# Disney Land



## Traceybere (30 Dec 2008)

Hi All,
Looking for a little help here - I really want to take my daughter to Disney Land for her birthday - something special she will remember - I've seen a few offers online but there a little pricey - has anyone done it cheaply?
Any advice would be really appreciated.
Traceybere


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## Celtwytch (30 Dec 2008)

Are you talking about Disneyland Paris or Disneyland Anaheim in California?


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## Traceybere (31 Dec 2008)

Disneyland Paris


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## ajapale (31 Dec 2008)

moved from  Gift Ideas to  Holidays,Travel


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## sam h (31 Dec 2008)

Book your flights directly, we went with Ryanair, but check if Aer Lingus have any dates at a reasonable porice as you can get a metro from CdeG.

We stayed in "Explorers Hotel".....not an official Disney hotel but right beside and a lot cheaper than the Disney ones.  They had a great swimming pool.  Also, depending on your dates check if Disney are offering any special deals....4 nights for the proce of 3 etc.  You will need to go off peak/midweek for the best deals. 

Enjoy


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## shesells (31 Dec 2008)

Disneyland Paris are currently doing deals for extra free nights plus under 12s play and stay free. On the website have a look at their affiliated hotels which are not official Disney hotels but the offers also apply to and they're much cheaper. Some also give you access to the park an hour before it opens to the public. If you're going on a weekend this is invaluable.


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## Complainer (31 Dec 2008)

Transport links from Paris to Disneyland by train are excellent, so if you can find cheaper accomodation anywhere in Paris on the Metro, you'll be able to travel to/from Disney with a 1hour train journey each way.


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## HelenQ (1 Jan 2009)

We went to Disneyland Paris and I had booked the Santa Fe but they moved us to the Seqouia Lodge which was fine.  If you stay in a Disney hotel you do get the tickets to the park included.  We also booked for half board and although it added to the cost, we felt it was worth it as eating out in Disney is expensive e.g. lunch alone in the Rainforest Cafe was nearly €60.  

I booked through www.disneylandparis.ie but it takes you to the UK site as well I think.  I booked the flights (Aer Lingus) seperately - and I think AL are having a sale now so you might get a good deal.    There is a bus service from Charles de Gaulle to the Park but with the crowds its a bit of a cattle crush and the train might be the easier and quicker option.  The bus cost for two adults about €30 - DD was free as she is only 2.

Hope this helps.  There are also threads on www.magicmum.com on Disney as well.

It was great, I loved it and DD was in awe when she saw characters.


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## shesells (1 Jan 2009)

When we priced a weekend there before Christmas it was nearly €100 cheaper on every hotel to select the UK site for Disneyland Paris and pay in sterling!


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## Sully1 (2 Jan 2009)

don't go near the place at the weekends, thats the most valuable piece of advice you can get. Queues for rides can last up to 2 hours and from all accounts there is absolutely no pleasure in it at all. when there in Dec, I spoke with people who were at the weekend and they ended up leaving the place and heading into Paris itself.
Check out www.disboards.com - go to the paris thread and there is a fantastic link which lists out all school holidays in France, Spain, Uk, Belgium and Germany. Avoid the French and Spanish holidya times, I was there in April for their holidays (booked before I found the link:-() and it was hell, queues for some rides went on 90 minutes, queues everywhere, for food, toilets, everything. WHereas went in early Decmeber and we walked onto rides, max queue was 15 minutes.
I booked flights through an Aer Lingus seat sale and booked an offer through disneyland.ie.
Used a private taxi to collect us from the airport direct to the hotel - it cost 60 euro for 2 adults, one child and it was well worth the extra cost as the bus is a nightmare and when I did try the TGV, there was a strike and didn't realise it until a fellow passenger explained what the French notices were saying!!
check www.rollercoaster.ie - the the holidays forum there is a dedicated tips for disneyland paris thread


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## Traceybere (6 Jan 2009)

Thanks a million for all your help!!!

We booked the flights with Air France.

And we are going through an English website which is saving us €220 because of the sterling


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## jomarie (7 Jan 2009)

Hi Tracey, 
where did you book to stay and what website did you use? Has anyone stayed at the Holiday Inn @ disneyland?


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## TarfHead (7 Jan 2009)

jomarie said:


> .. anyone stayed at the Holiday Inn @ disneyland?


 
Yes


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## PGD1 (7 Jan 2009)

I will be in France, camping, this June and was thinking of heading to DLP for 2 days. On their website it looks like 2 adults and 2 kids would be €300? This seems quite expensive. Are there better deals/ways to buy tickets?


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## shesells (7 Jan 2009)

There are tickets called Francilien, about 20% cheaper. The catch is you have to buy them at least 5 days in advance and they are date specific as opposed to general tickets you buy and just turn up with. You used to have to be french to get them but not any more. Check them out www.francebillet.fr 

Not sure if you can print them out at home, we collected ours from FNAC in Central Paris but I think you can pick them up from any FNAC. At DLP don't join a general queue, there are entrances for ticket express or ticket quick (can't remember exactly) where they scan your tickets (paper not the credit card type like you buy at Disney) and give you a paper ticket you can use in the Fastpass machines.

hth


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## Traceybere (8 Jan 2009)

jomarie said:


> Hi Tracey,
> where did you book to stay and what website did you use? Has anyone stayed at the Holiday Inn @ disneyland?


 
Hi,

I booked the New York Hotel - its the second 4* one in disney land

I used [broken link removed]

There an english company - I found them really good.


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## PGD1 (8 Jan 2009)

It made a mistake it's actually €400 for the 2 days for 2 parcs. I checked out Francilien and the cost was identical. Seems quite expensive to me as I'm sure you end up paying for other stuff once captive.


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## Complainer (9 Jan 2009)

PGD1 said:


> It made a mistake it's actually €400 for the 2 days for 2 parcs.


For how many people?


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## bridgetcork (9 Jan 2009)

It is a nice place, We were there once in August, it was too hot. Enjoy the birthday


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## PGD1 (10 Jan 2009)

Complainer said:


> For how many people?


2 adults and 2 kids

I'm getting a return ferry, 2 weeks camping and all my diesel for 2 weeks for 1000 so 400 is a bit hard to swallow for 2 days when I know I will have to spend more once I get in.


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## shesells (11 Jan 2009)

We paid about €43 for a 2 park pass for one day recently using the Francilien, this was almost a 20% saving on the gate price. 

How about just doing one park this time? Disney Studios doesn't have a whole load of stuff and IMO is not worth paying extra. The main park foes not need more than a day as it's not all that big.


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## Complainer (11 Jan 2009)

PGD1 said:


> 2 adults and 2 kids


I paid 300 for 2 adults/1 child /2 days at the gates over the summer. They are highly skilled at extracting every penny you own from your pockets. If you have little girls, I'd recommend the 'dinner with Cinderella'.


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## PGD1 (11 Jan 2009)

€43 sounds cheap but is for a child for 1 day. 2 kids is 86. 2 adults is about 100 so about 200 for the day. 

I'll probably do it anyway as I've mentioned it to the kids now. I am an expert at avoiding things like "dinner with Cinderella".


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## shesells (11 Jan 2009)

We definitely paid €43 per adult for both parks on one day. I checked www.francebillet.com and they only have tickets up to the end of April but for two parks the prices are €37 and €43 for a day. They also have child free with an adult tickets but you're unlikely to get those in the summer.

Don't think tickets will be much more expensive in the summer so not as bad as you think. 

Regarding prices inside. Food isn't cheap, downtown Disney outside the parks is a better bet for eating. When it comes to the shops you get funnelled into from some rides I would maybe promise the children one thing at the end of the day and go to one of the bigger shops to buy. IMO the merchandise isn't especially overpriced.


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## PGD1 (12 Jan 2009)

[broken link removed]

only just realised the date limit.... so it's going to be even more expensive.....


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## Complainer (12 Jan 2009)

PGD1 said:


> I am an expert at avoiding things like "dinner with Cinderella".


Don't avoid it, seriously. If you have girls of a certain age, it is a magical experience. And there is great quality food (the only non-burger/diner food in the park) for the adults, and all the wine you can drink.


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## shesells (12 Jan 2009)

PGD1 said:


> [broken link removed]
> 
> only just realised the date limit.... so it's going to be even more expensive.....


 
That's a standard price ticket not a Francilien. You will get cheaper than that. Even at the moment 2 one day tickets are cheaper than that 2 day. Plus you really really don't need 2 parks for 2 days. Studios is no more than half a day and maybe a full day for the main park but that's more than enough IMO.


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## jomarie (18 Feb 2009)

Hi Tracey

have you been there yet? I'm going in late March and I'm looking for any tips!


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## PGD1 (6 Mar 2009)

OK so we are definately going.

I've been through the DLP website and based on my sons height etc we can do 5 of the big rides with height restrictions. After that alot of it is really for my younger daughter.

If we were to do the 5 big rides and then wanted to see 50-75% of all the remaining rides do you think 2 full days would be enough? We would be going at the start of June, and midweek.

I would hate to go all the way there (driving) and then find we couldn't see it all. Or I would hate to have to split up in to Mother/Daughter and Father/Son just so we could get around the queues etc etc.


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## TarfHead (6 Mar 2009)

PGD1 said:


> If we were to do the 5 big rides and then wanted to see 50-75% of all the remaining rides do you think 2 full days would be enough? We would be going at the start of June, and midweek.


 
I think 2 midweek days would afford enough time. Bear in mind though that you'll want to watch some of the parades and/or shows, so you may not be going from ride to ride to ride.

Also, the parades can be a good time to target the more popular rides. We got to do Pirates of the Caribbean twice in a row as there was no-one waiting to get on when we finished the first one - that coincided with one of the parades.

Also also, bear in mind the stamina of your family if you're charging around the place.

Also also also, when we were there, there was a restriction with getting fast pass tickets. I hit a problem trying to 'surf the fast pass tickets'. My 'cunning plan' was to get a fast pass for Space Mountain for the time we came off the Buzz Lightyear ride. When I went for the ticket, the system recognised that I already had a fast pass for Buzz Lightyear so wouldn't let me have one for SM until after the BL one was finished/expired.

At the time, I posted here about that restriction, and others replied to say they had no such problem.


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## Sully1 (6 Mar 2009)

If you're planning to go midweek with no queues, you would def do all the rides. If queueing for over an hour for each ride, you might struggle a bit.
Trick is not to go at weekends or when school holidays are on


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## Deelite (17 Sep 2009)

I was thinking of heading to Disney Paris next year - (I'm not tied to any dates).  I'm finding it really difficult to book as it seems to be working out just over 2,000 and for a three night break it's very expensive.  There's 2 adults and 3 children (12, 10, 8).  Can anybody help - there doesn't seem to be an option for 5 sharing a room.  Any tips.  Ideally I would love to stay on site.


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## Sully1 (18 Sep 2009)

As far as I know, its hard with a family of 5 to stay on site as you will need two rooms - family rooms are only available in teheDisneyland Hotel its self or the Newport Bay.

Who have you priced that holiday with? If its a travel agent - look into booking it yourself - for Disney it is so easy to book it yourself and will save you hundreds of euros.

2,000 euro seems extortionate, what dates are you looking at with that type of price?

Trick is travel off peak, book your flights during a seat sale and to be honest, don't spend a fortune on your hotel - you only sleep there at the end of the day.


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## Deelite (18 Sep 2009)

Thanx for that Sully1 - that was just a price I got from tapping into the Disney site and then going to Air France - I tried a few different dates.  I will try again with the Newport Bay and see how I get on.  Thanx


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## MANTO (18 Sep 2009)

Be aware that if you are staying in the Hotels within the park, you can avail of food vouchers. so basically if you do not have breakfast in the hotel, ask at reception can you have the vouchers, they in turn can be used at the restaurants in the park against your meal.

Without sounding mean, its a good idea to bring a packed lunch for the kids, it can be a long day (but very enjoyable) and you can spend a fortune on food and drinks, there is a shop at the entrance to the Parks not associated with Disney, i.e. like a Spar.


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## Sully1 (22 Sep 2009)

Deelite,
Air France are usually the most expensive out of the three airlines serving Paris - Aer Lingus are usually a good bit cheaper if you get a seat during a seat sale (60 euro return on a good day each!).
Ryanair flys to Beauvais which is a lot further out, but often you can ger a transfer direct to Disneyland and still save money.

by the way have you looked at the Cheyenne or Santa Fe - they are cheaper than the Newport - that is upping the cost for you considerably, esp when you are looking at booking 2 rooms.
I have stayed in the Cheyenne and would recommend it to anyone.
You only sleep there


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