Globetrotting: to Disneyland Paris and back with TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

This is going to be a mini update to bring us to the end of Monday at DLP. Tuesday was a big day with us checking out of Davy Crockett Ranch and heading back to the parks for a final visit before catching the train to real Paris.  There will be lots of photos from Tuesday.

 

For now, though, it's Monday night, and we're on the train to Fantasyland.  There's some more open space inside the train loop. It's kind of remarkable how much unused space there is in this park.  Very unlike the MK and Disneyland California, where every square inch inside the train tracks is used for something:

 

 

This is the French version of Pinocchio's Village Haus:

 

 

For some reason, they don't mention Pinocchio by name:

 

 

That building you see straight ahead is the Peter Pan ride building.  Once again, it was kind of empty in the park this evening:

 

 

I think those are Weeping Willow trees there.  That's something else there was a lot more of up north that there is in Florida.

 

We rode Peter Pan again, and then headed over to the Snow White ride.

 

Look at the detail on this thing:

 

 

Snow White was open with no wait, so we got to ride. It is very similar to the old Snow White ride from the MK:

 

 

As crazy as it sounds, we rode It's a Small World again. There were two dolls in the America section that DD wanted a photo of- they were kids in sports jerseys eating popcorn.  Just like we all do in America.  The lighting in this room is tricky, and this is the best I could do:

 

 

It was 9:02 when I took that photo.  I wanted to go hit Discoveryland for an hour, and then we would watch the fireworks again, and call it a night.

 

DD suggested that we save Discoveryland for EMH tomorrow.  Truthfully, neither one of us was that excited to visit there with the major rides being closed.

 

And, it was definitely going to rain:

 

 

They are trying to make the Glow with the Show thing happen here too.  It doesn't look like it's happening:

 

 

We had rain gear with us, but neither of us felt it was worth sticking around to get soaked.

 

I had suggested earlier that we go and visit one of the DLP hotels that night to see what they're like.

 

So, we headed out.

 

To the Sequoia Lodge.  I had considered staying there on this trip, but I couldn't get the ranch out of my head.

 

It ended up that we made the right call, as it started raining pretty good right when we got to the parking lot. 

 

It was super easy to find the Sequoia Lodge.  I am not sure what the normal procedure is on who is allowed to visit, but it was raining when we pulled up to the guard shack, and the guard didn't want to come out and speak to me, so he just waved me in.

 

The grounds of this resort look a lot like the grounds of Wilderness Lodge.

 

We headed in.

 

One huge and obvious difference is the low ceilings in the place:

 

 

These are the check in desks in the main lobby.  Not as majestic as Wilderness Lodge (or the Grand Californian, which it also kind of resembles) :

 

 

Hey guess what?  The call concierges concierges in France:

 

 

We found a nice seating area, and used the heck out of their Wi-Fi.  We both used the Viber ap to call everyone in our families, and DD Facetimed with both of the twins.  It sure was nice to have Wi-Fi to use.  It rained pretty hard for a while, so we ended up hanging there until about 11;30, and then it was back to the ranch for our final night there.

 

We went back and forth about what to do in the morning.  We weren't sure how long the train ride to Paris was, but I had heard somewhere in the half hour to 45 minute range.  We didn't want to show up at our hotel too early.  We ultimately decided not to mess with EMH.  We would get our free breakfast, get packed up, and maybe head out around 9 or so.  That would give us a few hours in the parks, and then we would head to Paris.

 

That was a good plan for me, because while DD slept a little later, I could do some final exploring.  I saw something when we went to dinner at Crockett's Tavern earlier that I wanted to check out in the morning.  So get ready for some more Davy Crockett Ranch photos before we head out.

 

I will also soon be sharing my final thoughts on DLP, and we'll look at what this cost, and answer the age old question about whether or not it was worth it.

 

TCD

[keith_h 420]

Just looking at the pictures DLP seems old and dated. I do like all of the landscaping but it doesn't seem to have the Disneyland/WDW feel to me. It's more like a competitors attempt to clone Disneyland. The shots of the Sequoia Lodge just confirm this feeling as it reminds me of what a 1970's Ramada Inn lobby would look like as opposed to a classic mountain lodge. This might be the reason DLP has never lived up to expectations as it is not really up to what folks expect of when you talk about Disney parks and resorts. Why go to the second rate facility when for roughly the same cost you can travel to the real things in the US?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Just looking at the pictures DLP seems old and dated. I do like all of the landscaping but it doesn't seem to have the Disneyland/WDW feel to me. It's more like a competitors attempt to clone Disneyland. The shots of the Sequoia Lodge just confirm this feeling as it reminds me of what a 1970's Ramada Inn lobby would look like as opposed to a classic mountain lodge. This might be the reason DLP has never lived up to expectations as it is not really up to what folks expect of when you talk about Disney parks and resorts. Why go to the second rate facility when for roughly the same cost you can travel to the real things in the US?

 

That's a good post, and very accurate.  I had very mixed feelings about DLP.  It seems like they started with grand plans, then cut a lot of corners, and then went into a bare minimum maintenance mode, keeping things presentable, but totaling lacking any "wow" factor.  The only resorts I got to see were Davy Crockett Ranch and Sequoia Lodge, and neither of them felt up to the standards Disney adheres to in the US (and I mean even the lower standards that they follow today).

 

It seems like there was no thought given to who their target audience is, and what they needed to do to attract those customers.  It is pretty clear that they have no interest in generating business from the US, as their pricing structure on the US version of their website is inexplicably much higher than what they charge Europeans for the same exact packages.  How does that make sense?

 

My take away was that they didn't have a good plan going in, and they still don't have a good plan as to what they're trying to be.  They are going to continue to limp along as a very poor representation of the Disney brand.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

We are now up to Tuesday, May 19.  We will be leaving Davy Crockett Ranch today, and heading to real Paris, but not before I take a final look around, and we pop back into Disneyland to use the last day of our three day pass.

 

I had breakfast vouchers for breakfast again today, and since it worked out well with me going a couple of minutes before 7:30 the day before, I headed to the breakfast hut at about 7:28.  As I walked that way, some hammerhead sped past me in a car, and parked along the side of the road and jumped out to beat me to the line:

 

 

Nobody on my loop was up early yesterday, but everyone was today.  I took this photo at exactly 7:30, and all of these guests beat me to the shack.  While that doesn't look like many people, each one of them was picking up meals for all the people in their cabins, and the whole process was very inefficient, with one CM in the shack having to go through all of the choices with each guest:

 

 

While we waited, I said hello to the guy who came up right behind me, and we had a nice chat. He was a Brit, and had driven here from there- about 500 miles.  Through the chunnel.  Once he found out I was from Florida, the conversation was all about that, as he had visited there several times "on holiday," and had even visited the gulf beaches near where I live.  He was very vocal about how much better WDW is, but that this was more convenient, and cheaper, for his family.  He even told me how much he paid, but it was in pounds.  Even with my rudimentary money conversion skills, I think he got a much better deal than I did.  Chatting with that guy helped the time pass, and I liked it at the end when he bid me goodbye by saying "cheers, mate."   Very classy.

 

I took this photo as I walked away from the breakfast shack with my sack of carbs (and still no salami) :

 

 

You may be wondering why there's a tour bus in the loop.  So did I.  I had seen it the day before, and the best I could tell is that there was a group of people who arrived in that tour bus staying on my loop.  They all apparently were going someplace early today, which is why the breakfast shack was so crowded.  Nice. By the way, I took that photo at 7:53, so it took me nearly a half hour just to get my sack of food.  There has to be a better way.

 

This is my next door neighbor.  I never did see them, but I saw their car.  I thought their trailer hitch was interesting.  Also, this photo is to blurry to see, but this is where I began to notice that all EU license plates were the same, but have initials on them to indicate which country the car is from.  My rental far had just an F on it, which I assumed meant France.  This one had a DK on it, which stumped me for a while.  DD suggested that it must be Denmark, and it turns out she was right:

 

 

Things were moving kind of slow this morning.  I wanted my sack of food so I could make a cup of coffee, and then I was going to do some exploring. 

 

That long line I had to wait in at the breakfast shack made me rethink one of the things we needed to do today- return the hair dryer that we had borrowed from the front desk.  The original plan was for us to stop and do that on our way out, but I was envisioning long lines of guests there later in the day, and wanted to avoid those.  DD had showered and dried her hair last night, so she was done with the hair dryer.  I decided to go and return it now.

 

So, I hopped in the Panda and headed to the Outpost.  Of course, I had to stop and wait for the construction that was going on, but that let me get this shot showing some of the stuff that has been built on the land next to the ranch:

 

 

Every time we came in or came out, we always had to stop along this stretch of the road, as it had been reduced to one lane:

 

 

Hey, there's another DK license plate:

 

 

I was happy to see that it wasn't busy in the Reception Outpost.  But, that didn't mean that I got in and out of there quickly.  I was waited on by the same young man who had checked me in two days before.  He remembered our conversation about Fort Wilderness and asked me what I thought about Davy Crockett Ranch.  I was honest with him, and told him how much I was bothered by all of the construction.  He got very defensive after I said that, and stated that he was sure it didn't bother me while I was in my cabin, and I told him that it certainly had.  I think they must be trained to say that the construction doesn't impact guests' enjoyment of the cabins.  That conversation didn't bother me, but what did is that it took forever for me to get my 30 Euros back.  I guess only the manager can open wherever they keep the cash in the back room, and she was busy doing something.  The guy came back and apologized to me several times while I waited for my money.

 

But, the wait wasn't a total loss. I got to eyeball a top secret document which was sitting there in the printer:

 

 

I couldn't quite read what it said on there, other than "Briefing Sheet," but it looked interesting to me, and I thought if I got a good photo of it, I could zoom in on the photo and read what it says.

 

And I could:

 

 

I found this all very interesting- it looks like it breaks down their occupancy count for the day, and lists how many guests are checking out and checking in.  It also gives the rack rates for the rooms (and shows the three levels of cabins), and the prices of park passes.  All very interesting stuff to me.

 

And it has a French phrase on it.  Right there under the date.  Can you read it?  Its says:

 

"Jamais de produit chimique dans un recipient alimentaire"

 

what could that possibly mean?

 

Thank goodness for Google Translate, as it tells me that means:

 

"Never chemical in a food container"

 

What the Fort?

 

Why is that on there?

 

Who is going to put chemicals in a food container, and why is it on the Briefing Sheet?

 

This is a strange land I'm in.

 

Here's some more stuff behind the desk -there's Sophie playing in her continuous loop on the TV, and some Glow with the Show ears, and a very generic looking sign that has nothing to do with Davy Crockett:

 

 

This is the display case in the lobby.  I don't think I've posted a photo showing what was in it.  It is just generic Disneyland Paris merchandise, nothing unique to Davy Crockett Ranch:

 

 

Every time I saw this dumb logo, it made me mad that the Musket Mickey sign had been taken down:

 

 

I didn't notice these when I checked in, but there were a couple of framed photos here in the lobby that showed artwork from the big old construction project next door:

 

 

 

I guess those are resort rooms. I think that the stuff I saw across the field in that photo I took when I was stopped for the one way road is what is depicted in those photos.  I think it's some kind of prefabricated housing that is being stacked up, and then they're going to have plants growing on it.  It sure looks ugly to me, but what do I know?

 

I guess this wicker chair is supposed to make me think I'm in Davy Crockett's cabin here at the Outpost?:

 

 

It took over a half an hour, but I got my 30 euros back, and was finally able to say my final goodbye to the nice young man at the front desk.

 

Here's one last photo of the signage above the door of the reception building:

 

 

Looking to the right, with my back to the building, this was my view:

 

 

Those are big construction trailers, and those barriers you see are along the road that leads from the Outpost here and back to the loops.  It looks like crap, doesn't it?

 

This old and unused bus stop is on the other side of the reception building.  It also has construction going on behind it, as evidenced by the ugly fencing:

 

 

I walked over there to see what was on the other side of the fence. Nice, a little pond, and then beyond that you can see what looks like some kind of fuel truck:

 

 

I had seen several mentions of something called the Davy Crockett Adventure around the ranch, such as on the printed material I got at check-in, and on the old maps posted around the property, and this apparently is where that is:

 

 

Based on the fact that the buildings they apparently use for this are on the other side of the fences, I figured that whatever the Davy Crockett Adventure was was no longer in operation:

 

 

There's a sign hanging over there in front of those cheap looking modular buildings that says Davy Crockett Adventure:

 

 

I think you can read it when I zoom in on that photo:

 

 

But all of that is behind this fence:

 

 

Based on that ugly mess, I assumed that they had shut down operation of the Davy Crockett Adventure, and it sure didn't look like anyone was here to take part in it today.

 

But, I assumed wrong.

 

I didn't check the website listed on that sign while I was there, but I have since, and they are in operation.  The calendar on that site showed they weren't open on Monday and Tuesday that week, which is why it looked abandoned to me:

 

http://www.aventure-aventure.com/

 

But, I still can't believe that they would have guests arrive through that crappy looking mess around their crappy little buildings.  This is not even close to what I would expect to see operating on Disney property.

 

As they say, bad show.

 

From looking at the website, it looks like this is a completely independent operation from Davy Crockett Ranch, and is operated by a third party.

 

By the way, if your really want to know, Davy Crockett Adventure is a ropes course.  They have on of those at a YMCA near me.  Big whoop.

 

Here's a look back at the reception building from this corner of the parking lot.  You can't see it in this photo, but the reception area is basically an island surrounded by construction:

 

 

Like I said, it took me well over a half hour just to return that hairdryer and get my deposit back.

 

I also got stopped by the automatic traffic controller on my way back.  I was lucky, though, that little countdown indicator you see started at 180 seconds, and it was below 60 when I stopped, so I only had to wait a minute.  There are countdown clocks on both sides of the one way stretch, and you have to sit there and wait every time, even if no one is coming in the other direction, all day and all night:

 

 

I stopped by the cabin, and DD was still sleeping. The original plan was for me to have woken her by now, but I knew she could use the rest, and today would be a long day, so I let her sleep, and I headed down to Davy's Village.  There were some things I wanted to look at down there.

 

This is a not very good photo of a shack that was located outside of one of the loops, along the road. The sign made me think it might be something interesting, but it was just a maintenance shack with some landscaping equipment in it:

 

 

This is a photo of one of the big maps that were posted around the property, and I have cut and pasted the legend from the side showing what is located there.  This is the area we are going to explore next:

 

 

There are a lot of things listed on that map that were not on my paper map.  So that you're properly oriented, the biggest building you see depicted there on the map, marked with #1 and #2 is the building that houses Crockett's Tavern and the pool.  Then you can see that #3 is the Trading Post, and #4 the attached Saloon.  We've seen all of that.  We also visited the playground and mini golf area that you see marked with #13.  What I didn't know is that #15, where the mini golf was, used to also be a place for archery, according the what is says on the map.

 

But I wasn't here to see any of that.  Look at #5, that is indoor tennis courts.  And #7 is an amphitheater.  I wanted to see that. 

 

What I really wanted to see was #14, the multipurpose sportground, and #16, the Indian Camp and mini animal park.

 

I thought that that stuff was all behind the construction fences, but when we were here for dinner the night before, I saw guests walking down this side of the fake Pioneer Hall and toward that stuff we haven't yet seen:

 

 

And that's where we're going to go next- what could this Indian Camp and mini animal park be all about?

 

TCD

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

You know, as horrible as the Abomination is, it could be much, much worse.

 

30 minutes to get your deposit back?  Bad show, DLP.  

[parrothead7368 aka Norm 101]

 

Here's some more stuff behind the desk -there's Sophie playing in her continuous loop on the TV, and some Glow with the Show ears, and a very generic looking sign that has nothing to do with Davy Crockett:

 

 

 

 

Are you talking about the Steamboat Laura sign? That steamboat was in Texas in 1835, a year before Davy Crockett died at the Alamo and Allen's Landing is the birthplace of the city of Houston.

 

Best Regards,

Norm

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Still totally unimpressed with DLP and particularly with the ranch.  If I'd spent so much money to stay there, I would be really, really upset.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

You know, as horrible as the Abomination is, it could be much, much worse.

 

30 minutes to get your deposit back?  Bad show, DLP.  

 

If you're referring to the Four Seasons resort next to the Fort as the Abomination, then I absolutely agree with you.  I thought that was bad, but it was and is nothing compared to what they're doing at Davy Crockett Ranch.  If the River Country DVC ever gets built, I'm sure they are going to do it in such a way that it's not going to be as "in your face" as what I saw at Davy Crockett Ranch.  I think I already said it, but the message I received loud and clear is that management there doesn't care about guest experience.

 

Yeah, that was pretty stupid about the deposit.  It's not convenient for guests to stop by the Outpost in the first place, and then to make me wait 30 minutes to get my money back when there was only one other guest in the place at the time is pretty bad.

 

Are you talking about the Steamboat Laura sign? That steamboat was in Texas in 1835, a year before Davy Crockett died at the Alamo and Allen's Landing is the birthplace of the city of Houston.

 

Best Regards,

Norm

 

I'm very impressed.

 

How did you know that?

 

I thought it was some generic sign that had nothing to do with the theming.

 

Still totally unimpressed with DLP and particularly with the ranch.  If I'd spent so much money to stay there, I would be really, really upset.

 

I ended up not being impressed either.  I didn't get upset about it, though.   We didn't have an awful time there, but I was disappointed.  I wanted to go, and I got to go.  In the end, I'm glad I got to see it.  I would always wonder what it was like if I didn't see it with my own two eyes.

 

TCD

[parrothead7368 aka Norm 101]

 

I'm very impressed.

 

How did you know that?

 

I thought it was some generic sign that had nothing to do with the theming.

 

 

TCD

 

I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night...........or I maybe just looked it up on Google........or I just know stupid things that I like to call "Norm Nonsense". 

Your choice.

 

Best Regards,

Norm

[fowlandfishmommy 10]

I'm super super far behind, but wanted to chime in about camping in Europe.  We've actually looked into it.  We are no where near able to do it anytime soon but camping through Italy is probably going to be the way we do it, if we ever get to.  Italy is #1 on my bucket list.  Apparently camping through Italy is a thing.  People do it a lot.  So it seems what people do is fly there, ship essential camping stuff that they own and want to use, rent the big stuff, and rent a van.  There are apparently a ton of campgrounds everywhere.  There is a policy in Italy thought that non residents can't drive in the cities.  So most campgrounds have some sort of transportation to the cities.  Sorry to get so off subject but just something I think is really cool and us camping folks would enjoy. :)  Loving this report. 

[we3peas 12]

.

Edited June 18, 2015 by we3peas

[we3peas 12]

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Edited June 18, 2015 by we3peas

[we3peas 12]

I think children same as parents means that they pay the same thing-no kids meal prices there!

 

Weird it wouldn't post and then did it 3 times....

[keith_h 420]

 

I ended up not being impressed either.  I didn't get upset about it, though.   We didn't have an awful time there, but I was disappointed.  I wanted to go, and I got to go.  In the end, I'm glad I got to see it.  I would always wonder what it was like if I didn't see it with my own two eyes.

 

TCD

 

Sometimes doing things like this help you appreciate what you have more than you would by not doing it.

[The Troll 67]

TCD, thanks again for this awesome report. This knockoff mini Fort place is fascinating.

 

Now I have to do some Troll Ranting^TM. Please know that I am very envious that you got to go here and experience all this. If I had the bucks and the vacation time, I'd love to do it, too.

 

That said, something needs to be announced.

 

<TROLL RANT>

 

This place effing sucks. 

 

There.

 

I said it.

 

It's not even up to Universal standards, much less Disney. To prove this point, let's look at TCD's exhibit:

 

 

Look at that effing display case. Now I ask you, is there any square inch on WDW property where a display case would have empty hangers in it? The left side of the case has got nothing in it. Fail.

And TCD posted a pic of the trading post earlier. I should go find it. Outside of the trading post they had t-shirt racks set up on the porch! UNACCEPTABLE! That screams Dollar General, not Disney property!

 

Fail! 

 

You European people are FAIL! You hear me? FAIL! I always have to listen to these pseudo-intellectuals say, "Well, the way they do it in Europe is..."

 

Who gives a flying crap how they do it in Europe?!?

 

They can take their half-empty display cases, their grocery stores that require customers to bring their own grocery bags, their grocery store checkout girls who sit down at the register, their convenience store "refrigerated" glass cases set at 84 degrees to "Go Green," their "you must separate your garbage into six different recycling bins," their $12 warm Barbie doll glasses of orange juice, their $6 per gallon "petrol," their highways lacking yellow lines, their "Oh, over here you pay per person at a hotel, not per room," their "Soda refills? What's that?", their "We brought you a basket of bread with your dinner...you thought it came with the dinner like it does in the US...but no, we charged you extra, sucker," their "Oh, you want a glass of water with your meal? Hold on...I'll get you a bottle of Perrier...and then when you say, No, I want regular water, I'll pretend like I don't know what you're saying," their "What's that? You don't smoke cigarettes? Too bad. I'm smoking right next to you and blowing the smoke in your direction..."

...AND STUFF IT!

 

I bet those European people, when they come over here and see our awesome, properly done, superpower Disney World attractions, like, say, the Wilderness Lodge, I bet they get overwhelmed, get weak in the knees, and then urinate on themselves.

 

</TROLL RANT>

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night...........or I maybe just looked it up on Google........or I just know stupid things that I like to call "Norm Nonsense".

Your choice.

Best Regards,

Norm

I'll go with Norm Nonsense. Please feel free to share it when appropriate.

I'm super super far behind, but wanted to chime in about camping in Europe.  We've actually looked into it.  We are no where near able to do it anytime soon but camping through Italy is probably going to be the way we do it, if we ever get to.  Italy is #1 on my bucket list.  Apparently camping through Italy is a thing.  People do it a lot.  So it seems what people do is fly there, ship essential camping stuff that they own and want to use, rent the big stuff, and rent a van.  There are apparently a ton of campgrounds everywhere.  There is a policy in Italy thought that non residents can't drive in the cities.  So most campgrounds have some sort of transportation to the cities.  Sorry to get so off subject but just something I think is really cool and us camping folks would enjoy. :)  Loving this report.

 

That sounds great, and I hope that you do it and post a trip report about it.  I think camping like that would be a lot of fun, and a great way to really experience a country, rather than staying in a generic hotel in a big city.

 

I think children same as parents means that they pay the same thing-no kids meal prices there!

 

Weird it wouldn't post and then did it 3 times....

 

I need to go back and see if they had children's pricing.  I think they did.  If not, then that's pretty bad.

 

Sometimes doing things like this help you appreciate what you have more than you would by not doing it.

 

Absolutely.  I gained an appreciation for a lot of things that I had been taking for granted.  We are blessed to be Americans.

 

TCD, thanks again for this awesome report. This knockoff mini Fort place is fascinating.

 

Now I have to do some Troll Ranting^TM. Please know that I am very envious that you got to go here and experience all this. If I had the bucks and the vacation time, I'd love to do it, too.

 

That said, something needs to be announced.

 

<TROLL RANT>

 

This place effing sucks. 

 

There.

 

I said it.

 

It's not even up to Universal standards, much less Disney. To prove this point, let's look at TCD's exhibit:

 

 

Look at that effing display case. Now I ask you, is there any square inch on WDW property where a display case would have empty hangers in it? The left side of the case has got nothing in it. Fail.

And TCD posted a pic of the trading post earlier. I should go find it. Outside of the trading post they had t-shirt racks set up on the porch! UNACCEPTABLE! That screams Dollar General, not Disney property!

 

Fail! 

 

You European people are FAIL! You hear me? FAIL! I always have to listen to these pseudo-intellectuals say, "Well, the way they do it in Europe is..."

 

Who gives a flying crap how they do it in Europe?!?

 

They can take their half-empty display cases, their grocery stores that require customers to bring their own grocery bags, their grocery store checkout girls who sit down at the register, their convenience store "refrigerated" glass cases set at 84 degrees to "Go Green," their "you must separate your garbage into six different recycling bins," their $12 warm Barbie doll glasses of orange juice, their $6 per gallon "petrol," their highways lacking yellow lines, their "Oh, over here you pay per person at a hotel, not per room," their "Soda refills? What's that?", their "We brought you a basket of bread with your dinner...you thought it came with the dinner like it does in the US...but no, we charged you extra, sucker," their "Oh, you want a glass of water with your meal? Hold on...I'll get you a bottle of Perrier...and then when you say, No, I want regular water, I'll pretend like I don't know what you're saying," their "What's that? You don't smoke cigarettes? Too bad. I'm smoking right next to you and blowing the smoke in your direction..."

...AND STUFF IT!

 

I bet those European people, when they come over here and see our awesome, properly done, superpower Disney World attractions, like, say, the Wilderness Lodge, I bet they get overwhelmed, get weak in the knees, and then urinate on themselves.

 

</TROLL RANT>

 

Now that is a great Troll Rant^TM.  Great job! Especially the last line.  That is classic Troll wittiness right there.

 

 I didn't pay much attention to that display case, but you're right, it looks awful.  And, this is one of the first things guests see upon arrival.  Aside from all of the construction mess, of course.

 

The way this part of the TR is turning out, it seems like I'm bashing DLP and Davy Crockett Ranch, but that was not my intent.  As I've said, I liked visiting there.  It just wasn't great.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Update time.

 

We left off about to explore the area behind the fake Pioneer Hall.  The old maps on display around the resort showed things back there that are not on the paper maps distributed to guests.

 

Here we are walking along the side of fake Pioneer Hall.  The landscaping is nice:

 

 

 

Now we're behind the building.  The light posts are nice:

 

 

The first thing I came to was a nice grassy space with picnic tables.  There sure are a lot of picnic tables around here, but I don't know what people are supposed to eat at them.  The only food service in this area is Crockett's Tavern, and it is only open from 6:00 to 9:30 each night.  There's also take out pizza at the saloon, but again only at night, or the microwavable selection of items in the Trading Post.  It would be nice if they had some take out fried chicken, but they don't:

 

 

The map showed that there was an amphitheater back here, and this is it.  There's a fire ring here too, albeit a small one.  I have not seen any mention of there ever being a campfire program here, but this space looks like that's what was supposed to happen here:

 

 

Here's the sad little fire ring:

 

 

There's a beat up old grill and a shack with some old food service type equipment here to the side:

 

 

It looks like there are some folding tables in there, which must be used for special events that they cater in this area, but it all looks pretty beat up and that it hasn't been used in a while:

 

 

The amphitheater again.  And check out that heavy duty fence behind it.  What the heck were they keeping in there?:

 

 

The map mentioned a mini animal park, but there are no animals, big or mini back here.  Just a bunch of boxes:

 

 

Wait.  There's a sign:

 

 

Those boxes are bee hives:

 

 

I couldn't hear any buzzing, but I guess there's bees in those boxes:

 

 

The Indian Camp mentioned on the map is in that field over where you see this tee-pee.  There's a ditch separating the field from where I am currently, so I will need to find a way to cross that:

 

 

On the far side of the fenced in area, I noticed that there was a road with quite a bit of traffic on it:

 

 

This confused me, as I hadn't noticed a road like that when I did my Google Maps study of this area before the trip.

 

Zooming in on that last photo, there's a sign on the fence:

 

 

It looks like the kind of sign a government entity puts up for a public works project.  There's a logo on the sign, and it says "S.A,N. du Val d'Europe."  Google led me to this website:

 

 

It sounds like this S.A.N. thing is something like the Reedy Creek Improvement District at WDW.

 

But who knows?

 

There's the remains of an old building over there on the other side of the fence.  I get the feeling that this is the boundary of the land owned by the Euro Disney group:

 

 

Here's the road and the sign again, from further back:

 

 

There's the Indian Camp, on the other side of the ditch:

 

 

Another bee sign. This bee was in a Disney cartoon, I think.  He looks familiar:

 

 

These trees are interesting.  They look like rotten old stumps, but new shoots are sprouting from them.  I wonder why they are here and why the stumps were left when the trees were cut down:

 

 

I need to get a better look at those teepees:

 

 

And look, another totem pole!:

 

 

There is an old canoe lying there in the weeds.  It looks exactly like the ones that are still in use at Disneyland:

 

 

This is a shot of the back of fake Pioneer Hall- the bushes and landscaping are overgrown on this side of the building.  I guess nobody comes back here anymore, so they have let it go:

 

 

Here's a shot of that grassy area we looked at earlier, but from the other side.  There's some kind of sign posted there:

 

 

Here's a closer look at the sign.  I have no clue why it's there or what it's supposed to mean:

 

 

 

This sign has me stumped.  Why is it here?  My best guess is that they at one time had some kind of Indian themed activities which were hosted in this area.  According to the map, when they had archery, that was done over by the playground and mini golf area, which is way on the other side of this area, so I don't think this sign has anything to do with that.  I just don't know.

 

Here's one more look at the amphitheater.  Maybe it was nice and used at one time, but it pretty much looks abandoned now:

 

 

As I walked in this area, I noticed a bridge that crossed the ditch over to the Indian Camp area.  We're going to head across that bridge in the next update and take a closer look at that old canoe and at the teepees.

 

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

It's just so sad when Disney neglects their property like this.  Reminds me of River Country and Discovery Island.

[okgirlie...Brandy 6]

Davy Crockett's Ranch seems so sad.

 

After your California Disneyland report I put Disneyland on our list of places to go in the future.  I don't think I need to put Disneyland Paris on the list.  I am not ruling it out but it's not a must do if we ever get to Europe.  

[WannaBeImagineer 98]

Hey TCD, have you seen the show Metropolis on the Travel Channel? 

 

http://www.travelchannel.com/shows/metropolis

 

I discovered it last night and watched two episodes, Rome and London.  The London one made me think about your trip and now I really want to go there.

 

I really liked the one on Rome since I knew more about its history and have been there twice.  But the best part was they were talking about a bakery that still uses a 2000 year old recipe and is famous for it's roman style pizza, when they showed the inside, CP and I looked at each other and at the same time we said we ate there! 

 

Our first day in Rome we walked around and tried pizza from a ton of places and we definitely tried that one! 

 

Then they started talking about a new tradition Romans have which is basically a happy hour with snacks because they eat dinner so late.  Well the bar they interviewed people at was one we went to right next to our hotel.  We remembered it vividly, they gave you these gourmet apps with your drinks, and we talked about how it seemed real trendy, turns out we were right.

 

Anyway if you haven't seen the show yet you should check out the London one, you may recognize some things.

 

WBI

[The Troll 67]

Man, this is like a TCD trip report of old...TCD wandering alone into uncharted territory! Bad ass.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

I was at the beach and got behind, but I'm caught up.

 

All the old areas just rotting away at the Ranch are sad. 

 

I never imagined DLP to be so small. 

[disney4dan 68]

Finally caught up!  Great report TCD, but the Davy Crockett Ranch looks so sad, neglected and kind of like something out of a B movie.  I expect to see a hoard of Zombies lined up for gruel at the breakfast shack.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

It's just so sad when Disney neglects their property like this.  Reminds me of River Country and Discovery Island.

 

I agree.  The area that we are looking at now did have a very River Country/Discovery Island feel to it.  But, with all of the construction going on around it,  I have a feeling that the space will be put to some use rather than being left to rot.

 

Davy Crockett's Ranch seems so sad.

 

After your California Disneyland report I put Disneyland on our list of places to go in the future.  I don't think I need to put Disneyland Paris on the list.  I am not ruling it out but it's not a must do if we ever get to Europe.  

 

I agree with how you're looking at this- Disneyland in California was great and a lot of fun to see.  Disneyland Paris isn't.  It's still interesting, and it's not awful- you could have a lot of fun there- but it just isn't operated at the lever we all expect a Disney park to be operated.

 

Hey TCD, have you seen the show Metropolis on the Travel Channel? 

 

http://www.travelchannel.com/shows/metropolis

 

I discovered it last night and watched two episodes, Rome and London.  The London one made me think about your trip and now I really want to go there.

 

I really liked the one on Rome since I knew more about its history and have been there twice.  But the best part was they were talking about a bakery that still uses a 2000 year old recipe and is famous for it's roman style pizza, when they showed the inside, CP and I looked at each other and at the same time we said we ate there! 

 

Our first day in Rome we walked around and tried pizza from a ton of places and we definitely tried that one! 

 

Then they started talking about a new tradition Romans have which is basically a happy hour with snacks because they eat dinner so late.  Well the bar they interviewed people at was one we went to right next to our hotel.  We remembered it vividly, they gave you these gourmet apps with your drinks, and we talked about how it seemed real trendy, turns out we were right.

 

Anyway if you haven't seen the show yet you should check out the London one, you may recognize some things.

 

WBI

 

Thanks, Nick- I'll have to track that series down. The London episode especially.

 

The HGTV show House Hunters had an episode on last week where this couple was looking for an apartment in Paris.  It was interesting to watch now that I've been there.

 

Man, this is like a TCD trip report of old...TCD wandering alone into uncharted territory! Bad ass.

 

Yeah.  That's me.

 

Actually, all of the areas I was exploring were kind of charted-just not currently in use.

 

I was at the beach and got behind, but I'm caught up.

 

All the old areas just rotting away at the Ranch are sad. 

 

I never imagined DLP to be so small. 

 

The beach?

 

Like somewhere along 30A?

 

Lucky!

 

I also imagined that DLP would be bigger and more majestic.  It seems like they did the best they could back in 1992, slapped in the Studios ten years later, and have pretty much let it go every since.

 

Maybe they'll get it together for their upcoming 25th anniversary.

 

Finally caught up!  Great report TCD, but the Davy Crockett Ranch looks so sad, neglected and kind of like something out of a B movie.  I expect to see a hoard of Zombies lined up for gruel at the breakfast shack.

 

LOL.  I didn't see any zombies, but some of the French folks I saw in the Paris Metro later came close.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Well, this is the last batch of photos from Davy Crockett Ranch.

 

I spent our last morning there doing a last bit of exploring.  We left off in the area behind the fake Pioneer Hall in the area they call Davy's village.  This is the bridge that crossed the ditch to the area called the Indian Camp on the map:

 

 

If you look in the background of that last photo, you can see that there is a construction fence all around the border of this area.

 

The old canoe we saw earlier is sitting here in the weeds on this side of the ditch.  I don't think there was ever any water around here that the canoe could have floated in, so I'm not sure what it's doing here:

 

 

There's a teepee, and you can see the fence surrounding this area.  Construction is going on all around it. It looks like the grass here had gotten high and was recently mowed:

 

 

I wanted to take a closer look at the canoe- maybe I could see something that would confirm that it had been brought here from Disneyland in California (or the MK, where they used to have canoes as well) :

 

 

This canoe is full of debris:

 

 

 

 

I think they did bring this canoe here from the states.  That took a lot of effort.  And expense probably.  And then they just leave it here to rot?:

 

 

You can see the bridge we just crossed in the background of this photo, and behind that is the back of fake Pioneer Hall:

 

 

These teepees seem to be constructed like the ones that folks bring to Fort Wilderness every Thanksgiving.  You can see one across the way there that just has the poles and no covering:

 

 

There's a big open field in the middle of all the teepees:

 

 

Clearly, some effort and expense went in to building this area.  But why?

 

Across the way, I could see a crane and construction under way on the other side of the fence:

 

 

Here's a zoom on that last photo:

 

 

Closer to me, I can see that there's a sign over there facing the fence and big pile of dirt:

 

 

The fence was almost touching the sign, but I could reach my arm between the fence and the sign enough to get a photo of it:

 

 

One more try:

 

 

This sign is obviously in English.  It says Indian Meadows.  I could not figure out why they built all of this and what purpose it had, and I can find nothing on Google, other than it being called a play area.  But this isn't the playground.  They have one of those.  To me, it seems like an area that would be used for scout troops and such to assemble.  But, I haven't seen anything to suggest that the Davy Crockett Ranch was ever used for such purposes.

 

The meadow part of this is probably larger than a football field:

 

 

You can see more construction going on in this photo:

 

 

There aren't a lot of trash cans around this area, but you can see one on the left in this photo:

 

 

All of this torn up area is where the multi purpose sports field shown on the map used to be.  The parking area for the village is just on the other side of this:

 

 

The amphitheater area we looked at earlier is over there past the canoe and the ditch:

 

 

There's nothing else to see here, so we're heading back over the bridge now:

 

 

You can see that they have light posts all over this area to light the pathways.  So, this area must have been used for some purpose at some time in the past:

 

 

Here's a last look at the amphitheater:

 

 

And now we're back to the side of fake Pioneer Hall, there are plenty of picnic tables along the pathway here, and the Trading Post is up there on the left hidden by all the scaffolding:

 

 

You may have noticed that I haven't posted any photos of the wildlife I saw at Davy Crockett Ranch.  That's because I didn't see any.  Not even one lousy squirrel.  Which is rather odd.  I imagine that wildlife doesn't like living in a huge construction zone, so it all cleared out.  Or, maybe it all ends up on the table next to the cold rabbit meatloaf at the buffet. 

 

I did see one critter.  Just this orange/pink slug, which was crawling on the driveway of my cabin when I got back from my final exploration:

 

 

Once back at the cabin, we got packed up and ready to head out.  The plan for today was to spend a few more hours on the Disneyland side of the park, and then turn in the rental car and hop the train to Paris.

 

We had a final indignation as we left the ranch.  Here we are stuck in construction traffic.  We all had to wait several minutes as this big construction truck came up the one-way road:

 

 

 

At least we had a scenic view while we waited.  This is what we drove past on our way to and from our cabin- this fence and the scene beyond it is between the check-in area and the cabin loops:

 

 

 

Do you think they had enough cranes?

 

Eventually, the traffic moved, and we were able to drop off our key in the drop box and leave.

 

And that's the last we saw of Davy Crockett Ranch.

 

Coming up, we will hit Disneyland Paris for a final quick visit.

 

And then it's on to Paris, where we lucked in to some nicer accommodations.

 

TCD