Stay a night in Paris first??

[flic]

We had booked flights before the hotel, flying into Beauvais. Then we found a great package for hotel and tickets but for a night less. So the day we arrive we are wondering what should we do?

Options are to get bus into Paris and stay a night - but what area is the question?? Then get the train direct to Disney the following morning, if we do this where should we stay and from which station would we get a train? The bus from the airport arrives into Porte Maillot.

The other option is just to get transfer to Disney from the airport and stay in an off site hotel for the first night, but then would it be a hassle to get transport from each hotel?

HELP!! I'm stuck and don't have a clue what to be doing.

 

[tinkertaylor05]

What time do your flights get you in? Would it be enough to do anything in Paris and is that something you're interested in?

If the flights are late on I'd probably just get an offsite near to DLP

 

[flic]

The flights are early, we land around 9 or 10am. I might take the kids to see the Eiffel Tower. But should we then stay in Paris or head out to Disney?

 

[Hipster Meg]

Personally I'd take the kids to have a look around Paris and then head to one of the Disney partner hotels, Expedia has a good selection of them. They might not be the cheapest option but you'll be able to get the shuttle bus from the hotel to Marne La Vallee station which is just outside the parks (and vice versa of course) Another option is a hotel at Val d'Europe which is one stop away from the parks. Head to your Disney hotel the next morning early enough and you'll be able to leave your bags there and pick up your park tickets for EMH's!

An advantage of doing this is that you'd have the option of popping down to the Disney Village on your first night to get into the Disney mood (if you were planning on doing Cafe Mickey now might be a good time to do it, give the kids a chance to meet some characters before heading into the park)

For me the biggest advantage of doing this is that it takes out the pot luck element of booking a random hotel in Paris - if you don't know the areas then you could be stuck in some god awful place plus like I said if you get to your hotel early on the day of check in then you should be able to take advantage of EMH's.

 

[jothp]

If you spent the night at the Ibis or the residhome in val d'europe they are both right next to the RER station which is just one stop to marne la vallee to get to your disney hotel in the morning.

 

[cherrymarzipan]

Now for me, a few hours in Paris would be my choice! To do this, the advantage of booking straight into a hotel in Paris is that you wouldn't have to find somewhere to leave your luggage while you went sightseeing. You can then go directly to your Disney hotel the next morning to check in and at least drop off the cases there. You can also find somewhere nice to eat in Paris in the evening. I love the Latin Quarter and I stayed near the Sorbonne earlier in the year. From there we walked to Chatelet les Halles which is the best station for catching the RER-A to Marne le Vallee Chessy for Disneyland or you can catch a metro line there depending on where you stay if you prefer.

If you decide to stay in an off-site hotel near Disney, the Kyriad is perfectly adequate and I think the least expensive of the partner hotels. It has the free shuttle to the station at Disneyland where you could walk or catch the Disney hotels shuttle to your main hotel so I don’t think it would be any hassle to get between these hotels.

Or, yet again, as jothp says, you can get off just one stop before Chessy, at Val d'Europe and stay there.

It really depends how you want to spend this extra time – a rather nice dilemma!

 

[Hipster Meg]

For me the deciding factor would be the ages of the kids - if they're little ones then I'd stay near Disney. If they're older and would appreciate the sites of Paris then I'd follow Cherrymarzipan's suggestion and stay in the city.

 

[flic]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm still undecided, after pricing buses/trains and hotels it costs similar to either stay in Paris or go direct to Disney. Fwiw, the kids are 8 & 3 years old.

 

[Hipster Meg]

Something that's just occurred to me - if you decide to stay in Paris and travel to Disney in the morning depending on what time you go you might get stuck in the rush hour. I have no idea what the Paris metro is like in the mornings but if it's anything like London then travelling with suitcases and two children when it's busy would be a nightmare!

 

[flic]

That's a good point, i suppose it depends on what time we decide to leave Paris at too. Will have to get my thinking cap on and make a decision soon.

 

[flic]

Well, it looks like we have finally made up our mind and that we will book the VEA from Beauvais and go straight to Disney. I think for the first night we will stay in the Explorers hotel as it means we can pass a couple of hours in the pool.

I know if we were to go into Paris the kids would be too hyper and will keep asking when are they going to Disney.

Thanks for all the replies!!