....that's it. Frontierland and Adventureland are not even open. Also, unless you get there right at the beginning of the 2 hours, you are likely to wait in a 20 minute line for Peter Pan, as there are no fast passes during the magic hours and you will be there with other Dream passport holders as well as all the Disneyland Hotel group guests
. While I would not discount going early because of these things, it does take some of the luster off the prospect. It IS nice to be able to walk around without constantly being jostled by someone. (As an American, my threshold of patience for that is somewhat lower than a European, even given my travels).
The Other Perks: There were a couple of perks that did surprise me though. First, since we had decided to stay at a Disneyland resort for Seb's birthday, I called to see if we could get the discount now that we had the passes. As it turned out, because it was also a special event type of thing, we got almost 50% off of our hotel stay. This pretty much paid for one pass in and of itself. The other perk that I had COMPLETELY discounted was the "invitation to special events" part. I had assumed that this would be the usual "you can go and wait in a line with a small chance of getting some cheap ice cream somewhere" kind of a thing. In short, the sort of stuff that takes more time and trouble than it is worth
. Surprise, surprise, this has actually turned out not to be the case. The very first of these turned out to be an invitation to the Premier of the Toy Story Playland part of the park. Which takes me to part two of this installment.
Toy Story Playland Premier
Disneyland Paris has been advertising the bejesus out of this for months. They changed their website to reflect all the Toy Story characters. At the entrance to the park, there is a big sign that says "Nouveau Generation". They have included the Toy Story and Monsters Inc. characters into several of the outside stage productions. There have been signs up everywhere telling people that the New Toy Story Playland will open on August 17th. So, I was really surprised and happy to get an invitation to attend a "premier" of this park that was only for the Dream Passport holders. I had to log on to choose a time on August 14th or 15th that me, and a select 2 of my family / friends, would like to attend
. I must admit that, as tacky as it is, I DO like this sort of thing...not so much for the VIP-ness of it but for the exclusivity of it. Once again, the need for breathing room rears its' ugly head. So I signed us up and off we went on Saturday to our invitation for 10:30 am to 2 pm.
The Good, The Bad and the Underwhelming
So, if you are like me, you like to have your expectations set. I am one of those people who likes to know a general outline of a movie before I go to it. ( I am seeing the same in Lucas, as he always wants me to tell him "the scary bits" of a movie before we watch it, so he can be prepared.) To this point, I think the Disneyland Paris folks set expectations a bit too high for this area. In truth, the Toy Story Playland turned out to have only 3 attractions. As they advertised this like it would be another Fantasyland (14 attractions) or Discoveryland (11 attractions), this seemed a bit meager and underwhelming
. Also, the space itself was quite small, which was fine while we were there with limited people but which I expect will be highly annoying when hit with the full tourist influx. However, all this aside and given the small scale, this new addition is actually quite charming. The three 3 rides seem to span the age range nicely. the "Slinky Dog Zigzag Spin" (clearly for the under 3 set) , "Toy Soldier Parachute Drop" (3 and up) and "RC Racer" (5 and up).
The "Slinky Dog ZigZag Spin" was designed for kids who are at least 18 months, and was great for Seba, who is 21 months. This ride is one of those circular rollercoaster type rides. For those familiar with fairs in the US, it would be like a very mild version of the Himalaya. For those familiar with Parc Asterix, think of it as a wilder version of the Drakkar boats. No matter how you describe it, I can pretty much promise that the under 3 crowd will love this. I appreciate that they have added a ride for this age group as it can be very frustrating for the younger ones to see their older siblings go on rides from which they are prohibited
. What was really great was that, given that this was a premier, we only had to wait about 5 minutes in line so we could ride multiple times in a row. And we did! Seb loved this ride so much that each time it was over he kept running back to the entrance. By the time he had gone on it the third time, he was letting out ear piercing shrieks of joy the moment the ride started. Really, it was ear piercing. Other people thought it was really cute. I, on the other hand, am now deaf in one ear. Despite that, it was great to see him so happy. His excitement brought chuckles from not only the cast members but also other riders. A note: they do insist that your little one sit on the inside, as the centrifugal force will push them outward and better they be pushed into you than you into them.
The "Toy Soldiers' Parachute Drop" has a height restriction on it, but it is only 81cm. So, theoretically Seb could have gone on it, but don't let that fool you. This ride is NOT for the under 2 set. It is probably not for the under 3 crowd. Basically, the ride lifts you up in the air and then drops you. When you watch it, it looks like the drop is fairly slow, but when you are on it, you get the full "stomach to the throat" effect. Lucas, our 4 year old, LOVED it. The seating is in groups of 3 and Lucas and I sat next to a French woman in her 50's. I swear she screamed louder than Lucas, which made him love it even more. But I would never have taken Seb on this ride. It is way too intense for the younger crowd.
We did not get a chance to go on the RC Racer ride as there was a height restriction of 1.20 meters. Lucas really wanted to go, and quite frankly, I think he is emotionally mature enough for it, but I understand physiological basis of the height restrictions. My guess is that he will be tall enough in 6 months, so I had to put him off. All things said, he was quite good about it.
In addition to the rides, the layout and decor of the playland is really nice and friendly feeling. They have a toy car for kids to climb on and a giant replica of "Rex" the dinosaur....who whines appropriately. They also haven't lost the opportunity for merchandising, so you will have to contend with the attractive nuisance of the toys and shirts and other plastic crap positioned nicely as you are exiting. But if you go to Disneyland, I am sure you have developed your own strategy for this. Mine is "if we are going to buy anything, it means we are leaving the park at that exact moment". It works pretty well for the most part.
So, while I think they made a bit of a "mountain out of a molehill", I was pleasantly surprised on several counts. First, the annual pass got me an invitation so something actually worthwhile. Second, there was yet another ride for Seb. Third, the charming factor was greater than I expected.
I will have to see if the charm is worth the claustrophobia once the crowds set in.
Disney Passes Explained / Toy Story Playland Opens
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Paris, Ile-de-France, France
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Comments

2025-02-15
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gemma sanchez
2010-09-15
im very interested in a pass, what disney hotel can you get discount in? i would love to go for christmas
selenapan9
2010-09-16
You are discounted at pretty much all of them. We have stayed at the Newport Bay Club, and are planning to so the same in October. With the pass, it is supposed to cut the price by 35% but somehow, with additional random discounts, it ended up being more like 45%. I think it was because it was a special event time (eg. Halloween). You should check out the following link http://www.dlrpmagic.com/planning/booking/annual-passports. It is in English and does a good job explaining the "annual passports". Are you coming with kids in tow? If so, how old are they?