Driving from DCR to parks/village

[nightrider68]

Will be driving to DCR in October which I know is junction 13 on the A4 as have previously driven to HNY at junction 14.

Question is how to get from DCR to the parks/village - do you go back to A4 junction 13 and come off at 14 or try and find way on other roads (looked at maps.google and it looks rather confusing)
hopefully satnav will also come up with an answer

thanks for any replies

 

[Cyrano]

When you come out of the Ranch it is well sign posted to join the A4 and then straight back off again at Jct 14 Should only take 5 minutes.

There was road works there which was planned to be on through to September so it took a few more minutes.

 

[lizbro]

I think reid says it all but i know we were worried but its so easy,if i remember correctly going from the ranch to the parks you don`t even go back onto the motorway type road properly but going from the parks to the ranch you go back on and then come back off again!

 

[nightrider68]

Thanks for your replies - looking at the maps.google it looks very simple using jct 13 and 14 whereas trying to drive past the golf course looked at bit of a maze.

After having the luxury of DLH in March and previously twice at HNY, my wife is a bit worried about DCR (not that we will spend much time there)

Are the cabins reasonable for cleanliness, heating etc ?

Thanks

 

[Sid74]

We love the cabins

We have stayed in them 3 or 4 times and they have always been clean and comfortable, in fact we are just about to book them again for march and we will also be staying there next christmas!

 

[nightrider68]

We have also thought about next February at DCR but my wife wants to wait until after October in case she doesn't like it.

With three children DCR provides a very cost effective way as previously we have taken other family members so that one of our children can officially stay in their room as the supplements for Newport Bay (£100 per night) and DLH (£150.00 per night) are ridiculous.

 

[Sid74]

Have you booked a 2 bedroom cabin? How old are your kids? Because the beds in the cabins are a double and bunks, with a sofa bed in the lounge area.

I hope you don't mind me asking these questions, I just want to be sure that you know what you are getting, so you are not disappointed.

Feel free to ask any questions.

 

[nightrider68]

In October DD will be just 7 and DD and DS (twins) will be 5.

We have booked a one bedroom cabin.

As the parks are open from 8am until 9pm, I don't see that we will spend much time there.

Any tips would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Sid74]

Hi,

Will the twins share a bed? I was just wondering whether you were going to have them share the bottom bunk and your older daughter have the top, or will your son be on his own and the girls together, or will one of them have the sofa bed? Disney make a big thing of saying that the bunks are only for kids of 6 and over, but if yours are ok in bunks there should be no problem, I think they only do it to cover themselves if something should happen, eg, a small child falling out of the top bunk during the night.

We have always found the cabins to be comfortable and well equiped, they come with dishwasher detergent, but only enough for about 2 loads, so depending on how long you are there you can ask for more, the same with toilet roll(my kids always seem to get through loads).

What sort of time are you getting there? We always get there about 9am, and have always been able to check in and get a cabin and all our passes, even though check in isn't until about 3pm, I think they just feel sorry for the mad english people that drive through the night

On our first day we go to the huge Auchan hypermarket at the shopping centre just down the road from Disney and stock up with drinks, snacks and some extra breakfast or supper stuff, it saves a fortune if you don't have to pay Disney prices for food and drinks.

The breakfast at the cabins is collected from a little hut near to the area of cabins you are in, hope that makes sense, you get breads and pastries, juice and hot drink sachets, along with jam and chocolate spread and butter etc, which you take back to eat in your cabin. They tell you what time the hut will open and close and you decide when to collect it, one of use would fetch it whilst the rest carried on getting ready and then we would eat and go to the parks.

The shop at the DCR is expensive for food items, but sometimes has the odd souvenier that is different to the things in the parks, and don't forget that you can have any shopping you buy in the parks sent back to the shop for collection later on.

If there is anything specific you want to know, ask

 

[nightrider68]

They will all fight over who sleeps in the bunk beds as they want them at home (DS already has a mid sleeper) so we'll have to rotate on a nightly basis which will be fun as we're there for 4 nights!!

On 06.50 eurotunnel so expect to arrive about 11 to 11.30am - hopefully we will be lucky and be able to get in straight away - if not just have to take the car full to the parks.

Is the hypermarket next to the designer outlet village/McDonalds/Sea life as seem to remember this from the first visit ?

Are the fridges the same size as UK and are there microwaves ?

Won't be eating there a lot but agree that if the odd meal is outside Disney then it won't be so expensive.

Thanks

 

[Sid74]

When you get to check in, just stand there looking tired and hopeful, if that doesn't work, try politely asking if they have anything that is ready as you have had a very long drive and are very tired and don't want the children to miss a day in the parks, depending on how busy they are, you might get lucky and find they can give you one of the clean empty ones.

Yes, the hypermarket is with all of the things you mentioned, it is about halfway down the shopping centre, try to park near it as it is a bit of a walk otherwise. They sell everything. The food is downstairs, so make sure you start down there or the kids might see the toy section and you'll never get out of there, lol.

The fridge is one of the under the counter ones, it's a good size for a few days, with a very small freezer compartment, and I think there is a microwave, as I seem to recall warming pastries in it. There is also a coffee pot and a cooker hob and pots and pans, I don't know about your kids, but mine will live on ravioli and spaghetti hoops if you let them, so this was fine for us to give them something if they came out of the parks and were still hungry. It was also great for making bacon sandwiches with some of the bread that you get for breakfast, it makes early mornings just that little bit more humane!

Hope this helps.

 

[nightrider68]

The smell of bacon will be frying very early as due to EMH the park will be open at 8.

Looked at the Hotel FAQ after posting the last message and it confirms there are microwaves so will be good for heating the odd thing.

Now only 58 days to go !!

Thanks very much for your replies