Disneyland Paris

[assumpta]

We are going to DLP for 2 nights during half term, DH, and 2 DD 7 years and 4 years, staying at Santa Fe. Any tips? Suggestions re Food etc for Disney. Thanks.

I'd be interested in how you get on as we're thinking of going next year.

Any other advice out there?

Can you take picnics into the park with you? - Sorry to hijack - we're going on the 25th f or 5 days staying at Davy Crockett....
See you there Assumpta!!

Its not allowed to picnic in the park

I think you are allowed to take picnics into the park as long as they fit into a standard size rucksack or cool-bag. Obviously not a great big picnic hamper!

Poppyseed I have read on a web site that they can and actually do check your bags regarding picnics. How sad is that?

ok, heres the real truth
we stayed at the santa fe for 4 nights/5 days travelling on eurostar when we visited dp the first week in december last year. if you had asked before booking i would of advised you to book for a minumim of 3 nights/4 days & to go in term time preferably because in the hols it will be manic & as there is just so much to do there you wont possibly fit it all in. i dont like the idea of taking kids out of school, but they are little for such a short time & dp is worth making an exception for.
the santa fe is very very basic, but hey you will only be sleeping there so it doesnt really matter, & you do get to see the disney characters as you go to breakfast which is nice, though id probably see if you can get breakfast in the park if you can as you get to go on rides earlier & the food is better than at santa fe (its called a good morning fantasyland, ask your travel agent or at reception in santa fe when you arrive)
take as many drinks as you can & some crisps or whatever you can carry for lunch as food there is so expensive. there isnt a problem with taking food/drink into the park, its a necessity as its so expensive. in disney village there is a mcdonalds which charges similar prices to back home, though a lot of the food has an odd tasting sauce on it, i stuck to filet of fish which tastes the same as back home. the rainforest cafe is nice & a must do, the kids will love it, but as everywhere else (except mcdonalds) its horrendously priced
next to the santa fe hotel there is a petrol station which has a shop that sells sandwiches/drinks etc, its still expensive but a lot cheaper than in the parks.
the kids (& you) will love it there, we had a fabulous time & are going back again in the middle of november for 3 nights/4 days staying at a brand new hotel called the movenpick dream castle. i really cant wait
have fun you sure will.

assumpta - I've posted on your other thread.

Assumpta, you'll have fun! We stayed at Santa fe too, which as said before is basic, but you are only sleeping there.

Definitely book a character breakfast, ours was at Cafe Mickey, great food, and you can fill your pockets with all sorts of elevenses! but you get so much contact with the characters it was lovely. Then you don't stress yourself looking for them in the park and queuing in horrendous queues!!

We ate at the McDonalds too, we had a good buffet lunch at Newport Bay Hotel once which was very good. Lots of choice for fussy eaters!

Dumbo the flying elephant always has the longest queues, so if you ever see it looking OK jump on quick, same for Peter Pan ride (imo not worth a 40 min queue!)

We went to DLP for 2 days last October half term and had a great time. We didn't stay at a Disney resprt so no advice there, and my DD was only 18 months. But anyway..

Yes, it was busy, but no busier than going to any other theme park at peak times TBH.

DLP (is like Magic Kingdom in Florida). The queues for rides like Dumbo and Peter Pan were about 30-45 minutes. These are the longest. Parade was quite hard to get a good spot unless you wait in advance - can be chilly though and wet in October. The characters are all over though so loads of character spotting and meeting - get an autograph book if your DDs are into this. Our DD meet all the big characters very easily. As I said we had a great day.

Studios next door. This was much much less busy and we had no queues here for any show or ride. The longest queue we has was about 3 or 4 minutes to have our photo taken with Mickey at the front. Again most of the characters are here too and easy to spot and meet. The stunt car show is excellent here - your DH will probably love it The Donald Duck show and the 4D cinema show are fab too. And your ticket here gives you access back into DLP once Studios close.

As it is around Hallowe'en when you go they'll be loads of themed displays. The steam boat was dressed up tobe haunted, the parade was scary based, etc. IT was good fun.

TBH we didn't find any of the food that bad. It's the same kind of faire yu'll get any any theme park on the whole - burgers, hot dogs, fris, etc. unless you go in the main (expensive) restaurants. Unless you are that bothered I'd just go for it - you're only there for two days.

There are no picnic facilities within DLP at all, and picnics are not really allowed. TBH in October it'll be too chilly to eat outside anyway. Wrap up warm!!!

I am sure you'll have a fantastic time. Your 7 year old will be able to go on everything there (maybe not the Areosmith roller coaster though - do go on yourself; it's great fun and very fast). Your 4 year old can go on most rides, inluding the small roller coaster, but unless very tall for her age not the water rides, or the two bigger coasters.

Have a great time. I am sure you will. It's fantastic fun

Mind you - one warning. WE loved it so much we ended up going to Florida for 2 weeks this summer

Once you're in the hotel you're stuck for snacks etc unless you go for expensive hotel options, so I'd take loads of drinks, snacks and wine in case kids get hunger attacks in room. Tbh I always expect to pay a fortune for food in such places and would rather save on drinks etc and not worry about cost of meals. Had my 39th birthday at Cafe Mickey and food and characters were great though coffee not fab - filled us up for the day. Usual culprits of Planet Hollywood and Rainforest always fun for kids. Within the park kids liked Caribbean restaurant by Pirates of Caribbean ride - but that was in July when we were just pleases to be out of heat.

I'm cutting and pasting what I posted on the other thread to let you know about the petrol station for 'cheaper' snacks and the importance of taking a kettle to the Santa Fe:

We stayed at the Santa Fe in August. You are quite a distance from the parks but there are yellow bendy buses which are free and ferry you to and from the parks. They run around every 10 mins.

Don't expect speedy service from the reception at the Santa Fe. They have a reputation to be slow.

An advantage of staying there is the petrol station next door. As others have said, drinks etc. are dear in the parks but you can stock up on water, soft drinks and even beer and wine at the petrol station. You can also get baguette sandwiches, biscuits and almost everything else. It is a little dearer than home but far cheaper than the parks. As you enter the hotel grounds, the service station is on your right before the barrier.

The Santa Fe does not have tea and coffee making facilities in the bedrooms so do take a kettle with you - milk at services station too! The hotel is a 2* and is 'adequate'. We were pleased about the bedroom (only soap is provided - there are no more complimentary toiletteries). It was clean and better than the average Travellodge. If you arrive at night, watch the stumps in the car park. They are there to help motorists and definately not pedestrians!

We used the restaurant (aka 'transport caff' which some of our party called it) on the last night. The food was OK but not anything to shout about. The bar prices are dear but the atmosphere is good in there.

We'd booked a meal-deal package with our tour operator (Leger) and that's something I wouldn't do again. The best meal we had was at Annette's in the Disney Village. I agree with booking a character breakfast at Cafe Mickey - that's a good buffet breakfast but watch the time they give you. We got 8am which was horendous because we'd arrived at 10pm the night before and had got to bed after midnight.

You'll get slots for your breakfast at the Santa Fe. The b*t*ds gave us 7am and we missed it purposely. I found out later (on the way back) that we could have walked in at anytime and no one would have batted an eyelid.

So that's the Santa Fe!

Thank you everyone for all the information. I will definitely stock up on certain items, i.e. crisps, biscuits and snack bars. Do you know if there are bananas/apples at breakfast that I could store until later in the day?

bananas & apples are available at an extra cost at breakfast time. probably better to stock up at the petrol station for goodies for lunch though. avoid breakfast at the santa fe by going for the good morning fantasyland if at all possible (unless you like bread rolls & yoghurts for breakfast) as the food choice at the resturant in the park is so much more varied (you can do this for no extra charge)
have fun

Assumpta - don't forget the kettle if you are like me and need your caffeine in the mornings!

Have a brilliant time.

Well we are now on the countdown, but really don't know what to expect. I have been given so many views on various restaurants, and not all by any means good, that I feel its going to be a bit hit and miss. Anyway I'm sure we'll have a great time. Thanks