To ask for help planning this holiday. France/Disney

[jammamma]

We are looking to go to Disneyland next year, ideally want to do 3/4 days there and then 3/4 days somewhere else. I literally have no idea where else though as we've never been to France. Would quite like to do the touristy things in Paris but it's not essential. On the other hand would quite like nice weather so maybe the south? Has anybody done a trip like this and could recommend somewhere to stay once we leave Disney?

Depending what you are looking for I would recommend Berc / Le Touquet for some coastal fun or stay at the centre Parcs/ eurocamp close to Paris.

you could travel into Paris for a few days.

france is a huge country so personally I wouldn’t travel too far.

@Squidlydoo oh brill thanks. We are looking at flying to Paris, would we need a hire car to get to and from Disney if we stayed at centre parcs or do they have bus options?

You can train to Disneyland from Paris. Not sure about the centerparcs location as haven’t stayed. Depending on age of your children I would probably do a few days in Paris and then train to Disney.

With so much to see in Paris, I think it would be a shame to go for a Centerparcs type experience which you can get in the UK. I would suggest going to Disney last so that from a children's perspective it's "best last". Otherwise they might spend the rest of the holiday going back.

Should you wish to go south, the TGV train would be your best bet. Advanced fares work out much cheaper than those bought nearer to the day of travel. Be aware though that you are talking about a journey of around 700+ km, as a PP mentioned it is a huge country.

I went to Disneyland last week and I thought I saw a shuttle for Villages Nature which is the Centerparcs. You'd probably have to pay.

There is a shuttle from Village Nature
The nearest Eurocamp destination runs day trips a couple of times a week. But it's probably a 1.5hr drive and although the site is nice and has lots of activities, there's not much else for children outside the park (apart from Zoo des Felins, again at least 1 hr away).
Where are you travelling from? We live SE so a drive to Disney takes a few hours using the tunnel, we usually stay at one of the Disney hotels for a couple of nights, then drive on somewhere else, maybe the Eurocamp site or another. The Davy Crockett park might be an option.
There is a mobile home site right on the banks of the Seine, might be an Allcamps one but I've never stayed there.
If you want some beach time too, then flying is probably not the best option.
I think a nice trip would be Disney for a few days then working your way back towards the Channel crossing via Le Touquet or Boulogne (big aquarium there) or the wide open beaches of Dunkirk.
No luggage restrictions in your own car, you can keep those devices charged, packed lunches, packed teas and door to door service.

Chantilly is stunning. and if you hir a car and don't mind a drive Deauville on the east coast. Also heard nice things about Fontainbleu.

Parc Asterix is quite close. And nowhere near as expensive!

Paris is good, but there's also the Loire Valley not to far away or the Vendee coastal region a bit further on. If you go west towards either of those, I can't begin to tell you how amazing www.puydufou.com is.

There are lots of nice places but the weather isn't guaranteed to be really hot these days even as far down as the Dordogne.

@trulyunruly01 thanks for the info. Just to confirm is the village nature one of the euro camps or is that something different? Sorry got a bit confused!

Thanks for all the suggestions so far! I think we quite like the look of the centre parcs option so far, we would probably be staying for 7 nights. I know people have mentioned they do shuttles from there to Disney but how easy is it to also go on a day trip to Paris and is it far? Would we be best hiring a car or just relying on shuttles?

Have stayed at the Villages de nature (Disney Centreparcs) - there’s a free shuttle bus from memory. Was a good place to relax after Disney days.

There’s also a station v close to Disney. I wouldn’t hire a car.

Villages Nature, not de Nature, that should be.

If you book Villages Nature on the Disneyland website, you also get 2 days of park tickets for Disneyland. I only know this as I am currently planning the same holiday as you! One week in France, 4 days in the Disney Parks, 3 days something else!

@Changes17 thanks for all the info!

@Octaviathethird oh really? I'll have a look at that now. Do you mind me asking what you have found the overall price to be? I'm struggling to work out how much it will all cost as I can't look at flights this early

We're planning on going in the Easter school holidays, which aren't available to book yet either so I'm basing the flights on the October holidays, which are £105pp return. For Disneyland hotels, I'm using the Feb school holiday prices which will probably be lower than the Easter ones but give me an idea of how the hotels compare to each other in price!
I haven't costed the bit of the holiday that's not Disneyland yet but I think the Disney bit with flights and a basic meal plan will be around 2.5k.

@Octaviathethird thanks for sharing, that's what I was averaging for the Disney part so it's good to know! Seems much cheaper to do the village option than booking a Disney hotel x

There's also Explorers hotel which seems good value for money with loads for kids to do. They have a free shuttle to Disney and breakfast is included in the price https://www.explorershotels.com/en/the-hotel/
I'm leaning towards a Disney hotel though, just for the character interactions, and maybe heading to Villages Nature afterwards to relax a bit after the madness of Disney! x

It’s worth staying in a Disney hotel for at least a few days to get the extra park hours - particularly if you’re planning to visit at a busy time of year.

I would recommend 3 nights in Disney or three days if you are staying off site.

Disney is a long day with fireworks at park closing time so factor that in to your planning.

it’s also a lot of walking and standing around. I would consider planning to relaxing days around your park days. The benefit of village nature is it is a big complex with pools etc so you’re not just walking - which would be the problem with siteseeing in Paris.

Not sure where you live in UK but consider eurostar to park. Even though they no longer travel direct, it is still quick door to door - if you have a good London route close to home. Flight is quick to paris but airports and transfers are long and time consuming and cut into your holidays.

La Croix Du Vieux Pont (Eurocamp) is just outside Paris & does buses to Disney land and Paris.

The open top bus tours around Paris are great.

We previously flew to Paris and stayed in central Paris for 3 nights to see the sights. We then got the train to Disney and stayed in a Disney hotel for 4 nights. Staying onsite at Disney is good as you get extra time in the parks when it’s less busy and you can walk back and forth to the hotel (especially good if it’s summer and you want to get out of the heat for a bit in the afternoon).