Help Planning ahead - Americans 1st Time

[EuropaParkFan]

Hello,

There are 7 of us (3 Generations) coming over on Eurostar from London.

What we have already booked :

Airfare from USA to London (to visit relatives there)
1 night Novotel St Pancreas (across street from Eurostar Terminal)

Oct 20 Monday - Leave on Disney direct Eurostar morning train
(no disney express for americans - but we are on exactly the same train)

Arrive around 12:27pm and bring luggage to Disneyland Hotel
(4 days 3 nights)

- fill in the blanks -

6:30pm first night - Buffalo Bills Wild West Show

- fill in many blanks -

Oct 23 Thursday Check out of Disneyland Paris Hotel
Return to London on Direct Disneyland Eurostar afternoon
(same train as disneyland express passengers)

What I haven't booked yet:

Dinner: either Chef Mickey or Inventions for the kids
Lunch: Walt's (view or tables do not matter to us is difficult to get)

The problem is, my family does not like to rush around (a disaster waiting to happen on a disney vacation I know) so should I hold off getting more advance dinner reservations when the time comes?

My family is much happier skipping attractions, eating at wherever is available, than to cram everything in and rush around.

But this is precisely why I think I need some kind of basic plan for everyone?
For example, when we happen to be in Discoveryland (we hit Space Mountain first thing and check it off the list).

Also, we can certainly decide that day 2, we will definately be in disneyland park, therefore a lunch reservation at Walts should not be a big problem.

Since we have mainly seniors and under 4s, I think that getting in the good shows is much more important than getting all the rides in (which not everyone will be able to do).

I was thinking for example that my wife and I can run into the main disneyland park and knock out Space Mountain while the slower members are still getting ready for breakfast.

What do you all think a good BASIC park plan would be?

Thanks

EuropaParkFan

 

[Stitch's Girl]

Hi there,

Well it sounds like you have a lot of planning to do but you seem to know your party and what you want to do.

If you have been to the Amercian Disney parks, Paris is probably a lot smaller.

In Disneyland Paris there is 3 different Areas- Disneyland Park, Disney studios and Disney villiage (mainly restraunts and shops)

Eating shouldn't be a problem at all, there are many places where you can eat without reservation around the whole resort. If you want to reserve somewhere to eat you can do it by ringing (code)160304050, you can also book it at the reception desk at yoru hotel or at the city hall which is very near your hotel if you are staying in the Disneyland hotel! here is a website listing all the places to eat, the type of service, menu, prices etc


a good way to meet the characters and a fun experience for the children would be character dinning at cafe mickey (disney villiage), lucky nugget salon (fronterland in disneyland park), aurberge de cendrillion (disneyland park, meet princesses only and has a set menu for adults and children) however if you are staying in the disneyland hotel there will probably be characters about and a character breakfast

You say you would rather see shows than do rides, the only shows in Disneyland Paris apart from parades etc is Tarzan encounter and The lion KIng show, and winnie teh pooh and friemds in the Disneyland Park and Animagque and a car stunt show in the disney studios. There is also a high school musical outdoors show performance during the months of july and august. The Disney parade is in Disneyland Park and times will be on your programme or map.

There are maps available for both parks and maybe a good idea would be to get these and one of the park programmes with meet and greet opportunities and shows...my advice would be to sit down, work out what you want to do and what you don't mind missing. Maybe if you want to take it at a relaxed pace, take a day for each park. The disney villiage stays open to 1am if you want to have a late meal or go to the cinema or go bowling.

best of luck. If you have any other questions I wil do my best to answer and im sure so will the people on this site. Best of luck!

Aveen xxx

 

[EuropaParkFan]

Stitch's Girl,

Thanks for the excellent advice. Actually, my last time to an American Disney Park was 1986 (WDW). So I am sure that I can use alot of help from everyone. For example, the last time I went to WDW, advance reservations for dinner was not even necessary, at least I don't think so. Character Breakfast at Contemporary was walk-in for hotel guests (right?). Everything seems so complicated and crowded now.

I did do Hong Kong Disneyland last year in October, and we literally walked right into the HK version of Cafe Mickey. Also the whole park did not have a single line over 20 minutes long. Single rider was nothing at all, maybe 4 people. I hope Paris is this empty in October, but I am not so naive. LOL.

I don't want to make the mistake of assuming that we can just book something like Walts after we arrive only 2 days in advance.

----------------------------------------------

Also, I understand that the Disney Studios is much smaller than the Orlando version, but the Disneyland park is much BIGGER than the Magic Kingdom. So I assume we should cram in as much as possible in Disneyland park area, then only spend maybe half a day in Disney Studios?

------------------------------------------------

Since we are doing only a 4 day package, I also assume we should just forget about trying to visit the Val D'Europe shopping area or visiting paris altogether. For the price of staying on site, I want to get as many rides and shows as we can, knowing full well, this may also be my last time to Disneyland Paris (I hope not).

EuropaParkFan

 

[Danauk]

The studios will take more than half a day. You mentioned you wanted to see a lot of the shows, well many of them are in the studios so this will take a bit of time. Unlike WDW at DLRP it is really easy to park hop as the parks are right next to oneanother (more like at Disneyland in California), it is just a few minutes walk from the gate of one to the other.

As for meals, DLRP is not like WDW where you have to book a long time in advance. However I would suggest that you maybe look at some of the menus to decide if there are places you really want to eat at and perhaps book those in advance. Whilst you are there the parks will be set up for Halloween so they might be a little busier than usual, but hopefully not too busy. Perhaps you could book some of your evening meals for after the park closes? If you are staying at the Disneyland hotel the California Grill and Inventions are really good.

 

[ema74]

Hello and

Never been to WDW or any other Disney park but I can tell you 4 days is enough to see both parks and have a great time! We go for 4-5 days with 2 small kids (6 & 2 now) and it's ok, we even have a little break from the parks every now and again.

The direct service is fantastic and I don't understand why you can't book the Express service. You're on the same train after all...

You can benefit from the Extra Magic Hours (should be 2 extra hours every morning for everyone staying onsite) when most of the rides in Fantasyland are open and the queues are very short. And also use fastpasses wherever possible esp Space Mountain.

I'd definitely recommend seeing The Lion King show - it's short (30mins) but great! Stitch live in WDS is also great fun for the kids especially.

Take your time to look around the castle, visit the dragon and just walk around the park. It may be small compared to WDW but you can still feel the magic

If I were you, I would book the restaurants, esp Cafe Mickey and Walts (you can book restaurants up to 60 days in advance) as they may be busy or just to avoid disappointment. If you have daughters like mine who adore the princesses then eat at Auberge de Cendrillon - expensive but well worth the money! The food is different, it's tasty and the princesses/princes interraction is wonderful!

Have a great time!

 

[EuropaParkFan]

Wow,

I think everyone on this forum has already saved me from making at least 3 mistakes off the bat! What a wonderful forum this is!

Anyway, I think I will book 60 days out:

Walt's on day 2 (lunch)
Chef Mickey on day 3 (dinner)

And now I am definately spending one of the 4 days at Disney Studios (full day).

Yippeee!!! Now the long waiting begins.

EuropaParkFan

 

[di$neyf@n]

Hi EuropaParkFan,

Having just come back from DLP and being an American living in Germany I can tell you the $/Euro is really bad and getting worse every day. It doesn't stop us from our beloved DLP though.

I would definitly suggest booking Walt's now instead of waiting till later. I booked for Walt's a few months out and then was told when I called to check my reservations before we left this past week that Walt's was only open Sat and Sun. this is June so I'm not sure it would be open in Oct. during the week either.

Also staying at the DLH is an awesome experience! The charcaters are in a somewhat orderly line in front of the breakfast area each morning.
(you will not find many civilized lines in the park except for a few areas. I really miss being handed a balloon so you can see where the end of the line is)

Depending on the character buffet you could actually pay $85 USD a person. If you don't already have the half board option on your package you can add it on and it will be locked in at the USD rate now so if the Euro drops even more you will still be saving money.

Inventions is a nice buffet with good chracter interaction at DLH. Lots of seafood which we don't do but there was also chicken, steak and lamb choices on the buffet. I believe it is 46 Euro per adult.

DLP is smaller than the states and you will get people smoking everywhere which I don't like and you have to fight to see some characters but I really like the layout of the parks and the Sleeping Beauty Castle wins hands down in my book as being the prettiest between WDW and DLP.

The Val de Europe shopping center is only 1 train stop down from Disney so that is really close. Getting into Paris to see the sites is a little more tricky but if you are at the end of your stay and did everything you wanted to in the parks in could be done.

Also in the Studios you have Cinemagique which IMHO should not be missed and Stich Live which I didn't see yet but have heard good things about.

We have been about 8 times to the park in the past year and a half so ask me any questions and I'll be glad to help. I'll be off line for a week or so though. We're on our way to Switzerland, Italy and Austria.

I am also planning to go back to DLP 3 more times before the end of the year so can check on anything I don't have the answer to in the meantime

 

[EuropaParkFan]

di$neyf@n,

Yes, I saw Cinemagique in Hong Kong Disneyland. But I am sure that this is different. I tried to get into Stitch Live in Hong Kong and kept missing the show by 15 minutes, so I am sure that this will be even more difficult in Paris.

With the exception of a very short trip to Hong Kong Disneyland in 2005, the last time I went to ANY Disney Park was WDW in 1986. At that time it had like 1/3 the attractions it does now. So I should really ignore the "what to see that is different from US parks" threads. I have never been to Animal Kingdom, or even the US version of Disney Studios. This is why I want to make sure and do some planning. This is also why I went crazy and splurged for the DL Hotel. I have years of catching up to do, might as well make it count.

And my YIKESSSS!!! I had no idea the Euro climbed up to 1.6! I thought it was at 1.5 and going down!

Anyway, it is really nice to hear that the Character Meet and Greet is going on at Disneyland Hotel, this reminds me of the good old days in the 1970s, when all resort guests got the character breakfast, no problem. Even though meet and greet is not TECHNICALLY a character breakfast, I understand.

 

[ema74]

di$neyf@n,

I tried to get into Stitch Live in Hong Kong and kept missing the show by 15 minutes, so I am sure that this will be even more difficult in Paris.

The Stitch Live in Paris runs in English every 15mins. It changes with the French show so while the French one is on, people queue outside for the English show. They can accomodate 200 people in the room so the sooner you get in the queue the better. It won't be difficult to get in and see it - we saw it twice in April and loved it both times!

 

[RoosMomKanga]

I think the key to making everyone NOT feel rushed around is PLANNING, PLANNING, PLANNING, and your attitude when you're there! I've planned lots of trips to WDW; we even had a group of 11 several times, and I love it when things feel like they "just happened" to the group, and they all feel like they just stumbled upon something neat (it's your little secret). You have to have the attitude after all that planning that some things will work out, and some wont and that you'll never push it. ie. our recent trip to DLRP I told my gang we needed to shortcut through the castle to get to our next ride...what's this? an entrance under the castle? and wow- there's a dragon! Much better than saying "Hurry up- we need to go see the dragon under the castle before the parade starts!" Give yourself lots of time to get to meals and shows and know where/when things start so you don't feel rushed ever! I'm the only one with the "plan" so if something doesn't work out, or we're too late for a show, I'm the only one who's disappointed and am already replanning for the next show. By then I've planned so well that I can juggle everything easily and know where everything is.

Glad to see you're making some reservations for meals. Having your amount of time, I definately would have booked some character meals. When my kids were each on their first trips to WDW (each about age 4-5) the trip was all about the characters and planning lots of interaction/autographs (the seniors will love watching the kids reaction to the characters too). Allow WAY MORE time than you would in the US for meals as there's no such things as FAST food (the waiting for food/tables isn't nice-even with no lines you wait, but a leisurely meal can be a nice break). Although DLP main park is bigger than MK it really doesn't feel bigger...very well designed and laid out so it's just as easy (easier in the case of Fantasyland) to navigate and park hopping is a breeze. If you haven't already (but I'm guessing you have a package?), you can buy your tickets from the US and print them online to get them paid for before any price increases or just the dollar exchange! Take advantage of EMH and baby swap on rides!!! Get the most out of your FP's...get them even for those that don't want to ride and then those that do can use the extras to ride twice in a row. You'll love the park there!!!!