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[pixiedust86]

Hi everyone!

I've been to DLP 6 times, starting as a young child when it first opened in the nineties! In 2014 I took my husband to celebrate our 2 year wedding anniversary - sort of like a delayed honeymoon! It was his first trip and he loved it (he's not a Disney convert!). In April this year we had our first baby, so we decided to book a trip for next September (24-28 Sept 2018). Staying at Compass Club, at the Newport Bay, lake view, by Eurostar from Ebbsfleet. We also added premium half board so we can eat at all the restaurants this time!

However, it was extremely expensive to book - despite getting 2 nights 2 days free!

As we have a daughter now and both love Disney, we want to go annually or at least every other year- so I'm hoping to find some tips on how to best go about this please?

Advice on the best way to do it!

I'm no expert and I have no clue when it comes to tips and tricks for DLP!

We liked the Cheyenne in 2014, but didn't want the long walk this time (shuttles were always full!). But we definitely always want to stay at Disney hotels as its part of the magic to us! I have stayed at every hotel apart from New York and the Disneyland Hotel (New York looked too plain and adult like haha! Disneyland Hotel was sooo expensive but definitely will try one day!).

Is flying cheaper/more popular among forum users/regular visitors?

When do you book for best deals?

How does the annual passport work? Is it cheaper? Better offers?

Best travel agent?

We booked through magicbreaks this time, and as I mentioned we had 2 nights free but everything else (Eurostar, half board premium, compass club lake room etc) came to just under £2000. So if we can learn how to do Disney cheaper or more efficiently then it would be great cz we hope to go every year if we can improve the price a tad!

Lastly (sorry about all these questions! But you're all experts compared to me!) as the trip next year will be during our 6th wedding anniversary and also is a belated first birthday gift to our daughter (she loves Disney music and colours so we are hoping she will love dlp like her parents do haha!) I wanted to secretly arrange something special in the room for them, maybe a plush doll or something in the room (they didn't do anything for our honeymoon at the Cheyenne unfortunately but we were on a tight budget!)- is that possible at all? I also wanted to ask about having a central room and hopefully a balcony - how do I ask about this please? With my poor health issues/conditions and a 1 year old I think a central room would be beneficial considering the NBC is such a huuuge hotel!

Thank yooooou so much, in advance!

Xxx

[claire2281]

Hotel wise you chose an expensive option. My view is it's lovely to have the nice room, the pretty view and the club level facilities but do you really NEED them? The answer may be yes which is fair enough but my personal opinion is I don't really spend much time in the room so what's the point of paying that much?

The cheapest way of staying on site is the Cheyenne or the Santa Fe. The latter is slightly cheaper but the former is much nicer imo so worth paying that little bit extra for. However, as you've said it is quite the walk and that isn't for everyone. And I understand your feelings about the shuttles - only ever taken it once and never again!

If you're looking for a compromise why not go with Sequoia Lodge? The distance to the parks isn't much different and it's a significant chunk cheaper. If you're looking for a club level room, the Golden Forest will give you similar perks to the Compass Club and would save you a good £120 on that length trip. If you go for a standard room there it's even more saved. Also SL is significantly smaller than NBC.

Offers wise it might be worth looking at the other offer - a percentage off (normally around 15-20) and free half board. This is particularly worth it for shorter trips and if you're buying a meal plan anyway could save you loads. Nearly every date has this offer available at some point during the year. Just to note however you don't get a hotel breakfast with a free meal plan (unless you're staying in a club level room or suite) but you can pay for it separately when you arrive. It's also a good excuse to do the character breakfast in Plaza Gardens!

Flying can be cheaper if you book early enough in advance but it's generally a lot more hassle than the Eurostar.

You could look at the time of year you go - it would be cheaper for you to go in November than September. If you avoid Fridays and Saturdays the whole of November comes under the super value price. Yes it's a bit colder but you'll get the Christmas season from about the second week onwards so you get more for your money in the parks. And Christmas at Disney is amazing. Obviously avoid any school holidays. I teach but have moved to a private school so have longer holidays - it's made a huge difference to the cost of my trips now!

Tbh an annual pass is only really worth it now if you go twice or more a year. The cheapest one has a lot of dates when you can't use it so is only worth it if you can be VERY flexible.

Who you book with seems much of a muchness. Direct with Disney, the Walt Disney Travel Company and magicbreaks are the most common ones and their prices don't differ that much. You could look at doing a coach trip over there which are often good value but of course you are limited to the dates of their holidays.

Yes, you can arrange special items for the rooms. Some of these can be added when you book through Disney direct, otherwise you'd need to ring them and ask. Similarly, asking for a particular room is possible either beforehand or when you check in but it of course depends on availability.

[polar vixen]

Consider driving? Davy crockett is a disney property but weve been able to double the length of our holiday for the same price staying there, and on longer holidays the 30 percent off plus free dining saves a fortune!

[dencarter]

I have an annual pass and visit most months. I do have the benefit of working for a company that gives me very discounted Eurostar tickets, and live a short walk from St Pancras.

Personally I think the annual pass is great value, if you're going to spend more than about four days in the parks each year. The way this could work for you travelling annually is to plan your trip so you buy an annual pass, and make your trip the following year 51 weeks later, so you get two annual trips from one annual pass. With sponsorship you get 10% off an annual pass, and depending on your planned travel dates you could get a cheaper pass with blocked out days.

Accommodation-wise, by far the best value option is to use Airbnb. There are some really excellent apartments in Serris, which is a 15 minute walk or a 5 minute free bus ride from Disney. I never pay more than £30 per person per night and have stayed in some delightful places. Drop me a message on here if you'd like some recommendations!

Food-wise, there are good value options in the park, such as Plaza Gardens which has great food, all you can eat, for €30 including an annual pass discount. If staying in Serris, you'll be walking distance from one of the biggest supermarkets I've been to in my life, and you'll have a kitchen to make simple meals in.

[claire2281]

You're right that off site is cheaper but the OP did say they wanted to stay onsite and I can understand that from the pov of feeling like the Disney hotels are part of the experience so they're worth the money. Especially if, as mentioned, you have a very young child and some health issues.

I think in the past the annual passes were worth it if you went for more than 4 days or so but with the new ones you have to buy the Magic Plus to get anything decent as regards discounts and days you can go, and they're £210 ish each before you even book hotels. It'd be useful if we could work it out at some point how many days you have to go for per year to really make it worth while (and find out exactly how much the discount on the hotels is as they keep this pretty quiet).

[Pete's Dragon]

You're right that off site is cheaper but the OP did say they wanted to stay onsite and I can understand that from the pov of feeling like the Disney hotels are part of the experience so they're worth the money. Especially if, as mentioned, you have a very young child and some health issues.

I think in the past the annual passes were worth it if you went for more than 4 days or so but with the new ones you have to buy the Magic Plus to get anything decent as regards discounts and days you can go, and they're £210 ish each before you even book hotels. It'd be useful if we could work it out at some point how many days you have to go for per year to really make it worth while (and find out exactly how much the discount on the hotels is as they keep this pretty quiet).

I remember 5 years ago when I had the annual pass. We stayed offsite initially but tried to book Sequoia for the next visit. The discounted price they quoted over the phone wasn't that great and if memory serves didn't include breakfast.

[pixiedust86]

Oh myyyy these replies have been soooo helpful!! Thank you for taking the time to respond to my questions!
I knew that staying at the Newport Bay was a more expensive option but as we haven't been away for 4 years we thought we would splurge a little for this trip, especially as it's our first as a family (with an infant, plus my health issues too). We are going to see how we manage during a 5 day trip this time and as we have a club room it'll probably be most beneficial to try it while our little one will still need day time naps etc. So we will be in the room more than when we went as a couple. Next time I'd like to stay in sequoia lodge so my husband can experience that (during November would be great as it's Christmas season!) but then I plan to stick to Cheyenne as we really enjoyed it lady time and that was before the renovation!
I assumed that September would be cheap because all the schools are back after summer holidays (even chose the end of September as it works out for our wedding anniversary then!). I wonder why November is cheaper?!
We are planning to go for 5-7 days each time we go, which is why I asked about the annual pass, I don't know the cost of tickets without hotel packages as I've never done it that way, do I don't know what works out cheaper! But we do spend a lot in the shops and restaurants (as it's part of the Disney holiday to us!). I love the fact you get perks like parade seats reserved when you get an infinity pass, BUT 400 € is a lot to pay per person!
Unfortunately we take Eurostar as it's less fuss and takes us from A to B with minimal stress or hassle but maybe one year we will try flying, who knows?! I don't want my husband to drive there, we did that as a family when I was growing up and it's a long days travel from what I remember. I want my husband to enjoy the trip too and to be able to relax straight away, rather than having to drive on unfamiliar roads in a different country and home again, with a lot of walking in between (some days I'm in a wheelchair plus our daughter needs carrying or pushing in pram!) so it's a hectic trip for him without the driving- which is why we choose Eurostar every time (simple compared to other options for him).
There was an offer on this time, for 30% off, but after doing the maths we realised the 2 free nights was a better deal so we took that instead!

Thank you for all of these tips and advice, I will take a mental note of it all and I have no doubt it'll come in handy for future trips- thank you so much!!

I'm very excited at the prospect of being able to take my daughter to my happy place and share it as a family every year! My mother is the only one out of our entire families (both sides) who understands the magic of Disneyland Paris- as she's been 3 times too! Everyone else rolls their eyes and says for the same price you can spend two weeks on a beach and they just cannot wrap their heads around it! But as we all know, when you go once then you understand and you become addicted to the magic of Disney!!
Xx

[2bigkids2weekids]

Hi pixiedust86, I'm by no means a pro, only been once with another trip planned.  But our family situations seem quite similar so thought I'd share! We went last December with 1 year old and 3 year old. Stayed at Hotel New York. Booked flights with Easyjet from Belfast as soon as they were released in September (always cheaper on day of release I think) and hotel/tickets through one of the sites where you get the kids free and 3/4 nights for price of 2, and booked a private taxi online. Breakfast was included last year, we took snacks and water bottles in our luggage for during the day (sooo expensive in the park) and ate in Disney Village. We made the most of early magic hours for the big queue family rides, used a couple of fastpass per day on the busy rides, really took advantage of parent swap, and we let the kids nap in their buggies each afternoon while we sat in Disney Village for lunch and a rest! Then got them a McD happy meal and went back to the park for the parades which we got front row seats for while they ate their happy meals. We then picked up food in Disney Village for ourselves after the parade to take back to the hotel. We travelled on a Sunday and mid-week during term-time is definitely cheaper than weekends and school holidays, plus queue times are much shorter. We also got the benefit of the Christmas parades as it was early December. I bought lots of Disney presents before we went, wrapped them up and put them on the hotel bed each night so the kids thought they were presents from the hotel, saved me a fortune. We did buy our daughter a proper dress from the park and a musical jewellery box, for the whole trip including hotel, transfer, flights and spending money it was £1200.

This year we are doing pretty much the same although going to Santa Fe as breakfast now has to be paid for which is a hefty additional cost for us. We spent no time at all during the day in the hotel last year, it was just a place to sleep, so we thought we'd save some pennies and go Santa Fe. So far the flights and hotel/tickets/breakfast for 4 of us is about £860, we'll book a taxi transfer, and eat in Disney Village again and stock up on presents before we go. The kids know no different whether they are from the park or not thankfully but that will change in years to come no doubt. We're going Sunday-Thursday start of December again, we don't get fined in NI though for taking daughter out of school! But midweek the parade and firework shows is at an earlier time than weekends or school holiday times which suits us better with young kids. Also this year I have developed arthritis so now have a blue badge which i'm taking so we can make the most of disabled access pass to cut queuing times, as I will be slowing us all down needing more rests and a slower walking pace but we don't want to be going back to the hotel if possible during the day.

Sorry for lengthy post, might be of no use but I have found loads of helpful tips on this site so hopefully something I have shared is helpful in some way. Enjoy your trip!

[loupenny]

Hello!

We are regular goers on an annual pass and we do it on a serious budget (because then we get MORE trips!!). We no longer stay on site (Air BnB Wooo!) but we have stayed at nearly all the hotels over the years and a number of the partner hotels. I actually found the Dream Castle hotel to have a lot of 'disney magic' and I got a great deal on booking.com (£120 for 4 nights if memory serves correct). If you want to go down that route I recommend booking months in advance ( I got my best deals booking 12+ months in advance), check that they have free cancellation and then if you can't go later down the line there's no loss.

But if you're set on the Disney hotels... you kinda just have to bite that bullet. Our best value hotel trip was through a package company called Disneylink that now trades as Magical DLP ltd. They are set dates but fantastic value.

We obviously have APS so I can't comment on ticket prices etc. we love our APs but not sure I love the new prices of them, we will not be renewing in February when they expire as we're moving on to WDW holidays (I know, traitors  ).

Our biggest savings come on food and drink, we bring packed lunches and snacks into the park with us and lots of bottled drinks. You don't want to spend 4 euros on a drink.... and we eat our meals in the Disney Village or at the nearby shopping centre because we prefer the quality. It's also easier to justify this when the parks close early!

Don't get suckered into that 'Disney Bubble' where suddenly a £10 lollypop seems reasonable, it's SO easy and we've all been taken in in the past but try and keep a level head. I stock up on Primark disney goodies before we go so that when you're looking at a 30 euro tshirt you remember the awesome one you're wearing cost £6!! I even saw a thread the other day that said the Disney lego kits on sale at DLP are 30% more expensive than the same toy off property... I mean OUCH! 

[pixiedust86]

Hi everyone 👋
I just want to say thank you so much, for replying and taking time to share so much information with me! It's very useful!!
We are spending more this time (2018 trip) as a treat after a difficult few years, so next time we book we will be on a tighter budget for sure! I'll definitely keep your advice and tips in mind!
Thank you again!
Xx