Uh oh!!!!!! DH called Eurostar today, and I don't understand what they said - HELP

[TLHB70]

I posted a thread over a week ago about DH surprising us with a trip next January. My DD is dying to go to Paris. Because we used air miles for travel, January gave us the best deal. So we are booked January 1-15. We are wanting to travel to Paris from London on January 6. I marked the 10 month date on the calendar because all of the helpful tips here on this board say to call 10 months in advance for the best availability. DH called first thing this morning. The Eurostar lady told him that they do not take reservations until 4 months in advance, 120 days out. She told him to call back in September. HUH? I just read a post on this board that someone called about a week or so ago and Eurostar is available through November. Why did they tell my DH this? He is wanting to book standard premium he said; 4 seats with a table between them so that we can eat and drink. Does that make the difference? He wants to go directly from London to Paris. He said we will take RER to DLP, not Eurostar. Does that make a difference?

 

[DLPdaft]

yes, that does make a difference - because its only the direct London-DLP service that you can book months in advance. You have an indirect (local) leg (Paris-DLP) so that part of the journey (Paris-DLP) is not available to book until 4 months before travel.

I'm not sure of your plans - is it to visit and stay in Paris from London, and then move on to DLP from Paris? What do you want to do when you leave DLP - go back to Paris, return to London, or travel somewhere else?

 

[TLHB70]

Originally DH told me that he was going to book us a package at DLP so that we would stay on property and then move to our Paris hotel. However, now he has changed his mind to save money. He wants to stay in our one hotel (Holiday Inn Notre Dame) the entire time and just take the RER to the parks on three of our Paris days. I diagree with that decision; I would prefer to stay on site. However, this trip is costing a lot of money so to help cut cost, I will follow his wishes. We are able to use some hotel points at Holiday Inn and that is cutting cost.
Does that sound like it will be possible? Or is the Holiday Inn Notre Dame too far away. I told him I read that we should estimate an hour each way travel time. If that is the only negative, then I think saving money will be worth it. Our goal on this trip is to tour London 5 to 6 days, tour DLP 3 days, and spend the remainder of the time touring Paris. DD only cares to see London and Paris. We are going to DLP for Mom. DD thinks she is too old for DLP (17 yrs old).

 

[DLPdaft]

I can't help with the proximity/travelling etc between your hotel in Paris and DLP I'm afraid.

So you need Eurostar between London and Paris direct then - so thats the journey you contact Eurostar about to book (no need to mention the local trips you intend to take at all to them, that may just confuse them ).

I would call Eurostar back and ask when the direct London-Paris fares will be available to book for your dates.

 

[TLHB70]

Thank you. I will call on my lunch break in about 30 minutes.

I just hope that DH's decision is the right one and that getting back and forth from our hotel in Paris to DLP on RER will not be a problem.

 

[HFJohnson]

If I had the choice I would definitely stay on site if possible. Have you factored in the cost of tickets when booking an offsite hotel? These will be included in the onsite hotel plus breakfast and access to the park before the public opening time.

 

[Julesdis]

What's the cost difference between three nights in the Holiday Inn Notre Dame plus three lots of RER fares and an onsite hotel?

Also, have you looked into the cost of staying at a non-Disney hotel near DLP for a couple of nights, where it would be cheaper than a DLP hotel but only 10/15 minutes away on a shuttle bus?

Everyone is is different and you will have your own priorities. If it was me I wouldn't want three days on a holiday where I spent two hours each day on a train!

 

[Carrie_Cat]

You can get a zone 1-5 Navigo Découverte travel card for the week starting 7th of Jan 2013.

At todays price it's 33,60€. This will give you unlimited travel on all RER-Metro-Bus so you can go from Paris to DLP, around Paris and even out to Versailles with the same card

Jan can be brutal weatherwise (negative daytime temps and snow) and you might not even want to do 3 days at DLP. If you are in Paris you can spend a lot of time inside sightseeing, shopping and eating.

It's too early to say how much tickets will be for DLP but if 2013 is the same as previous years there will be offers on park tickets and it could be cheaper for you to buy an AP than a 3 day-2 park ticket.

 

[TLHB70]

Thank you so very much for the help everyone. We have chosen the Holiday Inn Notre Dame for a few different reasons: first, we are able to use hotel reward points and stay there for free; second, it got the highest rating out of all the reward point hotels on Trip Advisor; and third, it is located near a metro area and seems to be in a great location for seeing Paris. The negative about it is that it is NOT close to DLP for me. DH decided that DLP is only a small portion of this trip so he thought saving the money would be worth it.
I have not been able to book Eurostar since we are taking it to Paris and not DLP. That gives DH time to reconsider if I can keep talking to him, working on him....... Believe me, I will try.
Carri_Cat, I knew that it was going to be cold for our trip. I thought, though, that it would average in upper 30s to lower 40s (F) in temperatures. I did not know about negative temps! It will be hard to handle the parks all day in that. We have bought ski jackets, fur lined boots, etc. I guess maybe we should wait until we get there to decide if we want to do the parks. Maybe we should just wait and buy the tickets at the gate after seeing what temperatures/weather will do??????

 

[Ms Poppins]

Carri_Cat, I knew that it was going to be cold for our trip. I thought, though, that it would average in upper 30s to lower 40s (F) in temperatures. I did not know about negative temps! It will be hard to handle the parks all day in that. We have bought ski jackets, fur lined boots, etc. I guess maybe we should wait until we get there to decide if we want to do the parks. Maybe we should just wait and buy the tickets at the gate after seeing what temperatures/weather will do??????

Surely this is reason alone for having at least 1 night at a hotel in DLP

 

[TLHB70]

Surely this is reason alone for having at least 1 night at a hotel in DLP

I completely agree with you! I did tell DH last night about the temperatures Carrie_Cat mentioned. He did not seem concerned about them!!!! Believe me, though, I will keep working on him. I brought up Disney Village last night. I reminded him that I would like to spend a good bit of time there; I told him about the great restaurants there. I explained that it would be too much to take the RER another day to visit that, and that it would be so much easier to get there from an on site hotel.

 

[Carrie_Cat]

Carri_Cat, I knew that it was going to be cold for our trip. I thought, though, that it would average in upper 30s to lower 40s (F) in temperatures. I did not know about negative temps! It will be hard to handle the parks all day in that. We have bought ski jackets, fur lined boots, etc. I guess maybe we should wait until we get there to decide if we want to do the parks. Maybe we should just wait and buy the tickets at the gate after seeing what temperatures/weather will do??????

I said it could be not that it would necessary be

It's the feel like temperature that's negative as DLP gets a lot of wind and when that Siberian wind blows across it's chilly.

This year was mild in real temps - first week in Jan - average was 4 to 9 °, 2010 it was -1 to -4° but it can and will feel much colder and when it's wet.

you can't buy your tickets for next year this early in advance anyway so you'll have time to think about it

 

[TLHB70]

I said it could be not that it would necessary be

It's the feel like temperature that's negative as DLP gets a lot of wind and when that Siberian wind blows across it's chilly.

This year was mild in real temps - first week in Jan - average was 4 to 9 °, 2010 it was -1 to -4° but it can and will feel much colder and when it's wet.

you can't buy your tickets for next year this early in advance anyway so you'll have time to think about it

Thank you. You have been so helpful.