I am an american taking a trip to London - first week in April - and want to make a quick one night/two day trip to DLP with my DH and DD(6). I want to get the MOST out of this trip, so I need help?
Disneyland Hotel Right? Do I need Castle Club for best benefits? What is VIP FastPass vs Hotel FastPass?
Do I book transport on train from London seperate or as package? Do I need the upgraded ticket?
Do I book character meals too, or is this included w/hotel?
Do I book park tickets seperate? Or with hotel?
Help, I am a WDW pro, but clueless for this and no US phone number to call and ask my questions.
Thanks in advance.
Hi Mwalsh,
Being a WDW or DL pro makes no real difference when booking DLP, I've found! However, the folks on this board have been tremendously helpful to me.
I have gone through all sorts of contortions to optimize our trip to DLP from London. It's way trickier to book there than DL or WDW.
First, calling overseas is really expensive. I would recommend doing some research and finding a cheap calling plan. I chose Pennytalk, which has a 49 cent connection fee and 2 cents/minute to everywhere I want to call in the UK and DLP. (I spent quite a lot of time on hold trying to get through to DLP, which I whined about in a post several months ago).
Here's a tip: as an American, you can't book your Eurostar travel through Disney. You have to do it yourself. The Eurostar website works fine, but I would suggest booking asap to get the best selection of rates. There *are* some nonstops from London to DLP, but you have to really look through the schedule to find them. Otherwise, you will have to change trains.
Also, because you're American, you can't get the Disney Express service for your baggage on Eurostar. I am told from the folks on the board that having to get your luggage to the hotel is not the worst thing in the world, so you're now forewarned.
The FastPass system is somewhat different at DLP than at DL or WDW. You can collect FPs from all the attractions that offer them (you don't have to wait to get another FP from a different attraction, but you cannot hold multiple FPs for the *same* attraction--so you can get FPs for Big Thunder, Space Mtn, and Peter Pan, but not three FPs for Big Thunder on one admission ticket at the same time--make sense?) Also, you must use the FP within its timeframe (unlike DL, which lets you use them any time after the first hour on the FP). The hotels give a single FP per person per day, and you can get FPs using your park admission tickets. The VIP FP gives you, in the words of the Genie, 'unlimited cosmic power' in the FP world. But it comes at a premium cost by staying at the Castle Club level at the DLH or in the suites at the other hotels.
From what I've seen, booking hotel/tickets seems pretty much the thing to do, especially if you're thinking about the Castle Club. And if you're in on that level of service, you can probably have the concierge book your character meals for you. Or do it when you book the hotel. Breakfast is included with your hotel stay.
There is the possibility of booking room only via Expedia.uk, but you won't get the Castle Club level then. Do the math and see what works out best moneywise.
One trick that I stumbled on is this: if you want to book a dinner at Walt's on Main St., you can save your park time and book the meal for the time when the park closes. So, for example, the park closes at 5 pm, you can book a reservation at Walts for 5 pm, and then spend the next hour or so leisurely enjoying your meal without feeling like you're missing out on park time. However, I've also heard that with the right seating/time, you can get a table by the window and watch the parade from Walts too.
I have called quite a few numbers at DLP, and honestly, from my notes, I can't tell which one was the 'right' one anymore. I do think that someone here might have better than info on this than I do.
