Disneyland Paris/EuroDisney - Questions & Answers

babyfruitella

The weekend i'm going is a blackout to all AP's. Does that mean its likely to be busy?

iceburn

LilacPixie wrote: »

I posted here before looking for help for a trip to DLP but then found out i was pregnant so we shelved the idea but now i'm considering a trip to DLP next year.

We have a 5yo, 3yo and a 5 month old baby at the moment, we fancy a 3 night break Feb halfterm weekend so Friday10- Mon13th Feb type times. We live in Scotland so would probably fly as the idea of keeping kids contained on train to london then the eurostar is scary scary . How feesable is a disney visit with a just 1yo baby? Is February an OK time to go?? Would we be better leaving it until later in 2012?

ETA we would be wanting to stay at one of the disney hotels we think rather than somewhere in Paris

As someone brought up annual passes it might be a good idea to buy a dream annual pass. Since dream pass holder get to hire a pushchair from Disney land Paris each day which for 4 days would save you €60 in rental cost. You might get a child pass free for adult pass they do quite often. U get access to park early like hotel guests get. Have no blackout dates, and get discounts at shops, shows, hotel etc..

So probably what will work put cheaper / best in your family case is go to expedia.co.uk and book a room only at Disney land Paris hotels. Than on your first day go and buy two dream passes for adults to get two push chairs for the kids I am sure you would need. If get two free kids passes great if not buy two fantasy passes. Baby don't need pass cause under 2 years old. You can than go to Disney land Paris again later on the year (which will be a good idea since they are celebrating there 20th anniversary) but at lower cost next time cause theme park are covered. If go in month of pass holder birthday get other perks.

balletshoes

babyfruitella wrote: »

The weekend i'm going is a blackout to all AP's. Does that mean its likely to be busy?

I think your weekend is that fortunate (and rare) one where the Fantasy blackout co-incides with the 2 cheaper ones, and yet there are no public holidays in France around those dates (as far as I'm aware) - so I think your weekend will be very quiet indeed .

wendyphant

When do the christmas celebrations begin? we are looking at 8-11 for 4 nghts will we catch it ? or should we wait a week x x x

balletshoes

wendyphant wrote: »

When do the christmas celebrations begin? we are looking at 8-11 for 4 nghts will we catch it ? or should we wait a week x x x

Christmas season this year begins on 7th November . I'd avoid the 11th though, that is Armistice Day and is traditionally one of DLP's busiest park days in the whole year.

pringy

iceburn wrote: »

As someone brought up annual passes it might be a good idea to buy a dream annual pass. Since dream pass holder get to hire a pushchair from Disney land Paris each day which for 4 days would save you €60 in rental cost. You might get a child pass free for adult pass they do quite often. U get access to park early like hotel guests get. Have no blackout dates, and get discounts at shops, shows, hotel etc..

If go in month of pass holder birthday get other perks.

hi iceburn. do you know if they advertise the free kids passes on the website or anywhere else we can find out before we arrive or is it just whats offered when you go to buy them?

we go 2 weeks on monday and im so excited just planning it all, darent tell the kids yet cos they will not sleep for 2 weeks!

also, do you what kind of birthday perks do you get?

thanks very much
sharon

babyfruitella

balletshoes wrote: »

I think your weekend is that fortunate (and rare) one where the Fantasy blackout co-incides with the 2 cheaper ones, and yet there are no public holidays in France around those dates (as far as I'm aware) - so I think your weekend will be very quiet indeed .

:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T Ooooh I DO hope so! :j:j

iceburn

pringy wrote: »

hi iceburn. do you know if they advertise the free kids passes on the website or anywhere else we can find out before we arrive or is it just whats offered when you go to buy them?

we go 2 weeks on monday and im so excited just planning it all, darent tell the kids yet cos they will not sleep for 2 weeks!

also, do you what kind of birthday perks do you get?

thanks very much
sharon

About the free passes it seem if there is free 12 go free they normally do the passes for free as well. The forum couple Pages ago have people who go all the time so can tell u if free pass is available right now. They also do offers like when come renewing get 18 months for 12 months. About birthday, it's on your birthday month and current one I know is can goto buffolo show for free. Also people have got special discount at the hotel room rate cause it was there birthday month as well.

koolcat99

Hi
Just back from a long weekend at DLP Thurs-Sun and thought I would share my views on this trip.
We visited this time last year at the same time, for an extra night (4 instead of 3) I have been fortunate enough to have visited disney in Florida every year from the age of 5 to 23. Love it.
Our experience overall of disneyland paris was not as good as last year. A bit has to do with the weather, last year we had Florida style weather, this year was colder and rainier. Also the room we had in Sequonia Lodge was not up to standard as of last year but I guess thats pot luck.
I will try to give advice to those who are about to set off rather than say my complaints and comparisons to previous years.
Overall I would say the DLP is a great alternative for us as a family at the moment (my son is 3), unfortunately we are unable to take 2 consecutive weeks off work or even one at the moment that would justify the USA, The USA defffinately offers better value for money that DLP overall.

We flew both times from Scotland to Charles De Gaulle, The first time we intended to get the disney bus there and back, couldnt find the bus stop, agreed a taxi fare of 75 euros with the taxi and took the disney bus back which was around 35-40 euros (2 and under years are free), on the way the trip took around 1.5 hours due to traffic. The way back was more than stressful as the bus went via other disney hotels and was full by the time they got to ours. Our flight was delayed overnight otherwise we would have missed it This time we took the TGV. 9 Minutes from CDG airport to the gates of DLP, Under 5's are free, however for 2 adults the 9 min journey cost 82 euros return.
For the sum of 11 euros per party DPL, will take your bags to your disney hotel and vice versa its called "Disney Express" I would recomend this as its a great time / leg / stress saver. Basically you walk straight into / outof the park the minute the train pulls in yeehaa, needs to be booked in advance tho.
Toys, shops ect, :
Be prepared for any weather at all times!
So being traditional Scottish we were kitted out in shorts and t-shirt, we had other stuff at the hotel but as it was the 2nd day we were optomistic of warmish weather (or at least better than home) sadly half way through the day we were dissaponted.Rain storms and wind came. Everyone was taken by surprise and there were enormous queues in the shops for rain ponchos and umbrellas. I joined the queue unaware. 9 euros per poncho! and 37.95 for an umbrella! So please if possible come armed.
Toys in the stores seem much the same as the prices in the UK disney stores so that is not too bad, textiles, soft toys, clothing were at least double in price. Dressing up costumes were 40-60 euros, yes you can get the same "type" costumes at tesco ect at home, however the costumes were like wow nice quality, really cool,if I had a child who was into dressing up I may factor this in as a deluxe purchase splashing out ect, especially if you would think they would get ware out of it again.
Eating out! well this is the least MSE friendly activity at DLP. This is really expensive everywhere you turn. Unless you can somehow find a way of bringing food in from the UK... Keeping it fresh for the duration, and err enjoying, I would say it would be difficult.
There are a few budget options. Earl of Sandwich, Macdonalds, Casino supermarket inside the station are the top three low cost options. The main problem is this however.... You are there for a limited time, most likely with kids, unless you run marathons regularly, I would say probably your legs, feet ect will be killing you, and the thought of these far off eateries out of the question...
Its a fine balance.
Character meals : We really enjoy the character meals and are willing to splash out. Last year we did the buffet at the entrance to fronteire land, as far as I could make out there are no characters there any more, its just a straight farward buffet, we also did cafe mickey on both occasions. If you want an example of price on cafe mickey the best "value" is the set meals "fixed prix" 18.90euros for kids and 34euros for adults will get you a main, desert and soft drink. The food is mediocre, much as you would expect from a pub meal for a tenner a head in the UK at best. The entertainment however is what you are paying for and is worth its weight in gold.
A better alternative we found though on the last day was a new character option, the BBQ cook out in frontierland. Basically a fast food restraunt with the characters present, at 26euros pp for a take away fast food meal its not cheap, but we found the portions big so we paid "only" 52 euros for 3, and there was more than enough food to go around. We arrived at 11.30 which is opening time and till after 12 there was only us and a couple of other familys in the place
this meant that all the characters outnumbered the kids and oh god they had a ball, dancing and 100% attention, it was fab. The characters there were Woody, Goofy, Pluto, Minnie and Mickey. I would reccomend this above cafe Mickey.
Ok goodnight, if anyone has any questions I can try to answer,:beer:

hersheys

Thank you very much to all who replied, especially iceburn and blue monkey. Sorry I have been so busy that I have not had time till now to post again.
I am thinking of booking Cafe Mickey but I am not sure whether lunch or dinner is better? How much time do we allot for a character meal like in Cafe Mickey? I was thinking if lunch would be better because there seems so be a lot of events/activities in the evenings like the parade and fireworks etc. Are other reasonably priced fastfood joints like McDonalds and Earl of Sandwich far from the park? Till what time are the fastfood joints open? I was wondering if we should do the character meals at lunch then fastfood for dinner or the other way around? Any advice would be appreciated.
Also, if we book for a birthday cake and could not finish it, are we allowed to leave it with them and collect later on? Or do we have to bring a suitable container for it? Is it best to have the birthday cake at the same time we have the character meal like in Cafe Mickey?
Thanks again.