Your help please

[mrs tooti-frooti]

We are planning to take out 6yo son to Disneyland Paris in the autumn (sept or oct) but are totally lost as to where to start!!

We don't have pots of money but thought that we would do the trip once and make it a memorable one.

If you could plan out a trip - travel, hotel, no of days at the park, etc - what would you go for?

I'm lost with the hotels as well. My son would like to do breakfast with the characters but I don't know if that is done at the hotel or park? Like I said, I'm totally lost!!

Any help you could give would be really appreciated.

Thanks

Jan

 

[Lisa_C]

We are planning to take out 6yo son to Disneyland Paris in the autumn (sept or oct) but are totally lost as to where to start!!

We don't have pots of money but thought that we would do the trip once and make it a memorable one.

If you could plan out a trip - travel, hotel, no of days at the park, etc - what would you go for? IF you don't plan on going again for a while then I'd plum for 5 days, as we are doing. To keep the cost down we went for the Cheyenne (great theming and cheap too, no pool though but when are you going to fit time for a swim in?!) don't know where you are travelling from but the Eurostar is the most relaxing of journeys and takes you right to the magic.

I'm lost with the hotels as well. My son would like to do breakfast with the characters but I don't know if that is done at the hotel or park? Like I said, I'm totally lost!! I think the Disneyland Hotel has characters at breakfast, but ALL the hotels onsite have a meet and greet every morning

Any help you could give would be really appreciated.

Thanks

Jan

Hope this helps, we will all try to give you as much advise as we can, it's our passion

 

[mrs tooti-frooti]

Thanks Lisa - what a quick reply too!!

Am I best to book direct with Disneyland Paris or go through a travel agent/Thomas Cook type place?

 

[poppyolivia]

I would book direct with disneyland paris or have a wee look on expedia .... Direct seems to be cheaper so far for me.

 

[Lisa_C]

You can book direct with Disney, they will take 10% for your deposit. I personally book with Thomson for the added security of being about to talk face to face with an agent and get any problems ironed out. Thomson also book direct with Disney so they get all the up to date offers too

They can book your Eurostar but they do charge a booking fee, so this is better off being done via Eurostar's website (plus you get to choose where you sit)

Thomson will charge you approx £100 per booking, then the rest is due 10 weeks before you go.

We added on the meal vouchers and two dinner shows two weeks ago, and again they phone direct for you and sort everything out

While I love planning the vacation, I also like the idea of telling the agent t what I want and know that it's their fault if it goes wrong

 

[Lisa_C]

Just don't go to Thomas Cook - they are their own agent, you don't always get the deals and they are always more expensive! I learnt the hard way.....

 

[mommy2ash]

i have found that booking the hotel direct with disney is much cheaper. the travel agents have to add something on for their troubles. but book your transport separately

i would go in october it will be halloween season the whole month and its just wonderful. i was there in october last year and i really wish i was going back for it this year.

i would definately go for the five days its just enough time to get everything done and be able to take it all in instead of rushing about

i do skimp on the hotel and always stay at the santa fe. its basic but its fine and has all the perks bar the pool that the more expensive hotels have. for a better themed hotel if thats important to you then a lot of people love the cheyanne and its not much more expensive than the santa fe

you can book a character breakfast at cafe mickey at an extra cost, otherwise in all the hotels the characters have a meet and greet area in the hotel lobbys in the mornings

 

[BRobson]

Hi mrs tooti-frooti Reid,Elaine,Jackie and Elaine all 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

If you have not had a look yet, DLP posting rules are here. DIS posting guidelines can be found here.


Just ask away with the questions - There are many ways to plan a trip . Many book though Disney themselves who arrange the whole package but we always find in cheaper to arrange our own transport

Enjoy all the planning

 

[karengr]

We always check our price with disney then go into first choice who sort it out for us by phoning through to disney and they always get the same price for us. Infact this year they got it £40 cheaper than on the disney site.

 

[joolz1910]

My perfect trip would involve a return to the Disneyland Hotel, although I have three girls. Perhaps a boy would prefer the Cheyenne? Have you considered the Wild West Show? That might appeal to a 6 yr old boy too! If you book direct with Disney.co.uk, go through Quidco to get cashback. Where are you based? Will you go by Eurostar or fly?

 

[angel_nix]

We did a character breakfast and dinner at Cafe Mickey, I would recommend eating dinner/lunch there rather than breakfast! It was much busier at breakfast and not as mcuh character interaction, plus you already get breakfast provided int he hotel, so you're paying extra again!

 

[Jeccaboos]

We don't have pots of money but thought that we would do the trip once and make it a memorable one.


Jan

Aaah, the words of DLP innocents who haven't yet been snared! Before you know it, you'll be rebooking and checking out offers with the rest of us! One trip will turn into two, then three, then you'll have to book another as there is a really good deal on....

 

[Donzy84]

Hiya, We've not gone yet but here's what we're doing.... We decided to book for early september just when the prices went down (school hols ended) but we're hoping that the weather will still be nice.

We live up north but we're getting the train to london stopping overnight then catching the eurostar, we figured that way it would be less stress all round and in effect have an extra days holiday in London where we're going to do all the free museums.

My nephew is 6 and they always stay in sequoia lodge they swear by it, says the pool is amazing and its close enough to walk.... We're stopping in New york but dd is only 18mths so doesn't really need entertaining (I get the impression that its aimed at couples more)

Everyone on here says make the most of early opening hours, and plan plan plan so you get everything done. We're only going for 3 nights but thats more because dd is so young thought it could get overwhelming for her.

I've heard lots of good things about cafe mickey and inventions for caracter dining, but food is very expensive (have you looked at some the menus on this site) might be worth considering half board???

What ever you do though i'm sure it'll be amazing, i've read very few bad things on here, this site is amazing.

 

[angel girl]

Hi there

Not sure where you live, but we use Tesco Clubcard vouchers to pay for our Eurotunnel crossing then drive down from Calais, that saves some money.

I do think that you can make the trip as expensive or budget-conscious as you want to, for example eating in cheaper restaurants/taking your own snacks in or going all out with character meals. It really does depend on your budget. Even without the character meals you will be able to have plenty of character interaction, especially if you are going off-peak.

We stayed at the Cheyenne and thoroughly enjoyed it, so that's another thumbs up for it from me

Happy planning!

 

[mrs tooti-frooti]

Wow, what a welcome!!! Thank you!!

We are in North Lincolnshire just by the Humber Bridge.

We can travel any way we want to to be honest. We had thought about the ferry across from Hull to Zeebrugge and then driving but we had also considered the Eurostar.

Tesco vouchers for the Eurostar sound great - gonna check that one out next!

From all your replies I guess that 5 days will be best. I had looked at the Disney site for direct pricing but I had also checked Thomas Cook but because I wasn't sure of what to go for, like I said, I was completely lost.

I think I need to go back onto the Disney site and look at all the different options - including the restaurants and half board options.

We aren't that bothered about the hotel being too themed - although, will I regret saying that with a 6 year old??? I would think that he would be more than happy with the park itself and maybe a character meal onsite maybe? What do you all think?

Decisions, decisions. I hate having to make decisions!!

Any other input is all gratefully received, and thanks for all the replies so far - its all very kind of you to take the time out for me.

 

[Lisa_C]

We always check our price with disney then go into first choice who sort it out for us by phoning through to disney and they always get the same price for us. Infact this year they got it £40 cheaper than on the disney site.

Same with Thomson It's a common misconception that all travel agents add commission etc but mostly this isn't the truth. Get a Disney quote then try your travel agents, it's will more than likely be the same. Just not Thomas Cook!

 

[ema74]

We always book the hotel with Disney direct and then Eurostar separately - works out a lot cheaper. The train is easy for us as we live in London, one stop away from St Pancras so we never consider flying even though it may be cheaper.

Eurostar charges £5 when booking over the phone but sometimes it's better as they explain it better and you get the seats you want (ie family area with a little table in the middle - my girls love that as they can put their magazines/books and draw)

Cheyenne is a nice hotel, we stayed there in 2007 and going back there next week. The playground within the hotel is fab, my older daughter really enjoyed spending time there. Breakfast can be chaotic but it's all doable. They also had pony ride every day during our stay, I seem to remember it was 5 Eur per ride but my daughter loved it.

Re: character meal... We've only done Auberge de Cendrillon, ie lunch with the princesses. Expensive but worth the money if you don't want to queue to meet the princesses forever

Cafe Mickey is great to meet lots of characters. We have lunch there every time we visit DLP. We usually book a table for 12.30-12.45 and the restaurant is almost empty so we get to meet lots of characters. It's free of charge, you just pay for the meal and the food is good so maybe consider trying this rather than breakfast.

Feel free to ask more questions