Euro Trip 2014

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Spending 2 weeks in London at the end of October. The friend I'm staying with has said he's keen to go to Disneyland Paris, and I'm keen to get up to Alton Towers while I'm there.

Has anyone been to Disneyland Paris and can tell me if it's worthwhile staying overnight and doing both parks? Also, any tips on getting to Alton Towers with public transport?

Off-topic - any tourist attractions that are must sees for a first time visitor to London?

[lolman123]

my friend has just been to Alton Towers and she said it was great. She particularly liked Smiler and Congo river rapids.

[Gazza]

For Alton you get a train to Stoke on Trent, then a bus to the park.

Another option is taking a 2nd train from Stoke on Trent to Uttoxeter then a bus from there to the park.

[JacobSibbald]

Disneyland Paris can be done in a day - if you go on a weekday. Didn't find it as lively as Disneyland CA though.

If you're into Harry Potter, the studio tour is a MUST see.

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Jabob - Disneyland Paris' website shows Disneyland Park, and Walt Disney Studios Park. Did you get through both in one day?

Gazza - Thanks for that info

lolman - Good to know

Edited August 28, 2014 by ads086

[troll under the coaster]

Alton towers can be done in one day.

Both Disney parks can be done in one day if you do it on a weekday and use the 'extra hours by staying at a Disney hotel. you will be able to do every ride in both parks.

BUT.. if you want to see the parades and shows etc, two days is a must. one day to soak in the Disneyness of everything and 1 day to ride ride ride.

I would recommend two days for Disney.

the first time i went we had three days and spent nearly a whole day on tower of terror....

other attractions... the London dungeon...

Legoland at windsor.

[Gazza]

Would probably go to Thorpe Park in preference to Legoland though.

[JacobSibbald]

Yes both parks. If you've been to the other Disney parks, don't expect there to be a whole lot of roaming characters or overly nice cast members. I only saw one character and plenty of rude staff members on my visit.

[Cindy]

Disneyland you can do in 1 day if you go on weekdays.

But is the exactly the same a onther disneyparcs.

Studio's is nice to go but every day very bussy and not a lot attractions.

If you want to sleep by disney, take a partner hotel and not a disneyhotel. The partnerhotels are the same, only you take in the morning a (free) shuttel buss to the parc. Think about Dream castle or Explore hotel... Book this not on the website but on hotels combineted dot com. there you find the best price.

Also you can go to Astrixparc. Nearly by Disney

But if you are in London and you go drive to Disney, maby you can better drive to Europapark or Phantasialand in Germany.

[ads086]

Thanks for the tips guys

It looks like at this stage we'll be visiting Thorpe Park on my second day on the ground over there, which is a Tuesday. Come Sunday we take the train to Disneyland Paris, staying for 2 nights at the Sequoia Lodge, heading back to London on Tuesday, another few days then I fly home on Sunday morning.

[KingdaKa]

Spending 2 weeks in London at the end of October. The friend I'm staying with has said he's keen to go to Disneyland Paris, and I'm keen to get up to Alton Towers while I'm there.

Has anyone been to Disneyland Paris and can tell me if it's worthwhile staying overnight and doing both parks? Also, any tips on getting to Alton Towers with public transport?

Off-topic - any tourist attractions that are must sees for a first time visitor to London?

Disneyland Paris is great in Winter. Almost empty and most of the rides run. Space Mountain Mission II really is amazing. Indiana Jones is also nice. The rides are ridiculously well themed even though some aren't that thrilling. It's also worth going to the other park.

Would probably go to Thorpe Park in preference to Legoland though.

Yes. Haven't been but looks great and a convenient location.

Both Europa Park and Phantasialand are AMAZING!! German efficiency really does exist... Black Mamba had so many people (6 on the rollercoaster, 4 to 5 just on securing harnesses) working on it and they also have really smart ways to make people organise themselves. Like turnstiles to calculate how many people and the queue time, getting people to have all there things ready to put in lockers before they get to the ride. They were working so quickly at one stage that they got 2 32 seat trains on the circuit at the same time (and the circuits only like 1.5 mins) even though they had done 3 harness safety checks. The queue is never longer than 30 Mins And the rides are epic.

[AUSTHEMEPARKS]

Disneyland Paris is great in Winter. Almost empty and most of the rides run. Space Mountain Mission II really is amazing. Indiana Jones is also nice. The rides are ridiculously well themed even though some aren't that thrilling. It's also worth going to the other park.

Yes. Haven't been but looks great and a convenient location.

Both Europa Park and Phantasialand are AMAZING!! German efficiency really does exist... Black Mamba had so many people (6 on the rollercoaster, 4 to 5 just on securing harnesses) working on it and they also have really smart ways to make people organise themselves. Like turnstiles to calculate how many people and the queue time, getting people to have all there things ready to put in lockers before they get to the ride. They were working so quickly at one stage that they got 2 32 seat trains on the circuit at the same time (and the circuits only like 1.5 mins) even though they had done 3 harness safety checks. The queue is never longer than 30 Mins And the rides are epic.

Phantasialand has great theming. Especially on the top spin ride.

[KingdaKa]

Phantasialand has great theming. Especially on the top spin ride.

Definitely. Talocan is the best Top Spin in the world. Phantasialand excellently turned it from a fair ride into something amazing.

The best thing about Phantasialand isn't just the rides and the amazing theming on Talocan and Black Mamba, it's the all around theming and essence. Every attraction has good theming and makes you feel like you are in a different setting. Colorado Express, WInjas, Mystery Castle... They are all really excellent.

[AUSTHEMEPARKS]

Definitely. Talocan is the best Top Spin in the world. Phantasialand excellently turned it from a fair ride into something amazing.

The best thing about Phantasialand isn't just the rides and the amazing theming on Talocan and Black Mamba, it's the all around theming and essence. Every attraction has good theming and makes you feel like you are in a different setting. Colorado Express, WInjas, Mystery Castle... They are all really excellent.

They just turned a lot a decent rides to amazing rides with the theming. They can go toe to toe with universal if they had more dark rides.

[KingdaKa]

They just turned a lot a decent rides to amazing rides with the theming. They can go toe to toe with universal if they had more dark rides.

IMO their theming is better. They were (IMO) ingenious to make Black Mamba 75% underground. It really is fabulous because you can follow the track and also the lift hill is a lot less high (only about 25 metres because the ride goes 15 metres underground). Also, the ride actually depicts a snake, with a lot more fast turns and helixes along with more Corkscrews and rolls than most B&Ms. IMO one of the best B&Ms in Europe, if not the best one.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Curious KingdaKa - (this isn't an attack...)

You do freely admit you are a bit younger.. yet you seem to have a lot of knowledge of a diverse range of parks across the world.

I'm wondering - what parks have you been to?

[AUSTHEMEPARKS]

IMO their theming is better. They were (IMO) ingenious to make Black Mamba 75% underground. It really is fabulous because you can follow the track and also the lift hill is a lot less high (only about 25 metres because the ride goes 15 metres underground). Also, the ride actually depicts a snake, with a lot more fast turns and helixes along with more Corkscrews and rolls than most B&Ms. IMO one of the best B&Ms in Europe, if not the best one.

IMO. How does Black Mamba compare to Katun?

[KingdaKa]

Curious KingdaKa - (this isn't an attack...)

You do freely admit you are a bit younger.. yet you seem to have a lot of knowledge of a diverse range of parks across the world.

I'm wondering - what parks have you been to?

I have been to them. I am part Estonian, Ukrainian and Dutch so we visit Europe all the time. Therefore, whenever we go I like to visit Theme Parks That is why I haven't been to Australian Theme Parks as often, because most of our trips are international. I have only been to SFMM in America. In Europe though I've been to Europa Park, Phantasialand, EuroDisney, Tivoli, Gardaland + quite a few other small ones, especially in the Netherlands.

[AUSTHEMEPARKS]

I have been to them. I am part Estonian, Ukrainian and Dutch so we visit Europe all the time. Therefore, whenever we go I like to visit Theme Parks That is why I haven't been to Australian Theme Parks as often, because most of our trips are international. I have only been to SFMM in America. In Europe though I've been to Europa Park, Phantasialand, EuroDisney, Tivoli, Gardaland + quite a few other small ones, especially in the Netherlands.

Have you visited Drviliet or any Plopsa park?

Lol I haven't been to any park outside of Australia. It's quite sad lol. BTW I'm European too, Part Croatian, part italian and park swiss.

Estonia has one of the most beautiful museums I've ever been to lol.

Edited October 3, 2014 by AUSTHEMEPARKS

[KingdaKa]

Tallinn is beautiful, it is like a museum itself I speak Estonian so it is my favourite country. Which museum was it? The art one?

As for Drievliet, I have been Not Plopsa though.

I love Croatia!! My family went to Bol, Split, Dubrovnik and Osijek and we loved them all. Slovenia is also nice

And I have been to Mirabilandia as well sorry, and I have been on Katun. Much more intense than Black Mamba but IMO not as good a ride.

I would have been to more parks because me and my sister love them and my parents like to travel to countries like Germany, France, USA, Spain etc. where there are a lot of parks. Unfortunately, they don't like parks so we can only ever really go to 1 or max 2 a trip, unless they are local Dutch parks which my parents let me and my sister go to on our own.

[AUSTHEMEPARKS]

Tallinn is beautiful, it is like a museum itself I speak Estonian so it is my favourite country. Which museum was it? The art one?

As for Drievliet, I have been Not Plopsa though.

I love Croatia!! My family went to Bol, Split, Dubrovnik and Osijek and we loved them all. Slovenia is also nice

And I have been to Mirabilandia as well sorry, and I have been on Katun. Much more intense than Black Mamba but IMO not as good a ride.

I would have been to more parks because me and my sister love them and my parents like to travel to countries like Germany, France, USA, Spain etc. where there are a lot of parks. Unfortunately, they don't like parks so we can only ever really go to 1 or max 2 a trip, unless they are local Dutch parks which my parents let me and my sister go to on our own.

Yes it's the art one. I've been to Latvia too. Great place. Next year I'm going to Italy. Maybe I'll try to visit their newest theme park Cinecitta World with the 10 inversion coaster Altair. Croatia have finally got their first water park and they are getting another water park next year. Both are in the istria county. They look so nice. Also how is the maurer sohne x car coaster at Drivliet? I heard it was one of the better x car coasters.

Edited October 4, 2014 by AUSTHEMEPARKS

[KingdaKa]

Yes it's the art one. I've been to Latvia too. Great place. Next year I'm going to Italy. Maybe I'll try to visit their newest theme park Cinecitta World with the 10 inversion coaster Altair. Croatia have finally got their first water park and they are getting another water park next year. Both are in the istria county. They look so nice. Also how is the maurer sohne x car coaster at Drivliet? I heard it was one of the better x car coasters.

Personally I love it. Super comfortable, really unique elements. Plus the launch is a nice speed. Quite zippy. The queues are also always quite short. Breaks down a lot though

Latvia is nice, but not as nice as Estonia

I thought Croatia would have a few water parks given the climate.

I really recomment Gardaland. It is open during the week most of the year and is super quiet but still well staffed on poor weather and off peak days. Rode Raptor 17 times in like 4 hours

[AUSTHEMEPARKS]

Personally I love it. Super comfortable, really unique elements. Plus the launch is a nice speed. Quite zippy. The queues are also always quite short. Breaks down a lot though

Latvia is nice, but not as nice as Estonia

I thought Croatia would have a few water parks given the climate.

I really recomment Gardaland. It is open during the week most of the year and is super quiet but still well staffed on poor weather and off peak days. Rode Raptor 17 times in like 4 hours

Personally I might visit Mirabilandia. I really wanna ride Divertical!!! Katun looks amazing too. Gardaland looks really good too. Like they have one of the weirdest coasters ever, Sequoia Adventure.

[KingdaKa]

Personally I might visit Mirabilandia. I really wanna ride Divertical!!! Katun looks amazing too. Gardaland looks really good too. Like they have one of the weirdest coasters ever, Sequoia Adventure.

NEVER RIDE THAT. YOU WILL DIE.

[AUSTHEMEPARKS]

NEVER RIDE THAT. YOU WILL DIE.

Sequoia Adventure looks horrible and painful....