Paris at October half term - should I include or avoid Disneyland ?

[notwavingjustironing]

DH and I are thinking of taking the children (4 and 6) to Paris at half term.

I looked at "Disneyland Paris Holidays" and the cost was a staggering £2200 (including Eurostar tickets) for three days and two nights.

I'm fairly sure I can do this more cheaply, but is Disneyland Paris even worth the bother, or should I not mention it to the kids ? I've only read negative things about it but I'm prepared to be swayed. I should point out that I would rather stick red hot pokers in my eyes than go to Disneyland so I am slightly biased, but hey, its not about me is it?

Or, would anyone suggest just doing a Parisian holiday and can anyone recommend any child friendly hotels or give me any advice at all?

I don't mind doing some legwork, and I have this romantic vision of us all strolling down the Seine together, with me pointing out areas of interest, when I suspect they would rather go on a Toy Story ride with a 10 Euro ice-cream in their hands.....

Please help, I'm dithering.

My 6 year old loves eurodisney and yes you can do it much cheaper with someone like shortbreaks.com - the eurostar short break specialist - they can sell you through fares to the eurodisney station and a cheap hotel - though the actual park tix on top of that are expensive.

I was pondering taking my ds at half term - or barcelona - instead I am now going to do a staycation with him and spend the money in london on a hotel/show/lots of museums etc.

Firstly ice creams and lollies in DLP at present are around ?3 not ? 10!!
Seriously though, I am trying to put myself into your shoes, as you say you are not really a Disney or theme park fan. I have been going regularly to DLP since it opened in 1992, so I obviously like it!
My sons are now grown, but have always enjoyed DLP ( despite going to WDW in Florida 5 times as well) and still go, including celebrating their 18th birthdays there.
4 and 6 are good ages for Disneyland, as they are still young enough to be interested in the Characters, but old enough to enjoy most of the rides and attractions ( only a few of the more extreme rides have a height restriction).
Your options are to stay in a Disney hotel onsite (6 of these and all within walking distance of both parks), stay in a preferred hotel just outside the Disney perimiter road, with free shuttle buses to/ from the parks ( 5 of these)or stay in a hotel at Val D'Europe or Bussy St Georges which are one or two stops from Disneyland on the RER line A4 train. This is also the same train that goes into central Paris, taking about 40 mins, so it is easy to have a day trip in Paris.
If you book a hotel package ( with or without transport) with Disney your park tickets are included for every day of your stay, including arrival and departure days. If you travel on the direct Eurostar, and ask for the Express Service, they take your luggage to your hotel, so you can go straight into the parks.
If you stay in a Disney owned hotel you also get Extra Magic Hours which means you can go into the Disneyland Park from 8am, two hours before it opens to the general public, and go on selected rides.
Disneyland is popular in October as Halloween Celebrations are on, but it is a shame you missed the 40% off offer which ended recently. Your children should still have hotel stay and park tickets free though, as they are both under 8, although you have to pay for their travel.
Which hotel did you get a quote for, as it does seem rather high to me, even for half term week. And what dates?
You can get a lot more help and advice on the Trip Advisor Marne La Vallee Forum, which covers Disneyland Paris, and also the Paris Forum, where people can help and advise about hotels in paris, and things to do there with young children.
Paris hotels are expensive, but you could do a day trip into Disney on the RER line A4 train from there, as Marne La Vallee Chessy railway station is inside Disneyland resort, and only a few minutes walk to both parks.

How spooky as I'm going to Paris in October half term and my dcs are exactly the same age!
I've decided not to bother with Disneyland. There are loads of things to see in Paris and more than enough things to do should the weather not co-operate.
I've planned on seeing the Eiffel tower, then the boat ride tour of Paris. We're going to Notre-Dame and also the Centre Pompidou which has a special kids section. I've even found a lovely old-fashioned circus. I'm hoping to go to a lovely French market and buy some yummy food to take home. I'm also planning on eating lots of lovely French food which is an important factor for us on holidays as we are all real 'foodies'.
We're staying in Paris for 3 nights and will have about 3 full days.
I'm saving the Disney experience for when we go to Florida when the kids are bigger, but that's just my opinion.

Disneyland Paris are now offering a 30% off hotel, tickets and travel. Book by 30th Sept for arrivals before 5th April 2011.
We went to 'EuroDisney' as it was first called, every year for a week in July, when our boys were small. There was only the one park back then, so we divided our day between park time and relaxing by the hotel pool, as our younger boy loved water and swimming.It kept them both happy.
We first went to WDW when they were 9 and 13. I think this was the right age for a 9 hr flight, and coping with the heat and 14 very busy days, as there are 4 Disney parks, 2 Disney water parks, then all the other parks as well. They were still flaked out by the 3rd day, and slept until the afternoon.
We have been to WDW 5 times now, but still visit DLP regularly.
One thing I will add- when my boys were youn, 2 of their friends desperately wanted to go to Disneyland, and watched our videos. I asked their parents ( friends of ours) to come with us, but they said they were saving for Florida instead.
By the time they went, their kids had outgrown the Characters, and the ' magic' that young children have.They were not really interested in the shows and parades either, but just wanted to go on rides.
Our friends admitted that in hindsight, they wished they had had a few days in DLP when the kids were small, as they felt they had missed out a special time.

DLP is magic... Most children under the age of 10 will NEVER be as excited as they are when they see the characters!!! think how excited they are on they're birthday and mulitply by at least 10!!!

As much when presented in the right way, most kids will enjoy castles, museum, sight-seeing etc, I'd doubt anyone could find a child that enjoys them more than Disney!

Admittedly I'm biased as I love taking my dc's there (although I go for the full immerrsion approach). My advise would be to spare 1-2 days from the sightseeing to visit DLP, I promise the look on your DC's faces is something you will be unlikely to forget in a VERY long time!!!

Also there are very few places which positively delight in celebrating the joys of being a family - whatever shape that family is, that means a lot to me.

(Tescos are doing deals on entry tickets now!!)

LunarRose made a good point - some people do not realise that Walt designed Disneyland to be a place where families could all go on rides and have fun together. He was fed up with watching his children on roundabouts, and thought that parents should be able to ride as well.There are only a few rides with a minimum height restriction,like the rollercoasters. Even babies can go on rides, sitting on parents laps.
The CM's at the ride entrance will tell you if a ride is not suitable for very young babies or toddlers, or describe the ride if you are not sure what to expect.
Some small children can actually be scared of certain Characters, so bear that in mind. They find it fun collecting autographs though, and trading pins.

I could have written your OP last year.

We had decided to take the DC to Disneyland despite neither DH nor I being particularly keen. We wanted to give them the whole Disney magic while they were still young enough to really enjoy it.

We stayed in one of the Disney hotels - the Cheyenne - which is a good bit cheaper than the Disney Hotel and pretty decent.

When we arrived the first day it was early evening so we had a meal in the disney village outside the park then went into the park at dusk.

It was a cold winter's evening and the sky was tinged with pink, everything sparkled and shone, the Castle shimmered in the distance. I cannot describe the look on my children's faces, it was as if 10 birthdays and Christmases had come at once.

We thoroughly enjoyed the 3 days we spent there, and the DC are still talking about it yet.

You can take them to Paris another time to see parks and museums, they are not going away.

We took the kids to Paris a year or two ago for four days when they were 7 and 5 or so - it never occurred to us to go to Disneyland, and we had an amazing time. . Went by Eurostar and stayed in a small garret flat, 5 floors up, which the kids found very exciting (all the codes and unlocking of special gates etc a big hit)around the Reamur Sebastopol area, walking distance from Les Halles and the Pompidou centre. Did what has been suggested above, ie boat trip, Eiffel tower, just generally wandering around, ate in fab little restaurants and took them to the (excellent) Science Museum. We all loved it. Even just taking the Metro was different and fun. Have a great time whatever you decide to do. We took 'Paris for kids' along which was a very helpful little book.

We took DD to Disneyland for her 4th birthday - me, DP and DSS1 and DSS2, who were 13 and 11 at the time. All of us bar DD had been to Disneyland plenty of times.

She hated it and found the rides really tame compared to the funfair in Paris. Definitely not worth the EUR 200 it cost us to get in for the afternoon.

DD just loves being out and about in Paris, though, and we have endless fun.

Sorry I forgot to come back to this!

Thanks to everyone who took time to give me advice - I'm a bit swayed now by the Tesco entry ticket deals, I've got £85 in Clubard vouchers which I'm assuming will quadruple if I do a deal ?

Off to check.....

How long were you thinking of going for? You could split the trip between a few days in Disney, and a few days in Paris. If you book a hotel package with Disney, your park tickets are included, and cover every day including departure and arrival days. You could start with Disneyland, then catch the train to Paris for a few nights there, or visa versa.
Or see Paris in October, and try to go to Disneyland another time, maybe in late November or early December for the Christmas celebrations. The parks are not too busy at that time, only as it gets nearer to Christmas.
The Christmas parade is lovely, and there is a Mickeys Winter Wonderland ice skating show in Frontierland. The castle is lit up with brilliant white lights after dark, and they usually have Fantillusion electrical parade at this time.
It is a very magical time to go, even if it is rather cold!