Disneyland Paris - any good? Where to stay?
Discussion
Thinking about taking the wife to Disneyland Paris in August over the bank holiday weekend for 2 nights, she keeps going on about wanting to go and is a big kid at heart. Is it worth it and any good? Eurostar isn't too bad at £230 return for both of us. Obviously we'd need park tickets and hotels but where is good to stay and eat? Is there anough there for a big kid wife and grumpy git husband for 3 days/2 nights?
We are off there in Aug also, and it's going to cost us pretty much £3000 from start to finish. That's for two adults, two children, staying at The Newport Bay in an upgraded room for 5 nights.
The £3000 is encluding the £1000 I expect to pay on top of the accommodation and food as we have booked a half board 'silver' meal plan. This has saved us a little already.
I'm prepared for it to be a complete rip off, but as long as I expect it, then it won't be a shock.
The £3000 is encluding the £1000 I expect to pay on top of the accommodation and food as we have booked a half board 'silver' meal plan. This has saved us a little already.
I'm prepared for it to be a complete rip off, but as long as I expect it, then it won't be a shock.
Hysteria1983 said:
We are off there in Aug also, and it's going to cost us pretty much £3000 from start to finish. That's for two adults, two children, staying at The Newport Bay in an upgraded room for 5 nights.
The £3000 is encluding the £1000 I expect to pay on top of the accommodation and food as we have booked a half board 'silver' meal plan. This has saved us a little already.
I'm prepared for it to be a complete rip off, but as long as I expect it, then it won't be a shock.
jesus £4k for 5 nights - would have been much more to go to Florida?The £3000 is encluding the £1000 I expect to pay on top of the accommodation and food as we have booked a half board 'silver' meal plan. This has saved us a little already.
I'm prepared for it to be a complete rip off, but as long as I expect it, then it won't be a shock.
Soir said:
Hysteria1983 said:
We are off there in Aug also, and it's going to cost us pretty much £3000 from start to finish. That's for two adults, two children, staying at The Newport Bay in an upgraded room for 5 nights.
The £3000 is encluding the £1000 I expect to pay on top of the accommodation and food as we have booked a half board 'silver' meal plan. This has saved us a little already.
I'm prepared for it to be a complete rip off, but as long as I expect it, then it won't be a shock.
jesus £4k for 5 nights - would have been much more to go to Florida?The £3000 is encluding the £1000 I expect to pay on top of the accommodation and food as we have booked a half board 'silver' meal plan. This has saved us a little already.
I'm prepared for it to be a complete rip off, but as long as I expect it, then it won't be a shock.
Ignore all the naysayers and book it - you'll have a great time. I suspect some of the negative reviews may have come from people who haven't actually been there.
Stay - if you aren't driving there, stay on the resort. Some of the further out hotels have shuttle buses, but they only run for a couple of hours each day, so not so good if you want to pop back to your room to get something you had forgotten, or to use the pool in the afternoon when the parks are at their busiest. We have stayed in the Newport Bay 4 or 5 times, the Sequoia lodge 3 times, the New York once and the Cheyenne once. Of all of these, I would probably pick the Sequoia Lodge or the Cheyenne, depending on budget. We've also stayed off-park at the Marriott hotel a couple of times, once stayed in Paris and travelled out to the parks, and last year had a week at the Davy Crockett ranch (if going with kids, and driving, I would go there next time, over any of the hotels - pay for a luxury cabin, though, so you are nearer to the centre of the ranch).
Eat - loads of restaurants in the park, at the village, and in the hotels. For a couple of nights I wouldn't worry about eating away from these. If eating in the village, Billy Bob's was quite good if you like both kinds of music (country AND western), but I would personally avoid King Ludwig's Castle unless you like sausage. Cafe Mickey always seemed overpriced to me, but them the Disney Characters do appear there all the time, so the kids liked it. Annette's Diner good for hot dogs, the waitresses used to serve you on rollerskates, not sure if they still do. Restaurants in the hotels, the one on the right as you walk into the Sequoia Lodge from the lake side (Hunters Grill, I think) was pretty good for an all-you-can-eat buffet style.
Do - take decent walking shoes. You will walk miles, and good footwear makes all the difference. Best time to do the popular rides is either first thing in the morning, or late evening. That said, the queues usually aren't as bad as people make out (people who haven't been, probably) and you can always do a fast-pass and then do something else instead of waiting in the queue.
Do - take a carrier bag to breakfast in the hotel. Do as the locals do and take a bag full of croissants and brioche into the park with you, as it will do as a snack or if you wanted to miss lunch. Also if going when it is warm, take a bottle with you and fill up at the water dispenser at breakfast, rather than paying park prices for drinks.
Do - book the half board plan. Book the highest plan you can afford, so you have a wider choice of restaurants in the park, hotels and village.
Do - the Pirates of the carribean restaurant, at least once.
Do - the Moteurs show. Cheesy, obvious, but a lot of fun.
Don't do - Small World. If you ever go back with small kids you will do it again, and again, and again, and ... you get the picture. Don't waste a adult visit going there.
Do - the Hollywood tower ride in the Studios park. Also rock'n'rolla coaster is one of my top 5 coasters, it's a flat LIM start so no waiting for ages whilst you get dragged up a lift hill. In the Studios park, one of the shows is worth watching, Cinemagique, but only if there isn't a queue. Don't bother with Crush's coaster, it's a fairly standard spinning coaster. The RC ride looked good but I didn't go on it.
In the main park, get to know the shortcuts - at the end of the shopping arcade to the left as you face the castle from Main Street USA station, there is a path directly to Frontierland, also there are paths around much of the site rather than doing the "back to the castle then go off again". The shortcuts are often where you will find the characters coming out - not so important for adults, but the kids loved it when you could bump into Mickey etc.
Best place to eat in the parks used to be the Buzz Lightyear Pizza Planet, but that was changed to a buffet style last time we went. Best place now, IMHO, is in Frontierland opposite the entrance to the runaway mine train.
Ride the train around the park at least once during your stay. It's a nice way to see the whole park.
In the main park, of the three coasters I would go for the runaway mine train (make sure you sit at the back for the most negative G air time), the other two (Space Mountain and Temple of Peril) are fairly ordinary coasters. Pirates of the Caribbean is still a good ride, Peter Pan flight usually has massive queues and I can never understand why - it's not well themed, it breaks down regularly, and it is creaky and clunky.
Hope some of this helps, I've been a few times so know the parks and the area pretty well!
Stay - if you aren't driving there, stay on the resort. Some of the further out hotels have shuttle buses, but they only run for a couple of hours each day, so not so good if you want to pop back to your room to get something you had forgotten, or to use the pool in the afternoon when the parks are at their busiest. We have stayed in the Newport Bay 4 or 5 times, the Sequoia lodge 3 times, the New York once and the Cheyenne once. Of all of these, I would probably pick the Sequoia Lodge or the Cheyenne, depending on budget. We've also stayed off-park at the Marriott hotel a couple of times, once stayed in Paris and travelled out to the parks, and last year had a week at the Davy Crockett ranch (if going with kids, and driving, I would go there next time, over any of the hotels - pay for a luxury cabin, though, so you are nearer to the centre of the ranch).
Eat - loads of restaurants in the park, at the village, and in the hotels. For a couple of nights I wouldn't worry about eating away from these. If eating in the village, Billy Bob's was quite good if you like both kinds of music (country AND western), but I would personally avoid King Ludwig's Castle unless you like sausage. Cafe Mickey always seemed overpriced to me, but them the Disney Characters do appear there all the time, so the kids liked it. Annette's Diner good for hot dogs, the waitresses used to serve you on rollerskates, not sure if they still do. Restaurants in the hotels, the one on the right as you walk into the Sequoia Lodge from the lake side (Hunters Grill, I think) was pretty good for an all-you-can-eat buffet style.
Do - take decent walking shoes. You will walk miles, and good footwear makes all the difference. Best time to do the popular rides is either first thing in the morning, or late evening. That said, the queues usually aren't as bad as people make out (people who haven't been, probably) and you can always do a fast-pass and then do something else instead of waiting in the queue.
Do - take a carrier bag to breakfast in the hotel. Do as the locals do and take a bag full of croissants and brioche into the park with you, as it will do as a snack or if you wanted to miss lunch. Also if going when it is warm, take a bottle with you and fill up at the water dispenser at breakfast, rather than paying park prices for drinks.
Do - book the half board plan. Book the highest plan you can afford, so you have a wider choice of restaurants in the park, hotels and village.
Do - the Pirates of the carribean restaurant, at least once.
Do - the Moteurs show. Cheesy, obvious, but a lot of fun.
Don't do - Small World. If you ever go back with small kids you will do it again, and again, and again, and ... you get the picture. Don't waste a adult visit going there.
Do - the Hollywood tower ride in the Studios park. Also rock'n'rolla coaster is one of my top 5 coasters, it's a flat LIM start so no waiting for ages whilst you get dragged up a lift hill. In the Studios park, one of the shows is worth watching, Cinemagique, but only if there isn't a queue. Don't bother with Crush's coaster, it's a fairly standard spinning coaster. The RC ride looked good but I didn't go on it.
In the main park, get to know the shortcuts - at the end of the shopping arcade to the left as you face the castle from Main Street USA station, there is a path directly to Frontierland, also there are paths around much of the site rather than doing the "back to the castle then go off again". The shortcuts are often where you will find the characters coming out - not so important for adults, but the kids loved it when you could bump into Mickey etc.
Best place to eat in the parks used to be the Buzz Lightyear Pizza Planet, but that was changed to a buffet style last time we went. Best place now, IMHO, is in Frontierland opposite the entrance to the runaway mine train.
Ride the train around the park at least once during your stay. It's a nice way to see the whole park.
In the main park, of the three coasters I would go for the runaway mine train (make sure you sit at the back for the most negative G air time), the other two (Space Mountain and Temple of Peril) are fairly ordinary coasters. Pirates of the Caribbean is still a good ride, Peter Pan flight usually has massive queues and I can never understand why - it's not well themed, it breaks down regularly, and it is creaky and clunky.
Hope some of this helps, I've been a few times so know the parks and the area pretty well!
aclivity said:
Ignore all the naysayers and book it - you'll have a great time. I suspect some of the negative reviews may have come from people who haven't actually been there
Actually I suspect the naysayers have been to both Paris and the parks in the USA (in my case Florida twice). Won't be going back to Paris again, and I grew up in Paris, speak French and own a house in France.Sky where doing free tickets with there sky rewards, try going tuesday or wednesday. I took my lad there a couple of weeks ago went on a thursday which was busier but the longest we queued was 30 minutes.Take food and drink from the uk in with you.Any where near disney is expensive i paid 13euro for one and a half pints of beer last year.i assumed that included the glasses as there now sitting in my stolen beer glass cupboard. Parking on site was 15 euro i think.
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