Disneyland Paris - Halloween

Thankfully, we found the welcome at Disneyland Resort Paris was much warmer than the extremely chilly October weather.

Our family is lucky enough to be seasoned veteran visitors to Walt Disney World in Orlando.

And we were keen to see just how the European version, populated by Mickey, Minnie and their friendly pals, compared with the Yank original. The most noticeable difference initially, for obvious reasons, is the weather. In autumn and winter unlike sub-tropical Florida, it can be very cold in central France, so make sure you pack accordingly.

The second shock is how much of a dent even a short trip can make in your wallet -- but I'll come back to the high prices later.

Disneyland Resort Paris, actually based 20 miles east of the French capital at Marne-la-Vallee, has grown, like its American counterpart, significantly since it opened to public indifference in 1992.

The park has been rebranded twice and has worked hard to attract customers. That effort has paid off as it is now the biggest tourist attraction in Europe. More than 12 million people visited in 2001.

So, as well as the Disneyland Park (the Paris equivalent of Orlando's Magic Kingdom), there is now the Walt Disney Studios Park (opened 12 months ago) and the Disney Village, a collection of restaurants, shops and a cinema.

This means that to get the most out of a visit you need to allocate at least three days and possibly a fourth if you fancy adding a sightseeing trip of Paris.

We stayed at the four star New York Disney hotel, which is in a prime location, just a five minute stroll from the parks and the Village.

It is a plush, unusually formal, art deco affair, built in the style of a row of Manhattan skyscrapers, and all the rooms are superbly furnished with TV and minibar. And a word of warning: the shelves of the minibar are pressure sensitive, so if your inquisitive youngster so much as removes an item you'll find it charged to your bill!

There is also a vast indoor swimming pool and spa, plus regular visits by Disney characters; Goofy (dressed in top hat and tails) even danced with guests in the cavernous reception area one evening. In winter, starting this week, there is an ice rink outside the hotel, replicating the one at the Rockefeller Centre in the Big Apple.

But back to the parks. All through October, in the run-up to Halloween, the Disneyland Park was given a spooky makeover.

Models of mischievous Halloween 'decorators', complete with pumpkins for heads, were scattered liberally throughout the park surrounded by pools of orange 'paint' where (so the story goes) they were frozen in their tracks by a witch's spell.

The effective end result was dozens of these models in various poses all over the park and particularly in Main Street USA, the approach to the impressively designed Sleeping Beauty's castle.

And at the end of Main Street, a giant Halloween pumpkin housed face painters for the children.

Frontierland, the cowboy themed area, was transformed into Halloweenland throughout October, with dozens of brightly coloured sculpted pumpkins dotted throughout.

Here, like Florida's Magic Kingdom, is the Big Thunder Mountain runaway train thrill ride and Phantom Manor, a brilliant haunted house ride (not too scary for the little ones) that is even better than the Haunted Mansion in the States. As part of the monster theme, there was a salon which gave youngsters the chance to have their hair transformed into weird and wonderful Halloween styles and colours.

Next door is Adventureland, which certainly appealed to my six-year-old Jack, who believes he really is Peter Pan and loves to re-enact battles with anyone willing (and daft enough) to pretend to be nasty old Captain Hook.

Here is the ever excellent Pirates of the Caribbean ride (again tweaked so it is even more impressive than its American version) and the chance to explore Hook's galley, which, although impressive looking. doesn't have much to look around. The Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril: Backwards! rollercoaster ride -- where thrill seekers whizz in reverse around a track in mine carts -- is very fast and pretty rough; there's a good chance you'll leave with a stuff neck, as well as a queasy stomach.

Must see rides throughout the rest of the park are Space Mountain and Honey I Shrunk the Audience in Discoveryland, Peter Pan's Flight and a tour around the inside of Sleeping Beauty's castle in Fantasyland.

Meanwhile, the newest attraction at Disneyland Resort Paris is the Walt Disney Studios Park and I have to confess that compared with the MGM Studios Park in Florida this was something of a disappointment. It is more a collection of shows than rides and, to be fair, they are very well done.

Two attractions transplanted directly from Orlando are the Aerosmith Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, a fantastic thrill ride through the dark, with amazing acceleration and lots of loops and the Studio Tram Tour, with a thrilling encounter at Catastrophe Canyon, a hair raising brush with a special effects disaster scene, complete with fiery explosions and thousands of gallons of cascading water.

Two other, new, attractions are a mixed bag. Armageddon: Special Effects, based on the blockbuster Bruce Willis movie, is a rather tame and ineffective affair, with visitors shaken about a little on a 'space station' as meteors supposedly pummel the hull.

Much more fun is Cinemagique, a sit down film show, starring Martin Short that soon takes an exciting turn as a 'member of the audience' is transported through the screen and into the films. Great fun.

The undoubted highlight of the park, though, is the Moteurs... Action! Stunt Spectacular, an amazing and extremely dangerous looking, show based on car chases, fire stunts and leaps from ramps.

Designed by famous Bond movie car stunt co-ordinator Remy Julienne, this is a superb show and young boys in particular will be blown away by the high speed chases, gunfights and high falls. Truly amazing and probably worth the park's admission fee on its own.

As a whole, though, the Walt Disney Studios park simply needs more attractions. It's a major disappointment that Disney have not built a Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror ride, which has proved a massive draw at MGM Orlando. Let's hope it might be added in the future, there is certainly room to expand.

In between the two parks is the Disney Village, complete with McDonalds, Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, a host of shops and bars and, at night, plenty of live entertainment

And here's another note of caution: eating and drinking in the Disney park is not cheap. We paid the euro equivalent of £12.50 for two pints of beer and a bottle of mineral water.

And a basic one course meal for two adults and two children (with children's menus) at the Village's Rainforest Cafe, plus drinks, set us back more than £50. This soon mounts up when you are paying for lunch and dinner (plus snacks) over a few days.

But the main advantage of the Paris resort is its proximity. You can be in your hotel room within around five hours of leaving Bolton, if you fly.

Lots of the stories given the Disney fairytale treatment, such as Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White and the Hunchback of Notre Dame have a distinctly Euro flavour and fit in well here

Of course, you're paying for the Disney treatment. The service (though not quite as polished as across the Atlantic) and attention to detail are top notch.

If you are prepared to do lots of walking and have a resilient credit card and get decent weather, you should have a whale of time.

It makes a pleasant diversion from the more complete experience offered in Florida.

Thankfully, we found the welcome at Disneyland Resort Paris was much warmer than the extremely chilly October weather.

Our family is lucky enough to be seasoned veteran visitors to Walt Disney World in Orlando. And we were keen to see just how the European version compared with the Yank original.

The most noticeable difference initially, for obvious reasons, is the weather. In autumn and winter it can be very cold in central France, so make sure you pack accordingly. The second shock is how much of a dent even a short trip can make in your wallet but I'll come back to the high prices later.

Disneyland Resort Paris, actually based 20 miles east of the French capital at Marne-la-Vallee, has grown, like its American counterpart, significantly since it opened to public indifference in 1992.

The park has been rebranded twice and has worked hard to attract customers. That effort has paid off as it is now the biggest tourist attraction in Europe. More than 12 million people visited in 2001.

So, as well as the Disneyland Park (the Paris equivalent of Orlando's Magic Kingdom), there is now the Walt Disney Studios Park (opened 12 months ago) and the Disney Village, a collection of restaurants, shops and a cinema.

This means that to get the most out of a visit you need to allocate at least three days and possibly a fourth if you fancy adding a sightseeing trip of Paris.

We stayed at the four star New York Disney hotel, which is in a prime location, just a five minute stroll from the parks and the Village.

It is a plush, unusually formal, art deco affair, built in the style of a row of Manhattan skyscrapers, and all the rooms are superbly furnished with TV and minibar. And a word of warning: the shelves of the minibar are pressure sensitive, so if your inquisitive youngster so much as removes an item you'll find it charged to your bill!

There is also a vast indoor swimming pool and spa, plus regular visits by Disney characters; Goofy (dressed in top hat and tails) even danced with guests in the cavernous reception area one evening. In winter, starting this week, there is an ice rink outside the hotel, replicating the one at the Rockefeller Centre in the Big Apple.

But back to the parks. All through October, in the run-up to Halloween, the Disneyland Park was given a spooky makeover.

Models of mischievous Halloween 'decorators', complete with pumpkins for heads, were scattered liberally throughout the park surrounded by pools of orange 'paint' where (so the story goes) they were frozen in their tracks by a witch's spell. The effective end result was dozens of these models in various poses all over the park and particularly in Main Street USA, the approach to the impressively designed Sleeping Beauty's castle.

And at the end of Main Street, a giant Halloween pumpkin housed face painters for the children. Frontierland, the cowboy themed area, was transformed into Halloweenland throughout October, with dozens of brightly coloured sculpted pumpkins dotted throughout.

Here, like Florida's Magic Kingdom, is the Big Thunder Mountain runaway train thrill ride and Phantom Manor, a brilliant haunted house ride (not too scary for the little ones) that is even better than the Haunted Mansion in the States. Next door is Adventureland, where you will find the ever excellent Pirates of the Caribbean ride (again tweaked so it is even more impressive than its American version) and the chance to explore Hook's galley, which, although impressive looking. doesn't have much to look around.

The Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril: Backwards! rollercoaster ride -- where thrill seekers whizz in reverse around a track in mine carts -- is very fast and pretty rough.

Not-to-be-missed rides throughout the rest of the park are Space Mountain and Honey I Shrunk the Audience in Discoveryland, Peter Pan's Flight and a tour around the inside of Sleeping Beauty's castle in Fantasyland.

Meanwhile, the newest attraction at Disneyland Resort Paris is the Walt Disney Studios Park and I have to confess that compared with the MGM Studios Park in Florida this was something of a disappointment. It is more a collection of shows than rides and, to be fair, they are very well done.

Two attractions transplanted directly from Orlando are the Aerosmith Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, a fantastic thrill ride through the dark, with amazing acceleration and lots of loops, and the Studio Tram Tour, with a thrilling encounter at Catastrophe Canyon, a hair raising brush with a special effects disaster scene, complete with fiery explosions and thousands of gallons of cascading water.

Two other, new, attractions are a mixed bag. Armageddon: Special Effects, based on the blockbuster Bruce Willis movie, is a rather tame affair, with visitors shaken about a little on a 'space station' as meteors supposedly pummel the hull. Much more fun is Cinemagique, a sit down film show, starring Martin Short that soon takes an exciting turn as a 'member of the audience' is transported through the screen and into the films. Great fun.

The undoubted highlight of the park, though, is the Moteurs... Action! Stunt Spectacular, an amazing -- and extremely dangerous looking -- show based on car chases, fire stunts and leaps from ramps.

DISNEYLAND RESORT PARIS PACKAGES AND TICKET PRICES

Classic Package: During the Christmas season 2003, prices start from £285 per adult and £128 per child for a two night Classic Package staying at Disney's Hotel New York.

The price is based on two adults and two children (3-11 years inclusive) sharing a family room and includes two nights' accommodation with continental breakfast, travel on the direct service Eurostar and a three day hopper ticket for the Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park.

Tel: 08705 030303 or visit www.disneylandparis.com

Alternatively, contact your local ABTA travel agent.

Tickets

1-day Park Hopper (entrance to one park for one day) adult: £25 , child: £19

3-day park hopper (three days admission to both parks with the freedom to visit both parks within the same day) adult: £68, child: £52.