Euro Disney - please share your tips and recommendations to help me plan my trip

[NapQueen]

How did you get there and how was the journey? We would be travelling from Newcastle. Cannot decide whether to fy or train it.

Which hotels can you recommend? I'm also wondering if it is worth going half board, so would want a hotel close enough to pop back to for dinner.

Which experiences did you add on and are they worth it? Breakfast with the characters etc.

Any good dining recommendations for lunch and dinner?

The kids will.more than likely be 3-4 and 5-6 (haven't yet decided on dates) - the eldest is a brilliant Walker buy would I be daft not to take a buggy for her? I'll take one for the younger one.

What time of year did you go and how was the queues and weather?

Did you use fast passes and would you recommend them?

So so sorry for the bazillion questions- we are quite a low income family who don't holiday outside the UK usually so if we do this I want it to go swimmingly!

Sorry eldest would be 6-7.

We went on a coach from Sunderland - 17 hours it took!! I was murderous tbh, I've done the coach twice and said after the first time I'd never do it again but did now I'd definitely not do it again although I'd go in our car as we could stop off when we like etc. Pricing was one four main reasons as there are 5 of us and dp needs a mobility scooter.

Can't really comment on the half board as we just stuck to McDonald's for tea and sandwiches/burgers/snacks in the parks.

I'd recommend using the fast passes for the more popular rides. We went in November both times, they were getting ready for Christmas and it was lovely walking down Main Street and seeing all the decorations and the massive Christmas tree. We also saw Santa in the parade so kids will love it. Weather was lovely the first time, we even had our coatsoff but it rained the second time.

Another thing was the queues, our first day was a Friday and not was pretty quiet so not much queueing but by Saturday it was busy and some queues were an hour long.

You can hire pushchairs so you might not need to take one for the eldest or maybe just swap them round so one walks while the other gets pushed round for a bit.

Fly.
The half board packages offered by DLP give you breakfast at your hotel and a voucher which can be used for lunch or dinner which you can use at the park or hotels. You might need to book a restaurant.
Use a pushchair. I would take an old one (buy a jumble sale one if necessary).

We've been at Easter and experienced mixed weather so a sun and rain cover for the pushchair was useful.
If the weather is good the park will be more full. We walked backwards and forwards a lot, one of the adults getting fast passes, walking to do something else, and then all walking back to use the fast passes. We also got to the park early when it was quiet. Both your dcs could use the pushchair for a rest, and nap, even if long grown out of that at home.

We did train from Chester to London, then stayed a night in a hotel there.
Then got the Eurostar the next morning to France. We couldn't get a direct train when we booked so had to swap at Lille. We nearly missed the next train as the instructions said that the change was a ten min walk. We left the station building, looked around a bit then (thankfully) realised that we were already in the right place and just needed to go down a level to get the train.

One comedy style run along the platform with cases bouncing and we were on the right train - after getting the people who had sat in our seats to move. We wouldn't mind having to change there again now we know what to do.

And train stations there are so organised - there are numbers/letters on the platform floor which show you where your carriage will pull up along side so you even know where to stand.

We stayed in Cheyenne. I really liked the style of the rooms/buildings. Shuttle bus to and from the park every ten mins. The early magic hours that you get if you are in a Disney hotel are well worth it. You can get a few rides in before the park gets busy.

Don't plan on the water fountains being on in the park if you are off-season. Bags are searched on entry to the park, but it wasn't a problem to take food/drinks in with you. I wasn't impressed with the food at a lot of the places, but we generally found something to eat.

Our routine was up early. Breakfast. Sort bag with some lunch and a drink to take with us and hit the park asap. Then fit in plenty of rides. Lunch. A few more rides throughout the afternoon. Then back on the shuttle bus to the hotel to regroup late afternoon. Hot drink (kettles in rooms these days) and a snack if needed. And a rest (or even a nap!!) then dinner back into the park for the evening. Find a place to watch the fireworks in plenty of time (and try and find somewhere that you won't get your view spoiled by people standing with their children on their shoulders or letting them climb railings etc) as that's not to be missed.

After the first night when we'd seen the full show, we learned to start to make our way out of the park while the last song in the show was playing, so avoid the mad rush straight after they finish. Check with the reception of the hotel as the fireworks seem to be on at different times sometimes. One night we went in thinking we had plenty of time and it was about to start. And some people were coming in expecting to just catch the start and had missed it.

We had 4 days with the first day mostly being travelling there and just heading out into the park for a look round. Then we spent a full day in the park and the next day in the studios. The final full day we split between both, fitting in things we had either missed or wanted to do again. The last morning we spent in the park for a couple of hours before it was time to check out.

We stayed at the Dream Castle hotel when DD was 4 and it worked well for us. It has a lovely terrace where we collapsed with a glass of wine when we got back. The family rooms have bunk beds with a curtain.

Just had B&B. Ate in the park one day, bought sandwiches from the station another day.

Did the Café Mickey dinner one night - great for characters but pretty average food for the price The Buffalo Bill show was great and then we splashed out on the dinner at Inventions in the Disney Hotel which was brilliant to meet the characters and have a nice meal.

The hotel is a bit further out but we tended to get up, go to the park and then come back for a swim and a snooze before going back in the evening. The shuttle bus was busy but ok.

We didn't have a buggy but there was a lot of walking - DD was shattered, hence the few hours back at the hotel in the afternoon. I would suggest planning each day, deciding what's important and then doing that. We did see some families that were completely frazzled trying to do everything and not actually enjoying all that much.

From the NE it would be easy to get the train, Eurostar was great and very easy.

Thank you everyone!

It looks like the train times etc aren't released until quite close to the dates we would want - I'm wary of booking accommodation and then train times or prices being extortionate.

Check out the tripadvisor forum - there is everything you could possibly want to know on there. It really helped me plan our trip last year.
(We drove and rented a cottage a 20 minute drive away)

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowForum-g2079053-i21935-Disneyland_Paris_Seine_et_Marne_Ile_de_France.html