Disneyland Paris - 11 sleeps to go! Top tips please.

[holidaydreaming]

Going just after Easter with dh, dd1(5), dd2 (3) and ds(7mo).
We're staying for 4 nights at Hotel New York. We've booked channel tunnel, park tickets, hotel and cafe mickey for lunch one day. Other than that I'll be wondering round aimlessly!
Any top tips. Think we'll bring princess dresses for girls. Should we buy autograph books or anything else to bring with us?
Also am slightly worried that we'll be spending more than the cost of the holiday on crap food!
Any help gratefully accepted!

Thanks givemeclue. It's actually pushed me to upgrade DD's winter coat!

Lots of people recommend getting drinks and snacks at the train station before you go into the parks.

Ah lizard that's great. No tips but have a fab one. What a great surprise.
sooty are you sure your dh and mine are not one and the same?
Thx all for your great tips. Decided to not do meal plan as not sure it will save us money. Now just hoping that the weather jumps by about 20 degrees in the next few days....... Here's hoping for some super quick global warming!

Take loads of snacks and water bottles to refill. We went in half term in Feb this year and it was amazing, I would love to go back right now. We stayed in Santa Fe, it was just what we wanted. We had early breakfast every morning and did magic hours which meant we got on loads of rides before the queues. We took dd's Rapunzel dress with us as they cost a fortune there! We just bulked her up with tons of layers and jeans underneath. We had breakfast at Cafe Mickey which the kids loved and it meant we didn't have to do loads of queueing for characters in the park. We also had standard meal vouchers which meant we weren't worrying about how much money we had. The best meal we had all week was at Annette's Diner. You can't book and we had to wait about 20 mins but it was well worth it. The food was quick and hot and very fresh. The portions were huge and the kids (one very fussy) ate every scrap. The staff were lovely too.
I'm so jealous, can you fit me in your suitcases?
Oh by the way, don't underestimate how cold it can be!!!

Another vote for going to the shopping centre for evening meals - much cheaper, wide variety of choice and nice to experience a bit of real France as well as the disney version

There's also a massive French hypermarket there - sometimes when we didn't want to eat out again it was nice to go and buy some nits and bobs to take back to the room (if their weather is anything like it is here at the moment then it will be freezing and too cold to picnic outside) and have a picnic in the room.

We drove down so took a cheap pack of paper plates and plastic cups, plus ikea plastic cutlery, a small chopping board and one of the small sharp knives with a cover. Great for picnics (nice to throw plates away afterwards) and for snacking or eating in the car. I'd give dc a plastic cup each as it was easier and safer for the dc to hold going along and top it up with bits for them to eat. Biggest hit was cucumber - kept them refreshed and stopped the constant demand for unhealthy stuff and meant the didn't need as much to drink (having had several accidents where drinks got dropped and spilt!). They drank normally out of the car and did have some drink in the car obviously but it definitely helped).

I think you cam swap your hotel breakfast vouchers for breakfast in the park - can't remember the official name for it - but details are on the dlp site mentioned earlier. But worth doing if you can, you might have to ask every day about it though.

Just back from DLP late last night. Had such an amazing time, when my DD met & hugged Pooh bear I almost cried!
In terms of meeting characters there seems to be an hourly small train/ parade in Main Street & in front of the castle- gets busy but a great way to see & meet some of the characters when they jump off the train.

Def agree with Abby & do not underestimate how cold it can be! I took my huge Lands end puffa coat so was nice & snug but my toes were cold in converse. Dd had thermal leggings & top on under her clothes which kept her warm, DH said he wishes he took his gloves especially when pushing the buggy.

We stayed on magic circus when was a great hotel just outside the park.

Have a wonderful time those of you going soon

Ah lizard - that sounds amazing. I'm hoping for some Disney magic just like that. Was also bringing converse so might wear ski socks underneath!
Zipzap - I'll def bring some plastic bowls etc. thanks for idea.
Anyhow, one sleep to go!! Thx all. I've taken it all on board and have been boring my dh with different tips!

Holiday
How was your trip?
Any tips??