Disneyland Paris on a very small budget

[scarflove]

Just wondering if Disneyland Paris is doable on a very small budget -
What would be the min we will definitely need to put aside?

What are best ways of cutting costs? For example, If we get an Airbnb a few miles away can you park cheaply at Disneyland for the day?
Is paying for the Disneyland hotel package part of the 'magic'?

I haven't been and don't know what to expect. Two adults and one child. We will be driving from London.

How small a budget are you talking? DLP is notoriously expensive. I don’t know about AirBnB but the ‘off- site’ hotels (that aren’t Disney) can be a lot more reasonable than the Disney ones, and they still have the same free shuttle buses to the parks.

How old is the child? There is another park nearby that has lots of fairytale type stuff which is meant to be better for younger kids. But if Disney is the point this probably won't cut it!

We are pricing up for Feb half term next year and 2 nights/3days staying at the Santa Fe is coming out at £820 for 3 people - which I think is a lot!

But I think when I priced up the stand alone tickets they were coming out at £675, so don't know how much you'd actually save off site when looking at travel etc.

We stayed at a (admittedly very nice) hotel outside the park and had a fantastic time, you definitely don't need a hotel on site.

There is a train station that delivers you to the park gates, take a look at where the train stops & maybe see if there are cheaper airbnbs?

You can take packed lunch with you & refill water bottles. Food at disney is extortionate.

Same with the merch - a trip to Primark before for Minnie ears & Disney t-shirts will save you a small fortune.

Honestly there isn’t a way of doing it on a VERY small budget, there are some ways you can do bits cheaper but there’s just no way really of doing it as a budget trip.

We’ve been 3 times and never stayed in a DLP hotel. Partly cost but also we need more space. My DC do not feel in anyway that they have missed out. We also like to go into Paris as well and it’s logistically easier to stay in one place, rather than shifting to DLP with all our stuff for one night.

We have driven, flown and Eurostarred. Eurostar was very reasonable when booked well in advance. We stayed at a Eurocamp site and drove in the first year. It was cheaper to park at the Val d’Europe shopping centre and do one stop on the RER than parking on site, and got you right to the entrance. Second time we stayed at Adagio Aparthotel near Val d’Europe shopping centre (massive hyper market for food). There are free buses to DLP from there. Third time we rented a two bedroom apartment through VRBO (I find them better than Air B&B), again near Val d’Europe.

Ticket prices are steep but not much you can do about that.

Dc just turned seven. So feel like we need to do it soonish before he's any older.

Budget - just trying to get an idea how much people, who were trying to cut costs as much as possible, ended up spending.
And also if they thought it was definitely worth doing, giving how pricey it can be?

Thank you for the responses.

Definitely worth doing but you don’t need on site hotels or expensive themed restaurants for little ones. My DC were 13 and 16 last time we went (October 2023 for DD1’s 16th). They loved it even more than when they were younger. You can do it at a day trip from Eurocamp type places if you want to make a longer holiday out if it.

We camped here last year: https://www.camping-jablines.com/en/

There is a bus from the entrance to Disney, we had our car though. We took our own tent but there are cabins. It is also close to train station to go into Paris.

Daughter absolutely loved Disney, I don't feel like she missed out by not being in a Disney hotel. One day there was more than enough for us.

We actually did it as part of a longer holiday, on our way back, so I don't know exactly how much it cost. But it would have been the cost of the campsite (we did 3 nights at £30 a night but we spent two days going into Paris, and only one in Disney) + chunnel (about £300) + spending money. You could do two nights in the campsite and chunnel which would be £360. We did spend quite a lot in the park, but we weren't being particularly careful. You can take your own food in.

It was best part of £800 for 4x 2 day passes to both parks October half term. You could do the main park in one day to give your DC the chance to ‘do Disney’. Do a few day trips doing other things in the area? Paris for the day?

Look at going term time out of season. You can look as t the pricing over the year.

We went on a budget quite a few years ago and went end of January when it was significantly cheaper.

Also check both with and without Disney accommodation. Ours both then and more recently ended up cheaper to stay on site (santa fe) than off site!! I think maybe it must be an off peak thing as it wasn't much more than the tickets?

Also getting there. Can be good value to drive and ferry. We have had cheaper euros tar tickets before when you get them the day they are released.. But depends where you live you need to factor in getting to London etc.

Yes to avoiding all the tat. Or having say a "well get one thing but let's not choose it for sure on the first day" rule.

Similarly we had one snack a day so one day it would be candy floss another donuts etc so if they know the expectations before you go that helps a lot.

Meals on site are extortionate. But it would also be hard to do 2cold meals a day. You could budget for a "big buffet meal" each day and take packed lunch/take those mini kellogs to have in a room maybe? Or have a fast food meal there and some packed food?

You could stay the night before off site, do a big super market shop and be ready for the first day at opening. One drawback some people do is arrive midday /leave midday on park days so we stayed off site either end to avoid this.

We have done it on a budget, out of season is definitely best for cutting costs, maybe do 3 days mid week. Last time we went we stayed offsite in an apparthotel but sometimes the cheaper Disney hotels, santa fe and cheyenne are good value. The davey crocket ranch seems reasonable if you want to bring your car, but there is no shuttle to the park as far as I know and I don't know about cost of parking there.

Have a look at the centre parcs as there is a bus to the parks.

Primark have a good Disney range for T-shirts / clothes / accessories/ water bottles etc.

@scarflove if you can squeeze a two day park visit in on 1/2 September the prices drop by €30 per pass.
Marne la vallée has lot of apartments, parking is easy and the train is 2 minutes from the Disney park.
French schools will go back on 1st September so accommodation should be cheaper.

Davy Crockett ranch is a 10/15 minute drive and is the cheapest of the actual Disney places so includes tickets to both parks and car parking at the parks but you do need a car as no shuttle . You do also get the ‘magic hours’ which is useful if you are going in peak times .

We stayed at a small campsite (in a static caravan, so no need for own camping gear etc) close to DLP. As well as being cheaper than the disney hotels etc it meant we could self cater for most meals, which saved a fortune. There's a decent sized supermarket not far away and our camp site sold fresh bread/croissants etc from a local bakery. I think the car park at Disney was free. We'd done a disney hotel previously and actually preferred this lower cost option, as it was nice to leave the park at the end of the day and enjoy something that felt a bit more 'French'.

You do have to look at price of tickets as well. If you stay one night in a Disney hotel you get 2 days tickets included in the price (which also includes extra magic hour on both days which can be priceless). So one way to do it cheaper could be to stay at a cheap air b n b the first night then the next night (or two night) in the cheapest Disney hotel which means you will get the next 2 or 3 days tickets included and can start your first day at 8.30 that morning.

Have I explained that ok?

Yes, makes perfect sense. Thanks

i've never found getting hotels seperate cheaper. we always go by car on the ferry to davy crockett which includes park tickets and parking and always comes in cheaper than outside hotels...factoring in tickets, parking, breakfasts etc is a big expense

I think staying at one of the cheaper Disney hotels (Santa Fe) is a real part of the magic and not much more expensive.

Look at Davy Crockett or Les Villages Natures if you're driving anyway, free parking at the parks and they're SC so you can save on food by going to the supermarket and making your own breakfast and lunches.

DLP is ridiculously expensive nowadays though, probably works out the same price per day to go to Florida 🤣

Hiya I am planning a weekend getaway for husbands birthday 5th July. For 2 adults 5 kids. From London, can you guys give me ideas on this please?

You don't have access to a camper van do you? You can stay in the car park for a small amount (ten years ago was ten euros a night). They have a shower and loo block.