Using Vacation Club points at Disneland Paris

[johnwdw]

Has anyone exchanged points to any of the DLP resorts and which resort is the best value? I am leaning towards the Newport Bay Club.

 

[MrShiny]

We did that in 2008 - which was also when they went to the current system. Under this system, you MUST buy a length‐of‐stay Theme Park ticket for the number of registered guests. Previously, these were included - note they did make the point values lower when they did this change.

We stayed at Hotel New York. We liked the theme and certainly the location. DL Hotel was of course very impressive, but also a lot of points! The one bad thing I had heard about Newport Bay is that the hallways go on forever (think Beach Club, BoardWalk). HNY was much more compact. The Sequoia Lodge is supposed to be a lot like WL. It (as the moderates that you can't do on points) is a short bus drive away.

Note that your stay will include a breakfast. The buffet at HNY was great!

If you want to do Buffalo Bill's Wild West show (which we liked a lot - if you've been to Medeval times you've seen the same format, but the historical bend and herd of buffalo make it pretty special IMHO), you must book that through MS too. Be prepared for them to be a little challenged by the whole process. DLP is probably the thing they book least! In our case, they made an error in our favor by charging us too little for Buffalo Bill. We pointed it out, but they confirmed the error and did not charge us more!

it was a great time! If you've never been, hte parks are like walking into a dream version of "our" parks - everything is a little bit "off" from what we have grown to expect. I hope the new Fantasyland at MK looks half as good as theirs! You'll probably get to know it well, as you'll get into the park early as a hotel guest and pretty much only FL is open - but its much more spaxcious so not crowded at all.

We had a great time and would gladly go back! We loved eating at Toad Hall (even if we couldn't ride there!), Pirates, and even Disney Village (which was hopping with Dutch World Cup fans when we were there!). We even wandered into the steakhouse there to be surprised that it had a Chicago theme! We weren't expecting a oil painting of Richard J. Daley to be one of the first sights we'd see!

We were staying in Paris before that and took the RER there - very nice but gets crowded during rush hours! When we left we took the train to London - that was very cool!

My only advice is be patient with MS and check everything because the person you are talking too most likely hasn't booked DLP before!

 

[johnwdw]

Thanks for the info. The length of stay pass bothers me as we plan to visit Paris while we are there.

To complicate things more, we will be coming off of the cruise. (Still working out the details of getting to Paris from Barcelona).

I thought that using my points would be a good way to go. I'm not sure as to what to do now.

Thanks for your stay info. I was thinking of staying at the Newport Bay Club because of the pool area, but reconsidering.

Thanks again!!

 

[adminjedi]

We used our points for our upcoming DLParis trip at Newport Bay Club. It makes it feel like it isn't costing anything since we have "prepaid". We have plenty of points and didn't want more cash layout at this time. We have planned a private custom all day tour in Paris and will probably do an additional half day to Versailles.

 

[MrShiny]

We stayed a couple nights in Paris before Dlp. That might be a good way for you to go to depending on how much you want to see in Paris. The train between Dlp and Paris is about 45 minutes, so it is also easy to split a day.

If you want a suggestion of where to stay in Paris, we stayed at Hotel DES Bains in the Montparnasse neighborhood. Great area with easy acces to the metro. Hotel des Bains is very reasonable and has family rooms that sleep 4 (twins in one room and a queen in another). Not easy to find a room for 4 in Paris. There is also a coin laundry next door and a supermarket down the block. One of Paris' best creperies is one street over.

We found it really easy getting back and forth go Dlp - we even went to a pin trading night the day before we checked in. Just avoid the rer during rush hour especially if you have luggage! The cars are huge though do other times it is very easy.

Have a great time!

 

[living20057]

For length of stay tickets, is it determined by the nights or days. If I plan to stay for 2 nights, do I need to get 2 day or 3 day tickets. When I do pay for the tickets?

 

[MrShiny]

IIRC, it was the number of days (so in your case, 3) and I believe I paid at time of booking.

 

[Kymm1111]

Im curious about this too. Do you remember what the length of stay tickets averaged out to daily? I couldn't find any pricing on lengrh of stay!

 

[living20057]

Thanks...I was figuring it would be based on days not nights. The tickets are expensive. It is cheaper to buy a hotel package because breakfast and tickets are included. Then just save the DVC points for something else. The tickets prices for 3 days are 529 for 1 adult and two kids. The hotel package is 560. For 4 days the adult ticket is 146 and kids 132.

 

[LouisianaDisneyFan]

Well, that's very disappointing that we're required to purchase length of stay passes when we book there on points. We had hoped to use DLP as our home base for a trip to France, hitting the park every other day and then exploring surrounding areas in between. It doesn't sound like that will work very well if we MUST purchase tickets for every day of our stay. Is this ticket purchase required of those owners who come from abroad to visit WDW as well?

 

[vellamint]

The length of stay passes were a concern to me also......but that is a requirement whether you book on points or not.

I tallied up the cost of the trip both ways and I found it really didnt make sense to use my points for Paris.....the difference was under $500 that I would save but would use a tremendous amount of points.....

I decided to stay in DLP for our whole trip anyway as it felt (to me) more secure for a woman travelling with 2 teenage girls.

 

[Kymm1111]

Well, that's very disappointing that we're required to purchase length of stay passes when we book there on points. We had hoped to use DLP as our home base for a trip to France, hitting the park every other day and then exploring surrounding areas in between. It doesn't sound like that will work very well if we MUST purchase tickets for every day of our stay. Is this ticket purchase required of those owners who come from abroad to visit WDW as well?

Thats what my dh and I wanted to do. It seemed easiest to use DLP as our base and venture out from there. Of course I want to spend time in the parks- just not the entire time.

 

[Kymm1111]

The length of stay passes were a concern to me also......but that is a requirement whether you book on points or not.

I tallied up the cost of the trip both ways and I found it really didnt make sense to use my points for Paris.....the difference was under $500 that I would save but would use a tremendous amount of points.....

I decided to stay in DLP for our whole trip anyway as it felt (to me) more secure for a woman travelling with 2 teenage girls.

So how long did you stay? Did you tour paris and was it through disney or on your own? I'm trying to figure out pricing but the site is kind of vague. When you made reservations is it through dvc even if you are not on points?

 

[cindy74]

I have bin in all the resorts and i think sequoia lodge is the best for youre money its a 10 min walk from the gates to mk and a 5 min walk to the studios you come across a lake and disney village . And if you make a reservation ask for a room in the main building .

 

[Anal Annie]

We are planning to visit Paris for 4 nights before we head to Barcelona for our Med cruise this summer so we wrestled with this idea for months (the required length of stay tix idea REALLY bothered me). THEN when the point charts came out for 2011 I nearly choked!! That sealed the deal for me. Even staying at the "cheapest" property (Sequoia Lodge) on points it was going to be 38 points per night (August - peak season)!! 152 points for only 4 nights in what boils down to a high priced "moderate" hotel?! Ummm...not on our points!! We used approx. that many points for 10 nights at BCV & VB summer before last!! PLUS with staying 4 nights we'd have to buy 5 days worth of park tix @ $758 (when we only want 2 days and are leaving EARLY on check-out morning for Barcelona). I believe the RER train ride is about an hour between DLP and the city. I didn't want to mess with doing that back & forth for 2 days either.

I had always been dead set against renting but then realized we could book a package 30% off on cash for MUCH LESS!! So we found someone who wanted a points transfer and sold them 1/2 of our annual point allotment and are using the cash we got from that transaction for Paris. I haven't booked it yet but probably will this week. I've got it all figured out now...

I asked my UK peeps on my cruise meet thread for their input (there are 2 of them who have been to DLP several times as well as to WDW). They both agreed that the hotels at DLP are basically cheap knock-offs of our WDW properties and suggested for what we're planning to just book a package at a "value" type property. They recommended the Cheyenne as all we're doing is crashing there for 1 night. I can get a one night / 2 day (2 park) package for $533 with their current deal (which expires Feb. 15). That is perfect I think for our intentions. (I priced 1 day of park tix out at $234 and 2 days was $456 for the 3 of us so if I look at what that runs the hotel in the package deal is only $77 / night.) That gives us access to EMH's and 2 days for the parks which is what we wanted and I've found a hotel in the city that is ranked in the top 25 on Trip Advisor. It was recommended by some friends of ours who stayed there 2 years ago. It is the Hotel du Pantheon & is in the Latin Quarter - it faces the Pantheon and is just a couple of blocks from Jardin du Luxembourg and La Sorbonne. It is also within walking distance to Notre Dame and St. Germain de Pres. They have a non-refundable advanced booking deal for 180 Euro / night for a "triple" which we need (that's currently about $237 / night). So we will finish up our day #2 at the parks then collect our luggage and take the train into the city & spend 3 nights there for about $711. Total for the combo is about $1,245 - and we got $1,250 from our points transfer so that is PERFECT!! No unused extra park days and we'll have 2 full days in the city too.

I hadn't wanted to move hotels but we wanted 2 days for DLP and 2 days of sightseeing in the city too & I couldn't stand the idea of having to buy 5 days of park tickets and wasting 3 of them. I will just pack us so that we live out of our carry-ons for the these first few days so I don't have to root thru our checked luggage. I will save that stuff for the cruise.

 

[Anal Annie]

Im curious about this too. Do you remember what the length of stay tickets averaged out to daily? I couldn't find any pricing on lengrh of stay!

There is pricing for tickets only on the DLP website (make sure you change the site to English and pick the United States at the bottom so it gives you pricing in USD not pounds). You can also price hotels alone and compare to full packages. That would be the only way to know what they're charging - BUT they currently have packages for hotel / tickets thru the summer at 30% off. So it's not a fair comparison. I priced tickets alone compared to packages....it's a much better deal to book a package!! Currently adult prices for tickets alone are 1 day / 2 parks $78 pp and 2 days / 2 parks is $152 pp.

 

[Disney Todd]

I've stayed at both Newport bay club (think BCV or BWV) and Sequoia ( wilderness). both very nice but Sequoia a better deal. I haven't used DVC pts there, but remember after an exhaustive phone call finally getting them to allow me to pay cash for the hotel and consider tickets separately or not at all. We ended up spending 3 nights at Sequoia and only buying 1 day tickets. It's about 25 minutes to Paris, so not terribly inconvenient but not the best either since you'll probably spend time on the metro from where the RER drops you off. I do think it's a crock to force DVC members to buy tickets period, much less for longer than one is spending nights in a hotel. No one arrives in the middle of France first thing in the morning and leaves at night. Good luck with that.

 

[TLSnell1981]

You can rent out your points and still get a 'prepaid' vacation. We spent a week at Marriott's Village d'Ile de France. We were a party of 8 and rented a 3br. It was very nice, roomy and the staff was wonderful. We spent a couple of days at DLP, and the rest in and around Paris. We rented two cars, which was easier for our group. I have stayed in Paris, but because of our group size, Marriott was more economical and convenient.

Which ever route you take, I hope you guys have a wonderful trip!

 

[janischa]

okay, i have a question that may make it an even more complicate question a virtual thumbs up for who can give me the answer to this one

i would love to stay in disneyland hotel (paris), but even when i check with 50% off promotions, the price is steeeeeep ! however, if i look at the dvc point chart, i see (assuming we go in september or in january) points for a one night room are 58 (week). So if I rent it with points (assuming mf fees of 5.5), it costs me usd 319 a night. However, we would need to buy length-of-stay tickets. My hubbie and i have annual passes for dlp so do you think it's possible to make the reservation on one person and then later on add other people ? And in that case, would these people than also be required to purchase tickets (even if they have annual passes ?) has anyone ever done this ?

 

[Sid74]

Hi,
It doesn't matter if you have APs or not for Disneyland Paris. If you are booking a hotel using points, you have to pay for length of stay park passes up front, or they won't make the booking.
You also have to tell them all of the people who will be staying in the room at time of booking, you can't add people later, as far as I have been told.

I have used points twice at DLP. I had points that were going to expire after being banked, and as I live in the UK, and couldn't get to the US to use them, it was a great Disney fix. I love Disneyland Paris anyway, so it was no hardship to use my points there.