Disneyland Paris - General Advice - Costs, Hotels Etc

Paully D

Hello all,

I've done a quick search on this topic but a lot of the responses are quite old. We are thinking of going to Disneyland Paris in late summer or early autumn 2015 and thus are starting to research it now, but while looking online there appears to be a mountain of information and I've admittedly gotten lost.

I'm just wondering if any of you can share your experience of going in terms of the best way to go about things. How much did you pay and what did you get for that money, what's the best way to get there (we wouldn't want to bring or rent a car), what hotels could you personally recommend to stay in, etc etc. Any advice you could give would be great and very much appreciated as I'm not sure where to start with the sheer amount of information out there.

Thanks very much

happydays5

Great questions there - I'd be interested in thus also

Interrobang

Start with:
- DLP Guide http://www.dlpguide.com;
- The Marne-la-Vallée forum on TA, especially the top questions down the left hand side: http://www.tripadvisor.ie/ShowForum-g226865-i2224-Marne_la_Vallee_Seine_et_Marne_Ile_de_France.html;
- The DLP forum on DISboards:http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=77.

A few questions for you:
- How many of you will be travelling?
- What age will everyone be at the time of travel?
- What airport will you be flying from?
- How many nights do you plan on staying?
- Will this be a one-off visit, or would you plan to visit more than once a year?



In the meantime...

Top tops if staying onsite in a Disney hotel:

- Book directly with Disney, as it's much easier to make amendments later;

- Check the price grids, as the date you arrive determines the nightly rate for your entire stay: https://my-disneyland.disneylandparis.ie/content/IE/EN/Neutral/system/images/early-booker-calendar-summer-2015_tcm276-78229.pdf

- Check your dates on each country's page, as the price can vary for the exact same holiday depending on which country's page you go through. Go to the disneylandparis.com landing page and click on the 'Change your Country' link at the bottom of the page;

- Don't rely on hotel reviews - read the trip reports on the above forums instead, as they give a more balanced view of what each hotel is like;

- Book your flights separately;

- Book your transfers separately;

- If one of your party has an Annual Passport or their own park tickets, price the holiday without them (e.g. 1 adult + 2 kids instead of 2+2) and then contact the hotel about a week before and tell them that you'll be adding other person to the room on arrival and you'll only need to pay the city tax per night for them (depends on the star rating of the hotel, but only a couple of euro).



If staying offsite:

- Stay in Val d'Europe, as close to the RER station as possible;

- If you're planning on visiting the parks for a number of days, consider buying an Annual Passport rather park tickets for a number of days, as they can work out better value, offer plenty of discounts, give access to Extra Magic Hours and are the perfect excuse to go back again. There are a number of sites that offer them at promotional prices, or you get them cheaper through CEM if you can make use of a French address, or you can get an AP holder to sponsor you for a 10% discount off the price when you get there (if AP holders sponsor three people, they get an extra 12 months free).



General advice:

- Avoid summer holidays if possible, as the parks will be mobbed and the prices higher;

- Bear in mind the closing time of the parks as they change as the days get shorter and this will determine how much bang you get for your buck in terms of how long you can spend in the parks each day: http://www.dlpguide.com/calendar/monthly-park-hours/

- Check that your dates don't coincide with French school holidays (especially Zone C schools) or national holidays. Spanish holidays can also be very busy. This is handy for French school hols: http://about-france.com/school-holidays.htm



Will think of more as it occurs to me, but it would be handy to know who is going, what they're interested in, and how long you're planning on staying.