* ~** ThemeParks megathread **~**

Jimthetoolman

Hi all.

I'm looking to take the girlfriend to Disneyland as part of a Christmas/valentines present. As a student funds are tight I'm wondering if anyone knows some sort of company that organises group trips in an effort to be a bit cheaper and know the craic about the travel and getting around, stuff like that.
I tried Google but when I type group trips it just assumes I mean I have a group of people when as I want to be more of a tag along.

Any ideas? Help is much appreciated

Dodge

Never heard of such a thing existing.

If you want to go cheap to Disneyland Paris. Stay in the Val d'Europe town and get the shuttle bus in rather than staying in the resort. Food is fairly expensive there but cheaper option in the town. You'll want to go off peak too so check out what days aren' scool holidays in France, Spain and the UK

Strumms

Jimthetoolman wrote: »

Hi all.

I'm looking to take the girlfriend to Disneyland as part of a Christmas/valentines present. As a student funds are tight I'm wondering if anyone knows some sort of company that organises group trips in an effort to be a bit cheaper and know the craic about the travel and getting around, stuff like that.
I tried Google but when I type group trips it just assumes I mean I have a group of people when as I want to be more of a tag along.

Any ideas? Help is much appreciated

Never heard of such a type of group trip for a theme park to be honest, Lourdes maybe ! But you won't find that kind of option to visit Disneyland.

"The craic about travel and getting around" ? Your question is a bit vague to be honest. It is one of the most popular attractions in Europe and there is plenty of information available on the Internet. Without you giving info such as budget, how many nights you will stay, what you want to see .. Paris centre etc.... I doubt anyone can give you direct specific advice...

Zwillinge

Hey all,

Am planning a day trip to Alton Towers with the better half and have a few questions.

We're flying into Manchester airport and staying in the city center for the weekend.

We were looking at hiring a car for the day, has anyone done this and where would they recommend hiring from? How much did it cost?
As we've never done that before.

Or is it cheaper getting a train to stoke on trent and getting a local public bus from there? Or would that eat up the day more so?

Thanks for any advice or help

greenspurs

Hi all.
Planning on going with 2 ickle ones in January. Has anyone got tips, ideas on where to eat (€€£££) etc.
Im staying in the Sequoia , so has anyone stayed/eaten there? Impressions/hints etc..
Thank you

Dodge

Stayed in Sequoia in August. Loved our 4 days there. We didn't eat at the hotel once but instead had our dinners in the Disney Village (Rainforest Cafe, Planet Hollywood, Annette's Diner and Cafe Mickey for the charachters). Lunches were in the parks at Quick Service restaurants

To save money, pop into the train station and the shops there to pick up stuff for your room (water, snacks etc). You can bring food/drink into the parks and you could spend a lot if you don't have drinks with you

(January visitors might have different needs to August!)

laurpat

Guys,

I'm looking for some help and guidance.

I'm looking to take away my family to DisneyLand Paris. Our Family is made up of 2 Adults and 2 children (3yr old boy & 5yr old boy). This is our first family trip so I'm pretty anxious. We'll be flying out of Dublin.

I'm flexible with dates... i can go anytime from early February on-wards.

Some of the questions I have...

Q. What duration should I go for 2,4,6 days?

Q. Is it best to book a package deal or should I break it up individually

Q. What is the best accommodation options? Any hotels or apartments that you would recommend

Q. Will i need to hire a car or the public travel system sufficient

Q. What are the do's and don'ts of the trip

Thanks all for the input....

naughtysmurf

laurpat wrote: »

Guys,

I'm looking for some help and guidance.

I'm looking to take away my family to DisneyLand Paris. Our Family is made up of 2 Adults and 2 children (3yr old boy & 5yr old boy). This is our first family trip so I'm pretty anxious. We'll be flying out of Dublin.

I'm flexible with dates... i can go anytime from early February on-wards.

Some of the questions I have...

Q. What duration should I go for 2,4,6 days?

Q. Is it best to book a package deal or should I break it up individually

Q. What is the best accommodation options? Any hotels or apartments that you would recommend

Q. Will i need to hire a car or the public travel system sufficient

Q. What are the do's and don'ts of the trip

Thanks all for the input....

Three days will be plenty at the parks, the metro will bring you right to the gate so no need for car hire, good number of years ago we stayed at the Dream Castle Hotel, its pretty close with a bus shuttle to the parks & they have family rooms, it was fine

Personally, a couple of days out at the parks & a couple of days in Paris itself works for me, finding decent food out by the parks was our biggest problem

Dodge

Last August with a 5 year old we stayed for 4 nights in Disneyland before spending 2 nights in the city. I'd suggest sticking to Disneyland TBH

If you book now, you can get 2 nights free if you book 2 nights at any of the Disney hotels by booking direct or through Abbey Travel (official broker here). We didn't see everything in the 4 days but anymore could get mad. If you stay at any of the Disney properties you can walk to the parks (free shuttle buses if you're tired). They're more expensive than the hotels in the town beside it but you get a few advantages and your park tickets are included

We loved it, and we're thinking about going back this year too

On transport. Train will bring you from the airport but it's quicker to book a private transfer. Should cost you €60 each way but absolutely worth it. Works out cheaper than the Magic Shuttle bus service. Book your flights yourself with Aer Lingus

If you want to get away from the parks: Paris is a 45 minute train ride away

eeguy

Stick to Disneyland. 1 day in the Studio park and 2 in the Disneyland park.

I did 2 days in Disneyland and 2 in Paris last October.

You'll spend a lot of time on trains and metro getting around Paris. Not a place Id want to bring a child.
It'll all be lost on them anyways and they'll be wrecked after Disneyland.

Also bring plenty of packed lunches and water. Food in the park isn't the best.

Fly to Charles de Gaulle. 45 mins on a comfy train to disneyland and straight onto a shuttle bus to a park hotel. Ryanair fly to Beauvais which is a 90 min taxi ride away.

Get a park map and plan getting around. There's loads to see and certain characters and events are on at certain times

Go to Disney Dreams every night. Try to see the parades too.

There's always queueing to get into tje park, for rides and character meeting.

Most rides have a minimum height so the 5 yo might feel left out.

SalthillHead

Hi

We were there last year. I would recommend hiring a taxi in advance. Loads of people do this.
They collect you at the airport and bring you straight to your hotel and collect you on the way home should you want this also. 70 Euro each way. There are a few companies that do this.
We used RS Transports and they were great - no hassle with public transport or the disney buses which take ages.

Sante Fe hotel and cheyenne are the "cheapest" hotels onsite. They are others close by too but not walkable from the parks.

3 full days in the two parks is enough.

Paris with the kids is hard work -metros etc. But you can get the train (RER) right outside Disney to the Champs Elysee in 45 Minutes for around 15 euro return per adult.

May or September are the best times in the Parks as they usually less people in them and AVOID weekends.


I used to work there

Wanderer41

I went to Disneyland for 2 days when I was 17. I also went to Paris for 2 days including Asterix Parc. I went at Easter so it was fairly busy. We got many rides done and really enjoyed it, but we did stay for as long as possible during the day which would probably not be possible for you with young children. Maybe 4 days would be better if you'll have shorter days, but I'm not familiar with children's rides so I can't say for sure. The fireworks shows are really good so try to go to those!
We stayed in the Ibis Budget Hotel (there are two Ibis hotels beside each other, one is budget, which we didn't realise we had booked) just one stop away on the train from Disneyland. It was a really good location and very close, only about five minutes away. The breakfast was fine too. The room was small but fine for us, but note the bathroom situation different! It might be different for a family room though. But overall it was fine and very glad we chose it as it was quite cheap.
I found the food in the park to be awful. I don't like the type of fast food they have there but there wasn't much choice. There was a supermarket near our hotel so you could stock up on food and drinks there to avoid the high costs in the park.
We flew to Beauvais and stayed in Paris, from there it was an easy train journey to Disney. It was cheaper than I thought it would be, too. Just beware of scammers!
If you can go anytime from February I'd advise you to avoid holidays, look up quieter days, and when it's not too hot.

NIMAN

Have heard from people who visited it that it is INCREDIBLY expensive to eat in the park itself.

Can anyone who has been there confirm this?

Wanderer41

NIMAN wrote: »

Have heard from people who visited it that it is INCREDIBLY expensive to eat in the park itself.

Can anyone who has been there confirm this?

For what there is, yes, it is expensive. I can't remember exact prices but I do remember going to the buffet restaurant in the actual park, thinking the food would be better quality because of the price. I think it was possibly around €25 (not exactly sure) each and it wasn't nice at all (I don't like fast food though).
Also lunch times were very busy! If at all possible, I would bring food into the park.
Disneyland is expensive anyway But it's so magical!

garden

3 full week days is enough

For family private shuttle bus is best value and most convenient (ezyshuttle or rstransport off the top of my head i know of and have used)

I usually always book seperate. Check offical french, uk and irish site. You can also do a thing which might work out cheaper where you get one adult of your group a francillian annual pass via post and book other adult and the free children in through the site (i always wait for then under 12/7s free) then on check in add other member(s) who have passes and pay room tax only (usually around 10 euro for the stay) this usually leads to a big saving for us as we have a teenager with us. (You cant exceed room occupancy) also annual pass gives discount on meals and shopping. Disboards.com is a wealth of info on doing this.

Food mega expensive, avoid set menus (and buying meal vouchers) go somewher you can share (planet holly wood is good), only drink tap water at meals, avail of the train station. Visit val de europe which is one train stop away and has cheap decent restaurants.

We have been many times and love it!

Re hotel, they are all very basic and disappointing.... cheyenne is cowboy theme and a free shuttle bus away but busses are jammed mornings and evening times.

Sequoia lodge and new york are walking distance away (newport is a little further but you still could walk) and the expensive disneyland hotel is at the gate entrances. There are other partner hotels.

Oh big thing is check french public and school hols and avoid them (also if you can avoid uk and spanish school hols too it would mean the park would be very very quite and no queues)

eeguy

Wanderer41 wrote: »

For what there is, yes, it is expensive. I can't remember exact prices but I do remember going to the buffet restaurant in the actual park, thinking the food would be better quality because of the price. I think it was possibly around €25 (not exactly sure) each and it wasn't nice at all (I don't like fast food though).
Also lunch times were very busy! If at all possible, I would bring food into the park.
Disneyland is expensive anyway But it's so magical!

Food is muck.

I ordered a pasta in the earl of sandwich. 8 euro got a ready meal, still in the plastic tray.

I got a dinner in Planet Hollywood and the potatoes were instant mash.

Most of the other restaurants are fast food, unless you go to the Ratatouille restaurant where a meal for one is around 50 euro. Can't comment on the quality though as it was too pricey for me.

Wanderer41

eeguy wrote: »

Food is muck.

I ordered a pasta in the earl of sandwich. 8 euro got a ready meal, still in the plastic tray.

I got a dinner in Planet Hollywood and the potatoes were instant mash.

Most of the other restaurants are fast food, unless you go to the Ratatouille restaurant where a meal for one is around 50 euro. Can't comment on the quality though as it was too pricey for me.

If the Ratatouille restaurant has a buffet and has the character from the film going to each singer, then that's the one I went to. Awful food. We only went because we were so hungry and weren't going to eat for the rest of the day. We assumed that the price was indicative of the quality. Not so!

Strumms

The food in the park is indeed totally crap and expensive. Avoid.

My own advice is to stay in Paris center. Close to a station on the RER line A which will serve Disney direct in about 40 minutes. That way you can go to a supermarket each morning and stock up on your own food for the day... a nice picnic.. generously filled delicious French baguettes, pasta bowls whatever you like and take it with you. We did it this way and it gives you far more flexibility in your holiday. You can mix and match from sightseeing in Paris, maybe a trip to Versailles etc. because the kids are young don't automatically think that will be lost on them they might as you value the break from the park for a bit and in that way appreciate it that bit more. For a holiday like that I'd say 4 days. Also some posters with respect are really OTT about the 'hassle' the metro might pose for kids which is in no way true at all IMHO..

Dodge

Don't stay in Paris and travel multiple days into the Parks with kids. The train is grand but if you stay locally you can pop back to your room at any stage for a rest/swim and you will walk for hours and hours throughout the day. We did this every day and it really helped in the searing August heat

As for food in the parks; there's counter service (fast food) for about €12 an adult meal. For dinners we visited the places in the Disney Village such as Planet Hollywood and Rainforest Cafe. Same prices and standards as you'd pay in PH/TGIF here

You can see all restaurants with menus and prices here
http://www.dlpguide.com/planning/dining/restaurant-menus/m/

Dodge

Wanderer41 wrote: »

If the Ratatouille restaurant has a buffet and has the character from the film going to each singer, then that's the one I went to. Awful food. We only went because we were so hungry and weren't going to eat for the rest of the day. We assumed that the price was indicative of the quality. Not so!

It's not. It's a full service restaurant that's in the style of the film in the paris district that was opened last year/18 months. Food and service was excellent. Dinner for 2 adults and a child was €81 and we all loved it

I didn't try any of the buffets. Not a fan of them

whippet

we are going in March and staying at the disneyland hotel beside the entrance .. with a 4 and 7 year old .. first time going.

How easy is it to get to a supermarket from around there for getting lunches etc?

Pink Fairy

whippet wrote: »

we are going in March and staying at the disneyland hotel beside the entrance .. with a 4 and 7 year old .. first time going.

How easy is it to get to a supermarket from around there for getting lunches etc?

There are no supermarkets there.
You are approx 40km from Paris so you have to buy all foodstuffs on site.
500ml water about 3.80 same with minerals if not even slightly pricier.
Nowhere to buy any foodstuffs, so most people who stay on site used stock up at the breakfast buffet and make sandwiches for the day .
Eating out is quite expensive, cafe mickey is approx 130 for 2 adults and a child for a meal that would cost approximately 50-60 back home. Best prepare for this

whippet

Pink Fairy wrote: »

There are no supermarkets there.
You are approx 40km from Paris so you have to buy all foodstuffs on site.
500ml water about 3.80 same with minerals if not even slightly pricier.
Nowhere to buy any foodstuffs, so most people who stay on site used stock up at the breakfast buffet and make sandwiches for the day .
Eating out is quite expensive, cafe mickey is approx 130 for 2 adults and a child for a meal that would cost approximately 50-60 back home. Best prepare for this

i'm not too concerned about cost .. its a family treat; but personally I need to control my diet for a competition around that time !!!

I need to prepare my own food and watch what I am consuming .. something that can’t be done in fast food restaurants ! .. I suppose a train ride to one of the supermarkets in a nearby town will need to be done

Dodge

whippet wrote: »

i'm not too concerned about cost .. its a family treat; but personally I need to control my diet for a competition around that time !!!

I need to prepare my own food and watch what I am consuming .. something that can’t be done in fast food restaurants ! .. I suppose a train ride to one of the supermarkets in a nearby town will need to be done

The town of Auchen is 5 minutes on the train and has a huge supermarket there. In the DLP train station is a smaller 'casino' shop (comparable to spar/mace) where you can get fruit, veg etc. Not a great selection but we bought some most days to bring into the park. The only restriction on bringing in food/drink is no picnic baskets

eeguy

Marne la Valee shopping centre is the train stop before Disneyland.

Dodge

eeguy wrote: »

Marne la Valee shopping centre is the train stop before Disneyland.

Yeah, sorry the town is Val d'Europe and Auchan is the name of the supermarket

Marne-la-Vallée is the region. The Disney train station is Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy, Val d'Europe is the next one over

devil-80

Whats the average cost of trip in Disneyland 2 adults and 2 children? For 3 daya- is that enough?

wait4me

A little planning on the eating helps. Take the train to Val d'Europe which is the first stop Paris-bound from Disneyland. Stock up in the supermarket there for your day-time sandwiches/treats etc. (Supplement this with stuff from your buffet breakfast in your hotel). Eat your evening dinner in any of the restaurants in Val d'Europe and take the train back. Better value and from what I remember - better and more nutritious choices. Its been a while since I was there so things may have changed.

PS: Have a look at this for train info: RER train info

eeguy

Dodge wrote: »

Don't worry you'll get plenty of enjoyment in DLP too

I went with just my girlfriend and loved it. Plenty of rides, loads to see. Don't forget to visit the dragon under the castle. :D

Much preferred Disneyland to Paris

Look into the Jedi academy if the 5 yo is interested in that.

kerry4sam

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Thanks,
kerry4sam