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[Leosawesomedad]

Thank you for your reply, I do very much appreciate it. As it's our first time and the deal I took was listed as a 25th anniversary early booking deal I assumed it would be the best of the year but I will keep an eye on prices over the rest of the year for future reference. Thanks for the info on that deal it sounds pretty good.

Il probably add a meal plan to my booking after the advice and a bit more reading, would you say the standard half board is ok? Also people keep saying buffet at 3-3:30.. is that the latest time? We usually don't eat until 6-7pm so that's very early for us..

Thanks for the tip about eating outside if the summer weather is playing by the rules that sounds great.

[dlpowl]

No, you can eat whenever you want, until the restaurants close which is late.  We usually had our evening buffet meal either early (well, what we call early) at about 5pm, or at about 7pm.  We booked our tables about 6 weeks in advance so I just mixed up the times to give us a bit of flexibility.  Avoid eating at 5.30pm- 6pm because that's what time the parade usually finishes and the restaurants get very busy then because people watch the parade and then go to eat.  So my advice is either go before 5pm or wait until about 7pm. 

My personal buffet recommendations based on our most recent visit in September would be at your hotel, the Cheyenne buffet, very nice, and La Grange@Billy Bobs in Disney Village.  We used to time it so that we would spend a bit of time in the studios park then go for dinner at La Grange then go into the Disneyland Park until closing because while you're walking from the studios to the main park, it's only a very small detour to go to La Grange to eat.  Plaza Gardens is handy as it's right in the centre of Disneyland Park and although the food was ok, we felt there was more choice at La Grange.  Plus, La Grange felt less hectic so to us it was worth the ten minute walk out of the park.

We didn't try Agrabah Cafe as it's not the kind of food my kids would eat.  You can also eat at Restaurant Des Stars buffet  in the studios but we haven't tried there so I can't comment.  All the ones mentioned in this post will be covered by your voucher. 

[polar vixen]

We only eat early cos we skip lunch and are just having the one meal a day. Buffets are open till within about of closing....in the parks Billy bobs is open till late as would be the hotel buffets

[dencarter]

Here's another perspective on the value of meals. The absolute best value for money you'll find at Disneyland on a balance of value for money, quality of food, good experience and taste is at the all-you-can-eat buffets that are around €35 per adult or €18ish per kid. You can eat 'til you're virtually sick of you want to! So maybe you could base your budget on doing one of these kinds of meals per day, and then supplement your food intake with breakfast bars, fruit, MccyDs' or Earl of Sandwich. That way you get the best of both experiences - Disney food quality as well as the cheap and cheerful.

When considering your next trip you may want to consider looking at the annual pass instead of a package deal. It's sometimes much better value.

[Leosawesomedad]

I did actually look into annual passes but it was actually going to be slightly more expensive and I couldn't book the hotel using the discount until I actually had the passes and I didn't want to go with no room booked.

I'm sure we will have such a good time we want to go back so maybe it's something I will look into for next time.. I've only just learned about the sponsoring and all of the discounts, with a Dream pass is it a fixed 30% discount off rooms or does it vary?

In the Disney village what's planet Hollywood like? I've never been to one.

Also I believe there is a LEGO store there, my son loves Lego and I'm sure we will be in there as soon as he sees it, do they inflate the prices there even more because it's at Disney? Between the Disney and Lego shops he is going to be in heaven.. and as well as being my birthday there it will be his a few weeks after we get home so he's in for a few early presents whilst we are there.

[Elodie]

Yes, as others said, we only ate at 3pm because it was one big meal in place of lunch and dinner. Then we had a snack at 5:30pm, but that was when they provided a pause gourmande voucher to use between 3-6pm. I guess now that we'll be doing our own snacks in our own time, we might do things differently next time. We'll probably have a big breakfast, 'stolen' breakfast rolls at lunchtime and a buffet later on.

My girls loved the Lego store; it was a bit of an experience in itself. I can't remember if the prices were hiked up - our local shops seem to have such different prices for the same sets that it's hard to compare, especially with the currency fluctuations. I'd expect so, tbh. But they did have lots of things you don't see in the Lego section in local toy shops, so I reckon it's worth it to get something a bit different.

[dencarter]

The Dream annual pass hotel discount is subject to availability and tends to vary, but a typical price per room per night for an off season stay seems to be £60 for Cheyenne or Santa Fe or £100 for Sequoia Lodge. Another big advantage is the massive discount on merchandise and reasonable discount on food.

[dencarter]

.... also, fornyour second trip if you can bear to stay offsite there are some wonderful Airbnb apartments within 20 mins walk of the parks. May save a fortune...

[Leosawesomedad]

.... also, fornyour second trip if you can bear to stay offsite there are some wonderful Airbnb apartments within 20 mins walk of the parks. May save a fortune...

That's interesting, any experience of them?

[dencarter]

Yes, I've stayed in a few Airbnb places in Serris before. Excellent location. I'd normally budget on a place costing between £70 and £90 a night for a decent apartment. You have the benefit of a massive supermarket nearby too.