First Timers to DLP - a few questions.

[pauldents]

Hi, Having done Disney in Florida to death I decided last night we would take a short trip to DLRP this Tuesday the 12th. There will be two mid thirties adults and my four year old daughter.

This is the itinerary so far:

15.30 leave house (Essex)
17.00 Arrive Folkstone Eurotunnel
17.20 Depart Folkstone
19.25 Arrive France
Drive to "Dream Castle Hotel"
22.00 Arrive hotel

Wed 12th Dec

07.30 Checkout, drive to Disney Village and park car in Disney Village.
08.00 Cafe Mickeys breakfast
09.30 Head over to DLP
10.00 Park opening
Lunch
15.00 Leave park
Hospital
19.50 Depart Eurotunnel France
19.25 Arrive Folkstone
18.30-45 Arrive Home (Essex)

Costs incurred to date:

49.00 Eurotunnel
90.00 Hotel
91.00 Park Tickets

Estimated "other" costs
60.00 Diesel fuel
30.00 Toll fees
150.00 Food
50.00 Other incidentals (gifts, parking etc)

We are on a real tight schedule because we are also going to visit my MIL in hospital on the way back from DLRP.

As we are first timers to DLRP would anyone have any tips or any pointers, particularly by those who have driven to the resort or those that have stayed at that hotel. Also, are there any must dos in the park and where would you recommend we eat lunch?

Many Thanks.

 

[maleficent_man]

Hey

Haven't stayed at Dream Castle but have been at the Kyriad which is in the same complex. I'm sure it'll be fine for your purposes.

Assuming the 4 year old would love Fantasyland I would focus there first to do Peter Pan as it'll get busy quickly. Do you want any character interactions? Do you want Christmas specifics? The time you are leaving as well means you won't see the parade - I would focus on the Top 6 Rides/things you'd like to do and get those done.

 

[pauldents]

maleficent_man,

Haven't stayed at Dream Castle but have been at the Kyriad which is in the same complex. I'm sure it'll be fine for your purposes.

Yes, I think we will only be in the hotel for around 9 hours so it should be good for our needs. I initially looked at The Disneyland hotel, but it worked out at £460 as opposed to 90 +tickets, so I opted for The Dream Castle. I realise there can be no substitute for staying on-site, but as we will be in the hotel for such a short amount of time we would only be using the hotel for somewhere to sleep and the Dream Castle fitted the bill and also came in at number two on trip advisor. The plan is to drive over to the Disney Village on the Wednesday morning and park the car in the multi story instead of the main car park and then when we leave the park early in the afternoon hopefully we should get away quite easy

Assuming the 4 year old would love Fantasyland I would focus there first to do Peter Pan as it'll get busy quickly

.

Yes, we would like to focus a bit on Fantasyland. Would you say it is the same strategy as Florida where you hit Dumbo, Peter Pan first etc? Is there anything in that area of the park which we should take a look at?

Do you want any character interactions?

We will be doing a Cafe Mickeys breakfast in the morning, so, hopefully we will get to see a few characters then, but it would be great for my daughter to see a few princesses, but really don't have time to line up. I read on the official website there is a Belle Christmas Village, so I think we will try and squeeze that in.

Do you want Christmas specifics?

Yes, this is one of the main reasons for the trip as we have never visited the Florida parks at this time of year and have always wanted to see the parks during the Christmas period. Are there any areas of the park that you could recommend?

The time you are leaving as well means you won't see the parade - I would focus on the Top 6 Rides/things you'd like to do and get those done.

Thanks. I think our (rough) itinerary will look something like this:

08.00 Cafe Mickeys Breakfast
10.00 Park opening and head to Fantasyland.
10.10 Fantasy land - Peter pan, Dumbo, Small world??? tea cups
11.10 Pirates of the Caribbean
11.10-13.30 ?????????????????
13.30 Walts Lunch
14.45 Leave Park
15.00 Leave resort

Obviously this itinerary is very flexible and having not visited before there may be a few irregularities in there. Are there any recommendations/revisions/additions you could make?

Many Thanks.

 

[Ware Bears]

Have you thought about swopping your Walt's lunch for a Princess character lunch at Auberge de Cendrillon?? That way your DD could get to meet some of the princesses.

There's a dragon under the Castle, hopefully your DD won't find him scary and will enjoy visiting him.

 

[pauldents]

Have you thought about swopping your Walt's lunch for a Princess character lunch at Auberge de Cendrillon?? That way your DD could get to meet some of the princesses.

There's a dragon under the Castle, hopefully your DD won't find him scary and will enjoy visiting him.

Yes, I was initially going to book Auberge de Cendrillon as it looked a perfect place for my daughter. I then found out it is closed on Tuesday's and Wednesday's and when I looked at the kids menu there wasn't really anything on there she would like so I read some reviews on Walt's and opted for that instead. When I booked it yesterday, the CM on the phone said that it would be best to take my cell phone number because of strikes Is this normal procedure in France?

We have never been to DLRP before and my daughter won't know until we arrive there. We are also killing two birds with one stone by visiting my MIL who had a hip operation in Abbeville, France just last week. She also won't know until we arrive at the hospital!

This is the way the Itinerary is looking at the moment:

Tuesday 11th December
15.45 Depart Home (drive 60 miles: 59 Minutes £7.46 fuel)
16.45 Arrive Eurotunnel (self Check-in)
16.55 Check-in (closes 17.20)
17.00 Eat in Passenger Terminal Building
17.30 Back to Car
17.50 Depart Folkestone
19.25 Arrive France (Terminal de Coquelles 62231)
19.30 Depart Eurotunnel Terminal (drive 190 miles: 2 hours 52 Minutes £23.80 fuel Road toll 19.20 Euros)
22.22 Arrive Dream Castle Hotel
22.30 Check-in


Wednesday 12th December
07.30 Leave room check out and drive to Disney Village multi story car park.
08.00 Café Mickey’s – Disney Village
09.00 Leave Chef Mickey’s
09.45 Park entrance
10.00 Park opening
10.10 Fantasyland (Peter Pan Fast pass, Carousel, Dumbo, Tea cups, Pinocchio, and Belles Christmas Village)
Meet Father Christmas at Father Christmas Village (Woody's Roundup Village Frontierland, beside the Chaparral Theater)
Mickey’s winter Wonderland –Frontierland in Chaparral Theater
Adventureland – Pirates of the Caribbean
13.30 Walt’s Lunch
14.45 Leave Walt’s
15.00 Leave Disneyland resort (Drive 125 Miles: 2 hours 7 minutes £15.55 fuel, Road Toll 9.80 Euros)
17.05 Arrive Abbeville (Hospital)
17.15 Park car, find ward/room
18.15 Depart Hospital (Drive 59 Miles: 59 Minutes £8.56 Road toll 7.20 Euros)
19.15 Arrive Terminal de Coquelles 62231
19.20 Check-in (closes 19.20)
19.50 Depart France
19.25 Arrive Folkestone (drive 60 miles: 59 Minutes £7.46)
20.25 Arrive Home.

Total Distance travelled: 494 Miles (250 outward / 244 return)
Total time in car: 7 hours 56 mins (3hr 51 outward leg / 4 hours 5 mins return)
Total cost in Fuel: £62.83 (31.26 Outward/ 31.57 return)
Total cost in Road tolls: 36.2 Euros (£27.00)

As you can see I have planned most stuff down to the last minute as we are VERY tight for time . Can anyone see any irregularities in the above or give any recommendations?

Many Thanks.

 

[abijanzo]

Yes, I was initially going to book Auberge de Cendrillon as it looked a perfect place for my daughter. I then found out it is closed on Tuesday's and Wednesday's

Oh no! We wanted to book a meal there for my Princess mad 3 yr old on a Wednesday! Is it deff closed every Tues & Weds????

Thanks.

 

[A Small World]

We ate there on a Wednesday but it was back in April so I dont know if things have changed. It maybe depends on whether its high or low season. It might be worth phoning to find out

 

[pauldents]

Oh no! We wanted to book a meal there for my Princess mad 3 yr old on a Wednesday! Is it deff closed every Tues & Weds????

Thanks.

Yes, as "a small world" says it definitely depends on when you are going i.e. high or low season. Good luck.

 

[tennisfan]

When you have something to eat at the Folkstone Eurotunnel. I would recommend avoiding Coffee Primo unless it is very quiet as they are so slow in serving people. My uncle who works for Eurotunnel says they receive many complaints about them.

Also you just need to hope that they don't have a problem at the tunnel as that could then delay you leaving. You should be fine but be prepared.

Also if you can I would leave your house a bit earlier, as the traffic has been getting worse across the QE2 crossing and the last thing you need is to be held up.

 

[ManCityMickey]

When you get to Peter Pan, join the queue to ride AND get a fastpass to ride AGAIN!! PP does get extremely busy and your 4 year old will DEFINATELY want to ride again!!!

 

[pauldents]

When you have something to eat at the Folkstone Eurotunnel. I would recommend avoiding Coffee Primo unless it is very quiet as they are so slow in serving people. My uncle who works for Eurotunnel says they receive many complaints about them.

Also you just need to hope that they don't have a problem at the tunnel as that could then delay you leaving. You should be fine but be prepared.

Also if you can I would leave your house a bit earlier, as the traffic has been getting worse across the QE2 crossing and the last thing you need is to be held up.

Thanks for the tip re: food.

My daughter finishes school at 3.15pm, so 3.45pm is the earliest we can get away. I run a business in Kent and live 5 minutes from the Dartford River Crossing in Essex. When I come through the tunnel tomorrow I plan to check out the Bridge to see if it's congested or not. If it is congested we will go straight to Eurotunnel. When the bridge has heavy traffic, it will usually take me 20 minutes to clear it if I get on at the last exit, which should allow ample time to get there. If it is clear we may stop at a drive through at lakeside to grab a quick bite to eat.

 

[Ware Bears]

Hope your trip goes well and that you enjoy yourselves.

It will be a lovely surprise, both for your DD and for your MIL (hope her recovery is going well).

 

[pauldents]

Hope your trip goes well and that you enjoy yourselves.

It will be a lovely surprise, both for your DD and for your MIL (hope her recovery is going well).

Thanks . Hopefully I will have some good photos and a mini-trip report on our return. The MIL will probably have to extend her hospital stay though shock