Anyone spent Christmas at DisneyLand Paris? Need some advice

[Wills]

My dh and I are considering going to DisneyLand Paris for Christmas. We've been to florida and had a wonderful time but would like some advice about Paris.

Firstly the hotel. We're considering the Disney New York Hotel. What's it like? Is it worth the money. We've looked at the Disney Hotel (top of the range) but both of us feel that's a little too pricey. But instead we could stay in the Movenpic etc.

Next, any advice about going to Disneyland in basically wet and cold conditions. I've just been reading Melsey's thread and as we were considering the Explorers she's definintely put me off. However we are considering paying for the Christmas lunch and to going to the Buffalow Bill's show on Christmas Eve. To be honest although I loved the Florida experience I never found any of the food any good. Does anyone have any advice? What are the decent restaurants.

dd1 is 4.5 and dd2 is only 1.

[Cam]

I don't think you can use other hotels' pools as when we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel last year we had to show our cards (sort of id issued on arrival at the hotel) whenever we used the pool.

[HATCHETT]

We went 2 weeks before Xmas a couple of years ago. My advice would be take plenty of warm clothing. It was bloody freezing, but ok if you had thermal undies etc.
We stayed at the Disneyland hotel & whilst a bit pricy I would stay there again if only for the fact that you don't have to travel by bus etc to get to the park. It is next door to the park & with 3 small children at the end of a long day it's worth the extra money just to know you are back at your hotel the moment you leave the park!

[tamum]

As far as I remember you are welcome to use any other hotel's pool. I think it just depends on the age of the child- mine couldn't stand up even in the shallow end when we went. It didn't matter for dd (4 at the time), she had armbands on anyway, but for ds who was 7 and a weak swimmer (but not wanting the ignominy of armbands) it was harder.

As far as distance goes, I mentioned Newport Bay because it's almost as close as Hotel New York- I can't imagine there would be more than a minute or so's difference in walking time

[Wills]

Another question....

Hearing that the pool is not good for young kids if you are staying at a Disney hotel can you use another disney hotel's pool?

My dd1 has just learnt to swim and currently sees it as an enormous treat to get to swim with dh and I.

[Mum2girls]

Wills - although a bit on the 'snug' side, we're going back to the New York. It was the nearest hotel (a few mins walk) without being in the park like the Disney. There are a couple of restaurants en route to the parks that, if you were staying in the Disney, you might not get to see I guess.

We had a buggy and a back-carrier and it was really quite easy to get about, and we could get back to the hotel fairly easily if we decided we needed another layer on!! Hope you have a great time...it was life changing for DD1, she still talks about it on a regular basis. Oh and in winter, they make it 'snow' (foam)...I found this all a bit sinister but DD1 thought it was just magical.

[Wills]

Thanks to everyone for their great input but I have a couple more questions following on from your responses.

I hear what was being said about the Hotel New York not having the best of accomodation or food etc but this is part of our dilema. For the same price we could go to the Movenpic which I suspect is overall a better standard (????). However the benefit of the NY is being just a walk away from the park. Not having to rely on buses, and therefore not having the hassle of carting a 4 year old 1 year old, buggy, and bags everywhere at the moment is overriding the benefit of staying somewhere else. The Cabins sound great as seperate rooms and "proper" French food would be wonderful but I'm concerned that they would not be warm enough and not sure about the bus thing again. The benefit of the NY (what we're hoping for that is) is that we can keep popping back whenever we need a rest or to get warm again.

Please let me know if this is not the case.

[Hulababy]

Having just got back from Florida last week (DD at 2y 4m), and having been to DLP last October (DD was 18m), I have to agree that the queues at DLP are MUCH longer than those in Florida. At DLP we queued for over an hour for the little rides, compared to no more than 15-20 minutes (if at all) in Florida.

DLP is just much smaller having just the 2 parks, compared to Flroida's 4 Disney ones, 2 Universal ones plus things like Sea World. So the crowds aren't dispersed so much. And the Studios doesn't have that many rides - mainly h=shows - so DLP, the one which is based primarily on Magic Kingdom, gets very busy.

In saying that though we did have a great time at DLP and it was that experience that encourgaed us to take DD to Florida this summer. The characters were easy to spot and have photos with, DD adored her time there and we would go again for a long weekend kind of break too.

[Mum2girls]

We've been to both Florida (many moons ago - sans children) and went last December to Euroodisney and stayed in the New York. I thought the hotel was fine...the room was a bit 'cosy' with me and dp in 1 bed, dd1 in another pull down bed and dd2 in a cot, but other than that I have to say, we had a fantastic time and are going again this year.

Unfortunately, I just resigned myself to the fact that dds would eat rubbish for the holiday...it was the only downer. Not sure about the Xmas period, but when we went a few of the park 'restaurants' (v.loose term) were shut. And those that were open were very samey...chips with everything - the hotel food was better tho.

The good thing about going in December is the Xmas parades, seeing Father Christmas and not queueing for hours....if you can, try to make sure the bulk of your stay is in the week as it certainly gets busier at w/ends, but even so, we managed to walk on to most rides without any queues at all. There were also lots of opportunities to meet the characters...definitely go to the Mickey Cafe (pasta - not bad)in the evening...loads of characters do walkabout.

As it's been said before, it is damned cold ..not that it bothered our two. We were very lucky in fact that we just had bright but very cold days. I hope you have a fantastic time....I'm sure in time we'll take our 2 to Disney, but at 3 and a half and 20months, I'm not ready for that flight yet....

[myermay]

Message withdrawn

[ladymuck]

We went at Christmas in 2000.

Place is heaving, but loads of employees are on holiday. Particularly noticable when you were trying to get something to eat in the park. Most popular with small children and hence the queue for the younger rides were huge - We waited over an hour for the Flying Dumbo ride .

As you'll know the meal etc is on Christmas Eve. This was good (though you need to look carefully at what is served as some of the specialities may not be to your taste (eg horse)), though mainly because of Father Christmas etc. None of the food was "good" as such, and customer service isn't up to US standards.

I've only been at Christmas, and must say I'm not sure that I will ever go again. The young ones were very into it (characters, Father Christams etc), but Florida is soooo much better IMO.

[tigerfairy]

It is nothing like Florida, having been there about 5 years ago, we went to Disneyland Paris last New year, and stayed in the Explorers. Nice and comfy hotel, with bar and (heated?) swimming pool but the food wasn't brilliant. Evening meal ok, although extra expense as we went b&b, but don't touch the pizzas! It has the advantage of a separate bunkroom for the kids though.

The park was really busy, and we had to queue for ages to get on the rides so wear loads of layers, hats, gloves, scarfs etc. It's sooo cold!

We had a foot of snow on new years day and the buses were laid off,so I turned to a block of ice waiting for one before I realised! But the park on new years day was beautiful, quiet and really christmassy!

If we go again,it would definately be in the spring, in the warm, out of peak season.BRRRR!

[PandaBear]

Hi You!

We stayed in the Hotel New York and we loved it. Mind you we were minus child at the time! I agree, that the pool area probably isn't the most suitable for kids but other than that the food was good and the location superb.

[soapbox]

Wills
I haven't done Christmas but did New Year 2 years ago.

I have stayed at the New York hotel and it is okay, but pool not good for younger children. For the new year break we stayed at Davy Crocket ranch which we loved. It is nothing more than mibile homes in the middle of a forest but it felt very christmassy. You need to drive though if you want to stay there. The pool is fantastic, the best of all of the Disney Paris ones so it is worth it if you think you will use the pool. Having self catering facilities also meant that we could eat in after a busy day in the parks if we wanted to - there is a massive Auchan nearby. We tended to get back from the park late afternoon, take the children for a swim give them tea and put them to bed and either eat out (DM was with us to babysit) or open a bottle of wine and enjoy with good cheese, pate and bread etc. We also ate in teh park a couple of evenings and one evenign ate at the Davy Crocket restaurant but wasn't too keen on that! The cabins were also good as they had a living room as well as a bed room so you could relax in the evneings that hte children were tired and needed to go to bed, without pussyfooting around the room worried you would wake them up.



As you are staying in a Disney hotel you get free parking at the park - we found we had less distance to walk than if we were staying at the new York hotel.

I would recommend one of the character breakfasts - try to do one of the hotel ones (even if you are not staying there) as hte ones in Disney village are too busy and not enough time with the characters. I would recommend trying new York or Disneyland hotel for the breakfasts - we have had good experiences of both with teh characters spending plenty time with teh children. The food is also much better than at the disney village location.

I hope this helps! Do let me know if there is anything else you want to know.

[Chandra]

I spent a New Year there and it's the only time in my life when I have been able to remove ice from my eyelashes just after a short walk. VERRRRY COOOLD!!!!

[tamum]

Hi Wills, I haven't been at Christmas, but have been to Hotel New York. It was April, but was really cold. The hotel is reasonable, a bit brown (because of the theme), but quite well appointed. We had dinner in the hotel a few nights and it wasn't up to much to be honest, just handy. It was OK the first night, but the choice wasn't that great (especially for children, who have a buffet) so it got a bit boring. The breakfasts on the other hand were superb; loads and loads of lovely genuine French croissants and pain chocolat, freshly squeezed juice and so on.

I would be inclined to look into Newport Bay (I think it's called)- it's the next one down price-wise but is more appealing looking. Can't help with the rest I'm afraid, but at least this will bump it

[Wills]

Help???