Last evening of 4 nights "on a budget". Not all ideas may come in handy for everyone, but just sharing:
* we bought annual dream passes via multi ce advantages at less than 160 euro per adult and one child free. Since we were 2 adults, 1 kid we offered the 2nd kid's free annual pass for free to a friend. I know ce advantages is offering the same deal now so if you have kids, why not start a thread if anyone has one ewtra pass over to use?
* even if you are booking a package, getting your kid a (free) annual pass can be handy to get 10 to 20 percent discounts in the shops and 10 percent in restaurants
* last time we stayed in a bed and breakfast for about 80 euro; this time we booked the novotel collegiene (superior room with queen bed and two single sleepers for about 90 euro; very clean hotel with small surprise for the kids and very friendly service)
* in order to get our kid some one on one character time without doing the crazy lines, we booked 2 character meals. The cowboy cookout was super ( i LOVED the ribs, soooooooo tender and tasty; kiddo had some chicken and cherry tomatoes) cost per adult was about 27 euro before 20 percent discount. You always need to take the menu. The characters came many many times and great interaction (pluto, woody, eejor, winnie, minnie, chip, dale). We also did chef mickey ( mickey, minnie, donald, daisy, tiger).I wasn't very hungry so only ordered a soup. The waiter didn't frown on me. Also, the children's menu is pretty expensive at 18 euro, but you can zlso just order an appetiser of the adults menu.
* at anneths, i ordered of the children's menu. Typical chicken nuggets, nothing special.
* you can't bring in real meals, but generally the staff seems okay with water and snacks
* we told our kiddo upfront that she was only entitled to getting herself one "special", be it a large candy or a souvenir and that way we managed to limit our shopping
* if you're staying many days, there's a lovely outlet village nearby and a mega mall where you will find good food at much cheaper rates ( val d'europe)
then some tips:
Early magic hours always only for disneyland, not the studios.
If you go on a weekend, i think most people first go to disneyland, so you may want to start with the studios instead
Do fantasyland either very early or after 6 pm ( but some rides close around 7.30 pm or so)
Pirates in the evening can drop to a 5 minutes wait contrary to the busy afternoons
Autopia is great, better than the us version i remember but if you want to do this, do it as early as possible !!!! It's one of the few rides i've almost never seen with a minimal wait ( others are orbitron, Petit train de cirque, thunder mountain even long line to get a fastpass!!! So hurry there first!, in studios crusher and streetracer)
In studios sometimes you have the characters come out in large groups and sign autographs
At 5 pm (sometimes 3 pm) you have many characters do a meet and greet in the disneyhotel (you don't need to stay there). We saw mickey and minnie and rabbit and others
* we bought annual dream passes via multi ce advantages at less than 160 euro per adult and one child free. Since we were 2 adults, 1 kid we offered the 2nd kid's free annual pass for free to a friend. I know ce advantages is offering the same deal now so if you have kids, why not start a thread if anyone has one ewtra pass over to use?
* even if you are booking a package, getting your kid a (free) annual pass can be handy to get 10 to 20 percent discounts in the shops and 10 percent in restaurants
* last time we stayed in a bed and breakfast for about 80 euro; this time we booked the novotel collegiene (superior room with queen bed and two single sleepers for about 90 euro; very clean hotel with small surprise for the kids and very friendly service)
* in order to get our kid some one on one character time without doing the crazy lines, we booked 2 character meals. The cowboy cookout was super ( i LOVED the ribs, soooooooo tender and tasty; kiddo had some chicken and cherry tomatoes) cost per adult was about 27 euro before 20 percent discount. You always need to take the menu. The characters came many many times and great interaction (pluto, woody, eejor, winnie, minnie, chip, dale). We also did chef mickey ( mickey, minnie, donald, daisy, tiger).I wasn't very hungry so only ordered a soup. The waiter didn't frown on me. Also, the children's menu is pretty expensive at 18 euro, but you can zlso just order an appetiser of the adults menu.
* at anneths, i ordered of the children's menu. Typical chicken nuggets, nothing special.
* you can't bring in real meals, but generally the staff seems okay with water and snacks
* we told our kiddo upfront that she was only entitled to getting herself one "special", be it a large candy or a souvenir and that way we managed to limit our shopping
* if you're staying many days, there's a lovely outlet village nearby and a mega mall where you will find good food at much cheaper rates ( val d'europe)
then some tips:
Early magic hours always only for disneyland, not the studios.
If you go on a weekend, i think most people first go to disneyland, so you may want to start with the studios instead
Do fantasyland either very early or after 6 pm ( but some rides close around 7.30 pm or so)
Pirates in the evening can drop to a 5 minutes wait contrary to the busy afternoons
Autopia is great, better than the us version i remember but if you want to do this, do it as early as possible !!!! It's one of the few rides i've almost never seen with a minimal wait ( others are orbitron, Petit train de cirque, thunder mountain even long line to get a fastpass!!! So hurry there first!, in studios crusher and streetracer)
In studios sometimes you have the characters come out in large groups and sign autographs
At 5 pm (sometimes 3 pm) you have many characters do a meet and greet in the disneyhotel (you don't need to stay there). We saw mickey and minnie and rabbit and others
