Disneyland Paris - don't know where to start!

[Swearwolf]

Talk to me like I'm a complete idiot. We are not massively experienced at booking holidays and would quite like to go to Disney before the kids are too old. I don't know where to start!

• Do we book a whole package, or do we book a hotel and take it from there?
• Where do you stay? Any recommendations? Would quite like adjoining rooms for adults and two kids, ideally.
• Is it quite easy to do a day or two in proper Paris at the end?
• How long is enough time?
• Which is the best way to find the best deals?

Please help! I'm completely overwhelmed.

If you book a Disney hotel you have to get the package with tickets as well.
We booked the hotel/ tickets and then the Eurostar separately as was more flexible.
If you book the package you get eg 2 nights in a hotel and 3 days of tickets.

There aren't really connecting rooms at the Disney hotels. They are more expensive but you can walk to the parks.

Lots of people stay off site.

We went when the kids were teenagers so we're just interested in the rides. First time went for 3 nights. Was perfect.

We stayed at a hotel a train stop away from the park but the hotel actually had a bus service too and from the park. It was this one: https://www.hotelelysee.com/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwu8uyBhC6ARIsAKwBGpSK4CKduMI7Nwj1KXzwR27pnpiNYkBIon2B-JRcEvHsliGBYHRwCIsaAoejEALw_wcB

we did two days, one in each park. I reckon we could have done 3 but not more.

i didn’t find ticket deals as it was absolute peak season and I was under prepared.

but I would high recommend it. We had a whale of a time!

That looks great, thank you!

Join the Facebook group "Disneyland Paris for Brits" - every question you can think of and not think of will be answered.

I did look for details and found the best prices were on the official Disney site

If you want to share a space with the kids & have rooms sort of interconnecting then Davey Crockett ranch is great. We stayed there as we wanted a kitchen (ASD son). It's not as close (10 min drive to park) but it's got its own restaurants and shop and pool etc, and you're in a woodland area which is nice for a morning stroll etc. I have stayed in Hotel NY and the main Disney hotel before and both are great but I would possibly choose Davey Crockett if we went again soon! I like the space after busy days.

If you do a day in Paris I think you'd probably want to stay somewhere in the city for a night to make the most of it.

One more question- do you travel on the morning and do a day at the park the same day, or do you really need to travel the day before you start at the park?

Thank you, I'll check it out!

I think k that would depend on age of kids, time of year etc. We did it once leaving London early, took advantage of the luggage transfer and were in the parks by lunchtime and stayed till close which was about 9pm. Went again in summer and got there 5.30pm and still had 6 or so hours before close. But kids were teenagers and could power on through!

Depends where you’re travelling from too, easyJet/ Ryanair/ jet2 flights are obviously cheaper than Air France for example, but we found Air France had a wider choice of daily flights so quite possible to go early on day one and late back on last day. Been twice recently, stop at Santa Fe, cheap and cheerful but honestly at Disney you only sleep in the room, no adjoining rooms but they were really good at giving us three rooms next to each other, three nights is plenty in my opinion but others may disagree

Ok, that's really helpful. We're in the south of England so would get the train to London and eurostar. The kids are 8 and 11 so totally able to stay up a bit late.

We usually drive there, stay in villages nature then pay for day tickets and also do a day trip to Paris!

Yes, you can get the RER (commuter) train line A (the red one) West and it takes you directly to central Paris: you want the stop Chatelet (for Notre Dame, Louvre) or Auber (for Opéra, Grands Boulevards, Place Vendôme, fancy shops and architecture, also Louvre) or Charles de Gaulle Étoile for the Arc de Triomphe, Champs-élysées and Tour Eiffel and bateaux mouches on the Seine. It's very easy.

Don't come this summer unless you want Olympic Games prices and mayhem!

Or you can stay in Paris and do 1 or 2 day trips to Disney.

We travelled on the morning of our 1st day in the park. Ferries were delayed by hours. We didn't arrive until the evening.

We also stayed at the santa fe hotel. We had 2 double beds in the room. There's also a bus that takes you to the park entrance.

We’ve gone 3 times and stayed off site as we couldn’t all sleep in one room. On our last visit I booked a 2 bed apartment through VRBO. It was next to a bakery for morning pastries and 5 minutes from the Val d’Europe mall with a hyper market. We did 2 days in DLP and 2 days in Paris centre, easy access on the RER.

My kids are weird as they prefer a room each and self catering over an on site hotel. It wasn’t much more expensive to do one night in an on-site hotel with two day tickets but the thought of packing our stuff then paying for breakfast felt like a hassle for us. We’ve driven, flown and gone by Eurostar.

We also stayed in the villages nature centerparcs for 7 days and went to Disney with a day pass and to Paris for a day too