Advice for an upcoming trip, please!

[SweaterInJune]

Hello! I am currently an au pair near Munich, Germany and I'll be here until November. I have worked at WDW and was seasonal until I moved here. I plan to go back to WDW when I return stateside,. So, Disney is very important to me, and one of the absolute musts on my "To Do List" while living in Europe is going to DLP. That said, I have a few questions for all of you, and a few guidelines regarding what I'm looking for.

1) When is the best time to go: nice weather, low crowds, etc.?
2) Which is the best hotel to stay at for someone on a fairly tight budget who wants to maximize their park time? I will not have a car. Also, is transportation offered to/from the airport?
3) I may be going by myself, so any tips for single travelers at DLP?
4) It seems that DLP pushes the "2night/3day" packages...was this sufficient time? Can you add another night without adding more park days? Any comments or suggestions?
5) I would like to spend at least 1 additional day in Paris. I must go to the Louvre--any suggestions would be appreciated! I've never been to France and speak, literally only a handful of French words.

This is going to cost me every cent of 2 months' salary, easily , if I go by myself and make this trip bare-bones. I'm okay with that as I really just want to experience the park...

I realize this post is all over the place, but I am basically asking for tips on making this trip as enjoyable as possible on a budget.

Please and thank you!

Best,
Nell

 

[BRobson]

1) When is the best time to go: nice weather, low crowds, etc.?
2) Which is the best hotel to stay at for someone on a fairly tight budget who wants to maximize their park time? I will not have a car. Also, is transportation offered to/from the airport?
3) I may be going by myself, so any tips for single travelers at DLP?
4) It seems that DLP pushes the "2night/3day" packages...was this sufficient time? Can you add another night without adding more park days? Any comments or suggestions?
5) I would like to spend at least 1 additional day in Paris. I must go to the Louvre--any suggestions would be appreciated! I've never been to France and speak, literally only a handful of French words.

Best,
Nell

Hi Nell and welcome to DLP boards

1. Anytime outside school holidays would be quieter and I would say the end of May into June or September would be the quieter times but give you warmer weather

2. If it is a Disney hotel you want to stay at the cheapest would be Santa Fe. Outside of that the non Disney hotels that are on Disney property are a good deal - Kyriad,Dream Castle,Explorers and Holiday Inn.

There is the VEA Disney shuttle bus which runs from the airport - if you look at the top of the boards the sticky threads tell you all about travel,hotels etc

3. Never been by myself but think it would be great to do what you want all day

4.We have never booked though Disney - use other sites such as expedia but Disney do other packages - sometimes get free nights etc depending on the time of year

5. You can get by with little use of the French language although I think it is appreciated when used. You can take the train right into the centre of Paris from DLP - It has been said that it is not so safe to travel the line at night so that is maybe something to keep in mind.


Hope this helps a little - have a great time planning

 

[ema74]

Hi Nell,

1) When is the best time to go: nice weather, low crowds, etc.?

Maybe early June or Sept, but to be honest with you, we went in July last year after my DD broke up for the summer and it wasn't as busy as I thought it'd be.

2) Which is the best hotel to stay at for someone on a fairly tight budget who wants to maximize their park time? I will not have a car. Also, is transportation offered to/from the airport?

I agree that Santa Fe will be the cheapest hotel to stay in. Never stayed there but one of my friends did and she said it was clean and ok. And since you'll only spend the nights there, should be ok.
There're buses to and from the parks which is great but they do get busy esp in the evenings.
Never gone on the plane so not sure about the transport...

3) I may be going by myself, so any tips for single travelers at DLP?

Never been by myself but think DLRP is probably the safest place to be on your own

4) It seems that DLP pushes the "2night/3day" packages...was this sufficient time? Can you add another night without adding more park days? Any comments or suggestions?

This is what they offer:

So that's either:

4 days/3 nights for the price of 3 days/2 nights
7th - 12th March 2008;
28th March - 3rd April 2008;
18th - 27th April 2008.

5 days/4 nights for the price of 4 days/3 nights or 6 days/5 nights for the price of 5 days/4nights
7th - 12th March 2008;
18th - 27th April 2008;
18th - 22nd May 2008;
12th - 17th June 2008;
11th - 14th July 2008;
8th - 14th September 2008;
30th September - 5th October 2008.


5) I would like to spend at least 1 additional day in Paris. I must go to the Louvre--any suggestions would be appreciated! I've never been to France and speak, literally only a handful of French words.

Don't worry about this. I don't speak any French and it wasn't a problem as they all speak English.

Enjoy planning, it'll be worth the time and all the money!

Ema

 

[hildasmuriel]

If you are really on a tight budget then you may consider staying offsite at one of the cheaper hotels to be found on Expedia.co.uk Choose one that is near an RER station and you could still be at Disney within minutes.

 

[Cyrano]

Hi Nell and welcome to DLP DIS board
We are a friendly bunch here so please join in on any other thread or if you have a number of questions then just start a new thread for each

If you have not had a look yet, DLP posting rules are here, DIS posting guidelines can be found here.

If you are on a budget then have a look at the budget off-site links in The Very Useful Info sticky
Add this to either a Fantasy annual passport or tickets for the number of park days you want may be a lot cheaper than the package

 

[SweaterInJune]

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome and your advice--which I am certainly taking!

I had looked over most of the sticky threads in this section, but after a while the information begins to jumble in one's head. I'm starting to make sense of it all now and have also found a friend to go, so that will cut the individual price down as well.

Staying off-property versus staying on is only giving a difference of about 110 Euro...and staying on will supply us with walking distances(instead of train fare), breakfast, EMH, etc. Plus, we'll get 3 extra days for Disney... That all adds up to at least 110 Euro to me over 6 days!

For about EUR500/ea we're able to have 6days/5nights on property, RT airfare from Munich, visits to the Louvre, Versailles, Notre Dame, and Eiffel Tower. That's not too bad when it would cost the equivalent of EUR453/ea for 6days/5nights at WDW...before flight, any food, side excursions, etc.

Thanks again! I truly appreciate it!