Mumsnet Talk

Have booked a weekend in March on one of those newspaper deals to ferry and self drive down to euro disney paris.

We leave early saturday morning to arrive in Paris early afternoon. Staying in the Newport Bay Disney hotel for the Saturday evening inc breakfast and have entry to the park for one day only on the Sunday, need to be back to Calais for a ferry at 9pm Sunday night.

Need to know:

1) Should we pre-book and pay for an evening meal at the hotel/or another recommendation for the Saturday night ?, or alternatively have a few hours in Paris and early supper (DCs are 4 and 6) before heading to the hotel.

2) Whats the best and most economical way of having a meal with the disney characters ? - our breakfast is already included at the hotel, so can you pre book a character lunch ?

3) Any tips on what to take ie: have standard newport bay room so l have heard kettle and tea/coffee bits etc

4) Seeing as this is a one day taster visit, are there things to not miss and others to avoid ?

5) Is the main parade late afternoon ? we need to get back to Calais for around 8.30pm so may miss it ?

many thanks

We too are going/driving in March and have been b4, so can give you a bit of advice.
Personally I dnt think you'l have enough time to drive into the centre of Paris if you're to get the full benefit of the parks. There are the 2 parks and you'l need the full day to do both. U will more than likely be too tired to brave the traffic in the centre, get food and then get to Calais. We did a character meal at Cafe Mickey last time and it was really expensive for not so great food. However, you are definately paying for the experience and not the food. We are going again as DD b'day while we're out there, but it works out cheaper if you book/pay for b4hand, rather than just booking a table and paying on the night. Your best bet is prob to book character meal for the daytime. I would think you would have to set off bck to Calais around 6ish, so think ur guna struggle having evening meal anywhere that isn't on the way back.
The parade times vary. U wud need to check when u get there. I think they were around half 7 when we went, but you would have to check with the park. I have a feeling you may miss it, but they did have loads of mini parades and random street shows throughout the day.
I personally dnt think there is anything to avoid or not to miss as it's all amazing. Hence the reason we're going again.
I cnt comment on the hotel or any of the Disney hotels as we stayed off site last time.
Hope this helps. You'll love it!!!

Thankyou, I had heard Cafe Mickey wasn't great food wise, but l thought other restaurants in the park did the character thing ?

Our park entry ticket is for Sunday only, hence not knowing when and what to do on arrival saturday night, l had read that eating in the disney hotels is expensive so thats why l was considering having a few hours stop in Paris and eating there instead - would also be taking lots of snacks for the car journey(s), the evening in the hotel and in the park itself.

Will call our booking agent to see if we can add some pre-paid meal vouchers to the booking.

Thanks again

We did the character tea and it was just sweet stuff and coke, not even a cup of tea and my dh hates sweet stuff and we saw the characters round the park anyway so I wouldn't bother again tbh.

I did like the meal in ratoullie (sp?) there was lots of choice and the kids liked the table with the rat on (fake rat)

We went in march and it was really cold so my top tip is layers! Lots of layers! Tights, leggings, jeans, gloves scarves, hats, ear warmers the lot!

My best bits were the princess castle in the disney park, in the studios I liked terror tower, areosmith and I also liked the animation bit but I love drawing others may find it boring. The face painting for dd2 was very good and she was 4 at the time so yours might like that.

hth a bit. Have fun!

We ate at a few of the restaurants and tbh food isn't all that great in any of them. Hence the reason we're stayin at Davy Crockett this time.
I think u'd be best going into Paris on ur way down to Disney and just arriving a bit later to hotel and then u'v got the full Sunday at the parks if u really wnt to go.
Def talk to ur agent re: eating at the park. They should be able to point you in the right direction. But I would def say you need to book and pre-pay cuz much cheaper. As lovemygirls says though there are characters all rnd the park so you wnt miss out by not having a character meal. Only reason we're doing again is because DD 4th b'day and we have ordered cake so big fuss can be made.
Hope it's not too cold too. We went in November last time and while it was cold it wasn't too too cold. Thermals at the ready though (confused)

As your time is short, you could pre-book a meal at Cafe Mickey for the Saturday evening, and then the kids would have already met a good few characters before going into the parks on Sunday. The food's not bad, but it's the experience you're mainly going for.

I, personally, wouldn;t bother prepaying for a meal, in case you change your mind while you're there - the number to reserve a table only is 0033 160 304050.

Also, as you've limited time, make sure to get to the park before opening time in the morning. If there's emh on - extra time for guests of the Disney hotels - make the most of this and be there for just before 8am. You'll get loads of rides in at this time.

You'll probably have to wait a bit to find out parade times which will be available on the Disneyland website closer to the time. Plan out what you'd most like to do so that you don't miss the best things.

Hope this helps, have a lovely time!

Hi hope you don't mind me chipping in here for a bit of advise. We are stopping over to do a day at disney on our way to Dordoynne in August. We really could do with any recommendations for where to stay, don't mind not staying on sight - trying to keep things simple and keep costs down, thanks.

Hi CheeseMeisterGeneral - I'm going too in May with daughter and grand daughter to do a review so sorry its not ready yet but I did do a review from another Mum who went and this is her story and I hope it helps. From what she said def take lots of snacks and drinks with you as its v expensive on site and use the fast track ticket application where you can to save time http://www.thegoodlifefrance.com/disneyland-paris-and-the-main-rides-and-attractions/
Hope it helps and we all have a lovely time!