Disneyland Paris

[Jennywallpaper]

Hi I was wondering if anyone could offer some advice?
We're going to dlp in August for 4 nights and staying at one of the Disney hotels, I was hoping to book a character meal for while we are there but I'm not sure which would be better, breakfast at plaza gardens or dinner at inventions.
Also we arrive at CDG around 5pm do you think if we're going to do inventions we should or could do it that first evening so then we will have met the characters so we won't need to cue for them in the park, or would that be to rushed?
My DC are 4 and 6 so I don't want to leave them over tired. Any advice welcome, thank you.

If money is not part of the equation I'd always go to Inventions. Inventions is leisurely and the characters will come and spend time with you. Plaza gardens breakfast is better value but rather rushed. It takes 2 hours at Inventions and 1 hour at PG. You don't get any more characters though number wise at Inventions. Indeed if money was absolutely not the issue and you're there on a Sunday I'd go to the Brunch in Inventions, where you get a few more characters and some rarer ones with them alll in different to normal costumes to a theme.
To answer your second question, I’d leave Inventions for the second evening.

Thanks @Ricekrispie22 I'm not sure what the price difference is as we have the standard meal plan so we will have to pay a top up on that. Unfortunately we're not there over the weekend so the brunch isn't an option. I am leaning more towards inventions as I think the longer time will be better, my DC aren't the quickest of eaters at the best of times.

Inventions every time. You are not rushed.

I found my young children enjoyed the breakfast food more than the food at inventions. There wasn't much they liked there as they are quite fussy. They only ate the spaghetti Bolognese. I on the other hand was in my element in inventions 😂

@ofwarren that's what was worrying me about inventions, I wasn't sure if the kids would eat much and then we would end up having to spend more on an extra meal afterwards. They aren't the worst DS is willing to try most things but DD can be quite stubborn lol

@edgewater have you been many times? This is our first and I'm very excited

What time would you recommend booking for? We normally have dinner around 5/6pm but I know when on holiday these things usually change.

I’ve not done inventions however I did do plaza gardens on our last trip in December and it was absolutely diabolical and I would never recommend nor ever go there again!!!

We paid €180 for 2 adults 4 children for breakfast (no meal plan) honestly it makes me sick. One of the characters actually threw the signature book at us as they were so rushed. Awful awful experience! Avoid!!!!

I’ve been lots of times. I prefer DLP to the Magic Kingdom in Orlando.

Inventions is lovely. They do nuggets, pizza, chips, cold meats, salads, breads as well as meats in sauces like spag Bol. There is ice cream, cakes and desserts.

If you go as for a castle view. There are some small side rooms that are a bit cramped and I alway ask to be away from there.

Character interaction is brilliant. You’ve got plenty of time but you must book before you go. As soon as booking is open I book a table.

@nameymcnamechangeagain oh that's such a shame yous had a bad experience, it is a lot of money, we probably wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't for the meal plan.

@edgewater the kids love pizza so they'll definitely not struggle for something to eat then! I think I'm going to go for it.
I've booked through magic breaks so I'll email them and see if I can book it with them. Do you have any other recommendations for things to do?

I'm hoping we can do Florida in a couple of years time when the kids are a bit older, DH and I have been loads, but we've never actually done Disney there, were universal fans!

Make sure you make full use of extra magic time. It’s at 8 am. Head to the main rides before the park opens to the public.

Illuminations is going to be really late in August. It’s worth it but it will mean keeping the kids up until after dark.

Definitely go to Inventions.

If you shop, then you can have your bags sent back to your hotel. Saves you carrying them around all day.

The village is good at night. Plenty places to eat but again I’d get some bookings in for dinner.

We like
Annette’s diners
Buffalo bills Wild West show - an extra cost.
Hunters grill
Planet Hollywood

Don’t do inventions on your first night if you don’t land until 5. It’s up to an hour to the hotels so its going to be half 6 min before you check in and then you need to get to the hotel where the restaurant is, unless you are staying there of course.

Join Facebook pages.

Plan. Have a plan and be prepared. If you aren’t prepared you’ll end up wandering around and possibly not enjoying it.

The trip advisor also has a great information page.

@edgewater thank you so much!! Some great tips. We were thinking of doing BBWWS but it's only on the Monday and Tuesday and if we're going to do inventions on the Tuesday it would only leave Monday and I think it would be to much on our first night. I love the look of Annettes! Definitely want to try it out, did you ever go there for breakfast?

Arriving at CDG at 5pm means you won't be at the hotel/parks until 7-8pm at the earliest.

We went last August for 4 nights and arrived at CDG at 5pm. We weren't eating until after 9 (Rainforest Cafe) as there was a crazy queue for customs once we got off the plane.

We had a fab time, but it was crazy busy.

IMO the illuminations are absolutely NOT worth keeping young kids up so late. Especially in August when it is so busy. Prioritise the extra magic time in the mornings and skip the illuminations. You can get so much done in EMT. Our only regret was staying up for them because we were all too exhausted for EMT the next morning and that was a real waste. We left halfway through the illuminations after waiting so long, due to the incredibly rude behaviour of others around us, elbowing and shoving. One woman actually stood on our buggy and almost broke my camera in the process.

I wasn't a fan of the hotel breakfast and Rainforest Cafe was fine but nothing special. We liked Annettes. Though the weather was so warm when we were there none of us had much of an apetite and we ended up not using all our meal plan vouchers.

Make a rough plan of your must do's and have an idea of each day. This will almost definitely change, but it can be really overwhelming so having a plan helps. I probably overplanned and I was still really overwhelmed for the first day.

We went Mon-Fri so our week looked like this,

Monday: Arrived CDG at 5pm, got to hotel, checked in, left bags in room, got shuttle bus to village, had dinner in Rainforest Cafe and had a look in a couple of shops, then back to hotel and bed.

Tuesday: Breakfast at hotel, went to the main park for EMT, lunch was Annettes, stayed in the main park until late afternoon, back to hotel for dinner and then early night.

Wednesday: Skipped breakfast at hotel, just ate snacks in the room and went to the Studio's park and queued for EMT. We got so much done this morning, and were done in the Studio's park by lunchtime (we even watched Mickey and the Magician in this time.) Back to the hotel for a break, and then went to the main park to wait for the illuminations.

Thursday: Too tired for EMT, breakfast at McDonalds, better look around village shops, went to main park for a few hours but this day was crazy temps and it was the busiest day so far so we gave up around 2.30 and went back to the hotel to cool off. Dinner was at Cafe Mickey in the village. This was the highlight of the trip though we only got to meet 3 characters. I have read online its usually atleast 4. Kids were delighted though.

Friday: Up super early, packed our things, breakfast at hotel, queued for EMT at main park. Left main park at 11am, had another quick trip to the shops in the village to buy souvenirs, and then we went back to the hotel to get our bags and wait for the bus back to CDG. We left about two hours earlier than the shuttle recommended and we were glad we did because the queues in CDG were really awful.

We got to do almost all the rides we wanted to multiple times. We weren't big on meeting loads of characters so we only queued for Goofy in the parks. We saw the parade, and the special show they had going on. Mickey and the Magician was really special, I would really recommend, though we really didn't like the queuing system for it.

Sorry for the essay lol we really had such a great time, and I miss the anticipation and excitement we had in the run up, planning it all.

@Glitterpearl wow thank you so much! I love hearing all about other peoples trips, it makes me so excited!
I am a bit worried about the illuminations as my DC are not used to staying up late, I feel like if we see it one night that should be enough.
Tbh I wish we were going when it's quieter but I didn't want to take the kids out of school, I'm hoping it won't be as warm as last year!

Can you remember what time the parade was when you where there? I'm not sure what time to book dinner for, I don't want to miss anything.

Download the lineberty app for character meets in studio park. Pixar characters.