All advice gratefully accepted!

[SallyE]

Hi all
Very apprehensively I am taking my daughters (5 and 3) away for the first time ever on my own. Sadly my husband died a few months ago and Disneyland Paris was a promised trip to them so it will be rather emotional but something we are very very excited about! We are staying at the Sequoia Lodge from 10-12 December this year. I have booked my accomodation and flights separately to save money (on a shoestring) and have started to worry about how I will transfer from Paris CDG to Disneyland via the cheapest and most reliable method. Can anyone give me an helpful tips about transport and money saving tips whilst there regarding eating out?
All advice gratefully accepted to avoid meltdown once there!
Thanks

 

[DLPdaft]

Hi SallyE,
Elaine, Jackie, Elaine and Reid welcome you to the 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
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1477038,
DIS posting guidelines can be found here
http://www.wdwinfo.com/guidelines.htm

It probably will be a poignant and bittersweet trip for you, but your girls are just about at the perfect age to appreciate the Magic .

 

[loladelorean]

Hi all
Very apprehensively I am taking my daughters (5 and 3) away for the first time ever on my own. Sadly my husband died a few months ago and Disneyland Paris was a promised trip to them so it will be rather emotional but something we are very very excited about! We are staying at the Sequoia Lodge from 10-12 December this year. I have booked my accomodation and flights separately to save money (on a shoestring) and have started to worry about how I will transfer from Paris CDG to Disneyland via the cheapest and most reliable method. Can anyone give me an helpful tips about transport and money saving tips whilst there regarding eating out?
All advice gratefully accepted to avoid meltdown once there!
Thanks

Very sorry to hear about your husband hopefully the Disney trip will bring you and your daughters joy.
The cheapest way to get from CDG is the VEA shuttle http://www.vea-shuttle.co.uk/
We used this last year, it was easy to find the pick up point. We waited for the bus about 20 mins and the journey took less than an hour. They drop people off at each hotel which is good, and the journey went in quickly. Good atmosphere on board with everyone excited to get to Disneyland!
See this site for info about all restaurants and cafes onsite. http://www.dlpfoodguide.com/
Some of the dishes are out of date I think but it should give you a good idea of prices. The food can be quite pricey, but in places like Annette's (fantastic!) the portions are massive and we tend to fill up on breakfast in the hotel then eat just one other big meal, with a snack in between.
I hope this helps! These are just my experiences, i'm sure other more experiences DISers will have lots more to share with you. x

 

[gifchick]

I am in the same boat as you I lost my husband as well and our kids are close in age, (mine are 4 and 6) I took them on a trip to WDW and the best advice I can give to aviod meltdowns is make sure they rest... if it is you that needs the strengh you can always look at them and I was able to get my strengh from that.

If you have any other questions send me a PM and I can answer what I can!

 

[paulinefc]

I am so sorry hun, I can't comprehend how hard that is. But what a great place to go for you all. You will absolutly love it.
There is a Mcdonalds in the disney village, and also toad hall is a very reasonable too. That is in the main park and does burgers, chips etc...

 

[noodlesmum]

Most of the main money saving tips have been covered here but I just also wanted to say how sorry I am about your loss. It wouldn't cost a great deal more to add another adult to your room so maybe you could ask a friend/sister/mum to come with you so that you have some grown up company too?

Main street deli does massive cheese and ham baguettes for 5euros which we love - they are big your girls could probably share one, Annettes is great and Cafe Mickeys which is a character dining experience serve pizzas which one would easily feed all three of you if you had a garlic bread with it. Magical Kingdoms have quite up to date prices so you can price up food before you leave. Also going back to my original point if you took another adult with you and that adult brought an AP (so you add them to the room but no tickets etc - this is usually free you just pay the city tax for the extra person) then you could use the restaurant discount that you get with the annual pass for all your bills.

The train station has a newsagents which is much cheaper for snacks and pop too.
Hope some of that helps

 

[SallyE]

Thanks everyone for your kind words and great advice. I hadn't even thought about a McDonalds being there paulineefc, that's a good idea as are all the tips from you noodlesmum, thanks. I am going to check out the vea shuttle site this morning loladelorean, maybe I can book in advance and then that's another hassle down!
Thanks again folks x

p.s. Gifchick - I have tried to send a pm but I can't apparently do this till I have 10 posts but would like to send you a message.

 

[paulinefc]

Sally, also what I did, I made up little goody bags for the kids for during the day. I put stuff like a bag of popcorn, packet of sweets, lolly pops, cereal bars, caprisuns. I put these in the lunch bags you buy in tesco's. I made them up before we left and just put them in our cases. One for each of my kids for each day we were there, and we just took them into the park with us. It saved me a fortune.

 

[gifchick]

Hello SallyE,

Check your PM sent you one with my email address

 

[zinderella]

Sally, also what I did, I made up little goody bags for the kids for during the day. I put stuff like a bag of popcorn, packet of sweets, lolly pops, cereal bars, caprisuns. I put these in the lunch bags you buy in tesco's. I made them up before we left and just put them in our cases. One for each of my kids for each day we were there, and we just took them into the park with us. It saved me a fortune.

That is a BRILLIANT idea!!!!

 

[zinderella]

SallyE - as other have said already, I cannot imagine what you are going through, but seeing the joy on the childrens' faces will give you a lot of comfort and help you all to start building some happy memories for the 3 of you.

Disney is possible on a shoestring, the first time my daughter and I went we were too busy to even think about not really having any money to spend in the shops! We did make cheeky sandwiches from the breakfast rolls which kept us going until we had a big hot meal at about 3.00 ish, then a snack from the station shop and 2 very early nights - we were shattered!!! But happy.

Best of luck for your first trip.

 

[JoeSam]

Sally, very sorry for your loss.

I can't add anything to the food tips, but would add to also be prepared for the shops which are everywhere and full of lovely things. I always say that DS can buy something but not until the last day, so that he can take his time to make sure he's got the best thing. So browsing in the shops is fun, but we don't get any upset for not buying.

I hope you have a magical time.

 

[mickeymouse11]

Im very sorry for you loss.

I dont know any tips yet as were just planning our first trip.

Ezyshuttle was recommended to me through here. Its a private transfer and the guy picks you up at airport and takes you to hotel. Its slightly more expensive but with 2 young kids myself i think its worth the bit extra for less hassle imo.

Hope you have a lovely trip.

 

[Brummig]

So sorry for your loss Sally E. It must be very hard for all of you.

In terms of money saving tips for Disney - how much room do you have in your case? We always take a litre of juice to dilute as DS doesn't like their kind and we try and limit fizzy drinks. We take some hot chocolate when we go in autumn as something warm for when you get back to the room. A couple of pot noodle/ cup a soup type things (ie something that you just need to add hot water to) can be good to eat at night. Fruit is not very easy to find on the park so little packs of dried fruit are good.

There is an Esso garage next to the Santa Fe - prices a lot cheaper than the park! You can take the free buses to any of the hotels - no-one checks! You can buy milk, rolls, crisps, biscuits and even wine here (we generally have a glass at the end of the day!)

If your girls are going to want to get autographs from characters, bring a book from home.

I hope you have a wonderful time.