Disneyland Paris/EuroDisney - Questions & Answers

balletshoes

mrmajika wrote: »

Hi BalletShoes

Since you are the oracle when it comes to DLP, I thought I'd ask you my questions.

We've booked DLP for 25/02 to 01/03. My wife and I will be travelling with our 2 year old daughter (29 months).

Do you know how busy the park is during this time? I know it clashes with some mid term French breaks. I'm led to believe that it shouldn't be too bad, due to the French loving their skiing holidays during this time. Is this the case?

unfortunately i would plan for it to be busy at DLP for your whole trip - its zone b and zone c which are on school holidays, so that includes the Parisien schools. I was there at the very start of some French school holidays in February 2013 (not including zone c) and it was busier than i like, and cold. Plan your time and you'll be fine though.

If I also understand correctly, there's a nightly Dreams show? Can you confirm if there's a light / fireworks show each night, and if so, when it starts? Our little girl loves fireworks!

Dreams is on every night over the Castle in the main park, it starts at the official park closing time every evening. You stay in the park to see it, its fabulous . You can see the park hours on the official DLP site, in calendar (you can also see the ride closures for your dates there too).

Finally! Any other advice for travelling with a toddler is gratefully appreciated, although I've already had a look at the tips contained within the thread.

Many thanks in advance for any help!
:beer:

I can't help with travelling to DLP with a toddler I'm afraid, I've never done it .

balletshoes

Shambles321 wrote: »

Hi All,

I am really keen to take my 3 children to Disneyland Paris in the May half term

Our group is 2 adults, 3 children - 12, 6 and 4

I am considering driving there to keep costs down - has anyone done this and is it fairly straight forward? (Never driven abroad!)

Also I was looking at the Davvy Crockett Ranch as this seems the cheapest - does anyone know anything cheaper

I am looking at 3 nights

Any help will be appreciated :money:

Thank you in advance

I think driving would be the most convenient and cheapest way for your group to travel to DLP - I believe its very straightforward and well signposted once in France.

Both your 4 and 6 year olds would be free at the Davy Crockatt Ranch, how much is your quote for your 3 nights there? You are unlikely to get anything cheaper onsite for your party, as you are a group of 5, and most of the onsite hotel rooms are for a group of 4 maximum.

Remember this year, 29th May is the start of Ascension weekend in France, a major public holiday and one of DLP's busiest periods. So if you are planning a May half term trip, try to leave on or before 29th May.

cdsmiler

balletshoes wrote: »

I can't help with travelling to DLP with a toddler I'm afraid, I've never done it .

I first took DD with she was 2 1/2 - are there any specific things you want to know about?

Clare x

LaineyR

We're thinking about going to DLP on 29th August and could then get the 2 nights free offer and return on the 2nd September (1st day back at school is 3rd Sept).
There's just OH, me and DS (turns 7 in March), my lovely Mum is helping with the trip finances as it's a special holiday due to a bereavement.
Is going to Newport Bay a luxury too far, or are other hotels better (value, d!cor)?
Is it worth getting meal plans so we then know our leftover money?
How busy is it likely to be at that time?
Thanks for your help in advance..

balletshoes

LaineyR wrote: »

We're thinking about going to DLP on 29th August and could then get the 2 nights free offer and return on the 2nd September (1st day back at school is 3rd Sept).
There's just OH, me and DS (turns 7 in March), my lovely Mum is helping with the trip finances as it's a special holiday due to a bereavement.
Is going to Newport Bay a luxury too far, or are other hotels better (value, d!cor)?

almost every hotel in the area is better value compared with the Newport Bay this year - its at the start of a much-needed refurb that will take ages. I'd avoid it this year, if you want luxury but still value onsite go for either the Hotel New York or the Sequoia Lodge


Is it worth getting meal plans so we then know our leftover money?

No - they don't save you any money and they are restrictive. If you want to budget for your meals in advance, put the same amount you would pay for a half board meal plan, onto a prepay travelcard, then use your travelcard to pay for your meals whilst at DLP.


How busy is it likely to be at that time?
Thanks for your help in advance..

it will be busy, but its the end of the school holidays all over Europe so it won't be manic as in high high season .

LiveLoveLaugh

balletshoes wrote: »

you won't get a quote for room only onsite yet for december, its too early for expedia/eboookers etc to have those rooms for sale. To give you an idea though, usually in December they charge around £65 per room per night for the Santa Fe on expedia/ebookers (Disney themeselves are usually more expensive for room only strangely at that time of year, no idea why :rotfl:).

So for your party, you're looking at a minimum of £480 room only, before you buy annual passes. For a party of 5, with fantasy annual passes, thats going to be another £570ish including postage and joining fee for promoparcs or cemultiavantages.

If you don't think you'll visit again within the year, for your dates compared with the onsite package price you've got, i don't think its worth doing it separately.

Thanks again, I'm going to go ahead and book the quote I've had from Disney.

mrmajika

cdsmiler wrote: »

I first took DD with she was 2 1/2 - are there any specific things you want to know about?

Clare x

Thanks for the reply Clare. Not especially, just... I suppose..


What's it like with a buggy?

Is there enough to do with a child of that age?

Will she be able to go on the majority of rides?

And any other tips you think'd help.

Thanks.

mrsgreenwood_2

can someone please tell me what sort of plug adapter we would need to take? thanks

cdsmiler

mrmajika wrote: »

Thanks for the reply Clare. Not especially, just... I suppose..


What's it like with a buggy?

Not a problem at all. We took our own buggy when we took her at 2 1/2 years old. We also took a combination bike lock too for our own piece of mind. We left the pushchair outside every ride, and most of them have dedicated pushchair areas - sometimes just a small sign of a pushchair, but generally, where ever other people are leaving theirs! Don't leave anything on the buggy though - I think we left a changing bag (that had no valuables!) but everything else was in a ruck sack we took with us everytime. Easy to get around everywhere with the buggy, and decided to take our own rather than rent one because 1) we drove! So it was easy to take! and 2) I'd heard that the rental ones were quite industrial!!

Second time we went (aged 4!) she walked the first few days but as we were there all week we decided to give her (and us - only so many piggy banks and shoulder lifts!!) a break so had one of the hired ones for the day. We were int he main Disney park, where it was most useful - studios is so small it's not worth hiring one. We also managed to get one for free as we had annual passes, but you have to give quite a substantial refundable deposit, so take a credit card! They ARE more industrial, but for our 4 year old, it was great.

With your own buggy (not the hired ones as you can't take them out of the parks) you will find some of the shops in the village a bit of a squeeze - but not impossible - to navigate through. So shop earlier int he day when it's quiet - at closing time the shops are bonkers, and even worse with a buggy!!

Restaurants - some ask you to leave buggys outside, some just inside. It all depends on the restaurants.

Is there enough to do with a child of that age?
Will she be able to go on the majority of rides?

LOADS. DD wasn't scared of any of the characters, so she loved meeting them! We even queued to meet the Princesses in the Princess Pavillion - but it was SUCH a long wait!! Completely worth it as amazingly she met her current favourite princess at the time, but we had no guarantee that would happen. Second trip, and because it was her birthday, we forked out for the Princess lunch at Auberge de Centrillion. Much more civilised and she met 3 princesses, 2 of sleeping beauty's mice and a prince. But it's pricey. Cafe Mickey is more reasonable (you can share pizzas) and you get to meet 5 characters (in the Village this is) - almost always from what I see including Mickey and Minnie! There's also a few meet and greet places around the parks.

Also, she could go on everything in Fantasyland, and she was even tall enough for the lowest height restriction ride - Toy Story Parachute Drop in studios. DLRPMagic has a great page which details restrictions. http://www.dlrpmagic.com/planning/advice/ride-restrictions/ There's lots of sit down show type activities in Studios - Animagique is a definite, but she did find the motor show a bit loud. Oh and DON'T miss the parades. She loved them!! (Tip for viewing the parade - head to It's a small world and to the right of the ride it where the parade starts. GREAT place to view! Much less crowded!!) She didn't enjoy Dreams all that much but it was a long day, she was half asleep really!! Otherwise I'm sure she would - it's great!
She desperately wanted to go in the castle. We also found the sleeping dragon under the castle which she found a little bit scary, but again, use your judgement.

The rides she went on during that first trip are:
* Pirates of the Carribean
* Phantom Manor (tho the intro bit was a bit loud and scary for her, but she loved the sit down ride bit! - You know your own child as to whether they'll cope.)
* Peter Pan
* Pinocchio (bit scary though!!!)
* Snow White (like Pinocchio, surprisingly scary - concentrating on the witch more than anything else)
* It's a Small World (went on a LOT! lol)
* Carousel
* Dumbo
* Buzz Lightyear
* Studio Tram Tour
* Animagique
* Flying Carpets
* Slinky Dog
* Toy Story Parachute Drop (hint - go straight here as it has a long queue time later int he day as it's a slow loader. Not fun with a little one!)
* Cars Quatre Roues Rallye
* Stitch Live (MUST see! Look for the english language time as soon as you enter the park - tends to be around 1pm but check!)
* Motor Show

And done on our second visit that she COULD have gone on the first trip:
* Tea Cups
* Alice in Wonderland Maze
* Casey Jnr
* Le Pays des Contes de F!es
* Orbitron
* Playhouse Disney - Live on Stage!

Plus there's exploration and play areas in the adventureland area, and boat rides in frontierland...... Just the feel of the place and the magic of it all.....

And any other tips you think'd help.

Food - under 3's eat for free pretty much anywhere. So they're best off either eating off your plate, or in buffets they get proper food for free.

Changing - There's generally a baby change (if required?) in most female toilets. But there's not many and sometimes there can be queues - so take a travel change mat and find a quiet spot if there's too much of a queue!!

There's LOADS of useful stuff here: http://www.dlrpmagic.com/planning/ but have a look at the baby swap thing. If you want to go on any fast rides, this could be a useful service for you. We didn't use it as I'd been to DLP before so didn't mind not going on any of the thrill rides, and hubby doesn't like those types of rides anyway!

Best thing we did was not to rush. Made all the difference. Oh and take your own water bottles or drinky cups and use the water fountains!!

Hope that helps. Sorry it's a bit long!! Give me a shout if there's anything else specific that comes to mind!

Clare x

balletshoes

mrsgreenwood wrote: »

can someone please tell me what sort of plug adapter we would need to take? thanks

a european adaptor (a la pound shops ).