Off Site Dream Castle Hotel

[crazyfordisney2000]

Hello! We are going to end our upcoming vacation in Paris, and decided to take our adult daughter to Disney for our last 2 days. We have been to Disney World many times, so early entry is not a priority for us. We would like to save $ and stay off site, and I was looking to see if anyone has any input on the Dream Castle Hotel? Or do you have any other recommendations for off site? On site is just frustrating because we want to stay for 4 nights (and 3 full days), but only want 2 days of tickets.

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

Hello! We are going to end our upcoming vacation in Paris, and decided to take our adult daughter to Disney for our last 2 days. We have been to Disney World many times, so early entry is not a priority for us. We would like to save $ and stay off site, and I was looking to see if anyone has any input on the Dream Castle Hotel? Or do you have any other recommendations for off site? On site is just frustrating because we want to stay for 4 nights (and 3 full days), but only want 2 days of tickets.

It is a mistake to think that because you have been to WDW many times that you "know" the parks. Disneyland Paris is very different to the American parks and should really be considered a standalone park.

Early entry at Disneyland Paris is a huge advantage. Both parks have early entry every morning. Early entry is really the only time when rides like Peter Pans flight and Crushes Coaster are under 90 minutes. Early entry means hotel guests can be in the parks from around 8.15am, while offsite guests have to queue up outside the gates and wait until 9am. By the time offsite guests start walking down Main Street, , hotel guests have rope droped the lands and are on rides.

Staying offsite at Magic Castle means you also loose the other huge onsite Disneyland Paris advantage of being able to book restaurants up to 12 months in advance. Offsite guests can only book restaurants 60 days in advance. I booked restaurants 10 months in advance in 2023 and even then some that I wanted were booked out.

Staying offsite at Magic Castle means you have to get the free shuttle bus to the parks. Magic Castle is one of 4 offsite hotels all located in the same area. The free shuttle bus picks up and drops off at all 4 hotels, so you may have to wait for a few rotations of the bus before you can get on and go to the parks. The parks are not walkable from Magic Castle hotel.

All of the onsite hotels are walkable to the parks. Ive stayed at Santa Fe, the budget hotel multiple times and my 8 year old niece and 72 year old mother had no issues with the walk from the hotel to the parks.

 

[zavandor]

Hello! We are going to end our upcoming vacation in Paris, and decided to take our adult daughter to Disney for our last 2 days. We have been to Disney World many times, so early entry is not a priority for us. We would like to save $ and stay off site, and I was looking to see if anyone has any input on the Dream Castle Hotel? Or do you have any other recommendations for off site? On site is just frustrating because we want to stay for 4 nights (and 3 full days), but only want 2 days of tickets.

It's true that you are forced to buy tickets for length of stay, but usually the tickets included in the packages are heavily discounted, because on average people don't make full use of them.
Sometimes you can find the onsite hotels on platforms like Expedia and Booking, but when you price the nights and the tickets separately for fewer days, cost is similar or more.

I've never stayed at the Dream Castle, so no direct experience. It looks lovely though. I would be weary of the position, if you don't have a car. It has a free shuttle to the parks, which means a bit of waste of time every time. If on the remaining days you plan to visit Paris, I would look at hotels in Val d'Europe. It's one RER stop away from DLP, just 5 minutes, it's usually quicker than going back to an onsite hotel by bus.
Also it is the same train you'd take to Paris (in the other direction), so very convenient for that.

 

[Karin1984]

My favourite partner hotel is Campanile. The rooms are nice and clean, the breakfast buffet is good, there is a lot of small activities as a petting zoo, some arcade games. You are the first stop in the morning for the shuttle (last one for drop off).

I often take an Uber to the South end of Disney Village, which has the quieter security area

Do your math when you want to do separate hotel rooms & tickets. The tickets are heavily discounted when you do a package.

When are we talking about? And what are your priorities. Next Summer is the Disney Music Festival with 12 (mini) shows next to the regular entertainment. If you are into shows, 2 days might not be enough if you also want to experience the rides.

Are you into rides, and would you like to do some more than once? Only do the "new" rides to you, or also those you have in the US to compare?

Do you want to meet characters?

Do you plan to buy our version of fastpass (premier access) or guaranteed access for shows?

Early entry at Disneyland Paris is a good perk as all the headliners are open. It can save you a lot of time compared to later in the day.

 

[crazyfordisney2000]

My favourite partner hotel is Campanile. The rooms are nice and clean, the breakfast buffet is good, there is a lot of small activities as a petting zoo, some arcade games. You are the first stop in the morning for the shuttle (last one for drop off).

I often take an Uber to the South end of Disney Village, which has the quieter security area

Do your math when you want to do separate hotel rooms & tickets. The tickets are heavily discounted when you do a package.

When are we talking about? And what are your priorities. Next Summer is the Disney Music Festival with 12 (mini) shows next to the regular entertainment. If you are into shows, 2 days might not be enough if you also want to experience the rides.

Are you into rides, and would you like to do some more than once? Only do the "new" rides to you, or also those you have in the US to compare?

Do you want to meet characters?

Do you plan to buy our version of fastpass (premier access) or guaranteed access for shows?

Early entry at Disneyland Paris is a good perk as all the headliners are open. It can save you a lot of time compared to later in the day.

Yes , I’ve done the math a few times, hoping for a difference, but it’s still more than we want to spend on this portion of our trip. We originally were only going to do 1 day in Disney, but to get on everything we would want, we chose 2 days. We are going March 26+ 27th. We may purchase a fast pass for crush, but that would be all I think. No character greets for us, and we’re not parade people either. I really love FilharMagic in US so if they have a show similar, it would be the only one. We will stay until close to benefit from hopefully short lines end of day. Honestly we are just happy to squeeze in some Disney in our trip. I will also check out Campanile, thank you! We are also currently looking at Hotel Elysee Val d’Europe as another option.