American seeking advice on DLP

[beansf]

Hello everyone. I have been lurking here for awhile and have a couple questions. It seems that most people here are European, so I don’t know how much of what you guys know applies to us crazy Americans, but I thought I would run my scenario by you anyway.

I am doing the Adventures by Disney Knights & Lights next summer. It ends in Paris and I would like to go to DLP afterwards. They offer a DLP add-on for 3 days/2nts. (for 2 adults, incl. ground transfers & continental breakfast) for $2,769.92 at Disneyland Hotel or $1,620.40 at Disney’s Hotel New York. The Disneyland Hotel seems out of my price range. (I don’t know why they always give you 3 days’ tickets for 2 nights; on the third day, I have to leave…I don’t have any time to go to the park.)

I am trying to figure out if it is more cost-effective to book on my own. Here is what I have figured out so far (hopefully, I am close):
$50 per person high speed rail from DLP to CDG via TGV
$9.00 per person for RER A from Charles de Gaulle Etoile to DLP
2 day, 2 park $161/person $325

I can’t figure out hotel costs yet, because they don’t seem to have prices for early August, 2011, which is when I would be staying.

If anyone has any thoughts or advice for me, I would appreciate reading them.

Thanks…

 

[Ware Bears]

Hi the Disney hotel prices for next August won't be out until November. The prices for them will include park passes and breakfast but quite often they're offered on Expedia without park passes. Alternatively you could consider staying at one of the four off-site hotels (Explorers, Dream Castle, Magic Circus or Kyriad), these are called 'Near the Magic' hotels, a bit like WDW's 'Good Neighbour' ones, and are served regularly by free shuttle buses. Lots of us who have annual passes often choose to stay at these hotels as their rates are usually a lot less than the Disney hotels.

Have a look at the Hotel FAQ sticky. There are also links to sites where you can book these offsite hotels through so you'll be able to get a good indication of prices. Just remember park passes won't be included so you'll need to buy 2 day park tickets.

Happy planning ask away if you have any more questions.

 

[loladelorean]

We quite often get good deals such as 40% off packages on the UK site and a few Americans and DISers from elsewhere in Europe have been able to book via the UK site to take advantage of these discounts.
It is likely (and most of us are hoping!) that Disney will bring out similar discounts again for next summer, so keep an eye on this part of the boards
Maybe some of the Americans who have done this will be able to help you further when they spot this thread. Happy planning!

 

[ExpatDisneyLover]

Hello everyone. I have been lurking here for awhile and have a couple questions. It seems that most people here are European, so I don’t know how much of what you guys know applies to us crazy Americans, but I thought I would run my scenario by you anyway.

I am doing the Adventures by Disney Knights & Lights next summer. It ends in Paris and I would like to go to DLP afterwards. They offer a DLP add-on for 3 days/2nts. (for 2 adults, incl. ground transfers & continental breakfast) for $2,769.92 at Disneyland Hotel or $1,620.40 at Disney’s Hotel New York. The Disneyland Hotel seems out of my price range. (I don’t know why they always give you 3 days’ tickets for 2 nights; on the third day, I have to leave…I don’t have any time to go to the park.)

I am trying to figure out if it is more cost-effective to book on my own. Here is what I have figured out so far (hopefully, I am close):
$50 per person high speed rail from DLP to CDG via TGV
$9.00 per person for RER A from Charles de Gaulle Etoile to DLP
2 day, 2 park $161/person $325

I can’t figure out hotel costs yet, because they don’t seem to have prices for early August, 2011, which is when I would be staying.

If anyone has any thoughts or advice for me, I would appreciate reading them.

Thanks…

I guess it would depend on how much you are willing to spend but I think you could definitely get it cheaper by booking yourself - on the UK website as you can sometimes get the 40% discount that way.

If it were me I'd choose the DLH - for ambiance and location but the HNY would be good if you want easy access to the village/night life.

I don't know about August but for Winter - the DLH was $771 for 2 nights/3 days and HNY was $450 with 40% off (of course August would be much more but I'd think a considerable savings to the prices you've got there). Usually the price of park tickets doesn't make much difference - best to get them included in a package.

I have also found the associated hotels to be good value if you want to save - they are very near but then you would need to buy park tickets separately. However if you ever happen to be in the area again - an annual pass is very good value and worth a look.

Happy Booking!

I lived in the SF Bay area for a few years - loved it!!

 

[beansf]

Thanks for all of the advice, everyone. I didn't realize that there was a possibility of being able to book on the UK site for me at all. I did figure since rates haven't been announced for August yet, that the Adventures by Disney prices were likely rack rates and not the best value available. It is nice that they include a private car to drive you from Paris to the park and the park to the airport, but it doesn't seem that bad to do the trip via train. We will be staying at the Hilton l'Arc de Triomphe, which isn't that far of a walk from the Charles de Gaulle Etoile, although I am little nervous picturing us wheeling our bags down the street. I have scary thoughts of bumping into someone's table outside a cafe and spilling their cafe au lait.

 

[grizbuzz]

Hello! I'm an American who is at Disneyland Paris right now.

I have stayed at four places at Disneyland Paris:
-Onsite: Sequoia and Disneyland Hotel
-Offsite: Dream Castle and Hotel l'Elysee

Here's my thoughts...

If you want to save money, go with either Dream Castle or Hotel l'Elysee Val D'Europe. Both have access by free bus to the parks. Both can be booked directly on their websites and deals can be found (I got both with breakfast off season for less than 100 euros a night) Dream Castle has nicer rooms and beds. Hotel l'Elysee has early entry (2 hours before park opens). Early entry is a must, in my opinion, if you are visiting on a weekend. It may not be if you are visiting on a weekday, though I have never visited in the summer so I don't know how crowded weekdays are. My experience in October, November and February is that parks are not crowded during the week but are pretty much always packed on the weekends. So if you can, come during the week.

I cannot, personally, recommend Sequoia. My kids loved it, however. I just thought it was very overpriced for what you get. Crowded. Not great service. Run down rooms (though they are getting a refurbishment, I understand) and though "onsite" still quite a trek to the parks.

I LOVE Disneyland Hotel. It does have the ambiance, the service and the LOCATION. Is it worth the money? I don't know. I even got the 40 percent off (used the UK site and put Switzerland in my address and reception never said a thing) but still came out to over 450 dollars a night for a package with tickets for one adult and one child (we had annual passes so did not need the tickets, but hotel alone is more expensive than packages for some bizarre reason). If you want to splurge and you want an experience of staying virtually in the Disney park, this is an experience that cannot be replicated at another Disney park in the US.

If I come back, I will stay either at Disneyland Hotel (if I can get a good deal and afford it) or probably at Hotel l'Elysee Val d' Europe, just because of early entry and price. Also, you can take the RER from Hotel l'Elysee if the bus schedule doesn't suit your time table. It is the best value I have found at Disneyland Paris, given my personal priorities.

If you are a Disney park fan, I do recommend Disneyland Paris. The park is beautiful with details you will not find in the US Magic Kingdom parks. Even just for a day (weekday preferable!), it is worth making the trek from Paris.

 

[beansf]

Wow, thanks for all of the great advice. You have given me a LOT to think about.

Believe me, I am convinced. There is no way that I am going all the way to Paris and not visiting DLP. That would just be a huge X in my REGRET column and I don't want to go there.

I think our park days will be Aug 4 & 5, 2011 so that will be Thursday and Friday and we will fly home on Saturday. My husband envisioned it being more like we take a train out from Paris, visit the park for a few hours, train back to Paris hotel and fly out the next day. Luckily for us, I am the planner in the family.