Disneyland Paris/EuroDisney - Questions & Answers

amylouv

I visited over Easter weekend using a local coach company (Gardiners NMC - North East) and couldn't have had a better time! For the price of £279pa the package was very cheap for what we got! I travelled with my boyfriend.

Something that worked exceptionally well with us was using the smartphone application. The queue times were updated very frequently, and it allows you to create an itinerary of what you want to do. On our second day in the studios the application helped us literally go from one attraction to another, without any huge queues. The only rides with queues that we did that I could complain on were Peter Pan's Flight and the Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast. We gave up on queueing for Peter Pan half an hour in but queued for about 35 minutes in the fast pass lane for Buzz Lightyear.

If you have kids, I heard that the Princess Pavillion queue was also quite a wait so it could depend on whether your child is really that interested in meeting one of the princesses, or seeing other characters around the parks.

The price of £279 included coach travel, return ferry crossing, bed and breakfast at the Novotel Marne la Vallee and a 2 day hopper ticket. I took with me 240euro and only ended up spending about 70, including meals however I believe that food in DLP can be as cheap or as expensive as you make it.

One thing I do recommend is to book while they are showing the 20th Anniversary night time show, it really made the entire trip worth it!

Vikki_74

amylouv wrote: »

Something that worked exceptionally well with us was using the smartphone application. The queue times were updated very frequently, and it allows you to create an itinerary of what you want to do. On our second day in the studios the application helped us literally go from one attraction to another, without any huge queues. The only rides with queues that we did that I could complain on were Peter Pan's Flight and the Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast. We gave up on queueing for Peter Pan half an hour in but queued for about 35 minutes in the fast pass lane for Buzz Lightyear.

Out of interest, how did you access the app whilst you were there? I'd downloaded it before we went then didn't use it because I assumed it needed constant internet access and was worried about the charges for using data on my phone abroad (and obviously there's no WiFi in the parks). Had you made arrangements for cheaper overseas data roaming or did you find it didn't actually need to connect to the Internet that much? If there's a way around the potential cost then I think it would be really useful if we ever go back.

amylouv

Vikki_74 wrote: »

Out of interest, how did you access the app whilst you were there? I'd downloaded it before we went then didn't use it because I assumed it needed constant internet access and was worried about the charges for using data on my phone abroad (and obviously there's no WiFi in the parks). Had you made arrangements for cheaper overseas data roaming or did you find it didn't actually need to connect to the Internet that much? If there's a way around the potential cost then I think it would be really useful if we ever go back.

I'm not too sure about how things would go on a contract phone as I kept mine off the entire trip just in case of high data but my boyfriend has an HTC that isn't on contract, so we picked up a Vodafone sim as it costs about £2 a day for data. It does need an internet connection to work though. However I'm sure you can organise for cheaper data roaming with your provider.

awesomesj

amylouv wrote: »

I visited over Easter weekend using a local coach company (Gardiners NMC - North East) and couldn't have had a better time! For the price of £279pa the package was very cheap for what we got! I travelled with my boyfriend.

Something that worked exceptionally well with us was using the smartphone application. The queue times were updated very frequently, and it allows you to create an itinerary of what you want to do. On our second day in the studios the application helped us literally go from one attraction to another, without any huge queues. The only rides with queues that we did that I could complain on were Peter Pan's Flight and the Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast. We gave up on queueing for Peter Pan half an hour in but queued for about 35 minutes in the fast pass lane for Buzz Lightyear.

If you have kids, I heard that the Princess Pavillion queue was also quite a wait so it could depend on whether your child is really that interested in meeting one of the princesses, or seeing other characters around the parks.

The price of £279 included coach travel, return ferry crossing, bed and breakfast at the Novotel Marne la Vallee and a 2 day hopper ticket. I took with me 240euro and only ended up spending about 70, including meals however I believe that food in DLP can be as cheap or as expensive as you make it.

One thing I do recommend is to book while they are showing the 20th Anniversary night time show, it really made the entire trip worth it!

Sounds like a great price, where did you find that? could you direct me, me and my BF have tickets but we're looking for hotel/travel

balletshoes

whereabouts in the uk are you awesome? do you have a local budget airline which flies to either CDG, Orly or Beauvais? What dates are your park tickets for?

£279 is a good price because it includes a 2-day park hopper ticket, but to be honest, thats a fairly high price (in my opinion) for an offsite hotel and transport only to DLP.

maestro2001

fairy-paige wrote: »

Hello just wondering if anyone can advise me
I am thinking of taking my family to DLP over xmas this year, (we have not been before), the price appears quite reasonable at £1,400 for 2 adults 3 kids ffor 4 nights from 24th dec? We went to florida in 2010 and are getting a bit desperate to re-do disney, but just cannot afford WDW anytime soon! and am hoping that these parks will be just as good and have enough to keep my eldest daughter 13yrs entertained as well as a 10 and 6 yr olds??
Also im a little concerned about the weather then....has anyone been this time of year, will it be far to cold/wet to fully enjoy, or will it just feel all the more xmassy? Thanks in advance

We went mid December last year and we are planning on doing the same this year. It is absolutely freezing to be honest, but once you know this you can go prepared with thermals etc and schedule in a few hot chocolate breaks. The Christmassy atmosphere is beautiful..complete with snow and Christmas carols. As long as you're prepared I don't think its too bad....and I really feel the cold. Enjoy!

awesomesj

balletshoes wrote: »

whereabouts in the uk are you awesome? do you have a local budget airline which flies to either CDG, Orly or Beauvais? What dates are your park tickets for?

£279 is a good price because it includes a 2-day park hopper ticket, but to be honest, thats a fairly high price (in my opinion) for an offsite hotel and transport only to DLP.

I'm in Luton - so very good transport routes in that respect - have the airport, can get to london easily or the coast

We have tickets for sunday 9th September - ideally we'd get the euro star but the times it leaves and return that day seem pointless to go to be honest

Our best bet is staying over night on the Saturday I guess... but not sure where would be best

balletshoes

so you only need one nights hotel on Saturday night? And you're in Luton? oh my goodness you can get there so much cheaper than £280 per person !

Get Easyjet flights for daytime on the Saturday, coming home as late as possible on Sunday. Either get the TGV high speed train from CDG to Marne la Vallee (this is the DLP train station) or a shared shuttle with rstransports. Do the TGV on the return to CDG because its by far the quickest way and you'll make the most out of your day with park tickets on Sunday. Thats your flights and transfers sorted out.

Book into one of these 5 hotels (whichever is cheapest) for Saturday night (look on trivago, travelrepublic, expedia, alpharooms, the Accor hotels website etc etc) -

Etap val d'europe marne la vallee
Ibis val d'europe marne la vallee
Resid'home Prestige
L'Elysee hotel
Adagio apartments val d'europe

incidentally, a really good way of seeing whats available in your price range for the offsite hotels for DLP is to use "disneyland paris" as your hotel location search, then sort the results into "distance". This will help you ensure you're getting the right hotels.

You don't need park tickets to go into the Village area at DLP, nor to spend time in the public areas (bars, restaurants, gift shops etc) at any of the onsite hotels, including the Disneyland Hotel. So you have loads of options for being in the Disney bubble, without being in the parks themselves, all day on Saturday .

I reckon you could get your flights, all transfers, and hotel for the both of you for less than £250 total.

(can you tell we usually fly from Luton lol).

awesomesj

Oh wow! Thanks so much for that - really helpful I'm a bit of a newbie in terms of travelling away - always relied on the parents

balletshoes

awesomesj wrote: »

Oh wow! Thanks so much for that - really helpful I'm a bit of a newbie in terms of travelling away - always relied on the parents

Its no problem at all, if I can help further with your plans (as we are also a party of 2 usually) I'm more than happy to.