Disneyland Paris advice please

[buttonmoon78]

We're off to France at the beginning of August, spending a day at Disneyland on the way. We've got 3 dcs - 12, 10, 3. Any tips on what to see, how to cut costs etc. I heard that if you get you hand stamped and go into the village to Mcd's it's a lot cheaper so any tips like that would be lovely!

Yes, it is cheaper but will be a pain in the neck, and take a good bit of time out of your day. If you are driving, stop and buy some baguettes, bottled water etc. before you go in.

There are 2 parades a day. If you are planning on staying late to see the night one, take advantage of the smaller queues on the rides at paradr time.

You can also get Fast Pass tickets on selected rides- you go to the ride, put in your park ticket and then get a ticket telling you when to return- which saves quite so much queuing.

Oh? The post I read (not on here) seemed to suggest it was a 2 min walk? See what I mean? I've no idea...

It depends wher you are in the park. If you are in the middle of the park with a 3 year old, it will take you a good 10 mins to walk down Main Street, out to the fornt, across in to Disney Village and then through that- because the Mcds is right at the back. Then there are the queues there! then you do it all the way back again.

I know this beacuse I have done it- I wasn't going back in though. It does make sense to do it, but if you are only there for one day, I'd spend the time in the park.

It probabaly isn't that much cheaper anyway than one of the hot dog stands- no need to sit in anyway- get your hot dogs and find a bench

I don't know about when schools are out, it could be really busy, but we went during term time a few years ago, with toddlers and Australians who were off school anyway. And it was amazing, what a wonderful place. The kids will love it! And you will be surprised. I was surprised, I thought I'd hate it, but it is all so well put together and just really magical.

If you can be organised, do try and bring some of your own food in. Food there is not cheap.

Just a thought, but what the 12 and 10 year olds will want to do and be able to do will be very different from what you can do with the 3 year old. There will be quite a few rides the 3yo will not be able to go on (or may be too frightening) that the other 2 will want to.

Therefore, it might be worth splitting up, one of you with the 2 older ones and the other with the 3yo. Then swap over part way through the day. Otherwise, one of you may be spending a lot of time standing outside an attraction with the 3yo waiting for the others.

Make sure you arrange a time to meet up at a central spot for lunchtime or whenever.

Thanks cjlb - we'd already clocked that different itineraries might help! TBH we've wanted to take the dds for years, but then ds came along and we said we'd wait. So we decided on this year as it'll still be magical for them but also fun for ds.

Thanks for advice so far - hopefully bumping this up a bit will encourage other people to spill the cost cutting beans!

Oh, and Marykat... I'd love to holiday outside school holidays. However, when I took dd out of school for a Friday for a family wedding last Oct, I almost had to face a firing squad. I imagine school's reaction to me taking her out for a proper holiday might be something a little less reasonable

Yeah, that is the problem of school holidays isn't it... on the plus side you will have better weather though!

Make sure you disguise a packed lunch if you do tke one in. You are not officially allowed to take anything other than water in. We were there 2 months ago and there were bag searches - we saw picnics being removed!

Would stiil risk it though - most of the food in the park was disgusting and overpriced. There are some cafes on main street that sell baguettes etc though if you do want something other than processed c**p.

If I was going to reply to your question here in full, I would be writing a book! If you are only spending one day there in August, you will need to look at both park maps online, and decide which park is your priority. The parks are VERY busy during the summer holidays, but the DL Park is open until 11pm, ending the day with Fantillusion Parade and fireworks over the Castle.The Studios park closes at 7pm though.Both parks open at 10am, although people staying in Disney hotels can enter the DL park at 8am for selected rides.
When the Studios opens at 10am, most people will be running to Crush's Coaster, as this is very popular, and has no Fastpass facility. Expect queues of 2hrs all day for this.
With your ages of children, the older ones may want to go off on their own to do rides, while you take your 3 yr old on ones suitable for them.Most rides are suitable for the whole family, but some small children can be scared on some of them. It depends on the child really.
I am going with my son for 5 days on 9th August,( as we do every summer and also before Christmas) and have already written our itinerary, and booked our restaurants.
I and others can help you further on the Trip Advisor Marne La Vallee forum, which is mainly for Disneyland Paris.
It would take too long to post everything here.

In reply to ' most of the food in the parks was disgusting and overpriced', there are 3 dining choices in the parks- Fast food counters, buffets and table service with fine dining.
The buffets are good value, as they are all you can eat, so if you eat around 3pm, it saves having to buy lunch and dinner from FF counters, which costs more in the long run.
You can also book Character meals in various locations in and outside the parks.
The fine dining table service restaurants are excellent.
Yes, it is not cheap, but restaurants where I live charge more for a 3 course fine dining meal of that standard and quality than they charge in DLP.The prices are no different to attractions like Thorpe Park, Chessington WOA, Alton Towers etc, and THEY CHARGE FOR FASTPASSES!They don't have any drinking water fountains in the parks either, so you are forced to buy drinks and water. Ripoff.
The buffets and table service restaurants are excellent, with lots of choice.- the French are just not very good at fast food.
As we stay in a Disney hotel, I book Half Board. A 3 course meal or buffet including drinks costs £20 adult and £9 child for Standard HB.
Buzz's Pizza Planet all you can eat buffet in Discoveryland is the cheapest one- ( pizza, pasta, salad etc) currently € 14.95 adult € 6.95 child.there is a kids play area in there.
The fast food counters in the different ' lands' sell different foods. Full details are on the back of the park map.
Pizzeria Bella Notte and Colonel Hathi's Pizza outpost are both good with nice theming.
A very good buffet which is often quieter,is Agrabah Cafe in Adventureland. It has foods with a North African/ Mediterranean influence, loads of different salads, pasta, couscous, meats, fish, lasagne and moussaka, kebabs, rice, etc. Different starters and desserts laid out, including pancakes with honey and syrup. The restaurant has Aladdin type theming, with lots of rooms all decorated differently.
Both my sons love this buffet, and my younger one likes trying the different spices.It has vey good reviews on Trip Advisor.

Disney have now installed security machines like the ones at airports, so all bags have to go through those before entering the parks.
How much food and drink you can take in rather depends on the CM on duty, and how strict they are.
Generally, no full picnics, cool boxes, hampers etc are allowed in.Just drinks and snacks.

I was there 2 weeks ago and I saw the security machines but I didn't see anyone's bag going through.

They did search everyone's bags however.Perhaps the machines are reserved for larger bags?

Buzz's Pizza Planet was 17 euros for an adult when I was there.

I was surprised,though I probably shouldn't have been,to see how much the buffets had gone up,as I'd read what were supposed to be the latest prices on a Disneyland guide site I think 23.80 was the average.

I'd recommend Annette's Diner for takeaway.Much cheaper than eating in and the burgers are lovely. We took them back to the hotel to eat as we were staying in a Disney hotel though did once eat them at the tables outside.

I'm very impressed with your indepth Disney Knowledge Figgygirl. I wish I could have picked your brains before I went. You know everything.

Me too - Figgygirl's given me lots to think about!

have a look at www.disboards.com and scroll down to the dlp section for loads of tips and info

Glad to be of help. I spend most of my time helping people with their Disneyland Paris trips!( when I'm not at work).
When people have not enjoyed their trip to DLP it is often because of a lack of planning and information, which is a shame.

Buzz' Pizza Planet only became a buffet restaurant in July- before that it was a fast food/ counter service pizza restaurant.Adult price was € 14.95 when it opened. If it is now €17 they have increased their prices.
I will be checking my prices list when I am there next week, so I can update the Marne La Vallee ( Disneyland Paris) forum on Trip Advisor when I get back.
As things can change quite frequently in DLP, most people can only give a guide to prices.
I read many of the Disney related forums and websites, and try to keep up with current news and information. I would hate to give someone incorrect advice.