Disneyland Paris Pre-Cruise Help

jlwhitney

Thumper2007
Joined
Dec 8, 2009
Considering adding a few days pre-cruise to go to DLP and Paris. I am wondering what the best way to do it. Train or Fly from Paris to Barcelona and where to stay at DLP or in Paris? Is the train safe and what stations to use and where in Barcelona in regards to port will the station be? Would it be okay to take the overnight train and get in the morning of the cruise. Also if anyone knows of any tours to do in Paris?
 
I think I have answers to some of your questions.

Personally, there's not really any good direct fast train service between Paris and Barcelona - most likely a fast train from Paris to the south of France, and then a regional/slow train the rest of the way, as the overnight train is a "regional/slow" train. If you're not worried about getting there quickly (but rather overnight), well, then that might be a good option for you.

You're looking at (from Paris) an 9-12 hour train ride. The EuroNight train is about 12 hours. There are many airlines that fly from Orly or Charles de Gaulle, and the flight is about an hour in length. The flight information is easy to come by, so I'll give you some more info on the train.

From Marne la Vallee-Chessy (Disneyland Paris essentially for the train), you either could take the train back to Paris and do the EuroNight/TrainHotel, or you can take the TGV train south to Orleans, and then the EuroNight/TrainHotel train to Barcelona. Another option is the TGV connecting to a slower train to Barcelona during the day. The TrainHotel arrives around 8:30am, so I think it's easily feasible to do this and still get to the port in plenty of time. If you want to get there the night before, there's that option as well.

The night train is fairly safe from my travel experience. They also offer "premium" accommodation - so you can get a first class sleeper with shower/toilet, or just a reclining chair. There's also tourist class bunks that are 4 to a compartment (although no real amenities like "premium" class other than a sink). I don't know what your comfort level or budget is, so I can't make recommendations, but I would suggest looking at http://www.seat61.com/ for further details. While it's focus is on the UK traveler to the rest of Europe, there's much good information to be found.

One site I like to recommend to get an idea of the train schedule is the Deutsche Bahn website, mostly because it's the most manageable in English (compared to the French SNCF website), and you can get an idea of what you're looking for. http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/e is that link.

For Paris: You can just select "PARIS" and it'll then break down all the major train stations in central Paris. Marne la Vallee-Chessy for Disneyland Paris. For Barcelona, you're looking for Barcelona Estacion de Franca (if you're doing the EuroNight/TrainHotel especially). Estacion de Franca is right down by the docks and Barceloneta, so I'd say maybe a 10 minute taxi ride or less.

Regarding Disneyland Paris, I've only stayed at the Disneyland Paris Hotel itself. With security changes, if you're arriving to DLP Hotel via the train station, ask the security guard which tent has the luggage scanner as you're arriving. We went to one (after much jetlag) to be summarily told there was another queue to join so that our baggage could be screened before walking to the hotel. I believe it was the one to the far right, but my recollection is a bit hazy from that early April morning in 2009. DLP Hotel is also the closest to the train station, and is simply a fabulous experience not to be missed.

Regarding tours in Paris, alas, no. However, I like staying in the Marais, that way, if I go to Disneyland Paris, it's an easy trek to the Chatelet Les Halles for the RER (suburban train) to DLP. There's many fabulous hotels near the Centre Pompidou, with good access to buses and the metro, as well as an easy walk to the Hotel de Ville and Notre Dame.

Enjoy your time!

-Steve
 
I would recommend the Disneys Hotel New York, its a 5 min, nice walk to the parks, you go through the Disney village, ie shops, its at one end of lake Disney, This hotel is a 4 star, the only hotel above it is the well overpriced Disneyland hotel.

DH is over the park entrance (and I mean over), for Disneyland park, so some of the rooms have a nice view, many do not, its a difficult walk with luggage from the train. The other park the Walt Disney studios, is a walk, thats equidistant to Hotel New York.

DNY, has the largest swimming pool, that is part inside, and during summer also extends outside. It has characters in it, and two nice restaurants, and also breakfast is included in many packages and its a good one.

I have stayed there three times, eaten in Disneyland hotel and toured it, but didn't like it.

Footnote to the above the EUROSTAR train has a direct service to London from MLV-C (DLP) Station.
 
Also worth mentioning if you stay at a Disneyland paris hotl, they have tours to Paris through a company called cityrama, and personally I would use the tgv to get from the airport to the hotel but there us also a coach service similar to the magical express but you pay for it.

I would post Paris questions on the disnteyland Paris board (there are also trip reports).
 


We did the DCL Med cruise in 2007 & stayed at the Disneyland Paris hotel in the Castle Club!:thumbsup2 This is big bucks but if money is no option & it is a once in a life time trip go for it!

It is the closet resort to the park it has character meals & with the castle club you get a private elevator into Disneyland VIP fastpasses & breakfast included with the price!

I would suggest trying to fly non stop to Paris, unless you are planning to tour London then I would go Non stop to London & take the train through the chunnel to DLP! Always fly a non stop flight if it is available into your airport as it is always the most convenient!

We flew EasyJet from Paris to Barcelona for $95 per person it was okay & our luggage arrived with us always a plus!:lmao:

Our only negative was flying home there is no non stop direct flight from Barcelona to Boston so we had to connect in Paris & as luck would have it the ground personnel went on strike so our flight was delayed by about 4 hours!:eek::mad::headache::sad1:
 
Considering adding a few days pre-cruise to go to DLP and Paris. I am wondering what the best way to do it. Train or Fly from Paris to Barcelona and where to stay at DLP or in Paris? Is the train safe and what stations to use and where in Barcelona in regards to port will the station be? Would it be okay to take the overnight train and get in the morning of the cruise. Also if anyone knows of any tours to do in Paris?

We are also considering this for our Med cruise in 2011 so I am also researching our options. Although the point requirements are high we will likely use our DVC points to stay at one of the DLP properties and will probably either stay at the Sequoia Lodge or Newport Bay Club just because the point requirements jump dramatically to go up to the Hotel New York and just plain absurd for the Disneyland hotel. We will likely only be there for 3 nights and I do not anticipate spending a whole lot of time in the room. We will be there to spend time in the parks and to take a day to go into Paris so the accomodations will barely be used. I know they will be clean and I believe all of these properties are equivalents to the WDW "deluxe" properties.

The next biggest drawback that I have found by staying on site is that they require you to purchase "length of stay" park tickets, even if you aren't going to the parks every day!! We have not decided yet FOR SURE which cruise we're doing so I don't know if we'll do DLP before or after our cruise. But so for example if we do the 10 n. I was looking at the idea of leaving the US on a Sat. night, arriving in Paris on Sunday am. The cruise departs Barcelona on Wed. afternoon. So I figured we could have most of Sun., all of Mon. & Tues. then my plan was to likely take the train over night to Barcelona. It leaves at like 8:00ish in the evening and takes about 12 hours so we'd arrive in Barcelona in good time on Wed. am. I decided on the train rather than flying because of those stoooopid length of stay park tix. If we go ahead & spend Tues night at DLP then we have to also pay for a park tix for Wed - even though we'd be leaving EARLY on Wed. That irked me. Taking the train over night solves 1 night of accomodations and elminates buying another day of park admission that wouldn't be used. I have also looked at flights between. Flights range anywhere from $65ish on some airline called Easy Jet to $220ish on Iberia Air to over $950 on Air France!!!!

Note that to get a private sleeping compartment on the train that you need to have at least 4 people or you have to pay for unused tickets OR they will separate you by gender!! I hadn't decided yet if we would just book a reclining seat or spring for the privacy. We are a family of 3 so we'd either have to pay for an unused ticket or I would be separated from DH & DS. If we just book the reclining seats it wouldn't be an issue. The pictures look similar to first class seats on an airplane so they wouldn't be TOOOO bad.

I am still researching luggage restrictions in Europe. They do not allow as much space for luggage on the airlines and there are no separate luggage compartments on the trains - you have to keep everything with you. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by all there is to consider but thankfully we have a lot of time & I hope to get more info. from the 2010 Med peeps!!
 
We did the DCL Med cruise in 2007 & stayed at the Disneyland Paris hotel in the Castle Club!:thumbsup2 This is big bucks but if money is no option & it is a once in a life time trip go for it!
Now that's funny.:rotfl2:

It is the closet resort to the park it has character meals & with the castle club you get a private elevator into Disneyland VIP fastpasses & breakfast included with the price!

I would suggest trying to fly non stop to Paris, unless you are planning to tour London then I would go Non stop to London & take the train through the chunnel to DLP! Always fly a non stop flight if it is available into your airport as it is always the most convenient!

We flew EasyJet from Paris to Barcelona for $95 per person it was okay & our luggage arrived with us always a plus!:lmao:

Our only negative was flying home there is no non stop direct flight from Barcelona to Boston so we had to connect in Paris & as luck would have it the ground personnel went on strike so our flight was delayed by about 4 hours!:eek::mad::headache::sad1:

So you found Easy Jet to be an OK airline??? I am not familiar with them but assumed they are a budget carrier over there?! If we do DLP after our cruise rather than before then I figured we'd fly between...they ARE the cheapest I've looked at so far.
 


So you found Easy Jet to be an OK airline??? I am not familiar with them but assumed they are a budget carrier over there?! If we do DLP after our cruise rather than before then I figured we'd fly between...they ARE the cheapest I've looked at so far.

My only complaint's was boarding (was a mob scene) & the seats did not recline (no I am not joking not even for a fee!)
 
Easyjet are a very budget carrier over here. We also have: Ryanair, Flybe and Jet2 amongst others.

If you're flying into London, catch the Eurostar train from St Pancras as it goes direct to MLV (the DLP station). Much easier than flying, although sometimes not as cheap!

We stayed at The Newport Bay Hotel in November and it was fine, although given a choice, we would stay at the Sequioa Lodge next time. It had a much nicer 'feel to it' including massive sofa's in front of a log fire. Be aware that food and drink inside DLP is VERY expensive and have in your mind that's it's not WDW. It's very different park ... the character queues are, well, not like WDW, the smoking can be a problem as Europeans are a little lapse in sticking to the smoking areas!

Don't let it put you off, just keep it in mind. Some of the rides are better than the ones in the US .. ToT is great, as is Space Mountain .. much better at DLP than WDW.:)
 
My only complaint's was boarding (was a mob scene) & the seats did not recline (no I am not joking not even for a fee!)

Always a problem on budget carriers. For Easyjet, book 'speedy boarding' and you won't get the scrummage! It'll be about $13
 
Don't let it put you off, just keep it in mind. Some of the rides are better than the ones in the US .. ToT is great, as is Space Mountain .. much better at DLP than WDW.:)
TOT no way is it better than florida, None of the TOT clones are!:cool2: Space mountain is more like Rock'n Roller Coaster totaly different than WDW original dual track! (Though I do wish they replaced the track this last go around rather than just a refurb with a picture opportunity!:sad2:

Always a problem on budget carriers. For Easyjet, book 'speedy boarding' and you won't get the scrummage! It'll be about $13
We had that and it was still a Scrum though it got us through the MOB!:lmao:
 
Easyjet is fine, to be honest these days its not too different from using British Airways! I would always prefer to use Eurostar - much easier and a more pleasant journey than flying. Eurostar literally drops you off at the entrance to Disneyland Paris, and you can walk to all the resort hotels (or there are free shuttles). Much more relaxing, not luggage fees and quicker security!
 
Hi,
We have stayed at all the Disney Hotels in DLP.

The winner from the kids point of view...

Hotel Cheyenne - the "cowboy" one - great atmosphere and lots of stuff going on in the evening for them. A good walk to the parks however a quick bus service is available (but still a good hike from the bus stops at the parks!)

From the adult perspective (and a close 2nd for the kids) was...

Sequoia Lodge - cosy warm atmosphere, attentive staff, short distance to Disney Village and park (no bus needed but available). The best themed indoor/outdoor pool. Great breakfast (continental)!

Other comments
Disneyland hotel - great position but EXPENSIVE (we have a poor currency exchange at the moment to compound this issue!)

Hotel New York - great if you like conference type hotels. slightly closer than Sequoia.

New Port Bay - ok but it seems far away and we didnt like the "feel"

Santa Fe - next door to the cheyenne, would suit anyone who likes living in a concrete multi story car park :)

Davy Crockett Ranch - not stayed here but friends have - you need a car as I understand it is some distance away with no bus service (?) They liked the theming of it tho - similar to the campgrounds in WDW

These are obviously personal opinions so dont bbq me for sharing!! :)

The parks:
More compact than WDW, the rides are not as well themed (but still good), the coasters seem to be alot harsher (shaking you about and mega neck wobbling!) so much so we didnt want to go on Rock & Roller again but would ride at WDW back to back all day...

Food - not as much choice as WDW and I feel a lower quality

Cast members - mostly friendly. No utilidors so don't be shocked to see themed people in the "wrong" place, pushing the largest trolley full of snacks to refill a cart on the other side of the park OR having a cigarette outside the ride (we did laugh - oh so French)

Travel to DLP from London - we have done both air and rail.
Rail is VERY easy if you can get the direct to DLP train.
Air is a bit more of a faff but easy with direct transfers.

If you're travelling from central London I would choose the Eurostar direct train for convenience and speed.

Overall - a very enjoyable collection of good hotels and rides in a neat package.

Hope this ramble helps?
 
My friend and I stayed at Sequoia Lodge before our 2007 Med cruise. I thought it fell somewhere between WDW moderate (in the rooms themselves) and WDW deluxe (great bar & theming).

We took the overnight Elipsos Trenhotel to get to Barcelona. Since we considered it a tradeoff for a night in a hotel, we booked a first class compartment for the two of us. It was very small, but it was nice to have the private WC & sink in cabin. Dinner and breakfast were included for us. After dinner, though, the train picked up a bit of speed and neither one of us were able to sleep well at all. I felt a touch of motion sickness and called it, "Thomas the Tank Engine's Wild Ride". The taxi ride from train station to port was rather quick and got us to the Magic early (as the previous cruisers were still disembarking).
 
Considering adding a few days pre-cruise to go to DLP and Paris. I am wondering what the best way to do it. Train or Fly from Paris to Barcelona and where to stay at DLP or in Paris?
It would help if you said how many adults and children are traveling.

It sounds like you want to spend time at both DLP and central Paris. Where do you want to spend most of your time? That's where I would stay, and do a daytrip or two to the other.

I would fly from CDG to BCN.

The biggest challenge on public transportation will be dealing with your luggage for the cruise.

Woody
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!














Top