First time to Disneyland Paris! So excited but lots of questions!

[angiebaylor]

My dh, dd (6) and I will be going to DLP for a couple of days in June! We have been to WDW and DLR many times and SO excited to get to see and experience DLP!!! We are tagging this on to my husbands work trip and I have not had near enough time to research this like I usually do for my Disney trips and was hoping you could help me!

First question....best way to get to DLP....we will be staying two nights in Paris at the Westin and will be staying Sunday and Monday night at the Santa Fe hotel. So we plan to leave Sunday morning to get there to get the most of the day at the parks on Sunday. From the Westin what would be the best way to get to our hotel (the santa fe) for check-in....also we will be leaving Tuesday morning to get back to Paris to catch the Eurostar to London....also any tips or ideas on this would be so appreciative too!!

Second question...what will the crowds be like....we will be there Fathers Day and the Monday afterwards....I know at WDW this is a pretty high crowd time....is it the same with DLP? What is the weather like this time of year too? Rainy? should we bring ponchos like we usually do when we go to Florida?

Third question...I have a 6 year old daughter who LOVES the characters! Are there several places to meet characters and do they have a times guide that will show when and where the characters are? Any inside tips on character meeting would be great too!

Fourth Question...my dd also loves to pin trade...do they do that there too?

I am going to go through other posts too and try and read up on all I can but any other tips for a first timer would be so helpful and appreciated!!

Thank you in advace for any help and tips you may have!!

 

[Ms Poppins]

Hi

My dh, dd (6) and I will be going to DLP for a couple of days in June! We have been to WDW and DLR many times and SO excited to get to see and experience DLP!!! We are tagging this on to my husbands work trip and I have not had near enough time to research this like I usually do for my Disney trips and was hoping you could help me!

First question....best way to get to DLP....we will be staying two nights in Paris at the Westin and will be staying Sunday and Monday night at the Santa Fe hotel. So we plan to leave Sunday morning to get there to get the most of the day at the parks on Sunday. From the Westin what would be the best way to get to our hotel (the santa fe) for check-in....also we will be leaving Tuesday morning to get back to Paris to catch the Eurostar to London....also any tips or ideas on this would be so appreciative too!!

Marne la Valle train station is literally at the gates to the parks and Disney Village. You can get the train from Paris directly to DLP. The main bus hub is also right there, meaning you can get the free shuttle bus direct to the Santa Fe. The Eurostar also goes from this station, so maybe your ticket will be for the same train? Might be worth finding out to save you trekking back to Paris, only to find out its the same train!

Second question...what will the crowds be like....we will be there Fathers Day and the Monday afterwards....I know at WDW this is a pretty high crowd time....is it the same with DLP? What is the weather like this time of year too? Rainy? should we bring ponchos like we usually do when we go to Florida? If you're there mid-week, it's generally quieter, but getting towards holiday time. Shouldn't be too bad - we've been in last week of June previously and was very manageable, but hot!!

Third question...I have a 6 year old daughter who LOVES the characters! Are there several places to meet characters and do they have a times guide that will show when and where the characters are? Any inside tips on character meeting would be great too!

You'll be able to meet a character at breakfast time in your hotel. There will be various organised meets around the park, advertised in the park schedule. For princess meets, there is a dedicated princess pavillion in fantasyland, but i've heard it can take a while to queue. I'd recommend booking a character meal for the best experience, Cafe Mickey in the Village is very popular.

Fourth Question...my dd also loves to pin trade...do they do that there too?

I think so, sorry I don't pin trade so don't know much about it.

I am going to go through other posts too and try and read up on all I can but any other tips for a first timer would be so helpful and appreciated!!

Thank you in advace for any help and tips you may have!!

Hope this is of some help

 

[Johnny_boy]

We're going via Eurostar but via Lille and have to change to the TGV to get to Marne-La-Vallee. I think most of the trains that stop there are TGV, does the Eurostar direct also stop at Paris as well as M-L-V?

My TGV is Lille, CDG, M-L-V then onwards.

The nearest station to your hotel seems to be Tulieries and my MetrO program for iPhone shows (least stops) Take Metro line 1 Direction Chateau de Vincennes, change at Nation to RER A Direction Marne-la-Vallee-Chessy (Parcs Dsneyland).

I'm not sure how familiar you are with Paris, but the Metro and RER (light railway) are all part of the integrated system there. The change at Nation should be fairly straightforward, each line is well signposted and the line normally has 2 ways to go with the final station showing at each end so line 1 is La Defense (business district) to Chateau de Vincennes - you need to head to the Chateau on the way out. Normally the exits will show the numbers for the connecting Metro/RER lines as well as streets or tourist attractions. So at Nation, look for the A in a circle and go through that exit to get to the connecting train, then look for RER A marked Marne-la-Vallee-Chessy (it may also say Parks Disneyland). The same ticket will do you on the Metro and the RER to get to Disney. Someone may correct me on this but I think Marne-la-Vallee-Chessy is zone 5 so the tickets for the central zone won't do you.

The program I mention is free and works offline (no data charges), best to load it in advance, it has metro stations for all the major systems in the world. It will run on Blackberry, Android, iPhone/iPod touch, Symbian, Palm etc. (nanika.net). I have no connection with the company, I just think it's a great piece of collaboration, it is updated by people in the community and is free. There are other apps that will show maps and things but to be honest, I found this the best as it has the tourist sites in it as well.

I hope you have a lovely trip and please ask away, we all love to talk about DLRP here!

 

[MinnieVanMom]

Johnny,
Is this an app I can get from the Itunes store? I was told to only put on apps from I tunes but on the computer it looks great.

 

[Carrie_Cat]

Fathers Day won't have an impact on the crowds. It will be busy on the Sunday, weekends always are, especially if it's sunny and warm like now.

School holidays haven't started, with the exception of Italy, so Monday will be quieter.

The park will be open until 23h so you will have enough time to do what you want.

From Paris to DLP will cost 7,10€ per adult on the Metro/RER (you keep the same ticket throughout) and it's half price for your daughter.

You could already buy your return tickets at the same time, save you doing it at the Marne-La Vallée-Chessy station.

Going back to Paris to Gare du Nord you take the RER A and change at Chatelet les Halles onto the RER B. It's an easy platform change and 1 stop.

 

[Johnny_boy]

Johnny,
Is this an app I can get from the Itunes store? I was told to only put on apps from I tunes but on the computer it looks great.

If you click on the iPhone/iPod touch link, there is an available on the app store link that will take you to the iTunes store to download it.

http://itunes.com/apps/MetrO should also take you there.

If you search on Metro, there are a few apps for under £2 that also look quite good. The is also the official RATP (the company that runs the Metro) app but that needs a data connection and that can be expensive. It was no use to me last year in Paris. The app, Paris Metro looks fairly decent as well but not tried it, it's priced at 69p.

 

[jothp]

The park schedule will tell you about all the organised meet and greets. When characters appear in the parks (apart from in the queued areas) there can be a bit of a scrum around them. They normally do a character meet in the afternoons inside the DLH. It isn't on everyday but you can pop in and see what days/times it might be on when you are there. I believe it is normally Thur-Sun.

 

[angiebaylor]

Thank you all so much! I will definitely be getting that app too!

 

[Johnny_boy]

There's also the official DIsneyland Paris app which has some useful stuff about the parks. It will do wait times when you are there but you'll be charged a fortune for data so not worth it. Some useful information in the app and it's free.

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/disneyland-paris/id396908589?mt=8#

 

[loladelorean]

There's also the official DIsneyland Paris app which has some useful stuff about the parks. It will do wait times when you are there but you'll be charged a fortune for data so not worth it. Some useful information in the app and it's free.

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/disneyland-paris/id396908589?mt=8#

I plan on using this this week (I've got European data bundle with orange so it will never go above £3 a day) so I'll let you know how I get on with it.

To the OP - glad you're excited about DLP, you'll have a great time. Other posters have addressed your travel questions really thoroughly, so I'll pick up on another couple of things...
Weather: this is Europe, so be ready for anything! It's likely to be quite warm but that doesn't mean it will be dry so I'd say pack those ponchos.
Crowds: as carrie says, the Sunday will be busy but Monday should be pretty quiet. Aim to do more of the rides on the Monday as queues will be shorter. On the Sunday you could spend more time taking in the sights, and some shows like Moteurs action, cibemagique and of course dreams.
Characters: be warned some of the "organised" character meets quickly turn into "scrums" that I'd imagine can be quite unpleasant for children. best ways to get time with characters are: character meal at cafe mickey or inventions; see them in your hotel in the morning; the meets where there's an orderly queue like mickey, Minnie and princess pavilion.
Pins: cast members do wear lanyards and will be happy to trade, and you'll find lots of pins for sale in the parks. But it's not as big a deal as I gather it is in America. Sometimes a pin trading board will pop up just inside one of the main st stores so keep your eyes peeled.

 

[Johnny_boy]

I plan on using this this week (I've got European data bundle with orange so it will never go above £3 a day) so I'll let you know how I get on with it.

A bit off-topic but I'd check your bill carefully, I found out on Friday that Orange had taken £13 in data charges off me despite having 49Mb of my data bundle left, I had to add another 500Mb at £7.50 to stop them taking more. Customer services helpfully suggested turning off internet access on my iPhone ... They promised to refund the money within 24 hours. Still waiting! Normally they are fine but they've updated their billing system recently and sent out two lots of top-up messages for magic minutes and data. If you were caught out with this in France, I'd imagine it would very quickly get expensive.

I think there's also free wi-fi available some places via Orange France but not sure if there are any hotspots in Disney as I was with O2 last year. I'll need to look into data bundles, DW is on contract with Orange and I'm on PAYG because I get a better deal on that, but not if they keep charging for inclusive data!

For the OP, if you go to Google Maps and look at Disneyland Paris, you can use street view to look round the station and parts of the parks to get familiar with the area. Though when you come out at MLV, it's quite well signposted and as the buses from the hotels stop there as well it's easy to just follow the crowds!

 

[Johnny_boy]

Angie, we were in Paris last year with a 4 yo and 6 yo, this TR shows some of the things we did, might give you some ideas for the first couple of days if you have them to yourselves. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2802812

 

[angiebaylor]

Thanks so much! Just downloaded the app! and loved looking at your TR too! Getting excited!!!

Thanks again!
Angie

 

[kmg148]

Thanks so much for the app suggestion! I was looking for a good one for Paris that could be used offline.