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gothic_doll

Strumms wrote: »

My own advice is to stay in Paris center. Close to a station on the RER line A which will serve Disney direct in about 40 minutes. That way you can go to a supermarket each morning and stock up on your own food for the day... a nice picnic.. generously filled delicious French baguettes, pasta bowls whatever you like and take it with you.

You can mix and match from sightseeing in Paris, maybe a trip to Versailles etc...

Both great bits of advice. Paying so much for reportedly bad food from the park would put a dent in your enjoyment. Getting some fresh food and drink from the supermarket every day sounds great. Kids would like Versailles too and there are family restaurants there.

SalthillHead

Staying in Paris and going out to Disney everyday is pure craziness!! Most of your day would be wasted plus the cost of it. The food is fast food. It's not that bad. In the disney hotels you can get decent food in the morning and take that with you.

And like other posters say there is a huge shopping centre 5 minutes on the RR train from Disney.

Also there is a small shop in the train station at Disney and beside Sante Fe hotel there is a Maxol petrol station that has the normal every day things you would need

buggy beag

Cheers lads

eeguy

gothic_doll wrote: »

Both great bits of advice. Paying so much for reportedly bad food from the park would put a dent in your enjoyment. Getting some fresh food and drink from the supermarket every day sounds great. Kids would like Versailles too and there are family restaurants there.

I think if the children had a choice between versailles or Disneyland they'd choose the latter.

If you're in Paris then it's an hour each way to Disneyland and after 11 hours on your feet all youll want is your bed.

Milly33

Yes there is very little in Paris for kids to do in fairness even as an adult it takes a few times to get the feel for Paris.. There is a train running alright though from Paris to a station not to far away from Disney. There is a little village there you come into with shops. If anyone is staying in a self catering spot here would be a good place to get some food.

BubbleBuddy

Wish I'd read all this about Paris before booking. We are booked into the Sequoia, as we wanted pool, in August with our 11 year old (had to be done before he gets too old and hoping he's not too old) but wondering if anyone used the high speed train from CDG to Disneyland? As there's just 3 of us, is there any benefit in booking private transfer over the shuttle bus or train?

Like you Dodge, we are also spending a couple of nights in Paris (which we've been to a few times but decades ago) is there anything for kids to enjoy? So long since we've been, no idea what to bring him to see that he'll have enough interest in.

Milly33

I wouldn't think there is anything major in Paris for Kids to see, unless he likes heights you could bring him up

Montparnasse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_Montparnasse to get a good view of the city, they have one of those coin machines too there.

The little coin machines they have all over Paris and Disney too at the hot spots. That might make things more fun for him to collect these at the tourist spots ye go to..

The louve is he likes history but sometimes it is mad and just not worth it..
Climbing the side of Notre Dame is quite fun to walk along the top again if he doesn't mind heights

Sorry not sure on the trains well we just got the reg one into the town just before Disney and got a taxi up there

Loughc

Alton Towers has announced plans to open a rollercoaster ride on which passengers wear virtual-reality headsets.

The Staffordshire-based adventure park said Galactica would open in April, following two years of planning.

It is resort's first big new ride since one of its rollercoasters crashed in June, seriously injuring five people.

Visitor numbers have been down since the accident, which Alton Towers blamed on "human error".

It said 190 jobs remained at risk and the park would close on several mid-week "quieter days" this year.


Space travel

Several virtual-reality recordings simulate rollercoaster rides, but Alton Towers said Galactica would combine the two experiences for the first time.

Over the course of the three-minute ride, the headsets will show passengers a journey across a series of different galaxies, timed to coincide with the ride's twists, turns and falls.

Lying facedown, they will experience a maximum g-force of 3.5gs, which the park says is more than astronauts typically experience during rocket launches.


Gill Riley, the park's marketing director, said it represented a "multi-million pound investment".

"Obviously the safety and welfare of our guests is our number one priority," she added.

"Following the incident last year, we immediately put into effect additional safety protocols on our multi-car rollercoasters, of which this is one.

"In addition, once this ride is installed, as with every other new ride and experience, it will be subject to comprehensive pre-opening assessment [by us] and by an accredited independent inspection body."
Galactica in numbers:

• Each train will contain 28 passengers, and three trains will be set into motion at one time
• The track length is 840m (2,755ft)
• The height of the biggest drop is 20m (66ft)
• The maximum speed is 75km/h (47mph)
• The ride duration is 189 seconds
• The capacity per hour is 1,500 passengers

Safety precautions

Two women had legs amputated after the rollercoaster carriage they were riding in collided with an empty carriage on 2 June.
Fourteen other people on the Smiler ride were also injured.
Alton Towers' owner, Merlin Entertainments, later said the accident had been caused by operator error rather than a mechanical fault.


"A ride shutdown message was misunderstood by staff at the ride," it said in November, adding workers had overridden the control system to manually restart Smiler.

Ms Riley said the park had learned from the mistake.

"We have enhanced our training and also included an extra level of authorisation when we have to stop and reset and restart a ride, which involves senior management," she said.

She confirmed that Smiler was still set to reopen in 2016, but was unable to provide a date.

Merlin Entertainments' share price sank by more than 20% following June's accident, but is currently trading at about 4% below its pre-accident level.

"Certainly, the accident at Alton Towers has been difficult for Merlin and been a drag on its performance, which is not surprising," said Keith Bowman, an equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

"But other parts of the business - Legoland in particular - have been making progress and generally compensating for this."

CREDIT: BBC News

Really good concept but too little too late for Alton Towers I think. With them shutting down mid-week during the off-peak season it's screaming out how much trouble the park is in financially and if number continue to decline this could well spell the end of the once great park.

Dodge

BubbleBuddy wrote: »

Wish I'd read all this about Paris before booking. We are booked into the Sequoia, as we wanted pool, in August with our 11 year old (had to be done before he gets too old and hoping he's not too old) but wondering if anyone used the high speed train from CDG to Disneyland? As there's just 3 of us, is there any benefit in booking private transfer over the shuttle bus or train?

Private transfer is probably cheaper than the bus and direct train. More than likely quicker door to door too. (No figuring out platforms, exits, route to hotel etc). I wouldn't go any other way now tbh.

Like you Dodge, we are also spending a couple of nights in Paris (which we've been to a few times but decades ago) is there anything for kids to enjoy? So long since we've been, no idea what to bring him to see that he'll have enough interest in.

We really only spend a Friday night there (spent the day in Disneyland Parks). Weather wasn't great so we just walked around the area we stayed in (Latin Quarter/near Notre Dame). We had a busy sightseeing Saturday including a boat tour of the Seine. Nothing specifically for our little one (5 at the time) but she was happy to see new stuff and even the metro was exciting for her. We didn't enter any museums or have long queues anywhere. We spent a little while in Montmatre at Sacre couer just sitting on the grass eating macaroons

If he's into football you might be able to catch a PSG game

fabvinny

can anyone tell me the best place to buy tickets for parks in Orlando. thinking of a 2 day pass to magic kingdom,and a 14 day flexi for universal,islands of adventure,wet n wild and maybe seaworld.
thanks.

Loughc

fabvinny wrote: »

can anyone tell me the best place to buy tickets for parks in Orlando. thinking of a 2 day pass to magic kingdom,and a 14 day flexi for universal,islands of adventure,wet n wild and maybe seaworld.
thanks.

I used Attraction Tickets Direct in the past, can recommend them highly, good savings on the multipark tickets and the post the tickets to you and you get physical tickets and not e-tickets so that'll save them at park entry which is handy.

gengalway

Hi I am wondering where is best place to buy Disney land tickets. Am going to paris in summer and want to go Disney, I was on Disneyland site and they tickets a very expensive. Anyone know can they be got any where cheaper.

pinkstars

Wondering what the cost would be approx for 3 nights for adult and child for flights, accommodation and pass to the park. Just a very rough idea. Thinking of going in mid term in May.

Many thanks

Dodge

gengalway wrote: »

Hi I am wondering where is best place to buy Disney land tickets. Am going to paris in summer and want to go Disney, I was on Disneyland site and they tickets a very expensive. Anyone know can they be got any where cheaper.

You can try ticketmaster.fr but they're always pretty expensive. Another place is fnac.fr but tehy have to be collected in a FNAC shop in France apparently

ItsHoggie

If there's any posts about this already if someone could point me in the right direction if not, myself and the gf are going to Paris on the 29th and staying in one of the Disney hotels and just wondering what would be the best and cheapest ways to get to the city.

For the final 2 days of our trip were staying in a hotel in Roissy-en-France (near CDG airport) and we wouldn't mid leaving off seeing the city till then if that's easier to travel to and from. Thanks.

Strumms

Not a lot to do out in Roissy. It's just a small village near the airport. If it's a refundable booking on that hotel I'd advise a rethink for something more central. The airport is not very central but you can take the RER line B from the airport into the centre of Paris in about 40-50 minutes or so depending if it's a direct train or one that makes frequent stops in the suburbs. If you are staying at Disney which is also a bit out of the way take RER line A from that station at Disney which is called Marne-la-Vallee Chessy. This takes about 45 minutes to get to the city. Beware if you are returning as not every RER A stops at Disney. Check the departure boards.

Best way to get tickets is at any station where you can purchase a Paris Visite ticket. Select 5 zones and for however many days you need it. This will include all return trips back to Disney and or the airport as well as everything in between. Also gives you discounts on attractions and museums.

Dodge

There's a big theme parks thread that this will get moved to but it's very easy to get the RER train from DLP to Paris. Takes about 45 minutes. It's just a regular commuter train that goes underground when it enters the city

ItsHoggie

Strumms wrote: »

Not a lot to do out in Roissy. It's just a small village near the airport. If it's a refundable booking on that hotel I'd advise a rethink for something more central. The airport is not very central but you can take the RER line B from the airport into the centre of Paris in about 40-50 minutes or so depending if it's a direct train or one that makes frequent stops in the suburbs. If you are staying at Disney which is also a bit out of the way take RER line A from that station at Disney which is called Marne-la-Vallee Chessy. This takes about 45 minutes to get to the city. Beware if you are returning as not every RER A stops at Disney. Check the departure boards.

Best way to get tickets is at any station where you can purchase a Paris Visite ticket. Select 5 zones and for however many days you need it. This will include all return trips back to Disney and or the airport as well as everything in between. Also gives you discounts on attractions and museums.

Thanks for the info. I know it was kind of a spur the moment thing booking Roissy but it's non-refundable which we only realised after it was booked. Is it hard to travel to and from Roissy? What would be best way to get to the airport from there when we're heading home

Strumms

ItsHoggie wrote: »

Thanks for the info. I know it was kind of a spur the moment thing booking Roissy but it's non-refundable which we only realised after it was booked. Is it hard to travel to and from Roissy? What would be best way to get to the airport from there when we're heading home

Let me know the name of the hotel. They may have a shuttle bus. Otherwise probably a taxi. Also there are some hotels located at Roissypole which is in fact technically on airport property and you can get to the various terminals from there using the 'CDGVAL' which is the free unmanned shuttle train that goes between terminals and car parks.

ItsHoggie

Strumms wrote: »

Let me know the name of the hotel. They may have a shuttle bus. Otherwise probably a taxi. Also there are some hotels located at Roissypole which is in fact technically on airport property and you can get to the various terminals from there using the 'CDGVAL' which is the free unmanned shuttle train that goes between terminals and car parks.

It's the millennium hotel

Strumms

Ok, I've stayed at the Millenium. You will definitely need transport but luckily enough they do offer a free shuttle bus to the airport. I'd check with them if you intend to be back late as I think it finishes up about midnight. Your only alternate then will be using a very grumpy and pissed off taxi driver who won't be happy with you for the local nature of the fare.

ItsHoggie

Strumms wrote: »

Ok, I've stayed at the Millenium. You will definitely need transport but luckily enough they do offer a free shuttle bus to the airport. I'd check with them if you intend to be back late as I think it finishes up about midnight. Your only alternate then will be using a very grumpy and pissed off taxi driver who won't be happy with you for the local nature of the fare.

After a talk with the missus we've decided to book a hotel in Paris City Cebtre and cancel the Millennium hotel, so now we're staying Home Latin which is only a few mins walk from the Metro so we should be sorted now with getting around the city. Thanks for the help again.

Dodge

FWIW we did this in August. 4 nights in DLP and then the weekend in Paris city. Enjoy it (I'm sure you will)

Travelling by metro/train is easy

ItsHoggie

Dodge wrote: »

FWIW we did this in August. 4 nights in DLP and then the weekend in Paris city. Enjoy it (I'm sure you will)

Travelling by metro/train is easy

Exact same as what we're doing lol, thanks man looking forward to it now that we're in the city for the final 2 days and not Roissy.

SusanC10

Just doing some advance research - has anyone been to Legoland Winsdor ? Would kids aged 11 and 8 be too old for it ?

Thanks in advance.

SeanPuddin_

SusanC10 wrote: »

Just doing some advance research - has anyone been to Legoland Winsdor ? Would kids aged 11 and 8 be too old for it ?

Thanks in advance.

Ideal age

AndyBoBandy

Agree,

I haven't been, but friends have, and your kids are the ideal age for it. (So are you, as I hear it's fantastic)

Qwerty?

Perfect age. We went last year when ours were 11, 8 and 5. They all loved it.

iguana

That sounds like the ideal age to me. My son is three and absolutely mad to go since he saw ads for it on tv recently. But we were thinking 5-11/12 seems to be the ages that you'd get the best out of it.

SusanC10

Thanks everyone !

Don't know anyone personally who has been but had read some reviews which had made me think that they may be too old but really glad of the feedback. Both huge Lego fans