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Original poster

Disneyland Paris - advice please!

65 replies

FreddoBaggyMac · 01/08/2009 10:28

DH and I are planning a trip to Disneyland Paris with our four DCs (all under 6)in the first half of 2010. It is going to cost LOTS so I'd really welcome some advice on how we should spend our money...

Firstly, we are planning on going mon-fri during schooltime (rebels that we are!) in late March or late May. May prices are not available yet, but I'm thinking that we'll probably get a better deal in March so it's likely that we'll end up going then.

We definitely want to be within walking distance of the parks (it won't be much of a holiday if we spend the time getting three small children and a baby on and off mini buses) and we'd like to stay for four nights. As there will be five of us and a baby in one room it seems our only options are a family room at the Disneyland hotel or a room on the Admiral floor at the newport bay Club.

The Disney hotel family room is mega££££ - £2300 for four nights including premium halfboard (and that's in schooltime in March!!!) - Newport bay works out about £500 cheaper.

My main question is - is it worth paying the extra to stay at the Disney hotel? I love the idea of the children seeing Disney characters at breakfast... and I'm thinking that perhaps it is worth the extravagence just to have the whole experience.

We've also thought about going for three nights rather than four to make it a bit cheaper - would that be enough? Would four nights be too many???

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Original poster
FreddoBaggyMac · 03/08/2009 09:59

Glad it has helped you too dizzy! I know someone who went in January a couple of years ago and she said it was great - cold but not bitterly so, and it was fine as long as you took the right clothing. She said it was really quiet then too.

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sundew · 03/08/2009 10:11

If you want to do it cheaply - we stayed with Canvas Holidays in a mobile home 25 min drive from Disney campsite link - really easy drive. We liked it as we got away from the disney music for the night and we cooked our own food - so saved loads.

When you go take a picnic for each day as food is expensive on site.

It is a fab experience - have a wonderful time.

Original poster
FreddoBaggyMac · 03/08/2009 10:15

Thanks Sundew - have heard there are some great campsites near by but really don't want the hassle of driving when the children are all so young (we live near Newcastle so it's a long drive) - will bear that campsite in mind for a possible future visit when children are older though.

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dizzydixies · 03/08/2009 10:16

we won't be taking the car either and hopefully the cold will be bearable - we're pretty hardy seeing as we're from the north east of Scotland!!!

MissSunny · 03/08/2009 12:44

Message withdrawn

rosie39forever · 03/08/2009 15:37

we've just got back from disney it was our third visit, we've stayed in the New York, Sequoia Lodge and Newport Bay, I would definately reccommend paying extra and staying in a disney hotel it gives you the option to pop back in the middle of the day and have a rest or a swim and no faffing around with buses also the fantilusion parade doesn't start untill it gets dark which is usually around 10.30 and the last thing you want to be doing is catching crowded buses with tired kids at midnight. If you do decide on the Newport and want to upgrade to the admirals floor, dont upgrade when you book do it when you check in as its considerably cheaper we only paid £100 extra for 4 nights which is a couple of hundred cheaper.

Original poster
FreddoBaggyMac · 03/08/2009 18:20

Oh dear Rosie - thought I was all decided on The Explorers but now you've made me have doubts again....!
Unfortunately we'd have to book the admirals floor (rather than upgrade when there) as we have four children and they won't let all of us stay in a standard room - we have to book a family sized room, and all of those are on the Admirals floor - that adds to the price considerable

I mentioned before that the cost for us would be approx £700 for the Explorers and approx £1400 for the Newport Bay for the four nights. With that in mind do you still think it is worth the extra? we're going in March in school time so I don't imagine it will be quite so busy as it was when you were there.

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Original poster
FreddoBaggyMac · 03/08/2009 18:55

Another thing I wanted to ask, does anyone know if it's likely that any new offers/ discounts will come out towards the end of the year? Is it better that I book now or wait a while to see if there are any further reductions?

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luckylady74 · 03/08/2009 19:10

I loved the Newport and the room on the admirals floor was very spacious for the 5 of us - 3 double beds and a sort of lobby area that we sat and read in if they'd gone to sleep.
Half board worked really well for us- lovely food and so much choice.It meant that we didn't spend any extra because I'd took snacks for lunch (no baggage limit on the train!)and filled up our water bottles at the hotel.
I would say stay at the newport if the weather may not be good - you might spend more time in the hotelthan you expect- the pool was nice as a wind down at the end of the day.
Have a great time- our 4 yr old twins and 7 yrold loved it, but most unexpectedly so did I- so clean and such good service!

Original poster
FreddoBaggyMac · 03/08/2009 19:21

Now I'm erring towards the Newport again!! Will have a hard time persuading DH though given the price difference with Explorers. Anyone know if there's likely to be a 50% off deal anytime soon...?

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dizzydixies · 03/08/2009 19:54

Freddo, when we booked to go to Vegas AGES in advance we just phoned up everytime there was an offer on and had the price reduced that might work?

pointydog · 03/08/2009 20:05

we went ot disneyland paris in February. Colder than Scotland, the lake had iced over. Didn't bother us. Too much to see and do. Little children would probably feel more fed up with teh cold.

Original poster
FreddoBaggyMac · 03/08/2009 20:44

Would rather go when it is a bit warmer pointydog but the price goes up again madly in April (even outside of the school holiday period. The Disney Hotel which we were looking at originally was £800 more at the end of April than at the end of march - making it over £3000 for four nights in a family room [heart falure emoticon] - that did include half board BUT STILL!!...

Suppose we could go to the Explorers when the wether is likely to be better and pay less, but then it's likely to be busier and we wouldn't want to be on a crowded bus and would miss the extra park hours - it's just deciding where to compromise...

I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has stayed at both the Newport

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Original poster
FreddoBaggyMac · 03/08/2009 20:55

(Sorry - the batteries ran out on my keyboard mid post!)

I'd love to hear from anyone who has stayed at both the newport and the explorers in response to the following points:

  1. Would the shuttle be a hassle with small children?
  1. Is the accomodation much nicer at the newport?

Many thanks once again.

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rosie39forever · 04/08/2009 09:54

Hi freddo imo the shuttle is major hassle with small children even more so if you've got pushchairs and bags especially with the amount of rude people who think nothing of pushing small children out of the way!!! the bus also only goes as far as the bus station so you've still got to walk to the parks. Out of the three hotels we've stayed in the Newport was the best and if you are on the admirals floor you get to eat breakfast at whatever time you like in the nicer dinning room plus you get a free cooked breakfast if you want, you also get a kettle and coffee machine, room service and free towels at the pool, you can also go for free drinks in the afternoon in the captains bar, when you consider a coke is 3 euros it all mount up. I would definatly pay the extra and go for a disney hotel.

buktus · 04/08/2009 13:02

The disney hotel wins for us everytime with 3 small children its a god send and have now stayed there 4 times the first time we stayed at sequoia which was nice but nothing compares once you have stayed in the disneyland. There is something extra special it gives your holiday, a lot more characters wandering around corridors it feels a much more personal experience rather than having to queue up all the time even in the other hotels there is only one meet and greet place in the other holtels and they get very busy. It gives a special feeling staying there and would highly recommend it.

Original poster
FreddoBaggyMac · 04/08/2009 14:08

Oh dear - I really am back where I started in terms of decision making!!
I suppose it comes down to Disney being best but Explorers saving us enough money to go on holiday again in summer...

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LIZS · 04/08/2009 14:18

tbh If it were me I'd go for 3 nights and stay in a Disney hotel. Unless it is unexpectedly busy you will have ample time to do the rides and see shows etc. The only real offers they've had recently are kids stay and entry free.

Original poster
FreddoBaggyMac · 04/08/2009 14:27

That's a good idea LIZS - I'm going to check out prices for 3 nights now....

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Original poster
FreddoBaggyMac · 04/08/2009 14:38

Hmmm... 3 nights at The Disney hotel would be £1700 (including premium half board which we def want). 3 nights at Newport Bay around £1400 (inc half board)
Four nights at the explorers is £750 which would go up to around £1200 with the half board.
I'm thinking if we go for the newport we may as well go the whole hog and go to Disney..

So my decision is 3 nights @ Disney hotel for £1700 vs 4 nights @ Explorers for £1200.

Your votes on this would be very welcome!

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stealthsquiggle · 04/08/2009 14:47

I think your DC may well have had enough after 3 nights - depending when you are travelling, that could well be 4 days - and staying at the Disney hotel would be great for being able to pop back to the hotel with one of more DC during the day if you need to. I have never stayed there but it looks fantastic.

Our DC have always been happy to leave (much as they love it) after 3 nights / 3.5 days.

I would echo other comments about carrying snacks and drinks rather than it costing you £20 every time you stop for anything, and also letting them browse to their hearts' content in the shops but only buying one thing each on the last day.

If you go for the Disney hotel you will have plenty of character dining, but other than that the best selection of characters we found was at dinner in Cafe Mickey (in the village bit)

stealthsquiggle · 04/08/2009 14:50

Oh and I know you have ruled it out already, but I would say that Newport Bay is neither one thing nor the other - it is far enough away to feel like a long walk to LOs and too expensive to make the walk worth it. The best value we had was at the Cheyenne - which is a long walk, but we just stayed out all day, and had dinner on the way back - letting the DC have ice cream for pudding seemed to give them the energy to race each other back to the hotel before collapsing into bed.

Original poster
FreddoBaggyMac · 04/08/2009 15:24

The Cheyenne sounds great from the reports on here, but unfortunately it doesn't do rooms for six. The only options I have within walking distance are Disney and newport... Disney does sound worth the extra money above newport, I'm just still not fully convinced it's worth the extra above Explorers (and am going to have a hard job persuading DH!)
Thanks for the great tips

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stealthsquiggle · 04/08/2009 15:41

I have to admit, Explorers does look interesting - we will probably end up going in December and I have bookmarked it as an option (although that depends on how desperate Disney are and what if any offers they come up with later in the year - last time the whole trip cost £350 for all 4 of us including the tunnel ). I wouldn't want to do minibuses with lots of LOs though - if you are driving there I would be inclined to budget for parking and drive yourselves TBH.

liliputlady · 04/08/2009 22:37

Haven't stayed at either of your hotels, but have been to Disneyland Paris twice with little ones. In your position, think I'd be tempted to go to Explorers and use the money saved on treats while you're there.

We really liked the character lunches in the park (book before you go or as soon as you arrive). For us, it seemed better than breakfast, because it gave you the chance for a break and a sit down in the middle of the day.

I don't think you need to pay the extra to have a magical time. Both our trips were fabulous (stayed Santa Fe and Davy Crockett)

P.S Definitely good idea to go in term-time. Personally I'd go bang in middle of term, when most others don't go away. We went a few days before the Easter hols last time and it was heaving!

Have a fabulous trip!

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