Disneyland Paris - best time of year, how many days & when to go re: kids ages

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We would only be able to go during UK state school hols - this is totally non-negotiable. So when would think is best with regards to weather, queues, cost etc. Xmas/New Year period is a possibility or would this be a nightmare?

How many days entry to the park do you think you need in an ideal world?

We have two DC's, currently aged almost 5yrs, and 14months. When would you go ideally with regards to their ages? Going twice is a possibility so if younger dc was too young to remember first time, we could potentially go again so that she would have memories.

Thank you MN!!

Whereabouts in the uk are you? We're in Scotland and went in our October half term. Found that a great time to go in terms of queues. Weather wasn't fantastic but, if anything, still slightly better than home :) Our kids were just turning 3 and 6 and I thought those were good ages

We went when DD1 was 8 and DD2 was 4, which I thought would be perfect age-wise, but actually I felt that DD2 was too small. She didn't want to go on many of the rides, and her favourite thing was the playground! DD1 on the other hand enjoyed it loads.

I'm thinking Oct half term 2015, so the kids would be 5yrs9months and 2yrs1month. Really want to go whilst the older one is (hopefully) still going to believe!

Rip we are in the Midlands

I used to work in travel so have been a few times over the years -one of the best times being October holidays , however we are in Scotland so our first week of holidays is the week before English half term and it was great as all the Halloween theming but not the crowds.

Summer is great as there is a lot more on , pleasant weather and you have all day and night to have time to manage queues and get everything you want to do done. With little ones summer is a good time to go as you can take time out during the day if they are tired and go back later on in the day.
Winter can be freezing and wet and the parks close a lot earlier however that balances out a bit with the smaller queues. It is a lot cheaper to go in winter too though.

Christmas is magical but extremely busy-one year when we were there it was so full they had to actually close the park.

I'm not sure I have actually been any help there!

Hmmm ok I think I need to compare costs for October half term v's summer & also look at park opening times. Obviously we don't want to be cold & wet but equally don't want it too hot which is why I thought about avoiding July/August. We could do may half term 2016 but I don't know if that would be v.v.busy? So hard to decide!!

My brother went in late June / early July and also had a brilliant time though queues were understandably longer. The fireworks then are much later too, I think around 11pm which is a plus in that you can break and rest and go back out. October parks close at 8 or 8.30 and so the fireworks are much earlier. Personal preference I think. October suited us and our kids. Plus it was ££ cheaper

Easter is quite a bit cheaper than October half term. Are queues likely to be horrendous though? (To arrive on Easter Monday).

Is 4 nights/5 days too long or about right? Am thinking we could afford to have some easier days if we were there longer - might be better for the kids tiredness levels?

I've read on the Trip Advisor DLP forum that our May half term is quite a good time to go because no other European countries have a week off school at that time.

As for length of stay, we went during February half term this year (or at least Sheffield's February half term, which was a week later than most of the rest of the country, so we got a really good price for the Eurostar) for 4 nights/5 days with our children who were then 8, 5 and 23 months. I think that was a good amount of time, it meant that we were not rushing the kids from ride to ride trying to 'do it all'. We stayed in the Sequoia Lodge, because it had a pool and I thought that might be an option for a rainy afternoon. In the end we were lucky with the weather and never used the pool, but if we had the length of our stay meant the time in the pool would not have felt like 'wasted' time when we should have been in the parks instead.

We (or at least I!) am planning a return visit for 2017, when our youngest will be 5 (or thereabouts, depending on when we go). She loved the trip this year, but won't have any memories of it. I also planned for that year so that DS would be 11 and therefore we'd still get the 'kids under 12 go free' offer that we booked under for this year, but it seems that the under 12's offer is gone. It will be near my 40th birthday too, so I might start saving my pennies so that we can stay in the Disneyland Hotel! As a family of 5 we're going to have fewer choices of hotel room anyway (we were ok in one room this year because DD2 was an 'infant') but I think the DLH is one that has bigger rooms.

I was getting all excited about potentially going Easter 2015 but I think we may be better to wait until May 2016 when dc's will be 6yr 5months & 2yrs 8months (rather than 5yrs 3months & 1yr 6months Easter 2015). I am possibly way over thinking the age thing though!

If going in Uk school holidays is non-negotiable then ~I would look at going at a time when there are no other European school holidays, in particular Zone C (Paris area) French schools and also Spanish schools.

As another poster says the best one is usually the May half term as not many other countries have that holiday, plus the weather is more likely to be nice! Sometimes UK Easter holidays and/or Feruary half term are different too. February is more likely to be cold though but prices would be cheaper.

I'd say 4/5 days is probably about right for a first trip too as youshould be able to do most things in that time. Be organised though and book anywhere you definitely want to eat in advance. Make the most out of the Extra Magic hours in the mornings and Fastpass system too. DLP also have a 'babyswitch' system too if your littlest one isn't big enough for some rides.

I don't think there is a best age to go either. Kids (and adults) of all ages get something different out of it. I've taken my DC at least once a year since they were around 2/3 years old and they have always enjoyed it. Each trip they find something 'new' to love- this year, aged 7 and 8 they really got into the big rides they never wanted to do before, when we go again in a couple of weeks it will all be about Christmas (and meeting Anna and Elsa, but they don't know about that yet!)

March and 4 days 3 nights definitely ??

I'm a Disneyland obsessive and this really is the best time and duration !

MamaDoGood - Easter hols or may half term hols if you had to decide between the two?! Also would you not go for 5days/4nights assuming we could afford it? or would 4 nights be too long?

Still going round in circles