First trip to Disneyland Paris possible regrets

[Minnie-Mickey]

First trip to anywhere out of the country. We are staying in Paris. I have a room booked for the entire stay. Originally thinking of taking the train to DLP. Will I regret not staying at the parks? Is the train safe at midnight to travel back toward our room near the Eiffle Tower area? Any suggestions?

 

[zavandor]

From the Eiffel Tower area it's around 1 hour and 15 minutes to DLP via public transportation.
If you plan to do one day, I wouldn't get into the hassle of moving luggage to transfer to DLP, transportation is efficent. If you are planning for multiple days, instead, 2 and a half days of travel per day would became annoying pretty soon.

 

[Minnie-Mickey]

zavandor thank you. This is helpful in planning.

 

[zavandor]

To book onsite have a look at all the european websites (disneylandparis.fr .co.uk .it .nl ....). They have different offers and you can book with any of them. And they often have better offers than the US website.
To save, you can also book an hotel offsite. The first stops of the RER are all convenient. Some of the hotels in Val d'Europe hotels are even in walking distance to the parks. I've stayed in Bussy Saint George and Torcy and it takes just 10-15 minutes by RER, not much more it would take to the shuttle bus to go to one of the onsite hotels.
However, the DLP resort is quite pretty and all walkable. Staying onsite for a once in a lifetime trip can be worth it. Just manage expectations: hotels and level of service are different in Europe from the US. Disney Tourist Blog has a lot of posts for DLP planning and also one explaining how it is different from the US parks and what to expect. In particular, this post:
http://www.disneytouristblog.com/should-you-visit-disneyland-paris/
is a good read if you're still deciding how much time to budget for DLP.

 

[peachiepie]

I've stayed in Paris and gone out to Disneyland for the day, the trip back is a bit long, but if you are only going for the day it's not too bad. If you are going to Disneyland Paris for more that one day I think staying nearby is a much better idea. I stay at the HiPark hotel and have never had any issues there.

 

[aprincessatlast]

I am by no means an authority on the subject and asked the same question a few months ago, but I don't think you will regret it. We stayed at DL and noticed how close the train station was and I would have probably preferred our original apartment in Paris to be honest. We were there for 2 and a half days and were in Paris for 8 days before. Granted the DL stay was cute but like having roots in the apartment better. That apartment though was amazing and we seriously loved the neighborhood we were in. FWIW we stay on site at the US parks.

 

[Westcoastwild]

No regrets here. The train is safe to take back any time, provided that your hotel neighborhood is safe. How close is your lodging to a metro stop?

I would have regretted staying on property. It's so, so easy to ride the train to DLP, and there was not enough for me to do for a full day let alone two. I loved Paris though!

 

[Minnie-Mickey]

I am by no means an authority on the subject and asked the same question a few months ago, but I don't think you will regret it. We stayed at DL and noticed how close the train station was and I would have probably preferred our original apartment in Paris to be honest. We were there for 2 and a half days and were in Paris for 8 days before. Granted the DL stay was cute but like having roots in the apartment better. That apartment though was amazing and we seriously loved the neighborhood we were in. FWIW we stay on site at the US parks.

We have rented an apartment Charles Floquet . I found a reasonable price given the party size. I think I read somewhere 7 min to the metro. Were did you rent the apartment? DD wanted DLP hotel. Way too much money for my wallet I cant push the reserve button.

 

[Minnie-Mickey]

No regrets here. The train is safe to take back any time, provided that your hotel neighborhood is safe. How close is your lodging to a metro stop?

I would have regretted staying on property. It's so, so easy to ride the train to DLP, and there was not enough for me to do for a full day let alone two. I loved Paris though!

I wondered how much there is to do. DD is a commando at WDW and can conquer most of the park in one day by crossing back and forth. Metro does not look far on map but as we found out Mount St Michal does not look far from Normandy either but it is. : )

 

[Westcoastwild]

I wondered how much there is to do. DD is a commando at WDW and can conquer most of the park in one day by crossing back and forth. Metro does not look far on map but as we found out Mount St Michal does not look far from Normandy either but it is. : )

It's less than an hour, and really well labeled- Mickey Mouse ears at the train station. I was a little worried too, but it turned out to be easier and faster than my morning commute. Much easier than mount st Michel which was finally too time consuming for me to try.

It's more of a linger and enjoy park. The details are beautiful. Fewer rides than Wdw and lots are kiddy rides. And I mean kiddy- parachute men and sausage dog! Food and shopping isn't as interesting- I can usually do a half day of just that at the US parks. It's still fun, just...don't go expecting WDW if you know what I mean.

 

[aprincessatlast]

We have rented an apartment Charles Floquet . I found a reasonable price given the party size. I think I read somewhere 7 min to the metro. Were did you rent the apartment? DD wanted DLP hotel. Way too much money for my wallet I cant push the reserve button.

Nice! We rented from Paris Autremaunt and stayed near Rue de Bretagne in Le Marais. It is an adorable neighborhood and if you get a chance a great place to visit. I could spend hours walking the 3rd and 4th Arrondissements of Le Marais. Lots of restaurants and boutique shops that has a nice local vibe, not extremely touristy, but awesome! Sunday morning when Enfants Rouge market (oldest market in Paris) is open the place is like a farmers market with lots of things to see and taste! We preferred walking the area over most parts including Montmarte which is worse than WDW when it comes to tourist traps.

Enjoy DL it really is a beautiful park!

 

[Minnie-Mickey]

To book onsite have a look at all the european websites (disneylandparis.fr .co.uk .it .nl ....). They have different offers and you can book with any of them. And they often have better offers than the US website.
To save, you can also book an hotel offsite. The first stops of the RER are all convenient. Some of the hotels in Val d'Europe hotels are even in walking distance to the parks. I've stayed in Bussy Saint George and Torcy and it takes just 10-15 minutes by RER, not much more it would take to the shuttle bus to go to one of the onsite hotels.
However, the DLP resort is quite pretty and all walkable. Staying onsite for a once in a lifetime trip can be worth it. Just manage expectations: hotels and level of service are different in Europe from the US. Disney Tourist Blog has a lot of posts for DLP planning and also one explaining how it is different from the US parks and what to expect. In particular, this post:
http://www.disneytouristblog.com/should-you-visit-disneyland-paris/
is a good read if you're still deciding how much time to budget for DLP.

Thank you very interesting read. DD will love it regardless. The rest of us may just be going along for the ride from reading the article and then looking at the rides. Very different indeed from WDW. I guessed they were similar but not really. It will still be an experience.

 

[Minnie-Mickey]

Nice! We rented from Paris Autremaunt and stayed near Rue de Bretagne in Le Marais. It is an adorable neighborhood and if you get a chance a great place to visit. I could spend hours walking the 3rd and 4th Arrondissements of Le Marais. Lots of restaurants and boutique shops that has a nice local vibe, not extremely touristy, but awesome! Sunday morning when Enfants Rouge market (oldest market in Paris) is open the place is like a farmers market with lots of things to see and taste! We preferred walking the area over most parts including Montmarte which is worse than WDW when it comes to tourist traps.

Enjoy DL it really is a beautiful park!

Will check out that apt. We now have less people as DS significant other will not be joining us. I have a little time still to change places before locked in.

 

[tooh8ful]

We stayed in Paris in 2014 and took the Metro to DLP for the day. I took the metro back after the parks closed with 2 sleepy little girls by myself. I never, for 1 second, felt scared or worried. Although I wish we would have spent more than 1 day at DLP (we are going back next year to make up for it!), I'm glad we didn't leave our apt. for the 1 day we were there.