Disneyland Paris Novice Seeks Information....

[Oz-kateer]

Hi DIS-ers,

I haven't been to Disneyland Paris since it opened almost 20 years ago and the memories are vague.... and no doubt it's changed a lot since then.

I'm planning a trip to France in 2012, it will be myself and a nine year old.

We have a week to spend in Paris, and I'd like to include DLP.

Any hints and tips? How many days should be devote to Disney?

Is it better to stay in a hotel in Paris and take a train out to DLP every day, or stay in the Disney Hotels? Having said that, if we stay in a Disney Hotel can we get daily trains into Paris?

What's the best of the Disney hotels to stay in?

What's the best way to book - through Disney direct or is there a preferred travel agent?

Are there packages (like there are for WDW and DL) that include accomodation, meals and tickets, or is it beter to buy it all separately?

We'll be there in either late Sept or early October - what's the weather usually like? The crowds?

Many thanks - any info you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ariel_]

Hi there! I was in DLRP last summer so will try to answer some of your questions

Firstly, you will be able to spend lots more time there than your previous trip - I first visited in 2004 and I couldn't believe how much more there was there last year! We were there for a two days last summer, we went off to a villa elsewhere in France but the weather was rubbish so we actually left and went back to Disney for a further 4 nights! I feel that was more than enough time to see/do everything more than once, although my DBF's sister who is not as much of a Disney-fantatic as myself) was quite ready to leave by then!

I'm not sure about staying in Paris vs. staying in Disney - we stayed in the Newport Bay Club which was great - we were in what appeared to be newly refurbished rooms and really enjoyed our time there. Staff were friendly and helpful and it has a nice pool area.

With regards to when to visit, I can say that most Scottish (and probably other areas of UK) have a week holiday in early October and I'm not sure if this might affect crowd levels - I am a primary school teacher and loads of my pupils have gone during Easter and October holidays for a few days. When we were there in July it was right in the middle of British summer holiday and the crowds were wild! I'm not sure about French holidays or weather around that time.

I hope some of this can be of help

 

[Lizzi]

Hiya,
We stayed in Paris last year, and took a train out to disneyland. It was very easy to do, and took just over an hour from our metro stop.
I will advice you to make sure you buy a 6-zone train ticket though, as we didn't, and got stung for another 25euros each when we got to disney.

I think you could get the train in and out every day, though for the costs of staying in a hotel in Paris, you might be just as better to try one of the disney hotels.

We had just the one day, and with a 1 1/2 year old, it was more than enough to get in all the children's rides and space mountain; but we missed the parade, and I'm going back to do all the adult rides. There's easily 2 days minimum required to do everything though I think.

 

[DLPdaft]

Hi Oz-kateer,
Elaine, Jackie, Elaine and Reid welcome you to the 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
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1477038,
DIS posting guidelines can be found here
http://www.wdwinfo.com/guidelines.htm

the official Disneyland Paris website is a good place to start with your trip planning -
http://www.disneylandparis.co.uk/index.xhtml#
you can get online quotes for hotel/park tickets packages there, plus information on adding meal plans (although they don't save you any money at DLP). Booking travel separately yourself is usually cheaper than having it included by Disney.

Late September is a lovely time to go to DLP, the weather is usually mild and sunny, and midweek the parks are just about as quiet as they get . You don't get evening parades or fireworks at DLP most of the year and the parks may not be open midweek at that time of year after around 7pm.
Halloween season starts 2nd week of October - lots of fun if you would prefer to see DLP in a "season"?