Spontaneous trip to DLP.

[Indy_UK]

I haven't been to DLP since 2013 and my husband hasn't been since 2009.

We've been to WDW twice but living in Kent, it's a no brainier for us to make trips to Disneyland Paris.

We are 15 mins from the Eurotunnel.

So we've booked our first trip to DLP of Monday 11th March and staying one night at the Kyraid hotel. Hotel costed us £11 after using Tesco Clubcard vouchers and Euro Tunnel costs £48 return.

Looking at online crowd calendars, it's expected to not be too busy those 2 days so hopefully it will stay that way.

This trip is ultimately a test for us. If it really is as easy as they say to drive to DLP (first time) on other side of the road, we want to make it a regular thing.

Does anyone know what I need in terms of international car insurance or breakdown cover?

We also do t know what to do about tickets. Cheapest we could find was the one day/ one park for £41 each. Over two days that's a total of £164. I don't know whether to just drop another £200 on top now and get us both Flexi Magic passes.

Then we get the merchandise discounts, food discounts, free parking and then any future trips paid for in advance for the year.

What would the rest of you do?

What's the weather like mid march? Jumper and jeans?

Thanks in advance. We' re excited and hope to start my YouTube vlogs with this trip too

 

[cjkeating]

Don't make your choice based on my opinion but if you can do without some of the Americanised 'pixie dust' service that you get at WDW then make the jump and get an annual pass. You get a year to visit the best designed Magic Kingdom park which includes all of the seasons such as Halloween and Christmas that you pay extra for in Florida along with other seasons such as Star Wars and Marvel in WDSP if either of those appeal to you.

 

[Indy_UK]

I think your right. It's just the initial outlay but we know we'll try and visit every quarter at minimum and it will pay for itself by the 2nd trip.

 

[Indy_UK]

My car insurer says I'm covered with them for up to 30 days fully comp. just need some breakdown cover but that's only £10.

Seems pretty straight forward.

If on Monday we turn up at the gates to Disneyland Park and buy an annual pass, can we enter straight away on Extra Magic hours?

 

[Swissmiss]

My car insurer says I'm covered with them for up to 30 days fully comp. just need some breakdown cover but that's only £10.

Seems pretty straight forward.

If on Monday we turn up at the gates to Disneyland Park and buy an annual pass, can we enter straight away on Extra Magic hours?

You don’t buy the pass at the gates but inside the park (the price of your park to ticket then gets deducted from the price of the pass) and IIRC, that office doesn’t open until 10 am. Don’t forget to have your ID with you (something I almost always forget to bring with me to the park.

 

[Indy_UK]

Ok, so we have to buy a 1 day ticket each when we arrive which we then take and is then put towards an annual pass. The price of that one day ticket is then deducted from the price of an annual pass

 

[Den Carter]

Ok, so we have to buy a 1 day ticket each when we arrive which we then take and is then put towards an annual pass. The price of that one day ticket is then deducted from the price of an annual pass

That’s it! Be prepared to queue for up to an hour at the Bureau on the entrance to Discoveryland. It probably won’t take that long, but it can.

You mentioned restaurant discounts above, but remember you don’t get these with Magic Flex, only with Magic Plus and Infinity.

Enjoy!

 

[Indy_UK]

We went on our 2 day/ 1 night trip and can now report back.

This trip was a test of the viability to travel to DLP every 8 weeks or so for a couple of days and do it on the cheap. We think it's doable.

We are lucky that we live in Ashford Kent so only 10 minutes from Folkestone Eurotunnel. Our return trip was £48 return.

The lines for rides were really short. Unlike Orlando, we hardly waited for rides. 10 minutes for Indiana Jones and Pirates. 15 mins for Rocking Rollercoaster. 5 minutes for tower of terror. Maybe going weekdays is key? It was blissful. Disneyland park looks in good shape and can tell they've been cleaning it up. Studios on the other hand was really looking sad but we know what's coming to that park.

Was a bit gutted that thunder mountain was closed as well as phantom manor. We wasn't expecting that.

Mickeys philharmagic was cool to see. Image much sharper than ORolando and liked the moving floor but missed the smells.

Hyperspace mountain was insane. Loved it although did make me feel sick. Pirates was amazing.much prefer this version over Orlando.

We found food is stupidly overpriced. £12 at Starbucks for 2 small hot choclates and a cheese Toastie. We plan next time to take a cool box with bottled drinks and snacks so we can save massively and put it towards, say 1 sit down meal per trip.

We are at plaza Gardens and while at first I could have cried at €64 for two buffets after annual pass discount, I loved it there. I ate so much food which I think was really well cooked. I had mussels, salmon, beef, chicken, deserts and a cheese board. Didn't realise the drinks were on refills. Certainly plan to go there again and vlog it all.

Merch we found a little meh. Bought a biscuit barrel we liked but a lot of merch was the usual stuff repeated in every store. Was really hoping for some toy story characters but found they were mostly the same as the ones in the Disney stores over here.

We didn't come across any rude castmembers at all which I heard was common in DLP. No one exceptional either but all polite and helpful.

So we have our annual passes (Magic plus) now too so our future admission is covered. Apparently pass holders can get some really good deals on resort stays so we are keen to see what comes up for those.

Overall, really enjoyable trip

 

[Den Carter]

We went on our 2 day/ 1 night trip and can now report back.

This trip was a test of the viability to travel to DLP every 8 weeks or so for a couple of days and do it on the cheap. We think it's doable.

We are lucky that we live in Ashford Kent so only 10 minutes from Folkestone Eurotunnel. Our return trip was £48 return.

The lines for rides were really short. Unlike Orlando, we hardly waited for rides. 10 minutes for Indiana Jones and Pirates. 15 mins for Rocking Rollercoaster. 5 minutes for tower of terror. Maybe going weekdays is key? It was blissful. Disneyland park looks in good shape and can tell they've been cleaning it up. Studios on the other hand was really looking sad but we know what's coming to that park.

Was a bit gutted that thunder mountain was closed as well as phantom manor. We wasn't expecting that.

Mickeys philharmagic was cool to see. Image much sharper than ORolando and liked the moving floor but missed the smells.

Hyperspace mountain was insane. Loved it although did make me feel sick. Pirates was amazing.much prefer this version over Orlando.

We found food is stupidly overpriced. £12 at Starbucks for 2 small hot choclates and a cheese Toastie. We plan next time to take a cool box with bottled drinks and snacks so we can save massively and put it towards, say 1 sit down meal per trip.

We are at plaza Gardens and while at first I could have cried at €64 for two buffets after annual pass discount, I loved it there. I ate so much food which I think was really well cooked. I had mussels, salmon, beef, chicken, deserts and a cheese board. Didn't realise the drinks were on refills. Certainly plan to go there again and vlog it all.

Merch we found a little meh. Bought a biscuit barrel we liked but a lot of merch was the usual stuff repeated in every store. Was really hoping for some toy story characters but found they were mostly the same as the ones in the Disney stores over here.

We didn't come across any rude castmembers at all which I heard was common in DLP. No one exceptional either but all polite and helpful.

So we have our annual passes (Magic plus) now too so our future admission is covered. Apparently pass holders can get some really good deals on resort stays so we are keen to see what comes up for those.

Overall, really enjoyable trip

Glad you had a blast! Paris is so different to other parks. In some ways it’s brilliant, and in others (like dining) it’s just plain poor.

It also has one of my top five all-time favourite Disney parades (this is after 100s of trips to the parks in Anaheim, Orlando and Paris), Pirates and Princesses: Make Your Choice. And Mickey and the Magician is fab.

When I used to work in rail and got discount on Eurostar, we went once a month and never got bored. These days it’s once a quarter. If you’re looking for a cheap break, there are some really good Airbnb rentals in Serris, about 20 mins walk from the park gates. Much cheaper than hotels.

Weekends are very busy. Weekdays very quiet.

 

[cjkeating]

We went on our 2 day/ 1 night trip and can now report back.

This trip was a test of the viability to travel to DLP every 8 weeks or so for a couple of days and do it on the cheap. We think it's doable.

We are lucky that we live in Ashford Kent so only 10 minutes from Folkestone Eurotunnel. Our return trip was £48 return.

The lines for rides were really short. Unlike Orlando, we hardly waited for rides. 10 minutes for Indiana Jones and Pirates. 15 mins for Rocking Rollercoaster. 5 minutes for tower of terror. Maybe going weekdays is key? It was blissful. Disneyland park looks in good shape and can tell they've been cleaning it up. Studios on the other hand was really looking sad but we know what's coming to that park.

Was a bit gutted that thunder mountain was closed as well as phantom manor. We wasn't expecting that.

Mickeys philharmagic was cool to see. Image much sharper than ORolando and liked the moving floor but missed the smells.

Hyperspace mountain was insane. Loved it although did make me feel sick. Pirates was amazing.much prefer this version over Orlando.

We found food is stupidly overpriced. £12 at Starbucks for 2 small hot choclates and a cheese Toastie. We plan next time to take a cool box with bottled drinks and snacks so we can save massively and put it towards, say 1 sit down meal per trip.

We are at plaza Gardens and while at first I could have cried at €64 for two buffets after annual pass discount, I loved it there. I ate so much food which I think was really well cooked. I had mussels, salmon, beef, chicken, deserts and a cheese board. Didn't realise the drinks were on refills. Certainly plan to go there again and vlog it all.

Merch we found a little meh. Bought a biscuit barrel we liked but a lot of merch was the usual stuff repeated in every store. Was really hoping for some toy story characters but found they were mostly the same as the ones in the Disney stores over here.

We didn't come across any rude castmembers at all which I heard was common in DLP. No one exceptional either but all polite and helpful.

So we have our annual passes (Magic plus) now too so our future admission is covered. Apparently pass holders can get some really good deals on resort stays so we are keen to see what comes up for those.

Overall, really enjoyable trip

Sounds like a really good summary of DLP.

Whilst it would be disappointing to see Big Thunder closed it gives you something to look forward to on your next trip.

The good thing about DLP nowadays is that there is almost something new/reopened whenever you go as long as you are interested in all the offering such as characters, stage shows, parades, seasons etc. Give it a couple of years and we should have a decent pipeline of attractions opening.

 

[Indy_UK]

Our thinking it that we would go every 2-3 months but change it up each time.

This trip was a bit of everything. Next trip we want to do a lot of filming and photography so we can build our social media presence. Then a trip where we focus on characters. A trip where it's just about rides too.

I can't remember the name but we saw a BBQ buffet place near thunder mountain which we wouldn't mind trying next time. I really want to get into food reviews.

When Disney village and Studios gets this massive investment it's going to totally change everything. Should make it 3 solid day trip. I also think Disneyland Park could really do with a couple more rides. I think Mickey and Minnie's runaway railway is rumoured to be one on the way.

I love coasters but I feel DLP has enough indoor ones now and can do with some solid dark rides and more shows.

We missed Mickey and the Magician, so that's another to look forward too.

Also, we didn't see ANY photopass photographers, do they not exist?

 

[Den Carter]

Our thinking it that we would go every 2-3 months but change it up each time.

This trip was a bit of everything. Next trip we want to do a lot of filming and photography so we can build our social media presence. Then a trip where we focus on characters. A trip where it's just about rides too.

I can't remember the name but we saw a BBQ buffet place near thunder mountain which we wouldn't mind trying next time. I really want to get into food reviews.

When Disney village and Studios gets this massive investment it's going to totally change everything. Should make it 3 solid day trip. I also think Disneyland Park could really do with a couple more rides. I think Mickey and Minnie's runaway railway is rumoured to be one on the way.

I love coasters but I feel DLP has enough indoor ones now and can do with some solid dark rides and more shows.

We missed Mickey and the Magician, so that's another to look forward too.

Also, we didn't see ANY photopass photographers, do they not exist?

PhotoPass at DLP is woeful. You sometimes see them at the castle hub on busy summer days, but rarely otherwise.

The BBQ place near BTM is the Cowboy Cookout. Not a buffet, but they serve reasonable chicken and ribs. Other than Walt’s you’ll struggle to find WDW quality food anywhere at DLP.

With the best BTM of all, and some awesome improvements promised for Phantom Manor, you’re in for an awesome trip next time

 

[Indy_UK]

Booked our second trip.

Going April 2nd and 3rd with just a nights stay again. This time we paid the £48 for Eurotunnel but used up £90 of Tesco vouchers towards the hotel where we have bagged Davey crocket for £30.

We are going to take our own food and cook to see how we get on and save money.

 

[Indy_UK]

Got home Late last night from our 2nd trip. It was good but the weather was so cold. The weather can really make the trip.

Loved the Davey Crocket resort. Don't get me wrong, it's not ultra modern but the cabins are really spacious, can hold quite a few people if needed and I like you can chill and BBQ there. Thought the living area was slightly lacking as it's tight if you do have a full house.

Pool area was nice and the buffet restaurant was decent if expensive. We will definitely be cooking more ourselves next time and really wanted to try.

Drive was so easy to the park and we plan to stay here next time.

Got to ride thunder mountain this time.... loved it. So much better than the Orlando version.

Mickey and the magician was awesome. The Marvel show was a bit meh but I can see with these season events that they are doing the best they can with the space they have too.

We love going back what's good is that any le I have with DLP, Disney are planning to sort, but it's just the waiting game

 

[Sir_Cliff]

We love going back what's good is that any ****le I have with DLP, Disney are planning to sort, but it's just the waiting game

Now I really want to know what was censored in this last line!

Glad you enjoyed your trip!

 

[Indy_UK]

It was Ni-gg-le not sure why that was censored lol

I did forget to mention bad show we did see. Spider-Man was doing a meet and greet as well as doing the stage show at the same time. First time I've ever seen that happen

 

[Sir_Cliff]

It was Ni-gg-le not sure why that was censored lol

How strange! Wouldn't have guessed that!

I did forget to mention bad show we did see. Spider-Man was doing a meet and greet as well as doing the stage show at the same time. First time I've ever seen that happen

That is terrible show that you wouldn't really expect from Disney.

Circling back to a point you made in your first trip report, I have also never come across any of the notorious rude CMs in all my visits to DLP. I don't doubt others have, but I'm always surprised to read reports of hideous CMs as generally I have found them courteous without (in keeping with European culture, I think) being as effusive in the US parks.

 

[cjkeating]

I did forget to mention bad show we did see. Spider-Man was doing a meet and greet as well as doing the stage show at the same time. First time I've ever seen that happen

I understand where you are coming from but I don't think it is different to how many characters appear in the same park at the same time?

 

[Indy_UK]

I just that especially as they are a 30 second walk from each other they would have thought about it more