Home

[DC]

Hi all,

Our trip is coming up and I couldn't be more excited. Me and my GF booked 3 nights/4 days from 18 to 21 of September at Santa Fe and took advantage of the 20% off+free standard half board plan. It's our 2nd time in the park but it's like a 1st because the last time I went there I was ~11 years old and only remember some things while she went 7 years ago just for a day.

I did all the arrangements by myself by reading a lot of stuff in this forum but I still have a few questions and doubts but first, the plan:
We arrive on the 18th September at 9am in Orly and I'm thinking of checking in and going straight to the Studios to do the rides right away, be done with Studios and ending the day by finally going to the park to see Illuminations.
The rest of the days my plan is to have a quick breakfast at McDonalds/Starbucks/etc., enjoy EMH, have the voucher-breakfast around 10/11am when the other guests arrive, do a bit of pin trading and squeeze as much park time as possible by doing shopping and having dinner in Disney Village after the park closes.
On the last day, besides the reservation we have for Bristot Chez Rémy for lunch, I'm thinking of making her a surprise by booking breakfast with characters. Around Mid-afternoon it's time to say goodbye and go to the airport for the 20:00 flight.
Comments and suggestions regarding this plan are more than welcome.

Now for the last bits of the plan I'm having doubts:
-Transfers: between RS Transport and Magic Shuttle, which one should I take my chances with? It seems RS Transport may be the fastest (and cheapest) but I see mixed reviews.
-Also, in breakaway.ie the prices for magic shuttle are different from the official MS site. If we settle for MS will I be able to get those prices (they mention 20€ pp each way)?
-How many breakfast and meal vouchers do we get? 6 or 8 since we are 2?  Can I use them any way I want between the days I'm in the park or do they have a fixed day to use?
-What's the time limit to have breakfast at the park? I wanted to have a late breakfast in order to enjoy rides during EMH and use the breakfast as a light lunch.
-When I booked Bristot Chez Rémy they said it closed around 17:00. Do the other places in the park also close at that time? I don't fancy eating everyday at Billy Bob's just because it's the only place open where I can use the vouchers at the end of the day.
-Parades: I kind of remember 2 parades, one in the afternoon and one at night when I went there but since the park closes at 20:30, I assume there's only the afternoon one. Am I correct? Is there any other parade or celebration due to being the 25th aniversary?
-Did anyone see the A to Z book in the park these past few weeks? Am I going to find it in September or is it already sold out?
-Is Jack Skellington spotted in the park out of the Halloween/Christmas season?
-Pin trading: I want to do a bit of pin trading but don't have any pins (the only one I have I'll not trade since it's an old Space Mountain I got when I was a kid). Do any of you recommend a seller on eBay/Amazon to buy lots? I don't mind scrapes bc I'm more interested in the fun of the hunt and it's also a way to get a bunch of gifts for friends for cheap.

[JNAPDR]

Hi there!

My partner and I are actually travelling the same week as you and Santa Fe too, so we hope you have a good time as well.
To answer some of the below:

- The breakfast voucher is only valid from 8am to 11am.
- From memory, all of the meal vouchers are dated for the period of your stay, and I believe that you have one set per meal for the number of nights you are staying, but it's been a while so I could be wrong. So I would say 6 x breakfast and 6 x lunch/dinner.
- The studios closes earlier than the main park at 18:00, hence why Ratatouille stops serving at 5pm. We went in March 15 and had no problem getting a late dinner in Billy Bob's or using the vouchers as part payment, can definitely recommend Anette's for this. Alternatively, we used the vouchers for a mid-afternoon buffet, then had a few drinks at King Ludwig's happy hour before picking up a late night McDonald's on the way back from the bars in the village. There's lots of variations to try and always somewhere late to grab food.
- Parades - definitely check out the Tuesday character pre-parade. They are now having smaller parades with 'rarer' characters on Tuesday mornings. Have a look at the ED92 Twitter for more info. The 25th Anniversary parade is on at 5:30 at the moment, so may be a similar time in Sept. Also, there is the Star Wars First Order march in the Studios, which is worth checking out. Currently at 12:30 and 16:05 in English, but worth checking the map when there.
- I've never seen Jack Skellington in the park in Winter, Spring or Summer, so wouldn't hedge my bets as that week counts as the last for the Star Wars events in the Studios.

Hope this is helpful!
Have fun and good luck with your trades.

[DC]

Thank you very much, it's been a great help. I didn't knew it was going to be the last week os SW at Studios. Great timing I had

[Fixiepixie]

Sorry to ask in your post but what is a Tuesday morning  pre-parade? I've never heard of this

[jamesds]

The Tuesday morning pre-parade is fairly new - they bring out different rare characters before the main parade:

http://dedicatedtodlp.com/2017/07/04/disneyland-paris-adding-surprise-rare-characters-every-tuesday/

[Fixiepixie]

Thanks, I'm glad we have a Tuesday booked for our next trip,something new to experience!

[NCC1701Q]

The Tuesday-bit is called "Tuesday is a Guest day" and it is not in the morning but about 15-20 minutes before the "regular" 17:30-parade, also via the parade route.

[loupenny]

To reply to your pin trading question! My OH loves pin trading but we don't buy scrappers (it's up to you at the end of the day but a lot of traders find it a bit of an ethically grey area). You can buy multipacks of pins in the parks or online that give you a small discount. We also buy pins on Ebay from a seller called RolyPolyTracey which are normally discounted and she has specific character pins or she sells discounted multipacks too and we have always had top quality pins from her.
Pin trading also isn't as big in Paris as it is in America, just something to bear in mind a little. We love the fun of pin trading but we rarely find amazing pins or high value ones on cast members (though we have had some brilliant ones!). Happy Trading!

[Marie2003]

Got back last night and can answer your book question!

I was determined to find the least bashed copy in the park (bit of a perfectionist  ) so checked out a lot of shops in search of it. As of Saturday night (once I'd bought mine!) there were at least three copies in The Storybook Store (I got mine here) and New Century Notions, both on Main Street. The latter also had a display copy you could flip through. I also noticed multiple copies in the Disney Gallery in the Village. I'm almost certain each shop had far more copies than were on the shelves as these are big books (and heavy, watch out for your luggage weight allowance!  ) and the space they'd been designated was quite small, so hopefully you'll be able to get a copy! The 50 euro price tag might also work in your favour there as it could put potential purchasers off... 

As for the breakfast vouchers, I booked with a coach company so received vouchers for a buffet breakfast in the hotel (Cheyenne), but I would imagine that your counter service vouchers would be similar. All of ours were marked (in French) as being valid from the 11th to the 14th of August, our dates of arrival and departure. We were therefore able to just grab two (one each) off the pile each morning, and not worry about having a certain voucher for a certain day. We received 6 vouchers, one per person for each night of our stay.

Good luck finding the book, it's excellent! Have a great time 

[DC]

Thank you everyone, you've been a great help in nailing the last details of the trip!

[DC]

I have one last question, I've booked my trip through disneylandparis.co.uk. I'm looking for a way to change the booking to include a character breakfast to avoid calling the expensive international number. Is there some way to buy only the character breakfast? Or change the reservation to add the breakfast and pay it?

[rocker]

Easy, just hang around on the disneylandparis.co.uk web site, do a pretend booking or two, click your way around....  If the call centre isn't too busy, then you'll get a pop up on screen asking if you want a call back so accept this offer & voilla, Disney pay for the call.  If after a few minutes this pop up doesn't appear, then just forget it as they're probably busy & try again later.

If you're looking to add character breakfast (i.e spend a bit more money with them), then they'll happily amend your booking for you, so just have your booking reference to hand.

I've never paid to speak to them on the phone 

[Jbop123]

In reguards to the pumpkin king!!

I have met him at DLP before in Nov and in January (he's fantastic!) and I;m almost sure he signed my Nephew's book (which he doesn't do in WDW) I have seen from other people that he also meets during the halloween season.

He has a spot in Fronteir land and is on the park character timetable during halloween/christmas

However! I have seen today on the ED92 facebook that he and Dr Facillier are meeting, so you never know your luck! Sometimes characters aren't listed but they can pop up out ofthe blue so eyes always open =]

also, ED92 usualy post about random characters and things that happen day by day on their facebook and twitter.

good luck and have fun!!!!!!

[DC]

If you're looking to add character breakfast (i.e spend a bit more money with them), then they'll happily amend your booking for you, so just have your booking reference to hand.

I've never paid to speak to them on the phone 

In another thread someone said they booked the character breakfast for less than the normal 35€ because they had a meal plan and because it was an early booking. If they call will they make a lower price or the usual 35€?