🇫🇷 Mousematt goes to Paris: live trip report

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I am two weeks away from my trip to Paris and I’m having all kinds of second thoughts. So I’d appreciate commentary and suggestions.

The current plan is this:

Friday
Train to London, go to see play at the National Theatre that got cancelled five minutes after it started the last time I went.

Saturday
My flight to Paris leaves Heathrow at 5.35pm, which means I have a decent chunk of time to do something in London, ideally near to King’s Cross or Paddington. But what? No ideas yet. On arrival in Paris, I’m staying overnight at the airport.

Sunday
Train (TGV) to DLP in time for character breakfast. Have also booked Chez Remy. Am assuming all day in the two parks.

Monday
Have booked PYM Kitchen at 11.30am and Downtown Restaurant at the Marvel Hotel at 7.30pm. Have wondered about doing a short trip to Paris to go to the Louvre. It is closed on Tuesdays.

Tuesday
Check out of hotel. I have lunch at Walt’s at 11.30am. My flight leaves CDG at 7pm. I have park tickets, but have also wondered about going in to Paris to see the Musee d’Orsay on my way to the airport. Staying overnight at Heathrow.

Wednesday
Warner Bros Studio Tour (Harry Potter thing) and then train back home.

My questions to you:

1. Any ideas as to what I can do on Saturday in London until about 2.30pm. One thing on my mind is my luggage and what I do with it while I’m doing whatever I’m doing in London. This may depend on what luggage I end up taking. Options are: my new big cabin-sized backpack, or a standard cabin-sized hard-shell wheelie suitcase and my gay backpack (followers of my other thread will know what I’m talking about).

2. I thought I’d been clever in making the ADRs that I have made. But now I’m having second thoughts. For example, I just watched a YouTube video about Walt’s and it seems pretty underwhelming. Now that I have had a successful intervention with myself about money, I’m not sure I want to spend €55 on what they’re offering. Anyone been recently? And what about my other choices (Plaza character breakfast, Remy, PYM, Downtown)? I feel more solid about these because they’re about more than just food: there’s some element of experience involved.

3. How much DLP time do I allocate, and how much actual Paris time? Doing a day-trip from DLP to Paris and back is possible (I’ve done it) but it’s a bit of a faff. If I ditch Walt’s on Tuesday, I could maybe take advantage of EMH and then just leave and maximise Paris time on my way to the airport. Or, even, ditch DLP altogether and head straight to Paris as soon as I check out. (I’m thinking about luggage again — if I go to a park then what do I do with my luggage. I know there’s the Express Service, but will my bags make it to the station as early as I might want them to be there?)

4. What’s my Premier Access strategy? One idea I had was to buy the PA Ultimate for my first day so that I’d be sure of hitting everything. Then subsequent days would be less pressured and it would be easier to ditch the parks and head into Paris. But then I’m supposed to be being smart with money and it’s €140. Or, I could by PA One tickets for my highest priority rides, which would end up being cheaper, but offers much less flexibility. I will have EMH on Monday and Tuesday (if I use it).

Points to note: I went to DLP in August 2020. I had a great time and got a lot done: the parks weren’t very busy. But also, Avengers Campus wasn’t a thing back then, and they weren’t doing fireworks or parades.

My current thinking, having just written all this is:

The simplest solution seems to be having two full park days — Sunday and Monday — and getting as much done as possible, but relaxing and taking my time with it all. I won’t be in a hurry to return to DLP any time soon, so I should make the most of it. Rushing to spend an afternoon in the Louvre seems like it’s going to be frustrating and stressful: I’m just going to have to come back to Paris for that one. Damn the French and their days off.

Leaving DLP directly for Paris on the Tuesday (and ditching Walt’s) also seems the simplest and least stressful. I’ll get some decent time in Paris for the d’Orsay and maybe some other thing. If I’m gasping to do something in the parks first, I guess I could.

As for Priority Access, I guess I could see how the first day goes. My current instinct is to use PA One as necessary. I just really hate waiting in line. It really drags when you’re on your own.

[Shmebulock]

@sanstitre_has_left_the_building

Any ideas as to what I can do on Saturday in London until about 2.30pm

How do you feel about HG Wells/Jeff Wayne?

Jeff Wayne's The War of The Worlds: The Immersive Experience

I’m going to this in September. Very much looking forward to it!!

They have storage lockers for your luggage.

@sanstitre_has_left_the_building

Warner Bros Studio Tour

I was just there last Saturday. It was brilliant!!!
Unfortunately they only have cold butterbeer.

[sanstitre_has_left_the_building]

@Shmebulock

How do you feel about HG Wells/Jeff Wayne?

Interesting suggestion.

Clicks link

Investigates

£130 per ticket? (They only have VIP tickets left.) Are you insane?

@Shmebulock

Unfortunately they only have cold butterbeer.

Lame

[jcgoblue]

For Saturday, I would stash my luggage right at Paddington on Platform 12, walk from Paddington to Kensington Gardens and find the Peter Pan statue. Then I would continue my walk through the park to the V&A (there is also cheaper luggage storage here). I would tour that until I got hungry, then find a nice cafe nearby. After lunch I’d head back to Paddington, buy some snacks for the plane, then head to Heathrow. I don’t know if that’s your cup of tea, but it sounds like a great day to me.

We did the studio tour when we were there last year, and it was amazing. We spend a lot more time there than we thought we would. The scale model of Hogwarts is fascinating.

[sanstitre_has_left_the_building]

@jcgoblue

I would stash my luggage right at Paddington on Platform 12, walk from Paddington to Kensington Gardens and find the Peter Pan statue. Then I would continue my walk through the park to the V&A (there is also cheaper luggage storage here). I would tour that until I got hungry, then find a nice cafe nearby. After lunch I’d head back to Paddington, buy some snacks for the plane, then head to Heathrow. I don’t know if that’s your cup of tea, but it sounds like a great day to me.

That is fricken genius. I just looked at the map. It’s perfect. Lovely walk across the park, and Circle Line train direct for the return, if necessary.

[Shmebulock]

@sanstitre_has_left_the_building

They only have VIP tickets left

Oh that’s a shame.
What does it include though? It might be worth it.
I bought a regular ticket with a meal/cocktail/photo/merch add on package. It came to just under £100.

[jcgoblue]

@sanstitre_has_left_the_building

That is fricken genius.

Admins, I would like a badge please.

[sanstitre_has_left_the_building]

I’ve now changed my hotel in London to one that is virtually next door to the V&A. It’s a simple journey from King’s Cross to the hotel when I arrive, from the hotel to the National Theatre that night, and from the hotel to Paddington after I’ve done the V&A. It only cost £10 more than the hotel I’d originally booked, but looks much nicer, is much more convenient and deals with my luggage worries. Yay.

[sanstitre_has_left_the_building]

[cbalusek]

@sanstitre_has_left_the_building

Remy, PYM, Downtown

We ate at Cinderella’s, Remy, and Pym and were so disappointed in all of them that we cancelled our Walt’s reservation. Of the three, Remy’s was the best. We ended up doing two courses instead of three because the desserts didn’t sound that great.

I would pass on Pym’s for sure.

If you want to meet characters, I would keep character breakfast since characters have the longest wait times.

[sanstitre_has_left_the_building]

Oh.

[Sunshiney_Disney_Momma]

We did a single day trip visit to DLP/ Studios while in Paris and did everything we did everything we wanted to do. We did end up canceling our table service meal because we didn’t want to use our park time to eat longer meals.

[amsterdad]

@cbalusek

I would pass on Pym’s for sure.

I second this. We tried Pyms last month and I was so underwhelmed by the theming. Mostly blank white walls with oversized antman artwork. Felt like a sad cruise terminal. Food was also meh, but we’re vegetarians - perhaps the meat was ok.

Last month we really enjoyed was Cafe Agrabah in Adventureland. Wonderful theming inside (was recently renovated), calm and with a decent middle eastern buffet.

Haven’t tried Walt’s yet. It’s on my wishlist for our next DLP trip. Enjoyed the theming of Remy’s greatly in 2021, but food was also meh (again, vegetarians ).

[Wahoohokie]

We went in March and Walt’s was fabulous. Everything about it for us was great, I wouldn’t skip that one. We also ate at Remy’s which was good (and the decor was fun), but Walt’s was the better overall experience.

[erinkippen]

I agree with others that you have too many table service restaurants if you want to have so many other experiences. I’m sure that the theming is cool and they’re experiences but they’re expensive experiences, and even if the food is decent from what I’ve heard (no direct experience) none of the food at DLP is amazing.

I would, like you’ve said, do Sunday/Monday at the parks and then Tuesday in Paris. I’d pick one table service each day at most - that gives you more time to do all the rides, etc. and also just wander and people watch and experience the parks. OR you could do Monday/Tuesday in the parks, then you could get to the Louvre on Sunday on arrival and head to DLP later in the day.

With the money you save from cancelling some dining you could do the PA Ultimate if you were so inclined.

[Mike_vndt]

it looks like you might have your London day planned but just throwing this out there: I recently went to the Science Museum (right next to V&A) and it was awesome. I was particularly geeking out about the space exhibition with the real space capsules and all the transportation stuff (actual historical planes etc).

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@erinkippen

OR you could do Monday/Tuesday in the parks, then you could get to the Louvre on Sunday on arrival and head to DLP later in the day.

Ugh. This is annoyingly sensible. But it would cost me my character breakfast. (Am I really forgoing a visit to one of the world’s greatest museums in order to hug teenage girls dressed in animal costumes?)

@erinkippen

With the money you save from cancelling some dining you could do the PA Ultimate if you were so inclined.

Also, annoyingly sensible.

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@Mike_vndt

Science Museum

Looking at the map, I now have many great options for Saturday morning. My hotel is ideally placed.

[sanstitre_has_left_the_building]

@cbalusek

We ate at Cinderella’s, Remy, and Pym and were so disappointed in all of them that we cancelled our Walt’s reservation.

@amsterdad

We tried Pyms last month and I was so underwhelmed by the theming.

@Wahoohokie

We went in March and Walt’s was fabulous. Everything about it for us was great, I wouldn’t skip that one. We also ate at Remy’s which was good (and the decor was fun), but Walt’s was the better overall experience.

@JuliaMc went to Walt’s last year and recommends it.

Instinctively my sense is that I should try these places myself because there’s no unanimity of view and different people value different things.

But then @erinkippen has given me a way to go to the Louvre and get the PA Ultimate. I may “need” the latter if I’m only giving myself one full day in the parks (plus one evening and one morning). I do want to make sure I see the shows: there is unanimity of view about those.

[sanstitre_has_left_the_building]

Ugh. I’m trying to make the Louvre plan work, but it’s tricky. Or I’m over-complicating it.

The cheapest way is to stick with the hotel that I’ve got, which is at CDG. Travel into Paris on Sunday morning. Earliest bookable slot is currently 11am. Hope there is a locker available for my luggage (they do have them).

The simplest way is to book a hotel near to the Louvre, travelling into Paris on Saturday night and leaving my luggage there on Sunday. I’ve even found a perfect hotel. But it’s £180, which is cheap for central Paris in July. And the CDG one is not cancellable.

Going to the Louvre costs me a big chunk of a day at DLP that I have technically paid for. And my character breakfast. Which may or may not be cancellable.

I’m genuinely torn. I really do want to go to the Louvre (in July? on a Sunday? are you mad?) but I also feel like I should make the most of my time at DLP and take a separate trip to Paris.