Hi all,
We're not going to DLP until mid-June but I am a planning freak and like to know what's what! There are 5 of us going, my husband and I and our 3 daughters who will be 9, 4 and 2. The middle one has a genetic condition which makes walking long distances painful and she has a few sensory issues so can become distressed. We are taking a double buggy for the younger ones (from what I've read DLP only hire single buggies, they're not too comfy and are expensive?) and hoping to get a pass to help with quicker access to attractions. There are just a few questions I have and would love some expert advice!:
1 - we are staying in sequioa lodge, looks good but would love some tips/stories?
2 - the blooming meal vouchers, I've read so much about them but still no clue on whether to use them?!
3 - I see the opening times are until 11pm in the summer months, if you're in the park at 8am, are you likely to still be there late at night with 3 youngsters? is it just the fireworks that are the main attraction to stay?!
4 - any advice on what to do when? we are going Wednesday-Sunday (4 nights)
5 - any other general advice on coping with the busy busy days, I desperately want to get the most out of it for all the children which I'm worried about given the age range.
Sorry that was slightly longer than I anticipated!
Thanks,
Amy :)
October 2015 will be my first time staying at the SQL AND my first time using meal vouchers, so I can't help much there. On staying in the park until late, that really has to be up to you and whether you think your younger children will cope with it. We didn't stay in the park after about 6pm when we visited in June with our 4 and 2 year olds. It pretty much is just the fireworks that are the attraction, as some parts of the park close early to set these up. Make the most of the Wednesday and Thursday as they will be quieter than the Friday and the weekend. I'd advise you make a rough plan of where you want to eat, and what areas of the parks you want to visit (e.g. Thursday AM, Fantasyland; Thursday PM, Discoveryland). If there are particular places you want to eat, book ahead or be flexible. Look at the other forum topics - Dining, trip reports to help you.
Ok firstly the sequioa lodge is lovely I've stayed there many times.
Pick breakfast slots early and use extra magic hours (some attractions/character meets in park)
It's personal choice but we always check on arrival then head to the parks saves the huge ques when park kicks out
Never used the meal vouchers so can't help there sorry....
If your child has a condition wich makes walking difficult take your blue badge/doctors letter to city hall in the main park or studio services in studio park they will give you an easy access pass to limit que ect. My son has cerebal palsy and without this pass we couldn't do Disney his wheelchair wouldn't fit down the que lines.
It will be a lot busier on the weekend obviously, if I were you id concerntrate on rides on weekdays and do the shows in the studios over the weekend period. Even though you technically won't que you'll stil have a long wait over the weekend for attractions.
Character meals are brilliant we love inventions (Disneyland hotel) but its pricey but worth it. Cafe mickey is cheaper and you'll still meet characters like at inventions. I'd advise you to Pre-book these a few weeks in advance as we've left it before and on arrival they're fully booked! These will ensure your children meet the characters minus the que time.
Hope I've helped! Enjoy :)
You must stay late at least once even if it means having an afternoon snooze as you must see 'Dreams' Its so much more than just fireworks!!
The meal vouchers are good if you're likely to have sit-down lunch or dinner most days. If you prefer fast food and snacks, less good.
You're fooling yourself if you think you'll run through from 8am to 11pm even once or twice without taking a nice break in the middle of the day. And if you stay until the end one day, have a lie-in the next day. Don't get overtired.
The 2 year old won't be able to go on most of the restricted attractions (e.g. Big Thunder Mountain has height restriction of 1.02m) so factor that in if you and your husband are thinking of trying out the thrill rides - which you should, even if only once!
Get a letter from your doctor explaining precisely the limitations of the middle kid to take to City Hall where you may be issued an easy access card to get on rides faster.
Saturday is busiest so try to go to the sit-down shows and high-capacity rides such as the Thunder Mesa Steamboat Landing then.
Buggies need to be parked up in the designated areas outside most rides.
Don't miss: Princess Pavilion, Peter Pan's Flight, "it's a small world", Slinky Dog Zigzag Spin, Stitch Live, and Ratatouille: L'Aventure Totalement Toquée de Remy.
Have stayed in sequoia first time in November and loved it will definitely be goin back there...have always chosen against meal vouchers as we would usually bring lunch from brekkie and would settle for McDonald's or sumthing fast and handy for dinner..we don't usually do sit down as I have a very hyper 3 year old..definitely choose an early breakfast slot and make use of d early magic hours and hav a chill out in d afternoon cause d closing show is amazing and definitely worth seeing at least once...get as much as u can done before d weekend as it will get busy and make use of fast pass aswell.definitely bring ur own buggy as the hire ones aren't very comfy..main thing is just have fun
Wow thanks everyone, that's great and really helpful. I'm thinking of not worrying too much about the meal vouchers, think we'll look at restaurants we want to go to and book where necessary then do snacks for the rest. Good point about staying late at least once, we could maybe go for doing that on a saturday and we'll use the busy day to have a rest in the middle. The middle daughter won't be able to do the bigger rides either as she's very small for her age so unless she has a big growth spurt between now and then it'll be one of us going on those with the 9 year old.
So excited, just want to get the most out of it for all the girls, any other advice on attractions we shouldn't miss or restaurant recommendations would be great.
Thanks again. :D
We've never used meal vouchers any time we have visited and found all the counter service restaurants to be really tasty! Definitely recommend Hakuna Matata, their African Chicken is delicious :) We also really like the Cowboy Cookout just for the ambience really (although the food is really good also), its always been quite quiet when we've went there so perfect for a little chill out and its right next to the Frontierland train station so good if you're planning on visting another land afterwards.
Don't forget about baby swap when you're going on rides that the middle child (hopefully with the EAC) cannot go on. Means both you and your husband get to experience thrill rides without having to queue twice.
Dont miss Disneyland: Buzz Laserblast, Small World, Peter Pan's Flight, Teacups (in the dark so the lanterns are all lit!), Pirates of the Carribbean, Big Thunder Mountain, Phantom Manor
Don't miss Studios: Animagique, Stitch Live, Crush's Coaster and Tower of Terror (for your eldest if she likes thrill rides), Ratatouille, Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop (you get an amazing view from up there!)
Ooh great, thanks for that.
What's babyswap?
Def try and do cafe mickey/inventions whilst on your stay characters come to your table :) we prefer inventions but cafe mickeys great too. King lidwigs is nice also I'd advise you to Pre book the character meal if you intend to do one before you go I havnt got the phone number handy but google it Disneyland Paris dining reservations.
Baby switch is where one of you que normally and the 2nd adult goes via the exit after the first person returns. Just ask a ride attendant about it and they will know we've done it before :) have a fab time!
Thank you - yes, definitely going to look in to booking before we go.
Baby switch thing sounds like a great idea.
Quick question... Are there any/many rides we would all be able to go on?
A lot of the rides in Fantasyland you'd be able to do together.
& some in the studios like the Slinky Dog.
I can't remember the heights off the top of my head, sorry.
Buzz ride , Peter pan , dumbo , train around the park , it's a small world , carousel are some of the rides off the top of my head that you'd be able to go on together x
Ooh excellent, a few then, that's good. I've only ever been once but I don't think it had been open long so pretty sure it's changed somewhat since then?!!
When did you first go?
1992, the year it opened!!
Another quick question if that's ok - is there much to do with Lion King these days? My middle daughter adores it so was hoping there would be something for her to see there, believe there's a restaurant? x
There's almost nothing about the Lion King, and it's one of my favourite movies too :( There's a restaurant called Hakuna Matata, but that's the only relation with the movie. There is a Lion King float during Magic on Parade, but it's not the most exciting thing ever...
At night the only interesting thing are "the fireworks". The thing is, "the fireworks" are the best thing DLP has. I always recommend waking up later and watching Disney Dreams as many times as you can, but I know that's very personal. You really must see it at least once, though!
There was absolutely no Lion King merch either when we went at Christmas - we asked in every store, they had none and didnt know if they would be getting any in the future. When we asked at World of Disney, they said the only possibility would be at the other Disney store in the Village but we were on our way home then and didnt have time to check :-\
Hakuna Matata is a counter service restaurant - their african chicken is lush so definitely worth a visit just for that!
I found a couple of plushes in Frontierland. One was of Mufasa and Simba, the other was Rafiki. I know Rafiki does meet and greets sometimes, around Colonel Hathi's, I think (that's where I saw him). But that's about it.
Honestly, I feel like the 90s movies are completely forgotten at DLP, and I think they were the best animated movies they've made, so I don't get it.
Disneyland Paris has changed a lot of the years! :) think you'll be surprised how much.
There are tons of things you can do together in both parks, I won't list them all it'll take all day lol! But make sure you do the new ratatouille ride in the studios parc it's brilliant. Don't miss!
Definatley don't miss dreams you have to watch it once, and the studios have many fab shows animagique (firm fav for kids) cinemagique more for adults, stitch live is fun, playhouse Disney and the stunt show is good too but quite long for some young children to sit. But lightning McQueen makes an appearance so worth it for any cars fans!
Aaw its a shame about the Lion King but I wasn't expecting a great deal - slightly disappointing as it is one of their iconic films isn't it.
I was worried as my younger 2 aren't really in to the Princess films but they now have a slightly delayed (compared to most girls) obsession with Frozen so I think they'll be happy as from what I've heard it is everywhere (as you would expect!).
Is there anywhere I can get a full map of both parks showing rides, restaurants etc?
There are plenty of rides/characters/merch that don't have anything to do with Princesses don't worry!
You will be able to get a map in your chosen language when you first walk under the Main St train station. If there are none there in your language, you can get them (and programmes with times for parades/characters etc) from City Hall. I remember the first day we went, we didnt even think on to use the maps as we were too excited and wandered on to Crush's Coaster expecting a children's ride. Got a shock there haha!
I'm sure they'll love the whole experience.
Is there anywhere I can order/download a detailed one online? I just want to plan what we're going to do each day etc - I imagine I could google it, I'm just being lazy!
Hopefully these links will work (you will probably have to copy and paste them into your address bar)
Here is a copy of the current programme for both Disneyland and the Studios:
https://wdpromedia.disney.go.com/media/wdpro-dlp-assets/prod/en-gb/system/images/show-and-parades.pdf
Here's an online map, you can filter by ride type/restaurant etc:
http://www.disneylandparis.co.uk/attractions/map/#
We found it near on impossible to get dressed, breakfasted and into the park for emh and only managed it once. We fell into the pattern of arriving later and staying for dreams. The park gets a bit quieter after annual pass holders and local families leave post-parade (around 6ish) and we liked the atmosphere of walking around the different lands in the dark (our last hol was in oct).
My top tips would be emh and a break back at the hotel (but that never happened for us), use babyswitch, keep receipts from lunch for a free hot drink later in the day and have a rest and a snack, pizza planet has an indoor soft play area if it's open, use the play park at the end of frontierland to let your kids blow off some steam, use train ride for a rest and studio park shows on weekend afternoons.
Parks are busiest between 11-5:30pm, try lunches early (12) and tea early (4) to avoid the rush. Quick service at lucky nugget, lots of room at cowboy cookout and great character interaction at cafe Mickey. Buffalo bill best paid for show, stunt show and disney junior live best studio shows. Family rides with a 2-year old: most of fantasy land, buzz, pirates, Main Street vehicles.
When you have children who like to wake up at 6am UK time, it's no bother getting into the park for EMH
Quote from: daddyof2 on January 23, 2015, 09:18:30 PM
When you have children who like to wake up at 6am UK time, it's no bother getting into the park for EMH
Very true! :o We're very lucky in that regard but even with the alarm on, my super organised outfit-in-a-bag system in place and bag for the day packed and ready to go we only managed 9:55 a couple of times. I'm determined to do it at least once!
If you (and the family) can cope, skip breakfast and get straight into the parks, then have a brunch and a later lunch.
Quote from: daddyof2 on January 23, 2015, 09:18:30 PM
When you have children who like to wake up at 6am UK time, it's no bother getting into the park for EMH
Haha this - 6am is a lay in for us usually!! Although maybe after being tired from travelling, wandering round the parks etc they may sleep slightly later but I'm not holding my breath - sleep isn't exactly my children's favrouite activity!!
Thanks for the tips though, good to know ideas for the girls to run around and the train ride for a rest sounds good!