just booked

[paulvshaw]

Hi

We have just booked our first trip to DLP.

We leave on the 9th June for 6 nights, staying at the Newport Bay hotel (in the admirals floor). We have also booked to see the Wild West show, character breakfast and also a character dinner.

The cost does seem incredidibly expensive compared to WDW (where we have never been), but the fear of flying has finally got the better of us, so we are more than happy to settle for DLP.

Anyhow, I need tips galore, best restaurants, things not to miss.

Starting to get excited now........:bounce:

[Debbie2]

Hi

Congrats on booking your first trip to DLP. I have been six times in as many years and whilst it not as big as WDW it is still great - an hour flight from the UK is sooo much easy than 9!!

I have stayed at Newport Bay Club on 3 of my visits (on Admirals Floor). Have you requested a lakeside room - worth it. It is a lovely hotel and our favourite other than the Disneyland which is very expensive.

I have also stayed at Hotel NY,Disneyland Hotel and Sequoia Lodge. You will love it and are going at a lovely time of year. With six days you are going to have tons of time and could easily fit in a day trip to Paris (either by train - station at Park or on one of the daily trips departing the Hotel NY at 9.30am)

Warning - it is expensive!! Favourite restaurants include - Plaza Gardens (buffet all you can eat - great value) and Auberge de Cendrillon(very pretty, glass coach in restaurant and the slipper dessert like in WDW) in Disneyland Park, Planet Hollywood & Rainforest Cafe in Disney Village.

I could go on and on but as this is my first post I'll leave it there. If you want to know any more let me know.

[paulvshaw]

Thanks for the reply...

We will be going by Eurostar which our 2 boys are looking forward to. Unfortunately, we have been advised that there are no lakeside view rooms available. That said, I hope the admirals floor will compensate a little.

The restaurants sound fantastic, but as with most young boys, the restaurants will probably need to serve burgers, nuggets or pizza.....

Is there just Paris to vist from here or is there any other outing worth venturing on (vinyards hic:p )

[Debbie2]

Sadly no nearby vineyards that I know of - been to the South Of France and spent many an afternoon stumbling around them there.

You can also go to the SeaLife Centre and the Val D'Europe shopping outlet - free return shuttles from your hotel. We have never bothered with either - been too busy in the Parks.

You may get offered a free upgrade to the Hotel NY - we did last summer as we were checking in. As we had never stayed there we said yes and it was lovely. The offer is listed again this year on the website

Admirals Floor offers extra services e.g room service. The rooms are big and nicely decorated.

Loads of burgers/chips to be had so your boys will be fine.

I'm sure you will have a great time

[Vikki]

I think I must have said this on every DLP thread now, but after our experience I woulnd't want anyone else to go through it!
Sounds serious doesn't it? Hehehe, not that bad :)
Whatever you do, book allllllllllll of your meals. Book breakfasts as soon as you can, and ensure you get your dinner reservations booked ASAP. We were left in the situation one night of not having anywhere to go (including all the resorts and the Village), and since DLP is in the middle of nowhere, you really do have to stay on site.....if you can find somwhere!
We were at NP as well and thought is was lovely, the restaurant there is really nice (the cheaper one....forgot the name). They had some really wacky entertainers there earlier in the evening, so if that's something you want to avoid ensure you book a later table. Also, request a window seat, it's beautiful!
Enjoy!

[TR_Wolf]

I do wish people would stop saying how Disneyland Paris isnt as big as WDW...

IT IS BIGGER!!

Disneyland Paris (the main park) is bigger than WDW's main Disneyworld Park and Disneyland's main Disneyland Park, its the largest of the three! But as Main Street and some areas SEEM spacier and larger in WDW, it makes you THINK its bigger. Disneyland Paris doesnt have the Jungle Cruise, so it has many vast areas to explore and areas of foliage etc, this entire area in total is larger than WDW *with* the Jungle Cruise.

Sorry to seem nasty, but so many people keep saying DLP is a "small" park, or "smaller than WDW" when it isnt! :(

[Keith]

whoa there :) keep calm.

I think people mean that WDW as a whole is larger than disneyland in paris as a whole.... and that's surely a true statement.

It's equally true to say that some aspects of dlp such as some rides are clearly better than the equiv. in wdw.

No one's putting DLP down :)

[Debbie2]

If you are referring to me making that comment, then yes it was implied as Keith commented - DLP is smaller than WDW as a whole - all parks and water parks. DLP only has the two parks and Disney Village.

As a regular visitor to DLP, I was not knocking it - it is great for short stay visits.

Yes, I agree, some aspects of Disneyland Park are better than Magic Kingdom but you would expect that as it is only opened in '92.

Hope that clarifies my original comment.

[VALM]

Did anyone see Holiday Showdown this week on ITV? I'm not sure if I saw it last night on ITV2 or whether it will be repeated again - anyhow it featured a family from Liverpool who have visited DLP 6 times and took another family with them.

[TR_Wolf]

Well "DLP" isnt smaller than "WDW". But Disneyland RESORT Paris (ie all its parks etc) is, yeah. But the mainpark is bigger than the main WDW park...

...so....

...uh...

...nyeeeh!!! :p

As for holiday showdown, yeah it was an old one which has already been on ITV1, it was alright but the "Cultural Paris" family were just miserable and had closed minds. I mean who would honestly want to take a family holiday walking for 4 hours around a French cemetary doing nothing, and in galleries all day instead of Disneyland Resort Paris? Their kid loved it!

I was however annoyed that the narrator referred to Sleeping Beauty's Castle as "Tinkerbell's Castle" in a patronising tone, WHY would Tinkerbell have a castle? Ive seen the Metro newspaper call it Snow White's Castle too!

[paulvshaw]

Thanks for all your comments. Judging from all your posts, I am firmly under the opinion that we shall have a great time. We have just booked our early morning train to leave our Yorkshire home at 5am to catch the Eurostar at Waterloo at 9am.

I am sure that WDW has had many years to nurture the magic, however, I am more than confident that Mickey will do his magic for us in Paris.

Once again, thanks for all your comments and please continue to keep me updated on your DLP thoughts, suggestions and experiences

[PaulaK]

You'll have a fantastic time! I highly recommend the Silver Spur steakhouse for a proper sitdown lunch, but be sure to book as you enter the park, it gets busy.

I would recommend buying 'A Brits Guide To DLP' by Simon Veness, the guy who does the Brits guide to Orlando. It has lots of useful tips if you haven't been before. :thumbs:

Let me know how the train journey goes. We always take the car (for my shopping :D ) but would like to know how easy it is to connect with the Eurostar (we're near Manchester)

Paula

[TR_Wolf]

Well I personally love Annette's Diner in Disney Village for a nice fun meal, but for a proper sit-down meal in a lovely romantic magical setting, go to The Blue Lagoon in Adventureland! :)

And as for the Eurostar... the plans were originally for Eurostar to go from Manchester, but those plans were scrapped (unless they have new plans in future... here's hoping!).

When my boyfriend and I went on the Eurostar, we got a coach from Manchester down to London at midnight (6 hour journey... I DO NOT recommend National Express, its horrible!), but when we got to London, we just hopped on the 9:27am Eurostar directly to Disneyland Paris on "Castle Class" (First Class). It takes a little longer than a flight, but Id recommend it to anyone, its great :)