Talk to me about Euro Disney before we book

[sherzy]

We live in the North and would like to do a week in Euro Disney in the summer holidays. Sadly Florida is out of our budget but we want to give the dc the Disney experience at least once when they're little.

So, looking for hotel ideas, flying or train (ideally to get the most time at Disney), top tips and any good deals about.

I haven't been since it opened in 1992 so hope it's moved on a bit and worth the money :)

We have been a few times and it is possible to not spend a fortune and have a great time.
Last time we went we stayed in the Newport Bay. Breakfast was nice (fruit, yoghurt, cereal, rolls, croissants, toast, cheese, ham etc). We got first sitting as soon as it opened (7 am)- it got very busy and chaotic later! We didn't bother taking any snacks for later, don't think they would be very nice especially in summer.
We got to the parks for early opening at 8 by doing this and made the most of the shorter queues. Lunch we generally ate at Earl of Sandwich which is by the lake opposite cafe Mickey. Hot Sandwiches are absolutely gorgeous and only 5.50. I think meal deal was about 10.00 and kids sandwich/drink/dessert was 6.50 (I think). There is also a MacDonalds (busy) but cheap. We just got a couple of Sandwiches/kids meal and ate them back at hotel so we could supplement with our own drinks/crisps.
Lunch spend-@20 euro. (2 adults,1 child)
We then had a swim/chill out at hotel and headed back into park for a couple of hours. Dinner never cost more than 100 euros (usually less) and we ate at Cafe Mickey/rainforest Cafe/blue lagoon/steakhouse.
(Meal costs include 10% discount)
Other than that we didn't need to buy much. We had some drinks with us ( you can also buy cheaply from railway station/petrol station by Santa Fe) and muesli bars. A few sweets come in handy for queues and in summer perhaps we spent 10 euros a day on an ice cream/lolly, in winter the same on hot chocolate.
DS spent his own money at shops -he had about 70 euros and bought an outfit for Duffy Bear, a filled pencil case and a skeleton hoody and an autograph book and pen (we got 20% reduction due to annual pass).
Hope that helps a little-we had a great time, ate well and certainly did not feel deprived. DS loved the shops and had a great time choosing what to buy. Definitely worth booking a table at the restaurants, I think you can do it up to 60 days before.

www.dlrpmagic.com/planning/dining/restaurant-menus/
Look here for menus-they do change but will give you an idea of what is available and costs.

trockodile thank you, there's some really useful tips there. Only problem is we have no pool at the Cheyenne :(

Ooh yes, autograph book and pen are a must. We let the dcs choose from the shop there but you could probably save by buying ahead. We got them to get autographs on every other page and when we got home I stuck a photo of the children with each character on the page opposite the signature. They love their special books.

Hullo all,

We're going to move this thread to the short haul topic, as there are so many great tips!