ajrwdwgirl
Premium Member
I've been using Duolingo to prepare for my trip to France, and I have learned a lot. I took a lot of Spanish in high school and college and it has helped with understanding and correlating words in French.
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First timer- Many Questions
- Thread starter CrescentLake
- Start date
The Empress Lilly
Well-Known Member
I can pass for being French simply by using one word that starts with 'P' and another that starts with 'M'.
Yes, thank you all! Less than 80 days now for me! Can't wait to see that gorgeous Castle and the rest of Paris of course.
HolleBolleGijs
Well-Known Member
You're going to have a blast! I always found the Paris parks a lot more intimate and less hectic than WDW. If you have any more questions about DLP or Paris in general (I lived there for four months), I'm happy to help!
CaptainShortty
Well-Known Member
Has anyone ever stayed at the Vienna International Dream Castle Hotel at Disneyland Paris? I just booked my tickets to Disney for this coming June/July and we're thinking about staying there. The only available hotel with my Cast discount is the Disneyland Hotel and it's a bit out of our price range for the whole stay (thinking of staying just one night to splurge!) so were thinking of going off propety. Any thoughts on the other "good neighbor" hotels is also appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Swissmiss
Premium Member
Of the four "good neighbor" hotels on that strip it is our favorite along with the Magic Circus just next door to it. The rooms and bedding are nicest at these two. The pool is best at the Algonquin Explorer's. The Kyriad is fine (I was there years ago) - I remember the rooms as being confortable but it has no pool and you must go outside the hotel for the breakfast room (including waiting outside before getting seated and in late October this is a bit cold first thing in the morning!). I've never stayed in any of the other good neighbor hotels because they are a bit farther away. In any event make sure you book these hotels thru their own websites or a booking site and not thru the DLP website.
Don't hesitate to ask if you have more questions.
Don't hesitate to ask if you have more questions.
GoofyCathy
Member
Have you already gone and come back? Just wondering how it was? We're heading to Paris next week and will be going to DLP. I'd love to hear your highlights!
No not yet! June 20-28th is my week in Paris. Not sure what day I'll be hitting DLP! I wish I had highlights to give but not yet. I want to hear yours though, have a wonderful trip!
pug
Well-Known Member
6: try a target if you will have a car or go to A hotel with suites in it because then they will have a big snack shop
PacNWTigger
Well-Known Member
We are going to be staying at the Dream Castle Hotel at the end of June. I believe it's a good neighbor hotel. We're going to take advantage of the RER to go into Paris on our non-Disney days. 
Getting totally excited!!!
Getting totally excited!!!
HolleBolleGijs
Well-Known Member
HolleBolleGijs
Well-Known Member
We are going to be staying at the Dream Castle Hotel at the end of June. I believe it's a good neighbor hotel. We're going to take advantage of the RER to go into Paris on our non-Disney days.
The RER is great! It's easy enough to manage, too. The train station should be easy enough to find from the shuttle, assuming that shuttle stops near the Disney ones. Coming from Marne-la-Vallée (the DLP stop which is to the east of Paris), the RER stations in the city are Nation, Gare de Lyon, Chatelet, Auber, and Charles de Gaulle - Etoille. Be careful you buy the right ticket, one that goes into Paris (the kiosks have an English option and are easy to use; you'll put in you destination station and it'll give you the appropriate ticket). They do random checks on the train, and you'll get fined like 30 euros if you have the wrong ticket. I've seen unknowing tourists get caught for this, which is stupid because the price difference isn't even that much.
If you're going somewhere not near an RER stop, but near a metro stop, you can use the RER ticket to transfer!
Also - make sure you keep track of your ticket when getting off the RER. Even if you aren't transferring to the metro and are just trying to leave the station, you will have to scan your ticket again to exit! You do not have to re-scan your ticket when exiting the metro, but I would keep it handy just in case!
Sorry that was a lot! I miss Paris like crazy so I can go a little overboard!!
PacNWTigger
Well-Known Member
Thanks for all of the great RER info! I feel MUCH better about being able to get the right tickets if there is an English option...hehe! We're staying at the Disneyland Dream Castle, so we're within walking distance of the RER to go into Paris during the day. I'm so excited...and I just can't hide it...I'm about to lose control and I think I like it!!The RER is great! It's easy enough to manage, too. The train station should be easy enough to find from the shuttle, assuming that shuttle stops near the Disney ones. Coming from Marne-la-Vallée (the DLP stop which is to the east of Paris), the RER stations in the city are Nation, Gare de Lyon, Chatelet, Auber, and Charles de Gaulle - Etoille. Be careful you buy the right ticket, one that goes into Paris (the kiosks have an English option and are easy to use; you'll put in you destination station and it'll give you the appropriate ticket). They do random checks on the train, and you'll get fined like 30 euros if you have the wrong ticket. I've seen unknowing tourists get caught for this, which is stupid because the price difference isn't even that much.
If you're going somewhere not near an RER stop, but near a metro stop, you can use the RER ticket to transfer!
Also - make sure you keep track of your ticket when getting off the RER. Even if you aren't transferring to the metro and are just trying to leave the station, you will have to scan your ticket again to exit! You do not have to re-scan your ticket when exiting the metro, but I would keep it handy just in case!
Sorry that was a lot! I miss Paris like crazy so I can go a little overboard!!
Swissmiss
Premium Member
Thanks for all of the great RER info! I feel MUCH better about being able to get the right tickets if there is an English option...hehe! We're staying at the Disneyland Dream Castle, so we're within walking distance of the RER to go into Paris during the day. I'm so excited...and I just can't hide it...I'm about to lose control and I think I like it!!
Better than the English option at the machines is getting tickets from the ticket counter at the entrance to the RER. My recollection of the machines the last time I used them (where there wasn't a ticket counter) was that they required you to know information that as a tourist you wouldn't necessarily know - such as how many zones you will go thru before your destination. Even if the person at the counter doesn't speak much English they will understand if you ask for Paris. Aller (al-lay) simple is a one way ticket and aller retour is a round trip ticket.
Also, the Dream Castle may look like walking distance if you look on a map, but there is a field that I don't think you can walk thru (or if you can walk across requires you to make a huge detour because there is a fence that goes the length of the access road). But this doesn't really matter because the shuttle service brings you to the train station as this is the same stop as for the parks. You only need to pay attention when coming from Paris in the morning, as each shuttle only serves 2 of the 4 hotels on the same street as Dream Castle; from midday on each shuttle will stop at all 4 hotels.
HolleBolleGijs
Well-Known Member
When was this? If I recall correctly (although I had a navigo pass most of the time I was there), you could just input the name of the station you are going to, and it will give you the appropriate ticket. So as long as you input one of the Paris stops, it should sell you the Paris ticket. I remember doing this when I had to add a trip to Marne-la-Vallée to my monthly pass, although it wasn't quite the same process.
Your way works too of course
HolleBolleGijs
Well-Known Member
Thanks for all of the great RER info! I feel MUCH better about being able to get the right tickets if there is an English option...hehe! We're staying at the Disneyland Dream Castle, so we're within walking distance of the RER to go into Paris during the day. I'm so excited...and I just can't hide it...I'm about to lose control and I think I like it!!
No problem, happy to help! Try to enjoy Paris and Disneyland! Paris can seem stressful if you're only there a short amount of time, especially if you are adjusting to the language and culture, but it really is a wonderful city! I honestly didn't like it for the first few days, but then by the end of four months I was in love.
orlando678-
Well-Known Member
I agree and confirm the fact about the metro tickets. There are digital devices where you can get the right amount of ticket. But im not sure if you could tell where you were going. I do know that theres a special ticket counter for the metro to Dlrp though.
Jacquellie
Member
Travel: I became a bit of an expert going backwards and forwards from Central Paris to Disneyland because my DD ended up in hospital. It's really easy. Good thing to know is the train goes from Arc de Triomphe - the epicentre of Paris. The actual station is Charles de Gaulle Etoille. It also goes from Nation, another major hub that is easy to get to.
A fun thing to do is use the hop-on hop-off buses to travel to Arc de Triomphe, to take in some sights along the way.
Food: Actually, I thought the food in Disneyland was pretty great, especially Cafe Agrabah, which was fantastic. We're going back in November and we plan to eat there most days.
French: A little goes a long way. Even just learning "I'm sorry I don't speak French" is 100 times better than just speaking English. Parisians like good manners - when you walk into a small shop or restaurant it's a good idea to greet the owner or host with a simple Bonjour Monsieur or Madame, as if you are walking into their home. I've been to Paris many times and I don't think it's true they are rude - they are lovely - so long as you at least try to respect they have a different language. Michel Thomas tapes are fantastic for learning French. They're expensive, but even if you just get the first two, that will take you a long way.
A fun thing to do is use the hop-on hop-off buses to travel to Arc de Triomphe, to take in some sights along the way.
Food: Actually, I thought the food in Disneyland was pretty great, especially Cafe Agrabah, which was fantastic. We're going back in November and we plan to eat there most days.
French: A little goes a long way. Even just learning "I'm sorry I don't speak French" is 100 times better than just speaking English. Parisians like good manners - when you walk into a small shop or restaurant it's a good idea to greet the owner or host with a simple Bonjour Monsieur or Madame, as if you are walking into their home. I've been to Paris many times and I don't think it's true they are rude - they are lovely - so long as you at least try to respect they have a different language. Michel Thomas tapes are fantastic for learning French. They're expensive, but even if you just get the first two, that will take you a long way.
PacNWTigger
Well-Known Member
Any idea if Space Mountain will be up and running at the end of June? I have my fingers crossed, but I know that it has been closed for quite some time... 