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[zoonerdog]

Have book feb 21th for 5 days, staying at magic cirus hotel. two kids 5, 7.Other than that i had nothing done. Can anyone recommend what tickets, transfer and anything else i would need to do.
I am getting bogged down in  information 

[dencarter]

Have you only booked the hotel so far? Did you not book it through Disney as a package?

If you have booked hotel only and no park tickets yet, you should book those. Are you planning on spending all 5 days in the parks? If so you'll likely find that annual passes are better value than 5 day tickets.

The Magic Circus has a free shuttle bus to the parks, unless you plan to drive? (If you're feeling energetic you could also walk it in about 30 mins)

[samuelvictor]

Hi, firstly, Magic Circus hotel is a good choice, I stayed there for the first time last month and it was great

If you booked your hotel through Disney directly or though a travel agent, you probably have park tickets already included. However, if you just booked the hotel through somewhere like Expedia or Hotels.com, you will only have the room and will need to buy park tickets separately.

Park Tickets
If you didn't book a package that included park tickets, you will need those to get into the parks.
You can buy park tickets direct from Disneyland Paris website, the link is here: https://www.booktickets.disneylandparis.com/tnsa64/live/shop/A/MAINGBCD/pluto/index.php
A 4 day ticket to both parks costs £161 for an adult, and £145 for a child.

However, I'd actually recomend getting annual passes. You can get the "Annual Passport Classic" for only 135 Euros, which is about £120. These have restrictions as to what days you can use them but you are very lucky in that the dates that you mentioned (Feb 21st for 5 nights) have no restrictions at all! Also, if you decided to extend your trip, or go back again within a year (for example if you got a great deal on travel for a long weekend, or just 1 night in a hotel etc), you would not have to pay for park tickets again!
You can buy the Annual Passport Classic direct from Disney over the phone, or from the park entrance once you get there. Details are here: http://www.disneylandparis.co.uk/annual-passeports/

Travel to Disney and your Hotel
As for travelling to get there and back, you have several options to get to Disney:

I'm assuming that you didn't want to drive there. But if you did, there are various options to either take your car through the Channel Tunnel or on a Ferry. But assuming that you aren't driving:

The cheapest option is probably to get a coach. Eurolines and Megabus both do coaches to Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport in Paris. You can then get another coach (Magic Shuttle) or a TGV train to Disney (Marne La Valley Chessy). The disadvantage is that the coaches can take a long time, so if you have impatient or travel sick youngsters, this might not be a good option. I recently travelled from Cardiff to Disney via coach and it took 14 hours each way. From London would have been about 11 hours.

A more expensive but quicker way would be to get a Plane. Again, you want to get to CDG. Then, as above, you either get a coach or TGV from CDG to Disney.

The most convenient way, by far, is to use the Eurotunnel. They have trains which go directly from London St Pancras to Disney. No stops, no changes. Super convenient and very fast. Trouble is, this is usually the most expensive method.

Once you are at Disney (Marne le Valley Chessy station in Disney Village) there are regular free shuttle buses to the Magic Circus. You want to be on the right hand side and look for the pink buses - they will say "Explorers/Kyriad/Magic Circus/Dream Castle" on their lit up signs.

I shall soon (within the next few of weeks) be uploading several more video blogs to my DisneyDo Youtube channel. One of them is a review of the Magic Circus, another is how to get to Disney via coach, another is how to get from CDG to Disney, and another is all about the shuttle buses. I knew these are the kind of questions people often ask on these forums, so when I was there last month I literally recorded a load of video blogs covering all these (and more) topics and actually showing the routes etc. If you are interested in subscribing, to see them when I upload them, my channel is here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgVvzWSSfLuD5LP-I_s8QUg

Eating / food whilst there
Another question I imagine you will have is about eating when you are there. To be honest, this completely depends on your budget. If money is no option, that's awesome - there are loads of great restaurants in both the parks and in Disney Village. This website has a list of all the restuarants along with menus and prices: http://www.dlpguide.com/planning/dining/

You may, or may not have breakfast already included with your hotel, it depend on when you booked it and who you booked it through. If in doubt, check. If you do have breakfast included, it is likely to be help yourself/all you can eat. I recommend that you and your kids absolutely stuff yourself at breakfast, so you don't get hungry til the evening This saves money and there is more time to see show and do the rides 

You can get meal plan vouchers from Disney directly. If you are planning on "eating out" in a restaurant at least once (half board) or twice (full board) every day, these may save you money. There are several price levels, depending on how much choice you want, and if you want full or half board. Prices range between £20 to £84 a day per adult, and £12 to £42 per day per child. Info on meal plans is available here: http://holidays.disneylandparis.co.uk/meal-plans.html

If these meal plans sound too expensive, there are plenty of cheaper ways to eat at Disney. Certain restaurants in the Village are cheap, like McDonalds or Earl of Sandwich for example. The restaurant in your Magic Circus hotel is cheaper than the restaurants in Disney, I shall be covering the menu and prices in detail in my hotel review, as well as covering cheap places to eat in the Village on my channel.

There are also 2 shops that sell food nearby (one in the petrol garage and another in the train station), and a proper supermarket about 15 minutes walk (or a free shuttle bus) away. Next to the supermarket is another McDonalds, Subway and some other cheaper fast food places. Again, I recorded detailled videos of how to get to these, as well as prices and availability, which will be uploaded soon on my channel.

Spending Money
Its important to note that many people over estimate how much money they need to take with them. In the actual parks, all rides and shows are free. The only exceptions are arcade machines and the shooting gallery and these are easy to avoid. You could easily spend 5 days going on every ride and watching every show and not spending any money, so if budget is a concern, don't worry!

There is a night-time dinner show in the Village, which there is an extra charge for, but you do get dinner included, and a cowboy hat as a souvenier. If you don't fancy paying for it, it is very easy to avoid, so your kids won't feel left out.

Of course there are many, many shops selling all kinds of cool stuff. A general rule of thumb is, whatever money you have on you, you will spend! So make sure that you plan your budget.

The first time we went there we had almost no money, and just gave the kids 20 euros each. We explained very carefully to them to think carefully about what they buy, because once its gone, its gone! A good idea is that when they see something they want, don't buy it instantly. Take a picture of it with your phone, along with how much it costs. Then towards the end of the holiday, they can look back through everything and make a choice of what they really want the most There are lots of little souveniers in the 3-7 euro range, so even with a small amount of money they can get something nice.

On later trips we have given them 100 Euros each. I know friends who have spent thousands on toys, clothes and souveniers. But to be hoenst, whilst this is nice, its not necessary. You can easily spend five days going on all the rides and shows, and taking loads of pictures, and not feel like you've missed out by not bringing home a suitcase full of stuff... 

Starting to sound like a broken record, but again, I recorded a video showing all the shops in the Village, and the general price of things, and another specifically on stuff under 10 euros. I will be uploading this soon to my channel as well.

Finding your way around
At the entrance to Disneyland Park, and Studio Services in the Studios Park, there are free maps, in English, which show where everythiung is and how to find your way around. Pick up a few as these are very very handy for making sure you don't miss anything that you want, and for finding your way around if you've not been before.

Shows, parades and Dreams
In the same place that you get the free park guides, there are leaflets showing the times that all the shows, parades and character meetings are, for the days when you are there. This is vital for planning if you aim to see them all.

Not sure if you are aware, but you have booked during the "Season of the Force". Hopefully you or your kids like Star Wars as there are exclusive shows and character meetings

Characters and Photopass
There are random encounters with characters throughout the day in both parks. However, these can be a bit of a crush as everyone runs to try and take a picture with them. Be prepered to get pushed out the way or trampled by pushy parents.

Much better are specific designated character meet and greets. Times and locations of these will be on the whos guide mentioned above. There are permanent meet and greet areas for Mickey and "Princesses" (one of several) in the main park. There are also specific restauarants that guarantee meeting characters whilst you eat.

When you meet the characters, you are welcome to take your own pictures and videos. However, there are also "Photopass" photographers taking professional photos. If you buy a Photopass+, you can get access to all these professional photos, as well as the photos that are taken on some rides. Of course, you can pay for a physical copy of one or more photos, but most just use Photopass+ to download them and either print them or use them of social media etc as they wish.

Money
Everything there is priced in Euros instead of pounds, obviously. You can get some cash in Euros at your local travl agent or post office. If you prefer, you can just use your bank debit card or credit card to pay for things, but beware that some banks will charge you to do this - usually £1-3 EVERY TIME you use your card! Might be worth asking your bank if they have a "non-standard currency fee". Also, you should let your bank and credit card company know that you are going abraod, because quite often foreign charges can set off warnings of possible fraud, and they can lock your card - very annoying if you can't spend any money without phoning them first.

Phone
Pretty much all major British mobile phone networks will work whilst there, but be aware that your free minutes or free texts are unlikely to count, you will be charged for everything you do. Also, if you use 3G or 4G data, this can get VERY expensive unless you have come to an arrangement with your mobile phone company first.

Wifi
You have free Wifi in the Magic Circus Hotel, and in various places in the Village. There is no Wifi in the parks at the moment, though they are planning on adding it sometime in 2017. Whether it'll be there for your trip I don't know. There is a good Disneyland Paris Android/iOS App that allows you to see maps of the parks, waiting times, book fastpasses etc, but I wouldn't recomend useing it with 3g/4g for reasons stated above.

Sooooo that's pretty much all you might need to know for now. If you want specific advice on exact rides, shows, merchandise or whatever just let us know I'm sure the people here can help

[zoonerdog]

Wow, you are a lifesaver. This is exactly what I needed. I am going to spend the weekend on your channel. Thank you for taking the time and considerable effort to make our holiday so much better. :)it is very much appreciated.
i1m travelling from Dublin by plane and I booked hotel myself. Didn't realise I could book meal plans outside package.?
Are the blackout days on the website for 2017 the completed list?

getting so excited now!!!!

[Karen]

Hello there, just to advise that you cannot use the Annual passport classic for the 2nd and 3rd day after purchase so I think you would have to purchase the next passport up in price.

[zoonerdog]

Would it be usable if i bought the classic online rather than on arrival

[samuelvictor]

Would it be usable if i bought the classic online rather than on arrival

Hi, yes I forgot about that limitation. Pretty sure if you buy them online there are no limitations. Yes the blackout dates on the website should be the complete list.

Really glad you found my post useful. There is only one video on my channel at the moment but have recorded all the other ones I mentioned, I just need to get round to editing them & uploading them, please subscribe & the others will be added soon