Talk to me about Disneyland Paris

[Mrspimplepopper]

We are very very lucky that bil would like to pay for us and the kids to go to Disneyland Paris with him when he comes to stay with us in January (he doesn't live in the uk)

I am beyond excited as this is something we could never afford. I can't wait to see the kids faces when we tell them on Christmas day.

Anyone who has been, can you offer any advice? Dc are 7 and 9

Thankyou

Been once, last Halloween. Loved it so much, we are going again next week. Never been to US ones, so had nothing to compare dlp to.
We drive to Folkstone, stay overnight at a local hotel and then take the car across and drive down.
We stay at NPB( huge hotel but seems nice) and have a meal plan(plus).
My 10 year ds really enjoys it; we avoid princesses but he 'buys in' and suspends disbelief for he rest of the characters and wants to meet them/ get autographs etc.
There is a goid fb dlp group and I watched caffeine and pixie dust videos and blogs on youtube. You will love it. Take layers and waterproofs

We went at that time of year and absolutely LOVED it. Your DC are just the right age. It's quiet at that time. We walked onto most rides - no queuing at all. Everything is open though - it's not in low season.
Pace the rides with some shows - the ice show and parades are popular with that age group. And if they still do the stunt show - that's brilliant.

McDonalds just outside the park gates is by far the cheapest food option. We ate there every lunchtime to DCs delight.

It was freezing when we went. I honestly thought DC would cry with cold but they were so excited they never even mentioned it. But do take thick hats and gloves, warm trousers and puffa jackets.

We stayed at Sequoia Lodge just outside the Park as it's much cheaper than the internal hotels. Great food, and only a short walk away.

I really hope you have as good a time as we did. It massively exceeded my expectations and I've always thought we were so lucky to go in January when you can fit in 14-16 rides a day instead of summer when you queue and queue for 6.

Oh I'm very jealous! We went at Easter and loved it.

We ate McDonald's most days as it was by far the cheapest option. Check if there are characters to meet in your hotel to save queuing in the park. I took a few flattish chocolate bars and boxes of raisins tp snack on plus there are water fountains.to fill up bottles in the park.

We really enjoyed our character dinner at Cafe Mickey. Character breakfasts are cheaper. Might be nice to treat BIL as a thanks? They're not cheap but worth it imo.

I was planning on taking small snacks and water in with us.

I've been watching YouTube videos of some of the rides. I really can't believe we are going.

Is there a parade and fireworks each night?

Yeah - parade at 5pm and fireworks at Park closing time which varies depending on time of year.

Following with interest as we are going for the first time in April with our 2 DD, they’ll be 5 & 3 when we go. I was actually looking. At transfers from the airport and just discovered there’s a direct train from CDG to the resort, anyone used it? Taking car seats will cost a fortune and the transfer companies won’t provide them?

We stayed at the Route66/Cars themed hotel and loved it. We got the breakfast and dinner buffet options and the food was great. We could eat at our hotel or any other hotel or a restaurant in the park & we got a snack & drink in the park included too. It meant we only had to bring snacks in as we had huge breakfast & early dinner.
The light show is amazing

Train from the airport is easy IF you can find the right station, first time I did this with my DD we ended up going into Paris and back out again, one train but took ages. If you get on a TGV it takes about 10 minutes

Lots of brilliant tips, Thank you.

How do you find out what time the shows are each day?

We are flying to Paris, what's a TGV?

We are staying at the Disney hotel, I see some people on review sites are saying go into the park early and then go back for breakfast...Anyone done this? Do hotel guests have extra time in the park early morning?

I'm finding the Disney webpage less than useful tbf

We went a few years ago in Dec, it snowed and we weren't prepared, wet cold feet. The shops only sell Disney paraphernalia, you won't want to waste time shopping outside Disney park, so make sure you take enough appropriate clothes. Food is expensive, we took a suitcase just with crisps, cereal bars etc.

You get access to the park early if you stay in the Disney hotel (9 instead of 10, or possibly even 8, can't remember) but we just got up early and had breakfast first

@icebearforpresident the transfer company DPS Disney Paris Shuttle provided a group 1 seat for free and had booster seats as standard - driver just kept them in the boot of the car. It was about €75 each way iirc and took about 40 mins but very very easy and made all the difference not having to worry about trains.

Op thedibb.co.uk is a really useful forum

We loved the Buffalo Bill show - dinner and evening entertainment

Thanks for the tip @sweetheartneckline, will look into them.

It will be much colder than you think. Take thermal under layers like longer sleeved vests and long johns, plus hats, gloves, scarves, coats etc.
You will still have a brilliant time tho, it’s magical

I will definitely be taking lots of warm clothes and waterproofs just incase. Thanks