Finally got DH to agree to Disneyland Paris!!

[purplespink]

I've been desperate to take DC to Disneyland for 3 years now and did some price research not thinking it would amount to anything but I mentioned it to DH the other day and we booked last night 🥹 DC are 7&5, will be nearly 8&6 when we go next year but I just wanted to tell someone😭 we're not telling them yet as it's not until April and DD will ask every day how many days left 😂 any Disneyland tips or need to know facts would be so appreciated!! We've never had a family holiday apart from Center Parcs so I'm so excited!!

Why did it take so long to convince him? What was his problem? Why couldn’t you just book it anyway? I used to really annoy me about my ex. When I wanted to do something he wouldn’t agree and then by the time we did agree the price tripled, which made it something hard to do then.
I’m delighted you are finally getting to go but to be honest I would be telling him from now on that you’re not waiting 3 years for him to make a decision on something.

Fantastic OP! I'm so happy for you! I know how you feel, we've booked to go to Italy next year as our first abroad holiday and we haven't told the children yet as they'll be asking everyday too 😂 I hope you all have a fantastic time ❤️ I'm sure you definitely will at Disney!!! ❤️

I find it easiest to plan for Disney by watching family travel vlogs on You Tube. Tayl as old as time, Baillies do Disney, fiveFindingMagic are just some of the families from the UK who have recently vlogged the Disneyland Paris trips.

Download the app

wjere are you staying

Facebook disney land Paris for brits is a good one to get information with. Also the app will help plan times of rides. Have you booked a meal plan?
We flew and then the train. Was very simple to do.
Also we didn't tell the kids till the morning we went. My daughter was so excited but my son cried oops. But we had a wonderful time.

Woo hoo! I understand the reluctant DH as there's a lot of snobbery, as well as a lot of over the top Instagramming which you defo don't have to get involved with (matching t shirts, 12 different princess dresses) unless of course you want to. You will have such a lovely time. Unless you really want to, don't get bogged down in too much planning, booking restaurants etc. There is a McDonalds in the Disney village and it's only about 40% more than a normal Maccies and never longer than a 20 minute wait for food. Just get the app and attack the rides you want to try the most. Let them choose something from the gift shop in a rainy hour, there's so much choice. Have a fab time.

@Positivenancy because he used to think that they were too young to get proper value from it, which to be fair they were at 2&4. And buying a new house, getting married, it was just on the back burner.

We're flying to CDG and we're staying at Santa Fe, have added breakfast to our booking.

Maybe he just hated the idea and had other ideas about what would make a good family holiday. If it's a holiday for the whole family it's entirely reasonable everyone agrees on it and nobody does anything they really don't want to. I loathe the idea of spending any of our holiday budget on Disney so I can well imagine it taking DH 3 years to convince me if he suddenly wanted to.

Sounds like sensible ages to take them anyway and would have been a waste of money too early.

We have been a lot - it's so much fun. We've stayed at the Santa Fe - but for some reason magic breaks decided that our breakfast was to be had somewhere in the park??? Nightmare with a 2 year old! (She's 9 now and that wouldn't have been anywhere near as bad) Hope your breakfast is at the hotel. Have you got a good deal? They're well worth it xx

Sorry not a 'good' deal a meal deal

Join the FB groups, they had so much useful info, I felt really prepared going! We went in April just gone with a 4 and 9 year old, had the best time ever! Honestly we just loved it so much!!!

One tip is to book the reserved viewing area for the nighttime show! It really was worth it! I was right at the front (kids were too tired, so I went on my own 😂]

Took mine at those ages and it was brilliant. Old enough to go on most rides, really into the autographs but still magical.

Was still good when they were teens but different, they went off alone a lot so we had more time in the German bar!

Positivenancy · Today 11:56
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Why did it take so long to convince him? What was his problem?

My husband would walk through fire for me. He wouldn’t go to Disneyland. 😁
I had to grit my teeth and steel myself. Thankfully, granny was up for it.

So download the app and link your booking and you can see everything

will also let you book meals etc

in terms of airport travel the tgv is expensive but v quick, we have also taken a cab

Which is perfectly reasonable. We took our 3 year old to Disney Tokyo as we happened to be nearby. Their initial reaction was who is mickey mouse and they don't remember it now! It sounds like you going at great ages for it to be magical. Tips would be take lunch into the park with you, food is super expensive and then pretty disappointing. There are lots of restaurants just outside the village. Do a bit of planning of what you want to do and the route to get there - you can end up walking a long way. With a 5 year old you can probably still take a buggy to make pushing stuff around easy - there are buggy parks by every ride. We give the kids a budget for the shop to stick to - you could spend an absolute fortune in the shops.

My biggest tip is plan in advance where you’re going to have lunch and dinner and aim for the early side (12pm lunch, 5pm dinner ) because the last thing you want is to be tired, hungry and disoriented trying to figure out what restaurant is serving what and whether it’s open. Doesn’t always have to be a sit down meal (although it’s quite nice to have one or two) - even quick service is fine (QS is basically fast food counters) - but look in advance because not all of them serve everything and it can get confusing. And then aim to be in the vicinity of that place half an hour before.

For table service you can book up to 60 days before but if you can’t get you’re preferred reservation keep checking the day of as people cancel last min. The really popular ones are Remy and Cinderella ‘s.

As others have said to get the most out of it you need to plan. Most importantly download the app and make the most of magic hours every day being hotel guests. Work out before you go what are your must do rides, shows, characters and dining experiences, and also for rides which of those are open in magic hours. Nearer the time of departure check the timing of the parades and the shows. Last time we went I had a list of food items to try, like Mickey shaped cookies and Disney themed macarons, and where to buy them (I clearly had far too much time on my hands!).

If characters are important Google unlisted meet and greets at Disneyland Paris, there are some useful tips to be found. Queues are long for the characters on the app. Finally the marvel meet and greets in the studios with Spiderman or mystery avenger operate on a virtual queue, they open the queue for bookings at 10am, and then twice more during the day. Not sure if it's as popular as it once was, we got in quite easily in the summer, but if the park is busy it is probably better to try joining the queue close to the time it's due to open.

Your children are the perfect age for Disney.

We've stayed at Santa Fe and it's a nice comfortable hotel. It's just a little walk or a shuttle bus ride away from the park.

Take comfortable shoes. You'll do a lot of walking.

Facebook Disneyland Paris For Brits is a good group to join for information and planning. There are some real Disney experts on there.

Have fun.

How exciting! I'd definitely recommend seeing the shows. Mickey and the magician, the lion king and the Pixar show were stand outs.
Also the parades - the Facebook group has lots of tips about the best place to stand for character interactions.

Also if you have children who are not keen on / not tall enough for the big rides you can ask for a parent swap ticket so both parents can ride with the older child without queuing again.