Family Trip to Disneyland Paris - help please!

RACHIE77

Hi there,

I don't really know where to begin searching as there seem to be a large number of options available to get to Disneyland Paris. We are hoping to go in the next couple of months and i'm not sure whether to book the hotels/flights/train etc individually or book a package deal?

Some rough details about the trip are as follows:

Depart: Southampton

Passengers: 7 adults (includes one disabled (mobility problems) + 1 child + 2 infants

We would prefer to stay on the park due to the small children and my elderly grandad and also flying may be easier than trains or boats for the same reason... Would prefer to depart southampton airport but would consider gatwick, heathrow or bournemouth. Will probably have to make it a long weekend (not ideal i know)

Can anyone advise?

RACHIE77

Guess no one had any ideas, i've booked it now tho thanks.

Any tips for the park itself??

telly-addict

Sorry you didn't get any tips before you booked!

A few things that just pop into my head!

If you are a large group, consider getting walkie talkies so you can split up. This is quite often done in the US and whilst Disneyland PAris isn't as big, your grandad might not want to be with the children all the time, or whatever.

Plan which rides you want to do first. Use Fastpass. Now assuming some of your party won't want/be able to ride all the fastpass rides, you can still use their park tickets to get fastpasses for others to use.

Do the baby switch if you have small children. This means one adult rides with the child and the other parent waits near to where the ride ends, rather than queueing. After the first parent rides, they swap and ride with the child, who gets two goes. Speak to the attendants at the rides and they will tell you where to stand. Just say you want to do the baby switch/swap.

Get in early if you have early entry with your Disney hotel. Be there at opening time anyway to get a head start on the rides!

Have fun! If you can find this book: Unofficial Guide to Disneyland Paris by Bob Sehlinger it has loads of tips, it may be out of print.

haziec

If you have a disabled person with you, go to Guest Services before you go into the park, they will give you a pass to help you get onto the rides easier, you will go through a separate entrance in some cases which may cut down waiting times. At the Lion King show theres no need to queue for tickets just go and see them at the door. Have a wonderful time, we went for my birthday in March. The Disneyland Hotel has a great restaurant - Inventions with Characters, bit pricey but lovely food. Hope you all have a brilliant time, and I'm sorry I've only just seen your post!

mad_cash_cow

Hi!
I've got a similar question to Rachie77:-
2 adults & 2 children (4&7) to spend a day at the theme park at the beginning of August. We've got our crossing booked, but not sure how to get the best deal to get into the park.
Is it best to find a package with hotel accom (we are intending to do a couple of days sightseeing in Paris & a day at Disneyland before heading off camping)?
Is it the same price to buy tickets "on the gate" as it would be to book in advance over the net?
Has anyone spotted any discount vouchers etc (I'm riddled with ones for LegoLand- surely Disneyland does the same thing??)
What's a "fastpass??

So much to find out & so little time to do it

Thanks!!

telly-addict

I'm just going out the door - definitely check out the prices directly through Disney, via website. I have found them much cheaper than Cresta, Paris Travel Service etc. Discount Disney tickets are dodgy, never seen any in France but in US usually linked to a timeshare demo.
Fastpass is a free ticket that guarantees you get on the ride at a set time - an hour period. So instead of waiting for an hour, go and get your fastpass and come back later.

Will post later - I love Disney!!

haziec

We spent 2 nights at the Disneyland Hotel, they had a free kids offer on then, the passes were included as well as a character breakfast each day. We booked through Thomson Holidays and booked our flights ourself (using our airmiles!) This was about the cheapest I could find it. Have a wonderful time.

telly-addict

Disney offer a hotel and ticket package, they include the off-site non Disney hotels as well. We have stayed at the Newport Beach hotel which is the top end of mid-range, in my opinion. Also the Holiday Inn which is basically next door to the Explorers, Movenpick Dream Castle and another new hotel, all about 5 mins from the Disney parking lot. Both were really nice, although the food is pricey, my only down side of Disneyland Paris. I notice that Lastminute.com are also offering Disney hotels too, not sure how they compare price wise.
If you only have a day, maximise your time by getting there in advance of opening (times are on their website) to get your ticket, and have a look on the website for any rides you must do. Do these first and use Fastpass if you want a second go on them, or indeed a first go on popular rides. Personally I would skip the Studios if you are only there for a day, it's not so good for small children, IMO. And you don't want to pay for two admissions and not get your money's worth.
Consider a break at lunchtime to leave the park (get your hand stamped!), have a sit down in the hotel and perhaps a swim. Then go back in to enjoy the afternoon/evening. This way you will be refreshed rather than burning out at 5pm! This is a tip often recommended for Walt Disney World in US and it is worth following if you plan a big day in the park.
You can buy park tickets at Disney Stores in the UK, I think, probably the only difference is in the exchange rate, and if it is busy you won't have to hang around waiting to get your tickets. Also available at the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone.

isayoldchap

RACHIE77 wrote:

Hi there,

I don't really know where to begin searching as there seem to be a large number of options available to get to Disneyland Paris. We are hoping to go in the next couple of months and i'm not sure whether to book the hotels/flights/train etc individually or book a package deal?

Some rough details about the trip are as follows:

Depart: Southampton


Passengers: 7 adults (includes one disabled (mobility problems) + 1 child + 2 infants

We would prefer to stay on the park due to the small children and my elderly grandad and also flying may be easier than trains or boats for the same reason... Would prefer to depart southampton airport but would consider gatwick, heathrow or bournemouth. Will probably have to make it a long weekend (not ideal i know)

Can anyone advise?

Is by Eurostar.We go from Ashford and all the luggage is taken care of by the disney hotel.The train stops right outside the park.In no time at all we go straight into the park and have fun.Oh and when we return home the baggage is ready for us to collect.Have fun if you go by plane...yuk

cathryn01

We went to Disney in March, spent 4 days in the parks. Queued one morning for an hour to get Lion King tickets, then when we went for show in afternoon, we found we could sit in restaurant, Cafe Hyperion, above the seating area with a view of the stage at a balcony table. There are ramps for access for wheel chairs. So we had lunch while watching the lion king, my 2 year old absoloutely loved that! Although, my tip would be if you are going to eat from there, start queueing for your food at least 20 minutes before show starts, maybe more. They are unbelievably slow and customer service is not one of their good points. Show only lasts 30-45 mins.

When the parade comes on in the afternoon, it starts in fantasyland opposite Fantasia Gelati, if you queue to see parade there, when it has finished you can run back to the rides in fantasyland. Also if you stand looking at fantasia gelati, there is a staff door to the right of the ice cream parlour, by the chairs and tables, the characters came out of this door after the parade- Eeyore, Mr Smee and a few others. The childrens faces were a picture!

Evening parade starts in main street coming out of doors between Discovery Arcade and The Ice Cream Company.

Do the touristy thing and wear your camera round your neck- ours was in the bag and by the time it was fished out, the moments had gone.

If you are going to park hop, think of an explanation for the children why 2 minutes ago in Studios they saw Goofy & Mickey in one outfit, and now here they are in Disney Park wearing something different! That was a tricky one- we answered with "wow what's that over there", and walked away quickly!

Only other thing is food is really expensive. Disney's 'cheap' food- burger and chips was £25 for four of us. Although McDonalds in the village was the same as other McDonalds.

In the shopping centre by The outlet village and sea life centre there is a big Auchan which is reasonably priced.

And I am so jealous now after thinking of all that! We had an unbelieveable time there and want to go back! Hope you all have a fantastic time!!

cathryn01

Sorry, got a bit carried away there, didn't mean to be so long!

Still, have wonderful times!!