Disneyland, Paris

[bigTillyMint]

What are your top tips for a day out in Disneyland with DC aged 9 and 11?

Don't go anywhere near the place is my top tip.
Go to Paris instead.

Have a planned limit for the shops. The street is very quaint with lots of different shop fronts all selling the same Disney stuff. All more expensive than it costs here.

If uoi can get over to the Disney Studio bit there is a fabulous car stunt demonstration thing - DS loved it.

Food can be expensive so worth taking a picnic.

Stay for the parade at the end of the day as it's lovely.

...the Runaway train ride is fabulous fun as well.

roisin

Thanks TJP - so it's worth getting a 2 park ticket then?

We were planning on taking in a load of food and drink, will just give the DC a set amount to spend and they can decide how to eke it out!

So
Runaway Train
Car Stunt thing
End of Day Parade

Any other tips?

They do a train ride right round the site - real old fashioned steam train and it gives you a good view of what's on. The big Disney dream castle is lovely on the upper floors with some lovely stained glass which is pretty but won't be too exciting for your children unless both are girls. At the base is a really good animatronic dragon.

The "It's a small world" boat rife thing is good but you'll have the song in your head all day after.....

Ear plugs would be handy to avoid the "happy, happy, Disney will drive you insane" jingles all day long.

I loathed it. Don't go.

The hotel was good though. Are you staying at Disney?

If you're only there for a day, I'm not sure I would bother with Disney Studios. The car stunt show is very good (our kids loved it) but it will take up a couple of hours by the time you've trekked over there and watched the show. If your kids like thrill rides there are a couple at the Studios (Twilight Zone, which is a lift-drop, and Rock 'n' Rollercoaster, which is a rollercoaster in the dark, but not dissimilar to Space Mountain in Disneyland), but the smaller rides had horrendous queues when we were there at half term. If you only have one day, I would stick with Disneyland itself - there's plenty there to keep you busy. The good rides at Disneyland are Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones, Star Tours, though some have height restrictions. You should also do some of the smaller rides, like the teacups, and check out places like the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. The dragon already mentioned is well worth a visit, and something most visitors are not aware of.

Check out which rides have 'fast passes' and make use of them, so you have less queuing. The steam train (already mentioned) is a nice way of seeing the park, and there are various shows during the day (good time to get on popular rides if you don't want to watch) and chances to meet characters. We did a ride on the paddle steamer which was nice as well and gives you a different view of the park.

The food is horribly expensive and, for the most part, not that good (burger-type meals). We took a picnic each day, however they don't allow you to picnic in the park, and there isn't anywhere you can really sit down, unless it's on a bench somewhere (no grassy areas). There is a picnic area, but it's outside the park; we went there each day, allowing us to get away from the tweeness of it all for a bit, but I wouldn't have done this if we'd only gone for one day. Take water bottles with you, as there are water fountains dotted around. Drinks are expensive.

If you're not staying in the Disney hotels, we stayed at a great campsite a few miles away, where we rented a little chalet. This also helped cut down on the cost of the whole trip and meant we could leave the Disney-fied atmosphere behind.

Roisin, we are camping nearby with friends and just going for the day - I'm sure it will be vile, but the DC are all keen to go.... We did Parc Asterix a few years ago and I loved that, but I think it was probably alot quieter and definitely alot les schmaltzy!

Great tips Stringbean. Somebody told me that you can get timed tickets for the rides - are they the sams as fast passes?

I am shocked that they don't let you eat your own picnic. What, do they march you out if you get out a sandwich? We will be taking a picnic Which campsite did you stay at?

I would say if you are only going for one day stick with the main park... you will struggle to get round it in one day never mind do the studios too!

fast pass/timed tickets.. same thing

you take your ticket for the park put it in the machine out front of the ride and it gives you a ticket with a time slot to come back. Just be aware you can only fast pass one ride at a time so eg if you fast pass big thunder mountain and your time slot is 2 hours from now then you cant fast pass another ride till this time slot has passed.. so you need to plan!

It wont be vile.. it will be great.. the minute you walk through the gates the disney magic will get you.

buzz light year laser blast is a must for the boys.. swivelling your car around shooting targets with lasers seeing who can get the most points

check out www.disboards.com for loads of tips, scroll down to the dlp bit

Fast passes are free, and it says on the map which rides have them. When you get there, go straight round those collecting fast passes as they run out after a while (you just swipe your park entry tickets through the FP machines which are by the entrances to the rides, and tickets pop out giving you a time to go to the priority queue. There's a sign telling you what time your pass will be for so you don't get FPs for the same time for different rides by accident).

Moteur Action at the Studios was also our favourite thing, and the only thing my boys still talk about. The Stitch show at the studios was also really good. In Disneyland we liked Star Tours, Buzz Lightyear and Peter Pan best. The shows don't involve queueing - obvious advantage.

I wouldn't go again - the vile consumerism was overwhelming - but we all had fun.

Thanks again!

OMG, just been on disboards site briefly - loads of the posters seem to be serial Disney-Resort-Goers. WHY???

I am a bit confused - can you get lots of fast passes at once (ready for going on the ride later), or only get them one at a time, ie not until the first one has "expired"?

fastpass - say its 10.00am and you get a fastpass for peterpan at say 11.30 - 12.30 (i think the 'window' is an hour, it may be 45 minutes) in theory you can get your next fastpass at 11.30. However as it gets busier, you may go to a ride at say 12.00 and the fast pass may be for 16.00 - 17.00, hqave a look at your fastpass ticket, it will say on there the time you can get your next fastpass, it may be about 14.00. always check the time above the fastpsass machine to say what time is being issued before you put your tickets is. if its going to be too late, look for something else. Something to look out for is if the fastpass machine is broken and a member of staff is handing them out by hand. if thats the case you can get them regardless of whether or not you already have some. Enjoy, the first time we went non of us were 'disney' people but its hard not to go a bit dewy eyed when you;re there!

Thunder mountain
Spac mountain
Rock n Roller coaster
The Nemo rollercoaster was the best but has long queues and no fast passes!

Take your own Micky Mouse ears with you for the kids. £5 here, £15 there. They probably will want some as loads of kids are wearing them.

You can get Fast passes for lots of different rides at the same time. I don't think you can get lots of fast passes for the same ride.

LOL at Mickey Mouse ears - all DC are 11 and 9 and wouldn't be seen dead in them, but maybe me and my friend could embarass them by wearing some

Thanks for the info about the Fast Passes!

roisin - which hotel did you stay in? Am contemplating a trip with ds in September but very confused by the trip advisor reviews.

DD is 9 and was most insistent on Mickey Mouse ears!

Sorry Romanarama but unless there's been a big change recently you cant have loads of fastpasses at once, you need to choose wisely which ones to get

apparently you can buy fast passses on ebay, not sure how it works tho

I would say you any fast passes available on ebay will be fakes as you have to put your entry ticket in the machine to get a fast pass out. DH accidentally put his ticket through twice, instead of mine and just got a ticket say NOT VALID.

I'd be very wary of getting them from ebay.

We stayed at the Davy Crockett Ranch a couple fo weeks ago and while it wasn't the best accommodation in the world it meant we could get into the park at 8am - those extra 2 hours made a huge difference. We went on Buzz 4 times in a row without any queuing, then went on Space Mountain and Peter Pan with no wait either.

We paid £128 a night for DH and I and 3 dcs. That included entry to both parks, breakfast (which you can make into lunch as well - it's huge -, the early entry and the accommodation.

If I were you I'd have a look on the DLP website and see what offers they have on as it may actually be cheaper to book the accommodation, check in, even if you don't sleep there, than to buy one day tickets.

I'm aware of these fastpasses but have never bought them. i heard that they are perhaps ones belonging to staff who i think get cards as a perk to put into the machines to get fastpasses, but i agree that I wouldnt risk it

We stayed at this campsite at Jablines. It was very peaceful, really helpful staff and we spent a lovely afternoon swimming in the lake and digging sandcastles on the beach.

At half term you could only get one fastpass at a time. The fastpasses for the popular rides (notably Buzz Lightyear, which was actually one of my least favourite rides) had often run out by early afternoon, so you really do need to plan your day. This is quite a good website for advice/tips.

By the way, I didn't see anyone hustled out for eating a picnic lunch in the park, but they did search our bags on the way in (I doubt they were looking for contraband baguettes though, and we still took in snacks).