Disneyland Paris

riddlermarc · 24 Nov 2008 at 10:22

We are looking at taking our son to Disneyland Paris next January and are looking for a dvd that showcases the park - there doesn't seem to be one, does anyone know where I can get one from or maybe lend me one?

Also, any advice on which hotel to stay at? We are looking at the "proper" hotel within the park, is it worth the extra?

Dup · 24 Nov 2008 at 10:24

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/disneyparks/en_US/index?name=HomePage&bhcp=1

Bottom right. I went in 2004, loved it.

Knubje · 24 Nov 2008 at 10:28

Been to DL Paris a couple of times when I was a bit younger. Don't have any promo stuff but I'd check their site, bound to help.

As for the Pink Castle Hotel, I stayed there when parents treated us and we were there two nights. Think I was about 13/14.

It is full on 5 star and very impressive, costly too from what I remember. Still walking out from there, into the park an hour earlier than all the other suckers was pretty amazing.

pdw8 · 24 Nov 2008 at 10:29

What do you mean by "Proper" hotel? There are about 6 actual Disney hotels within the park. The best is the Disneyland Hotel which is by the front entrance to The Magic kingdom. I have stayed in Hotel Santa Fe and Cheyenne which are the budget hotels but perfectly good for a stay there. Some of the non Disney hotels are very good like the Movenpich and can be better value.
I have been 5 times now I think, its good for a short break and 3 days is plenty of time. Make sure you use FastPass for the main rides.

riddlermarc · 24 Nov 2008 at 10:39

pdw8 said:
What do you mean by "Proper" hotel? There are about 6 actual Disney hotels within the park. The best is the Disneyland Hotel which is by the front entrance to The Magic kingdom. I have stayed in Hotel Santa Fe and Cheyenne which are the budget hotels but perfectly good for a stay there. Some of the non Disney hotels are very good like the Movenpich and can be better value.
I have been 5 times now I think, its good for a short break and 3 days is plenty of time. Make sure you use FastPass for the main rides.

I thought only the Disneyland Hotel was on site, haven't really looked into it too much yet so I bow to other people's experience. How/where do you book the FastPass stuff, when you make the initial booking?

Knubje · 24 Nov 2008 at 10:42

riddlermarc said:
I thought only the Disneyland Hotel was on site, haven't really looked into it too much yet so I bow to other people's experience. How/where do you book the FastPass stuff, when you make the initial booking?

The big pink castle (the one I was referring too) is in the park and you can basically walk straight in through a turnstyle.

There are other "theme" hotels but they are off the main site but there are shuttle buses to the main area. From memory there was a Western Theme hotel, etc.

Sanguinnus · 24 Nov 2008 at 10:46

I may be able to get you a special deal on tickets, email me and i'll look into it for you, they'll either be free or reduced.

Vixen · 24 Nov 2008 at 10:53

I stayed in the Hotel New York in 2000, it was about the same standard as your average Hilton. I'm not sure that I'd say it has the feeling of a Disney hotel, although we weren't looking for that at the time. Hotel New York and the Newport Bay Club are both still within walking distance of the park, next to all the food places.

nands · 24 Nov 2008 at 11:42

We (family with 5 + 2 year olds) stayed in the Chaeyene Lodge. It was easily walkable into the park and you could get in an hour before the public.

Advice would be to breakfast early (no problem for us as the boys were always up by six). Walk to the park and use the fast passes.

Fast pass machines are outside each big ride. You take a ticket and it will have a twenty minute (or half hour - can't remember) timeslot on it. Go back to the ride within the time and go to the fast pass queue, should only be ten minutes from there. The fast pass time you get depends on how busy things are, the first one of the day will probably only be the next half hour but later on in the day it could be two hours away. You can only have one fast pass per entry ticket at the time.

I think that you could get your next fast pass ticket as soon as you were in the allotted timeslot. This would mean you could get your next fast pass before usintg your last one on the ride.

We went in February last year and it wasn't too busy.

psychas · 24 Nov 2008 at 11:48

went there in 1997 loved it just dont put your kids flight to the moon i nearly *** my self i was 11 back then :rolleyes:

POB · 24 Nov 2008 at 11:59

Cheyenne is about the best themed hotel of the lot.

Avoid the Santa Fe like the plague, its like walking through a council estate.

All the main six hotels are walkable to the gates, but also have a free bus if you want.

ro55o · 24 Nov 2008 at 12:14

Took the girlfriend last year, stayed 3 nights at the sequoia lodge. It was a decent hotel, helped that it was on site, easily within walking distance to both parks, but you can get a free bus that takes you round the hotels and the parks. The new york one looked nice inside, don't know about the rooms though.

I'm sure the disneyland hotel would add to the 'excitement' for the kids, me and the girlfriend are 22, so one of the lesser hotels were fine

It's the only hotel that has that disney look and feel, the rest are pretty much standard.

As others have said, get the fastpass for the rides whenever you can. I can definitely recommend the rockin rollercoaster, we just kept coming off it then going straight back on, great fun. Disneyland isn't just for the kids :cool:

GWillow · 24 Nov 2008 at 13:42

If you plan on using the swimming pool at the hotel at all then I would recommend the Newport Bay (of all the hotels around the lake). It has both an indoor and outdoor pool and is accessed directly through the hotel.

If you want to use the pool at the Sequoia Lodge, you have to go outside to get to it. (if the weather is not so good then that is no fun). Apparently the pool at the Disney Hotel isn't really child friendly as it doesn't have a shallow end (according to my wife).

Of the hotels I've stayed at (New York, Sequoia Lodge and Newport Bay) I think I prefer the Newport Bay although didn't have any problem with the other 2 though).

After a day at the park it's quite nice to have a walk through the Disney village on the way back to the hotel (which you wouldn't get if you stayed in the Disney Hotel).

As for breakfast, when we went in August we were able to have breakfast in the park before it opens to the public. This allowed us to have breakfast and then look around the park and get a few rides in before it opened to the masses (not all rides were open).