First Disney Trip - Couple of Q's?

[Jonnoweb]

Hi all,

Complete newbie so please be gentle with me!

Currently in process of booking DLP for this October. We are looking at 3 nights/4 days from October 10th and will be flying from Edinburgh.

Q1) The Easy flights from Edi don't get in til late afternoon, so rather than lose a day we though we would fly in Sunday night, stay at an airport hotel in CDG then go down early Monday morning to get Monday in the parks - any recommendations on airport hotels? The extra night at a disney hotel is very expensive as it is a Sunday.

Q2) The holiday is a family treat for my wife's birthday, so we are looking at the better hotels. Originally I thought the Disneyland Hotel looked the best, but I have now been told the New York is just as good if not better. For an extra couple of hundred over the price of the Disneyland Hotel I can get a Empire State club room in the New York - anyone stayed in one of these? Is it worth the extra? I like the idea of the VIP fastpasses.

Q3) Booking half board - is it worth it or are we better just playing it by ear when we are there.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Carrie_Cat]

Hello

Have no idea about N°2 (never stayed in a hotel), personally wouldn't book half board as from what I read it's not worth it but what I do know is that the airport hotels aren't great unless you are going to pay lot's and you'd be better getting a night at Ibis,Kyriad or even Etap hotel at Val d'Europe.

Then you can get a bus or the train one stop to Disney Village and start getting into the swing of your holiday by having a drink, wandering around and eating out there and be on the doorstop ready to go Monday morning

 

[Ms Poppins]

Hi, HNY is lovely - I've never been lucky enough to stay at Empire State though.

If you're thinking of this just for VIP fastpass, I don't know that I'd bother in October. We went last year around these dates and it was really easy to get about. See my trip report on my signature for DLH and you'll see it was quite quiet.

I'm thinking of booking for these dates again this year as we all really enjoyed it.

I've heard that the Kyriad Hotel is nice. As Carrie Cat has suggested it might be best to make your journey from CDG on the evening you get there and check into the Kyriad. The have a free shuttle bus to Disney Village and you can have a wander around the hotel too. Then in the morning it's just the shuttle bus from the Kyriad to the HNY. You can check in early morning and you'll get your park passes to enjoy Extra Magic Hours in the park from 8am.

As far as half board goes - there is another thread on here about this where i've added my views:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2725377

Happy planning

 

[kizzabel]

I would also be inclined to stay near DLP on the Sunday night. You could look at the Kyriad, Dream Castle etc on Expedia or Trael Republic.

As regards the half board vouchers I would only book these if
A - you are confined to budget and want to hae the peace of mind of the costliest part of the holiday already pretty much taken care of
or
B - if you are a budget freak (many like minded people here!) and want you trip planned down to the last detail!
But this can similarly be done approximately by haing a look at the menus/reviews here and on DLRP magic or DLRPfoodguide and working out roughly where you would eat/what you would spend.

If you would like some discounts and extra perks it might be worthwhile buying some shares in Eurodisney SCA.
If you buy between 5 and 19 you must pay a two yearly membership fee of €30 but if you own 2 or more there is no fee.
You receive a shareholders card which entitles you and your family to 15% off buffet and table service meals (excluding Rainforest Cafe, King Ludwigs, Planet Hollywood and McDonalds) and also 15% off most merchandise. It also entitles you to visit Salon Mickey between 9am and 12pm and allows you hot drinks, juices and pattiseries and cookies.

Happy Planning

 

[smallpig]

Hi,

If you just want somewhere to sleep ready for an early start on the Monday, we are planning to stay at the Ibis in Val d'Europe for around 60Euros a night - good deal if you just need somewhere to crash. I imagine airport hotels will be more expensive?

 

[Jakaru]

I'd not bother with the Vouchers myself, I saw a fair few people using them, and I got the impression Each meal started with a conversation about whether they could/couldn't use them, what they could get etc. Who needs the hassle?

As for hotel - we did HNY - and didn't get a nice feel from our trips to the DLH, so know we made the right choice. However (and I missed this from the trip report!), we had a 'lovely' view from the room size windows of a bit of Roof. If you've the money to spend on it, yeah, upgrade, a nice view (while not something we'd have spent hours gazing at, we were asleep at 9!) would I think have made it feel much more Special.

 

[TheTizardFamily:0)]

I also wouldn't upgrade for the FP alone, we visited around that time in 2009 and had no problem with long ques

 

[jillrobinson]

I'd recommend the Kyriad if you can get a good price, I paid £49 for room only for 4 adults for 1 night. We use Easyjet too, so always felt we were losing a day, it worked out very well. In the evening we took the shuttle to the village and did a bit of shopping and had a meal at Annette's to start the holiday off. I'd recommend you get an early shuttle the following morning to the bus station, the Kyriad shuttle does get very busy as it serves all the offsite hotels. The shuttle from the bus station to the Cheyenne was empty as everyone was travelling in the opposite direction. We were extremely lucky as our room was ready, but it's not a problem using left luggage, you'll only need to collect your park tickets and pick up your room key later sometime after 3.00pm, the Consierge service at HNY is excellent and they'll transfer your luggage to the hotel room for you.

Breakfast was offered to us at the Kyriad at check in for an additional charge, we didn't bother intending to call into Salon Mickey, but in actual fact we ended up using up the complimentary coffee/tea and bisuits in the Kyriad and settled for an early lunch.

Hope that helps.