I want to take my two kids to Disneyland Paris just before Christmas but without having to remortgage, has anyone got any ideas or tips on how to get a good deal, preferably on the Eurostar.
Went a couple of years ago but went the week before the eldest broke up. She was 9 and the youngest 3. I did book in April so had got in there early. DLP often run a stay 2 nights get 2 nights free deal which is what we did but don't know if you will get that now.
We also stayed at the Davy Crockett which is 5/10 mins outside the park. However you do have to have a car to drive in (your parking is free however).
We chose to drive because I wanted to stop at the Thiepval memorial on the way down and lay a wreath for my great grandad which broke the journey up. However, even if this wasnt the case getting the Eurostar would have been too expensive. The Eurostar directly into DLP only runs a couple of times a week and you certainly pay for the privilege. Booking as early as we did it would have been the best part of a grand for this option (without hotel). You can still get the train into Gare du Nord but then you have to metro it across Paris and get a 45 minute train to DLP. Will be much cheaper but obviously more hassle with little ones in tow.
I remember we paid 682 for 4 of us (little one may have been free cos she was under 7). We used Tesco Clubcard points for the tunnel. And by staying at Davy Crocketts we had a chalet thing with a kitchen. I know you dont want to be cooking on holiday but it would have worked out about 120€ per meal for the 4 of us at one of the Disney restaurants.
Driving in France was also extremely easy. Found it far less stressful than driving over here. We also went into Paris, parked at a shopping centre about 400m from the Eiffel Tower and spent a couple of hours having a look and getting photos. Driving in Paris was also easier than driving in London. In London you're always looking for box junctions etc. In Paris you've got somewhere to go and you just get there, slowly, but you get there.
Drive if you can, or look at flights and get a train from the airport. May be cheaper than euro star.
Book the park tickets online, off peak ones possibility. They do ones what are cheaper as they are restricted to certain days (usually midweek).
Stay in "Dream Castle" a family room should be around £60 a night with breakfast included. Free shuttle bus to the park (takes around 3minutes) and is located in the location of Disneyland, it's next door to their own hotels but is a franchise so is cheaper. Will still have a Disney store in there, swimming pool, staff in similar clothing and the kids wont know any difference.
I’ve done DLP just before Christmas quite a few times. I have to say it’s a great time to go as long as you realise the weather can be very cold.
Check out when the French, Germans and Spanish start school holidays and pay particular attention to a Spanish public holiday that spans four days sometime in December. If possible avoid the above. Weekends are more crowded than weekdays. Arrive Monday leave Thursday ?
Check out the half board / full board options to see if that fits your requirements. Definitely book the restaurants in advance. The menus are available if you search the website with booking details. Last December we struggled to eat where and when we wanted.
Disney hotels are expensive. I’ve found that Sequoia Lodge offers pretty good value and is quite nice. If you want to pay less. Look at the “partner” hotels just on the outskirts of the park. Dream Castle is quite nice too. They run bus shuttles every 15 mins or so from the park.
If there was one tip I’d say to pay attention to it’s the meals. Not ideal to plan when you want to eat in advance but if you don’t you will struggle to get what you want when you want.
See you there mate. I'll be coming up from Barcelona before christmas, hopefully by train. There's some good offees on tge Disneyland website just now. Get in the New York hotel if the budget permits.
I don't recommend the satelite hotels. The price doesn't include park entry, which is a big equaliser. Try and get half board and pre book restaurants in the park unless you like a lot of fast food.
A really cheap option is to stay at the IBIS budget in Senlis (clean and very cheap) which is about 50 minutes drive from the park - it costs 20 euros to park at Euro Disney - get your tickets in advance online we got a good deal from a company called picnic I think it was- there are some decent offers.
I’ve done it once in Disneyland Paris - was very Christmassy! If you really love the Christmas feel - music, carols, everywhere. As others have said - cheapest way is to book it all separately. The Disney hotels are great and you’re always a few minutes walk from the park and restaurants with character meals, etc. But there are loads of hotels in Marne La Vallee within a mile or two of the park that lay on regular shuttle buses. Some are supposed to be really good. Much cheaper if you don’t mind not actually being “in Disney”.
Having tried both. It’s just not the same pitching up as a day tripper as it is to staying in one of the Disney hotels. It’s not even quite the same staying in one of the peripheral hotels.
I think a trip like this needs to be done with recognition that it’s going to be expensive but I’ve never not felt worth it. Certainly save money where you can but the Disney experience for me is all about the Disney experience. You’ll either love it or loath it. Depends just how much of a kid at heart you are I guess.
Having tried both. It’s just not the same pitching up as a day tripper as it is to staying in one of the Disney hotels. It’s not even quite the same staying in one of the peripheral hotels.
I think a trip like this needs to be done with recognition that it’s going to be expensive but I’ve never not felt worth it. Certainly save money where you can but the Disney experience for me is all about the Disney experience. You’ll either love it or loath it. Depends just how much of a kid at heart you are I guess.
Call it lunacy but the whole family is going for 2 nights/3 days at the start of half term in October.
That means 6 adults and 5 children in 4 double rooms staying at the New York Hotel.
Booking via DLP website, we have 25% off, free half board , 3 days' park tickets & travel for 2 cars via Eurotunnel.
I've also booked the early evening dinner at Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show for the 2nd night.
Taking loads of drinks in cartons, crisps, snacks etc for lunchtimes and eating in a restaurant at dinner time.
Not cheap but as SHG stated , it's worth doing it properly without going OTT, as doubt we'll make another trip of this kind with all the family as eldest grandson now 14, and taking our ages into consideration.
Anyway, that's 9 Xmas presents sorted this year.....
Having tried both. It’s just not the same pitching up as a day tripper as it is to staying in one of the Disney hotels. It’s not even quite the same staying in one of the peripheral hotels.
I think a trip like this needs to be done with recognition that it’s going to be expensive but I’ve never not felt worth it. Certainly save money where you can but the Disney experience for me is all about the Disney experience. You’ll either love it or loath it. Depends just how much of a kid at heart you are I guess.
Call it lunacy but the whole family is going for 2 nights/3 days at the start of half term in October.
That means 6 adults and 5 children in 4 double rooms staying at the New York Hotel.
Booking via DLP website, we have 25% off, free half board , 3 days' park tickets & travel for 2 cars via Eurotunnel.
I've also booked the early evening dinner at Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show for the 2nd night.
Taking loads of drinks in cartons, crisps, snacks etc for lunchtimes and eating in a restaurant at dinner time.
Not cheap but as SHG stated , it's worth doing it properly without going OTT, as doubt we'll make another trip of this kind with all the family as eldest grandson now 14, and taking our ages into consideration.
Anyway, that's 9 Xmas presents sorted this year.....
We went on the Star Wars simulator after I’d had a belly full of beer and food at the Wild West show earlier this year. I always get a bit sick on on those things at the best of times but thought I’d be ok. Just about managed to hold it together during the ride but chucked my guts up as soon as we got off.
Having tried both. It’s just not the same pitching up as a day tripper as it is to staying in one of the Disney hotels. It’s not even quite the same staying in one of the peripheral hotels.
I think a trip like this needs to be done with recognition that it’s going to be expensive but I’ve never not felt worth it. Certainly save money where you can but the Disney experience for me is all about the Disney experience. You’ll either love it or loath it. Depends just how much of a kid at heart you are I guess.
Been there twice albeit a few years ago an both times in Summer. Shooters makes some very good points - think you need to book and then forget about how much you paid - but we thought it was good value for money. We also paid a little extra to have our luggage collected as we arrived on Eurostar and then went straight to the theme parks and then onto the hotel later. Have a great time. Hi ho hi ho......
Comments
Or you could drive yourself there. Use Tesco Clubcard vouchers for the Tunnel and then its a two and a half hour drive to Disneyland.
Deals from just over £800
https://eurostar.magicbreaks.co.uk/searchresults
We also stayed at the Davy Crockett which is 5/10 mins outside the park. However you do have to have a car to drive in (your parking is free however).
We chose to drive because I wanted to stop at the Thiepval memorial on the way down and lay a wreath for my great grandad which broke the journey up. However, even if this wasnt the case getting the Eurostar would have been too expensive. The Eurostar directly into DLP only runs a couple of times a week and you certainly pay for the privilege. Booking as early as we did it would have been the best part of a grand for this option (without hotel). You can still get the train into Gare du Nord but then you have to metro it across Paris and get a 45 minute train to DLP. Will be much cheaper but obviously more hassle with little ones in tow.
I remember we paid 682 for 4 of us (little one may have been free cos she was under 7). We used Tesco Clubcard points for the tunnel. And by staying at Davy Crocketts we had a chalet thing with a kitchen. I know you dont want to be cooking on holiday but it would have worked out about 120€ per meal for the 4 of us at one of the Disney restaurants.
Driving in France was also extremely easy. Found it far less stressful than driving over here. We also went into Paris, parked at a shopping centre about 400m from the Eiffel Tower and spent a couple of hours having a look and getting photos. Driving in Paris was also easier than driving in London. In London you're always looking for box junctions etc. In Paris you've got somewhere to go and you just get there, slowly, but you get there.
Hope this helps.
Drive if you can, or look at flights and get a train from the airport. May be cheaper than euro star.
Book the park tickets online, off peak ones possibility. They do ones what are cheaper as they are restricted to certain days (usually midweek).
Stay in "Dream Castle" a family room should be around £60 a night with breakfast included. Free shuttle bus to the park (takes around 3minutes) and is located in the location of Disneyland, it's next door to their own hotels but is a franchise so is cheaper. Will still have a Disney store in there, swimming pool, staff in similar clothing and the kids wont know any difference.
Hope this helps
Check out when the French, Germans and Spanish start school holidays and pay particular attention to a Spanish public holiday that spans four days sometime in December. If possible avoid the above. Weekends are more crowded than weekdays. Arrive Monday leave Thursday ?
Check out the half board / full board options to see if that fits your requirements. Definitely book the restaurants in advance. The menus are available if you search the website with booking details. Last December we struggled to eat where and when we wanted.
Disney hotels are expensive. I’ve found that Sequoia Lodge offers pretty good value and is quite nice. If you want to pay less. Look at the “partner” hotels just on the outskirts of the park. Dream Castle is quite nice too. They run bus shuttles every 15 mins or so from the park.
If there was one tip I’d say to pay attention to it’s the meals. Not ideal to plan when you want to eat in advance but if you don’t you will struggle to get what you want when you want.
Have a nice time.
I think a trip like this needs to be done with recognition that it’s going to be expensive but I’ve never not felt worth it. Certainly save money where you can but the Disney experience for me is all about the Disney experience. You’ll either love it or loath it. Depends just how much of a kid at heart you are I guess.
Semi-literate.
Big ;-)
That means 6 adults and 5 children in 4 double rooms staying at the New York Hotel.
Booking via DLP website, we have 25% off, free half board , 3 days' park tickets & travel for 2 cars via Eurotunnel.
I've also booked the early evening dinner at Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show for the 2nd night.
Taking loads of drinks in cartons, crisps, snacks etc for lunchtimes and eating in a restaurant at dinner time.
Not cheap but as SHG stated , it's worth doing it properly without going OTT, as doubt we'll make another trip of this kind with all the family as eldest grandson now 14, and taking our ages into consideration.
Anyway, that's 9 Xmas presents sorted this year.....
Seeing how happy my kids were at DLP earlier this year will stay with me forever
Shooters makes some very good points - think you need to book and then forget about how much you paid - but we thought it was good value for money.
We also paid a little extra to have our luggage collected as we arrived on Eurostar and then went straight to the theme parks and then onto the hotel later.
Have a great time.
Hi ho hi ho......