Disneyland Paris experts please

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Could you please advise me on any of the following:

1. DD is 3 in june & has seen the ads for disney & wants to go, thinking of going early september - is this too young?

2. we want to fly so have got that sorted for CDG but wondered if anyone had any suggestions for sites to book accomodation?

3. does it work out cheaper going for the disney accomodation with park entry or can you do it cheaper?

4. we have had a look at santa fe, does anyone have any experience of staying there?

5. any ideas on what kind of spending money a family of 3 would need for 4/5nights?!

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Sarah

You need Ladymuck - we were talking about this on a thread earlier today. Hang on a tick while I try to find it.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/2411/451947?stamp=080107210850

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I stayed at the Santa Fe the first time i went, and tbh i personally wouldn't stay there again. It was ok, but on the first night we discovered the bedsheets weren't...aherm.....'clean'..and it has totally put me off the place now.
It's very basic, but i guess if you're not going to spend a lot of time there then it's ok. I would really recommend The Newport Bay club hotel.

I stayed at the Santa Fe the first time i went, and tbh i personally wouldn't stay there again. It was ok, but on the first night we discovered the bedsheets weren't...aherm.....'clean'..and it has totally put me off the place now.
It's very basic, but i guess if you're not going to spend a lot of time there then it's ok. I would really recommend The Newport Bay club hotel.

Am definitely not an expert on DLP - haven't been for 7 years, but have researched recently, so for what it is worth:-

1. Her ability to go on rides will be determined by her height usually rather than age. If you look at the red book curve you can make a good guess at what height she would be by Sept - some of the rides have a 1.02m limit, other are 1.4m. But these are actually fairly few, so there will be plenty she can do. many of the "rides" are in fact short shows. There is a lot of queuing however, so you need to consider whether she can manage that. Personally i think that Disney is definitely worth doing before they reach the age of 6 or so, whilst they still believe int he magic of it all. Ds2 (4) is still certain that he has met the real-life Peter Pan (albeit in Florida not Paris). You will need a buggy but these can be hired there.

2. I think that if you are not staying at a Disney hotel but staying at one of the others then booking direct with the hotel is usually cheapest. Some of the non-Disney hotels are the same travel time away from the Park as the Disney ones.

3. Disney do deals from time to time, so there isn't a simple answer to this. You have to try the alternatives and see. In fact I find that one of the most frustrating things with disney in general - the park tickets add an extra level of complication, so you now need to compare costs of travel, different accom and then ticketing options!

1. I stayed there 7 years ago. It is big, but then all Disney Hotels are. Pleasant enough, but I always find Disney hotels are actually rather expensive for what they are. But it is probably as good as any of them. My dcs are a bit older so we need a pool.

1. I wouldn't stay that long. There are 2 theme parks, not sure that you would need more than 3 days. If you wanted the break then try somewhere in Paris for a couple of nights. Disney food seems to be overpriced and not that great. Souvenirs aren't cheap either.

Thanks for all the replies.

This is going to be our first holiday abroad with DD. Normally do Sun holidays but we were ill & miserable over new year so thought a holiday abroad would cheer us up!

We were really put of at the prices at first but have been hunting around and found flights for £180 & santa fe for £469 (think that included entry aswell) for four nights but may have a look at others after TLE's comments!

Is the eating out part very expensive and are there any shops etc close by?

Sorry if im sounding really tight wanting too know if its expensive etc but we want to know this is going to be affordable for us so we can get saving

Yes, there is a supermarket not too far away. A lot of people grab rolls, ham and cheese at breakfast which sorts out lunch. Loadds of people do it on a budget. Depending on when you go you may still find one of the other hotels is cheaper even if you have to buy the entrance tickets.

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We went last year. Flew with Easyjet and booked direct with the Holiday Inn which is just outside the park but served by regular shuttle buses. Booked tickets before we went from online tickets website (could look it up if you need it). Saved heaps of dosh this way. Eating out in the park is incredibly expensive but we used to take bread rolls etc from breakfast .

unfortunately easyjet dont go from southampton to paris so we cant get those tickets cheaper.

I cant seem to get expedia to work when looking for hotel only but have found some good deals on alpharooms for holiday inn etc.

Polgara2 - if you could let me know where to get tickets from online that would be great as Disney website is quoting £254 for 3day ticket.

Thanks everyone for all your help

Imgens - have rummaged through my junk pile filing system and it was here. As I recall unpackagedattractions.com was ok too. Also not too bad a price if you buy them from a UK disney store I think.

Ooh why did my striking out not work then

Oh and have you checked the price via the holiday inn website itself against the alpharooms one?

hmmm im confused now!
alpharooms is quoting £482 for 1 wk B&B but holiday inn price is £716?!

going to have a look at the tickets now - thanks for posting the links

Ive just booked the holiday inn hotel with alpha rooms, the price they quoted was much cheaper than any other even booking direct with the hotel. Plus they only ask for a deposit at until 5 weeks before you go so it gives you chance to save.