Saving for Disneyland, Paris

mommamoney

I have decided to try and save some money and see if we (my daughter, my partner and myslef) can get to disneyland Paris by March next year. We have about £40 saved already. Money is really tight at the moment, but I think if we pull in our belts even tighter we may be able to do it. I think £3000 would be enough for us to stay there for 4 days with spending money etc. I am really looking forward to saving and I am determined to do it! This would be our first proper holiday. All our others were either visiting relatives or paid for by relatives. I am not complaining but it would be nice to be able to do something for ourselves for a change. We are useless with things like this. I am going to pay the 'savings' into my daughters saving account, that way I will not spend it, her name on the account would just make us feel too guilty;).

We have started a loose change jar which is nearly full. I have a greasy palm and a cashbag account. I will do the majority of my christmas shopping online to make sure I am getting cash back too.

Are there any money making from the internet ideas that anyone can recommend. Cashback sites etc. I started doing these cash back sites years ago but there seems to be loads appearing now. Who are the best? Any that you can make alot from without purchases, who would you recoomend. I am also going to start selling on ebay again.

I think the main reason I posted this post is to show myslef I am determined to do it!!!

Take care everyone

Look after the pennies as well as the ££££'s;)

Toto

Start saving up your tesco vouchers, you can use the points for deals and I'm sure you can do disneyland paris through one of the travel agents on there. Look out for the extra points codes on the voucher board. I think you'll find you won't need £3000, 5 of us went to disneyworld florida for 12 days in feb and it cost just under £5,000 including food and spending money. So, 3 people for 4 days in Paris should be do-able for £1000.

mkbean

3k is loads, i would think you'd do it for 1k

tyllwyd

We went to Disneyland a couple of years ago for five days - can't remember how much we spent but it certainly wasn't as much as £3000! We stayed in one if the cheaper on site hotels and weren't too impressed - next time I think I'd look at staying in a Holiday Inn nearby. Why not have a look at the reviews on Ciao to see if you can pick up any tips on do's and don'ts

angelavdavis

Have a look over on the travel forum for tips on Disney:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search.html?searchid=14055593

In addition, as suggested, use Tesco clubcard points and also quidco gives up to 4% cashback if you book Eurostar or Disneyland Paris itself.

Also, check what interest rate your daughter will get for the account - if necessary - open a better rate account to save in. I would also ensure that the account is definitely not attracting tax on the interest as your daughter shouldn't be paying tax.

lwt2006

Hey there, we went to Disneyland Paris in July 2006 (school hols)- 2 adults and 2 children over 7 for around £1000. Self catering in their Davy Crockett ranch accommodation, so food extra. We also drove/ferry (very tiring) because I don't like flying or fancy Eurostar.

I recall all prices were around this figure though.

sylviemylove

Hi I agree you can do it much cheaper.

I took 12 of my family a couple of years ago. We stayed at the Holiday Inn which was really nice and has themed rooms which pleased the kids. also they do a complementary shuttle service to take you 1 mile (ish) to the park. When we walked we really enjoyed the exercise and discovered a garage selling reasonably priced snacks to avoid using room service or restaurant for those things.

You could also get cereal bars and juice to avoid expensive buffet breakfasts that kids never get the moneys worth from anyway!!! That way you could justify eating out in the evenings each day. (the pirates of the carribean cafe is great, good food and pretty good value, but its worthwhile booking during the day for that evening as its popular.

Flights from manchester are reasonable and there are buses to take you straight to the park from the airport.

Be aware that you are charged a small amount per night for I think tax, which can add up.

Good luck, I think its great to have an aim! :j

abbiedabbie

We went to disneyland Paris last year stayed at the holiday inn at disney with free 5 minute shuttle bus for 3 people inc breakfast - massive bed and bunkbeds with curtain around(theme room) was £161 for 3 nights, flights were £30 each return and the passes, well they are quite expensive, had a great time though.

mommamoney

Wow, I wasn't expecting this much advice. It's brilliant. I have been a reader of the forums for a long time a registered user for a year, but I had never posted untill today, am glad I did now. Thanks all!
Well I wasn't sure if 3k would be enough! Everyone I have spoken to about this says it's a very expensive holiday. I was just going by what others said.
So around £1,500 should pay for holiday and spends do you think? How much are the passes. I know there are a lot of good looking deals around at the moment, but I never have the money at the right time lol!!
Thanks again all

pipkin71

Good luck with your plans mommamoney.

I took my DDs last year and spent around £2000. That was with our meals pre-booked - evening meal at Planet Hollywood, Character lunches and the breakfast included in the hotel price. My DDs had a great time.

It took us over a year to save, and we're hoping to go again in 2009, so it will be pennies in a pot for us too, in order to save.

Best wishes

Pipkin xxxx

kizzykizzywizzy

I actually booked mine through the disneyland paris site itself, it was £400 odd for 2 adults 2 children, with passes, 3 nights, 4 days in park, i think, as at the time it was free kids, we went in march on eurostar,as staying at a disney hotel luggage was taken to the hotel for you, so you can go straight to the park from the eurostar, stayed at Santa Fe hotel, handy for the parks but a bit basic, you do get breakfast included though & Characters are often in the Lobby for photos etc ( with an orderly short queue ), we found in the park that the queues for characters were horrendous & if no queueing system, kids were being pushed out of the way by adults!!
If you think you can get £3000 I would go to Florida, even if it's just for a week, great weather, cheaper food, friendly people, much more to see & do, you may not even need that much money, if you're careful, buy hopper passes from Keith prowse etc, you can use for Disney world, Epcot, MgM, blizzard beach water park, typhoon lagoon water park, work out really cheap. We went for 3 weeks May 2005 hardly any queues & the best holiday we've ever had, trouble is now want to go back!!