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Hello everyone,
I have decided that I am going to try and write more for the Blog, on a regular basis, covering all topics from dining and attraction reviews, as well as other important news.
Of course, we will still be a Disney Character based website - that will never change! Our love for the Disney Characters is infinite, and they remain our top priority! But, both Jon and I have felt recently the site has grown so much, and now has such a big fan base now, that we would like to start encompassing more and more of the world of Disney.
Anyway, as my first review, I want to talk about a new dining experience we had at Disneyland Paris recently.
On our most recent trip to Disneyland Paris in October 2013, one evening we chose to eat at Park Side Diner at Disney's Hotel New York, for the first time.
The restaurant is a buffet restaurant, located on the ground level, to the right of the hotel's main lobby if you're entering from the Lake Disney entrance (I guess you could say from the park side entrance, which is true, and perhaps why the restaurant has its name!).
It was actually pretty late when we arrived, and there were literally only a handful of people inside.
My first impressions were that the "diner" felt a bit dated and bland. It was nonetheless clean and well kept, and the service staff were efficient enough, but I don't think the place has been updated since it opened nearly 22 years ago. The theme of course is meant to be a New York diner, and I can see it to some extent, but I have to say, I think it fails a bit. There are giant paintings on the walls of "American" foods, and the cold metal tables and chairs (albeit padded) make the place too sterile.
The food itself was ok, but not anything you couldn't find anywhere else, and actually could have been more varied and better presented. I don't know if it was just because we got there late, but the food looked and tasted as though it had been there for a while, and the desserts were looking a bit of a mess!
Dishes included rice, chicken, pasta, salad, potatoes, pizza, pork, beef and vegetables.
They also had some strange "make your own sandwich" area. Various breads and rolls were laid out, along with cold meats and other toppings, for you to create your own sandwich.
I didn't really think this was a substantial option for dinner, and felt that they could have used the space to have more hot food out.
Overall I was left a little disappointed with Park Side Diner, especially given the price, and that it is located inside a 4-star hotel. Jon and I won't be rushing back any time soon!
The price is €29.99 per adult, and €15.59 for children aged 3 to 11. Drinks are not included for adults, but children get a small drink included in theirs.
Drinks available for purchase include wines, beer, mineral water, coffee, and sodas. Discounts on the buffet and on non-alcoholic drinks are allowed for Annual Passholders and members of the Shareholder's Club on presentation of a valid AP/membership card. AP is to a maximum of 10% and can vary depending on your level of pass, Shareholders get 15%.
Restaurant hours are limited to dinner time only, and are 6pm-10.30pm.
Reservations can be made by calling the Disneyland Paris Dining Reservations line on +33 1 60 30 40 50 up to 30 days in advance.
You can leave your comments by clicking here, where you will be magically transported to our forum.
Dan.
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Hi all,
Just a few small updates this evening for you.
Starting in Disneyland Paris, and the Summer Season has officially begun. In the past this would mean longer hours, the start of Fantillusion, the Tarzan show and nightly fireworks. this year is a bit different. Disney Dreams! runs every night of the year - it has since April and will until at least next April - cancelling out the need for fireworks, the Tarzan show started back in June, and due to the 20th, the Parks are open quite late now anyway - 11pm being fairly normal these days. So "Summer Season" has been somewhat reduced in its value to being just being the start of Fantillusion's run.
On saying that, it does mean though of course that the park has now got a full schedule for the summer season, with a nighttime spectacular and the night parade. It is an awesome time to be at DLP! The 20th Anniversary certainly has done it wonders!
We have also been getting reports from friends who are at the parks daily, that more and more random characters are starting to show up again - something that until recently DLP really did well, and prided itself on. Sadly in recent months character numbers had dwindled, but I am happy to report that it appears to be back to normal! We have seen friends post pictures of Snow White, The Prince and all the Dwarfs, the Villains and some other randoms out and about. Rapunzel also seems to be back appearing outside again, making an additional princess meet 'n' greet on top of the Pavillion. As well as all that characters have been showing up in more unusual outfits at the Hotel morning meets too. As DLP fans, we LOVE the fact that they always have characters at the hotels throughout the day, but it appears since the start of July, they have really been having some fun with them, with different characters and costumes showing up randomly (Summer outfits and beachwear at the New York for example, and Mickey in sports shirts at the Sequoia for the Euro football games).
As an additional note, Minnie Mouse appears to have a brand new permanent outfit at the Sequoia Lodge. It is now yellow, replacing the old green one.
Jumping across the pond to WDW, and July 4th saw Patriot Mickey, Goofy, Donald, Chip and Dale appear at EPCOT. At Mickey's Backyard BBQ dinner Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald wore special outfits, and were joined by Phineas and Ferb - they NEVER appear there! - as well as Chip and Dale in their regular BBQ attire.
Finally for the park news, I saw pictures earlier in the week of Angel meeting outside Space Mountain in Tokyo Disneyland. I have no idea if this is a permanent arrangement, but it did make me wonder something. We had heard that Angel is going to start appearing in DLP soon, and so maybe this is the start of Angel appearing in a number of the parks regularly? Will she appear in DLP in the near future? It seems more likely if she is now also in Tokyo. But I guess we'll see what happens.
A few updates from us here at Character Central now.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, we have had to scale back our summer adventures some, but will still be visiting both Disneyland CA and WDW during the summer. We also will be visiting Tokyo Disney Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland - just later in the year now. At WDW we are attending the first Mickey's Not So Scary of the season on the 11th September.
Finally tonight, just a reminder that we are trying to get to 2000 Likes on our Facebook page so that we can run another big giveaway like we did in April! So go to the page and share it with your friends so we can run another awesome competition!
Ok, that's all for now,
Dan. |
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