Disneyland

[balia]

Wasn't sure where to put this, but here goes...

My neice has a 5 year old Ds, and has worked her buns off bringing him up on her own since he was 7 months old. His Dad pays £10 a week (private arrangement) and has him overnight about once a month (if DN brings him - by train as she doesn't drive - and collects)

Before Christmas, her DS started asking to go to Disneyland. DN works full time but it is totally out of her financial reach - but Daddy decided to tell her DS that he would pay for them to go on the little lad's birthday in august. Cue advert style reaction from our little lad, including telling all his school friends he is going.

Last week Dad tells my DN that his girlfriend is pregnant and therefore all his money will be needed for the new baby. (His third) Including cutting the maintenance, and - you guessed it - no disneyland.

DN is in bits. So what is the cheapest way of getting them there - the Paris version? She can't drive but train/ferry? Where can she start?

(Have already told her to go to the CSA but he does a lot of cash in hand work)

Bastard!

Might as well try the csa, what has she got to lose?!

Re: Paris, I haven't been but know someone who has and took Eurostar and stayed somewhere small (might have been a b&b) outside of Disneyland by easily reachable by train. Also, buy lunches to take into parks as inside will be expensive. At 5 a long weekend should be enough, I don't think she needs to worry about staying for a week or more.

Stupid bloody man though!

Hey, I've been looking at disney land Paris, They have some great deals atm, a coach can pick you up from your home town or close too & and take you there either by train/ ferry crossing.

The last minute deals tend to be good there.

CSA is always worth a go. As long as he earns more than 12k pa (i think) he will have to pay the flat rate of 15% i think?

Tesco vouchers can be used for eurostar still I think. Plus you can get airmiles and holiday vouchers which may help pay towards the cost of a holiday.

No it's eurotunnel they have vouchers for. But they do have these!

Attractions*4294963623|Disneyland Paris

I'd actually consider waiting a year. My little one was 5 when we went to Disneyland Paris and can't remember much at all. He also tired quite quickly, there is so much to see when you're there it can be overwhelming.

Took Ds last September when he was 6.2. He is tall for his age but still too short to go on some of the rides. If you are going to make the most of it it can be a long day - breakfast at 7am and dinner at 7pm and that was with the park shut in the evenings (outside school holiday).

We went by Eurostar and stayed 3 nights. That was long enough and in reflection 2 nights would have been enough. Ds was very tired by the last day and he never normally gets tired.

You can leave your luggage at the train station and go straight to the park and on your return the train goes in the evening so you have a good 2.5 days there if you stay two nights. You can leave your luggage at the hotel and collect it later before going to get the train back.

I'd also add that if we went again I wouldnt be bothered about staying in one of the Disney hotels. You do get into the park an hour earlier but there aren't that many rides open. The ones that are open aren't the ones that attract the crowds so it seemed a bit of a pointless extra to me.

Also the food and the accommodation seemed expensive for what you got. We stayed in Sequoia Lodge.

Oh really? Now I think about it DD was 8 when we took her, so waiting a year might be sensible - also that'll give her more time to save for it. I suppose it was just a kind of knee-jerk reaction to the shock of it suddenly not being an option. And a few theme park visits this year wouldn't be out of the question and could make up for the disappointment a little.

I will keep telling her she should go to the CSA - she's a little bit scared of his reaction, I think.

I took ds to disneyland (california) when he was 4 and then again at just 5 (stop overs on visit to parents in NZ). He had some memories of it (helped by photos and talking) but not the fantastic memories I had when I went at 7, which I wanted him to also have.

So we went again when he was 8 for a proper holiday and things definitely stuck more clearly that time. He was young enough to enjoy all the magic (ie not realise the characters are just people dressed up and/or anamatronics) but old enough to remember clearly.

Am saving hard to take him again but I fear it will be another couple of years before I can.

Agree with those who say don't waste money on the expensive disney hotels. You spend most of your time in the parks anyhow. And be sure to find out what rides he's not tall enough to go on before you get there and steer clear of them.

You could perhaps suggest your niece explain to ds that it is very expensive to go and that daddy thought he had enough but doesn't. So she is going to start saving now to go just as soon as they can.

She should try and open a savings account just for this and pay what she can into it. I use an ISA for this type of savings as it's not easy to get your money back (can't use a card to get it out of the wall)

I always break my holiday down into catagories and work out how much I need for each then save up for each part or work out how to pay (eg tesco vouchers, or maybe her ex will help with say the passport for ds, or GPs, you etc might be able to help out with say tesco vouchers for travel costs).

She needs to think about:
Travel (train/ferry/plane)
Extra travel (to get to the transport and while there, parking, giving people petrol money or taxi's etc)
Accomodation
Extra food (she'd have to feed them both at home anyhow but there will of course be special treats)
passports (get or check if need renewing)
Insurance
Additional stuff - like sunscreen and spending money
Get the E111 cards ordered - they're valid for more than a year so don't leave it till last minute.

When you break it down and work to each goal it's much more attainable than she thinks. But still won't be instant or easy.

What a great post Gillybean2,

I;ve been to both Paris & Florida.... Paris we stayed in the Explorers Hotel - it was a bargain at that time £50 for the room for the night...with free buses direct to the park. I saw a very good company advertising really good value breaks to Disneyland Paris on Ebay last year - not sure whether they are still advertising them - there was a link to their main site.

If anyone looking at Florida - I have details of a wonderful Villa £550 per week 4 ensuite bedrooms own pool/hot tub on Windsor Hills - I arranged a holiday last year and 4 families paid just £275 per family for 14 nights - complete bargain and that is all year round - the guy who owns it is scottish and a teacher so knows how expensive school holiday accommodation is.

What a great post Gillybean2,

I;ve been to both Paris & Florida.... Paris we stayed in the Explorers Hotel - it was a bargain at that time £50 for the room for the night...with free buses direct to the park. I saw a very good company advertising really good value breaks to Disneyland Paris on Ebay last year - not sure whether they are still advertising them - there was a link to their main site.

If anyone is looking at Florida - I have details of a wonderful Villa £550 per week 4 ensuite bedrooms own pool/hot tub on Windsor Hills - I arranged a holiday last year and 4 families paid just £275 per family for 14 nights - complete bargain and that is all year round - the guy who owns it is scottish and a teacher so knows how expensive school holiday accommodation is.

Thanks everyone - have had a chat with DH and we're thinking we might all go next Easter - give her longer to save and if we go together it won't be so daunting, she's never been abroad with her son before and only ever been on one package holiday herself, so negotiating trains, hotels etc is a bit overwhelming. And great post, gillybean, will print it and show her.

yeah - great post Gillybean!! there's also this company who do coach trips there - I found it for one of my single mum friends and it was by far and away the cheapest and easiest option for her as she doesn't drive. I've taklen my 2DC 3 times, first 2 times we stayed in a Disney hotel but Tesco vouchers paid ofr it all - can't use them now 3rd time I drove - you can use tesco vouchers for the Tunnel and we stayed in a campsite here which was fab and about 20 mins drive from the parks - just past the davy Crockett ranch. It was great going s/c as we had breakfast in the mobile home, bought a baguette and made up lunch to take with us and then ate when we got back - so much cheaper as it's the food and drink that costs a fortune. And if you have your car in the carpark you can leave extra supplies in it for later in the day!! Park passes were around £100 each for 5 days plus I got cashback for booking them through Quidco. kids had some birthday money they used as their spending money so it was much cheaper than our previous trips! There's also a siblu site near DLP and as far as I know you can still use tesco vouchers with Siblu. have a lovely holiday when you do go!!