Monday 27 February 2017

How To Find A Bargain Trip To Disneyland Paris



We have had two holidays to Disneyland Paris in the last 6 months and I'm often asked how we find the best deals, so today I am sharing that information with you.

It is by no means a secret, in fact it's pretty straight forward...but these are things that have worked really well for us.

For our first trip we paid s around £870 for 4 days including travel, Disney's Santa Fe hotel and park tickets.

For our second trip, we paid under £750 for four days including travel, Disney's Sequoia Lodge hotel in an upgraded Golden Forest Club room with a FULL BOARD PLUS meal plan (meaning all meals were included) and park tickets.




Where To Look

I always shop around for our holidays on various websites and with travel agents, but for both Disneyland Paris holidays I found the best deals when booking directly through the Disneyland Paris website itself.

People say that the best deals are to be found by using the Irish and German versions of the Disneyland Paris website (using the online translator to book via the German one) but I didn't find much of a difference in price between these and the UK site when I booked.



Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any such thing as a last-minute "bargain" for Disneyland Paris - it is all about when you want to travel.



When To Go


Obviously, term time breaks are cheapest but remember it's not just the UK holidays that you need to take into account but the French ones too as Disneyland will be at its busiest when the French schools are on holiday.
 France's schools are broken up into 3 different regions who take holidays at different times so it can be difficult, but this table should help you to figure out when they are this year (2017)



It is also best to avoid weekends and Fridays if possible, as not only are these days the most expensive ones - they are also the busiest times in the park. We didn't think that Fridays would be too much busier than any other weekday but we were wrong, the park was HEAVING on the Friday compared to the rest of the week!

Disneyland Paris, like anywhere else, has it's peak and off peak times and prices its breaks accordingly - these are always subject to change, for example this year Disneyland Paris is celebrating its 25th Anniversary from the end of March onwards and so their prices will remain high as people flock there for the celebrations.


We have so far travelled to Disneyland Paris in early October for the beginning of the Halloween celebrations - the park was very quiet during this time and queues were always below 5 minutes. However, the prices were quite standard with no fantastic deals to be had.


The chart below should help you to pinpoint when the off peak times are, and when you will be likely to find the best price.




Where To Stay

If you want to save money, you would be better off looking at some of the Disney partner hotels rather than a Disney Hotel - these are a short distance from Disneyland but have regular shuttle buses running to the parks.

I don't have any advice on non-Disney hotels as I have yet to try any but do let me know if you have any recommendations.

 Disney hotels range in price from the most expensive Disneyland Hotel (located right above the park gates), to the mid range Sequoia Lodge, Newport Bay Club and Hotel New York (located 10-15 minutes walk away) down to the lower end Hotel Cheyenne and Hotel Santa Fe (Around a 20 minute walk away).
 There is also the Davy Crockett Ranch which is the cheapest option but you need to be on a self drive holiday to stay here, as there are no walkways.

We paid around £870 for 2 adults and 1 child for 3 nights, 4 days  at Hotel Santa Fe with Eurostar, Photo Pass Plus and Disney Express Luggage service included.

Our most visit in late January was a much better deal, as we stayed for 3 nights, 4 days at the Sequoia Lodge Hotel in a Golden Forest Club room (A sort of VIP club with access to a private lounge with free hot and soft drinks, afternoon snacks, in room benefits, private check in, hot breakfast and ride fast passes each day) with a FREE full board plus meal plan included, Eurostar, Photo Pass Plus and Disney Express Luggage service for just £749 for 2 adults, 1 child and 1 infant.

As much as I enjoyed our stay at the Sequoia lodge, I would not pay an additional amount to stay there over the Santa Fe as honestly, you spend next to no time in the hotel.

As lovely as the Disneyland Hotel looks, I simply cannot justify paying an additional £500+ to stay there when this would basically cover the cost of a return trip - your hotel is simply somewhere to sleep and shower. If you are doing Disneyland right then you are surely spending your days in the parks, so why pay so much extra for a hotel unless money is not an object and you can return any time you want?

Even the lowest grade Disney hotels are only a 20 minute walk away and all have regular shuttle buses to transport you to and from the park throughout the day.

If you would prefer to spread the cost of your Disney holiday, you can always book a date for next year and pay a deposit by calling the Disney booking hotline (Deposit bookings cannot be made online).



In summary my tips for getting the best Disney deal are:

*Travel off peak where possible
*Check that your trip does not clash with any French school holidays
*Avoid weekends and Fridays where possible
*Check the UK, Irish and German Disneyland websites before booking
*Consider booking a non-Disney or lower grade Disney hotel as these are honestly just a place to sleep, you will spend very little time in your hotel.



I hope you manage to bag yourself a bargain trip to Disney like we did, you will truly have the best time!

If you'd be interested in similar posts, such as how we found a bargain trip to Legoland Windsor, let me know!


Dear Bear and Beany
Mummuddlingthrough
Share:

3 comments

  1. This is really useful. Our eldest starts school in September so we have been a bit worried about how to aford family holidays going forward, thanks for the tips! xx #sharingthebloglove

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a helpful post! I desperately want to do Florida in about 5 years time, but we were thinking to test the waters with a EuroDisney trip first as it's so much more affordable. I remember staying at the Davey Crockett ranch when I went with my family on a Eurocamp holiday - it was the highlight of our trip for me and my sister! Thanks for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is fab! I would love to take the girls to EuroDisney, they are at such a great age for it. I just need to talk my husband into it. Thank you for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove

    ReplyDelete

© Sparkle's Suitcase | All rights reserved.
Blogger Template by pipdig