Help needed with DLP planning

[KiwiSue]

I am trying to plan a last minute surprise Christmas Visit to DLP for myself and my 7 year old. I have never been to DLP and if anyone can help with info I would appreciate it. My husband may join us at the last minute, and I am also travelling with an 18 month old. I hope to stay around 4 nights and spend three full days at Disney but I want to use my arrival and departure day to check out the shopping:

I phoned the official bookings line to book accommodation (using the line that I was getting annual passes) and they refused to let me book an accommodation only deal, until I had actually purchased my annual passes! Is this normal?. I have no intention of booking annual passes, I just don't want the usual 'accommodation and park passes' deal as we plan to spend at least one day away from Disney, plus we have no intention of visiting Disney on our arrival and departure day so I don't want to be paying for this.

Anyhow they said they were fully booked from 23 December to early January but offered to book me into somewhere called the Lysee Val d'Europe (I think the spelling is correct?). I can see no mention of this on their website, and no mention of a hotel on the Val d'Europe website. Does anyone know anything about this hotel? They offered me 4 nights for one adult and one child and one baby, including park passes for the whole stay at £373 including breakfast which sounded very good to me. I figure if my husband comes at the last minute we will just buy him a 3 day park pass.

My other query was about how busy the parks will be. I am pretty flexible about when I go - anytime from 18 December to 6 January. I don't really care when but I do want to go at the quietest time possible. I realise it is Christmas and school holidays, but does anyone know when will be the quietest period to go? I was thinking of 2/3/4/5 January but I am really worried about having to tackle humungous crowds with a toddler in tow.

I am also a little worried about the weather. If it simple pours down, does this mean our trip is entirely wasted or it there stuff you can do without having to queue in the rain?

Any help/advice appreciated. We are on a pretty tight budget but I don't want to let that spoil our trip. However I would like a hotel that is fairly decent and clean and safe, preferably with shops nearby we can get something to eat rather than relying on expensive hotel food.

Thanks,
Susan.

 

[Janice]

Hi Sue ~ nice to see you again

I'm giving this a bump for you, I hope that Rob may be able to answer some of your queries, I have only been to DLP once, during the summer and stayed on site so my experience wouldnt be relevant to you. I did notice that lots of the queuing areas in the Park are under cover or inside, and you can walk through an arcade at the back of the shops along Main Street (both sides) which again is great if the weather is bad.

I hope someone with more experience can help you further

 

[Bexx]

First of all the whole 'must buy an annual pass' thing sounds really weird, but I can well believe that they are fully booked for the period you want.

Luckily the L'Elysee Val d'Europe hotel looks fine and it is also a "DLP associated hotel" so it should be good. As far as I can tell is pretty close to both DLP (5 mins on the train and a short walk to the station) and the Val d'Europe shopping centre (but not sure how far from there, I'll try and find out, unless someone else knows).

As for when to go - either from the 18th Dec or up to the 6th Jan should be a bit quieter, after that it will get really busy. I would go for December as all the decorations will be up and it looks lovely. Really gives you that Christmas feeling!

As for rain, there is quite good provision for undercover touring, but the thing to really go prepared for is the cold!! Wrap up really warm and take hats and gloves. We love going when it's cold - all the attractions are nice and warm, and you can always stop for a coffee or hot chocolate! It's best to be prepared though.

Have fun - it's a lovely place

 

[Bexx]

As far as I can tell, the hotel L'Elysee was only opened this year - so it should be clean and decent, and it is a three star. I'm also fairly sure that it is either right next door to or within the whole Val d'Europe shopping place, so that sounds pretty good.

Hope this helps

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

The package-only policy seems to be a fairly recent innovation at DLP, and I find it frustrating. I usually buy annual passes, so I need room-only hotel bookings but when my most recent pass has expired I sometimes find myself in the Catch-22 situation that Susan has come across. Don't have a current annual pass therefore can't make a room-only booking, but need a room-only booking to be able to visit to buy an annual pass! You could try saying that you have been given hopper tickets for DLP as a present (bought at any UK Dosney Store) and therefore you need a room-only booking, or that you have unused days on previous tickets that you want to use.

I've not stayed at the L'Elysee, but it is new so as Bexx said it should be nice and clean.

Attendance did drop quite alot on 2nd January on the only time I've stayed at DLP after New Year, so I guess crowds won't be too bad. The park is designed with wet weather in mind, and is much better at keeping you dry than it's counterpart in Orlando. Most of the queues are under cover, and there is a covered walkway which takes you more or less from the front of the park to the back.

DLP's hotels have a really high occupancy rate, so book early is always god advice.

Regards

Rob

 

[SimonV]

I visited the hotel last month and thought it was extremely smart; a 3* bordering on 4*, and just across the street from the RER station which is under 5 mins from the Disneyland station. All very convenient (and nice and quiet after the parks). The last RER train is about 12.05am, so that is handy, too. And the huge Val D'Europe shopping mall is just a minute away. I would have no worries about staying here at all.

 

[KiwiSue]

Thanks for your help everyone. I think I will go in early January - it gives us all something to look forward to over the first part of the Xmas holidays - and I think I will have a wider choice of accommodation. It will also be easier to sort travel arrangements. I'm glad to see its not just me baffled by this 'accommodation and passes' package. It seems very inflexible on their part (but then maybe they figure their occupancy rates are so high they can do as they please) and I feel really peeved at having to pay entry fees for the arrival and departure days as I have no intention of visiting the parks on these days. I would also like to spend a day in Paris which means I will be forced to pay for 5 days entry as part of my 'package' and only really want to use 2 or maybe 3 days. I forgot to mention that the girl on the official bookings hotline was pretty unhelpful also. Her English was not good and it was a real struggle to make myself understood, and she seemed unable to deal with anyone who was not interested in a straight forward travel/accommodation/passes package. Normally I would love a package deal but their prices really seem high when compared with booking everything myself. The usual Disney story I guess!