Advice needed please

[barrington]

ive just stumbled across this site and wow its a goldmine of info. we are
looking at booking our first trip to euro disney and after some advice please, we have 7 and 2 year daughters and are thinking do we wait until next year as just wondering is 2 too young to take her? what is the best time of year to go as obviously it is busy all year round but have read somewher that end of oct is manic (if we decide on this year that is), is ED far away from Paris as was thinking about having a look at the eiffel tower on the way back to CDG airport (is that far away too?) as this is probably the only time we will ever be able to afford this type of trip as have been left some money and its the kids dreams to go. which would be the best hotel at the park to stay at without going over the top, was looking at sequioia lodge or something along those lines, sorry for all the questions and any advice would be greatly appreciated, also i am sure that i saw somewhere that you can get a message sent for the kids to watch to tell them they are going to disneyland (i may be wrong on that one though)

 

[Bexx]

Hello barrington. Welcome to the Disneyland Paris Trip Planning & Community Board .

We are a friendly bunch here so please join in on any other thread or if you have a number of questions then just start a new thread for each

If you have not had a look yet, DLP posting rules are here http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1477038,
and DIS posting guidelines can be found here http://www.wdwinfo.com/guidelines.htm

I don't think 2 is too young! We took our elder DD when she was that age and (I'm fairly sure) she had a wonderful time.

Sequoia Lodge is a great choice - the main areas are lovely and the rooms are recently refurbished.

 

[scoobysnax]

Is 2 too young? No, because you can rent strollers in the park to save tired legs.

It's a 30 mins train ride on the RER B line from central Paris (station Chatelet les Halles) to get to CDG you catch the RER A from the airport and change at ClH to the RER B on the platform next door (about 20 feet! )
The Eiffell Tower is on the other side of the city tho and not easily accessible from the East side

I saved cash by staying at one of the independent hotels that ring the park and its a free 5 min shuttle bus ride.

 

[cherrymarzipan]

Hi there

Two is definitely not too young to appreciate and enjoy a trip to Disneyland, we started going when our youngest was just two and he loved it. The only thing I would say is that if this trip really is to be a once and forever one, the two-year old daughter will not be able to remember it. I know you will have photos but this daughter will not have her own memories and may feel slightly disappointed when she gets a bit older.

However if this is the time you want to take the holiday I am sure you will all have a fantastic time together. Everybody seems to have good things to say about the Sequoia Lodge although we haven’t stayed there ourselves yet. It is lovely to be able to walk to and from the parks, especially with a little one and all the Disney hotels have that special magic which you don’t get off-site.

Personally I think a first visit should be during “normal” season. There is so much to enjoy and discover without needing the extras for Halloween or Christmas. Those two seasons are usually more expensive too. School holidays throughout Europe make for large crowds as do weekends through most of the year.

I’ve not heard about a message service for kids, sounds a good idea if there is one? I am sure some-one will know, this site is a mine of information!

Good luck with the planning!

 

[Carrie_Cat]

DLP is more like 40 mins from Chatelet and just under an hour to the Eiffel Tour.

You stay on the RER 2 more stops after Chatelet-Les Halles and get off at Charles de Gaulle-Etoile. From there take Metro line n°6 and get off 3 stops after at Trocadero.

You are then just opposite the ET and get great views for photos as you cross the bridge.

 

[jothp]

We loved the sequoia lodge when we stayed there on our first couple of trips. We took our youngest DD first when she was one and we have been going regularly ever since. At two there will be a lot of rides that she can go on and there are shows to see too. Some young children (and older ones too) can be a bit wary of the characters especially if they are unfamiliar with them but a lot of children like to meet the characters and collect autographs. With a young one I would recommend going when the weather won't be too cold as even wrapped up it can get very cold being sat in a pushchair - we went for a very quick christmas trip when my DD was two and even with blankets and lots of layers she still felt the cold really badly and was a bit miserable because of it.

 

[Johnny_boy]

Hi Barrington, welcome to the board. We took both out kids (they're 22 months apart) when they were 1 and they both enjoyed it, 2 is much better as they'll have a better appreciation of the characters, especially those from films.

We've stayed at the Cheyenne the last twice and again this year as it's the only hotel (except the Disneyland) that has bunk beds and it's got great cowboy theming, not that we're into cowboys or anything but it's cool to stroll down in the morning, you half expect John Wayne or Clint Eastwood to ride by

We've been in August, September, May, July and the summer is a bit hectic. We actually had the best weather in September, we took a day drip there from Paris but the whole week was lovely.

Disneyland Paris (they renamed it from Euro Disney quite a few years ago) is to the East of Paris, built on farmland so it's quite a bit outside the city, that being said, we were quite far from it at La Defense (business district) and we could easily see the tethered balloon at DIsney from there. The Eiffel Tower is a good wee trip but it would be worth booking and if you did it on the way to the airport, it would need to be well planned time wise.

One reason for doing it this year rather than next is the 20th anniversary and there's a lot of extra suff on and extend opening hours.

If you have a look at the boards, there's a wealth of info and tips from bringing snacks, about best airport, best way from the airport to the resort and also Eurostar to Disney (we're going that way this year though we have to change in Lille).

If you stay at one of the DIsney or partner hotels, you get access to Early Magic Hours (EMH) from 8-10 am most of the year, this lets hotel guest in before the general public so you get to do some rides like Peter Pan and Dumbo with much smaller queues. It's a restricted set of rides (normally just the Fantasyland rides and a few others) but well worth getting up early for, especially when it's busy.

We've had a ball every time but it definitely helps to get sone advice from the boards before going, we've found this invaluable and out's definitely made the holidays so much more special.

 

[gracieclaire]

The 1st time we went was for my daughters 2nd birthday and she loved it

Weve only ever been in june and july. June for us was lovely weather although a little hot while july it rained !