Disneyland Paris.. my head is melted!

[Ladybird11]

Booked flights and 4 nights in the Kyriad hotel near Disneyland Paris for April as my girls main Christmas present. Intention was to buy park tickets for the 2 days we will be in the parks (rest of the time in paris). My AIBU is... AIBU to wish I'd spent more, paid over the odds through an agent, booked a package thereby paying for days of passes for DLP that we wouldn't need if it's only just have been simpler?!

Our hotel offers breakfast but (the Disneyland Paris for Brits FB page has melted my head) I've read that to avoid paying 85 billion euros for dinner, meal passes should be bought.. and meals booked in advance.. and scheduled meals, attractions, etc to make the most of queues, light shows, parades.. oh dear goodness it's so complicated!

Can I not just buy passes for 2 days entry (best value?), and go with the flow? It seems no one goes with the flow and it's managed to the last minute..

Please regale me with DLP go with the flow is possible stories!

I would agree the food there isn't that great. The only time I have ever booked a meal was to do the Disney character dining (which I highly recommend). The rest of the time you can absolutely go with the flow especially if you are happy to eat your meal at slightly different times (a bit earlier or later than the crowds). Definitely take snacks and drinks to tide you over. Definitely see a show - they are always the highlight for me. And definitely get the app - really useful to see wait times. Enjoy yourselves! I love Disneyland Paris and have been with various people over the years. I can't wait to take my son when he is old enough to enjoy the rides!

If you are staying at the Kyriad in Torcy there's a massive Carrefour supermarket just over the road - we bought baguette, ham, cheese, fruit, biscuits etc for lunch and had dinner at one of the places outside the park gates in the evening before getting the train 2 stops back.

DLP is a big site but not too big to dash to the other side of either park if you want to see a particular show. Events are printed in the map leaflets that you pick up at the entrance

I remember the first time we went to DLP - all then information from everywhere just made it all seem complicated. We have been multiple times since then can honestly say it’s easier every time (though probably helps we have Annual Passes).

We have had meal plans twice but have found we prefer to pay as we eat rather than being restricted to “having” to use the vouchers just so we had used them.

The groups on FB are great though I find the admin on the Daniel Potter group a little bit control freak like and always trying to beat everyone else to news so they look the best. It’s a bit show off to me so I tend to stick to the Disneyland Paris for Brits group if I need help.

Also trips to DLP can be as expensive or inexpensive as you want. We’ve done it both ends of the spectrum where we have saved loads of money for spending and then where we have really pulled the belt in and done it on a tight budget.

We went to DLP the first weekend in May a few years ago. We had booked the ferry to visit my friend in northern France. Her dad was poorly and she ended up cancelling our visit about 3 days before. We decided to use the ferry ticket to go to DLP instead. We booked offsite hotel and a couple of day passes through website. No meal plans or anything. We totally just went with the flow. Find out about fast passes as they are really helpful. We took some snacks and drinks but it was find to just PAYG at food places. We really loved it too including DH who isn’t a theme park person normally. Have a lovely time!

Please post this on the Facebook page. They will all be in meltdown!!

Posted it on Facebook page!! Ha ha seems loads do!

We've been about 10 times, always just wing it. That FB page makes it seem like you have to book everything or you won't find anything with openings. And the snack bags they pack, you'd think there was no food in France!

You've all been v helpful. I am a very calm person and didn't want to end up being whipped into a frenzy. My kids will go with the flow thankfully.. @handbagkrabby - super synopsis!

I joined the Facebook group and it is now taking up my entire newsfeed!

You can turn off the notifications, icebear, that's what I do!

If character dining is something that is important to you/your DC I would book that in advance and just wing the rest of it.

I'd recommend Cafe Mickey (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Eyore etc)
Or the princess dining (Can't remember the name of it , Auberge something or other)

We went in the summer holidays with half board plan. It said on the tickets must book in advance blah blah, we didn't, we'd get to the restaurant where they would moan slightly that you must prebook and doubtful we'd be able to eat there. Within 5 mins we were sent round the the queue each time anyway and never turned away!

If you want to do character dining then you will need to book in advance, we did that for the first time last year and was worth every penny - we did the breakfast one!

We've been so many times and stayed at most of the on site and off site hotels! I can honestly say the Kyriad, while the most basic one we've stayed in in terms of rooms, had the nicest breakfast out of all of them!

A heads up on the food though, if you tend to have food like steak etc well done, I'd avoid going for anything like that all together. We went to the rainforest cafe one night in the Disney village and I asked for my burger "English well done" making it clear to do as well done as could be. It still was medium/rare and I spent most that evening finding the nearest toilets when we went back into the parks! And lastly, McDonald's is a good choice for lunch although very very very busy!

Enjoy!

We have been going since the place opened and I’ve never booked a meal before I left the U.K. except for Inventions and the Wild West Show , which I highly recommend from a show POV , the food is a bit meh . It is worth booking a character meal if your dc want photos with the characters as it’s much less time consuming than queuing to meet them . We only have a meal plan if it’s coming ‘free’ with a deal as we mainly eat at Planet Hollywood ( not included in the deal) as dd is coeliac and they have the only decent GF menu in the entire place . The busiest rides are definitely Crush’s coaster and Ratatouille in the studios and the Runaway mine train and Peter Pan in the main park IME . It’s also a very slow queue for Autopia due to the time to load and unload .

X post : the food in Cafe Mickey is really not good , although they’ve recently changed the menu , the best Character dining is Inventions . With regards to McDonald’s , if you pay by card you can use the self service machines like in the U.K. and it does make it a lot quicker .

Princess dining at Auberge-brilliant for the princesses who spoke to every child but rubbish food.

Well I read this thread and posted a few days ago. Got the Disney bug again.

And this morning I booked for DH, DS and I

Got a REALLY good deal so would have been rude to turn it down, so OP, all your fault

Lol @PeonyTruffle !!
Hope you have a great time too! X

If you are going during UK or French school holidays and want to eat at popular times, then I would book some restaurants. Reservations are free to make. Food is expensive there if eating in the table service restaurants.
Parade is usually at 5.30pm every day and fireworks are by the castle every night at park closing time.
Drinks are expensive there. There are water fountains dotted around, so worthwhile taking those mini concentrated cordial bottles to save money on drinks.

And don’t try and breakfast there we got bored of the free breakfast but the queue for the only place open (Starbucks I think on Main Street) was ridiculous!

Is there a way to book restaurants without phoning and waiting on hold for ages?!

No that is where I wish it followed the Orlando system!

ME TOO Quartz!