Disneyland paris -restaurant/meal plans booking??

[llynnnn]

Hi

We (me, dh, and dd's 8 & 5 years old) are going to Disney paris in October half term we've never been before so am a little unsure of what to do!
We have the half board meal plan and have been advised to book restaurants in advance, but:
What time should I book tables for? Does anyone know what time the park with close? Or the parades/shows are?
Any recommendations about must visit restaurants or ones to avoid!?
We have also booked the wild wear show and cafe Mickey for lunch or dinner!
We are staying at hotel Cheyenne and plan to have early breakfast and get into the park for the extra hours and fast passes.

Thanks so much for any advice

Anyone?

Not stayed but been for the day whilst staying in France. Definately make use of the early ride time and after that there are events on all day to watch. There are not that many rides really and a few have height retrictions on. On some rides you can goto the ride and book to be fast tracked later in the day. Don't bother with the carasol it only rides for about a minute and is a waste of time to queue for. The Alice in Wonderland maze is actually much more fun that you would think. There will be timetables for the characters I think maybe on the disney website, don't forget to buy an autograph book and pen. It was open until late when we went fireworks around midnight I think. Plenty of food places are about just depends on your budget. Have fun :)

Hi,
We booked meals in advance but only when we arrived. You can book any time by phoning up or going to the reception desk at a Disney hotel or at the park.
We had standard half board (the basic one, mostly buffet style with a few set menus) so you might want to choose differently if you have one of the more expensive options, but:
Billy Bob's - really nice if you like Tex Mex style food and lots of options for children.
Restaurant Des Stars - based on the film Ratatouille and you do get to see the Characters. Again, buffet style but this one had a huge pile of fresh fruit, yoghurts etc along with most types of food.
Plaza Gardens - had lots of more French style options - cold salads with lots of veg, pasta, breads etc. Another buffet. ot my favourite.
Aagrah - Arabian style (supposedly!), Aladdin themed. Lots of spicier dishes.
Annette's Diner - American 50s style Diner with serving staff on roller skates! Mini jukeboxes on tables. It was a set menu with a few choices for each course. Children had another set menu and the food for them was served up on a plastic plate which turned out to be a souvenir of the diner - a Frisbee! I enjoyed it!
We also ate at our own (Davy Crockett) restaurant one night - it was a buffet style with added barbecue outside.
Woody's Barbecue - brilliant as you got to meet the characters (including Woody and Jessie and Donald, Daisy, etc and there was a live country band on.We went for lunch and there was a set menu of things mostly smothered in barbecue sauce, ribs, burgers etc. That's ok though because I like barbecue sauce!
Cafe Mickey was booked for our last night. It was great as we stayed seated as each of the characters in turn (Mickey, Goofy, Tigger etc) went to each table and spent a couple of minutes interacting and posing for Photos. This is great because at the park there is a lot of pushing in in the queues to meet characters so we gave up on that. Food was a set menu and nothing amazing but the characters coming round was great.
Hope that helps!

PS The early passes are great - but be aware that only some rides are open before 10 which is quite frustrating. Go on those rides and then at about 10 to 10 be waiting outside to queue at one of the really busy rides as you will have about 3 minutes after 10am before the people coming in them will get to the rides from being let in! Also make use of the fastpass system to get on the bigger rides.

Thank you that's really helpful. What time where you eating each evening?

Park food is shit. Really really bad. The only half decent place was a mexican somewhere. I've been twice now on school trips with meal things included.

Oh no lordnoobson! That doesn't sound good! Although we aren't very fussy and aren't expecting al a carte, just an edible burger/buffet choice would do.

We found the cafe Mickey a bit pricey but good quality.

The food is good. It's not Michelin starred but something for everyone! We usually eat breakfast at 8/9 then eat dinner at 5. And just snack through the day as breakfast and dinner are buffets they make me so full. We get the half board meal plans too. Burger chips and a drink for lunch was €15 euros and a bag of lays (walkers equivalent) was €3.50 in the park soon adds up as there is 8 of us. Usually take the kids snacks from home like cereal bars etc.

Take snacks with you and some refillable water bottles - there are drinking fountains in the parks. If you don't want to take snacks from the UK with you stock up at the train station shop which is just at the gates to the parks.

I think the shows finish at 11 pm

Disneyland Park will be open until 10pm during October half term; Walt Disney Studios until 7pm. the Dreams light/firework show will be on at park closing time and lasts approx. 20mins. this is definitely worth staying for at least once.

The main parade, Disney Magic On Parade, will be at around 5-5.30pm that week. There will also be other Halloween themed parades and shows on during the day in Disneyland Park, but times have not yet been confirmed. the big Stars and Cars meet and greet in the Studios will be at around 12pm and 1pm. Other events and M&G opportunities will be listed on the parks programme when you arrive.

Half term week is a very busy time of year at Disneyland as most of the school's across Europe are on holiday at that time. queues for everything are likely to be long so make the most out of Extra Magic Hours and the Fast pass system. Definitely make dinner reservations to avoid long queues or risk being turned away. If you change your mind, you can always cancel with no penalty.

Have you already paid for Café Mickey and Buffalo Bill's wild west show as part of your package? If not your half board vouchers can be used at face value towards payment for these. At Café Mickey you don't have to eat from the set menu- ordering pizza, garlic bread a la carte for you all to share usually works out cheaper. a PP has described most of the other standard plan restaurants although Restaurant des Stars isn't Ratatouille themed anymore (there is a new restaurant- Bistrot chez Remy- that has this) and also won't be open for dinner during your trip. Cowboy Cookout doesn't do the tea party with Woody and Jessie anymore either. For more info on restaurants and other great tips check out www.dlpguide.com

Forgot to say, if you are at Disney on 31st October the Park will be closing early at 7pm for the Halloween Party. Tickets for this are available separately

Cafe Mickey is pretty dire now ( used to be lovely ) but the lunch time would be better than evening as you have already booked it . Wild West show is great fun although the food is not brilliant ( we have seen it loads of times ) . I have always liked the Silver Spur and Blue Lagoon and my dd says that the chicken nuggets at Casey Corner are the best in Europe ! We have been to DLP every year since it opened ( often more than one trip) ,at various times of the year and I have never booked a restaurant until the morning of the day I wanted to go and I have never not been able to book ( maybe I'm just lucky) . Have fun .

I'm no snob about fast food but if you think casey corner or cafe mickey serves anything better than processed airline crap..

Thank you for such helpful replies, really great tips can't wait!!