Late April? What don't I know?

[Skyegirl1999]

We're Disneyland, CA experts (locals who visit about once a week), so we're used to knowing all the tips and tricks when we do Disney. We've done Disney World once and a couple of Disney cruises.

We're considering doing DLP the last week of April (the week after Easter). We'd be there for our daughter's 6th birthday (just her, husband, and myself).

I'm trying to get a handle on general planning without investing tons of time since we haven't 100% decided we want to make this trip. I clicked through the "new" sticky, but a lot of the links seem to be non-functional, so I just thought I'd make a post.

We'd probably plan for two park days; does that sound right? We'd probably stay on-site for those days, no idea where yet... Looks like the New York hotel will be closed? Do people smoke at the hotels? (I know they do at the park, which is a bummer for me as I'm very sensitive to smoke, so I'm wondering if the hotels will also be an issue.) I'm not too interested in the dining plan.

Is there a benefit to weekend vs. weekday?

Thanks for any advice, or if there are any sites that would be helpful in planning, feel free to point me in that direction!

 

[BadPinkTink]

Do people smoke at the hotels?

No, smoking in buildings is against the law

The most important and top piece of advice IMO is to understand the Disneyland Paris is Frenchified Disney. It is an American style themepark with the cultural and social aspects and behaviour of France and Central Europe. It is NOT Magic Kingdom from Walt Disney World scooped up, made smaller and transported to France. Many of those who go to Disneyland Paris having being to Walt Disney World in Florida or Disneyland California get disappointed and come away with negative view of Disneyland Paris, as they expect everything to be the same.

In Disneyland Paris you wont see guests Disneybounding and Europeans dont wear Disney merchandise like hoodies or tshirts, or wear lanyards of pins.

In Disneyland Paris the onsite hotels are just that, hotels, not resorts and are smaller and have less amenities

Disneyland Paris has a lower standard of maintenance and up keep and guests smoke every where in the parks

Disneyland Paris CM's are not the happy smiley have a nice day over the top Disney customer service that is expected in Disneyland or Walt Disney World.

There are 6 onsite hotesl

Disneyland Hotel
This is the premium priced deluxe hotel. It is located at the entrance to the main park. It is Victoriana themed

Hotel New York
This would be the premium price moderate hotel. It is located after Disney Village and is the nearest to Disney Village. It is themed as a Manhatten / New York building. It would be a 10 minute walk to the main park entrance OR you can take the free shuttle bus

Hotel Sequoia Lodge
This would be the moderate hotel. It is located after Disney Village, past Hotel New York and half way along Lake Disney. It is themed like a Californian Red Wood Forest, similar to the Grand Californian in Disneyland California. It would be a 15 minute walk to the park entrance OR you can take the free shuttle bus

Hotel NewPort Bay
This would be the moderate hotel. It is located after Disney Village, past Hotel New York and Sequoia Lodge, at the end of Lake Disney. It is themed like a Newport Bay Yacht Club. It would be a 20 minute walk to the park main entrance OR you can take the free shuttle bus

Hotel Cheyenne
This would be the budget hotel. It is located after Disney Village and past Hotel New York. It is themed like Toy Story / Sherriff Woody, The Wild West. It would be a 20 minute walk to the main park entrance OR you can take the free shuttle bus

Hotel Santa Fe
This would be the budget hotel. It is located after Disney Village and past Hotel New York and then past Hotel Sequoia Lodge. It would be a 20 minute walk to the main park entrance OR you can take the free shuttle bus

some things you need to know about Disneyland Paris which are different to the American Parks

1. You dont have to book using the website for your country. Disneyland Paris has different deals and offers on the different country websites. Most of us regulars would advise AGAINST booking with the American site as it is by far the most expensive
2. The other country websites to check are
3. http://www.disneylandparis.ie/
   http://www.disneylandparis.co.uk
   http://www.disneylandparis.fr
   http://www.disneylandparis.de
   http://www.disneylandparis.it
   http://www.disneylandparis.be
   http://www.disneylandparis.nl
4. Disneyland Paris does not mail anything in the post. You get a confirmation email which you bring with you to checkin
5. When you book direct with Disneyland Paris you are booking a hotel and park hopper tickets package
6. Your park tickets are valid for both arrival day and departure day
7. You can book direct with Disney through any of the websites. When you book through the website you will pay the full amount at the time of booking
8. You can also book direct with Disney by phone. To call Disneyland Paris and not have to pay the international phone charges, just call the regular phone number for Walt Disney World in Florida and ask to be transferred to Disneyland Paris.
9. When you book direct with Disney by phone you pay a 15% deposit and the balance is payable 30 or 60 days before arrivial, I cant remember which
10. When you have booked you will get a confirmation email with your itinerary, you will need this email to check in
11. Once you have your confirmation number you need to go to the website / country you booked with, not the country you live in. You will need to create a new MY DISNEY ACCOUNT on that website
12. When you log in to your new My Disney Account you will see your itinerary. If you have a balance to pay you will see an online payment form.
13. To pay your balance you can either phone again or pay online
14. Restaurant ADR can only be booked over the phone. Just repeat step 8 and ask for Disneyland Paris Dining Reservations.
15. Disneyland Paris Restaurant ADR open 60 days from arrival date
16. Disneyland Paris does not have Magic Bands or Fatspass ++. The Fastpass are the paper ones which you get on the day at the machines beside the rides.

 

[olafLover]

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[Karin1984]

Good thing about Disneyland Paris, you don't have to plan a lot Get your hotel and park tickets arranged, have a general idea about what you have to do and you're done! Except for character dinners you don't have to make reservations far in advance, fastpass is the legacy system and the most important FP to get is Big Thunder Mountain in the park and Ratatouille in the Studios.


Indeed, go on weekdays if you can.
The region of Paris will hve a holiday period from 22APR19 - 3MAY19, doesn't have to majorly impact the crowds, it will be busier than the weeks before Easter. But... The pirates and princess festival is returning for 2019 And that's definitely one of the best festivals I have ever seen in any of the 6 Disney parks, the show is really good, and the little things like the Elena/Sophia parade or the interactive Pirates show are just fun for the kids .

Hotel New York is being revamped into a Marvel theme, so yes, it's closed.

No smoking indoors, and there are designated smoke areas in the park, where a lot of people go. However, the culture is to be able to smoke wherever you want (once outside) and it's hard for CMs to speak up against guests about this rule.

I think as well, for an American your mindset is the most important thing. Any Disney park outside of the US has its own charm, but also it's own people and culture. If you want everything to be the same, then don't travel ;-) Be open minded and go with it. See the beauty of our castle, the wide walkways, when it rains you can walk from the entrance to the end of the park fully covered, unique rides as Crush Coaster, Ratatouille, little walk throughs like Aladdin's or Nautilus. And differences between for example we have also a Storybook boat ride, but without the Jungle-Cruise-type guide making jokes (It's one of my favorites as it's in a quiet corner and it's just a great way to relax for a few minutes). The Mickey and the Magician-show in the Studios is definitely a not-to-be-missed in my opinion. Big Thunder Mountain in Paris is the best version (also I am biased, but it's the longest, fastest and it's on an island )

As mentioned Disney bounding, or Mickey ears are not a big thing in Paris. However, if your daughter wants a Disney princess dress, there are plenty of stores with princess stuff. Or if she's an active girl who loves climbing and exploring, don't forget the Adventure Isle and the Robinson Tree. Photopass is also not a big thing, some rides and most of the scheduled meets have a photographer, but most of the time there are no photographers in front of the castle.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Thank you all so much! We saw some good airfare and actually booked flights last night, so now we’re definitely going! I really appreciate all of the info. and will check out the non-US sites!

We will definitely prepare ourselves for the cultural differences; thanks for pointing out some of those details (like not needing to bring our wide array of Mickey ears).

As far as weekdays, is there any reason Wednesday/Thursday would not be a good choice? (I know that for DL in CA, some parts of the year only have nighttime entertainment on the weekends, for instance, or our Mickey and the Magical Map show doesn’t run every day... just don’t want to unwittingly pick days that will make us miss out!

Thanks again!

 

[HappyPanda]

As far as weekdays, is there any reason Wednesday/Thursday would not be a good choice? (I know that for DL in CA, some parts of the year only have nighttime entertainment on the weekends, for instance, or our Mickey and the Magical Map show doesn’t run every day... just don’t want to unwittingly pick days that will make us miss out!

Wednesday & Thursdays are great days to go - there are no weekend only shows so everything running at the weekend will be running during the week as well.

 

[Karin1984]

The only difference I have ever noticed between weekdays and weekend days is that sometimes less dancers in the parade. Instead of 6 toy soldiers in front of the Toy Story float in the weekend, it is sometimes 4 or 2 soldiers during the week.

As Paris is having a holiday week, I expect everything to be open, however, it does happen that on Wednesday certain quick service restaurants are closed, or close early.

You can bring your Mickey ears , there will be some guests with ears as well, it's just a lot less in comparison to the US parks. Same for Disney bounding, or Disney shirts etc., it is there, but less.

For the Disney Junior show and Stitch Live, keep an eye on the program or the entrance signs, they alternate these shows in English and French. With other shows like Mickey and the Magician or the Princess Starlit Waltz, it is bilingual, one character speaks French, the next character repeats the line in English and answers.

 

[BayGirl22]

We're planning to go in April too, and we're like you - many trips to DL and a few to WDW.
After researching a lot I ended up booking through the German site, their pricing was significantly lower (25% off) and included a meal plan. We never get the meal plan at WDW, and I understand the food at DLP is not as exciting as french food outside the park, but after calculating the costs it seems like the half board would be at least break even for us. So getting the meal plan included seems like a good deal, since we'll have to eat in the part either way, and there are a couple restaurants where I want to check out the theming. I believe the Netherlands site also has a similar deal right now.

Good luck planning! I'm sure it will be different but we can't wait.