Disneyland Paris - help - my head is hurting (lots)

[perplexedagain]

OK - complete newbie to the world of Disneyland and completely bamboozled by all the choice and complexities. Am about to book Newport Bay or the Sequoia Lodge (can't decide) and planning get a half board plus meal plan but confused about choice. Any thoughts about hotel??

So travelling with DH and DS (age 6) and I'm vegetarian - other two aren't. What are the best options for us - buffet? Table service? Any particular restaurants worth visiting ? We were planning to go for dinners rather than lunch but then I've just realised you need to book breakfasts too, so is it worth going elsewhere for breakfast other than your hotel? I can't find menus online either

So any thoughts, tips or ideas? There's loads of DLP forums but a lot of the info is quite old and I trust MN to be a better source of advice given that I'm travelling with a young child.

We have booked Newport Bay compass club for november...chose NPB as the free meal plan was a plus one so higher value than at some other hotels.

We have breakfast inc and either lunch or dinner and the more popular restaurants will be booked up in advance so book online! We are doing Breakfast with the princesses ( paying a top up), Wild west show (late one so part of our meal plan), inventions ( paying a top up) and Chez Remy (part of our meal plan)

We've stayed there a lot. Honestly the hotel food is fine but does mean going back for dinner and adding a walk.

I'd probably go Sequoia Lodge - I don't really like NPB v much.

Never done the princess lunch, my dc found the Wild West show boring. Unless you go for the top meal plan I think you have to pay extra anyway.

We did character dinner in the pink hotel (the Disney one) which was fantastic, lots of interaction. Also did it for breakfast at the place in the park - good but huge queue even though we'd booked.

We had an amazing meal at Walt's, I'd definitely recommend there if it appeals to your group.

My best time saving tip is use the single rider line for Ratatouille. Line up so your son is in between you and DH in the queue so he's not left on his own when getting off the ride. Single rider line is only about 5 minutes max (although often basically walk on) even when the regular queue is at over an hour.

Your only real option for breakfast is your hotel or paying extra for a character breakfast. Both table service and buffets have vegetarian options. Chez Remy is a great themed plus restaurant or use your hotel restaurant for evenings

What time of year? Summer I’d go for Newport and winter id go for sequoia.

Meal plans are worth it only if you’d eat in that grade of restaurant anyways - have a look at DLP guide website for menus .character meals are worth their weight if you’d otherwise be queuing to meet the characters.

Character meals :
Auberge de cendrillon - breakfast or lunch or dinner 4 princesses
Cafe Mickey and inventions also do character meals and more traditional Disney characters
Plaza gardens character breakfast - Winnie the Pooh, tigger, Mickey, Donald etc usually.

You can use meal plan vouchers as part payment towards higher grade restaurants and character meals .

I think you can purchase breakfast only if needed, if you go for a club level room them breakfast is included.

FWIW we like rainforest restaurant in Disney village which isn’t included on meal plans

we stayed in the newport bay and found it really good, breakfast i have never seen such mountains of food, mainly continental but plenty of choice theres a pool too so take swimwear i didnt and regretted it, dinner there was seafood based and with a 4 and 7 year old i dint try the dinner there we just ate in the food village , i didnt plan my day out so just did what felt right wandered round and went on rides and newport is only a short stroll up the lake from the park

I've stayed at sequoia 5 times. I would always book this one
Breakfast at the hotel is continental buffet. Pastries, meats, cheese, fruit, yogurt and cereal. It's about a 5 minute walk around the lake to get to the village.

Oh and as for food, the Earl of Sandwich in the village is an absolute must! I swear by the Hawaiian!

Jumping on the thread- we've been looking at Disney Paris. How did you find the cheapest way to cost it? Also, does anyone know if you can buy priority tickets/medical passes? I have a diabetic child prone to hypos and food allergies. Can you take your own food in?

You can take your own food in, as long as it's not too excessive (sandwich and stuff are fine, full hampers/cool boxes on wheels not so much).

Disneyland Paris have a section on their website regarding facilities for guests with medical issues. That will be able to explain what is available.

Make sure your meal plan isn't just Quick breakfast a we had a free Plus meal plan in Autumn last year and the Quick breakfast was in the park and the queues were horrendous.

Iirc you can buy fast pass tickets now but they are very expensive and clunky.
You can be given either an orange pass (eg pregnancy, crutches) or a green pass (disability meaning you can't queue). We had a green pass and had priority for rides and also special sections for parades and fireworks. Didn't mean other guests in those areas were any less rude or pushy than the main crowds watching the shows.

Hiya,
Just got back from Disneyland, family of 4 with vegetarian son :)
We stayed in Sequoia Lodge, about 8 minute walk from Disney Village.
Had half board included - breakfast between 7 and 11 at hotel, buffet was great, something for everyone.
Had dinner one night at hotel, again buffet was great, lots of options, self service so ate lots!
Had dinner one night at Captain Jack's (booked easily at hotel - given a ticket to take to restaurant) set menu with a few options, 'Disney Check' menu for 'free from' option for son.
Buffalo Bill later show included in half board (I booked through agent beforehand) asked when we got our tickets inside if we had any dietary requirements, son was given a vegetarian ticket to put on his plate and was given a plate full of pasta, salad, corn on cob... looked very tasty. Everyone else had chicken, ribs, potatoes, chilli. Great show and great food. Kept our drinks topped up too.
Hotel was great, easy to check in, room was ready when we got there at 10am, automatic check out, staff all very friendly and helpful. I would thoroughly recommend.
Son had no trouble with vegetarian options, he was stuffed full everyday.
Hope this helps :)

Hi re cost I'm trying direct with Disneyland today and have a couple of quotations from agencies online - Magic breaks and DLParis.direct (I think). If official site is the same price as one of the agents I'll book with them directly as I think it is easier to get add ons later

Sequoia Lodge is my favourite. With a plus meal plan we ate at ratatouille's restaurant (chez remy) and it was gorgeous, and captain Jack's restaurant (pirate themed, great atmosphere, and the rice was served from bowls made from coconut shells!) last time we booked with magic breaks they gave us a free character breakfast but I found it very chaotic, I like a calm breakfast in the hotel to start the day rather than the rush and bustle of going somewhere.

I found Magic Breaks always offered the best rate. Disney direct was more for transport and dlp .direct didn't have as many options for transport (Eurostar).

Last time I changed so much with magic breaks after booking and they were fine.

Have just been online again and the price has gone up massively with all agents ... no longer offering the 25% off hotels/park tickets and half board. Down to a measly 5% - having a rethink ...

Delete your cookies?
Or maybe the offer is over?

When are you planning on going?

Haven't read the whole thread but these are some things we learnt/saw others doing.
Try to get a copy of the map and timetable in advance. Our first day consisted of a lot of trying to work out what to do next.

The food in the park is mostly fast food and expensive. Although they say no food can be brought in they didn't check the bags of people coming from the Disney hotels. We saw a number of people with pastries from breakfast, grapes from the dinner cheese board, sandwiches made from the breakfast buffet and drinks/fruit juice in bottles. These might not all be for you but I thought having fruit snacks was a great idea.

As a pp said, book the restaurants early. On our first night we couldn't get a table until 9. Also not all of the restaurants are included in the meal deals.

The cues for Meet the Princess, Meet Mickey and some others go down when the parade is on.

We stayed at Newport Bay. Its not a long walk to the park and is a lovely way to end an evening if the weather is good.

Can't think of anything else right now. Have fun!

Thanks everyone. Deal is still on but assume prices going up because lots of interest . Surprisingly it isn't much more to stay for 4 nights in sequoia lodge - an extra £125. Looking at going end of June next year. Trying to get early booking offer

We had the half board catering... Breakfast and dinner. Took snacks with us and didn't need lunch after the big breakfast.
We had the Princess Lunch and didn't overly rate it (apart from meeting the Princesses).

I think NPB meal plan is 'better' than SL. however it doesn't get you the princess dinner etc. Plus unless you are into food we ended up in the cheaper places anyway so 'wasted' the extra.

Join the Disneyland Paris for the brits group in Facebook. They know everything on there ! It really helped me

Stayed at both but haven't done meal plans however I recommend booking the Wild West show if it's an option on your plan one evening, and do one character breakfast if they are small - the hotel breakfast was basic continental when we went (it was included in standard room rate which is no longer the case) so if eating in the park is an option you may prefer that