Why do most people pay inflated prices?

[sebhoff]

Hi all,
Either I've missed something very basic, or almost everybody seems to be buying their tickets to DLP at wildly inflated prices.

If you know the dates when you want to go (and most people do, I guess), you can get an adult day ticket for 29/34 Euro (one park/two parks) Tuesdays and Thursdays and 34/39 Euro for the other days even during peak holiday times. These are "Francilien" tickets and the only condition is that you reserve them 5 days in advance. Then there's also the 3-day ticket for both parks for 89/69 Euro (adults/children), to be bought 30 days in advance. That is radically cheaper than anything you officially get in the UK (isn't it GBP 32 for a 1-day-1-park ticket...?)

The tickets can be reserved for example at FranceBillet and they can be picked up at any of a long list of sales outlets in France or sent to your home address (also internationally, if there's enough time).

If I do a search for "Francilien" in all the forums here, I only get four hits, all of which are for annual passes.
So - have I missed anything obvious, or isn't this really much cheaper *and* perfectly doable for somebody who lives abroad? ;-)

Sebastian

 

[mikelan6]

This is very interesting! How does this work exactly? Would I be able to purchase these from the USA?

 

[sebhoff]

You just go to FranceBillet (sorry, just do a google search - for some reason I don't manage to post links...), type "Disney" in the search box of their web-page, and reserve the tickets. Their web-page is available in English. You pay by credit card and pick up the tickets anywhere in France you like.
I reserved mine a few days ago and will try to pick them up next Wednesday after I get to Paris for two days in DLP with my son (Thursday and Friday). I can report back afterwards, if you'd like.

 

[mikelan6]

Picking them up "anywhere in France" is kind of scary for me. It'd be great if we could pick these up at the hotel (Dream Castle) or at the park entrance.

Please let us know how if works out for you. Thanks!

 

[sebhoff]

You can have them sent to your home address internationally - I think it would have cost 12 Euro in my case (UK address) - if it's more than a certain number of days in advance.

 

[Cubitus]

You can pick'em up at the Resort at the 'Pluto' desk (Guichet Pluto). This is the first counter on the left side when you walk in the center main entrance (under the Disneyland Hotel) and then turn a little left.

Direct Disney booking is possible at the »french booking site, and you need to specify the day of your visit. However unused pre-booked passes can be upgraded 30 days after the specified date (if you missed it) to normal tickets at no extra cost (just pay the difference to the usual ticket price).

Too bad that those special offers are only promoted on the french Disney site or at some (few) resellers!!

Oliver ••••

 

[Cubitus]

You can have them sent to your home address internationally - I think it would have cost 12 Euro in my case (UK address)

On the Disney site it's only 1€ to have them mailed to your home address! You can try (but I don't guarantee for anything!) this link that was a little bit twisted to work for the UK: »voilà (<- meaning you should know SOME french or can reach a dictionary).


Please give feedback!

Oliver ••••

P.S.: There are more offers, like a ticket for just €15 for anyone who was born in 1992 (having the 15th anniversary this year, too) and Buffalo Bill for free as it was reported on another forum! Check http://www.billetfrancilien.com/ and click Bons Plans or visit http://idf-offres.disneylandparis.fr/index.xhtml to get an idea how many special offers there are in France (and *not* limited to french people as it's said in the conditions!)

 

[mikelan6]

Thank you Cubitus ... Did you use these types of tickets?

 

[sebhoff]

Yes - but the 1-Euro charge seems to be for French addresses only, I think. And I don't know whether Disney would want to send these abroad...
For me, having them sent was too late anyway - so I'm just going to see what happens next week when I look for a FNAC in Paris to pick them up. ;-)

 

[Cubitus]

Thank you Cubitus ... Did you use these types of tickets?

Not yet, as I'm still happy with my AP. But I intensively reviewed all the Disney sites and therefore just recommend to check the several languages, as each language can bring you to a complete different site (where you, sometimes, even can change back to english then... weird!).

If you want to I can translate the conditions of getting an on-line ticket which you can finally get on-site then.

Edit: i checked some french forums. Pick-up at FNAC should not be a problem at all. You will get a ticket that just looks like a concert ticket. This one can be converted to a Disney-style ticket at Guichet Pluto -- it's the first counter on the left side when you walk in the center main entrance (under the Disneyland Hotel) and then turn a little left. I guess I've been passing by there, but never needed it so it's not a vivid memory


Oliver ••••

 

[sebhoff]

Edit: i checked some french forums. Pick-up at FNAC should not be a problem at all. You will get a ticket that just looks like a concert ticket. This one can be converted to a Disney-style ticket at Guichet Pluto -- it's the first counter on the left side when you walk in the center main entrance (under the Disneyland Hotel) and then turn a little left. I guess I've been passing by there, but never needed it so it's not a vivid memory

OK - I guess that means I have to be earlier than the opening time of the park, right? Will that Guichet Pluto be my first queue of the day? ;-)

 

[honeycomb]

Maybe I'm being thick here, but what are the differences between all the tickets that come up on the francebillet site? For instance, there are several for 1 day, 1 park, but they are different prices?

 

[sebhoff]

Different prices for different weekdays... For example, in summer, the cheaper tickets are for Tuesdays and Thursdays.
And only the cheap ones are the "Francilien" tickets...

 

[Cubitus]

OK - I guess that means I have to be earlier than the opening time of the park, right?

Why do you think so? It's never wrong to be on time, but I don't think that process will take so long!

Hmh, Will that Guichet Pluto be my first queue of the day? ;-)

Most probably yes, unless they changed the handling of the tickets you can get at FNAC and everywhere.

Maybe I'm being thick here, but what are the differences between all the tickets that come up on the francebillet site?

Just as sebhoff said. I'll try to give a quick overview. First of all, anything "Francilien" is (as I wrote) tailored to please the french guys. Their holidays/bridging days are:
- July 5 to September 2
- October 25 to November 3
- April 30
- May 1, 7, 17, 18, 28

The Francilien offers:

1 jour / 1 Parc
until Sept 3 tuesday+thursday = €29, other days = €34
after Sept 3 from monday to friday = €29, weekend and holidays = €34

1 jour / 2 Parcs = Hopper ticket
same as above, but €34 and €39

Both are same for adult and children and have to be pre-booked at least 5 days and in advance for a date to specify. They can be upgraded after you missed that date (for 30 days). Max. 8 tickets per order.

A 3-day Hopper ticket can be pre-booked, too. Min. 30 days in advance of day 1 of its validity. Price: €89 / kids €69.


The »UK booking website offers – even more special tickets, yippee!

- 4-day Hopper for £89/£73 ("the price of a 3-day Hopper ticket" they say)
- 5-day Hopper for £104/£85 ("the price of a 4-day Hopper")
- 1-day Hopper for £33/£29 either with free delivery or online printout (Pluto Desk, we had it already).


ALL offers are valid up to November 9 (so pre-bookings has to be made early enough). All "special offer" Hopper ticket don't have to be used on consecutive days, but they will only be valid for 7 days total, starting on day 1 which has to be determined when booking. Full-price Hoppers a valid for 1 year. Just if you didn't know by now.

Now I hope we got it all in one place..! Will instantly copy this to the wiki then *lol*

Cheers
Oliver ••••

 

[mikelan6]

Their holidays/bridging days are:
- July 5 to September 2
- October 25 to November 3
- April 30
- May 1, 7, 17, 18, 28

Does this mean I will not be able to use the Francilien tickets on October 26 or 27?

 

[Cubitus]

Does this mean I will not be able to use the Francilien tickets on October 26 or 27?

It just means that you have to pay a little bit more (the prices shown in red, €34 for 1 park and €39 for Hopper ticker).

 

[honeycomb]

Just as sebhoff said. I'll try to give a quick overview. First of all, anything "Francilien" is (as I wrote) tailored to please the french guys. Their holidays/bridging days are:
- July 5 to September 2
- October 25 to November 3
- April 30
- May 1, 7, 17, 18, 28

The Francilien offers:

1 jour / 1 Parc
until Sept 3 tuesday+thursday = €29, other days = €34
after Sept 3 from monday to friday = €29, weekend and holidays = €34

1 jour / 2 Parcs = Hopper ticket
same as above, but €34 and €39

Both are same for adult and children and have to be pre-booked at least 5 days and in advance for a date to specify. They can be upgraded after you missed that date (for 30 days). Max. 8 tickets per order.

A 3-day Hopper ticket can be pre-booked, too. Min. 30 days in advance of day 1 of its validity. Price: €89 / kids €69.


The »UK booking website offers – even more special tickets, yippee!

- 4-day Hopper for £89/£73 ("the price of a 3-day Hopper ticket" they say)
- 5-day Hopper for £104/£85 ("the price of a 4-day Hopper")
- 1-day Hopper for £33/£29 either with free delivery or online printout (Pluto Desk, we had it already).


ALL offers are valid up to November 9 (so pre-bookings has to be made early enough). All "special offer" Hopper ticket don't have to be used on consecutive days, but they will only be valid for 7 days total, starting on day 1 which has to be determined when booking. Full-price Hoppers a valid for 1 year. Just if you didn't know by now.

Now I hope we got it all in one place..! Will instantly copy this to the wiki then *lol*

Cheers
Oliver ••••

Thanks!!

 

[Cubitus]

No need to quote the whole piece of "saving art".. *lol*

I finally took all these details and what else I know to form a "Special Offers" article on DLRPwiki. I hope it's okay to promote the link to that one, as it may be a good resource to see, collect and update everything we know about DLRP's offers... easier than to dig the forums again and again... The wiki is about to slowly grow and a good resource to "collected information" as everyone can add and edit the pages.

The link is http://en.DLRPwiki.org/Special_Offers

What do you think?

Oliver ••••

 

[tic-toc-croc]

Very glad to see a 1 day hopper at a good price. We'll be visiting DLP in a few months. Thanks for sharing your info.
The link does not work....could be my misbehaving PC acting up again

 

[Cubitus]

The link does not work....could be my misbehaving PC acting up again

Just my misbehaving fingers on the keyboard... had a typo in the link, I corrected it now, see above