A Review of Disney Paris in the (so-called) off season

First, tour guides will tell you that Disney Paris is always packed, and there's never an off season. We visited France's Happiest Place on Earth on a Friday in September, so we were bracing for some really long lines, heavy crowds, etc. We were pleasantly surprised. Here are a few highlights:

1) Lines were easy, and even non-existent at some rides. There were  a few sets of lines in the smaller Hollywood Studios, but for the most part, we walked on nearly every ride in less than 10-15 minutes. That doesn't even happen with a Fast Pass in the U.S. anymore!

2) Some things are VERY Parisian. For example, the Autopia ride was almost an exact copy of driving in Paris. Backed-up, bumper-to-bumper traffic after only a short minute or two of free lanes (no joke, I had to get a picture to prove it!) We sat in Disney traffic for 5 minutes of the 6 minute ride! When we got off, I complained, and the ride operators said: "Do you want to go again?" Sit in traffic again? no thanks.

3) Many of the rides are better. Space Mountain is an obvious upgrade to the Cali and Flori fare. The Indiana Jones ride was a basic roller coaster in the same vein as the Mullholland Madness ride at California Adventure. Buzz Lightyear actually has the secret spots and point earning potential that the California version does (and that the Florida one lacks).  Big Thunder Mountain is just as crickity, but I'm certain it goes through an under water tunnel at one point. And the Nemo/Crush ride is above and beyond superior to the snore-fest that is the Nemo ride at Epcot.  Star Tours, however, is lame (as it's the 1980's version of the ride) and the Tea Cups they've obviously tightened the screws a bit making it nearly impossible to get the cups spinning at a nauseating rate. The Haunted Mansion was flat out lame. There weren't even any ghosts in your carriage to "follow you home"...instead we all stared at ourselves in the mirrors as we passed by them to end the ride.

4) Everything is in French. Yep, though they do translate some of it into English too.

A big highlight for our trip was getting Amadeus over his absolute fear of rides. We pushed him a little too fast a few years back in Florida, so this time around, Curls gave him some options, and he chose to go on Big Thunder Mountain. He ended up loving it.