Disneyland Paris - best times to go? And doable on a tight budget?

[Goposie]

I’d like to take the dc this year when it is not too crowded. Is there a website that lets you know when French school holidays are? I am thinking may half term could be good weather wise. I presume summer is too crowded and hot? Otherwise October half term? What are the best websites for tips and deals? Is the hotel on site worth it or better to stay a certain distance away and travel in? Kids are past the magical age but still in primary so want to go before they get totally jaded! Will be combining it with a trip to Paris. Like the idea of a train straight to Disneyland with bag drop or whatever but not if that adds tons to the price!

Weather at that time may suit but it will be very crowded in half term with brits.
Can you not do a long weekend and miss a Friday off school or are there any inset days

You only really need 2/3 days to do DP

I’d stay onsite if it’s a few nights. You get in earlier then.

If you staying in France longer to go to Paris etc then stay off site.

Take lots of snacks!! Lots!!! Food is expensive and difficult just to get something small to eat to keep
the kids going.

I can’t miss any school sadly.

I've been 4 times as a child and just come back from my 5th time which I booked myself with our DCs 3 and 9 months
Don't worry about them being too old for the magic, I went for the first time when I was 9 and was mesmerised
Personally I would always stay at a Disney hotel as you get the magic hours which are extra hours before the park opens that you can enter. Queues are much shorter so it's a good chance to make the most of the rides you really want to go on and may not be able to get on during the rest of the day. But if you're looking at may that's not too long away and it may be more cost effective to stay at one of the partner hotels (b&b hotel, hotel kyriad, villages nature which is like centreparcs etc) the only thing with them is that you then have to buy your park tickets desperately, some people get an annual pass as it works out cheaper.
Depending on where you are I find the Eurostar to be very expensive, we have always driven and the plus side is that you can take whatever you want with you (we went in January and even took a slow cooker and dump bags with frozen slow cooked meals prepared inside to save on food cost) but my friend who joined us on our trip flew and her fate was something rediculous like £40 return, the French rail system is much better than ours and it's easy to get to the park from the airport if you research before
Have an amazing time! I can't wait until my youngest is older so we can go again

October half term is one of the busiest weeks at DLP - that, and the week between Christmas and New Year are blackout weeks for some of the annual passes because it's so busy.

We have annual passes so have been throughout the year. Quietest times are May half term because the other countries don't (normally) have a school holiday then. However in 2019 there's a bridging holiday around a bank holiday so they're off for most of the week. February half term isn't too bad but can be very cold. Last week of the summer holidays isn't too bad either, nor is the first week of January (from the 2nd).

Google french school holidays and you'll find school holiday dates.

Either look at staying on site or consider annual passes to benefit from 'extra magic time' so you can access the parks before they're officially open - the queues are much much reduced, especially at the beginning. Worth making the effort to get out of bed!

It's super crowded most of the year but cooler times are obviously less popular (except Christmas but so expect ride maintenance to be happening). The cheaper way to do it is to stay in a non Disney accommodation in val d'europe, there's a big supermarket where even if you are staying in a hotel you can pick up salad and rotisserie chicken etc to eat. There's often deal websites for tickets but be aware of fraudulent sites,

For Disney accommodation there's self catering lodges but you will need a car. If you stay in their tied accommodation you get in earlier which is a particular advantage in the winter when the park closes earlier.

Not sure what you describe as a budget but we paid £1400 for b&b and park entry 3 years ago (4 nights) which isn't cheap but is all your activities of course.

We've been in half terms a few times )May and October) and don't find them overly crowded. Weekends are always busy though. I would definitely go for a few midweek half term days over going in the summer.

On site hotels are worth it for Extra Magic Hours, and if keeping to a budget the Santa Fe or Cheyenne are both fine as bases for sleeping. Disneyland Hotel is of course amazing but so much more expensive, you may as well fly to Orlando for the price of it in most school holidays.

If doing more than 3 days and travelling with 5+ people then annual passes are worth it because of the discounts.

We've been at Easter and Oct half term.
When we went at Halloween most days the weather was soggy and we had a great time, theming was great, characters all dressed up etc. The one day that the weather was dry (the friday) we literally couldn't move for the crowds, so I would recommended Easter over Halloween for that reason. I imagine if it had been a dry week we wouldn't have got anything done at all.

This year french schools are mostly off for Toussaint from October 19th until November 4th.

It is looking like May then! I must check the bridging days though. Can’t see those on what I have googled so far! I lived in France for a while and remember vaguely something about “faire le pont.”

So if I got an annual pass I could still benefit from early hours even if I stay off site?

Yep they're great. www.disneylandparis.com/en-gb/annual-passes/ they recently went up in price so not as economical as they once were sadly, but still have great benefits and always worth weighing up against day passes.

Feb half term would be a cheap time to do. We did October half term, it's a French holiday too so very busy but we stayed on site and made use of magic hours. For a family of 4 we paid about £2000 all in (inc spending money, travel etc) for 4 nights, Santa Fe, free half board. We found the food plentiful so didn't spend much else barring upgrading breakfast. I'd always stay on site for DLP.