American's planning our first trip to DLP... HELP!

[schnerk]

My family has decided to venture out to DLP during our trip to Paris in April. We have 2 rooms at the Cheyenne hotel (since there ar 5 of us.) It will be me, my wife, her sister, and my 2 DD's age 3 and 4.

Now, we are experienced WDW travelers, but I am a bit nervous about making sure we hit as much as we can during our 2 and a half day trip. We are planning on focusing on the rides and atrtractions that are unique to DLP and Disney Studios. Does anyone have any planning tips on how to get the most out of our time, or know of a service similar to Tour Guide Mike's that could help us?

Thanks!

 

[marcus.ka]

You will have a great time there. 2 and a half day are enough for first time visitors if the two days are weekdays.
During this 2,5 days you will have plenty of time to do both parks and to see also some shows and parades. (Tarzan and the Once upon a dream parade are must see!)

Start your days early when the park opens. It is possible that both of your days are EMH days; then use these 2 extra hours in the morning because you can do many rides in Fantasyland with only 2 minutes waiting time. Later during the day you can have waiting times for Peter Pan and Dumbo of 60 minutes.

I would also recommend having dinner after the park(s) have closed in Disney Village or in one of the 6 Disney hotels. That way you don't have to waist park time for dinner. But if you want to eat in the park Walt's and Blue Lagoon should be the first on your list.

 

[Billybob7]

I have several questions about Disneyland Paris.

1. Which Disney hotels are the nicest and best to stay in? How is the New York Resort?

2. How many days are necessary to see both parks?

3. Is there a better time of year to go? Any bad times?

4. How much do park tickets cost?

5. Is breakfast included at any of the hotels?

6. In general, is it worth using my points to go to Disneyland Paris?

7. Is it easy to book on the DVC plan, or will I likely be waitlisted?

Thank you so much!!

 

[marcus.ka]

If I were you I would open a new thread with your questions otherwise you can be overseen. But I will try to answer some of your questions:

1. My favourite is the Disneyland Hotel as it is the entrance of the park. Sleeping there feels like sleeping in the Disneyland Park.
Hotel New York is also a great hotel with the same service as the DLH. But at DLRP the hotels are only hotels no resorts. They are much smaller than at WDW. It is worth to book a room with lake view at the HNY.

2. For a first timer 3 days during the week are enough. 4 days are perfect.

3. This is the same as WDW. If there are school holidays in France/UK the park will be very busy. (July/August, end December/beginning January, last October week/first November week, Easter) Also try to avoid all French bank holidays and all weekends during the whole year.
Our favourite time to go is May or June. But Christmas and Halloween are also great at DLRP.

4. We always have packages. So I don't know.

5. Breakfast is included in all hotels.

I hope this helps.

 

[Inkmahm]

I have several questions about Disneyland Paris.

1. Which Disney hotels are the nicest and best to stay in? How is the New York Resort?

2. How many days are necessary to see both parks?

3. Is there a better time of year to go? Any bad times?

4. How much do park tickets cost?

5. Is breakfast included at any of the hotels?

6. In general, is it worth using my points to go to Disneyland Paris?

7. Is it easy to book on the DVC plan, or will I likely be waitlisted?

Thank you so much!!

I've been researching, too, and came to the conclusion that Disneyland Paris hotels wouldn't be a good use for my points. The point charts are really high, especially for weekends and I will be there Fri-Sun nights.

I am booking for cash through our corporate expedia account (don't have to pay until I get there rather than pay in advance.) I found the Disneyland hotels to be booked when I"m there but they appear to have some hotels that are kind of like the Swan / Dolphin. Not really Disney but you get benefits like the EMH.

 

[wideeyes]

2 and a half days is enough time, I would not miss all rides that WDW has as some of the rides like Big Thunder Mountain, POTC are a bit different then WDW versions and BTM in paticular is better at DLRP. POTC is worth doing just for the queueing area which is brillantly themed imo.

 

[rylisal]

Just back from DLP & we did both parks in just ONE day!
It was only the 2 of us though so easier to get on rides plus we only did those rides that we really wanted to do, as we've done WDW many times and are off ther again in October!

DLP parks are next door to each other so you just walk 2 mins from one to the other..unlike WDW where it takes much longer to travel between parks.
Disney Village is a minutes walk the other way so again, easy to drop into after or before the parks!

Obviously with children in tow you'd need more time to do all the rides as we found it was the 'Younger' kids rides that were by far the busiest, leaving us Adults to enjoy smaller lines at the 'Big' rides!

 

[the_princess]

Make sure you go on POTC and R&Rcoaster, these are a lot better at DLP then at WDW, IMO. And watch out for the dragon under the castle

 

[Rookinla]

In general, I felt like most of the attractions at DLP that were versions of WDW and/or DL attractions were better at DLP...and sometimes significantly better. Phantom Manor is more macabre than Haunted Mansion but has MUCH better effects and is superior IMHO. Big Thunder has already been mentioned...superior to the US versions in every way. The theming at Pirates is amazing...a definite must-do. And Space Mountain is completely different...it has inversions and is faster! DLP also has some nice attractions that you can't find here in the US. Crush's Coaster is great! Cinemagique was a lot of fun...Rock 'N Roller Coaster was so much better than at WDW. The only ride that I didn't like so much was Indiana Jones. It felt like a carnival ride...but the theming was great. You will have a great time!

 

[schnerk]

We are So excited!!! Thank you all.