Yooper Family
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2006
- Messages
- 2
We are an American Family living in Germany...so things European are not new to us. With a 7 and 8 year old, we wanted to give the kids a once-in-a-lifetime vacation at Disneyland Paris along with a visit to Paris itself.
CONS: We stayed at the Holiday Inn. While the rate was great (179 euro/night included our park tickets), the hotel experience was not. The hotel itself shows the wear and time...chipped furniture and peeling paint in our room. The swimming pool was small, with a liner that was pulling free on the bottom and tangled in our kids feet. The locks on the room doors were a nightmare! Nearly every day we couldn't get our credit-card-like keys to work and had to make a trip to the front desk to have new keys made. The hotel restaurant was definitely not worth the money...we paid 80 euro our first night for the four us...the buffet was lacking in quantity and the food was cold with very few selections that appealed to kids. The hotel security in the parking lot is non-existant. We returned from the park on our second evening to find our car window smashed and the car searched (fortunately, nothing was taken as our GPS and other valuables were in the safe in our room). The local police refused to come to the scene and take a report.
PROS: The hotel manager was very helpful and professional when we reported the damage to our car and assisted in calling the police, contacting a repair shop to install a temporary window, and even having one of their maintenance staff assist with cleaning the glass out of the car. The rooms were clean and the housekeeping staff very efficient.
The Disneyland Park is definitely a fantasyland for kids. We were there late July/early August and the lines were not too terrible. Lines are shorter before lunch and around dinner time. If you want to see the Lion King show, be sure to line up early to get your tickets to the show. At 3pm they distribute tickets to the 4pm and 5 pm shows, and again at 7:30pm for the evening shows. I got in line at 2:30 to get our tickets. My only advice to Disney would be to offer non-sugar and healthier snack choices in their cafes and restaurants...even fresh fruit would be a welcome alternative.
CONS: We stayed at the Holiday Inn. While the rate was great (179 euro/night included our park tickets), the hotel experience was not. The hotel itself shows the wear and time...chipped furniture and peeling paint in our room. The swimming pool was small, with a liner that was pulling free on the bottom and tangled in our kids feet. The locks on the room doors were a nightmare! Nearly every day we couldn't get our credit-card-like keys to work and had to make a trip to the front desk to have new keys made. The hotel restaurant was definitely not worth the money...we paid 80 euro our first night for the four us...the buffet was lacking in quantity and the food was cold with very few selections that appealed to kids. The hotel security in the parking lot is non-existant. We returned from the park on our second evening to find our car window smashed and the car searched (fortunately, nothing was taken as our GPS and other valuables were in the safe in our room). The local police refused to come to the scene and take a report.
PROS: The hotel manager was very helpful and professional when we reported the damage to our car and assisted in calling the police, contacting a repair shop to install a temporary window, and even having one of their maintenance staff assist with cleaning the glass out of the car. The rooms were clean and the housekeeping staff very efficient.
The Disneyland Park is definitely a fantasyland for kids. We were there late July/early August and the lines were not too terrible. Lines are shorter before lunch and around dinner time. If you want to see the Lion King show, be sure to line up early to get your tickets to the show. At 3pm they distribute tickets to the 4pm and 5 pm shows, and again at 7:30pm for the evening shows. I got in line at 2:30 to get our tickets. My only advice to Disney would be to offer non-sugar and healthier snack choices in their cafes and restaurants...even fresh fruit would be a welcome alternative.
Glad you enjoyed your holiday overall though 
