Disneyland Paris

[Ginnymweasley]

We are thinking of going to disneyland paris in feb half term for dd's birthday. Dd will be 5 and ds will be 20 months. I have been before but I was a child so I'm not sure on the logistics. Is it worth staying in a Disney hotel? We are thinking of going for 3 nights, which I'm presuming would be enough time. Anybody got any tips or advice? Want to make it fun but obv want to get the best value I can from it all.

We stayed in the Disney Davy Crockett ranch, which is worth considering if you're taking a car. It's Disney, so you get all the benefits of the other hotels (free parking, early access to parks), but it is also self catering so you don't have to worry about finding something nice and affordable to eat at Disney. It's cheaper than the other accommodation as well, and it has a nice pool.

Thanks I will have a look at that. We were thinking of flying tbh. We live north wales so it would be quite a drive with 2 little ones but keeping our mind open atm.

Direct train service from CDG, but quite a trek from Orly.

Also direct train service avoiding Paris from St Pancras, but might have to change at Lille for later trains.

Of the hotels on site, the Cheyenne has bunk beds and is plenty warm in winter.

Can also get a cheapo hotel in the Western Paris suburbs such as Torcy and get the RER train in and out.

We stayed in Santa Fe which is the cheapest hotel on site and was well worth it to me . You get the early magic hour which means you can get on more rides without queuing first thing .
Other tips would be to take snacks to save buying expensive ones there . Also fast passes for rides are free although you can only have one at a time per ticket . The character meals are great to meet characters without queuing but can be pricy . Breakfast is the cheapest one .

We are going the weekend after next. We've booked to stay in the Santa fe hotel as it has a shuttle service.amd.was.one of the "cheaper" hotels. I stayed there before. It will be fine as we're not planning on being in the room much. I think there's a fridge in the room as my DC can be fussy eaters at time so hoping we can buy some stuff in before we arrive. We are going by ferry and car. Ferry was free with the company we booked it through. I'm in the same position as you as I went last 20 years ago so I'm very excited (more excited than the DC I think). I'll be following this thread with you for ideas!

Op people driving some distance first in the UK often stay close to ferry, tunnel at Dover area, premier Inn popular and cheap, break up the drive. If you considered that option.
From tunnel it's a good three hour stretch.

Thanks for the tips. Hotel Sante Fe does look good. I hadn't thought about snacks etc but I imagine they are very expensive at the park. My mum has suggested she pay for a character meal for my dd's birthday. Do you have to book these when you book or can they be added on later?

We stayed in hotel Cheyenne which was fine. DS was 3 when we went so we took his pram. We did disney in florida this year when he was 4.5 and took a buggy because it was so much walking. Even though DLP is smaller I'd consider a buggy for DD too particularly if you're staying a bit further out. It was an easy walk for me along the river back to Cheyenne and better than queueing for the buses at the end of the night but there's no way DS would have walked it after a day of walking round and standing in queues.

I'd say it's definitely worth staying on disney property especially with extra magic time. Check which rides are on extra magic time when you're there because they change. We didn't do this and went in early to find nothing was suitable for DS that morning. For character dining we did the Inventions restaurant for a buffet. I booked it for 2pm and lots of the characters seemed to be going. It would've been better earlier. I think 3 nights is plenty.

I think the character dining is better booked earlier because they fill up at peak times. In the parks the food was pretty poor. We took no snacks and were limited on what we could buy there. It's pretty much all over-priced fast food unless you're in the restaurants. The best/most varied meal we had was at Inventions. The rest of the time it was chicken nuggets and chips!

We always stay in Disney hotels to make use of magic hours. Definitely book character breakfasts early, they are quite fun for everyone! You can ask them to call you back on their website so you don't spend the money calling them

Yes def book character early I imagine she would want auberge de ce.. The cinderella restaurant.

There may be on line booking now. It gets very full and if your going the whole hog you could consider, bibbity bobbity princess for a day, take own dress but get hair and face done before the meal.

Bizzare menu at cinderella, most children don't like it, but your paying for the interaction.

Other places for other days do decent food deals like roast chicken and chips, or lasagne, and a little dessert. For a theme park. Def try and take some snacks with you and also think about buggy for 5 year old. Both my dd super fit sporty girls but it's hell of a lot of walking and yiu will see more if your faster.

PS most of the characters at inventions and breakfasts can be easily queued for or glimpsed in the park.

It's the Princess held in high reserve, you will see them on parade but you will see them far less around the park than trigger etc.

If I was spending money on character, princess is where I'd put it. Which is auberge de cendecrillon

To save money on snacks and drinks you can pop over to the Esso petrol station opposite the Santa Fe. Or if you take the bus from the hotel to the park pop into the train station before you go through security.

Character dining gets booked up in advance so best to book as soon as you've booked your trip. My DC like Inventions the best, if you get there early at dinner time it's best, so as it's not as busy and the children get to have a little extra time with the characters (and the buffet is fresh!)

We always stay Disney hotels in Orlando, but in Paris I don't think it makes much of a difference. We don't particularly want the extra magic hours in winter as there's enough time to get everything done in a couple of days without. Stayed at Vienna Dream Castle hotel, cheaper and nice with a quick free shuttle to the park.

I wouldn't recommend February, it'll be too cold to enjoy yourselves.

We wouldn't be able to afford any other time of years tbh and half term falls right in the middle of my dh 30th and dds birthday so it's perfect in that sense. Not really bothered by the cold, we go to the zoo every year on her birthday and that's fine.
Dd would definitely love princesses so will look at booking her a meal with those.

Re the cold op pp poster is right.

Disney the theme park seems to built in some strange depression. We could feel it getting colder as we walked in. We went in February but when there was huge snow dump.

So yes extremely cold but do be warned when it's cold there it's biting. It's the coldest I've ever been in my life and that was with hand hotties, snow boots, thermals, face thermal things hats, thermal gloves the works.

Do be warned because it's a lot of money to spend to then get there and not have best time.

Forewarned is for armed.

Being snuggled in cinderella place would be fine, and in the studios is more in door stuff.
You can also go in the main Disney hotel (you walk under it on entrance) for pit stops.

We’ve been in February and agree it was absolutely freezing.

Also bear in mind if it gets too cold, virtually all the outside rides stop.

I understand it will be cold, we will be prepared for the cold. We do a lot of things outdoors so have good weatherproof clothing. We are going for a specific reason. It's my dh 30th and there is a star wars things on at that time. And it is also my dds birthday. She has had a tough year so we want it to be special. Thanks for the tips on what to do when it's cold. Children are young so lots of pit stops would be normal anyway.

Ah I do love DLP in the cold though, it looks beautiful when frozen and the hot chocolate is a lovely treat :)

Disney hotels definitely worth it. Sequoia lodge is one of the cheaper ones close to the site. We have stayed there, Newport Bay and New York. We fly most of the time as especially during school hols the Eurostar is no cheaper especially if you have a long transfer to St Pancras, you can get a reasonable private transfer if you book through magic breaks.com, cheaper than when I have booked separately but you can get various priced options for shuttles etc. We got an amazing half board option too. Princess dinner is pricey but really good. Character dinner is also good.

We always take day time snacks (Pringles, cereal bars etc) so never buy food in the park, also take empty water bottles and a bottle of Robinson's Squashed as there are fountains all round the parks.