Disney VEA Shuttle

[Bexx]

I've just been looking at the VEA website, purely on a "I wonder if they will ever put on a shuttle from Terminal 3 at CDG" and guess what? THEY HAVE! That will make a huge difference to us. Easyjet do some really good value flights using that terminal, but it was completely offset by the momentous hassle of getting small children, pushchairs and suitcases over to any of the other terminals to catch the shuttle to Disney.

Now being the sort of person who's always wary of things starting to go right for them, is anyone able to verify this information personally - then I will be completely happy!

And one more thing - I noticed that they are also going to several of the new Disney approved/associated (whatever) hotels. Does anyone know they are running separate shuttles for these and, if not, do they stop at them before or after the Disney hotels.

 

[megaelch]

Hi Becky...
with your children and you going did you consider renting a car for the duration of your stay ???
Even a taxi ( around 40 EUR one way ) might be cheaper and lots faster than the VEA when travelling as a family...!! I don`t think they will run seperate buses for the new hotels and they did even run one single bus for the airport, so sometimes the trip from airport to your hotel took me 90 minutes up to 2 hours ...

Stephan

 

[Bexx]

Thanks for your reply Stephan.

To be honest we're quite happy staying with the shuttle, particularly if it does now stop at T3. There isn't much point us renting a car as we would only use it to get to and from the airport, endangering many lives while we try and get used to driving on a different side!

The taxi would be an option if we could be sure of the price. People have mentioned allsorts of prices on these boards alone, and my sister-in-law was quoted over 100 euros ONE WAY when she tried to get a taxi from CDG.

 

[disney_freek]

to be honest.. thats true with the taxi, i work for the UKCC for DLRP and the official cost for a taxi from disney is £70 which is basically bcoz u have to pay for the taxis return journey to their base! The VEA will be dropping of at the Selected hotels after the disney ones as far as we have been told... and they are now running the buses more frequently during peak times! YAY!!!

 

[danandjackie]

vea bus runs to all the disney selected hotels ie. the kyriad, my explorers and the holiday inn.

 

[disneydavey]

try www.vea.fr/uk

they have the times, and locations to go for each terminal, if going from terminal three there are no stairs or lifts to take, just walk out of the baggage claim area out the front door do a right and walk about 100 yards to ur bus, it goes to all the disney hotels but check where they can drop you off such as the train station etc

me and my GF used the buses only last week and we found them very reliable, only us and a couple of other families using the bus about 6.30, very relaible and on time as well

id reccomend them without worry

dave & suzie

 

[DavidYates]

VEA are the retained contractor responsible for shuttle services from Paris CDG Airport to Disneyland resort Paris. I feel compelled to make public this company's awful levels of service and the extent to which they are spoiling the Disneyland holidays of thousands of people every year.

On 12th June 2008 myself, my wife and my two children booked a trip to Disneyland Paris from Birmingham (UK), including the VEA shuttle service from Paris CDG airport to the resort.

Upon arrival at the airport we went to the collection point at the airport. In a two hour period, three buses came, two of which were not full and on each occasion the driver refused to let us get onto the bus. In the meantime our children were tired and hungry after the flight and dozens of families accumulated at the same collection point with equally hungry and tired children all watching and waiting as bus after bus came and went with a big 'bouncer' at the door shoving people away and preventing them from boarding.

The two members of VEA staff at the airport were big agressive and ignorant. They would not tell us why, not nor would they tell us whether we would be allowed to get on any subsequent buses. In fact they scowled at anyone who tried to talk to them, turned their backs and took part in pretend calls on their mobile phones.

Eventually, we had to get a taxi to the resort which cost us Euro78.

We have requested VEA refund us this money since we were forced to pay it after VEA had failed to fulfill its obligation to us and provide us with transport to Disneyland Paris - I have no confidence that they will however.

I should add that not only was this a totally unacceptable level of service but all the personnel concerned were, rude and unhelpful during this incident. This was also the case at at our accommodation, the Sequoia Lodge Hotel, when I asked for their help to resolve the matter.

I might add that the return journey was also a complete fiasco. We only managed to get on the bus by winning out in a physical scrum for two of the fifty seats with over 100 other people from all over Europe. There were parents shouting and swearing and children crying. Luggage was thrown out of the coach and one suitcase broke and its contents were scattered across the road.

What an enduring memory of Disneyland this makes.

Shocking as this was, other people on the bus, seasoned Disneyland Paris visitors, told us that this was absolutely typical for VEA. One Italian couple told us that they now plan for it by storming the bus as soon as it arrives with one parent loading bags while the other elbows their way to the front of the scrum and grabs a seat. You can't blame them. VEA do nothing about it nor do they care - they already have your money and so they do not give a damn whether you get on the bus or not. You either scrap for a seat or miss your flight.

In summary, if you do choose to go to Disneyland Paris, either get the Eurostar train, or budget for a getting a taxi between the airport and the resort, both on arrival and departure.

Do not in any circumstances go anywhere near a VEA bus.

 

[DLPdaft]

Wow!

I have used the VEA from or to CDG/DLRP every time we've visited DLRP, and had no problems whatsoever - in fact, when I was there 2 weeks ago, we had an extremely helpful VEA attendant helping people from the exit at terminal 1 straight to the bus doors.

I wonder what on earth the reason could have been that people weren't allowed on buses which weren't full?

I hope you get this issue resolved to your full satisfaction - I can imagine it must have been a traumatic experience for your whole family.

Elaine

 

[Bexx]

Hello and welcome to the DIS

I'm really sorry you had such an awful experience with the VEA. Like Elaine, though, I've used them a number of times without any hassle, and found them an easy way to travel to (and from) DLP. Maybe I've just been very lucky

I have to admit, I was extremely surprised to see this thread of mine from over five years ago!!!

 

[ElenaP]

Like Elaine, though, I've used them a number of times without any hassle, and found them an easy way to travel to (and from) DLP.

I have used the VEA shuttle in 3 out of my 5 trips to the resort... I usually have had no problem.
In June '05 though, our return trip was similar to what was said in the resuscitating post: we were brutally pushed aside by a group of people (British, I am afraid ) who went on to get the last seats available. I was carrying an 11 months old, and my husband was storing luggage (which had to be taken off the bus). The bus driver was apologetic, but didn't do anything...

Last Nov instead we were the only customers at the first stop in Orly. It was rainy and cold, the bus was right there at the stop, but the driver didn't open the doors until 5 minutes before departure time... it was hilarious, except we had a 3 yo and a 1 yo that were freezing!

So, I would say it is luck: it is usually a good trip, but when it's bad, it can be REALLY bad

 

[Cyrano]

Hi DavidYates and welcome to DLP DIS board
We are a friendly bunch here so please join in on any other thread or if you have a number of questions then just start a new thread for each

If you have not had a look yet, DLP posting rules are here, DIS posting guidelines can be found here.

Like others happy to report VEA has been more than up to the task of ferrying us from CDG to our hotel.
Shame that this instance marred what should have been a great Disney experience.

For others it would be worth being aware that many use VEA without incident

 

[DavidYates]

Thank you for your responses to the post. I 'resuscitated' this post simply because it came near the top of a Google search I did for 'disneyland paris VEA problem'.

I have to say that there are a number of people on the web who, like me, have had a poor experience with the VEA shuttle. Most seem to have more of a problem with the signage for the shuttle at CDG, which we did not find particularly confusing. So, it is good to get a balanced view from other VEA customers through this forum.

While our experience is not perhaps the norm, I do think it serious enough to warrant a response, an apology and certainly a refund of our taxi costs. And notwithstanding the positive comments made here about VEA, I can tell you that the other families we discussed this with, while at Disneyland, had nothing but tails of woe to report about the VEA shuttle service.

Latest news is that a message I sent to info @ disneyland.co.uk has received a reply and they have said that they will investigate the matter and respond through the travel operator where we booked out trip. I will post here again once the outcome of that is settled.

 

[ujpest_doza]

We've used the VEA shuttle 4 times now and intend to use again in September.

We found it okay at Terminal 3 but struggled to find the stop at Terminal 2.

We also had a problem upon our return from SL to Terminal 3 once. We were stood waiting foir the bus at SL where we thought it would stop but it stopped a little further away. When we went over the bus was full and there had been loads of others waiting where it stopped. A van arrived at this point and said another empty bus was on its way. This bus arrived 5 minutes after and while me and my BiL loaded our suitcases my DW and SiL and the our kids got on the bus. When we then tried to get on and pay our fares the driver just went berzerk. Shouting and bawling and pointing, asking who was with who etc etc, until eventually he seemed to understand who was with who and he let us on.

 

[DavidYates]

Further to my post above I am happy to report a satisfactory outcome.

It did not start off too well however. It is difficult to find a place to complain. I eventually sent an email to a load of 'guesstimated' email addresses, one of which apparently got through and was sent on to the correct destination.

Disney replied and suggested that they would deal with the matter through our tour operator, the excellent Travel Councillors. They did say in that email that they would launch an investigation and get back to us within a month.

This weekend I received a sheaf of papers from Disney, via Travel Councillors representing the findings of the Disney investigation. It was non-committal, but apologised for our experiences. Made the point that Disney and VEA are separate companies, but that they expect certain standards from their contractors. It said that they had taken the matter up with VEA ...and so on and so forth...

Ultimately they instructed Travel Councillors to make a payment to us of £65 (approximately €78) in respect of the taxi fair incurred by us when we were let down by VEA.

You cannot really knock Disney. Our experience at Disneyland Paris was great. The park itself if fabulous and clearly their after-sales care is also top-notch. I would still never use VEA again, but I would not let that stop me from going to Disneyland Paris nor saying how impressed I am with Disney both for the quality of the their product and for the way they have handled our grievance.

 

[DLPdaft]

I agree, the after-sales service from DLRP is excellent, IMO.

I'm really glad you got some recompense for your ordeal, and thanks for upating us here.

Elaine

 

[MJ_always]

We also had a big problem with the VEA shuttle to our hotel. Firstly we couldnt find it very well but when we did, we were waiting to get on and loads of people were also trying and before they even counted the amount of people or anything, the suitcases were getting thrown on the storage part and no one helped and there was me, my mam and grandma- non of us are that strong lol.
Then my case got thrown right over the back. We finally got on the bus and paid and the bus was packed. We set off and the 2nd stop was to our hotel SL. There was only about 6 people got off including us. I got my bag and my grandmas but couldnt find my mam's at all. We spent ages looking and the driver eventually got off the bus to see what was wrong but he didnt speak any english so it was hard to explain. He looked and couldnt see it either. So he told my mam to get back on the bus but made me and my grandma wait outside the hotel. It turns out that he went and dropped everyone else off and it was about 10pm by now and my mam was driving around in the dark on a bus with a french man all on her own lol. He went to the first hotel and they checked and there was no bag there. Then suddenly my mams suitcase appeared in the storage on the bus, it had been that squashed and cramped that no one at all could see it even though it was big.
He gave my mam her case to sit with on the bus and she went back to the hotel and as she got off he dropped her case down the stairs, smashing the plastic interior and breaking a few items too.
So because of this we got a taxi to the airport to come home. It was SO much better. Its expensive but the driver helped us all with our luggage and it was safe and secure too. We are planning on using a taxi there and back next time.

Ashleigh x

 

[Ware Bears]

David, I'm really glad you've had a result. Thanks for taking the time to let us know.

Ashleigh, what a horrid experience for your mam. I hope nothing too important got broken.

 

[MJ_always]

I'm really glad things got sorted out David. Sounds like a good result!

Thanks Elaine, luckily it wasnt anything too bad. Her hairdryer got broke that she'd had for years LOL. That was the only thing that went wrong though during our holiday. Disney itself is fantastic!

Ashleigh x