Disney Land Paris

[Peanutbuttercupisyum]

Hello
can you recommend a company to book a trip to Disneyland Paris? Going to go for hotel plus tickets and the fast access queue jump thingy. Self drive.
And can anyone recommend places to stay? Theres me and DH plus 4 dc.
Finally..how long do you think is a good amount of time to go?

With 4dc and the fact that you’re self-driving, I’d recommend Davy Crockett Ranch. You rent a woodland cabin which has a small kitchen and can use the buffet, bar, a good-sized themed swimming pool with flume, minigolf, playgrounds and tennis courts. A car is necessary because there’s no shuttle to the parks but thankfully the cost of parking is included in your stay. It’s about 15mins drive but door-to-door I’d allow 30mins.
If you want to be within walking distance (or have a free shuttle to the parks), I’d go for the Art of Marvel hotel as some of the rooms sleep 6, it’s got an indoor pool, character meets and it’s only a 10 minute walk.
As for how long to stay, it really depends on what time of year you’re going, how old your dc are and the dining plan your choose.

Best thing to do is book direct with DLP and stay onsite so you get magic hours (an hour before the gates open to the general public). I recommend 3 nights/4 days of tickets. Stay at a cheaper hotel Campanile/B&B etc the night before and after Disney. Then you can collect tickets/check in early on first morning and get the 4 full days. Fast track you pay on the app per person per ride. Prices are dependent on how busy the park is but can be €15/person/ride. Hence it's cheaper to stay onsite and make use of magic hours. Personally I prefer a hotel to Davy Crockett Ranch because it's much easier to roll out of bed and walk to the park early in the day than getting 2 young kids in the car but DCR works well for people who want more space or have bigger families so they don't have to get 2 rooms. We've stayed at all the hotels bar Santa Fe and Cheyenne and they're all pretty decent. Would pay extra for Disney hotel but it's closed for renovations at the moment.

Magic Breaks is who we book with every time, they have very good offers on a lot of the time

We went with Magic Breaks, travelled by Eurostar and stayed in Cheyenne. It was great to stay on site, a short walk or shuttle bus journey to the park and we made use of the extra magic hours. It’s also handy to be able to pop to the hotel during the day for a rest, esp if you want to be around for the fireworks

We did 3 nights/4 day park passes, it was enough to be able to see and do everything we wanted to

We got a half board dining deal (this was pre-covid, not sure what is on offer now), my only regret was not sorting out dining reservations beforehand, as it took a while when we got there and our top choices were booked up

When we return, assuming we go half board again, I’d probably take some easy snacks for a quick breakfast, get to the parks early and ride the most popular rides, then eat brunch when the park starts to get busy

I know you want to drive, but if it helps anyone else, the Eurostar was a doddle, the station is right next to the park entrance and you can drop your bags there to be taken to your hotel and head to the park immediately

Okay this is all very helpful!!
thanks!
now..what is this dining plan? And pre booking restaurants?
thank you!

The dining plans have changed post covid so I don't know what the offer is now but we found full board was too much food (we got a free dining plan offer though) and we spent a lot of time eating so I'd go half-board at most. Next time we've got club-level booked so will have breakfast and afternoon snacks at the hotel so we won't get a dining plan and mainly use the quick service restaurants around that. I'd check out all the restaurant menus, food types and what you think you'll enjoy and decide whether a food plan is worth it.

Pre-booking restaurants is easiest throught the Disneyland Paris app. You can currently book 60 days in advance or certain restaurants it'll allow you to book well in advance if you have booked at Disney hotel and have the booking linked to the app.

Got it. So there are plenty of quick service restaurants in the park to get a quick lunch type snack during the day? I don’t have to pre book all lunch spots? Thanks loads for your help

We nearly always take a picnic lunch. Despite what people say, you can take your own food, just no bulky cool boxes. It’s not only a cheaper option it’s also way more convenient (you can eat in queues to maximise your time) and much much healthier (the food is the standard theme park fare – think beige and fried!). We managed to find various Disney themed snacks and treats in a French supermarket before we went (the novelty factor was a win with the tiny people!).
If you don’t want to do a picnic, there are plenty of quick service options for lunch, but during school holidays these often have a queue of 30+ minutes from about 12-2pm. We found that the queue at The Earl of Sandwich moves quickly and it has a good choice of food.