New and overwhelmed!

[disnewbie]

Hi everyone. I'm really hoping for some help planning a trip to Disneyland Paris this December. I'm brand new with this and overwhelmed!



Some questions I'm hoping you can help with??



1. Disney hotels seem very expensive. I know there is a train station right at the entrance to Disney . Is it better to book a hotel close to a train station one or two stops away then get the train in?



2. The trains seem to start early and run late so we could stay late at Disney, but, is it safe late at night to be walking from the station to a hotel?



3. if anyone has done this are there any hotels you can recommend?



4. Are park tickets at Christmas limited?. How late can you leave it before booking?



5. Is it better to book through the Disneyland Paris website, or ring them?



6. I'm guessing there wouldn't be any special deals available in December since it's already busy, but is there anything we should be looking at/ thinking of when booking?



7. Any other things we need to know??







so many questions, but I'd appreciate help with any of them. Thank you in advance!

 

[Swissmiss]

There are several hotels in Val d’Europe (one stop away on the RER) which are much more reasonably priced than on-site hotels and some of them also have shuttles to the parks. You should also have a look at the direct websites of the partner hotels (can’t remember what they are called on the DLP booking website) as their prices will usually be lower when booking direct.

 

[Jordan dby]

In my experience disney hotels really aren't expensive, once you've added costs of tickets etc. We usually find a budget hotel under 20 min drive the night before and after so we get the full day for each ticket.

The main benefit of staying in a disney hotel is walking to and from the hotel, giving the option of mid-day breaks. This can depend on the age and energy levels of your group. You probably don't want to be stuck outside in winter as well and hotels can come with decent offers on meal plans that do work out cheaper.

However I've never done it in december and if it does work out cheaper to stay offsite then public transport and is fairly cheap, plentiful and safe. Many hotels do shuttle buses too.

 

[marni1971]

Stay onsite if you can. December is an expensive month anyway mind; the official website has a calendar showing cheaper and pricier times of year.

 

[wdrive]

You get a lot more bang for your buck staying in Val d’Europe. The hotels Elysee and Relai Spa are better than most Disney hotels and will be cheaper than most. Both have free shuttle buses to the parks or the train is also a 3 minute journey and about €2. Or the parks are walkable from Val d’Europe also, 20-30 minutes depending where you’re staying

Call me prudish but you couldn’t pay me to stay in the Santa Fe hotel at Disney.

 

[marni1971]

Call me prudish but you couldn’t pay me to stay in the Santa Fe hotel at Disney.

When did you stay? Just wondered if it was before the overhaul.

 

[wdrive]

When did you stay? Just wondered if it was before the overhaul.

Never have but visited enough, have also seen in a friends room.

If it wasn’t attached to Disneyland I’d say it’s probably worth about €25 a night, but I’d still not stay there even at that price point.

 

[marni1971]

Never have but visited enough, have also seen in a friends room.

If it wasn’t attached to Disneyland I’d say it’s probably worth about €25 a night, but I’d still not stay there even at that price point.

We’re doing it as a cheaper trip this year then we’ll have stayed at all the (currently open) resorts. Looking forward to it. I’ll let you know

 

[wdrive]

We’re doing it as a cheaper trip this year then we’ll have stayed at all the (currently open) resorts. I’ll let you know

I hope you enjoy! But a few framed pictures of Cars characters they’ve probably got from Google just doesn’t cut it for me.

Feel a bit bad now for calling it worse than crap haha, I honestly do hope you enjoy

 

[marni1971]

I hope you enjoy! But a few framed pictures of Cars characters they’ve probably got from Google just doesn’t cut it for me.

Feel a bit bad now for calling it worse than crap haha, I honestly do hope you enjoy

Without being snobbish we’re going in with measured expectations and hope it’ll be what we expect. Call us secret shoppers

 

[wdrive]

Just did a quick price up for a 2 night stay for 2 adults in November arriving on a Saturday. Factoring in park tickets Hotel Elysee in Val D’Europe works out around €250 cheaper.

Some comparative photos, I know which one I would prefer. But then again I’m not a huge fan of Cars

 

[cjkeating]

Just did a quick price up for a 2 night stay for 2 adults in November arriving on a Saturday. Factoring in park tickets Hotel Elysee in Val D’Europe works out around €250 cheaper.

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Some comparative photos, I know which one I would prefer. But then again I’m not a huge fan of Cars

When it comes to a theme park hotels you have to add in the convenience that each resort offer on site guests and if you'd take in advantage of any of that?

> Walkable so is nice in the evening to quickly get back to your room or if you think you need a break during the day again it's close, removes hassle of RER especially if you are staying for Dreams
> Extra Magic Time offers you a nice speed boost in the morning that IMO remove the need to purchase Premier Access (unless it's high peak so not in November) if that was tempting you
> Easy to get back after an evening drink in Disney Village if you want to stay in the 'bubble' after the park has shut

I honestly don't get the hate for the external aesthetics of Santa Fe, I love a theme park hotel so the quirkier the design the better versus any old chain hotel.

 

[Jordan dby]

Out of interest you clearly compared 2 nights vs 2 nights but were both 3 days?

For me a lot depends on if you make full use of the 3 days. We get a local hotel the night before and actually in Feb got a decent deal at davy crockett. So half a day on that pool and then drive to sequoia the following morning so we use the full 3 day tickets.

I've always found on site disney hotels good value, with a bonus character meet (queues for characters in Paris are totally insane). We have only ever stayed on the lake though (one time in dinseyland hotel) the walk looks a bit far from the last 2.

 

[Jordan dby]

I should add; disney hotels in USA (either, both) are an absolute fortune. So whereas character dining or disney hotel always seemed like a pipe dream maybe I'm just pleasantly surprised I can do it in Paris without selling a kidney

 

[wdrive]

When it comes to a theme park hotels you have to add in the convenience that each resort offer on site guests and if you'd take in advantage of any of that?

> Walkable so is nice in the evening to quickly get back to your room or if you think you need a break during the day again it's close, removes hassle of RER especially if you are staying for Dreams
> Extra Magic Time offers you a nice speed boost in the morning that IMO remove the need to purchase Premier Access (unless it's high peak so not in November) if that was tempting you
> Easy to get back after an evening drink in Disney Village if you want to stay in the 'bubble' after the park has shut

I honestly don't get the hate for the external aesthetics of Santa Fe, I love a theme park hotel so the quirkier the design the better versus any old chain hotel.

I’d say the walk between Disneyland and Santa Fe is pretty close to the walk to some Val D Europe hotels.

I just had a quick Google and they put it as a 19 minute walk the Fantasia Gardens to Santa Fe and also a 19 minute walk Fantasia Gardens to the Hi Park hotel in Val D Europe.

Extra magic time is the only thing on-site hotels have over off site in my opinion.

 

[marni1971]

I just had a quick Google and they put it as a 19 minute walk the Fantasia Gardens to Santa Fe and also a 19 minute walk Fantasia Gardens to the Hi Park hotel in Val D Europe..

Depends where your room is !

I confess we wouldn’t consider staying outside the DLP bubble. We enjoy the hotels, the landscaping and - yes - the walks. For us the whole DLP resort is part of the stay. Yet we wouldn’t really consider the WDW bubble anymore. I’ll also admit I was very pleasantly surprised with how enjoyable and well themed Cheyenne was when we stayed there a few years ago. Sequoia is our favourite, but Cheyenne was very nice for a lower category hotel. Plus we book well in advance so get a good rate. Yes, they’re not as cheap as elsewhere, and I dare say Bob will eventually price them out of reach.