Disneyland Paris/EuroDisney - Questions & Answers

meer53

We've stayed at the Santa Fe before. We were there this week last year. No problems making loads of sarnies at breakfast, no one questions you and everything was fresh, ham, cheese, rolls, fruit etc, just remember to take some sandwich bags with you. Our room was quite a walk from reception, down by the river but it was lovely and warm. Too warm some evenings, we had to turn the radiator off ! No problems with the shower, towels changed and beds made every day, the room was spotless. We saw most of the characters there too. I would recommend it (but prefer Florida of course, DLP doesn't compare at all) We've been to DLP twice now and enjoyed both trips, first was to Movenpick Dream Castle Hotel but i preferred Santa Fe.

ben9090

Hi

Its the first time at Disney with kids 4 & 1 so just wanted to ask a few questions from people that have been before.

We're looking at early December for ideally 3 nights/4 days but some excellent deals on 2 nights/3 days at the moment.

1) Does it take long to check in? What time can you arrive? If you book with Disney do you get the park tickets on the day or can they send them in advance? Its just that if we only go for 3 days I dont want to lose half of the first morning queuing to check in, getting tickets etc and then loose the morning of the last day packing & checking out. We would then miss both of the extra magic hours times on 2 of 3 days. Can I arrive at 7am and get the tickets etc then so we can arrive at the park at 8am?

2) Can I book the charachter lunches/dinners on arrival? We want to have a good think what we want to do so done really want to commit on booking.

3) Is car parking close to all the hotels? We are thinking of Sequoia lodge.

4) Do you think 3 days at the parks with young kids is enough or would we really benefit with a 4th day? I think the extra day/night was another £150+ so quite a bit more.

Thanks for your advice

Ben

bestpud

ben9090 wrote: »

Hi

Its the first time at Disney with kids 4 & 1 so just wanted to ask a few questions from people that have been before.

We're looking at early December for ideally 3 nights/4 days but some excellent deals on 2 nights/3 days at the moment.

1) Does it take long to check in? What time can you arrive? If you book with Disney do you get the park tickets on the day or can they send them in advance? Its just that if we only go for 3 days I dont want to lose half of the first morning queuing to check in, getting tickets etc and then loose the morning of the last day packing & checking out. We would then miss both of the extra magic hours times on 2 of 3 days. Can I arrive at 7am and get the tickets etc then so we can arrive at the park at 8am?

2) Can I book the charachter lunches/dinners on arrival? We want to have a good think what we want to do so done really want to commit on booking.

3) Is car parking close to all the hotels? We are thinking of Sequoia lodge.

4) Do you think 3 days at the parks with young kids is enough or would we really benefit with a 4th day? I think the extra day/night was another £150+ so quite a bit more.

Thanks for your advice

Ben

I don't know if you can get tickets in advance, but there is nothing stopping you booking into the hotel early and getting your park tickets before the park opens. You can leave your luggage in the baggage hold at the hotel, or in the car if you're ok with that and return for your room key later.

You can book character lunches while there, but the Christmas season is very busy and you may not get the time you want. Are you going midweek, or weekend?

Each hotel has its own car park, so no problem there.

Personally, 3 nights is our minimum stay and we only have the one child. That's a personal thing though as others will tell you the parks can be done in two days.

With littlies, you will want to make sure you get a good spot for the parades and that means getting there early, so you can easily add an hour onto the parade times. Plus it's a bit mad when they finish, so you won't go anywhere fast if you're in the middle of the crowd.

Then there is general time spent looking for characters. They accumulate in certain areas at different times and it can be a case of hanging around and seeing who can spot them first. That's half the fun IMO!

Character meals can take a while too - we were in cafe mickey for three hours and it felt like 3 minutes!

I guess it depends how much you want to soak up the atmosphere. If you are only interested in the rides and parades, and youre organised, then you can easily do it in three days, but if you want time to stop and let the children take it all in, I'd get the extra night.

I'm not sure if that helps or not! It's very subjective!

ETA: Just checked our confirmation letter and there is nothing to indicate you can't pick up your park tickets early in the day.

As for checking out: you can leave your bags in the hotel and check out is just a case of handing in your key, unless you've had things charged to your room key. I'd get there very early, or do the early magic hours and then return, as reception is often very busy between 8 and 10am.

kr15snw

O.k, not sure were I'm going wrong but just don't seem to be able to get as good a deal as others are getting!!

We're looking at going in May (probably 3rd week) for a 3 night midweek trip (could go for a 4th if we can get a good enough deal).

I've looked at flights from Luton and they appear to be the same price as the Eurostar, but everyone else seems to be going on the Eurostar?

Because of the hassle of getting to St Pancreas, getting to Luton is actually a lot easier for us!

Looking at hotels I seem to be paying top whack and even transfer from the airport to the park seem stupidly expensive!

the cheapest I've worked out so far for flights, 2 day entry, transfer and 3 nights was about £500! Is this normal? Lol.

bestpud

kr15snw wrote: »

O.k, not sure were I'm going wrong but just don't seem to be able to get as good a deal as others are getting!!

We're looking at going in May (probably 3rd week) for a 3 night midweek trip (could go for a 4th if we can get a good enough deal).

I've looked at flights from Luton and they appear to be the same price as the Eurostar, but everyone else seems to be going on the Eurostar?

Because of the hassle of getting to St Pancreas, getting to Luton is actually a lot easier for us!

Looking at hotels I seem to be paying top whack and even transfer from the airport to the park seem the cheapest I've worked out so far for flights, 2 day entry, transfer and 3 nights was about £500! Is this normal? Lol.

A few have booked under the 50% off and under 12s free offer so that may be giving a false impression.

Prices will also rise as the weather improves.

Have you checked there isn't school holidays (UK or other countries) on the dates you are looking at?

Nara

Guys a couple of quick questions?

Can you only book through the Disney site using a credit card? (if so will you get charged extra as it seems they charge u in euros?)

What kind of currency do you take with you for spending money? Cash/Credit Card/Debit card?

I'm wondering if i need to apply for a credit card both for paying for the holiday and spending once we get there!

As you can see i have only been abroad once in my life a long time ago and i have no idea!

balletshoes

ben9090 wrote: »

Hi

Its the first time at Disney with kids 4 & 1 so just wanted to ask a few questions from people that have been before.

We're looking at early December for ideally 3 nights/4 days but some excellent deals on 2 nights/3 days at the moment.

1) Does it take long to check in? What time can you arrive? If you book with Disney do you get the park tickets on the day or can they send them in advance? Its just that if we only go for 3 days I dont want to lose half of the first morning queuing to check in, getting tickets etc and then loose the morning of the last day packing & checking out. We would then miss both of the extra magic hours times on 2 of 3 days. Can I arrive at 7am and get the tickets etc then so we can arrive at the park at 8am?

if you book an onsite hotel with Disney you get park tickets included for both your arrival day and your departure day ie you can use them from 8am on arrival day, until park close time on your departure day. You can arrive at 7am and get your park tickets - you will even get your room key if your room is ready . It shouldn't take longer than about 20 minutes maximum to check in, if there is a queue of folk checking in at the same time as you are. As long as you haven't charged anything to your room, checkout just involves you packing, make sure you've not left anything in your room, and taking your room key to reception, where there is a drop-box to put your key in. Thats it, job done. Take your luggage to your car if you're driving, or to the free luggage store at your hotel, and go enjoy your last day in the parks.

2) Can I book the charachter lunches/dinners on arrival? We want to have a good think what we want to do so done really want to commit on booking.

yes, you can either do this at your hotel reception, or at City Hall in the main park.

3) Is car parking close to all the hotels? We are thinking of Sequoia lodge.

each hotel has its own car park - once you have parked your car you don't need to use it again to reach the parks, as each hotel also has its own free shuttle bus running pretty much every 5-10 minutes all through the day and evening until nearly midnight.

4) Do you think 3 days at the parks with young kids is enough or would we really benefit with a 4th day? I think the extra day/night was another £150+ so quite a bit more.

if you get a full 3 days, or near enough, in low season, midweek, you'll manage fine on your 3 days for a first visit .

Thanks for your advice

Ben

Enjoy - we got back from DLP last night, had a great time as always .

balletshoes

kr15snw wrote: »

O.k, not sure were I'm going wrong but just don't seem to be able to get as good a deal as others are getting!!

We're looking at going in May (probably 3rd week) for a 3 night midweek trip (could go for a 4th if we can get a good enough deal).

I've looked at flights from Luton and they appear to be the same price as the Eurostar, but everyone else seems to be going on the Eurostar?

Because of the hassle of getting to St Pancreas, getting to Luton is actually a lot easier for us!

Looking at hotels I seem to be paying top whack and even transfer from the airport to the park seem stupidly expensive!

the cheapest I've worked out so far for flights, 2 day entry, transfer and 3 nights was about £500! Is this normal? Lol.

I fly from Luton because when I add travelling to London or Ashford it works out more expensive for me to go by Eurostar, and I get to DLP earlier flying from Luton than the Eurostar does.

Are you looking at onsite hotels? I usually find that May and June visits to DLP are too expensive onsite, so I stay at one of the associated hotels (Kyriad, Explorers, Magic Circus or Dream Castle). These can be booked through lots of agents online.

We've just come back, had 3 nights at the Dream Castle for one adult, one child for £140 total. Flights were £106 total, return transfers £59 total. I do budget for up to £60 per night for the hotel though usually. Flights and transfers I usually find are about the same price every trip. You would have park tickets to add to that - I bought annual passes this time because we were in the parks for 5 days this time, and I know we'll be returning next June, so will get the value from them.

balletshoes

Nara wrote: »

Guys a couple of quick questions?

Can you only book through the Disney site using a credit card? (if so will you get charged extra as it seems they charge u in euros?)

no, you can use a debit card too - but they still charge a debit/credit card fee either way. You don't get charged anything extra - and on the UK version of the DLP site you see the price in pounds, and are charged in pounds.

What kind of currency do you take with you for spending money? Cash/Credit Card/Debit card?

all of the above - but I haven't used my credit card at DLP for a good couple of years. There are atms in the parks and the Village if you need to withdraw cash with your debit card.

I'm wondering if i need to apply for a credit card both for paying for the holiday and spending once we get there!

As you can see i have only been abroad once in my life a long time ago and i have no idea!

you can use your debit card to withdraw cash at DLP, and also for booking your trip. I take cash euros for my spending money, and my debit card just in case I might run out of money (but it hasn't happened yet ).

schofield8883

Hi went to dlp a few weeks ago in half term have to say it was brillant!
We went on a sun holiday to le chine gris for 4 nights went to the park for 2 days which was plenty of time. Watched all the shows which were fantastic and a huge hit with both children (4 and 1). Went on Its a small world far many times than is healthy and q'd no longer than 15minutes. There are so many characters about and even watched the mad hatter hanging about the maze and teacups. We also saw the villans which were bit scary for the little ones but we went and saw jack skellington and he spoke to my 4 year old for about 5minutes about halloween and was really nice my son came away really loving him.
The toy story land wasnt there when i went last and was also great, they had the toy soldiers at one point playing games with the children. Really recomend Animagique even my one year old was glued to it! Playhouse disney also a hit. HAve to say was glad i didnt buy the autograph albums though because the characters looked a bit fed up signing there name hundreds of times and when we saw mickey he was asking the people with no books to go first. We took packed lunches both days as we took the car, parking was 15 euros parked quite low down (the carpark was never nearly full) and enjoyed going on the escalators to the park. Didnt eat the packed lunches either day for lunch but did get eaten when we finished for tea saving oon cooking. Ate at Pizza planet and was really nice for kids in there day1 we had to q to get in no longer than 15minutes and day 2 went straight in does look like it gets busy at 2.30ish but still not long waits for food. they have a salad bar on one side and the heated areas are pasta and spag bol, pizza but is repeated so if you get your plate and get salad and go the the left of theheating plate you get the same food as everyone who is in the q on the right. ulimited drinks and the puddings were very yummy! cost 44 euros for 2 adults and 1 child (didnt have to pay for 1 year old) also have a very nice play area for kids to play while you finish eating.

Got tickets for 30 euros a day for 2 parks each and im glad as i saw everyone else paying full price! re spending money we took our own drinks bought the disney presents for kids beforre we set off in england and ate out both days and spent 44 on meal+ 15 parking that was it.
Sorry for long post but really enjoyed it. Glad we stayed off site we were 15minutes away which is one junction on moterway and meant we could stay longer and spend time doing other things!