Where do I start?

[LauraL]

Hi!

We are thinking about visiting Paris & DLP in April 2007. I have bought books and read different posts but I'm still lost . Anyone have any great tips? We will be traveling with 2 children. What should we add to our must see list in Paris & DLP? Any hotel suggestions for Paris & DLP?

Thanks for the help!

 

[BONITATIME]

Hi and welcome.
How old are your children? It makes a big difference how old they are as to what to do.
We like the holiday inn as a hotel. It is not onsite but nearby and there is a free bus to get to the parks.
How many days are you thining of going?

You need to start with how many days and then work your trip around that.
Please don't hesitate to ask questions as we are very friendly here.

 

[sweetiepie71]

I think it really depends on what budget you have. There's no point saying "Yes, the DLH is great" if you have a budget that won't stretch that far IYKWIM? We went over a weekend for our first trip, stayed onsite at the cheapest hotel (Santa Fe) just to see if we liked DLRP and the whole staying onsite thing. We loved it and we are going back next year, but for 5 days instead of 2 and staying at a slightly better hotel. I guess it also depends how long you want to spend at each place, you'll realistically need at least 2 days at the parks, so if you want to do a couple of days in Paris too then you need to look at a 4/5 day trip as a minimum. If you only want a day trip to Paris, then stay onsite and get the RER into Paris for a day, if you only want to do the parks for a couple of days and mainly visit Paris, then stay in Paris and travel out to DLRP.
My must sees for Paris with littlies are the Arc De Triomphe (sp?) and the Eiffel Tower. Perhaps Notre Dame and the Sacre Cour and a boat on the Seine, look round the Louvre. I reckon you could "do" the major sights in a day unless you want to go really indepth, it depends how old the kids are I guess.

I guess my top plan would be a 4 night 5 day trip, 2 half days and 2 full days in the parks, and 1 full day doing the main sights of Paris by RER and metro. Stay at the DLRP hotel that best fits your budget and travel by Eurostar so no driving.

Does that help? Probably not LOL!

 

[LauraL]

The whole vacation would be 8 days and we would spend 2 days in Disney. How long of a train ride is it from the parks to Paris? Should we plan on staying at Disney the whole time and taking trains? Or is it better to stay in Paris when we are there? I know the city is expensive...we are thinking $100 - $130 a night. We usually stay in a moderate resort when staying at WDW, so that is the type of hotel we would be looking for. I don't know if our price range and expections for that price are realistic for Paris though.

Thanks for the help so far!

P.S. My kids are ages 3 & 6

 

[Cyrano]

Hi LauraL and welcome to DLP DIS board
We are a friendly bunch here so please join in on any other thread or if you have a number of questions then just start a new thread for each

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The moderate equivalent at DLP are the Sequoia Lodge and the Newport Bay Club. Both hotels have their fans. Have a look at the Hotel FAQ sticky at the top of the board for an idea of both.

Personally if your trip is a Paris trip with a bit of Disney I'd plan your main stay in Paris. You could travel the two days into the park or could plan a 2 night stay in a Disney Hotel and the other days in Paris.

 

[sweetiepie71]

Okay, probably not worth you staying at Disney the whole time then. Could you stay there for one or two nights to save on travelling back and forth to Paris? Perhaps stay for the first (or last) 2 nights at the resort, then spend the other nights at a hotel in Paris itself. The Santa Fe is a good budget priced hotel in the resort, clean and functional but with everything you need for a couple of days. If you book direct with Disney you can get your tickets as part of the package which is cheaper.

I can recommend the Hotel Princess Isabelle in the La Defense region of Paris, very clean and very reasonably priced. Google the hotel name and loads of reviews etc appear, we stayed there and it was very nice, just on the metro line, very quiet at night too. I think the rooms are about £70 a night, about $140 but you may get a good deal booking direct?

$100-$130 a night is only £50 to £65, not a lot really. If you will have a car you could stay further out, at a Hotel Formule 1 type chain, these are very good for the price, one star only but again very clean. We stayed at the B+B Hotel chain a few times and they were very good, only E70 ($90 ish?) or so for a large family room. www.hotel-bb.com or http://www.hotelformule1.com/formule1/index.html