to take a slow cooker to Disneyland Paris?

[ElizaPickford]

Ok, that sounds a bit odd, but here's the thing, we're going and the whole family is veggie (and now skint.) I couldn't justify spending nearly £70 a day on meal vouchers, and it looks like Disney and France in general have different ideas about what constitutes being vegetarian. (One of the veggie options in one restaurant was fish and chips, and one of the best veggie restaurants apparently uses meat stock for veggie dishes.)

If we just pay as we go, I think we're looking at £15 each for chips and salad. It's crazy expensive, and I don't want to pay through the nose for the kids to eat crap for almost a whole week.

Soooooo... I was thinking if I took my slow cooker, we could at least have baked potatoes when we get back at night? And maybe couscous if I take the kettle? I can take some fresh stuff with me although we'll have no fridge so that will be limited, but just trying to figure out if this is a socially unacceptable thing to do, and whether I run the risk of burning down the whole hotel when the euro-adapter blows up my slow cooker.

Or any other tips for not starving to death/going bankrupt while there?

I am still getting my head round pasta put into one of those orange string bags that fruit comes in, then lowering it into the kettle and continually switching the kettle on so it cooks. I think I've heard it all now! and I'm looking at my very ordinary kettle in a different light now

unfortunately Agrabah Cafe is closed from 30 March to the end of June at least - unfortunately is the right word - by far and away the tastiest food on the park....

had one further thought - the fast food place in the studios park (as apart from the main park) is FOUL... looks like a warehouse, food tastes like it has been swept up from the floor of said warehouse... REALLY regret eating there - there are some tastes you never want to relive.

How miserable and grim it sounds to bring a slow cooker on holidays to Disney World.

It puzzles me how the food at Disney in the usa is so cheap and good, yet in France, the country that prides itself on having the best food in the world, it is so eye wateringly expensive and unremittingly foul.

Seriously the good alone would put me off going to euro Disney again

Have a big breakfast. Take your own snacks I always take crisps, breadsticks,dried fruit etc to have in the park. Grab a crepe or muffin for lunch. Go to macDonalds or supermarket for tea.

Its miserable and grim to feel forced into paying over the odds for shit food that you don't actually want to eat so YANBU to want to find ways around this.

Me again, sorry. I just can't get my head round it! Why not just go self catering in the first place?!
I can be a tight arse sometimes but even I'd draw the line at cooking stuff in hotel kettles and lugging a slow cooker into the hotel room!
I'm sure there'll be a local supermarket to stock up on local breads and stuff!
PLus, I really, REALLY can't see a hotel being ok with a slow cooker being left on all day unattended.
It'd be a fire hazard, surely?

Bitoutofpractice they are apparently trying to improve things, the new Chez Remy restaurant in the studios is very nice. I had a very good steak there last month.
I can't stomach any of the counter-service food though and Auberge is hideous banqueting food.
There is a 20% off at Earl of Sandwich voucher floating around on the fb fan pages (if you can wade through the pictures of glittery nails and primark bargains).

There is a MacDonalds in the park outside the gate, when we went they had decent salads at normal MacD prices.
And from what I remember the closest supermarket is at the train station, again close to main gate.

I have particular dietry requirements, and to a multi cooker with me to a hotel I was staying at when I was on a course. The hotel didn't do meals, only a continental breakfast which is no use to me.

There was no problem from the staff - because I hung the do not disturb sign in the door for both nights I was staying there.

Worked for me! Although it was a quick cook up at the end of the day rather than leaving it on all day.

Also, OP, I don't know when you're going - or under what offer you booked... but the current offer includes free half board. I've heard that as long as you 'upgrade' your booking (eg to a better room or better hotel), you can get the new offer and pay the difference. Sometimes this can work out better than adding half board to your original booking.

(Though to be honest, you're probably better off with some of the other options that people have given - especially picnic food from the supermarket).

gosh, I love the 'live a little' and similar comments. some people can't afford eating out everyday whilst on holiday. it does not mean they should never leave home,only that they need to watch what they spend. I'm not in favour of the slow cooker but Im really at some of the comments.

I don't know if DL Paris is the same as in Florida, but we were in Orlando last summer - Disney search your bags on entry and they do not let you take in your own food. The odd snack or two was fine, but not full blown picnics - we saw them confiscated. They want you to buy their (overpriced) food.

Honestly - it takes a lot to make me but cooking spaghetti in a plastic string bag in a kettle . The thought of it. Surely chemicals and colour from the bag leach out into the water?! It must be revolting.

That said, I never use the tea making facilities in hotel rooms after a pal worked as s chambermaid in a big chain hotel in the summer holidays. She said that quite often it was very clear that the spouts of teapots had been stuck up bums - presumably some kind of sex thing

Some people just left the teapots in the bed so it was clear they needed cleaned but it makes me boke to think of some people just giving them a quick wipe and sticking them back on the tea tray

Well yes Drink but if you can't afford it surely you book self-catering or book a cheaper holiday in the first place? DL is £££

Sweet lord. Eggy bean kettles and shitty teapots...

What if the OP can only afford Disneyland if they economise when they get there? Should they not be allowed to go unless they get into debt spending lots of money on overpriced shit food?

Although it does sound like self catering would have been a better option, then the slow cooker would have been a good idea.

Picnic food is also a good idea but what if they want something hot once or twice - it really is no bother to stick some potatoes or a casserole in the slow cooker on a morning before heading out for the day.

As well as the cost, the OP is concerned, quite rightly so, about the lack of availability of vegetarian food in a country that considers fish and chips or a dish that only has a sprinkling of ham on it rather than an actual lump of meat as 'vegetarian'.

And yet people are suggesting McDonalds, where if you go as a vegetarian, you are limited to one or two options that they dont always have in stock.

Have never had my bag checked at Disney Paris. Always take lots of snacks

Every bag was being searched or scanned when we were there last month. I don't think sandwiches were quite what they were looking for though. Although it surely would be an easier job for the sniffer dogs?

Every bag s searched, but snacks are okay. They won't let you take a picnic in.

When at home I'm a veggie low carber. Absolutely impossible at DLP where if you don't eat carbs you won't eat.

Also worth noting that the "free" half board isn't anything like free. We were there at the same time as another family last week. Same dates, same hotel, both 2 adults, 1 free child. Their deal with "free" half board was £700. We paid £420 without the supposedly free meal plan. I'm just trying to work out what we actually spent on food over the week (had a discount with an annual pass so only paid 80% of normal price).

The buffets cost us about €70 for 2 adults and 1 child including a drink. Pizza planet was about €45. Auberge was £84 for 1 adult and 1 child (paid in advance) and breakfast at cafe mickey was £14 each (paid in advance).

This thread is weird. If the op wanted to take a slow cooker she should have gone self catering. Nobody is saying that the op shouldn't economize on holiday, just that she get picnic food from the supermarket.
If they want a hot meal, they can eat out. I agree that France isn't the most vegetarian friendly country, but there are options! They might be a bit limited, but the op is only there for a limited time.

Some people on here are proper arseholes . She didn't ask for opinions on her choice of holiday, a lecture on the lack of culture she is affording her children or condescending comments about her financial situation. She asked for ideas on how to keep costs down for eating out at Disney. It's not a stupid question, it is expensive and generally not worth the expense for the quality of food you get. It was a bad idea about the slow cooker, but I think she's got that after 7 pages.
Op, have a fantastic time on holiday.

There's a service (petrol) station shop beside the "Cars" themed hotel & a 7-11 type shop (corner shop by the name of 'Relay' perhaps?) in the Metro Station, Marne-la-Vallée Chessy.

The store at Marne-la-Vallée sells sandwiches, bread, cheese, rosé with screw top, biscuits & general snacks etc.

My family tended to stock-up for the day before entering the park.