getting to disneyland?

[hannymom]

oh, where to begin. i'm in the very very early stages of planning a mother/ daughter trip to paris for her high school graduation. we are looking to go this spring break. if we are staying in paris, is the train the only way to get to disneyland if we are staying in paris and don't rent a car? i think i read somewhere where you have to book the train in advance? it's just the two of us, so that alone scares me going to a country where i don't even know what transportation to take from airport to hotel...........HELP!! PLEASE!!

 

[Happy Tappy]

oh, where to begin. i'm in the very very early stages of planning a mother/ daughter trip to paris for her high school graduation. we are looking to go this spring break. if we are staying in paris, is the train the only way to get to disneyland if we are staying in paris and don't rent a car? i think i read somewhere where you have to book the train in advance? it's just the two of us, so that alone scares me going to a country where i don't even know what transportation to take from airport to hotel...........HELP!! PLEASE!!

I suppose you could hire a private taxi but the train is the best way. It is very, very easy to use and you don't have to buy a ticket in advance. Use the Paris Metro system to get you from your hotel to any stop on RER line A (the orange line) I normally go from "Auber" station. Disneyland is clearly marked on all the rail network maps and they're very easy to understand.

My mum did the trip a couple of weeks ago and she's not very good at stuff like this, she normally panics! But she found it very easy to understand. It's just a case of running your finger from your start point on the rail map and following it until you get to Disney. This will tell you what transfers you need to make. Chances are you'll only have to change train once.

If you let me know your hotel I'll find your nearest underground station and tell you what changes to make.

 

[bavaria]

I STRONGLY STRONGLY suggest that you NOT rent a car. Driving in Paris is extremely different than driving in America - even many Europeans (me included) will not drive there.

Taking the RER or metro is very easy as the previous poster mentioned. You will most likely need to take the metro anyway if you want to see Paris, unless you are planning to do a LOT (and I mean a LOT!) of walking.

 

[hannymom]

we don't have a hotel yet, we only went and applied for our passports last week.
since then i have been searching the internet looking for help in planning. don't worry bavaria, i really have no intention of renting a car.
happy tappy, you said nearest underground station. so does that mean i will be taking a subway to disneyland? help me guys, i don't even know what RER stands for.

 

[Happy Tappy]

we don't have a hotel yet, we only went and applied for our passports last week.
since then i have been searching the internet looking for help in planning. don't worry bavaria, i really have no intention of renting a car.
happy tappy, you said nearest underground station. so does that mean i will be taking a subway to disneyland? help me guys, i don't even know what RER stands for.

There are 3 types of trains in Paris. The TGV, the RER and the Metro.

The TGV is an international train that takes you from Paris to many major cities in Europe.

The RER is the regional train. This is what you take from Paris to Disney.

The Metro is Paris' underground rail network. You'll probably need to take this to get to a RER station on line A.

So your trip will probably involve taking the metro from near your hotel to one of the larger stations (Auber or Chatalet) where you can catch the RER to Disney.

It might sound complicated but it is very easy as it's all colour coded. When you step off the train you just follow the signs to make your transfer. The signs are very simple, they'll just have an arrow and will have an A (for RER line A) in a circle.

When you've decided on a hotel let me know and I'll write a fool-proof trip plan.

Happy planning!

 

[hannymom]

thank you happy tappy. you cleared up alot of questions in that last response. i will definitely take you up on the fool-proof trip plan when i actually book a hotel. right now i don't even know if i am going to try to do it on my own or just use a travel agency. so when we land at the airport, do i will look for an RER train, and then maybe have to take a subway to the hotel?
does A line mean auber station?
sorry about all the questions.....if you ever come to disney world, i would be happy to help you there!!

 

[Happy Tappy]

thank you happy tappy. you cleared up alot of questions in that last response. i will definitely take you up on the fool-proof trip plan when i actually book a hotel. right now i don't even know if i am going to try to do it on my own or just use a travel agency. so when we land at the airport, do i will look for an RER train, and then maybe have to take a subway to the hotel?
does A line mean auber station?
sorry about all the questions.....if you ever come to disney world, i would be happy to help you there!!

I wouldn't use a travel agent for a trip to Paris. It's very east to book things on your own. I use www.kayak.co.uk to search for cheap flights.

Then use a hotel site such as www.expedia.com to find a hotel. If you look on www.tripadvisor.com you will find visitor reviews for many hotels in Paris. Just type Paris into the search box and then browse Paris hotels. Most hotels have candid traveller photos of the hotels so you can get an idea of what they're really like.

When you land at the airport there are several options to get to Paris. If you have alot of luggage it might be better to use a private shuttle company such as www.bstransports.com. Using the rail network isn't much fun if you have alot of luggage!

When I visit Paris it's normally only for a few nights so I travel light and take the train (RER). It's clearly signposted as RER at the airport. When you get to the airport RER station, there are booths with English speaking employees so they should be able to help you when purchasing tickets.

Line A doesn't mean Auber, Auber is just a station on Line A. A is just the letter given to identify that train line. There are several train lines as you can see on the Paris Rail Map As you can see there are many different lines. The ones that are numbered are the metro lines (underground, subway style trains) and the ones that are lettered are the RER. So say you were staying at a hotel near St Michel station, you would take the metro line 4 (purple) to Chatalet then catch the RER line A (orange) to Disneyland Paris.

 

[k_reile]

I just got back from Paris on 10/18 and we found the train/metro system to be very easy though it took me a little while to figure out I could do transfers. I took the RER A to Disneyland Paris by myself and I did not have a problem with it.
The only advice I would have with transportation from the airport to your hotel. First off see if your hotel has transportation from the airport (some did but they were mostly hotels by the airport). We decided to take a taxi to our hotel...cost us $60 euro but we found it easier and a lot less stressful than takign the train since we would have had to do a couple of transfers and walk a couple of blocks with our luggage. Since we had a bunch of luggage...we decided it was not feasible and got a taxi. We just had the address of the hotel written down so we did not have problems communicating with them. Plus we got to see a driving tour of the city which was kinda cool. On the way to the airport from our hotel we had to take a taxi anyways as the metro system adn bus systems were on strike. It was amazing to see the back up of traffic trying to get into the city that day since the public systems were not working.

 

[shellface]

not sure if this is off topic or not but I have one question to add.....

"How much will the RER cost?"

I am planning a trip and I expect to have to use the trains to get to disneyland and my hotel (although I do not know which hotel yet) so this thread has been really helpfull

just would be extra helpful to know what to expect cost wise so that I take enough money to cover travel

thanks

 

[Happy Tappy]

not sure if this is off topic or not but I have one question to add.....

"How much will the RER cost?"

I am planning a trip and I expect to have to use the trains to get to disneyland and my hotel (although I do not know which hotel yet) so this thread has been really helpfull

just would be extra helpful to know what to expect cost wise so that I take enough money to cover travel

thanks

To get to Disney from central Paris it is €6.30 each way (so €12.60 return) for an adult. I normally buy a mobilis. It is a day card that allows unlimited travel during the day. It costs €12.50 for a zone 1-5 pass (Disney is in zone 5, Paris is zone 1)