Disneyland Paris - any advice welcome 😊

[Inyourwildestdreams]

We want to take DS to Disneyland Paris. We would like to stay in a hotel on site. He will be 4. We would like to avoid school holidays ideally and make the most of the last chance to go during term time. First half of next year.

DH and I have been once, about 10 years ago. I remember us getting a decent deal which involved a free half board meal plan. Do these still crop up at certain times of the year or are we as well just booking up just now and adding the meal plan?

Is there a particular time of year you would recommend visiting? Any hotels that you would recommend/avoid?

Any other tips/tricks/advice is welcome!

Magicbreaks website is a good start.
Don't over complicate it, there is only 2 smaller parks so you need about 3 days there.
The deals aren't so good anymore, everything has gone up since covid.

Definitely stay in a hotel onsite so you can take advantage of the early opening.
Book dinner for each night in a different theme onsite.

The Cheyenne hotel is so fun, the cowboy (now Woody and Jesse) themed one. I love it as an adult, it would be amazing for a 4yo!

@mindexplode @Zonder Thank you! I’m assuming the meal plans are worth it if we intend to eat on site. I remember the food not being brilliant last time and being mainly buffet style I think? DS isn’t fussy at all so he’ll be more than fine with that for a few days.

@SquashPenguin I love the thought of the Woody & Jessie theme 🥲 but DS is beyond obsessed with Mickey & Donald so I’m thinking Newport?

If you pay for the meal plan half board is enough, that's a buffet breakfast and either lunch or dinner, as three adults we didn't need much more food than this other then mickey snacks

@mindexplode Thank you! This is what I was thinking. It was definitely more than enough for DH and I last time and I’m sure DS will be wanting snacks during the day in the park so can’t imagine him wanting a big lunch. Happy just to grab something on the go if he’s hungrier at lunch

To be fair we went 8 years ago so my memory is a bit hazy. However I don't remember buffet style food. I remember sitting at a table with a menu which was remarkably similar no matter which style restaurant, just with a phew tweaks!

We also went 10 years ago so things may have changed. We actually went during Feb half term, it was pretty quiet, alot of rides you could just walk on to we just took good waterproof jackets and trousers/ski wear. The days were short which was fine and the fireworks show early so we could go back to the hotel and rest. We stayed in the Cars one Sante fe I think and had breakfast every day in the park so we went on rides during the magic hours and and then went for breakfast when the park opened to the public.

Hiring the big Hertz pushchair was the best thing, even size 16 me could sit in it and although DD hadn't used a pushchair in years it was great for saving her legs, she was also quite under the weather so napped in it too and good for leaving packed lunch stuff on.

We never stopped for a sit down meal at lunch time, just joined rides with longer queues and ate in the queue or went to watch a show Car/stunts etc.

We got a good deal on Premium meal deal when we went so booked all of the meals as character ones so got loads of character interaction so never bothered to queue for photo ops in the park. The Wild West Show was great, perhaps not if asthmas an issue though. The only buffet style we had was in the main hotel for our character meal there.

If DS will want to dress up to take outfits from home and maybe just buy one special one at the park. We also did the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo princess make over and photos in the main hotel before we went to have lunch with the Princesses, I assumed they do a similar activity for boys.

We stayed at the Newport last year on b&b basis; filled up breakfast buffets. We opted to dine one evening there; excellent options but pricey. The only downside for us was the lack of dairy free options at breakfast. Hopefully they've changed this.

Take lots of snacks from home.

I've stayed in Cheyenne and the Newport. Both great but Newport is close enough to go back for a break during the day and has a swimming pool.

Make the most of magic hours.

Meal plan is definitely worth it.

Spring and autumn is good because it's likely to be dry and mild to warm without being too hot or cold.

We stay in a hotel at the airport the night before and then get the train (30 mins) in the morning to arrive in time for magic hours so we don't lose any time.

Book to leave your luggage at the train station. It's delivered and collected to and from your hotel room. Worth every penny.

Also if you can afford it upgrade to compass club in Newport or equivalent in marvel or sequoia.

Personal check in (no queues) nicer rooms, quieter nicer breakfast area, executive lounge with complimentary snacks and drinks.

We went just before COVID when dds were 3 and 5.

Yes 2 meals a day is enough - we went into the parks for the early magic hour then came back out to the hotel for a late breakfast a couple of days. If you stay for the fireworks as well it is a long day. There are restaurants in the park that you go use on the basic meal plan you just need to pick carefully because a hot dog really isn't as filling as the food you get in the place next to Big Thunder Mountain.

We had a pushchair primarily for dd2 - dd1 walked the first day but ended up shattered and the other days they both sat in the pushchair together.

We stayed in the Cheyenne, we spent so little time in the room I'm not sure it's worth paying for the more expensive ones. It was easily walkable if the bus was full (for us - admittedly the kids wouldn't have managed it after a day in the park without the pushchair).

We are not long back from there!

They are doing a lot of renovations so check online for the details to see if anything will be going on during your stay as some stuff we wanted to see was closed and it was disappointing.

I would say all of the onsite hotels are within easy walking distance, but we are walkers. Disneyland Hotel, Marvel closest, then Sequoia and Newport. Then Cheyenne and Santa Fe. Santa Fe looked a bit drab when we walked past it.

We had the half board meal plan which included buffet breakfast in hotel and one meal at a choice of about 30 restaurants I think. I thought the food was fab, and yes it was mostly buffet style but there was so much choice. I'm glad we did it because it meant we didn't need to budget for food when we got there. There are loads of snacks stalls in the parks and I thought they were reasonably priced. Adventureland even has fruit stalls. We went out of school holiday time so the queues, other than for the princess meet weren't too bad.

Been twice in the last 6 months, personally, yes, stay onsite but the extra hour isn’t really that big a deal, we’ll not for us, it’s just a bit quicker to get to, you are hardly in your hotel, so in all honesty the cheaper ones are fine, first time we went no meal plan, finding somewhere to eat wasn’t difficult but the second time with the meal plan, we tended to eat more restaurant and less fast food, whichever you do, if you want the decent restaurants book well in advance, again, personally, felt the pym restaurant was a real let down, the studios is undergoing major refurbishment/ new rides so didn’t spend as much time there as on previous trips, one tip, it’s fine going out of our term time, check it’s also outside of other countries, we went at the end of April, turned out to be in the middle of the French half term, absolutely heaving, it’s also worth checking the Facebook group, think it’s Disneyland for brits, our daughter found someone leaving a double buggy which she got, really helped as the older one was struggling walking, she then left it for someone else , it’s full of tips

Thank you all so much, I’m making notes of everything! We’re thinking Newport in mid March with half board meal plan 🤞🏼

Looking at the website, there seems to only be one type of room available 🤔 no option to upgrade etc. It does say to call them for other options which is a bit odd but I’ll book next week and get it all sorted 😊

Take sandwich bags with you and tuppawear tubs. Make up small cobs with the meats/cheese from the breakfast buffet and snag croissants/pain au chocolates and fruit too. Basically make a mini packed lunch. Saved me lots on snacks and was great in the queues too.
first day I hid what I was doing, but people were so obvious and the staff didn't care.

We've been to Cheyenne and Newport.
Cheyenne is fun themed but feels much smaller, the kids bed is a pull out.
Newport was bigger, fancier rooms and felt lovely, plus has a pool if you want a change. It's a much closer walk too. I think worth the extra £.
We've both times been Monday to Friday so four nights, five days tickets and this felt like just the right amount of time as you don't feel like you need to rush about (it's long days and tiring as you walk so much) but there's still tons to see and do.

@Caitlynandthecat Thank you 😊 We’re thinking Mon- Thurs at the park but with a night staying outside of the park at each end of the trip so that we can arrive for opening monday and stay late thursday to use all of our time 😊

Hello! Hoping some of you that have advice might still be here 🤞🏼😊

Went to finally book our trip last night and done a quick Trip Advisor check on the Newport Hotel and the reviews over the last few months are pretty bad! Dirty and tired rooms, poor food, poor service etc. we had planned NPB as 4yo is Mickey daft and we thought the theming was cute.

Other option is Marvel hotel. I know it’s had a recent refurb and reviews seem good? Can anyone confirm?

Travel plans have changed slightly - planning 4nights/5 days (arriving around 11.30am day 1 and leaving 1pm on day 5) on half board meal plan. Hoping that should give us a decent amount of time to explore the parks 🤞🏼
Dinners we were thinking of adding a character dinner at Plaza Gardens (are there set characters that usually do this?), Downtown in Marvel hotel, Bistro chez Remy and maybe Silver Spur Steakhouse?
Any must-visits that we’d be missing? Or ones that we should avoid?
Non-fussy 4year old - eats everything and anything and loves trying new things!

You may have already booked but we stayed in NPB a few weeks ago.

Rooms were not dirty, they don't look that tired apart from using that kind of creamy beige paint in places which dates fast! V comfy beds. Our room was far end of west wing which is a LONG walk from the entrance. Approx 15 mins to park. I don't recommend the shuttle to the park, it drops you at the station so by the time you've waited for it, driven there, and gone through main security you might as well have walked.

Service was fine - breakfast was buffet style so we didn't need to wait or anything, tables were cleared quickly.

V limited plug points so recommend a multicharger!

The Newport is lovely, but it is the largest on site hotel and gets very busy. If you go here, I'd really suggest going with a compass club room as that gets you access to a lounge area which is lovely to relax in away from the hustle and bustle - https://hotellook.tp.st/aCvSPT2q
Marvel is the newest (and the most expensive currently open) but is the closest to the park.

@CocoPlum @Lisa3251 Thanks guys 😊 Have booked 4 nights/5 days staying at Marvel half board. For meals we have booked Downtown, Plaza Gardens, PYM Kitchen & Royal Banquet 😊 anything else you would advise booking in advance?

I don't think so!

My best purchase was a phone lanyard so i could easily access it for the app/tickets/photos etc.

Screenshot your passes - i found the WiFi would glitch out as i entered the park and it switched from data to wifi, so screenshots meant we could scan in without needing to be on the app.

There are water fountains everywhere and you can locate them on the app so take empty water bottles! Water at the stands are €3, soft drinks €4.

There are some more child friendly rides that have v long queues - toy soldiers/peter pan/orbitron. Think about using magic hour for those (toy soldiers opened at 9.30am though).

Start looking at the app a week or so before you go. It helped me see which of our priority rides (you can mark them on the app as wishlist) were busiest and when.

If you or your other half wants to do fast rides that your DS is too young for, there are usually single rider lines.

We went in April with a 4 and 9 year old booked through Disney website stayed 3 nights 4 days at hotel Cheyenne. Had the most amazing time, hotel is fantastic lovely walk to the parks. We didn't have a meal plan, paid on the day if we wanted breakfast and ate while out and about. Definitely book priority viewing for fireworks, so worth it. I went and watched them on my own though as the kids were too knackered as they were on so late. They are fantastic, though!

We are also going mid March next year. We went last year that time and felt it was a good time. The weather is ok. Not too hot and not too cold. A little rain but was ok. We also stayed in art of marvel first time. It's a good hotel. The breakfast and downtown buffet is very good. They have an art room you can visit to do some drawing. Also, if you want to meet any marvel characters, they offer opportunity to book each day. When you check in, check your app to book. You don't know who you will see, but worth it for pics etc. the bar is also cute. You can buy a glass of champagne for about €15-20 and you get to keep the glass. Which is Disney themed etc. They have a good pool too if you plan to go swimming. My kids loved going swimming between park visits. However, the pool is very deep so maybe take a swim vest if your son isn't swimming yet. The Jacuzzi is quite big if you just want to go in there. The kids pool is ankle deep I think, so not very good!

The royal banquet at Disney hotel apparently has mickey etc, so you should get to see the characters your son likes. We are staying there next visit and also going to royal banquet.

When we went it was my first visit and I noticed people going around with Disney bags. I really wanted one but didn't want to spend €100 for one! When I got back I found some places to get them in the sale, so if you want a Disney themed backpack, maybe get one before you go! The brand is loungefly. I got mine for £50 in a sale... So glad I waited...but also would have been nice having one when there! Will have it for my next trip!