Disney Paris with DVC Points?

[npatellye]

Apologies if this is the wrong board.

We are hoping to take our kids to Paris in 2023. We were originally thinking to book a hotel using our DVC points, do 2-3 days in the parks, and then take the RER to explore Paris each day. I found some old threads that noted MS required you to have a DLP ticket for each day of your hotel stay. Is that still accurate?

If it is, does anyone have recommendations for trades into II for Paris? I don’t want to buy 7-8 days of tickets if we are planning to do perhaps 3 days in the parks and the rest of our time exploring Paris. I would appreciate any and all tips from those who have used their points at DLP and in Paris.

I haven’t been to DLP in over 20 years and, even then, I went because I was studying abroad and living in Paris at the time. I’m sure it has changed considerably in that time. Do you recommend doing DLP before exploring Paris or after exploring Paris? My kids will be 10 and 8 when we are planning to go.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Booking direct with Disneyland Paris a hotel and park ticket package with tickets for your arrival day and departure day and all days in between is standard. The only way as far as I know to get hotel only is if you have an annual pass and ring Disneyland Paris.

You can get hotel only on third party booking sites like Expedia and then buy tickets separately from Disneyland Paris.

As far as using DVC points, in before times there were many threads in the Disneyland Paris section here on DIS about this. The general thought was that it wasnt worth and most people decided not to.

 

[Brian Noble]

does anyone have recommendations for trades into II for Paris?

Paris is tricky. Most of the II resorts in the city area are rental only. The only one that comes up even semi-regularly is the Royal Regency, but (a) even that is pretty rare, and (b) it is on the outskirts of the city.

I think there are two options. One: see if you can get an exchange into the Marriott that is near DLRP. I don't think there is a regional block there for DVC owners, and it's generally available outside prime summer or peak vacation periods for France/UK/etc. Summer is probably much much harder to book. You're going to spend at least an hour one-way between the Marriott and anywhere in Paris via the RER, but it is doable.

The other option is to split the trip. Spend a week in an AirBnB/VRBO/etc. apartment somewhere in Paris, and maybe 3-4 nights at DRLP. We did this when we took the kids about ten years or so ago, and it was perfect. We did the city proper first ("real Paris") before going to Disney ("fake Paris"), and I think that worked well for us.

 

[npatellye]

Paris is tricky. Most of the II resorts in the city area are rental only. The only one that comes up even semi-regularly is the Royal Regency, but (a) even that is pretty rare, it is on the outskirts of the city.

I think there are two options. One: see if you can get an exchange into the Marriott that is near DLRP. I don't think there is a regional block there for DVC owners, and it's generally available outside prime summer or peak vacation periods for France/UK/etc. Summer is probably much much harder to book. You're going to spend at least an hour one-way between the Marriott and anywhere in Paris via the RER, but it is doable.

The other option is to split the trip. Spend a week in an AirBnB/VRBO/etc. apartment somewhere in Paris, and maybe 3-4 nights at DRLP. We did this when we took the kids about ten years or so ago, and it was perfect. We did the city proper first ("real Paris") before going to Disney ("fake Paris"), and I think that worked well for us.

The Marriott was my first thought. Availability is non-existent for this summer and I assume it will be the same for next summer. Maybe I’ll see if I can use our RCI points to try to trade into RCI.

My other thought is to just do a few nights at the Pullman Tour Eiffel and then book a few nights on our own at DLP. My other half doesn’t like the idea of moving hotels but I’m sure he’ll eventually get over it.

 

[mikalkwin]

I would split your stay. You do not want to go to Paris and back using the RER everyday. You’ll enjoy Paris much more if you stay IN Paris for that part of the trip.

 

[npatellye]

Booking direct with Disneyland Paris a hotel and park ticket package with tickets for your arrival day and departure day and all days in between is standard. The only way as far as I know to get hotel only is if you have an annual pass and ring Disneyland Paris.

You can get hotel only on third party booking sites like Expedia and then buy tickets separately from Disneyland Paris.

As far as using DVC points, in before times there were many threads in the Disneyland Paris section here on DIS about this. The general thought was that it wasnt worth and most people decided not to.

I didn’t even think of checking a third party site; thank you!

 

[npatellye]

I would split your stay. You do not want to go to Paris and back using the RER everyday. You’ll enjoy Paris much more if you stay IN Paris for that part of the trip.

That’s kind of what I was thinking but my husband insists he doesn’t want to move hotels. I have time to talk him into it.

 

[Brian Noble]

Yeah, summer in that Marriott is going to be very hard excpet maybe at the very beginning or end of summer. Even Marriott owners (who have preference exchanging in via II) report it being very hard. A non-Marriott owner is going to find it that much more difficult. Still maybe worth placing a request, but I would not get my hopes up.

Moving from the city proper to DRLP once is a lot better than taking the train back and forth every day.

 

[npatellye]

Moving from the city proper to DRLP once is a lot better than taking the train back and forth every day.

Excellent point.

 

[npatellye]

Yeah, summer in that Marriott is going to be very hard excpet maybe at the very beginning or end of summer. Even Marriott owners (who have preference exchanging in via II) report it being very hard.

We were thinking the end of the summer for us up in New England since, by then, most of the US has gone back to school while our kids aren’t back until September. But your suggestion of a hotel in Paris proper and then a hotel at DLP (not using points) makes the most sense to me.

 

[zavandor]

DLP hotels (they're not resorts) are nice for a DLP stay and to stay in the bubble, but they're not that good that you might want to commit a whole vacation and move back and forth to/from Paris multiple days. The cost in point is ridiculous, but with cash they're still way overpriced for the quality. I'd happily use them for a DLP stay, but never as a base to go somewhere else.
The RER to the city center is convenient, but it's still 45 minutes each way, For one day: doable. For multiple days, you'll regret it. If you really don't like a split stay, then an hotel in Paris near a RER A station is the best option.

 

[mikalkwin]

We were thinking the end of the summer for us up in New England since, by then, most of the US has gone back to school while our kids aren’t back until September. But your suggestion of a hotel in Paris proper and then a hotel at DLP (not using points) makes the most sense to me.

You have to keep in mind that in France, most of Germany and also other European countries are starting school only in September too. So that won’t make much of a difference as US guests are quite “rare” in DLP.

 

[nkosiek]

We are doing what you're suggesting this coming August. We've got an apartment off of VRBO near Place de la République. Has a bed for all 4 of us. After 4 days in Paris, we're heading to DLP. Our kids are younger than yours but we're still going to move hotels. Don't want to travel too far via RER every day, and want our kids to immerse themselves in Paris (they are doing Duolingo with us every day).

 

[standardgirl]

Apologies if this is the wrong board.

We are hoping to take our kids to Paris in 2023. We were originally thinking to book a hotel using our DVC points, do 2-3 days in the parks, and then take the RER to explore Paris each day. I found some old threads that noted MS required you to have a DLP ticket for each day of your hotel stay. Is that still accurate?

If it is, does anyone have recommendations for trades into II for Paris? I don’t want to buy 7-8 days of tickets if we are planning to do perhaps 3 days in the parks and the rest of our time exploring Paris. I would appreciate any and all tips from those who have used their points at DLP and in Paris.

I haven’t been to DLP in over 20 years and, even then, I went because I was studying abroad and living in Paris at the time. I’m sure it has changed considerably in that time. Do you recommend doing DLP before exploring Paris or after exploring Paris? My kids will be 10 and 8 when we are planning to go.

Not sure about the current requirement on tickets. But using your DVC points to stay at DLP hotel is a very bad value. You are much better off to rent out your DVC points and use that cash to pay for your DLP hotel stay plus tickets and other costs. If you want to book room only at DLP, third party websites such as booking.com and orbitz.com sometimes have them available. Otherwise, you can book ticket / hotel package directly from DLP. Tickets are included on arrival and departure days as well, so some people try to stay offsite the first / last night to optimise.