EuroDisney

[BumBumsMum2006]

Guys urgent help needed. Trying to book Eurodisney and need to know where is best to book and some of the things I should be in the know about - so to speak! Cracking up at the minute trying to decided about prices, hotels, etc! Please help a poor Mum about to go mad! Thanks in advance

First of all, when are you planning on going?
Next year in April is the Disneyland Paris 25th Anniversary, so it will be very, very busy and the cost of hotels etc. will be higher. If you go before then, be warned that some of the areas/attractions will be closed for renovations, as they are currently trying to get everything fixed up before the anniversary. Check what is open before you go or you may be disappointed.
Are you hoping to stay on-site in a Disney Hotel? If so, you can get a package deal with the hotel and tickets (hotels also include breakfast), and the tickets get you Extra Magic Hours, meaning you can go into the Disneyland Park up to 2 hours before general opening. The hotels are fairly expensive, the Disneyland Hotel (the big one over the entrance to the park) costs so much that you might as well take a trip to Florida for the same amount! Sequoia Lodge is one of the nicer and less pricey hotels, and is still within reasonable walking distance to the park.
If you don't care about staying on-site, there are some great hotels in Val D'Europe, which is just one stop (3 minutes) away from Disneyland on the RER train. I would recommend Residhome ApartHotels, they have lovely hotel rooms with a small kitchen (hob, microwave, fridge, kettle) so you can self-cater to an extent. There is a large shopping centre with a supermarket just minutes walk from the hotel. When I go we tend to buy lots of snacks and make lunches to bring to the park instead of buying food there. So long as you keep the food in regular bags and aren't bringing in a whole cooler bag, you are allowed to bring in food and drinks (no alcohol or glass bottles).
If you stay off-site you will have to purchase tickets seperately. How long are you going for? If it's more than 3-4 days then it's worth getting an annual pass each instead of regular tickets as it costs the same but you get 10% off food and drink in the park and 10-20% off merchandise. The lower (cheaper) annual pass has blackout dates so look these up before you go so you know if the dates clash with your trip. The higher pass has no blackout dates and you can use it anytime, and you get the higher 20% discount on merchandise, plus a free buggy rental each day and free bag checkin if you have a lot of things to carry.
www.dlpguide.com is a really great site for planning, it has all the dates of things (annual pass dates, renovation dates etc) plus daily park guides and restaurant menus.

Oh, and the annual passes also give you Extra Magic Hours.
With dining, most restaurants can be booked in advance on the phone before you go, which makes it easier.
There are a couple of places that do character dining, meaning you can meet characters in the restaurant while you eat. While it can be fairly expensive, this is a good way to meet multiple characters without queuing for up to an hour each time. For princesses, Auberge de Cendrillon is great, you have 3 princesses (characters vary) and their princes come out and dance in the restaurant, and then do individual meets for photos and autographs at each table.
For the classic characters like Mickey, Minnie, Donald you can go to Cafe Mickey and they do character breakfasts (have to be booked in advance). They are moving the characters from there to another restaurant soon though, so you might want to check that.