Saving for Disneyland, Paris

Discount_Diva_6

Thanks all for your tips! Will take them all on board.

prophecy_grrl

Hi

If you're saving for a holiday, you could join Noggin and Postingalwayspostings holiday savings challenge - am rubbish with techy stuff so can't do a link, but it's here somewhere, there's a few of us saving on there at the mo and it helps having support and motivation from others

HTH x

prophecy_grrl

sorry - stupid computer posted same thing twice - told you i'm not techy lol

savvykaz

Hi Discount Diva,

Sorry - not seen your question re. who we booked Disney with. It was Co-op travel.

Discount_Diva_6

Thank you savvykaz, they certainly were one of the cheapest companies.

pariskate

I would second the idea of staying in a non-disney hotel if the budget is all important. There are a number of chains (formule 1, novotel, comfort inn) that do very cheap rooms, basic but clean for very little (the cheapest is around 25 euros a night for a three bed room) and if you have a car it's easy. They can all be booked on line. Of course they don't have the Disney ambience - depends on what you want. Also, If you are driving the shuttle can be very cheap - we did a return journey for 44 euros once - you might have to go via the French website though?? Another thing you might consider is a day trip into Paris - the railway line is direct from Disney to the centre of Paris and takes about 40 minutes - There are cheap eats to be found and also entrance fees to museums, galleries etc. are very reasonable (everything in Paris is subsidised - it's what we pay our taxes for!).
BTW £3000 is a HUGE amount to spend here - you could almost live for two months on that!
kate

doodledo_2

We went to Disneyland Paris in October and had a fantastic time but we definately needed way more cash.

We stayed in the Dream Castle which was lovely. Its off site but has a shuttle every 10 mins and only takes about 5 mins. You can actually walk there in about 20 mins which we did a few times.

Food and drink is very expensive and there is very little choice so you can do that on the cheap.

The shops are full of Disney memorabilia which also is pretty pricey.

We went for 4 days and spent about £400 but could have spent much much more.

mrcow

We did Disneyland Paris for a week in April this year for about £200 (plus entry tickets).

We saved up Tesco vouchers and booked a caravan through Clubcard deals with Siblu at their south Paris site and just drove there (so most of the holiday was "free") We had a fab time. The site was clean and quiet although the pool was shut andwe definitely needed a car to get around. Disneyland was about a 20 minute drive away.

If money's tight....there are always other options you can look at.

Edited to say we also went to Versailles and Paris for the day. Because we were staying independently, we felt it really easy to travel. And the kids LOVED the caravan.Food was all supermarket.....so cheap as chips!

cannyscot_2

You could buy an annual pass for 2 adults and a child for about £400, stay in a formulae one -£28 a night and go on the ferry for £67. or eurostar are doing 241 from ebsfleet so £118 return. You could then have enough money to go next year again. We have been 12 times and always buy annual passes and go 2 or 3 times-stay in a cheap hotel one time/directly booked disney(discount with annual pass) or onsite hotel another. Try 1p flights ryannair (need to hire a car) , eurostar offer, or cheap ferry/tunnel.

If money is tight seems a lot to spend on a four day holiday.

Our 2 weeks in Florida in the summer is only 3100 for 5 people and even then I am only paying 210 for excess insurance cos I am paying with Tesco vouchers. .....but then I am tight ! LOL

You can go very cheaply if you do some donkey work.

RoxieW

Hi mommamoney!

great idea - we went to disneyland paris this april - (4 of us). We managed to get a really good deal as this year its kids under 7 stay and play free. but we also went at one of their off peak times - if u look in the brochure or online there are 3 different price brackets. if you can go at a cheaper time it makes a big difference!

we went for 5 days and the hotel and park tickets cost £700 - we just paid for the 2 of us as the boys were free. We stayed at the cheyenne hotel which i'd definitely recommend!! it wasn't luxurious but it was fun, clean and the rooms large and very nice. its a cowboy themed hotel and the greatest thing about it was that we didnt need to cram onto/wait for the shuttle (although they are regular) - it was a very nice 10 min walk (down a riverside) straight into the disney village. we were really happy with it. also - every day they have disney characters in the lobby so the kids are guaranteed to meet them (the queues in the park to meet characters are huge!!!!)
Breakfast was rubbish thou. but you cant have everything. tbh i found the food in general to be rubbish throughout the parks. although - in the disney village i'd recommend the steak rest as a nice treat for mum and dad, the rainforest cafe for a fun dinner and mickeys cafe to meet all the characters (they come to your table - distracting but worth it for the kids.) ALL the restaurants are overpriced mind u - worth factoring it into your budget.
Still I think you could do it for a heck of a lot less than £3000!! shop around for flights and try to coincide cheap flights with off peak disney times - thats what we did.
I'd budget £1000 for the hotel and tickets (if u have to pay for your daughter and dont go on a kids free day). I'd book through disney or cresta (they all seem about the same as they go through disney). I couldn't see any cheaper deals elsewhere (and i def looked!) As park tickets are around £25 per person per day I think this worked out great value. We got tickets for the four of us for both parks for 5 days so that alone (doing things seperately) would have cost at least £500.
We got flights for the 4 of us for about £150 through bmibaby.
We also paid £100 (for a return) for a private car from the airport. i'd recommend this. is cost double what the bus would have cost but we were straight there in 25 mins (no dropping off all and sundry or waiting around for a bus).
All in all, we had a great 5 day holiday for £1000. I'd budget about £500 - £750 spending money thou - if you want to eat out each night.
Good luck! It really is a great experience - it'll be worth the saving up!!