Adventures by Disney London/Paris trip

[Helsinki]

New to this website.... we have booked for our family of 4 to go on the London/Paris trip Leaving Dec 18th and spending Christmas in Paris. Anyone else going on that same one??

Any tips from veterans of London/Paris in December on what to pack?

We're so excited! This is our first European trip as a family, and hopefully there will be many more.

Helsinki

 

[BONITATIME]

Thermal undrwear as Paris can be very cold.

 

[katytrott]

Just thought I would chime in and clear a few things up. Firstly, to those worried about not understanding the language spoken in London, remember, London is in England, so therefore English is spoken. Agreed cockney (London accent, almost language) is not easy for most English people to understand. England has not joined Europe in using Euros so when tipping etc, you will probably get the same response if you handed Euros or US Dollars. London and Paris in Dec is very cold (particularly Paris for some reason) so wrap up warm with thermals etc. Very rarely snow is seen in London at that time, however I did get snow at DLPR last Dec. One other thing to mention, if it does snow, it turns to mush within hours and you end up getting very wet, so take waterproofs particularly for the lower extremities. Actually I would certainly concentrate on the waterproofs as Dec is a very wet month, and England is known for its rain. Dec 21st is the shortest day of the year, so Dec as a month gets dark very early, expect it about 3 - 3.30pm (seems even earlier if it's a gray day).
To the person visiting Sorento - it is a very beautiful town, however not a great deal to do, so I would recommend doing a bit more touring eg pompeii and certainly island of Caprii.

 

[JulieWent]

Goodness, I don't think anyone worried about not understanding the language in England, did they?

Thanks for all the other good information! Your information about December in London makes me think of Charles Dickens.

How about early June? I'm guessing it will still be cool (June 8).

Julie

 

[katytrott]

June 21st is the longest day, so the whole of June gets dark quite late (about 9.30 - 10pmish). It is often sunny and warm, but probably still cardigan/jumper weather. June is probably the nicest month to visit - not too hot, which is important particularly in London. This country is not kitted out with aircon - most of the buildings in London are too old for it to be fitted.

 

[MJGirl]

June 21st is the longest day, so the whole of June gets dark quite late (about 9.30 - 10pmish). It is often sunny and warm, but probably still cardigan/jumper weather. June is probably the nicest month to visit - not too hot, which is important particularly in London. This country is not kitted out with aircon - most of the buildings in London are too old for it to be fitted.

So if I'm going to be in London June 29 - July 1, should I expect to sweat

 

[katytrott]

Nah, You'll be fine too. Starts to get hot end of July and August. Saying that we only probably get only 3/4 days where the temp is over 30 celcius in the whole year. Even then, prepare yourself for wet weather .

 

[jjpenguin]

Temps in the UK have been a lot warmer than usual in the last years, and I have read a lot of hotel reports on another website complaining about the lack of aircon.

 

[lonegungirl]

I agree that it's surprising that the Eiffel Tower was changed to lunch. It was so magical to be there at sunset and see all the lights of the city and the tower. I've got some killer great photos from that evening!

I agree that if the hotels were not first class, the trips would lose much of their luster. It's the fact that you're traveling in absolute style, with Disney touches all along the way, that makes AbD so undeniably fantastic.

That's a shame that the meal was changed to lunch. I was thinking of taking the tour with a friend who has never been to England/France before, but it is rather expensive, and if the tour has downgraded from its inception, I wonder if it's still worth it.

I've been to London and Paris before, so I'd mostly be going to experience the Disney "magic" in those settings. Do people think the experience was significantly different from what you would have had on, say, a Globus tour?

Thanks for sharing all the information! It's very helpful when trying to make a decision.

 

[woody73]

. . . Any tips from veterans of London/Paris in December on what to pack? . . .

Dress in layers. It might be freezing outside, but it is often quite warm inside.

Woody

 

[ppiew]

Having been on the ABD London/Paris trip I agree that lunch at the Eiffel Tower is a significant downgrade, however, it would not be the make or break reason in making my decision to go with ABD. The big things in my view, are the really excellent rooms that we had in really excellent hotels and the first class chunnel to Paris. Add in the total baggage handling and I definitely loved the seamless way things were taken care of. Although the Regents Canal excursion wasn't an eyepopper, it certainly gave one a view of London not often seen in other tours, but I guess that has been eliminated also. We had a lot of fun on that part of the tour. It should also be mentioned that the ABD tours limit the # of people on the tour - you don't feel like cattle being herded on to a bus to go here and there. I am glad we went last year and truly enjoyed it, but if I hadn't, I would still strongly consider taking this excursion this year regardless of the changes.

 

[MJGirl]

I will be on the London Paris trip in June/July. I am actually not that upset that the Eiffel Tower meal has been switched to lunch as it gives us an extra afternoon/evening to tour Paris on our own. We definitely want to see the Opera Garnier, plus would like to spend more time at the Louvre if we could. I would also like to go to Man Ray bar/restaurant in Paris as it is owned by my favourite Johnny Depp. Another thing I'm considering is seeing the Moulon Rouge. I'm still haven't decided on this yet!

 

[fwm]

Dress in layers. It might be freezing outside, but it is often quite warm inside.

Woody

Your advice is probably accurate, but a bit late.

 

[lonegungirl]

Just got off the phone with an ABD cm. Is it just me, or did other people think you could book an extension on your tour to Disneyland Paris? Because I was told that they had nothing to do with it, and you would have to call Disneyland Paris separately to arrange whatever you wanted. She said the only thing they could do would be to book an extra night at the hotel and then you could take a cab over for about $100. Is that what most people do?

 

[ppiew]

Boy I would try again and hopefully get someone else! Last year, I booked our rooms at DLP ourselves and ABD arranged for and PAID the transportation to DLP. You can take the RER train for a minimal amt if you wanted to but we paid nothing for the transport to the hotel

 

[LisaTex]

It seems to me that if taking you back to the airport (transferring you), they could transfer you to DLP as well. I talked with ABD this weekend and all she said was " I would check on the train".

 

[Magix]

Just got off the phone with an ABD cm. Is it just me, or did other people think you could book an extension on your tour to Disneyland Paris? Because I was told that they had nothing to do with it, and you would have to call Disneyland Paris separately to arrange whatever you wanted. She said the only thing they could do would be to book an extra night at the hotel and then you could take a cab over for about $100. Is that what most people do?

I did have to book DLRP myself (which you can do on their website) and attempted to come up with a workable way to get there by train. But, ABD provided transportation to DLRP, since there were quite a few of us going. However, this was not promised as part of the trip and I only found out about it the final day of the ABD trip. So, figure out a way to get there on your own, but hope that ABD will come through for you with transportation.

 

[lonegungirl]

Thanks everyone for all the input! As it turned out, I was unable to convince my friend to take a Disney trip (like Miranda in Sex and the City, she hates all kids, except for the ones she might have one day) so we're doing an Insight trip to Greece instead. I still intend to make an ABD trip sometime though! And definitely want to get to Disneyland Paris as soon as possible!

 

[KLondon]

Hey Magix --

I saw your earlier post about going to Grenwich during your free time in London. We're thinking of doing that too! I'm just wondering if you have any advice about making the trip. We're thinking of using City Cruises to get there.

Thanks!

 

[JulieWent]

Got my box of "goodies" and backpacks today. That means our trip is just around the corner! Yeah!

Julie