Need help planning 10 year anniversary Trip to DLP!

[cyberbox2]

Hello everyone. I'm planning a trip for my wife and myself for our 10 year wedding anniversary which is Dec 31st of this year. We live in Richmond, Va. I'm taking my family (Me 29, DW 29 DS 11 & DD 8)to WDW from May 27th to June 6th and we are SOOO excited. I just got my ten day MYW tickets in the mail today.

Anyway my dilemma is in December when we fly to Europe for our anniversary (5 days 4 nights), should we fly into London and stay their for a couple of nights then take the Eurostar to Paris for a couple of days so we can visit DLP and other Paris landmarks and then take the Eurostar back to London so we can fly home? Or should we fly into Paris and spend most of our time there and just take a day trip to London on the Eurostar. My budget for this 5 day trip for everything is around $2,000 to $2,500. I feel so helpless when it comes to planning this trip, not so much about finding plane tickets or a hotel, but more about the uncertain things like how much the Eurostar will cost because from what I could find, it seems that going for a day trip from London to Paris is less expensive than going from Paris to London.

I know this is a lot and I'm sorry, but if anyone can shed some light on this PLEASE HELP!

 

[bonhoga]

Hi Cyberbox2

I just wanted to say a friendly hello, while I think about your post - which may actually take me a little time - but I didn't want you to think that I wasn't going to respond.Is everybody coming on the European trip in December - or just the two of you for your anniversary? I bet you'll have a fantastic time whatever, hope you get lots of good tips from everybody


Kaye

 

[Cyrano]

It would depend what you want most from the trip . Visit the capital of England along with Buckingham Place and the other sites of London.
Or visit the Capital of France considered one of the most romantic cities. Visit the Louvre, Musee D'Orsy, Pompidu Centre, Effiel Tower, Arc de Triomphe.
I think you can see I have a favourite
It will obviously be easier to get to DLP and if it is cheaper to go to London then

In all honestly you'll find Paris has much to offer.
Good luck planning.

 

[diberry]

Hi cyberbox2!!!! Lucky you going to WDW in May - how exciting!! We're coming over in August - counting down already!
As far as your trip to DLP is concerned (and congratulations on your anniversary!) I've had a quick look at the Eurostar prices and they do vary a lot and of course you can't book that far ahead anyway. I wouldn't have thought there would be a huge difference in price though whether you go from London to Paris or vice versa.
I suppose it depends really on whether you want to spend more time in London or Paris. You could fly into London, spend the first night, next day and night there, then go to Paris and DLP for a couple of days and nights and fly back from there. It really depends on what you want to do in London and Paris.
We'd certainly love to help with planning the DLP parts of your trip!!!

 

[cstraub]

Hello everyone. I'm planning a trip for my wife and myself for our 10 year wedding anniversary which is Dec 31st of this year. We live in Richmond, Va. I'm taking my family (Me 29, DW 29 DS 11 & DD 8)to WDW from May 27th to June 6th and we are SOOO excited. I just got my ten day MYW tickets in the mail today.

Anyway my dilemma is in December when we fly to Europe for our anniversary (5 days 4 nights), should we fly into London and stay their for a couple of nights then take the Eurostar to Paris for a couple of days so we can visit DLP and other Paris landmarks and then take the Eurostar back to London so we can fly home? Or should we fly into Paris and spend most of our time there and just take a day trip to London on the Eurostar. My budget for this 5 day trip for everything is around $2,000 to $2,500. I feel so helpless when it comes to planning this trip, not so much about finding plane tickets or a hotel, but more about the uncertain things like how much the Eurostar will cost because from what I could find, it seems that going for a day trip from London to Paris is less expensive than going from Paris to London.

I know this is a lot and I'm sorry, but if anyone can shed some light on this PLEASE HELP!

I'm also somewhat lost in my planning of our July DLP trip. I just wanted to let you know that there are day trips from DLP to Paris for the day or for the evening. http://www.disneylandparis.com/uk/g...rk/packages_and_options/day_trip_to_paris.htm
To get to London you may want to consider flying. Price it out. I have found that it is cheaper to fly than to go by train in most cases. I just easliy found a flight from Paris (all airports) to London for $55 USD one way. Check it out at http://www.easyjet.com/en/book/index.asp.

Hope this helps!

 

[MazdaUK]

London is very expensive if you want to stay in the middle - which you would need to for such a short trip. I have noticed when booking other things (holidays in Belgium, Shuttle crossings) the Frence get things cheaper, so it would probably work out cheaper staying in Paris (either at a DLP hotel or one of the others nearby) and getting the Eurostar to London. The journey is about 2 1/2 hours, but because of the time difference you save an hour going to London so if you get a train around 8.30am you will be getting off at Waterloo International (which is right on the South Bank of the Thames) around 10.00am, and you could get a train back around 6.00pm getting back to Paris not too late for your kids. I don't recommend flying because the airports are well out of town at BOTH ends! Good things to do once you get off the train:

Go on the London Eye (you can pre-book through BA) unless there is poor visibility. Cross the Jubilee Bridge - you get great views of London, including the Houses of Parliament upstream and a glimpse of St Paul's downstream - and walk up to the Strand. Get a No. 15 bus to the city and see St Pauls (from the outside as it costs to go inside) then cross the Millenium Bridge to Tate Modern (free). There is a stall by the Tooley Street entrance to London Bridge station selling tradional pasties - a cheap and filling lunch. Get the Tube to Picadilly Circus and have afternoon tea at Fortnum and Mason (historic food store - can be pre-booked and a LOT cheaper than the Ritz - very elegant with a piano player). Walk back to Waterloo OR get a black cab (depending on the weather).

This should give you a good taste of London - if you're not keen on art your kids may enjoy the London Dungeon (Tooley St) or other things in that area like the Britain at War Experience (Tooley St) or HMS Belfast (battleship moored on the Thames nearby).

This would give you a good view of London in a short time with not too much walking.

 

[cyberbox2]

Why is the Eurostar so expensive compared to the Easyjet prices. The only downside to the Easyjet option is that airports take so long to get through, is the Eurostar any quicker. I think I'd like to spend most of our stay in Paris and just do a 8 or 10 hour day trip to London. How far from the Eiffel Tower is DLP and what is the best way to get there, Taxi?

Thanks for your continued help!

 

[diberry]

Eurostar prices vary enormously - we have on our last 2 trips got return tickets for £59 but they can be several hundred pounds depending on which options you take. You just have to look through the options very very carefully. Eurostar gets you from London to the gates of DLP (literally!!!!!) without any hassle in less than 3 hours. Even with Easyjet it wouldn't be that cheap probably because you still have to get from the airport to the parks.
DLP is about half an hour from Paris by train.

 

[MazdaUK]

Eurostar is much more convenient than airports - Easyjet (I think) go to Stanstead which is a long way out of London. If you're only doing London for one day you really need to do Eurostar, as checkin is quicker and easier (especially as you won't have any big bags) and you go right from the gates of DLP (or the centre of Paris) to Waterloo. I used to regularly use Eurostar for daytrips to Brussels for meetings and would never bother with a plane for such a short trip - you spend longer going to and from the airport than you spend on the plane!

 

[wideeyes]

. How far from the Eiffel Tower is DLP and what is the best way to get there, Taxi?

Thanks for your continued help!

You will be best using the RER which is a train service. It takes about forty minutes from DLP to paris on the train. Once you are in paris you can get on another train to get to the Eiffel tower or there is a bus which you can get on and off and various attractions. It is an open top bus, so you can see lots of stuff as your riding around on it.
Have a lovely trip!

 

[cyberbox2]

I'd love to take the Eurostar believe me. However I can't understand why it is so expensive. So far the prices that I'm getting from the Eurostar website is like almost $600.00 for two round trip tickets from Paris to London and back all in the same day. That's just insane. It will be very difficult while we are in Paris to be so close to London and not be able to at least spend a day there.
What do I do? any suggestions.

 

[wideeyes]

hi Perhaps if you fly the day before and stay in a cheap hotel and than spend the day in london and fly back in the eveing to paris, that way you will get a whole day.
Try the preimer travel inn as they are good value for money and clean. You pay just for the room.

http://www.premiertravelinn.com/pti/home.do

 

[MorganB]

I'd love to take the Eurostar believe me. However I can't understand why it is so expensive. So far the prices that I'm getting from the Eurostar website is like almost $600.00 for two round trip tickets from Paris to London and back all in the same day. That's just insane. It will be very difficult while we are in Paris to be so close to London and not be able to at least spend a day there.
What do I do? any suggestions.

There are discount Eurostar day trip prices out of Paris on Saturday and Sunday only. Any other day of the week is $$$$$.

 

[cyberbox2]

How Do I find these deals? I really want to ride the Eurostar.

 

[MorganB]

How Do I find these deals? I really want to ride the Eurostar.

I just noticed they now have day trip fares during the week as well. The lowest price for day trip is 70 euros round trip. It depends on the train you take. Go to http://www.voyages-sncf.com. Look near the bottom left of the page for the british flag. Click that and it will take you to a page in english. Then click "advanced search". This will take you to a new page that should be straight forward. The fares display for each leg. Once you pick the return you will be shown the total fare. Let me know the day you are looking at and I can check as well to see what I am finding as the lowest fare.

Be sure to leave the country in which you will collect your tickets as France and select to pick the tickets up in the train station. You may then go to ANY train station in France ANY time prior to travel and pick up the tickets. You must provide your reservation number and the credit card used at the time of booking to get your tickets.

 

[cyberbox2]

Thank you so much for the link MorganB. I new there had to be a place that I could find reasonable Eurostar tickets. For a day trip for me and my wife the total cost was $188 round trip. That is excellent. Although I can't book our tickets yet because the day we need the tickets for is December 29th it is still nice to have this website when it comes time to need it. Where can I pick up my tickets? How many Eurostar stations are there in Paris to pick up my tickets from?

 

[MorganB]

Thank you so much for the link MorganB. I new there had to be a place that I could find reasonable Eurostar tickets. For a day trip for me and my wife the total cost was $188 round trip. That is excellent. Although I can't book our tickets yet because the day we need the tickets for is December 29th it is still nice to have this website when it comes time to need it. Where can I pick up my tickets? How many Eurostar stations are there in Paris to pick up my tickets from?

Glad to be of help. You can pick up your ticket at ANY train station or SNCF boutique anywhere in France. SNCF is the french rail company. Doesnt have to be a eurostar station.

 

[MorganB]

Odd, in the list of messages it does not show me as the last person to post on this thread even though I am. So I am posting again to correct that