Disneyland Paris in August - Ideas

[Moonopoly]

What hotels would people recommend?

What are the ‘must dos’ and ‘don’ts’?!

Want to have a nice time but also keen to hear how to save a few pennies if possible!

Hoping to have two nights plus 3 days in the park - is this enough?

3 kids aged 9, 5 and 2

Gosh - does it have to be August? Don't want to piss on your chips OP but it will be heaving

Sorry meant to post in chat! @mnhq please could you move this for me?

@2022success unfortunately yes as we are adding it on to a family wedding in France

Might be worth looking at the cost of tickets v cost of annual passes? Even if you just get one for one of the adults you save money on restaurants/shops/hotels. But it depends on blackout dates etc.

Do you want to stay in an on site hotel or a partner hotel? It's the most expensive time of the year for a DLP trip so your money is not going to stretch as far as it would do in the quieter seasons.

@ThreeB I think probably on site

Ok, well given that update, try to avoid the weekend if you can. That is when it's busiest.

I would stay at one of the Disney hotels with free regular transport into the parks. I have been twice and stayed at Santa Fe but would upgrade if you can afford it.

One thing I would really recommend is the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show which I believe has been reopened. It's great fun and you get to eat "like a cowboy". Take inhalers if anyone is asthmatic though as horses kick up a lot of allergens. My DC loved it.

If you will have your car we liked Davy Crockett ranch. It's a five minute drive away but you still get the magic hour early entry because it's a Disney hotel. Make sure you use that early entry it's much quieter then.
Plan which rides your kids really want to go on and get fast passes for them (though not all rides have them) to avoid some queuing.
Consider taking a pushchair for your two year old because it's so much walking and it's ever so useful to put all your heavy stuff underneath.
Take snacks and drinks with you.
Try and get a meal plan when you book your hotel, it makes sense money wise.
It is obvious but Paris is absolutely boiling in August so take shade to queue under (umbrellas etc).
Have a lovely time!

Fastpassess are now an added extra (Premier Access), so can run quite pricey for the whole family. So it depends on whether that ride is worth it for you depending on time saved.
The Disneyland Paris app is pretty good and shows wait times and stuff.

Thanks everyone. All great information.
@Goldenphoenix we were looking at the meal plans but just trying to work out which would be best.

Meal plans didn't work for us at all. We spent ages queuing for food and breakfast especially was pretty naff. I appreciate not everyone will have the same experience. Would recommend Davy Crokett too as it was lovely to have a bit of down time there every evening.

Op nearly all the hotels around Disney are extremely close to it and all have shuttle busses and some have train station as well.

I would highly recommend hotel elysee which is opp train, bus stops and the huge val de Europe shopping centre.

See if you can get cheap tickets but as pp said always check against annual pass prices.

For one small holiday have low expectation on what you will see and do.
Bear in mind there are also limited play areas when rides are busy.
If your happy to chill..wander around..maybe get on some rides...watch the parades etc..that will be fine. Otherwise you really need a pass. We went five times in one year and it was on our third visit we had it all down pat, rides, fast passes etc.

To throw away curve ball in and "pay on " what I found out when asking about Disney about ten years ago (!!)..the efteling in Holland.

Your children's ages are perfect.
It's the same distance from UK.
It's cheaper, accmd is so so much nicer
.the park is truly magical and has the atmosphere you would expect from Disney but Disney deosnt have.
At it's heart is the amazing fairy tale wood which can take hours to wander around if you want when rides are busy. Loads of different play areas. A squares filled with old fashioned carousel, swing chair rides which rarely get busy and over all much nicer park food, cheaper...you can drink in the park..wine..prosecco etc.

I would strongly urge you to check out pictures..And look it up.

• be very careful with meal plan's etc...the whole system is designed to befuddled and confuse people.

Depending on how much you want to save you could also join the Disney Paris Facebook sites.
Mostly advice on where to get cheap tickets and do it cheaply. Ie. Cheap tickets and stay in partner hotels or annual pass.

The efteling in Holland is just straight forward. No odd pricing just all straight up.

Annual passes can work out cheaper for anything over 2 days, even if just one or two of the family have them to use the 10-20% discounts in restaurants, shops and on hotels.

If you are driving Davy Crockett ranch is great with smallish children , if you are set on a hotel then IME Sequoia Lodge is nicer than The Newport Bay , I haven’t stayed at The New York since they changed it to Marvel but that used to be lovely . The actual Disneyland Hotel which is my preferred option is closed at the moment for a refurb.

• you also used to be able too access the park early and with our magic plus we had our own special entrance and free buggy. Absolutely loved the special entrance...whipping through whilst all hotel guest's stuck in long queues too get in!

I've been in August. So busy! All depends on your budget - if you are driving the camp site/lodges are a good option, there's a good supermarket nearby. If going by train consider a hotel that's not Disney owned if you need to economise, and for evening meals there is a huge McDonald's at normal French prices and the supermarket has rotisserie chicken, salad etc for a hotel room meal. We stayed in the Newport bay hotel and it was pricey, I had b&b then (they have changed it since) and we actually jumped on the train and went to restaurants in the Paris suburbs

• and surrounding hotels busses are free.

But you wouldn't need any of this streess at efteling!