Disneyland Paris

[onwardsup4]

I booked an apartment in Paris for October a while ago with a view to taking kids 12 14 and 3 to Disney. Just looking at tickets and for a two day ticket(just before half term but Fri and sat) it’s £810 for kids and two adults, added fast track just to see and that brings it up to £1550…!? Bit shocked. If you’ve been recently what did you think of it?

I took my kids (8 and 10) last year and felt it was an absolute masterclass in how to squeeze every last euro out of everyone

Really long queues, some of which were for the very underwhelming rides. We got totally fleeced by 75 euro pp (I think it was) buffets. Kids were more interested in the extortionate gift shops than the attractions.

we went outside main school hols and were surprised to see lots of huge (noisy) adult groups.

That said after a very underwhelming and exhausting first day we went back the second day at a more relaxed pace and had a good time and powered through to the 11pm light show which was fantastic tbh.

One good thing- we all agreed we wouldn’t be spending £10k plus to go to Florida. Or £2-3k to go back to dlp either

Thanks I’ll check that out

Could anyone tell me on a practical note, what do you do with your bags when on a ride?

You can Google historic queue times for the time of year you're going to get a rough idea of what the average wait times will be like. They are very much averaged however, and if you're going close to Halloween it will be busy.

Take them with you, on almost all rides. They put them at the side on space mountain and other large rollercoasters.

Sullen and unhelpful French people in Paris? Surely not! 😂
Enjoy OP, I’ve been debating whether or not to take my kids or to just bite the bullet and head to WDW once the orange lunatic is out of office.

Download the disneyland paris app closer to the date for live times.

Staying in one of their hotels and getting the magic hour is well worth it. After the queues started building My teens were then happy to go on as single riders and didn’t queue much more than 5 minutes for anything in peak season.

Thanks to everyone saying to look at a package I’ve had another look and I can get a ranch for only about 400 more than the tickets plus two extra days in the park. All of us in one room was what put me off the hotels so this is something to think about. Not sure about the meals packages what’s peoples experiences of the half/ full board ?

They have five guys etc just outside of the parks, if you want to eat cheap-ish.

What I am glad I did (as an insane mum used to traveling) was that I did bring bottles of half frozen/frozen water in my suitcase..😂 which my family laughed at me for doing but begged for quite early on. It was warm when we went last, and water cost a fortune and was for some odd reason warm.

You have to pre-book all the park restaurants months in advance, the quick service food is pretty awful, and you waste so much park time. Personally, I don’t find them worth it.

We’ve always just grabbed a croissant for breakfast, taken snacks in, eaten in a walk-in restaurant in the village like rainforest cafe at quieter times, or eaten in near val d’europe later on by the apartment. There’s a five guys, McDonalds and vapiano’s pizza just outside the park gates too.

We have done one character meal per stay through, sucked up the cost and average food for the convenience of meeting a load of characters at the same time, to avoid wasting hours queuing.

I got the gist that meal packages weren't really worth it. There's places like McDonalds, "Earl of Sandwich" and such in the Disney Village area just outside the two parks. If you're staying on property you don't want to waste time eating a long breakfast in your hotel, you want to get over and make the most of magic hour when it's quieter and you can get the busiest rides done. If you're squeezing as much in as possible then you probably don't want to go back to a hotel and have lunch and dinner there either. If you're likely to think ooh a Mickey shaped doughnut or pizza, and splurge on a few Disney snacks here and there topped up by some brought-in bags of crisps or whatever to keep you going till a quick Disney Village pit stop for a burger, you're covered.

You’ve been had then mate, sorry. No need for it to cost anywhere near that amount.

Flights £2000 for 4 people
Park tickets £3500 for 4 people for all Disney parks and universal for the full 2 weeks.
Accomodation £1500 for 2 weeks for 4 people.
All in school holidays
Plus the cost of food, Ubers, spending money. Easily £10k. Definitely not been had mate not a chance in hell can you get it for under £3000 you can’t even get a weeks all inclusive in Turkey for that these days. You’re talking rubbish.

In what universe can you get a Florida Disney holiday for a family of 4 for £3k?! £3k per person is more realistic.

Yes I'm really intrigued at the break down on the costing of a £3k on site holiday. 2 weeks at All Stars mid September is £1900, 2 week park hoppers are £500pp, maybe down to £400 at a push with some discounts, and flights are never below £400pp.

Unless you're travelling indirect with 2 stops with children under 2 who don't need park tickets or plane seats, £6k is the absolute minimum for a family of 4. And as you say, that's without food, transfers etc.

The last time I paid £3k for 4 of us was about 2012!

Well I've been had too then... £10k last October for 11 nights on property, flights, tickets & food for 4. Would love to know how £3k is possible!

In the universe where you do lengthy research on crowd calendars and other resources in order to go at the right time to get the best prices 🤷‍♀️

You still haven't given a breakdown though, I've been a member of (incredibly loserish) Disney forums for over 20 years and have all the spreadsheets/apps etc. but on site with tickets is a minimum of £6k in the current climate.

I will accept that if you're talking off site, non-school holidays, very last minute, indirect flights, free airmiles, no park tickets then sure, £3k is possible. But you've made it sound like getting a family of 4 to Florida for £3k is perfectly attainable and it just isn't when Disney tickets alone are £2k for 4.

(Sorry to derail OP!)

It takes me a lot of time to do my own research to get our WDW holidays for under 3k, it can’t be done quickly just to prove to a load of randoms that it can 🤷‍♀️

I always stay on site (would never stay off site, you don’t get the same Disney magic), and we couldn’t do last minute due to work schedules etc.

It takes thought, planning and research. Most people aren’t bothered to do it. I find it fun, so I do 🤷‍♀️

Yes I appreciate that as I am the same. I could give you a cost breakdown off the top of my head of most of my previous trips and probably trips taken by my family and friends because of this. That's why I find it a bit unusual that you've not been able to give an example of a recent trip you've taken for £3k.

Op, take a look at the many Youtube videos with lots of info about both DLP and Orlando.

I mainly wanted to see how people enjoyed it when they went there’s some awful reviews on trip advisor and worse on trust pilot! Having looked properly I’m going for 3 nights Davy Crocket ranch with 4 days park tickets 1400. Don’t think we’ll use all 4 days tickets but still feels like better value plus get the magic hour.
Be nice if could get 2 weeks at Orlando for 3k 😂
Even then I don’t fancy that at the moment

We have been to both several times and thoroughly enjoyed each trip. You will have a wonderful time. Do a bit of research, check out where you want to eat and which rides you want to ride. Have fun!

There are lots of DLP groups on Facebook with great tips, I'm going in a few weeks and have found them very useful. Enjoy your trip!