? about arriving EARLY and storing your luggage etc.

[Anal Annie]

Hi everyone... I am trying to figure out how this is going to work. We will be arriving EARLY (our plane lands at like 5:45 am ) and we're planning to go to the Cheyenne to check in and get our park tickets. We would need to store our luggage for the day... We have done this often at WDW both coming and going so I know how their system works. Do you think that our stuff would be as secure at DLP for the day? Does anybody know if they have a safe available at the front reception desk or anything? We're going to probably have a lot of euro ON us and I am getting nervous about it. I don't really want to have to mess with finding ATM's while we're on this trip. I just don't want to have to waste time doing that. Meanwhile, after 4 nights in Paris we are going on to Barcelona to do a Med cruise...we have booked 2 private tours in Italy which will require that we pay cash at the time of service - so we'll need a LOT of money for that. I am just concerned tho about how to carry all this money and not having a room to lock it up in while in Paris.

Anybody out there have any experience with similar situations or have any suggestions?! <insert biting nail smiley here>

 

[living20057]

Hey!! There is a drop off luggage counter through Disney Express...They will give you park tics, and take your luggage to the room when it is ready...

 

[Anal Annie]

Hey!! There is a drop off luggage counter through Disney Express...They will give you park tics, and take your luggage to the room when it is ready...

Hey you! I figured they probably had a storage room or something...didn't know they would take our lugagge FOR us tho! What is Disney Express?? I am mainly concerned with what to do with all this cash that we will have on us. Would you trust locking it into a suitcase for these 2 days?? (We'll have to check-out early on Tues. and store again.) I was hoping they might have a safe available at the front or something. I'd just like to store our passports & all those euros.

 

[adminjedi]

What is Disney Express??

http://www.dlrpmagic.com/planning/services/disney-express-luggage-service/

 

[living20057]

That was a good link!

I don't know about leaving the money in the suitcase ...I was thinking about carrying my money too..I don't want to spend time looking for places to convert.

http://www.dlrpmagic.com/planning/services/disney-express-luggage-service/

 

[shell2001]

Would travellers cheques not be a safer idea? You can cash these at Disney.

As for checking your luggage, we did not pay for the Disney express service, we took the shuttle bus straight to the hotel got our park tickets and booked the breakfast slots we wanted. They have a luggage room where you stash your luggage in a rack and you are given a card with the rack number on to claim it. Was very easy and straight forward. In all within 40 mins we were back at the park enjoying the magic. I have heard of people who use the disney express taking longer than this.

The rooms do have safes in but you could ring the hotel direct and ask if they have facilities you can use before your room is ready - not sure how this would work at check-out though?

 

[Ware Bears]

Unfortunately the Disney Express luggage service is only available for guests arriving on the direct Eurostar, there's no similar service for guests arriving from the airport.

However you'll be able to check your luggage into your hotel storage, whatever the time of day or night, and if your hotel room doesn't have a safe (I believe they are being added to all the rooms and people have been posting on here that they've had them in their rooms) you can request a safety deposit box at reception. I'd be very surprised if they didn't let you use this facility for the few hours after you've checked out of your room however if this isn't possible I'd rather carry it on my person - I certainly wouldn't leave my passport or any cash in my suitcase.

 

[franc]

Hi, we'll be checking in very early as well, though we won't need to store our luggage as we will have our car with us.

When we do check in early in order to get our park tickets, will they be able to give us our room number at that time (as the room won't be ready) or will we have to go back reception later to get it?

 

[Anal Annie]

Unfortunately the Disney Express luggage service is only available for guests arriving on the direct Eurostar, there's no similar service for guests arriving from the airport.

However you'll be able to check your luggage into your hotel storage, whatever the time of day or night, and if your hotel room doesn't have a safe (I believe they are being added to all the rooms and people have been posting on here that they've had them in their rooms) you can request a safety deposit box at reception. I'd be very surprised if they didn't let you use this facility for the few hours after you've checked out of your room however if this isn't possible I'd rather carry it on my person - I certainly wouldn't leave my passport or any cash in my suitcase.

Yes! A safety deposit box! That's what I was hoping to find. I am afraid to try to CALL them to ask as I don't know how much an international call might COST! I have tried to email DLP a couple of times with other questions (thru the "contact" link on the website) and have always gotten an error - I've yet to be able to have an email go thru to them. That is extra super frustrating not to be able to have any direct contact to ask questions. I wish I could confirm this. I am just as nervous about carrying cash & passports ON us as as I am about locking them up with our stuff.

Wonder if the services provided are the same regardless of where you stay onsite?? I do have someone else from my cruise meet that is going to DLP soon - but she's staying at Hotel New York. I wonder if she could ask for me there? Do you think they'd know what's available at the Cheyenne for services offered??

Another question...are there ATM's at the DLP hotels or in the parks?? The other reason I was thinking of just bringing our euros with us was because I am afraid of hitting a daily maximum withdraw amount...we need a LOT of cash for a couple of our days in Italy (like about 800 euro just in Rome for the 1 day and 650 or so for Naples). Those amounts are just making me really, realllllly nervous. I wish I could just pay for these drivers / tours with a credit card but they only want cash at the time of service.

 

[DLPdaft]

franc the one time I checked in early morning when my hotel room wasn't ready, I was asked to come back later in the day (ie any time after 3pm) to get my room key, and I didn't get my room number in the morning.

Annie there are safe deposit boxes at reception in all the onsite hotels. There are also ATMs dotted over the parks and Village.

 

[Anal Annie]

Annie there are safe deposit boxes at reception in all the onsite hotels. There are also ATMs dotted over the parks and Village.

Thanks - that's exactly what I needed to know!! Someone else mentioned travelers checks but I think those are hated these days...ALTHOUGH they might be good for our Italy tour guides.
Thanks again!!

 

[franc]

franc the one time I checked in early morning when my hotel room wasn't ready, I was asked to come back later in the day (ie any time after 3pm) to get my room key, and I didn't get my room number in the morning.

Thank you

 

[m-tinkerbelle]

Annie, if you're travelling with a lot of cash you might want to buy a few travellers'cheques in € . Just in case, have in mind the rooms at Santa Fe (and I guess Cheyenne as well) don't have a safety box, so you would have to use the reception service every single day and that could be a hassle. If something bad happens you can claim your money back with the serial number. It wouldn't be a good idea to change all your cash to travellers' but maybe a small amount to use in an emergency case would be a good option for you coming from overseas (maybe like 100€ per day of stay)

I brought some travellers cheques and had no problem buying merchandise with them at Main Street and Fantasyland. I couldn't change them for cash at City Hall though, the exchange office was closed and nobody there knew the reason why (!!!??!?!)

Remember if you do this, you need to buy euro travellers' cheques. they won't accept them in other currencies.

As for arriving early, you can leave your luggage next to reception, they give you a ticket to get your items back. we always use that service when we check out.

Disney Express as someone pointed out, it's only available for those arriving with the Eurostar, and other railways services (for what I know they work with Thalys from Spain as well)

Have fun!

 

[jillrobinson]

Just in case, have in mind the rooms at Santa Fe (and I guess Cheyenne as well) don't have a safety box,

Cheyenne rooms now have room safes, think they were installed at the same time as the new TV's.

 

[m-tinkerbelle]

Cheyenne rooms now have room safes, think they were installed at the same time as the new TV's.

:O
I think now I know where we'll be staying on our next trip if we can't afford the New York or Sequoia

awesome! thanks for pointing that out!

 

[Anal Annie]

Annie, if you're travelling with a lot of cash you might want to buy a few travellers'cheques in € . Just in case, have in mind the rooms at Santa Fe (and I guess Cheyenne as well) don't have a safety box, so you would have to use the reception service every single day and that could be a hassle. If something bad happens you can claim your money back with the serial number. It wouldn't be a good idea to change all your cash to travellers' but maybe a small amount to use in an emergency case would be a good option for you coming from overseas (maybe like 100€ per day of stay)

I brought some travellers cheques and had no problem buying merchandise with them at Main Street and Fantasyland. I couldn't change them for cash at City Hall though, the exchange office was closed and nobody there knew the reason why (!!!??!?!)

Remember if you do this, you need to buy euro travellers' cheques. they won't accept them in other currencies.

As for arriving early, you can leave your luggage next to reception, they give you a ticket to get your items back. we always use that service when we check out.

Disney Express as someone pointed out, it's only available for those arriving with the Eurostar, and other railways services (for what I know they work with Thalys from Spain as well)

Have fun!

Hi - thanks... I haven't used travelers checks in absolutely AGES but started thinking about the idea when I found out they could be purchased in euro. I also emailed our tour company that we're using in Rome & Naples to be sure they would accept them.

OUR problem is that our stuff is basically going to be in storage for 2 whole days. We will be landing at CDG at 5:45 am. I hired a transfer company to pick us up around 6:45-7:00 am to take us to the Cheyenne. (The Disney bus didn't start running until like 8:00 or something and I figured it still wasn't free - I don't care who I use so much if it's not free with either place!) LOL ANYWAY, so we'll get to the Cheyenne & turn our luggage over to someone & get our park tickets. I just booked a 1 night / 2 day package. So I am sure there will be no room available for us at that hour so bell services / storage it will be. At some point we'll return to get our stuff & put it in the room... I would imagine we'll make a pretty long day of it tho. We'll shower & hit the bed on the early side because we plan on going back to the parks again the next day too and by evening I'm sure that jet lag will get the best of us. But we'll also have to get up & check out right after breakfast if we're heading back to the parks for another day. So once again, we'll have to store our luggage for the entire day. I am hoping we can just use this safety deposit box at the front desk for 2 days. I would like to lock up our passports, extra euro & the travelers checks for the duration of our time there.

This whole trip is going to be exhausting. 1 night at DLP then moving into Paris for 3 nights...then flying to Barcelona 1 night before our cruise. Then staying in Barcalona for 2 nights after the cruise. We will truely be living out of our suitcases for a good bit of the trip. At least with the cruise we can be settled in 1 spot for 7 nights in a row!!

 

[m-tinkerbelle]

Hi - thanks... I haven't used travelers checks in absolutely AGES but started thinking about the idea when I found out they could be purchased in euro. I also emailed our tour company that we're using in Rome & Naples to be sure they would accept them.

OUR problem is that our stuff is basically going to be in storage for 2 whole days. We will be landing at CDG at 5:45 am. I hired a transfer company to pick us up around 6:45-7:00 am to take us to the Cheyenne. (The Disney bus didn't start running until like 8:00 or something and I figured it still wasn't free - I don't care who I use so much if it's not free with either place!) LOL ANYWAY, so we'll get to the Cheyenne & turn our luggage over to someone & get our park tickets. I just booked a 1 night / 2 day package. So I am sure there will be no room available for us at that hour so bell services / storage it will be. At some point we'll return to get our stuff & put it in the room... I would imagine we'll make a pretty long day of it tho. We'll shower & hit the bed on the early side because we plan on going back to the parks again the next day too and by evening I'm sure that jet lag will get the best of us. But we'll also have to get up & check out right after breakfast if we're heading back to the parks for another day. So once again, we'll have to store our luggage for the entire day. I am hoping we can just use this safety deposit box at the front desk for 2 days. I would like to lock up our passports, extra euro & the travelers checks for the duration of our time there.

This whole trip is going to be exhausting. 1 night at DLP then moving into Paris for 3 nights...then flying to Barcelona 1 night before our cruise. Then staying in Barcalona for 2 nights after the cruise. We will truely be living out of our suitcases for a good bit of the trip. At least with the cruise we can be settled in 1 spot for 7 nights in a row!!

hi Annie!
Yesterday i wrote a long reply to your message and suddenly my internet connection was gone before I could press the "publish" button XD

I was saying that you can bring travelers checks if you want, but don't bring all of your money in travelers checks. Just make that a small amount (say, 100€ to 200€ per day, enough to cover your basic needs of eating), just in case your credit cards and cash gets stolen.

I would bring one credit card that works in Europe just in case. The reason why I'm telling you to bring just a few travelers checks is that they're not widely accepted here in Europe. Usually you have to go to a bank or an exchange office to exchange them to euros, for a small commission.

I had no problem using them at Main Street, but I can't speak for the rest of the disney property or the rest of stores and shops at Paris and Barcelona. Even if the main large stores and chain department stores accept them, not all of the employees know how to proceed with them. But, if it's a week regular working day you can always exchange them at exchange offices.

There are lots of them around the Opera and other touristic spots in Paris. As for Barcelona I've never been there, so I can't help you much with that, but my guess is that you'll find lots of exchange offices in the touristic areas as well. The largest department stores (Galeries Lafayette in Paris, El Corte Inglés in Barcelona) usually have a small money exchange office.

I guess the disney cruise won't have a problem with them?

I used travelers checks when I went to WDW and had absolutely no problem using them as regular cash back in 1996, but that's definitely not the situation in Europe XD

Just bring a few for an emergency case given that you'll have money with you when you're sightseeing you might be tempted to get 500€ bills or travelers checks of that amount.. but if I were you I would avoid those most people have never ever seen a 500€ note and they're reluctant to accept them

Since you seem to be a big shopper I just wanted to warn you travelers checks can be a safe way to carry money with you but have them in a wise amount Given that you don't want to use ATM or use your credit card as payment method, make sure you don't run out of cash

have lots of fun! seems like you'll end up exhausted each night. Make sure you change to your PJ's before you catch sight of any bed, you'll literally collapse on it

I don't live anywhere near Barcelona, otherwise we could have met. Have lots of fun!

Make sure you write a long trip report with pictures! ;D

PS: Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to clarify the travelers checks thing, since I suggested that and you might run into a hassle if you take it too seriously and decide to bring all of your cash in checks... which is NOT a good idea

 

[Anal Annie]

hi Annie!
Yesterday i wrote a long reply to your message and suddenly my internet connection was gone before I could press the "publish" button XD

I was saying that you can bring travelers checks if you want, but don't bring all of your money in travelers checks. Just make that a small amount (say, 100€ to 200€ per day, enough to cover your basic needs of eating), just in case your credit cards and cash gets stolen.

I would bring one credit card that works in Europe just in case. The reason why I'm telling you to bring just a few travelers checks is that they're not widely accepted here in Europe. Usually you have to go to a bank or an exchange office to exchange them to euros, for a small commission.

I had no problem using them at Main Street, but I can't speak for the rest of the disney property or the rest of stores and shops at Paris and Barcelona. Even if the main large stores and chain department stores accept them, not all of the employees know how to proceed with them. But, if it's a week regular working day you can always exchange them at exchange offices.

There are lots of them around the Opera and other touristic spots in Paris. As for Barcelona I've never been there, so I can't help you much with that, but my guess is that you'll find lots of exchange offices in the touristic areas as well. The largest department stores (Galeries Lafayette in Paris, El Corte Inglés in Barcelona) usually have a small money exchange office.

I guess the disney cruise won't have a problem with them?

I used travelers checks when I went to WDW and had absolutely no problem using them as regular cash back in 1996, but that's definitely not the situation in Europe XD

Just bring a few for an emergency case given that you'll have money with you when you're sightseeing you might be tempted to get 500€ bills or travelers checks of that amount.. but if I were you I would avoid those most people have never ever seen a 500€ note and they're reluctant to accept them

Since you seem to be a big shopper I just wanted to warn you travelers checks can be a safe way to carry money with you but have them in a wise amount Given that you don't want to use ATM or use your credit card as payment method, make sure you don't run out of cash

have lots of fun! seems like you'll end up exhausted each night. Make sure you change to your PJ's before you catch sight of any bed, you'll literally collapse on it

I don't live anywhere near Barcelona, otherwise we could have met. Have lots of fun!

Make sure you write a long trip report with pictures! ;D

PS: Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to clarify the travelers checks thing, since I suggested that and you might run into a hassle if you take it too seriously and decide to bring all of your cash in checks... which is NOT a good idea

Oh I HATE when the internet goes out in the middle of something!! Mine does that almost daily!! No worries over the long post - I tend to have some of epic proportions too!!!!

Anyway, the only reason any of this is really a problem is because of the private tours in Rome & Naples (they will only take cash or travelers checks). The one in Rome is going to run 650 euro for the day (this is for 9 hours with a driver and private guides at the Coliseum & the Vatican) + tips and then 550 euro for our day in Naples (including the driver/guide and a licensed guide for Pompeii) and tips again on top. (I am figuring at least about 10% in tips for the 5 guides which is ANOTHER 120 euro). I don't count this much money as pocket change and carrying that much around is what makes me nervous. I think I will probably plan to just get the 1,200 euro for the 2 tours in travelers checks and will pay the tips in euro. I really don't want to mess the darned checks any more than I have to. I may have to round up to 1,500 euro or something when I purchase them but I won't buy any more than what I have to and I'll try to get them in denominations that are user friendly. (The ship would probably cash them for me too. Pretty sure they won't have a problem with them.)

Thanks again for your advice about them...this is all so much planning!!!

 

[m-tinkerbelle]

Oh I HATE when the internet goes out in the middle of something!! Mine does that almost daily!! No worries over the long post - I tend to have some of epic proportions too!!!!

Anyway, the only reason any of this is really a problem is because of the private tours in Rome & Naples (they will only take cash or travelers checks). The one in Rome is going to run 650 euro for the day (this is for 9 hours with a driver and private guides at the Coliseum & the Vatican) + tips and then 550 euro for our day in Naples (including the driver/guide and a licensed guide for Pompeii) and tips again on top. (I am figuring at least about 10% in tips for the 5 guides which is ANOTHER 120 euro). I don't count this much money as pocket change and carrying that much around is what makes me nervous. I think I will probably plan to just get the 1,200 euro for the 2 tours in travelers checks and will pay the tips in euro. I really don't want to mess the darned checks any more than I have to. I may have to round up to 1,500 euro or something when I purchase them but I won't buy any more than what I have to and I'll try to get them in denominations that are user friendly. (The ship would probably cash them for me too. Pretty sure they won't have a problem with them.)

Thanks again for your advice about them...this is all so much planning!!!

then you're best option are the travelers checks to pay those tour guides... I'm still trying to recover my breath after reading your post OMG that's so expensive! I hope it is (and it will) be good money spent!
It has to be awesome to have a private tour guide enjoy it!

it is a lot of planning yes, but you won't regret it!
when I moved to Spain I had the "bright" idea of bringing all of my savings in travelers checks... just imagine the hassle XD they appear in all of my nightmares
but they can be very useful, specially in your situation ;D
remember to keep track of their serial numbers just in case

A friend of mine had a travelers' check of 500€, when she went to the exchange office they didn't want to give her change, (i bet they wanted to get rid of those 500€ bills they had themselves) they just gave her a 500€ bill that no one would accept anywhere. she had to go to a bank to get change in smaller bills XD

good luck and have fun planning! you're going to have an AWESOME trip!
disney cruise + paris + dlp + Barcelona sounds like the perfect trip!
i guess you are going to take the excursions the cruise has to offer too?

 

[Anal Annie]

then you're best option are the travelers checks to pay those tour guides... I'm still trying to recover my breath after reading your post OMG that's so expensive! I hope it is (and it will) be good money spent! It has to be awesome to have a private tour guide enjoy it!

it is a lot of planning yes, but you won't regret it!
when I moved to Spain I had the "bright" idea of bringing all of my savings in travelers checks... just imagine the hassle XD they appear in all of my nightmares
but they can be very useful, specially in your situation ;D
remember to keep track of their serial numbers just in case

A friend of mine had a travelers' check of 500€, when she went to the exchange office they didn't want to give her change, (i bet they wanted to get rid of those 500€ bills they had themselves) they just gave her a 500€ bill that no one would accept anywhere. she had to go to a bank to get change in smaller bills XD

good luck and have fun planning! you're going to have an AWESOME trip!
disney cruise + paris + dlp + Barcelona sounds like the perfect trip!
i guess you are going to take the excursions the cruise has to offer too?

Yes, it IS a staggering amount isn't it?! Now you see why I was so concerned about what to do. DCL is charging between $225 - $330 USD per person for similar excursions!! Granted they included lunch BUT we'd also be stuck on a bus with who knows how many other people and would be given "free time" in short increments of like 30-45 minutes at a time. Their excursions were 10 hours and I didn't want to spend that long on someone elses time schedule when we could "do our own thing" for not that much more. The best thing about going with DCL is that we could just charge the excursions to our onboard account. I don't know if we'll use DCL in any of our other ports or not. I think I am going to try to figure out how to do the other ports on our own. I hear Villefranche and LaSpezia are easy enough to just get off & take the train...so why should we pay Disney $80 for a train ride?! Crazy. Not sure about Mallorca yet...they haven't posted the excursions yet and I still need to research our options there. There is just soooo much to see & do in Rome & Naples that we had a long list of things we wanted to accomplish and I thought the private tours would be the way to go to fit it all in.

So where are you from that you moved to Spain? I cannot imagine MOVING to a new country...just visiting for a vacation is overwhelming enough!!!