Ancien Maestro

Thanks for the heads up.. How long ahead can you book.. when I punch in the dates into the system looks like I can only book May right now.. so will keep my fingers ready when the dates start hitting near when we need book to get back to London..

so buy a 5 day pass to be safe.. I think I would want First Class.. So if I buy the passes, I can book on the train we want to get on back to London from Paris? Sort of like a plane ticket reservation?

exbayern

Why would you purchase a '5 day pass'? You purchase point to point or round trip tickets. When you were talking about visiting a lot of countries people suggested a rail pass, but it won't be of value to you based on your itinerary.

I have given you the link a few times now to idtgv.fr - you can book tickets Paris - Marseille for 29 Euro on that site.

From your various threads, you are travelling
- London to Paris on Eurostar
- Paris to Marseille on TGV/idTGV
- Marseille to Paris on TGV/idTGV
- Paris to London on Eurostar

Again, do NOT book on raileurope.com or other wholesalers aimed at the North American tourist; book on the local sites. There is significant mark up on many rail tickets on those wholesaler sites.

You don't need to book first class, and honestly, on the idTGV portion I have never seen small children in first. If you DO, then please I ask that you at least have the courtesy to book a Zap car and not a Zen car.

There is little difference between first and regular class on many trains, and unlike longhaul business class you don't have a significant difference in seating or food. As you have two small children with you, the seating in regular class of service is adequate.

You are wasting a lot of money if you book via a wholesaler vs direct, and if you book first class when it isn't giving you much more value. Use that money please towards the hotel room in London.

And again, virtually every single Disney hotel has rooms in every class during July and August, even at the early booking discount AND the children free promotion. The rooms there rarely book up entirely, even in peak season, and if they do it is just a few days or weeks in advance.

I wouldn't waste my money on the Disneyland Hotel. It isn't the service or quality you may expect (like WDW, the hotels are seriously overrated) Book the Hotel New York; it will give you what you need without the significant mark up for the Disneyland Hotel. And HNY is the second closest hotel, offers American breakfast, and can be reached by foot or by bus very quickly. For most people I suggest the Cheyenne, but in your case I don't recommend it.

fredandgingermad

For Eurostar use www.eurostar.com, i do believe you can book up to 4 months in advance on their website, i don't know much about local trains in France but as exbayern says use the local sites as you'll get better deals, passes are generally only a good deal if you're doing a lot of long distance train travel (e.g every day) so +1 on just buying point to point tickets

Ancien Maestro

Ok.. Thanks for the clarification.. I wasn't aware that there were retail sites and direct sites.. so I will make note to book direct, and looks like a pass is not suggested here.

So book the trains like a plane.. and first class isn't what its all cracked up to be.. I'll look at what sort of difference is in price and offerings, and will decide leg by leg basis..

I'll recheck the Disney Hotel availability.. its quite weird that none was available.. perhaps Disney blocked off the availability of all their hotels.. when looking at third party sites, the few I checked wasn't available neither.. i went to www.tripadvisor.com.. entered the dates while working down the hotel rankings, and each hotel was mirroring the sold out status just like on the Disney website.. so I thought, it was all booked or something.. Hotel NY is pretty high end IIRC rated $$$$..

chrissxb

actually, the price difference on TGV between 1st and 2nd class isn't huge and I'd consider it for two reasons: you'll be travelling in main seasons with luggage and a small child. trains will be cramped ... I'd even look into luggage sent separately ... SNCF luggage service can help you here

exbayern

A great service offered in some countries in Europe, which works very well... except when the luggage fails to arrive (Not that I have any experience with that supposedly rare occurance! )

But I still stand by my request to book with children in Zap vs Zen cars if using idTGV. (One of the reasons I like to travel with them, frankly) And the same holds true for any mobile phone users reading, thank you very much!

Ancien Maestro

Sorry.. whats the difference between Zap vs Zen cars?

Thanks for the clarification on the TGV..

exbayern

Why are you booking on TripAdvisor now for a room? Earlier I said

I'm not certain why you are not willing to follow my advice, so as a last attempt I will do some more research for you and list prices for a stay during peak season.

Disneyland Hotel
6 nights, 5 days park admission
2 adults, 1 small child, 1 under 3
€5891 ($7861 CAD)

Hotel New York (non-view room)
6 nights, 5 days park admission
2 adults, 1 small child, 1 under 3
€3375 ($4503 CAD)

My guess is that the exchange rate will have changed quite a bit by next summer so the CAD prices are a guideline only. Expect prices to be higher in CAD by then.

Again, ALL hotels, almost every room category is available, most with early booking discount and/or child stay/play free promo right now. But if you persist on looking at North American sites you won't find it - I have given the info a few times on this thread where to look and how to book.

HNY is far less expensive than the Disneyland Hotel. Both frankly are a waste of money, but if you want to spend your money at DLRP those are the two hotels I think would be suitable for you. Normally I suggest the Cheyenne but I don't recommend it in this case. You said earlier that you wanted to book the Disneyland Hotel, but if you book HNY even at the regular price you save $3,300 CAD (in today's money) which can be put towards a more realistic London hotel room budget.

I still am struggling to understand the budget you are allocating to the various parts of the trip. You said you are going to 'cheap out' in London and don't want to spend more than 150 GBP per night, which will put you in a really uncomfortable situation during the Olympics, with small children. And you want to book all First Class on trains. I agree with Chris that First can sometimes be had on promo for same/less than standard class, but for the short trips you have booked there isn't that much benefit other than more room for luggage in the car. I would only book First if it is at a promo price for less/same/marginally more than standard class.

None of the DLP hotels are a good value. I only book them when they have an AP rate, and then rarely, as they are almost as poorly maintained and overrated as the Disney hotels in FL.

And if you ARE going to book first on the train, again I request that you do not book a quiet car. I make the same request for loud talkers, mobile phone users, and anyone with children. Those cars are marketed as 'quiet' for a reason. Please look at the website I linked earlier about idTGV and classes of service for more detail. I'm not a blanket 'against all children in F on aircraft' type of poster, but on trains I don't see much benefit of booking a first class seat with small children especially if it means the London situation you are considering.

Ancien Maestro

Ok.. looked up www.disneylandparis.com and see that room packages are available.. For 5 days 4 nights, its 3,000 euros with park tickets.. and one free night, and the children get free park tickets.. Am I missing something here.. wow amazing high prices..

Hotel NY is 1,000 euros less, but still working it backwards, its still 400 euros per night, 300 euros if you average the free night in.. and thats with paying for park tickets for the children..

Davy Crockets' Ranch doesn't seem to bad.. looks like Fort Wilderness out of Disney World.. but its a 15 minute shuttle ride to the parks..

Also looking at Expedia.. rooms at nonDisney hotels are running from 75 euros to 300 euros.. So the only resort I can make sense of pricing wise is the Davey Crocket where you get two bedrooms and kitchen for $267 cdn or roughly 160 euros per night after the free night is worked in.. and thats' not a premium cabin..

So what's the difference between premium and non premium? I'll have to find out..

and the Disney Dining Plan.. not having been there.. can you use the dining credits received towards character dining.. looks like quite a few character dining options.. if we did one per day, it'll take us 5 days to get through it all at least..

What's the AP rate that you're mentioning about? How do you get the AP rate?

exbayern

Don't book the ranch. You need a car and it is very rustic. The cabins are not like the ones at Fort Wilderness.

AP is annual pass. You can look at buying one for the room discounts but they are not that common in peak season, perhaps 20 percent discount. For those of us who can access local rates there are seasonal ones which are fairly cheap, but I don't know what they are for non-locals (not very cheap, I suspect) We (locals) also have access to last minutes rates; for instance they were 50 percent off during the Christmas holiday season.

If you are going to go cheap on the room, then go offsite to one of the hotels, or stay at the Cheyenne. But be aware that there is no AC, and very limited service, so not what you will expect from a North American hotel. You'll need to take the public bus, or a shared bus, or the RER, to get to the parks if you go that route (and you'll need to factor that into the amount of time you are spending at the parks) The Cheyenne takes me 10 minutes walking, so I estimate 20-25 minutes for you, or the bus is 2-3 minutes (but all buses go to the train station and you still have to walk to the parks from there)

You really should be researching this on Disboards.com; there are few English language fora about DLP and that is the only one which comes to mind with substantial traffic.

BadgerBoi

To be brutally honest I'm starting to think that a better way to research this trip might be to watch "National Lampoon's European Vacation" a few times, then head off to the message boards at Rick Steves' site.

exbayern

Is now the time to admit that one of my family members' favourite films is European Vacation? I believe that several of them think that is a documentary...

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...steves-17.html

And forget the Davy Crockett ranch - the real connoisseurs are paying 20 Euro a night for shared space on the floor of a tent at the Europa Park Tipi village. Just don't forget to bring your own blanket!

BadgerBoi

I have to admit that I enjoy that film...
As for Rick Steves, that thread is a classic - thanks for pointing it out, it's almost as much fun as a "Misbehaving Child in First Class" thread:

"Remember! Sometimes smaller hotels in Eastern Europe don't have toilet paper, so be sure to call ahead!"

"And do you know what? Money comes in different colors in Europe!"

...sorry, I really dislike myself when I become smug and superior, but Rick Steves just forces me to feel that way.

Ancien Maestro

Sigh.. The way I analyze is from top to bottom.. and I scanned the site, and punched up the numbers.. I've been on disboards, and to tell you the truth, the juicy secrets at WDW has been censored.. DL as well.. My method of research has shored up secrets which has amounted to unbelievable savings at the US parks.. Not sure if I'll try to divide and conquer Disneyland Paris.. but to say that the juicy stuff appears on fora like disboards is misleading to say the least..

I've been punching up some numbers for Aulani, for our Hawaii trip as well, and found a way to get the Ocean View Villa cheaper than what the owners pay.. Plus I'm not committed to their annual dues neither..

As for Disneyland Paris, I'll go through the process.. and not once did I say I was going to book a particular hotel.. but lets go through the process and analyze.. posting this info on fora like disboards is only going to get end up having information removed..

I'm open to offsite hotels.. Dream Castle doesn't seem too bad.. but there are quite a few rated highly on trip advisor and great rates quoted on expedia in cdn$.. now its deciding to go with a Disney hotel, or an offsite partner hotel..

exbayern

I don't think that you are going to find the level of detail or experience on FT re DLP that you are seeking. Again, I recommend going to the library to check out some books, and reading some of the DLP specific sites and fora. DLP most likely isn't that high up on the list for many FT'ers.

There are many ways to obtain lower room rates (and pass discounts) at DLP if you do some research.

I've seen some of your 'juicy secrets' and those really won't be applicable at DLP. Obtaining a guest assistance pass for instance is much more difficult there. Nor is there an option to park for free at DTD and take a bus to the parks - it is all one and the same there (and most people don't have rental cars there). And make sure that you read up on the differences in FastPass in DLP too - no chance of using expired ones, for instance.