Pre-Trip Disneyland Paris...what am I doing???

I know...it's not WDW (I really wish it were!) but I need a Disney fix and I can't afford flights across the pond plus a 2 week WDW trip. And we have very few vacation days left. So...I'm making do with Disneyland Paris, because we can drive there in a few hours, and hey, it's the 25th anniversary year! But I really don't know what I'm doing....so I'm hoping some of you Disney park veterans can help me in planning our trip!

Who: Myself, my Husband, DD 11, and DS 9.
Where: Disneyland Paris- Sequoia Lodge
When: October 17th through the 20th

I booked this trip in April when I was sitting on my brother's couch, stuck in the US after my dad's funeral, waiting for estate stuff to work out. It was taking a LOT longer than I was expecting (still ongoing) and I was stressed and frazzled and grieving, lonely as my DH and kids had already gone home right after the funeral, and...well, a whole lot of emotions and I needed a BREAK. My almost 4 year old niece is getting to that age where she loves Disney movies...we watched Moana, Big Hero 6, Lady and the Tramp 2....the list goes on. And she was making me sing every Disney song I know (I know a lot) and when we went to lunch one day, the restaurant is called The Library, and they have bookcases full for you to choose a book to read while you wait for your food. (This is Belle's type of place!) She picked a Disney book. We looked at the pictures and I told her I had met Mickey and Donald etc the previous Summer in WDW. She was a captive audience and begged to know who else had I met...had I met Winnie the Pooh? How about Ariel? Pluto? So I got out my phone and showed her all the pictures from our character dinners and meet and greets, etc. And she announced she wanted to go. Yeah...me too, kid...me too!! (My BIL probably wishes I hadn't shared that with her...I don't think he's ever been there and he doesn't think it's worth the cost. BLASPHEMY!) The more I thought about it, the more I REALLY wanted to be in Disney. But, having just flown my family overseas (and flown the rest of them back already) more trans-Atlantic flights were not in our budget. And as I was on my 4th or 5th week in America by that time, vacation time was ticking down. WDW would not be an option this year. BUT! The Dutch Disney site offered some great deals for DLP's 25th anniversary year. Fall break at Disney? Yes please!! My husband was easier to convince than I thought he'd be. (or maybe he just really felt bad for me and knew I needed a pick-me-up in a major way? Or maybe he actually really likes Disney) YAY!!! We're going to Disney! Now what?
 
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Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
littleroo said:
I am sorry to hear about your father! Looking forward to an in depth tr from Paris. I am in!!
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Well, I never finished my TR from WDW last Summer...though that was a 5 week trip, not only to WDW, but also back home to visit family. THIS trip will be 4 days...much easier to report. So I hope I can make it through this one.
 
Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Let the planning begin! I am a planner. And a list maker. I don't plan every moment of a trip, but I want to know what I'm getting into. I want to know what standard operating procedure is. Like...I did a lot of reading on WDW's dining...menu research, how ADRs work, etc. Make the best use of the time. I don't want to be looking around trying to find a restaurant where all of us will eat, that has a table at the time we want it. My son is also the pickiest of all picky eaters. (Last year at WDW, he wouldn't even eat the chicken nuggets or the pizza. And no, he won't eat Mac n' cheese or spaghetti anywhere.) So as soon as I booked our trip, I started researching restaurants...except...the menus for buffets don't list ANYTHING but the drinks. And from what I've read, not everything will be open in October. But the Disney site doesn't list their opening hours until a couple of months in advance. So I don't know which restaurants will be relevant at the time of our trip. We have a half-board meal plan that gives us quick service breakfast and one TS meal per day at one of about 15 restaurants. Which may or may not be open in October.
Anyone who has been to DLP resorts...are all the RESORT restaurants open throughout the year? And if you have any pictures of food from DLP, particularly at one of the buffets, could you please share with the class?? Pretty please, with a dole whip on top?
 
12in12

12in12

Well-Known Member
Hi @Songbird76 ,
Sadly I can't help you as I have only been to DLP once. You could try asking @FlaggNL , another Dutchie on this site like me but with a whole lot of experience in DLP.
If Paris doesn't give you your Disney fix you are welcome to tag along on my trip in January, 14 days at AKL sans kids.:)
 
Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
RedNoseMickey said:
Hi @Songbird76 ,
Sadly I can't help you as I have only been to DLP once. You could try asking @FlaggNL , another Dutchie on this site like me but with a whole lot of experience in DLP.
If Paris doesn't give you your Disney fix you are welcome to tag along on my trip in January, 14 days at AKL sans kids.:)
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Wow...nice! I think my kids would murder me in my sleep if I went to Disney without them! I AM planning a 25th anniversary trip for hubby and I...in 2026. The kids will be grown by then, so that one will just be hubby and I.
 
Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So I went to the Disney paris website, and I logged in to My Disneyland (their version of MDE). What a completely pointless account. You can not book ADRs. You can not book fastpasses. You can not do ANYTHING on my Disneyland except see your reservation....which for some reason has never worked on my account anyway. Every time I log in, if I try to go to "My bookings" it tells me there's been an error and to try later. If the problem persists, call the assistance number...then you call it...and they can't figure out what the problem is because it shows up perfectly for them. And then they ask you what you are wanting to do...and then tell you that you can't do it via My Disneyland, you have to do it by phone. I still don't know how to make fastpass reservations. Do we even GET fasspass there? So....I still have ZERO plans beyond "We're going to Disneyland Paris from October 17th -20th and staying at Sequoia Lodge." The list maker is thwarted again.
 
12in12

12in12

Well-Known Member
Songbird76 said:
Wow...nice! I think my kids would murder me in my sleep if I went to Disney without them! I AM planning a 25th anniversary trip for hubby and I...in 2026. The kids will be grown by then, so that one will just be hubby and I.
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That is a long wait for a kids free trip!
I do know that DLP still has the paper fast pass system so you can't book anything online.
 
Swissmiss

Swissmiss

Premium Member
The parks will be beautiful when you go - the Halloween decorations will really add to your pictures. As far as planning, don't expect DLP to be/work like WDW. You'll need to take more of a "go with the flow" attitude and readjust expectations so as to not be disappointed. Once you've done that, you'll end up having a really enjoyable trip.

I've never done the meal plan at DLP (I'm more often staying at one of the nearby hotels than one of the DLP hotels) and I find the food merely OK. The buffet in the Disneyland Hotel was fairly good and I had a pretty good meal in the Hotel New York. I stayed once at the Sequoia but don't recall eating there except breakfast.

What will be strange for you is how it is the same without being the same - such as same ride, but different placement in the park (Small World is behind the Castle to the right instead of the left), or even in different park (Aladdin is in the Studios and not in MK).

What is really nice is how close the parks are to one another and that you can walk from your hotel. Unless you are REALLY slow walkers I think the posted walk times are about 5 minutes longer than it will actually take you. In fact, avoid taking the bus from your hotel because the security line at the hotel end of the Village is much less congested than the security line coming from bus drop off area.

Since this is your first stay at the Sequoia I'll wish on you the same pixie dust I had on my first stay there. I had planned a weekend trip with my daughter - we can catch a train after work on Friday and be there around 10ish and then take a late afternoon train on Sunday and be home around bedtime for school the next day. Because we had annual passes, I had planned on staying at one of the nearby hotels because the AP also gave us the only perk worth staying at a Disney hotel: access at 8 am). Then one evening as our weekend trip approaches my neighbor is telling me that her daughter is having a really hard time with the parents separation (I think the fact that the child suddenly started spending weekends with her dad in another apartment with no explanation given played a huge part in it!), so I told her she should come to DLP with us. So I change my reservations from the off-site hotel to Sequoia, so that they could take advantage of the early access given to hotel guests. So we arrive closer to 10:30 because of train delays, check in is mostly empty and the woman helping me is having difficulty with my reservation for some reason. She disappears, she comes back, she disappears ... I'm getting a bit peeved because it is now getting closed to 11 pm and we're all tired. Another cast member sees and comes over, she then goes behind to look for her colleague, comes back and tells me not to worry, her colleague will be back soon. FINALLY the first woman comes back and says to me "Do you know Disneyland Hotel? It is now your hotel". So we traipse back outside, wait for a shuttle going back to the train station, and walk down to the park entrance which is also the entrance to the Disneyland Hotel. I must admit, it was very nice to be able to cross staying there off my bucket list without having paid the price of staying there! And the location for such a short trip was awesome. The following year my nieces came to visit and we detoured to DLP on our way to spending a week in The Netherlands - and I finally got to stay at the Sequoia :)

(Sorry for such a long post! :rolleyes:)
 
Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Swissmiss said:
The parks will be beautiful when you go - the Halloween decorations will really add to your pictures. As far as planning, don't expect DLP to be/work like WDW. You'll need to take more of a "go with the flow" attitude and readjust expectations so as to not be disappointed. Once you've done that, you'll end up having a really enjoyable trip.

I've never done the meal plan at DLP (I'm more often staying at one of the nearby hotels than one of the DLP hotels) and I find the food merely OK. The buffet in the Disneyland Hotel was fairly good and I had a pretty good meal in the Hotel New York. I stayed once at the Sequoia but don't recall eating there except breakfast.

What will be strange for you is how it is the same without being the same - such as same ride, but different placement in the park (Small World is behind the Castle to the right instead of the left), or even in different park (Aladdin is in the Studios and not in MK).

What is really nice is how close the parks are to one another and that you can walk from your hotel. Unless you are REALLY slow walkers I think the posted walk times are about 5 minutes longer than it will actually take you. In fact, avoid taking the bus from your hotel because the security line at the hotel end of the Village is much less congested than the security line coming from bus drop off area.

Since this is your first stay at the Sequoia I'll wish on you the same pixie dust I had on my first stay there. I had planned a weekend trip with my daughter - we can catch a train after work on Friday and be there around 10ish and then take a late afternoon train on Sunday and be home around bedtime for school the next day. Because we had annual passes, I had planned on staying at one of the nearby hotels because the AP also gave us the only perk worth staying at a Disney hotel: access at 8 am). Then one evening as our weekend trip approaches my neighbor is telling me that her daughter is having a really hard time with the parents separation (I think the fact that the child suddenly started spending weekends with her dad in another apartment with no explanation given played a huge part in it!), so I told her she should come to DLP with us. So I change my reservations from the off-site hotel to Sequoia, so that they could take advantage of the early access given to hotel guests. So we arrive closer to 10:30 because of train delays, check in is mostly empty and the woman helping me is having difficulty with my reservation for some reason. She disappears, she comes back, she disappears ... I'm getting a bit peeved because it is now getting closed to 11 pm and we're all tired. Another cast member sees and comes over, she then goes behind to look for her colleague, comes back and tells me not to worry, her colleague will be back soon. FINALLY the first woman comes back and says to me "Do you know Disneyland Hotel? It is now your hotel". So we traipse back outside, wait for a shuttle going back to the train station, and walk down to the park entrance which is also the entrance to the Disneyland Hotel. I must admit, it was very nice to be able to cross staying there off my bucket list without having paid the price of staying there! And the location for such a short trip was awesome. The following year my nieces came to visit and we detoured to DLP on our way to spending a week in The Netherlands - and I finally got to stay at the Sequoia :)

(Sorry for such a long post! :rolleyes:)
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I really like the look of the Sequoia....I'm glad to be staying there. I wouldn't mind a free upgrade, though!
I have a really hard time going with the flow...that is hard for me. I'm not a park commando, but I don't do fly by the seat of my pants well. My husband, being the sweet romantic wonderful husband that he is, "kidnapped" me once...he arranged for the kids to stay with my inlaws, he called in to my choir to say I wouldn't be there for rehearsal, and he came and picked us up from the school...I was picking the kids up and suddenly I see hubby there....no clue why he was home early. He had packed a bag for me for overnight...but forgot PJs. And because he picked us up from the school, I didn't have my purse...no wallet, no ID, no keys. He wouldn't tell me where we were going, just that we had a tight schedule. We ended up going to dinner and to a Hunger Games movie marathon...he knew I'd wanted to see the new one coming out. It was beyond sweet and amazing that he did that...and I basically panicked the whole evening not having been in on the planning. I'm not really equipped for go with the flow. Guess I will have to work on that in the next few months!!

Very helpful tip about not going with the buses! Thank you! Here, if it says it will take you 10 minutes to walk, you'd better walk FAST or plan for 15 minutes. So it's nice to know that DLP's is more realistic.
 
susan lees

susan lees

Well-Known Member
Songbird76 said:
I know...it's not WDW (I really wish it were!) but I need a Disney fix and I can't afford flights across the pond plus a 2 week WDW trip. And we have very few vacation days left. So...I'm making do with Disneyland Paris, because we can drive there in a few hours, and hey, it's the 25th anniversary year! But I really don't know what I'm doing....so I'm hoping some of you Disney park veterans can help me in planning our trip!

Who: Myself, my Husband, DD 11, and DS 9.
Where: Disneyland Paris- Sequoia Lodge
When: October 17th through the 20th

I booked this trip in April when I was sitting on my brother's couch, stuck in the US after my dad's funeral, waiting for estate stuff to work out. It was taking a LOT longer than I was expecting (still ongoing) and I was stressed and frazzled and grieving, lonely as my DH and kids had already gone home right after the funeral, and...well, a whole lot of emotions and I needed a BREAK. My almost 4 year old niece is getting to that age where she loves Disney movies...we watched Moana, Big Hero 6, Lady and the Tramp 2....the list goes on. And she was making me sing every Disney song I know (I know a lot) and when we went to lunch one day, the restaurant is called The Library, and they have bookcases full for you to choose a book to read while you wait for your food. (This is Belle's type of place!) She picked a Disney book. We looked at the pictures and I told her I had met Mickey and Donald etc the previous Summer in WDW. She was a captive audience and begged to know who else had I met...had I met Winnie the Pooh? How about Ariel? Pluto? So I got out my phone and showed her all the pictures from our character dinners and meet and greets, etc. And she announced she wanted to go. Yeah...me too, kid...me too!! (My BIL probably wishes I hadn't shared that with her...I don't think he's ever been there and he doesn't think it's worth the cost. BLASPHEMY!) The more I thought about it, the more I REALLY wanted to be in Disney. But, having just flown my family overseas (and flown the rest of them back already) more trans-Atlantic flights were not in our budget. And as I was on my 4th or 5th week in America by that time, vacation time was ticking down. WDW would not be an option this year. BUT! The Dutch Disney site offered some great deals for DLP's 25th anniversary year. Fall break at Disney? Yes please!! My husband was easier to convince than I thought he'd be. (or maybe he just really felt bad for me and knew I needed a pick-me-up in a major way? Or maybe he actually really likes Disney) YAY!!! We're going to Disney! Now what?
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So sorry to hear about your loss.
We've only just got back from DLP and although its not WDW we had a lovely 5 night break. My son has worked and holidayed in wdw and has visited Disneyland in California and DLP. He says California is his favourite but we all love the quaint feel of DLP (I love Paris anyway).
Really looking forward to hearing all about your trip.
 
susan lees

susan lees

Well-Known Member
Songbird76 said:
So I went to the Disney paris website, and I logged in to My Disneyland (their version of MDE). What a completely pointless account. You can not book ADRs. You can not book fastpasses. You can not do ANYTHING on my Disneyland except see your reservation....which for some reason has never worked on my account anyway. Every time I log in, if I try to go to "My bookings" it tells me there's been an error and to try later. If the problem persists, call the assistance number...then you call it...and they can't figure out what the problem is because it shows up perfectly for them. And then they ask you what you are wanting to do...and then tell you that you can't do it via My Disneyland, you have to do it by phone. I still don't know how to make fastpass reservations. Do we even GET fasspass there? So....I still have ZERO plans beyond "We're going to Disneyland Paris from October 17th -20th and staying at Sequoia Lodge." The list maker is thwarted again.
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I didn't bother with this as you use the ticket type FPs and we managed walk ups to all restaurants we wanted. I felt it was frustrating me more:arghh:
 
Swissmiss

Swissmiss

Premium Member
I'm not so sure I'd call what your hubby did as going with the flow; I'm not big on surprises either ;). And you can certainly do some planning at DLP - such as looking at park maps and planning out your route, but just not to the extent you need to at WDW.

I did like the Sequoia but remember it as being a bit dark compared to the color scheme at some of the other hotels. But the room layout there and at the Newport Bay is really useful - hooks and a bench and storage rack in the area where the sinks are - makes getting ready while others are still sleeping easier (particularly last year when I was at the Newport Bay for the half marathon).

And if the parks are crowded, take advantage of the covered arcades on either side of Main Street (particularly when leaving if you stay until closing).
 
Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
susan lees said:
I didn't bother with this as you use the ticket type FPs and we managed walk ups to all restaurants we wanted. I felt it was frustrating me more:arghh:
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Huh...is there a limit to how many fastpasses you can get in a day then? And what kind of places were you doing walk ups? Were they buffets? Or regular table service? I think our best shot is going to be buffets with DS...then he can at least eat rolls. And possibly desserts, though he's a bit picky about those.
 
Tinkerkelle

Tinkerkelle

Well-Known Member
I feel your planner's pain! We're going in Oct too and there is so little planning compared to WDW, and not nearly as much info either! But it's a beautiful park and so easy to get around. We stayed in Sequoia years ago on our 1st visit and loved it. A short walk through Disney Village to the parks and a quick walk between parks.
DLP is old school paper fast passes from machines outside the rides, not each ride has FP. You can only hold 1 FP at a time.
ADRs can only be made by phone upto 60 days in advance. Last time we went we made ours on arrival with the hotel concierge but I read somewhere you need to do that at guest relations in the parks now? We got the reservations we wanted but had to be flexible on times and dates. With free dining being offered on quite a few packages I think I'm going to call ahead.
DLP gets bashed a bit with regards food but we liked it well enough and the buffets worked well for us - Plaza Gardens was our favourite. We liked the Blue Lagoon too as you dine inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and watch the boats pass. With free dining your breakfast is a quick serve in the park which will be new to us. We have enjoyed the buffet breakfasts at the hotels on previous visits but the free dining doesn't give you that option.
There have been lots of refurbishments to get the park ready for the 25th anniversary and a new parade and firework show so we're really looking forward to it. Hope you have a fab time.
 

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