Disneyland Paris

[racheyc]

Posting here for traffic. Has anyone got any advice on the best time to go in terms of shorter queues. We are thinking of going in March and will try to avoid French school holidays as well as UK. Also I have heard that it is looking a little run down and there are armed police all around. If anyone has been recently is this true? Also heard they stopped doing the characters coming round at breakfast? Also read today that Space Mountain is closing to be replaced with a Star Wars themed ride! Thanks!

We stayed at Sequoia in June. With small children, I'd stump up for it (or New York / Newport) again to get a pool and 8am entry. You get to meet some of the characters with tiny queues, and enough of the smaller rides are open to be worth it - round and round the teacups and carousel in our case. Back to the hotel for a late breakfast and a swim and a rest, then out for the afternoon again, then dinner and bed.

Spindelina that sounds like a really good way to do it and make the most of the two hours in the morning

We went in May and the weather was lovely and queues not bad (not that I have anything else to compare it with). One thing I do recall is being disappointed at the quality of the hotel compared to its star rating. If we went again I think we would stay in central paris and just take the train there (excellent service ). By evening we were Disneyed-out!

Halloween was great not too cold or hot. Was definitely not run down, it looked magical. I was not a Disney person beforehand but I was converted. Big queues though but you can be smart with the fast passes which cuts down some time. I don't think there is ever a really quiet time though as even if the French kids are in school, it's full of other nations.

Lots of advice on the FB group Disneyland Paris for Brits. Try there as well.

I stayed at Newport Bay with dd1 (16) in October and it was lovely. Just be aware that it is the biggest of the Disney hotels so your room can be a trek away from the entrance/pool/restaurants. We had to walk down 5 different (but all decorated the same) corridors to get to our room. It is only an extra 5 minutes walk than the New York hotel but after queuing and being on our feet all day it did feel like a long walk. From the lake and hotels you have to walk through the Disney shopping village before you get to the main entrances to Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios.
There is airport style security for the Eurostar - bag X-ray machines and body scanners. This type of security is also present at Disney - you cannot get into the Village, main park or Studios without having your bag x-rayed and passing through an airport style scanner which was reassuring.
The queues weren't too bad for us as we were there the week before October half term but we missed the Mickey meet and greet (we met him at Cafe Mickey as part of our meal plan) and the Disney Princess Pavillion (2 hour queue). The longest we waited was 45 minutes and several rides we walked straight on or waited less than 5 minutes.
Because it is the 25th anniversary this year there has been a lot of refurbing over the past year or 2 so I don't think things are at all shabby - in fact Disneyland Paris is know for how much more attention to detail there is than the American parks.

I went 2 years ago mid march and there was one day when we had to wear jumpers (very lucky) we are gong again same sort of time this year and although there are closures there is still plenty to do. It was still pretty busy but if make use of the fast passes you can easily get everything done.

The characters don't do breakfast appearances at any hotels anymore and haven't foe a couple of years, I think they stopped it just before we visited last time.

I can highly recommend sequoia lodge, we upgraded to golden Forrest so you get quick check in, seperate hot breakfast restaurant (no having to book a time and then still have to queue) hot drinks and soft drinks between certain times back at the hotel during the day and snacks in the afternoon. You also get a daily fast pass per person.

I love disney land paris.its safe as security is very tight.people moan as your bag gets searched but you never know what people are carrying.clean place .friendly staff.can be done on a budget