Newbie Questions, Please Help!

[glaciermountains]

So this will be our first trip to DLP. We leave in a few weeks and I have just started planning. I am searching the forum, but am becoming overwhelmed, so am hoping for some help. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

1. We will be 3 adults and 3 kids (3,5,7). What would you recommend for hotels. We'd prefer 2 bathrooms. Currently we are looking at a Family room at Explorers hotel. It's $300 a night though... any other recommendations? We'll stay on or offsite, and have a car.
1a. Is there a Free Kid deal? Is it a good deal?
2. Is it true that Disney's website offers different rates for different countries? If so, does anyone know what deals are happening and for which country?
3. What is half board??
4. CHARACTERS!! Can anyone give any information on where updated character meets are listed? We are crazy for characters and I create personalized books for my kids and they love, love, love to look through them. I would like to do this for our current trip, and have found a thread posted in February that lists many of the characters. WDW has Kenny the Pirate and he knows where everyone is.... he's amazing and he mentioned a Eurobob??
4a. If you do your own books... is there a page that I can print pages from?
5. info on Parades and such... is this listed on Disney's website? What parades/shows are not to be missed?? Are there castle lights at night? Fireworks? I said I was new right???
6. Do they do Fastpasses here? If so, what rides would you recommend getting them?
7. Any character meets with long lines.... ones we should get to early?
8. We'll want to head to Paris for a day or so. Is it easy to drive to a train from the area?
9. Some sort of Makeover Boutique for the kids? Bippity Boppity Boutique?
10. Can I reserve character dining online? We'd love to do at least one. What if we're staying offsite?
11. Do they do Photopass? Take your photos and sell you outrageously expensive CD's with your memories? If so, is the Makeover (if they have one) include Photopass pics?
12. Any sort of Lego store nearby?


WOW... I am so overwhelmed. Thanks for reading. Any and all advice is appreciated.

Thanks so much,
Andrea

 

[jothp]

So this will be our first trip to DLP. We leave in a few weeks and I have just started planning. I am searching the forum, but am becoming overwhelmed, so am hoping for some help. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

1. We will be 3 adults and 3 kids (3,5,7). What would you recommend for hotels. We'd prefer 2 bathrooms. Currently we are looking at a Family room at Explorers hotel. It's $300 a night though... any other recommendations? We'll stay on or offsite, and have a car. We have stayed in the residhome val d'Europe before and found it to be good. One advantage is that it is right next door to the RER station and it is only one stop to Disney. We have always booked through someone like expedia.
1a. Is there a Free Kid deal? Is it a good deal?They do free under 7 all year if you stay onsite
2. Is it true that Disney's website offers different rates for different countries? If so, does anyone know what deals are happening and for which country? Yes they often have different sales and offers and you can book with whichever country gives you the best deal - just leave the country as that of the country you are trying to book through. Everything is emailed so you don't need the address
3. What is half board??Half board is a meal plan you can buy in advance for one meal per night of your stay. You can only buy this if you stay onsite
4. CHARACTERS!! Can anyone give any information on where updated character meets are listed? We are crazy for characters and I create personalized books for my kids and they love, love, love to look through them. I would like to do this for our current trip, and have found a thread posted in February that lists many of the characters. WDW has Kenny the Pirate and he knows where everyone is.... he's amazing and he mentioned a Eurobob?? Sorry can't help you with Eurobob. We have always found the meets to be quite random. If you are there before November you can go into the lobby of the DLH at about 4pm Thur-Sun for the descent of the stairs. Until November there will also be characters out in the lobby of each Disney hotel on a rotation
4a. If you do your own books... is there a page that I can print pages from?
5. info on Parades and such... is this listed on Disney's website? What parades/shows are not to be missed?? Are there castle lights at night? Fireworks? I said I was new right??? HCere is the link to the Dlp website - they put a new schedule on each week but they tend to be very similar. The current spring events will only be on until sometime in June though. Dreams is a projection/fountain/firework show that happens at park closing each day
6. Do they do Fastpasses here? If so, what rides would you recommend getting them? Fastpass is available for PP, BTM, Indiana Jones, Buzz, Tot, RRc and I'm sure a few others too that I have forgotten
7. Any character meets with long lines.... ones we should get to early? The princess pavillion has a very long wait
8. We'll want to head to Paris for a day or so. Is it easy to drive to a train from the area? There is a train station right at the entrance to the parks which will take you into Paris or if you stay nearby in Val D'Europe the station there will also take you to Paris
9. Some sort of Makeover Boutique for the kids? Bippity Boppity Boutique? Yes in the DLH but I don't know much about it
10. Can I reserve character dining online? We'd love to do at least one. What if we're staying offsite? There is no online reservation but you can book by phone from 60 days before your visit
11. Do they do Photopass? Take your photos and sell you outrageously expensive CD's with your memories? If so, is the Makeover (if they have one) include Photopass pics?
12. Any sort of Lego store nearby? Yes there is a Lego store in the disney village


WOW... I am so overwhelmed. Thanks for reading. Any and all advice is appreciated.

Thanks so much,
Andrea

I have answered as many as I can for you. I'm sure someone else will be along soon to answer the rest.

 

[glaciermountains]

WOW, thanks! It would have taken me hours and hours to find all that information, I am so glad I posted and very thankful for your response.

 

[jothp]

No problem.

I also meant to say if you do book an offsite hotel through a website other than Disney you will need to buy your tickets separately. Depending how long you are staying it may be worth you buying APs as you can also use these for discounts in restaurants and shops.

Any more questions just ask.

 

[magickate]

So this will be our first trip to DLP. We leave in a few weeks and I have just started planning. I am searching the forum, but am becoming overwhelmed, so am hoping for some help. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

1. We will be 3 adults and 3 kids (3,5,7). What would you recommend for hotels. We'd prefer 2 bathrooms. Currently we are looking at a Family room at Explorers hotel. It's $300 a night though... any other recommendations? We'll stay on or offsite, and have a car.

onsite would need to be 2 rooms so would cost more but includes tickets. Val D'Europe is nearby & there is lots of cheaper accommodation options for larger parties.

1a. Is there a Free Kid deal? Is it a good deal?

yes if you stay onsite under 7s go free

2. Is it true that Disney's website offers different rates for different countries? If so, does anyone know what deals are happening and for which country?

Yes it is true but offers change all the time. Spend a bit of time getting quotes & having a play
3. What is half board??

half board is an optional extra where you buy a dining package. You'll get a meal & snack voucher for each night of your stay.

4. CHARACTERS!! Can anyone give any information on where updated character meets are listed? We are crazy for characters and I create personalized books for my kids and they love, love, love to look through them. I would like to do this for our current trip, and have found a thread posted in February that lists many of the characters. WDW has Kenny the Pirate and he knows where everyone is.... he's amazing and he mentioned a Eurobob??

character central is good

4a. If you do your own books... is there a page that I can print pages from?

Not that I've found. I just use google & do my own.
5. info on Parades and such... is this listed on Disney's website? What parades/shows are not to be missed?? Are there castle lights at night? Fireworks? I said I was new right???

Dreams is an amazing light show on the castle every night. disney magic on parade is on every day. Timing depends on when you go.

6. Do they do Fastpasses here? If so, what rides would you recommend getting them?

Yes. They are free with any ticket, you don't pre-book them. There are 9, soon to be 10 rides with fast pass facility.

7. Any character meets with long lines.... ones we should get to early?

Princess pavilion, can be loooong! & you only get to see one princess. you won't know who it is either.

8. We'll want to head to Paris for a day or so. Is it easy to drive to a train from the area?

You won't need to drive. The station is right next to the village & is an easy 40 minute train ride to Paris.
9. Some sort of Makeover Boutique for the kids? Bippity Boppity Boutique?

Yes they do princess makeovers in the disneyland hotel, prices start at 50euro. You book in the disneyland hotel shop when you got there.

10. Can I reserve character dining online? We'd love to do at least one. What if we're staying offsite?

online no, you ring & book up to 60 days in advance. makes no difference if you're staying onsite or offsite.

11. Do they do Photopass? Take your photos and sell you outrageously expensive CD's with your memories? If so, is the Makeover (if they have one) include Photopass pics?

Not in the florida way, you won't see a photo pass photograph on main street. There is an official photographer at some character meets & you can buy a card to purchase them as a package.

12. Any sort of Lego store nearby?

Yes a nice big new one in the village

WOW... I am so overwhelmed. Thanks for reading. Any and all advice is appreciated.

Thanks so much,
Andrea

hth

 

[glaciermountains]

No problem.

I also meant to say if you do book an offsite hotel through a website other than Disney you will need to buy your tickets separately. Depending how long you are staying it may be worth you buying APs as you can also use these for discounts in restaurants and shops.

Any more questions just ask.

Is an AP an annual pass? I have read that we can buy these through other vendors (websites) and that they are cheaper. I don't get the discount part though... if you have an AP, you can get discounts on hotels and such? Someone mentioned once that if you have an AP, you book your hotel with only one person, but before you arrive you tell them that there are actually 3 people. This somehow is cheaper and you only end up paying the tax for the extra people. ?

 

[jothp]

Yes an annual pass - you certainly used to be able to buy them at a reduced rate from French websites but I think these are now only available to people in France. I don't know if there is anywhere you can buy them in advance now.

You can phone and get an annual pass room only rate for onsite hotels (discounted) but they take the discount off the full rack rate so can often work out more expensive than deals on the website. Another option is to just book one adult into each room through whatever deal is on the website - then when you arrive you tell them that there will be extra people staying in the room and they can stay including breakfast for just the local tax which is a couple of Euros per adult per night. This works out cheaper because DLP price their onsite hotels for package bookings according to how many adults/children are in the room not a price for the room. It is advised if you go down this route to contact the hotel a few days before arriving to let them know you will be bringing extras as there are some rooms with only one bed and you wouldn't want to be allocated one of those.

This link may help with info about APs

http://www.dlrpmagic.com/planning/booking/annual-passports/

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

We are a family of 7 and ended up booking through the uk site with 15% off and free half board. We are staying at the Sequoia Lodge. After searching other hotels and reading reviews etc., we decided it was the best and easiest option! I've never regretted staying onsite at any Disney park, so didn't want to gamble in France Good luck planning!

 

[cherrymarzipan]

A few more options for you, we are a family of six and have often brought a friend for one or other of the children filling the car to a maximum of seven. We have had adjoining rooms in various onsite hotels, one of the premium cabins at the Davy Crockett Ranch and rented a three-bedroom house at Park & Suites Village at Montévrain. All of these options give you two bathrooms (or at least one bath and another shower and loo room).

With regard to autograph books, we just buy the photo autograph books so can slip in the prints afterwards for whoever we see. They hold 14 prints so are easy to fill in a trip. I imagine though that making the books beforehand is half the fun for you!

The new “package” for photos seems to be either €15 or €16 (can’t quite remember exactly) for the first one at time of purchase and €5 for each subsequent one bought at the same time.

I am sure you will have a brilliant time whatever you choose.

 

[Lisa_C]

Is an AP an annual pass? I have read that we can buy these through other vendors (websites) and that they are cheaper. I don't get the discount part though... if you have an AP, you can get discounts on hotels and such? Someone mentioned once that if you have an AP, you book your hotel with only one person, but before you arrive you tell them that there are actually 3 people. This somehow is cheaper and you only end up paying the tax for the extra people. ?

The method that is used is as follows.

You book a package deal for one person only, though include any free children under 7 in your booking (onsite hotels include tickets per person booked). On arrival and when checking in, you simply ask to add the extra members of your party (maximum of three extra per room) and you will pay a few euros, per night, per person. I added three for 7 nights and paid approx €23.

You will need to either buy a Francillian AP through the post (first two days after activation are compulsory black out days and must be adhered to. But ordering through the post solves this) or a Fantasy pass onsite (can be ordered through the post too, but if you find a sponsor, you'll get 10% discount). Any other black out days, not including the compulsory two, are cancelled out on production of the hotel easy pass.

 

[HFJohnson]

I've read that proper photopass is coming to DLP in the summer so depending on when you're going you might be able to make use of it.