Long time no see..Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong trip in the planning!

[Zosha]

I bought the hand warmer things in Kathmandu last year for about $10 for a reusable pair. They just needed to be boiled between uses. I actually might need to dig them out again - I'm heading to London on 25th Dec and they'll probably come in handy!

 

[ehsmum]

Thanks for the tip, Zosha. I'll have a look out for them. And yay for London for Christmas!

 

[ehsmum]

Ugh, I'm frustrated.

I've been trying to book Eurostar for months but couldn't get anything to show up for 23 Dec. Then I read on tripadvisor that you can't book Eurostar until 6months prior. So Tuesday was my 6month window and I tried to book a train, still nothing. Have been trying for 3 days and keep getting the "nothing on this date" message. Have been looking at the magicforum boards and people on there booked their Christmas train trips back in January. So now I'm thinking that I have missed out .

Also, I can't get a Disney property for our dates that will take all 5 of us in one room. Well, I can but the two options are Disney's Newport Bay - way too expensive or Davy Crockett Ranch - cheap but too far away and no shuttle or breakfast included. Also I'm not keen on the idea of being in a wooden hut in the middle of winter!

Looks like my best options are - Adagio Marne-la-Vallee Val d'Europe in an apartment, Algonquin's Explorer Hotel or Hotel l'Elyse Val d'Europe. All with free shuttle bus and breakfast but no EMH. The other option is to get an Airbnb close by which would mean needing a car to get to the parks.

You'd think seeming as this is our 4th park that I'd be an expert at this - not!!!

 

[zanzibar138]

Oh how frustrating! I hope you can get your Eurostar sorted!

I'm a big advocate of Hotel l'Elysee. I think my parents stayed at Adagio on their extra few days because Hotel l'Elysee was booked out. They didn't like it that much, plus it's further away from the train station and the shopping mall.

We got an early entry day while we were there. I can't remember why though. Maybe check whether you can get one with a 4 day ticket?

 

[ehsmum]

I've emailed Eurostar to see what the story is. It's not giving me an option to take London - DLP or London to Paris Gare du Nord. There's only one DLP train per day but there are several into central Paris. It's hard to imagine they would all be sold out this far in advance! If they are and the train is not an option, I'm looking at flying from Heathrow into Paris CDG on BA using FF points. The decision then would be to either train it into and out of Paris, then pick up a car to drive south and on to Italy and Germany. Or pick up a car on arrival and drive to Disney., keeping the car for 3 weeks .If we're staying further away from the parks, it might be handy to have a car . I need to discuss with my DH but he is away this week which is very frustrating! I need to bounce some ideas off him! Hopefully I'll hear back from Eurostar tonight so I can start putting plans in place.

I did package quotes on the Irish Disneyland site as I'd read tips that would give a better price then the UK site. The Adagio came out at 436 euro cheaper then the Hotel l'Elysee. That's 3 nights, 4 day/2park tickets and breakfast. I'm going to head to tripadvisor for hotel reviews - good to know you're a fan of l'Elysee, I will have to see if it's worth the extra money .

 

[BagOLaughs]

Many times in the past I've changed trains at Lille, I'm not sure i've you've looked into this... Its super easy and only add an extra 30 mins to your journey. Its also usually cheaper!

Try seeing how much it is to book the Eurostar and hotel seporately. I'm guessing here but it sounds like you're trying to book everything through Disneylands website?

I've done this many times:

London St Pancras - Lille
Lille - marne la vallee
The change is super easy! You don't even have to change platforms. You just stand for 10 mins and the next train will arrive.

Marne la vallee - Lille
Lille - London St Pancras
A bit different on the way back. You have to leave the TGV at Lille and go through passport control. But its very easy and well signposted.

Apologies if you've already looked into this but I thought I'd add my thoughts

 

[ehsmum]

Many times in the past I've changed trains at Lille, I'm not sure i've you've looked into this... Its super easy and only add an extra 30 mins to your journey. Its also usually cheaper!

Try seeing how much it is to book the Eurostar and hotel seporately. I'm guessing here but it sounds like you're trying to book everything through Disneylands website?

I've done this many times:

London St Pancras - Lille
Lille - marne la vallee
The change is super easy! You don't even have to change platforms. You just stand for 10 mins and the next train will arrive.

Marne la vallee - Lille
Lille - London St Pancras
A bit different on the way back. You have to leave the TGV at Lille and go through passport control. But its very easy and well signposted.

Apologies if you've already looked into this but I thought I'd add my thoughts

Thanks and don't apologise! Any and all advice needed and appreciated . I'm trying to book the Eurostar separately, I didn't even see it as an option through the DLP site? I've tried both the Eurostar website and the Voyages SNF and neither will give me a train on the 23rd December. When going via Lille, do you have to make two separate bookings? I'd hate to book the first sector and then there not be availability on the second! We don't have to worry about the return as we won't be going back to the UK. I'll have another look and see if it will let me book via Lille

 

[BagOLaughs]

I was just having a look at this myself. My last trip was November 2013 to DLP and eurostar let me book both parts of the trip together.

However looking at it now it seems to only give me the option of the direct train. Ummm.... interesting. You're right, there are no direct trains currently displaying for last Nov. & Dec.


Let me have another look

 

[BagOLaughs]

Ok so looking a bit more into it I get this:

It seems bookings only go as far as 13th December at the moment, even for Lille.

 

[BagOLaughs]

Ah ok, I solved half the problem... If you'd like to book tickets through Lille then you're limited to buying 90 days before the return journey. I'm not sure when your return date is but that means you should be able to book on the 10th of September (i think is 90 days before the 23rd) for your journey on the 23rd.



As you can see below the last train that is showing is the 30th November from London.



Also the Direct train schedule only goes as far as 12th December 2015. I have no idea when they'll update this. Sorry I could only give you a half answer but hopefully it helps.

 

[ehsmum]

That's different to what I'm looking at. And cheaper! The price I'm getting is 72pounds. Is that from the Eurostar site?

Anyhow, I got a response from Eurostar and they said the timetable won't be released until 16 July. Which is good cause it means it isn't sold out yet and we still should be able to get the train. But, how did all those people on the magic forum board book already? I'm confused!

 

[BagOLaughs]

I have no idea! Maybe travel agents?

 

[ehsmum]

Thanks so much, BagOLaughs! I did see that about the 90 days prior, but again, I'm confused because I was reading on the other forum that people already have bookings.

We don't have a return, we will only be travelling one way from London as after Disney we are travelling around Europe for 2.5 weeks and then flying out of Frankfurt.

I guess now I wait until 16 July and try again to book the train. Thanks again for all of your help

 

[BagOLaughs]

No worries. I hope you have a lovely time! Also to answer some of your other questions you don't need to pre-book fast pass, still the legacy paper system over here!

ADR are a must for some restaurants - I hear the new ratatouille restaurant is amazing and books up quickly (although yet to visit myself).

Absolutly stay on site! Especially over Christmas, its beautiful. We did Christmas time in the Newport Bay Hotel and it was so pretty!!! Also its much easier to get from the train station (which drops you right outside the parks) to one of the onsite hotels.

Yes its blooming cold here so pack warm! Gloves and hats are a must.

I'm super jealous that you're going to Hong Kong too! My trip is in the planning stages for 2017 so a long time to plan.

And if you're on a budget you can normally save about £20 - £40 per person for a single from London to Marne la Vallee if you stop in Lille but that's up to you as it does add about 30 mins to the travel time.

 

[zanzibar138]

I did package quotes on the Irish Disneyland site as I'd read tips that would give a better price then the UK site. The Adagio came out at 436 euro cheaper then the Hotel l'Elysee. That's 3 nights, 4 day/2park tickets and breakfast. I'm going to head to tripadvisor for hotel reviews - good to know you're a fan of l'Elysee, I will have to see if it's worth the extra money .

We paid about AUD $700 total for *5* nights at Hotel l'Elysee! It's one reason I always recommend it - such great value! We went during low season though, and didn't have park tickets included as we got APs.

Anyhow, I got a response from Eurostar and they said the timetable won't be released until 16 July. Which is good cause it means it isn't sold out yet and we still should be able to get the train. But, how did all those people on the magic forum board book already? I'm confused!

Phew! Glad to hear you didn't miss out

 

[ehsmum]

We paid about AUD $700 total for *5* nights at Hotel l'Elysee! It's one reason I always recommend it - such great value! We went during low season though, and didn't have park tickets included as we got APs.



Phew! Glad to hear you didn't miss out

Yeah, we never get prices like that. Everything x 5 makes for expensive travel!!

As for APs - one of our days is a block out date for the two lower price ones which means we'd have to buy the Dreams AP just to get a few extra hours on Boxing Day. Probably not worth it.

 

[ehsmum]

No worries. I hope you have a lovely time! Also to answer some of your other questions you don't need to pre-book fast pass, still the legacy paper system over here!

ADR are a must for some restaurants - I hear the new ratatouille restaurant is amazing and books up quickly (although yet to visit myself).

Absolutly stay on site! Especially over Christmas, its beautiful. We did Christmas time in the Newport Bay Hotel and it was so pretty!!! Also its much easier to get from the train station (which drops you right outside the parks) to one of the onsite hotels.

Yes its blooming cold here so pack warm! Gloves and hats are a must.

I'm super jealous that you're going to Hong Kong too! My trip is in the planning stages for 2017 so a long time to plan.

And if you're on a budget you can normally save about £20 - £40 per person for a single from London to Marne la Vallee if you stop in Lille but that's up to you as it does add about 30 mins to the travel time.

I'm secretly pleased about the Paris having the old FP system - I'm a creature of habit and not keen to learn anything new!

I definitely want to do the Ratatouille restaurant. I need to suss out the menus at all the restaurants - my youngest is a very fussy eater and I'm not keen on paying big bucks for him not to eat anything (happened to us a lot at WDW - I'd pay $25 for his meal and he'd eat a slice of watermelon! ) so I need to plan carefully. We should be fine with CS most of the time. The only two meals that I want to definitely pre-book will be either lunch or dinner on both Christmas Eve (my birthday) and Christmas Day - don't want to end up eating McDonald's for my Xmas dinner!! We're happy at places like Rainforest Cafe and Planet Hollywood (as long as there are chips for Mr Fussy eater!) but would like something a bit more special for the birthday and Christmas dinners .

I'm not under any illusions about the cold, I know we are going to be freezing! Although, watching the news, it doesn't look like it's very warm in Europe at present. I said to DH the other day that this might work in our favour - if Europe has a late summer, maybe it will only be autumn weather when we get there!

Hong Kong is fabulous! This will be our second family trip and we love both HKDL and Hong Kong itself. It will be a nice way to end the holiday!

 

[Mum from oz]

Wow, long time no see @ehsmum! I remember avidly reading your trip reports in my early days on the DIS. It was you that inspired me to book the fire engine tour of San Francisco!! Seems life a lifetime ago now! So exciting to hear you've got a trip coming up. Not that I can give you any advice or anything.

 

[ehsmum]

Hi Mum from Oz , great to see you! I hope you enjoyed the fire engine tour, that was so much fun! Will get caught up on your TRs when I get a chance

 

[ehsmum]

I've booked our Eurostar! The new timetable was released today and we're on the 10.14am train direct from London St Pancras to Paris Disneyland on 23 December!! It was more expensive then expected (65 pounds per person instead of 41 pounds) (and all my kids will be "adults" by then as the youngest will have turned 12 ) but I expect that being Christmas time. So excited!!