Disneyland Paris Family Celebration
We opted to take the Eurostar from London St Pancras to Lille and have a nights stay in Lille, heading to Disneyland by train the following the morning. The advantage was that we were in the park by 1130, but with hindsight, I would go straight to Disneyland Paris, if we went again.
We based our stay on the Newport Bay Hotel. We have been lucky to stay in all the Disney hotels (except the Disneyland Hotel, which we never have the budget for!). The hotel is buzzy and the staff welcoming and helpful. The rooms are big and decked out (get it!) in a Nautical Theme. We had a Superior Double and my daughter, husband, and kids had a superior with two double beds, with an interconnecting door. Other family were in another Superior with two doubles. If you have the budget then a Lake View would be nice, but you don't really spend alot of time in the room anyway. I would spend the extra on Premier Pass (see below!). The hotel has a pool, which my daughter and family experienced, shop and little play area for the kids. Breakfast at the hotel was better than the last time we stayed, which was a bit of a bun fight, much more organised now and a good choice of options to suit all tastes. The hotel bar was a welcoming area to have a nice G & T after a busy day in the parks!
Both parks are undergoing some refurbishment, particularly the Studios which is renovating the entrance area and building a Frozen land. There is also work going on to the Disney Village. I guess they have to do it at some point, but there did seem to be alot! I liked the good old days of Fastpass, when you could get a slotted time for a particular ride and you did not have to pay extra, now you have two options that you do on the Disney App. The Premier Access where you pay for the day and have one Premier Access to each ride or you can pay for Premier Access per ride. It was quite expensive on top of what you have already paid. We used it for a show to save queuing and others did use it for rides with long queues. I would recommend budgeting in the Premier Access, at least for a day.
We opted to pre pay for Half Board. The advantage was we could budget but I actually found the set menu that they allow you to use was very limiting. We pre booked restaurants on the App before we arrived, as there was nine of us, but I think it limits you to eating at those places at particular times, instead of seeing where you are. We would have likely eaten in the Disney Village more which would have been easier with more choice. Next time, if we are lucky enough to go again, it will be B&B.
My only other negative and "heads up" is the early access to the parks for hotel guests. Yes it is less busy, but they do not have all the rides open, which just means that the ones that are open have even busier waiting times as everyone is using them. If they had them all open then when they park opens for all, there would not already be a backlog of waiting times built up. Next time, I will forget the early access and just pay for the Premier Access!
As part of my Birthday Celebrations we booked the Character Breakfast, which was truly lovely having close contact with the characters. The breakfast wasn't great and items ran out without being replenished. Either don't worry about eating or grab something as soon as you get in! I think you are paying more to be close to Minnie than the food!
We decided to fly back to London, which saved time, other than going back to London St Pancras and across London again, which worked out well.
Overall a Magical Time in Disneyland Paris with Family Memories made!
