davey crocket ranch disneyland paris?

[gingernutlover]

hi has anyone been here?

we are looking at taking dd who will be nearly 3 by then in the summer hols and having looked through the borchure, i think i will go mad in a hotel room with her for 4 days, so wondered bout this davey crocket ranch place as they look a bit more spacious

having googled it i have found some less than favourable reviews, but also some good ones too and they all seem to be a bit dated as well

has anyone been to davy crockett recently? and what was it like?

Hi, we went last october - our first trip to disneyland paris and we wanted to sleep seperately from our two dd's and 2 and 5. It worked quite well for us, but as they shared a room the little one kept waking up early and climbing up to the top bunk to wake up her sister, so we would probably have got as much sleep sharing a room! We're big centre parc fans, but the cabin was more of a timber clad caravan and it was clad in and out so very dark unfortunately which didn't make it particularly homely. But it was nice enough and the breakfast set up was good, better than battling with the masses in the hotels I guess. We didn't spend much time on the ranch itself as we really enjoyed disneyland, but we eat at davy's one evening and it was nice, plenty of choice and very reasonable and we were able to sit outside having a drink afterwards while the girls ran round. Any specific questions, let me know and I'll try and answer best I can

Have you looked at the explorers hotel, it has a separate section in the room for children. Haven't been myself but it got good reviews on tripadvisor which I checked as we were investigating the possibility of going.

ah thanks

i was really just concerned about the cleanliness of the rooms and what you get for breakfast? we also go to center parcs a lot hich has always been excellent, so i think i have high standards set by that

i hadnt looked at the explorers, but will do, thanks for that suggestions

hmm have just looked at the explorers and i think it will be more expensive

oh no, just rung disney and they have confused me even more

they started talking about the half board options etc etc, trying to talk me into half board premium which is about £30 a night per adult (although dd free i guess) saying how it included the meal with the princesses etc etc.

i dont know what to do now

how expensive is eating out at disney?

how good are the self catering facilities in the ranch lodges?

is it worth paying for half board?

and is it worth paying for things like the character dinners, princess dinners etc? - wondering if dd is a little young to appreciate that and pushing three in august

i also read somehwre i am sure that in the evenings at the davey crockett ranch restaurant there are characters around anyway which is free????? how differen is this to paying for a character meal experience?

It's been a couple of years since we went, but we're booked in again for May. We're staying at the Sequoia Lodge, as it's got a pool and we thought that might be useful to help relax after a busy day in the park.

We got the deal through an independent company called Yabop. They were SO much cheaper than anyone else we looked at. Is it worth having a look with them to see what you think if you haven't booked already??

I read on Mumsnet that other mums had used them, so I'm hoping it'll all go o.k!

In terms of cleanliness, etc, we stayed at the Santa Fe both times we went previously and weren't expecting much (it is the cheapest option there)..but it was good and clean. And tbh, the only time we spent there was at night, when DD was exhausted and fell straight to sleep!

I don't know about the self catering options. We found meals at the hotel reasonably priced, if a bit mass catered, but our expectations weren't high anyway.

Character meals...I'd book at least one. We did a birthday tea for my girl (she was 3) and it was the best thing ever. I still remember the look on her face when Minnie Mouse bought out her birthday cake. It was a classic. Well worth the money (not for the food or anything else, just for the one on one time your DC get with the characters).

The characters are generally around and about most of the time. You usually find you have a couple come to the hotel foyer in the mornings/late afternoon, so they get one on one time then too. The rest of the time you'll probably be queuing up to meet the characters which can get a bit frustrating for little ones.

Sorry for being so long winded..... Hope you have a ball!

thanks for that - i havent booked yet as i am hoping someone who has been to davey cropckett ranch might come along and reassure us that it is okay?

(Disclaimer - not been yet, but have been doing a LOT of research, including the DLP website itself, discussion boards, Brits' Guide ...)

Neither of the half-board packages include the meal with the princesses - I think you can use TWO premium half-board vouchers to pay for one character meal though.

I thought about doing half-board (we're staying at Sequoia Lodge in June) but decided that neither DH or I was likely to want to eat a three-course meal every evening, and that DD would probably be happier with two courses as well (not a big eater, we'd be there all night trying to get her to eat three course meals). Plus I want to go to the Rainforest Cafe, and that's one of the restaurants that doesn't take the vouchers at all (most of those not included in the half-board deals will take the vouchers towards a meal, there are about four places that don't take them at all).

As to prices for food, DLP Food Guide is comprehensive, obviously I don't know how accurate yet! Some of the reviews and price checks are very recent, Davy Crockett Ranch unfortunately isn't.

Squilly, have you booked stuff in advance? I keep meaning to (I wouldn't mind queuing if it was just me and DH, but I don't want to be waiting an hour just to sit down with DD in tow). We really have to do the princess meal, even though I suspect DD will be 'too shy' to even look at them.

Dontcallmebaby....I haven't booked anything in advance this time, but I did book the birthday tea party with the travel agent the last time I went.

This time I've booked independently, so am just recovering from the multitudinous papers that I've got relating to the flight, the carparking, the hotel in Paris, the overnighter near the airport, the RER tickets, etc...

I would say you don't need to book too much in advance. You can contact reception at the hotel and they'll help you book anything you need. The birthday teas are sometimes oversubscribed, but we went in January (was cold, but still good) so we didn't have that problem. I've never been in peak times, so it might be worth looking into that via the travel sites on t'internet.

Also, get used to the idea of queuing. It's part of the experience. The only thing you can do to minimise it is (a) hit the park early morning; (b) get fastrack tickets for the big rides and (c) try not to stress too much about it when you're there.

The characters usually do a couple of mornings and evenings at the hotel, in the foyer, so there's always a chance to see their favourites in a relaxed way. The character meals/teas/breakfasts also help as they eliminate the need for queuing and they get your little one some one on one time with the main characters.

I'm a total queue hater, but we managed o.k. with dd when she was 2/3 and 4 (we got hooked on the ED experience). We explained to her that sometimes you have to queue to see someone or something you really like and she adapted quite quickly.

Catching the buses to the park in the morning is the worst bit, cos everyone pushes and shoves and no-one seems to understand the concept of queuing. Get past that hurdle and it's not so bad from there on in.

Hope you all have good hols....

Ooh, useful stuff squilly. I plan to book dinners each day bar one (leave that free for Rainforest Cafe) and then at least we know there's somewhere we can go straight in - DD loves rides, she'll queue for those, but she'll object to queuing for food!

We went to Legoland last year, October I think, only realised it was halfterm after I'd booked the tickets, but as it turned out it was pretty good queuing practice. She wasn't bad at all!

Kind of hoping to avoid using the buses ... we'll have the pushchair as we're driving there and DH and I walk fast despite our short legs. DH won't take much persuading, he goes green within about 30 seconds of getting on a bus.

Can't wait!