* ~** ThemeParks megathread **~**

anne burnell

Check out breakaway holidays they do packages to Disney. Have stayed on numerous occasions in the Santa game hotel abd it was super but have always gone in jan , would imagine December very busy as it’s near Xmas. Would recommend going to Charles de Gaulle airport abd not bouvier

anne burnell

Sorry typo... Santa Fe hotel 😂

fdevine

Beauvais is only a viable option if you hire a car IMHO. It's what we've done twice.

Conflicting advice on who to book with and how to book. We have in the past booked independently and via Breakaway. Best advice is to shop around. I have yet to find a significant difference in price between the .ie/.de/.fr or whatever Disney site but that's not to say savings cannot be made that way.

We have booked with Breakaway twice for accommodation only as the price difference was't significant.

If you are hiring a car then the Davy Crockett Ranch might be worth looking at as it tends to be significantly cheaper than the closer hotels although you will have to drive to the park & back.

We've stayed in Santa Fé, Hotel New York & Davy Crockett Ranch. Santa Fé is fine and more like an aparthotel. New York could be undergoing upgrade ATM. Davy Crockett Ranch has a good buffet restaurant, big pool, nice shop & peacful surroundings.

ncmc

You're probably booking a bit late to get the best deals for the Disney hotels, they tend to start with strong offers and the discount gets less as the time of travel gets closer. Bear in mind, the Disney prices tend to include tickets, so the price difference may not be as much as first appears. There are benefits to staying in a Disney Hotel, you get into the park 90 mins before non guests is the main one. All the Disney hotels are within walking distance to the parks, though there are also free shuttles. Sante Fe and Cheyenne are perfect budget choices, though they don't have a pool. You would need to stay in Sequoia Lodge or Newport Bay to get a pool (Hotel New York is closed for refurb at the moment and Disneyland Hotel is bonkers expensive!)

It shouldn't be too busy at that time of year, though weekends will be busier than weekdays. If you don't have kids in school, could you go midweek? It will be cheaper and a lot quieter (though the downside is that the parks close earlier) It's a lovely time to visit, the parks are beautiful done up for Christmas and it won't be as busy as a couple of weeks later.

ncmc

Check out Magic Vacations, they can be very competitive price wise

ncmc

Oh, and if you’re booking through the official Disney site, different countries can have different offers, the German site in particular can have strong offers. Just change your country from Ireland to Germany. There’s no issue with booking through a foreign site, I used the German site for my first visit and saved quite a bit.

messrs

Staycity Aparthotels just openend a property in Disney, not sure of their prices, but their properties in other cities are really good

anne burnell

Platinum travel have a good deal at the min for selected dates in jan ... 4 nites Cheyenne hotel 4 day park tickets, free half board , Aer Lingus flight and airport shuttle from E439pp

amber2

There is currently an offer on
Groupon, May be of interest. Have never been sorry so cant offer any advise.

https://www.groupon.ie/deals/ga-jetline-holidays-493?CID=IE_AFF_5600_225_5383_1&utm_medium=afl&utm_campaign=206045&mediaId=2070249&utm_source=GPN&subs_group=afl

duffysfarm

I am going through the costs of booking a family to orlando and i want to get others peoples thoughts on the costs. what did it cost you? i am thinking of 10 nights in may and i am coming in at the following:
flights: 2,500
accommodation: 1,200
food: 3,500
spending money:2,000
tickets & entry fees:3,500
total: 12,700
I think if anything i am a little on the low side of the above figures but overall i am still shocked at the total amount. What have other people spent on their trips? i know there was an old thread in bargain alerts with tips some years back

applejunkie

duffysfarm wrote: »

I am going through the costs of booking a family to orlando and i want to get others peoples thoughts on the costs. what did it cost you? i am thinking of 10 nights in may and i am coming in at the following:
flights: 2,500
accommodation: 1,200
food: 3,500
spending money:2,000
tickets & entry fees:3,500
total: 12,700
I think if anything i am a little on the low side of the above figures but overall i am still shocked at the total amount. What have other people spent on their trips? i know there was an old thread in bargain alerts with tips some years back

Try American Holidays or Tour America.
They quote for the flights accommodation and park tickets together.
I got 21 days a couple of years ago including transfers and the above and it was only 5000 euro and that was for 6 of us (4 adults and 2 children ) That was in May too
I think your spending money of 2000 is way too low even with the food separate. You could easily spend that in a few days .

brendane

How many adults and kids are going. Are you staying on site or offsite. The amount for food and park tickets seems very high. Is it just Disney or are you planning universal as well

naughtysmurf

For a family of 4 (we'd be 3 adults & 1 teen) in 2017 we had $200 per day for food, parking, general day to day spending so say $3000, we came in under, your allocation is 5,500 so I'd say you could save there unless you are planning to eat out 3 times a day, if staying in a hotel you could bring a few plastic bowls & have cereal in the room, a decent breakfast if staying in a villa is much easier

Lunch in the parks is about $15 per person, in the evenings you can spend as much or as little as you wish, last visit we stayed on-site at Disney for 5 nights, 2 nights at Hard Rock & 7 in a villa , that came in less than 12k total

Exchange rate is also poor at the moment

For ten nights do either Disney only or Universal & SeaWorld & Busch, you don't have enough time to do all of it in two weeks never mind 10 days, you need no park days for chilling & shopping, 10 nights is at best 7 park days, that will slash your ticket costs, do one or the other would be my advice, eat your evening meal off site not in the parks, where are you staying?

gaz wac

We ( 2 adults + 2 kids) got a combo, Disney and Universal for €2700 that was with Attraction Ticket Direct...sorry, this was 2 years ago

Mokuba

https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057662718/1/#post101443845

Brilliant responses in there for you.

Foweva Awone

Coyler wrote: »

Decided we going with the kids (9,9,6) to Legoland in Germany. Will fly into Memmingen and probably out of Munich as I've never been. Never been to a Legoland but have done London to death and Gunzburg seems a better resort for now. 2 nights in the park and 1 in Munich is the plan.

Anything I should be aware of outside of QuickPasses? Food seems to better reviewed which is nice. Will get train into Munich which the kids will love. Again, is that straightforward? Need a transfer from Memmingen which apparently they will organise so I'll update on that.

Works out about the same price as Windsor if not a bit cheaper but again would be interested in any thoughts. Happy to provide any feedback when I get back to the thread.

Have you gone yet? We've just booked a couple of days there in October, would love to hear how you got on and any recommendations you might have for when we're there.

Car99

Hi ,

2 adults + 2 kids thinking of heading to Eurodisney Early April 2019 for 3 nights .
Flying to Paris then the train to Disney.

4 year old boy and a 7 year old girl.

Are they a good age/ suitable to go to have an enjoyable experience and get value out of the trip?

Thinking of staying in a Disney accomodation , any suggestions which one would be best ?

Or would any other hotel and getting a rent-a-car be a better option to keep costs down .

Any suggestions based on previous experience would be much appreciated .

Thanks.

Aera

Hi, going to Beauvais airport by Raynair on 30 Sept and will be back 1 st of Oct.
Looking for cheap transfer, already checked good few and found the cheapest one 310 euro both ways for 3 people( 2 adults, 1 kid).
Now thinking to rent a car at maximum price would be 200 euro.
Any suggesting about transfer, rent a car etc?

RosieJoe

I have used these 2 in the past, www.ezyshuttle.com and https://www.prestigeprivatetransfer.com. Ezy Shuttle is the first I always contact. Return trip for them for 3 passengers would be well below 310. Prestige has it online that they charge 260 for a return trip for 3 people.

For 2 days and less stress, I'd not go with car rental.

mrsbeebee

Car99 wrote: »

Hi ,

2 adults + 2 kids thinking of heading to Eurodisney Early April 2019 for 3 nights .
Flying to Paris then the train to Disney.

4 year old boy and a 7 year old girl.

Are they a good age/ suitable to go to have an enjoyable experience and get value out of the trip?

Thinking of staying in a Disney accomodation , any suggestions which one would be best ?

Or would any other hotel and getting a rent-a-car be a better option to keep costs down .

Any suggestions based on previous experience would be much appreciated .

Thanks.

I think the ages are perfect. I've stayed in the sequoia Lodge and santa fe. Both are Disney hotels. They're walking distance to the parks but there are shuttle busses also. I like the Disney hotels personally. It's like you're in a little Disney bubble. Check out the price of a private transfer or the magic shuttle. Might be cheaper than the train. I don't see any point in hiring a car. It would probably work out more expensive. The train station is right on the doorstep. To keep cost down bring costumes from home. They're really expensive over there and kids that age wear costumes each day over there. Also bring snacks and refillable water bottles. They're also very expensive over there and snacks are a good way of distracting little people in queues. When booking avoid Friday and Saturday nights as they're all priced high season. If you can take the kids out of school do it. Avoid school holidays. It's more expensive and there's loads of people.

14dMoney

Car99 wrote: »

Hi ,

2 adults + 2 kids thinking of heading to Eurodisney Early April 2019 for 3 nights .
Flying to Paris then the train to Disney.

4 year old boy and a 7 year old girl.

Are they a good age/ suitable to go to have an enjoyable experience and get value out of the trip?

Thinking of staying in a Disney accomodation , any suggestions which one would be best ?

Or would any other hotel and getting a rent-a-car be a better option to keep costs down .

Any suggestions based on previous experience would be much appreciated .

Thanks.

Hi OP,

Yep, they'll love it. There's a huge amount to do for the wee ones, it's truly a magical place! The main Disney park is more tailored towards younger children, and make sure you stay for the illumination show at the castle, the kids will love it.

In terms of accommodation, there are a few reasonably priced options. For the kids benefit, you could look at the hotel Cheyenne. It's designed around Woody from toy story and is quite cool! If you're looking for the lowest price, the Hotel Kyriad is the cheapest in the Disney loop. All of these provide free shuttle buses to and from the parks every 10 minutes or so.

If you were willing to rent a car, Disney's Davey Crockett Ranch is also nice, but the downside is there's no transport to the parks so you have to drive each day!

Hope this helps!

Car99

Many thanks for the helpful replies . Given the kids ages what duration of stay would be enough?

14dMoney

Car99 wrote: »

Many thanks for the helpful replies . Given the kids ages what duration of stay would be enough?

I'd say 3 days. The queues for the child oriented rides can be quite long. Besides that there are some roller coasters etc. that you or the eldest child may be interested in doing.

ziedth

In my opinion OP they are the perfect age. It will be "real" most likely for the 4 year old which made our whole trip when we brought our two.

We stayed in Sequoia Lodge which is a little dated but much better option then the cheaper option. I think you might be just missing out but if one of your kids is into super heroes then they a converting the new your hotel into a Marvel theme in 2020.

We stayed for 4 nights but we had a day in Paris so call it 2 full days and 2 half days and it was just about enough. However, we went in November and lines were non-existant. Only 2 lines of an hour which were photo with miney and Mickey mouse.

If you are going early April my absolute number one advice is to kot go during the school holidays. It'll be jammed and a week wouldn't be enough.

There are "crowd calendars" which will tell you how busy or quite any given date will be. Use that to plan your whole trip. Even if is €200 dearer to go in the quiet days with flights or whatever it'll be worth every penny.

We might have waited say 10 minutes for something like the flying elephant's ride (same as any ride in funderland) but i talked to a guy over there who spent a day in the park in August and the line was over 2 hours. It would literally be pointless.

Finally, get the app for your phone. It will give you live infomation about how long the lines are and you can run between them plus where the shows are on.

Car99

Very helpful thanks

Lex Luthor

which airport are you flying into?
If beavaus, I'd suggest getting a transfer to/from airport and forget the hire car
I think even when we flew into CDG we got a taxi transfer and it takes a lot of stress out of the holiday
All hotels within the park are ideal, just price difference really between them
They are all themed so depending on what the kids are into could give you a deciding factor
They will love it loads to do

poisonated

If flying into CDG airport, I would take the TGV. It only takes 10 minutes.

I would recommend sequoia lodge. It has a nice pool with a water slide. This might have closed though as it was about 15 years since I stayed there.

fdevine

Transfer options will depend on your arrival airport. We've done the Magic Shuttle once & fly-drive twice.

I would suggest whichever on-site hotel has the best deal as they are all of a pretty similar standard.

Hotel New York is (or was) undergoing refurbishment to a Marvel themed hotel IIRC. Don't know if it's reopened.
Santa Fe is usually amongst the cheapest hotels but we loved it.

Despite having to drive to and from Davy Crockett Ranch it was our favourite and worth looking at if you were to fly-drive. Pool complex & shop were both great & it's really only a 10-15 minute drive from the park, where you get free parking.

Children's ages are perfect. There will be someting for everyone. Allow queuing time for meeting the Disney Princesses & Mickey Mouse as well as the more popular rides. Three days means you can take breaks or skip things that are too busy.

I had worked out a tentative itinerary for our last stay which worked to a degree.

ncmc

We have been twice, when my daughter was 3 and when she was 5 and she had a ball both times. I think 4 and 7 is the perfect age for a Disneyland Paris visit, there isn’t enough ‘thrill’ rides for older kids.

As previous posters have said, if going in April, make sure you avoid the Easter holidays, the queues will be bonkers. Weekends are also significantly busier. If you can swing it, I would recommend going Sunday-Thursday. It’s a lot cheaper than the weekend and the queues will be a lot, lot less. I recommend staying in a Disney hotel, you get to enter the park 90 minutes ahead of everyone else in the morning and this can be a great time to get some rides done (not all rides are open for extra magic hours though) They are also nicely themed and walking distance to the parks (though there are also free shuttles) Just bear in mind that the cheaper Disney hotels don’t have swimming pools if that’s something that’s important to you. You may get a heart attack when you see the prices of the Disney hotels, but bear in mind it does include park tickets for your party as well. Also, there is a free half board offer at the moment, so you get breakfast and dinner included in the package. That will save you a fortune as food is expensive in the parks. I would recommend going to the supermarket and stocking up on snacks and if you had a good breakfast and dinner and brought your snacks into the park, you could get away with spending very little on food.

Definitely don’t rent a car, parking is something like E20 per day so any savings you make on accommodation, you will lose very quickly. On our first visit, we stayed in Davy Crockett Ranch and rented a car. It is a Disney hotel, with self catering two bedroom ‘lodges’ (that’s mobile homes to you and me!) It tends to work out a lot cheaper than the hotels, but it’s about a ten minute drive from the parks and there are no shuttles, you need to rent a car, but parking is free at the hotel and the parks as it is Disney owned. They’re pretty basic, but there is a fab pool and we saved a fortune by bringing/buying our own snacks and having breakfast etc at home.

ncmc

I personally think three nights is a bit short, it really only gives you two days to to the two parks. If you want to meet the characters, you will lose a lot of time, the queues can be quite long. It's doable, but if you wanted to have a more relaxing time, I would stretch it to 4 nights. I think that would give you loads of times for rides, shows and character meets.