Myself, my DH, my 2 DS (age 9) as well as my sister and father just returned from a 9 day trip to Europe, which included 3 nights around Paris.
We stayed in a 3 bedroom unit at Marriott's Village d'ile-de-France. My sister and dad had stayed there before, and really enjoyed it. I thought it was great. The 3 bedroom was very spacious for all of us, the included washer/dryer was an amazing asset, and the grounds/public buildings were delightful.
We purchased some groceries from the Marketplace for quick meals (their roasted chicken was really good!) and didn't find it particularly expensive for a resort shop.
We used the Marriott shuttle, as well as the public bus. The round trip cost of the shuttle was slightly cheaper than the round trip cost of the bus, plus less walking, so we preferred the shuttle--although in a busier time of year, I can imagine they get very crowded.
Wednesday, May 16th: We were flying two separate airlines, which arrived in two different terminals (plus our flight was delayed!). We used Paris Disney Best Transfer to and from the airport, and even with the arrival issues, they were there to meet us. I highly recommend this company, we were really pleased (and used them for one other trip detailed later). That night we just hung out in the room and assembled a meal from the Marketplace. It was POURING that night so getting the groceries back to the room was kind of an ordeal.
Thursday, May 17th: Our Disney day. We bought 1 day park hoppers, and it was classified at a "Mini" day, which we hopped would mean fewer crowds. There were also a number of bigger rides closed.
We took the Marriott shuttle, and arrived to the park at 9:20 for a 10 am opening time. I was wondering about how they handle Magic Hours listed as 8:30-9:30, with a 10 am opening. Well, they let us in at 9:30 to Disney Studios! Bonus!
We headed to Ratatouille first, grabbed FPs and hopped right in the very short line. After about 7-8 minutes, it was announced the ride was shut down, and they gave us a FP to be used later. The kids had seen the Parachute ride, and it was hard to convince them to skip it, so they waited about 25 minutes for it. Rock n' Roller coaster was down (and Ratatouille still was), so we waited about 20-25 minutes for Tower of Terror (who's FP machines were broken!). By that time Ratatouille was back up, so we used the original FP to ride. It's a blast, and I'm glad it's coming to Epcot. We headed over to Disneyland.
First thing at DL was to grab some lunch. I have some really restricted food limitations due to weird medical stuff, so there were literally only about 3 places on property I could eat at. We stopped at the Main Street Deli and the Croque Monsieur ("Ham and Cheese Toastie) was the big standout here, although the salads were pretty good too.
First stop was Big Thunder for a FP and then almost no wait ride on Pirates. We all felt like Pirates was like some kind of Twilight Zone ride--all of the scenes we were familiar with were there, but in a totally bizarre order! Big Thunder was great, so fun and fast.
We headed over to Tomorrowland (I'm sorry--Discoveryland!) and jumped on Star Tours and Space Mountain with almost no waits. The kids went on a second ride of Space Mountain while we waited on a bench. (I'm not great with upside down roller coaster, and I didn't realize it went
upside down until I was basically getting on the ride. I was fine, but once was enough!) While we waited on a bunch kind of to the side of SM, a giant pack of characters magically appeared around us. It was hilarious.
We grabbed a snack of crepes and ice cream at a stand in Fantasyland. Small World was down, so then we waited for the train. We just missed getting on one, so had to wait a bit, but that was fine. Rode the train all around, then hopped back off in Fantasyland. The line for Small World was longer than we cared to wait, so off we went back to Big Thunder for another FP, while DH took the boys to ride on Indiana Jones (which was, according to my DH exactly the same ride as the Raging Spirits one in Tokyo, no real theming). Big Thunder round 2 was equally great.
We wanted to go back to Studios to use our other Ratatouille FPs, and got caught by the parade. It gave us a chance to sneak into the dungeon to see the Dragon.
At Studios, we hit Ratatouille again (we seemed to follow the same pattern as our first ride, even though we got in at a different launch spot), and RnR was open, so DH, my dad and kids rode that. The kids declared it their favorite.
We were all feeling pretty rundown at that point (my sister's Apple Watch put us at around 10 miles for the day) and headed over to Annette's before the dinner rush. It was fine, there were a few mixups with the ordering, but it was all worked out and people were happy with their meals. There's a chocolate dip stand just across from the restaurant, so we grabbed a few treats and headed back to the hotel.
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If people are interested, I can post what we did with our one full day in Paris, but we did book a ride with Paris Disney Best Transfer for the late night drive home, and it was WELL worth the money after a pretty long day. After Paris, we headed to Munich for 5 nights, and also had a great time.
We stayed in a 3 bedroom unit at Marriott's Village d'ile-de-France. My sister and dad had stayed there before, and really enjoyed it. I thought it was great. The 3 bedroom was very spacious for all of us, the included washer/dryer was an amazing asset, and the grounds/public buildings were delightful.
We purchased some groceries from the Marketplace for quick meals (their roasted chicken was really good!) and didn't find it particularly expensive for a resort shop.
We used the Marriott shuttle, as well as the public bus. The round trip cost of the shuttle was slightly cheaper than the round trip cost of the bus, plus less walking, so we preferred the shuttle--although in a busier time of year, I can imagine they get very crowded.
Wednesday, May 16th: We were flying two separate airlines, which arrived in two different terminals (plus our flight was delayed!). We used Paris Disney Best Transfer to and from the airport, and even with the arrival issues, they were there to meet us. I highly recommend this company, we were really pleased (and used them for one other trip detailed later). That night we just hung out in the room and assembled a meal from the Marketplace. It was POURING that night so getting the groceries back to the room was kind of an ordeal.
Thursday, May 17th: Our Disney day. We bought 1 day park hoppers, and it was classified at a "Mini" day, which we hopped would mean fewer crowds. There were also a number of bigger rides closed.
We took the Marriott shuttle, and arrived to the park at 9:20 for a 10 am opening time. I was wondering about how they handle Magic Hours listed as 8:30-9:30, with a 10 am opening. Well, they let us in at 9:30 to Disney Studios! Bonus!
We headed to Ratatouille first, grabbed FPs and hopped right in the very short line. After about 7-8 minutes, it was announced the ride was shut down, and they gave us a FP to be used later. The kids had seen the Parachute ride, and it was hard to convince them to skip it, so they waited about 25 minutes for it. Rock n' Roller coaster was down (and Ratatouille still was), so we waited about 20-25 minutes for Tower of Terror (who's FP machines were broken!). By that time Ratatouille was back up, so we used the original FP to ride. It's a blast, and I'm glad it's coming to Epcot. We headed over to Disneyland.
First thing at DL was to grab some lunch. I have some really restricted food limitations due to weird medical stuff, so there were literally only about 3 places on property I could eat at. We stopped at the Main Street Deli and the Croque Monsieur ("Ham and Cheese Toastie) was the big standout here, although the salads were pretty good too.
First stop was Big Thunder for a FP and then almost no wait ride on Pirates. We all felt like Pirates was like some kind of Twilight Zone ride--all of the scenes we were familiar with were there, but in a totally bizarre order! Big Thunder was great, so fun and fast.
We headed over to Tomorrowland (I'm sorry--Discoveryland!) and jumped on Star Tours and Space Mountain with almost no waits. The kids went on a second ride of Space Mountain while we waited on a bench. (I'm not great with upside down roller coaster, and I didn't realize it went
upside down until I was basically getting on the ride. I was fine, but once was enough!) While we waited on a bunch kind of to the side of SM, a giant pack of characters magically appeared around us. It was hilarious.
We grabbed a snack of crepes and ice cream at a stand in Fantasyland. Small World was down, so then we waited for the train. We just missed getting on one, so had to wait a bit, but that was fine. Rode the train all around, then hopped back off in Fantasyland. The line for Small World was longer than we cared to wait, so off we went back to Big Thunder for another FP, while DH took the boys to ride on Indiana Jones (which was, according to my DH exactly the same ride as the Raging Spirits one in Tokyo, no real theming). Big Thunder round 2 was equally great.
We wanted to go back to Studios to use our other Ratatouille FPs, and got caught by the parade. It gave us a chance to sneak into the dungeon to see the Dragon.
At Studios, we hit Ratatouille again (we seemed to follow the same pattern as our first ride, even though we got in at a different launch spot), and RnR was open, so DH, my dad and kids rode that. The kids declared it their favorite.
We were all feeling pretty rundown at that point (my sister's Apple Watch put us at around 10 miles for the day) and headed over to Annette's before the dinner rush. It was fine, there were a few mixups with the ordering, but it was all worked out and people were happy with their meals. There's a chocolate dip stand just across from the restaurant, so we grabbed a few treats and headed back to the hotel.
-----
If people are interested, I can post what we did with our one full day in Paris, but we did book a ride with Paris Disney Best Transfer for the late night drive home, and it was WELL worth the money after a pretty long day. After Paris, we headed to Munich for 5 nights, and also had a great time.
