any pearls of wisdom to help us make the most of our stay

[tinksprinkles]

we are going on monday - yay so excited. Any pearls of wisdom to help us make the most of our stay. We are staying at the Santa Fe for 5 days and 4 nights

 

[mommy2ash]

hi i have stayed at the santa fe twice. i really like it there. it has a nice shop and bar area. make the most of emh. my best times were during those. take time to do all the shows they are great. dont overplan your days just go with the flow. the buses at the santa fe are great. it takes not even two minutes and you are in the park so dont worry about squashing in. go into the shop in the train station before you go into the park for drinks. in the park you will pay 2.5 euro for a bottle of coke its crazy lol.

hope you have a great time

 

[Cyrano]

Best tip is aim to get to the parks for opening or Extra Magic Hours (EMH).
You will get all the headliners and others done before the crowds stream in

 

[Booknut]

Be prepared for some lie-ins in the morning, the beds are the MOST comfortable beds i've slept in anywhere, they are just heavenly mattresses!!!

There are usually a couple of characters in the lobby area around 8am so its a nice way to get some photos without the huge queues. We saw Donald, Goofy and Pluto on 2 separate mornings. We slept in the other morning so missed the characters that day (told you )

 

[MrsVenn]

We've found heading to Frontierland first is a good plan. Big Thunder Mountain builds queues very quickly and is very popular but you'll soon see why

Also make sure you go for a wander 'below' the castle...

Just enjoy it and go with the flow, oh and the best ice cream available is on Main Street (I think it's called Gibson Girl) - Ben and Jerrys eat your heart out!

 

[angel girl]

Don't know if you have kiddies with you and are planning on character meet and greets, if so try the Disneyland hotel at 4pm for a very civilised way to do meet and greet

Also we always watch the parade from the starting point, it's never as crowded, you get really close to the floats and characters and after it's gone you can dash off to rides while lots of others are still watching it!

Enjoy yourselves, I'm sure you'll have a great time!

 

[jennytablina]

We stayed Santa Fe in 2005

If your using Disney express and are getting to Paris before 3pm. Pack light on the handluggage as you may be going to the parks sooner than you think. The rooms generally dont open till then. So dont do what we did and bring suitcases of hand luggage as extra XD (though they can hold it at the reception in lockers, it costs a bit to do as I recall and it means a long queue with the other people wanting to try and get their rooms)

Also if you can get up early at all, be sure to hit the lobby as some have suggested. Mickey and pals turn up there and if your early enough you can practically get some one to one time with the characters before everyone else has breakfast and mobs them. Me and my brother got Mickey and Goofy one morning to ourselves. Mickey was so relieved for some extra company that he rushed out the usual character greet area and gave me a huge hug and kiss!

Also, be sure to book at least one morning for the "Good Morning Fantasyland Breakfast", specially if you have young kiddies. It's free and it allows you to get into the park an hour early and the provided breakfast in the park has a little more variety than the hotel offering, though usually only Dumbo is open during the early hours.

Also the usual disney tips: try and get some popular rides in during the morning when queues are low, use fastpass otherwise, if you want to see parades, be sure to stake a spot at least half an hour beforehand for a good view and most of all...

Have fun! Dont worry too much about getting every ride in or wondering about the park. 5 days is plenty for DLP so I'm sure you'll fit most things in with ease

 

[Magamagò]

My tip is get early in the park during the extra time and also get the fastpasses of your favourite rides, so you may enjoy them also later without queuing too much. You may also meet the characters without getting in a crowd in the other park, the Studios Park. Check the meeting locations and times. We could meet there the new characters of the most recent Disney-Pixar movies.

 

[tttessa]

We booked a wake up call every morning from Goofy on the phone - don't know if it is still there??

There are/were some park secrets too (haven't been for a couple of years)..... Listen to the armour upstairs in the castle - one snores... Listen out going up Main St too - the piano lessons and the dentist are good ones.

We used the 2 arcades each side to go up and down when main st was busy - they are cool and underused. To really cool off if it is hot (not a problem at the minute) , walk through the Aladdin covered area.

The best place to meet characters was in the front lot at the Studios park.

We made use of EMH too - parks are very quiet - but not everything is open then...
I agree with PP go to the DisneyLand Hotel at 4ish and meet the characters too -more relaxed (just) outside the parks.

Eat at Pizzeria Belle Notte - nice and not on the busy side.

A good place to sit with some shade is near the sword in the stone, just the "other" side of the castle to main St

With 4 days, you should be able to watch all the shows too - have a great time!

Tessa