Another Newbie with Questions :)

[Irish9697]

Very spur of the moment, I booked a trip for my teenage kids (ds 17, Dr 16) & me to London & Paris this summer. It's our first time overseas & we are so excited! I'm in the midst of manic planning. Because we are Disney lovers, we knew we had to add DLP at least for a day to our trip. We fly into London & have 3.5 days there, then are taking Eurostar to Paris for 3.5 days. On our last day in Paris, we are taking the train to DLP. We plan to check in to our hotel, have dinner, then hit the parks the next day. We will spend 1 more night & then we fly out the next day from CDG at 1:20.

I booked room only at Hotel New York on Cheaptickets for 2 nights (5/31 & 6/1) for $423 total ($211.50 per night). It seems like a good deal because now when I check prices it shows up over $500 per night. Is this really that great of a deal? I had considered Hotel Santa Fe which was like $360 for those 2 nights total when I booked, but I liked the look and proximity of New York. Would love opinions on New York, please, & any advice.

Is there any reason/benefit to buy our 1 day park hopper tickets in advance? We are going to the parks on Th, Jun 1st. Could we buy the tickets when we arrive at our hotel on the evening of May 31? If I should buy in advance, where do you recommend?

Where should we plan to eat dinner on Wed, May 31st when we arrive? Disney Village? Hotel New York? Another Disney hotel? A local restaurant? Would love reviews or thoughts on great places. We will have been gone from home a long time at this point & probably eaten lots of fabulous meals, but would really love a recommendation of something unique, something really DLP, something really French countryside and/or something just really memorable & fun.

Should I book Disney transport to CDG or arrange something else? What's the best way?

Finally, what should be our general plan for our 1 day hitting both parks? We definitely want to do the big ones that are in all parks like (forgive me, I don't know the names of the DLP equivalents yet) Space, HM, Pirates, ToT, BTMR, but also want to do the DLP "must do's." Can you help me plan our day?

Merci beaucoup! I truly appreciate any insights or advice!

 

[ashley0139]

There are lots of posts here about first trips and one day trips to DLP, so be sure to search for those (there's a good one just a couple threads down with some ideas for one day plans).

For that price for Hotel New York definitely keep it. I found Disney transportation the easiest so I didn't have to worry about trains and flights and such. With three people you may find it cheaper to book private transportation, though. But I liked the Magical shuttle. Took a lot of worry out of it.

Here's something I've posted a few times about which rides to hit at DLP when you are familiar with the US parks:

In the Studios, make sure to get on Ratatouille and Crush's Coaster. Those are two of the best rides in any Disney park, in my opinion (well, of the 2 US parks and DLP). I would actually start in the Studios because Crush's Coaster doesn't have a fastpass and the line gets long. Then you can hit Ratatouille also hopefully without a line (it does have fastpass though) and do any of the other things you might want to do in the Studios before heading over to Disneyland Park.

In Disneyland, I recommend Indiana Jones, Pirates, Small World (it's my favorite Small World), Phantom Manor (their Haunted Mansion), Big Thunder (was closed when I went but I've heard it's great), and any of the other dark rides you can get done. They are different enough from the US versions that it's worth it. Go under the castle and see the dragon and do Alice's Labyrinth - very cool and unique to DLP.

You don't need to do Buzz, Teacups, Orbitron, Tower of Terror. Those are exactly the same.

Definitely see the nighttime show they will have. The parade is okay I think - nothing spectacular and the music is kind of repetitive. Since you only have one day I wouldn't waste time with a sit down meal. Just grab some counter service.