EuroDisney - Have you been? Recommendations please
EuroDisney - Have you been? Recommendations please
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Tyre Smoke

Original Poster:

23,018 posts

291 months

Friday 30th December 2005
quotequote all
Taking the Smoke family in the Spring. That's Junior Smoke who will be 2.5 and grandparents Smoke who are in their 70's. Mrs Smoke and me will muddle in with whatever.

Questions thus:

1. Going from Devon, is it easier to train to Paddington/Eurostar to Disney, or to Gare Du Nord and rent a car?
2. Do you need to stay in EuroDisney? If so, where?
3. If staying outside Disney, where's good?
4. Food Smoke Seniors DO NOT eat burger/pizza and chips - very much meat and two veg, no foreign muck, people. How will they fare?
5. Going back to getting there, what about flying/renting a car? How far is CDG from Disney?
6. Is three nights too long? Will Junior or Senior Smokes get bored?

Sorry for all the questions, but it is rapidly becoming a major military offensive!

Any advice gratefully received

Rich

TeamD

5,060 posts

262 months

Friday 30th December 2005
quotequote all
How much do you want to spend?

I took Mrs TeamD and the 3 TeamDlets this summer, went by Eurostar which goes straight to the park. Hired a car and stayed at the Davy Crocket Ranch thingy outside the park (but it's only a 5 minute drive.) The chalet things are basic but clean, you can do self catering from the shop on site or use the (not so good) restaurant thing. Has swimming pool and bar. Good cheap(ish) holiday really, 3 days is about right, we had 5 and started to get bored.

Steve-o

298 posts

295 months

Friday 30th December 2005
quotequote all
Hi Rich,

I used to work for Disney - mail me offline and I'll help you anyway I can.

Cheers,
Steve.

Donut

4,521 posts

281 months

Friday 30th December 2005
quotequote all
Been there twice, miss donut was a similar age as yours and she loved it!

On the second visit we stayed at the Disneyland hotel which is superb with a great selection of resturants albeit a little pricey but worth it as the characters pop in and keep the ickle ones amused..

We stayed at the Newport bay the first time which is nice but it is huge with over a 1000 rooms but again nice food and choice's.

Both times I drove there but there is a train station at the entrance which the Eurostar stops at.....

We didn't use the car at all whilst there so if you are going by train there is no need to hire one, unless you are staying there for a week or so and plan to go into Paris, I was glad I took the car though as the amount of junk that we bought would of been a pain to take on the train.

A must is the stunt car show


Happy hols

Tyre Smoke

Original Poster:

23,018 posts

291 months

Friday 30th December 2005
quotequote all
Sorry, forgot to add - money is not a major issue (Granny and grandad are paying)

I figure somewhere around £1300+ getting there, hotel, park entrance,etc with eating out on top.

Donut

4,521 posts

281 months

Friday 30th December 2005
quotequote all
Tyre Smoke said:
Sorry, forgot to add - money is not a major issue (Granny and grandad are paying)

I figure somewhere around £1300+ getting there, hotel, park entrance,etc with eating out on top.



Disneyland hotel


www.disneylandparis.com/uk/virtual_visit/dlh.htm


Tyre Smoke

Original Poster:

23,018 posts

291 months

Friday 30th December 2005
quotequote all
Steve-o said:
Hi Rich,

I used to work for Disney - mail me offline and I'll help you anyway I can.

Cheers,
Steve.


I've tried, but i think your Email is bouncing Pistonheads redirected mail as spam. That's the message in my inbox anyway.

mkgriff

719 posts

311 months

Friday 30th December 2005
quotequote all
I went many years ago and was gutted when I saw Princess Jasmin. I'd built up my hopes and even had the duvet set in my spare room, only to feel very let down

On the plus side, it's a great place to become a child again.

[sing]It's a small world after all....[/sing]

JonRB

80,098 posts

302 months

Friday 30th December 2005
quotequote all
We've been 3 times over the years.

First time we stayed at the Newport Disney Hotel. It's quite adequete - clean, tidy and with good facilities although a litte basic.

Second time we stayed in one of the budget Disney hotels which was apalling. Very, very basic, poor facilities, and very poor acoustic damping so it was always filled with the sound of screaming kids coming from the pool and ball pond.

Third time we stayed at a hotel like the Novatel just outside the park complex which saved a lot of money, but you don't get the in-your-face Disney experience when at the hotel (which, for me, was actually a bonus).
Took the car there. Queued up for the courtesy bus but it was so bloody cold outside and the bus took so long to arrived that we took the car down instead. It was a 10 min drive and the car park at EuroDisney is quite reasonably priced, relatively speaking, so we ended up doing that every day.

The very best money-no-object Disney hotel is the one that is over the entrance to the park itself. I forget what it is called but it is easy to spot on the brochure as it is the most expensive. My wife wants to stay there one day when we're loaded.

Incidentally, all the Disney hotels have free bus transfer to the park, so you do not need to hire a car if travelling in by Eutostar.

BliarOut

72,863 posts

269 months

Friday 30th December 2005
quotequote all
We stayed in a Holiday Inn about three stops away on the Metro which saved us a bundle. Had it's own pool and good facilities. Far more choice on eating etc. by going off park. Disney is wonderful, but it's nice to get away from the hustle and bustle too.

Have you considered EasyJet? Flying in and getting a Taxi to the hotel works out pretty cheap if you book well in advance. The Metro is a viable means of transport as long as your hotel is in walking distance.

loaf

850 posts

291 months

Friday 30th December 2005
quotequote all
Been three times, once just me and the present Mrs Loaf; stayed at the Newport Bay Club, very nice, two half decent restaurants and a bar, very close to the Disney Village with lots more (Planet Hollywood, Rain Forest Cafe, Mickey's Diner among others)

Second time, with Mrs & Little Miss Loaf, aged 3, at the Holiday Inn, nice place, good grub, lovely rooms, and they don't mind speaking English (unlike some of the peasantry that work in the parks); the hotel is a 5-minute Disney shuttle ride away

Third time, with Mrs, Little Miss (aged 4), and Master Loaf (aged 2), back to the Holiday Inn (free upgrade to a suite courtesy of platinum Priority Club card ) great four days.

Restaurants in the park vary - I recommend the buffet lunch with the characters in the restaurant in Frontierland - great grub and reasonably priced, unlike a lot of the other places

The African restaurant is supposed to be good, but was closed when we were there as was the cowboy cookout barbecue, which was proper tasty last time.

We flew from LHR the first two times, there's a shuttle coach from Roissy-CDG every 45 minutes during the day but it cost 14euro per adult and 8 for kids one-way. The last time, I drove and used the Eurotunnel cos that way both the kids had their DVD players and headphones on/were asleep and I got there and back on one tank of diesel.

Brother and sister-in-law have been and they went on the train (they live in Weymouth) and they said it was dead easy.

Hope that helps

Donut

4,521 posts

281 months

Friday 30th December 2005
quotequote all
JonRB said:
We've been 3 times over the years.

First time we stayed at the Newport Disney Hotel. It's quite adequete - clean, tidy and with good facilities although a litte basic.

Second time we stayed in one of the budget Disney hotels which was apalling. Very, very basic, poor facilities, and very poor acoustic damping so it was always filled with the sound of screaming kids coming from the pool and ball pond.

Third time we stayed at a hotel like the Novatel just outside the park complex which saved a lot of money, but you don't get the in-your-face Disney experience when at the hotel (which, for me, was actually a bonus).
Took the car there. Queued up for the courtesy bus but it was so bloody cold outside and the bus took so long to arrived that we took the car down instead. It was a 10 min drive and the car park at EuroDisney is quite reasonably priced, relatively speaking, so we ended up doing that every day.

The very best money-no-object Disney hotel is the one that is over the entrance to the park itself. I forget what it is called but it is easy to spot on the brochure as it is the most expensive. My wife wants to stay there one day when we're loaded.

Incidentally, all the Disney hotels have free bus transfer to the park, so you do not need to hire a car if travelling in by Eutostar.


Jon..

www.disneylandparis.com/uk/virtual_visit/dlh.htm

We stayed there, it is pricey to eat there every night, but we got a 3 for two offer and and it was only £200 ish more than the newport bay and worth every penny.

Steve-o

298 posts

295 months

Friday 30th December 2005
quotequote all
Hi Rich,

I received it, and have responded - hope you've go it back?

Cheers,
Steve.

JonRB

80,098 posts

302 months

Friday 30th December 2005
quotequote all
BliarOut said:
We stayed in a Holiday Inn about three stops away on the Metro which saved us a bundle. Had it's own pool and good facilities. Far more choice on eating etc. by going off park. Disney is wonderful, but it's nice to get away from the hustle and bustle too.
Yes, that's what we found too. I found that with the Disney hotels it's just in-your-face 24 hours a day, which I'm sure is great for the kids but I welcomed the reality check of non-Disney surroundings at the end of a day at the Disney park.

Tyre Smoke

Original Poster:

23,018 posts

291 months

Friday 30th December 2005
quotequote all
So, bearing in mind there's only so much Mickey Mouse I can take, let alone my Septagenarian parents, a hotel off the park is a better way to go?

JonRB

80,098 posts

302 months

Friday 30th December 2005
quotequote all
Tyre Smoke said:
So, bearing in mind there's only so much Mickey Mouse I can take, let alone my Septagenarian parents, a hotel off the park is a better way to go?
In the words of the great Hong Kong Phooey - "Could be!"

RichUK

1,334 posts

277 months

Friday 30th December 2005
quotequote all
We went there once a couple of years ago on the way back from southern France.

Was the worst three days of my life, horrendous.

LuS1fer

43,543 posts

275 months

Friday 30th December 2005
quotequote all
I'd say Florida was a better bet. Nice parks but a bit mickey mouse. LOL. Universal Studios were way better than Disney IMHO apart from the Magic Kingdom which was a nightmare to get in and out of by boat.

Aerial had put on some weight when I went and some of those American hicks in the queue were unbearably loud and squealy. No disrespect to Americans generally, just certain individuals who tak sh*t very loudly with a southern drawl. Yek.

srebbe64

13,021 posts

267 months

Friday 30th December 2005
quotequote all
A few years ago I took my family to the Disneyland Hotel for about three days. We've got Disneyworld timeshare (two weeks a year) - the kids love it. Anyway, the European experience couldn't hold a light to the Florida experience because we found:

The service was poor in comparison.
It was cold.
The shows were in several languages
There was less for the kids to do there.

BliarOut

72,863 posts

269 months

Friday 30th December 2005
quotequote all
Tyre Smoke said:
So, bearing in mind there's only so much Mickey Mouse I can take, let alone my Septagenarian parents, a hotel off the park is a better way to go?


Just had a thought, how are the oldies at walking? Could be the only downside to being off park if you don't get a hotel close to the Metro. It's actually in the park at the Disney end.