Disneyland Paris - 1st Holiday 1st Time There

ukfan

I would never recommend a first time visitor to go during October half term. We had fantastic weather, but couldn't justify the insane waits for anything. As a seasoned guest you don't mind, but for a first-timer it's no fun. The only thing we bothered with one of the days was getting the kids hair done for hallowe'en and we queued over an hour for that!

The decorations are fun, but IMHO slightly ruin Main Street in particular, so again I'd recommend a first time guest avoid Hallowe'en so they can see Main St without splodges of orange "paint".

The extra entertainment on the other hand is fab, but IMHO does not outway the crowding and dubious (in parts) decoration.

I think I would bite the bullet and go in the summer.

Brummig

I'd definately on hiring a pushchair, or if you do go in summer and you little can stay in for evenings magic hours, you will generally find lots abandoned around the park. When we went in the summer we were in for 8am ish, would have a drink/ snack at about 11.30 so were seated before the lunchtime rush, go back on few rides while quieter at lunchtime, have some chilling out time in the afternoon, then eat about 4.30 (we like Pirates of the Carribean restaurant - as the kids can watch the boats go past while you eat, it's calmer than many, and you can go straight round onto the ride afterwards). We then wandered back through cramming in as many rides as we can (with our son its all about rides!), using the abandoned pushchair we found on the way as we were all getting tired legs by then!

We go by car so have more space, but another good tip is take some juice to dilute as you can't get it over there! Many of the hotels have kettles in them, or you can rent one - don't know about anyone else, but coffee on waking is a must! Take a small tub of coffee from home and a spoon, buy a cool Disney mug when you get there! All the hotel shops sell milk or you can get it at the Esso garage.

brook_son

hi try www.thedibb.co.uk it has great tips on DLP we are going this year at Easter I work in a college so have school holidays ( I am support staff) I have managed to arrange that I can have the 1st off and pay the day back as by going 1 day early we save £430 - could not believe it. we have been a few times (but its been a while) I have always found it better to get the package from the Disney website then book up travel seperate - you get great offers for Feb halfterm but a big gamble on the weather.

lizziebums

Thanks for all the replies (sorry not been on sooner techinical problems this week lol) - I hadn't seen the Q&A thread so that is useful !

Thats the trouble with school holidays as for my daughter its not a problem yet but for me it is although I have found out in our school if you go a whole term with no sickness you get a half day owed in holiday to take so just need to check if I build this up can I save them and use them next year as was thinking either next easter hols or the may half term like suggested as it will be first time abroad for her I actually don't want to go when too hot.

Are the deals they advertise such as under 7 frees etc as good as sound? If only going 3/4 days is it worth the extra money to stay in a disney hotel?

Def going to invest in a portable dvd as keep thinking about it anyway for car journeys to caravans in uk! I will def make use of the money saving tips with food and drink as hate paying over the odds for essentials?

My parents, brother and girlfriend actually saying now they'll come with me so thats good - do any of the disney hotels cater better for bigger groups as now potentially there will be 5 adults and 3 children?

Do you mean get package for hotel direct and then organise own eurostar etc?

Are the french school holidays the same then roughly? Not that it will make much difference I expect.

I know its ages away but I am so excited hehehe x

ukfan

For a first time visit I usually recommend that guests stay on-site as it adds to the fun and gives the full experience. I'm taking 3 of my nephews for the first time this year and I'm planning to stay in a disney hotel (they want to stay at Davy Crockett). There are some great options nearby, I've stayed in all of the Disney affiliated hotels (the ones you can book through Disney, but aren't owned by Disney) except for the Dream Castle and they are all good to excellent in varying degrees.

For 8 people your options are really either 2 rooms somewhere or either the Explorer's or the Adagio Aparthotel which has apartments that sleep up to 9. Both have a free shuttle, but the Explorer's is quite a bit closer. I actually prefer the Adagio.

French holiday dates are roughly the same except that they get 2 weeks in Feb and none in May so May isn't a bad time to go. I was looking at prices for this may for a friend and found them quite expensive, but with things like the Eurostar if you book early you'll get a cheaper price so it pays to be ahead of the game. You could look at booking the whole thing with Eurostar as they tend to be quite competitive.

smnb08

im really wanting to return to dlp this year.
went in october 2008 during halloween and it was fab!!
i really want to go for xmas period but everyone is putting me off saying it is sooooo cold.
when i was there before it rained everyday bar one but we didnt let that bother us one bit however i know being cold is a different thing all together.
is it much colder there than it would be here?
also does anyone know when you can book through disney for xmas stays?
and how much more expensive is it?

Rachie_B

smnb08 wrote: »

im really wanting to return to dlp this year.
went in october 2008 during halloween and it was fab!!
i really want to go for xmas period but everyone is putting me off saying it is sooooo cold.
when i was there before it rained everyday bar one but we didnt let that bother us one bit however i know being cold is a different thing all together.
is it much colder there than it would be here?
also does anyone know when you can book through disney for xmas stays?
and how much more expensive is it?

very cold! you need ski wear etc ! some people love the xmas season but for me the enjoyment was taken out of it with the queues and crowds and cold! and we are used to weekends / school holidays,as that's the only time we can go,but that was summat else! lol If you can go midweek and towards the start of xmas season it will be slightly less busy

ukfan

Rachie_B wrote: »

very cold! you need ski wear etc ! some people love the xmas season but for me the enjoyment was taken out of it with the queues and crowds and cold! and we are used to weekends / school holidays,as that's the only time we can go,but that was summat else! lol If you can go midweek and towards the start of xmas season it will be slightly less busy

I don't know when you went, but the year I went I wore no different to what I would have worn at home (hat, gloves, scarf etc.) - certainly not skiwear. It was quite wet, but then that's a problem any time of the year. I've been soaked in August!

I know that December weekends are very busy now, but we were pleasantly surprised by how quiet it was. I went to the Magic Kingdom in Orlando on Xmas day one year and I've never seen crowds like it, it was actually quite scary at times so I guess it's relative, but I found Hallowe'en MUCH busier that Christmas at DLP.

Rachie_B

we went 2 wkends before Xmas,in 2008

we found a wkend at Xmas much much much busier than Oct half term ( halloween)

and yes ski wear was def needed,well by the children anyway ( with thermal base layer too )
us adults just wore layers and a ski type jacket.
but OMG my legs / bum were freezing and I had tights and 2 pairs socks on under my jeans lol !

saw some children waiting for the shuttle,with just normal coats on and no gloves etc,and they were crying must have been frozen the poor things

tired AND cold is not a good combo at any time / place!

ukfan

Rachie_B wrote: »

we went 2 wkends before Xmas,in 2008

we found a wkend at Xmas much much much busier than Oct half term ( halloween)

and yes ski wear was def needed,well by the children anyway ( with thermal base layer too )
us adults just wore layers and a ski type jacket.
but OMG my legs / bum were freezing and I had tights and 2 pairs socks on under my jeans lol !

saw some children waiting for the shuttle,with just normal coats on and no gloves etc,and they were crying must have been frozen the poor things

tired AND cold is not a good combo at any time / place!

I was talking about actually being there over Christmas and not in one of the weekends before. I'm going back a few years now though and I know that the parks are getting busier in December. I was there for a weekend last December and it was busy, but still not as busy as being there over Hallowe'en 3 or 4 years ago.