Ok, so here's that DLP update I promised, starting from Tuesday morning when I exchanged my voucher for a ticket at DLP. The weather was cold, rainy, and ominous - apparently that's typical for July (the weather is the same today).
I made it to the park before it opened at 10, and after 'rope drop' I headed straight to Space Mountain. The line was short enough that I was able to walk on twice (and even a third time in the evening). It's a good ride! Think SM's theme with less intense elements of RnRC, such as inversions, a launch, and on-board audio (although I prefer
Disneyland's in Anaheim for its specific soundtrack and the extremely smooth ride experience).
Then I headed over to Walt Disney Studios to see if Ratatouille was doing a soft opening. It wasn't yet, so I decided to try RC Racer in Toy Story Playland.
While this ride is short and nothing special, it was still fun to try since there wasn't a wait.
Meanwhile, the single rider wait time for Crush's Coaster had decreased from 80 to 60 minutes, so I got in line. (This picture is from my visit one week ago, as the sky was bad for photos throughout the day.)
After 25 minutes (when I was 4 people away from riding), Crush went down. Apparently this happens all the time, but at least I was able to get a picture of the loading area with the lights on! 50 minutes later, the ride started loading again.
Was it worth it? Kind of. I wouldn't queue for it again, but the ride was an interesting fusion of The Seas with Nemo & Friends, Primeval Whirl, and MK's Space Mountain. If not for the constant breakdowns, I could see this in
Pixar Place at DHS (although I think DHS needs a more family-friendly ride to reduce the burden on TSMM).
Ratatouille still wasn't open, so I went to see CinéMagique, a unique show at WDS.
CinéMagique is the park's tribute to the movies, like the Great Movie Ride but a show and without audio-animatronics. I already knew the premise of it from researching the park, but it still impressed me. In fact, it's something that could work at DHS (although it'll never happen, due to the film rights that would need to be obtained).
Soon after that, Ratatouille soft opened, and the single rider wait was only 5 minutes! This ride is cute, fun, and family-friendly - it uses a trackless ride vehicle and 3D screens to move you around while Remy is chased from one screen to another. I don't want to spoil the ride, but personally I found it to be too screen-reliant (this is one of the reasons I'm not a huge fan of TSMM either). That said, I think the ride is a step up for this park, mainly because WDS doesn't have much else that's decent and family-friendly.
Lunch was at Bistrot Chez Rémy, as they were still letting people in to try the new restaurant.
A quick look around:
Menu
I chose the menu that included a drink and dessert (an appetizer and main course are always included). The salad starter was fine - a basic salad with a soy-based dressing, although I found the cheese to be odd with the other ingredients. By the way, as you may have noticed on the menu, this salad is the only appetizer.
The main course selection is limited to three dishes, and my choice was the cod. Served with ratatouille (not the elegant version from the movie), crushed potatoes, and a creamy sauce, it was a solid dish. I'd probably be happy with it at a 1-credit WDW restaurant, but it certainly wasn't signature.
My dessert choice was the rum baba - a light, rum-flavored cake with some whipped cream. This was fine, but I shouldn't have bothered with dessert - none of them sounded like they were worth 8-10 euros extra. In fact, all the desserts sounded like copouts to me - they're things that can be prepared in advance and plated in 5-10 seconds. Be Our Guest at Magic Kingdom is no different, but the desserts at BOG don't cost 7,99 euros (almost $11 USD).
Overall, this restaurant was fine, with my main course being quite enjoyable. But I definitely found it to be overpriced. Maybe it's not that bad for Europe (although it's certainly bad compared to menus I passed in Paris), but this didn't feel like a 40 euro meal to me (that's about $54-55 USD). Maybe the price would seem reasonable if the menu had more than 1 appetizer, more than 3 main courses, some interesting desserts, or characters at the restaurant.
Before leaving WDS, I did two more things: AniMagique and RnRC. I was expecting AniMagique to be a tribute to animated movies like Mickey's PhilharMagic, and it both met and didn't meet my expectations. It perplexed me, but I liked that Donald had a starring role.
RnRC is actually way worse over here, even though the track and onboard audio are the same. The ride has been stripped of its cool exterior, pre-show, story, limo design, post-show, and Hollywood/LA visuals, instead receiving a 10-second pre-show and flashing rainbow lights. It's amazing how much this ride loses without the story it has at DHS.
In the evening, I returned to DL and decided to have a quick service dinner. My stop was Restaurant Hakuna Matata.
Like most of Adventureland, Hakuna Matata has great theming. Instrumental music from The Lion King plays in the background, and this place would fit right in at Harambe or AKL.
My choice was the African Chicken meal, which I got with salad, a pineapple tart, and bottled water. The chicken was milder than I would've liked, but it was tender and enjoyable with the salad greens. The pineapple tart had a tasty filling, almost custard-like with pineapple pieces.
I did a few more rides in the evening, including Space Mountain and a DLP 'exclusive': Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril. Disney and Indiana Jones have always been a great combination - what could go wrong?
Actually, a lot. Besides the neat-looking temple exterior, this was a basic, bare-bones coaster with no story or anything interesting going on. Not only that, but it's the most
painful Disney ride I've ever experienced. The coaster seems poorly built and it rattles you around violently. In fact, before the loop I actually leaned forward to avoid making contact with the vehicle (since I knew it would
hurt). Online reviews from coaster fanatics seem to share the same thoughts. This ride is a terrible blemish on what's otherwise a nicely designed Adventureland.
Oddly enough, it's been cloned and brought to Tokyo DisneySea with a different name (Raging Spirits) and some fire effects. So if any of you are ever in Tokyo, my recommendation is to skip this one!
Before leaving the park, I rode DL's other two headliners again: Phantom Manor and Big Thunder Mountain (which are both really good).
Big Thunder Mountain
I would've stayed for Disney Dreams, but it was cold, wet, and the show was still 2 hours away. Instead, I made it back to my hotel in time to watch Germany crush Brazil in the World Cup.
In spite of the poor weather, this was definitely better than my first experience at DLP. It also showed me you can hit the highlights of both parks in a day or two, which would be my recommendation to anyone planning a visit from the states. And I'm saying this as a Disney fan! Of course, there are still 2 more days for me to cover (including today, the 9th), so there'll be at least one or two more DLP updates.
Glad you enjoyed the DLP update, and I'll have even more photos in about a week!
That's awesome though. 
Interestingly, the Disney parks do have designated smoking areas and a non-smoking policy (it's on the maps in all languages). But guests simply choose to ignore it (and cast members don't enforce it). I suppose that's Europe...
