Disneyland Paris .... The journey so far

When I started writing up my blog about our Disneyland Paris trip, I had no idea how long it would take or the wonderful memories it would invoke as I wrote.  This has meant that so far, I have written 3 blogs and we have only just arrived at our hotel! 

Before we went, I was determined to make this trip as memorable for our children as possible, mainly due to the fact that I was not sure if we would ever be able to afford to go back.  This meant that I was, to put it bluntly, in a huge panic to make sure we did everything we could, that we did not miss out on anything, that we would not come home with regrets.

There was so much information out there and it was bamboozling.  I have many friends that have been and they all offered invaluable information.  With this in mind, I decided to put together a series of blogs, detailing each part of our holiday and it is supposed to ease some of your travel worries.

I have decided to put them all together in this blog so you can have easy access to each part.  I really hope you find all the information useful, if you have any questions, please direct them to me and I will do my best to answer.

Part One - The Planning Stage

Part Two - The Journey and Arrival

Part Three - Hotel Cheyenne

Disneyland Paris - Part Trois - Hotel Cheyenne

We were finally here! The taxi ride was approximately 30 minutes and we were dropped off right at the door.  You just pay the driver at drop off as you would a normal taxi, there is an option to pay by PayPal before you arrive if you wish to do so.

First impressions of Hotel Cheyenne were fabulous.  It is themed on a Wild West town and in true Disney style, there is a lot of attention to detail.

The check in process was very smooth, there were a lot of staff in attendance and they were all very friendly and happy to answer questions.  We were given a whole information pack containing park schedules, maps and meal passes.  We were asked what time we wanted breakfast and were given breakfast passes for that particular time.  Don't worry too much if you change your mind, we did and it was easily rectified.  A pretty good tip for breakfast is, avoid between 8am and 9 am if at all possible,  We did not the first morning and it was absolutely crazy, queues out the door and people everywhere! The Chuck Wagon restaurant is huge but at this time it was rammed, my advice is either get there before 8am or come back later around 10am.  Lovely and quiet and you can enjoy your breakfast at leisure.

Our room was not ready for us on arrival, but there is a large luggage area where you can leave all your belongings and come back for them later.  Easy process and saves you hanging about waiting for rooms.

Each hotel (apart from Disneyland Hotel) has a regular bus shuttle service, approximately every 10 - 15 minutes to take you straight to the parks.  However, as we discovered, the Cheyenne was only about a 15 minute walk along the river from the park, we tended to use this on the way home mainly to avoid big queues.  We never had a problem getting a bus, it is a good and reliable service.

All the rooms are in separate buildings named after famous Wild West legendary folk, our room was in the Doc Holliday building.  The children loved looking out for all the famous names and it made them curious to learn more about the Wild West.  It was a brilliant theme, the whole place was set out like a wild west town complete with saloon and police house.  Brilliant! We loved wandering through especially when it was quiet and I could almost hear Clint Eastwood whistling as we explored!

When we got into our room, it was fine.  It was clean and tidy and had everything that you need for your stay.  The Cheyenne is only rated a 2* but there was nothing wrong with it, perfectly adequate and we were more than happy with it.  The room was in-keeping with the Wild West theme and the children loved the bunk beds complete with Sheriff's star night lights.

With our package, breakfast was included.  The Cheyenne serves a continental buffet style breakfast every morning and it is really good.  There were plenty of cereals to choose from, along with the usual continental fayre of cheese, various meats and delicious fresh rolls and pastries.  There was also lots of fresh fruit and berries, yoghurts and a couple of big toasters for you to use.  Unlimited tea, coffee, hot chocolate and juice were available.

We also sampled the evening buffet here a couple of nights as to be perfectly honest, we were too tired to trek about.  Again, lovely food, lots of choice, loosely based Wild West themed food, chilli, corn on the cob, ribs, baked potatoes, but you had to get in quick as once they were gone, they were gone. I think that may be my only complaint, stocks weren't replenished as much as I thought they should be.  But there was lots of other choices and some delicious desserts.  You got 1 drink per person included per meal but there was lots of water coolers around with jugs so you could help yourself to iced water at all times.

In summary, the standard room we stayed in was fine, there was an option of upgrading but for the amount of time spent in the room we did not think it was worthwhile.  All the communal areas, reception, restaurant, hotel store, the town were magnificent.  We loved the theme completely - Yee Hah!

The Chuck Wagon Restaurant

This Town ain't big enough for the both of us ....

The Journey and Arrival, DLP Pt Deux

The time was drawing ever nearer and as we had booked the first Air France flight in the morning, 6.20am, my thoughts turned to getting to the airport.  I had been advised by the travel agent to check in 2 hours before as mornings are apparently extremely busy, it turned out not to be the case in our experience but it is up to each of you to decide what is best for you, don't want to get in trouble with anyone! With that in mind, I looked at airport hotels.  Quite a few of the hotels, with parking, are still quite away from the airport which would either mean driving and parking at the airport or getting a bus transfer.  There seemed little point to this, living fairly near to the airport, I had wanted somewhere from where we could just walk to the terminal from the hotel, especially at 4.00am. Bingo, I remembered our trusty friend, Premier Inn has a hotel right at the airport.  If you book enough in advance you can get the rooms for £29 which is a complete bargain and far cheaper than even parking at the airport.  Sorted.  Lift arranged with my mam and we were good to go. 

I was so pleased we did this, mind I did set about 15 alarms on mine and hubby's phone, along with the TV alarm in the room, I still did not get much sleep, I was terrified we would sleep in and miss the flight.  We didn't we woke up at 3.15 yippee! washed, dressed up and out by 4.15am.  There is about a 6 minute walk, if that to the terminal, it is actually closer than the long term car park.  If you need it though, there is a little minibus that will take you into the terminal but it is far quicker and easier to make the short walk. 

I had checked in online the day before, with Air France it is 36 hours before your flight and I had chosen our seats with a window seat for each child to keep them happy.   It doesn't save you any time as you still have to check in your bags but it means you can pick where you want to sit.  I am happy to report that flying with AF means none of this ridiculous paying extra for baggage, paying extra to put it in the hold etc, thankfully.  Each passenger gets 23kg baggage allowance to check into the hold, we had 3 cases and it didnt come anywhere near the weight allocation.  The kids had little suitcases that they carried on to the plane full of essentials such as Spiderman and Barnaby Bear.

The airport was quiet as a dormouse, there was a couple of places open, namely Boots and Duty Free, most places stayed shut till around 5.30.

Boarding and departure was absolutely fine, no problems there and the kids were just so excited to be getting on a plane for the very first time.  I have to say at this point that the customer service on the return flight at CDG was far superior, seeing we had children, the staff put us through priority check in and security.  They also allowed us to board the plane before the other passengers, this was all without being asked, they volunteered this information and it was gladly received, a lot more than can be said for the staff at Newcastle, however that wasn't a problem, it was just much better at CDG.

Then we were off! For most of the flight it was pitch black but we did see the most beautiful sunrise and the children managed a catnap.

Charles de Gaulle airport is absolutely huge and extremely busy.  Just be aware of this, it is easy to navigate however and as most people are all going the same way, just go with the flow! Not many toilets I noticed so try not to have 2 children desperate for a wee upon landing if you can help it!  It was a mammoth walk and tram ride to get to the arrivals lounge and there we found our delightful driver waiting for us with our name up in lights (well on a board anyway).  Up until now I had been questioning my decision to spend all that money on a private transfer, the instant I saw him all that doubt disappeared, especially when I saw the queue for the Disney Parc Hopper.  The car was brand new, spotlessly clean and parked right outside the terminal.  The pre-booked child seats were waiting for us also, perfect.

Next stop Disneyland Paris Hotel Cheyenne Yee haa!

Disneyland Paris - The place of dreams (part one) - The decision making

For a couple of years now, we have talked about taking our children to Disneyland Paris.  I gave up work when Luca was born so money is tight but it was a place we knew we wanted the kids to visit whilst it still was magical.  So in January of this year we finally booked up!  I was so excited, I have been to DLP twice before, but as an adult and obviously without my children, was so looking forward to seeing it through their eyes.

We booked the early morning flight out of Newcastle direct to Charles de Gaulle with Air France, I did it as part of a package booked through Thomas Cook as I wanted the safety of a package holiday incase of flight delays etc.  After much too-ing and fro-ing, we decided on the Hotel Cheyenne, a hotel styled in the form of a wild west town.  It is only a 2 star but I read extensive reviews and asked many people's opinion, originally I had wanted to go for Hotel New York but on this occasion we decided to save a few more pounds and book the cheaper accommodation.

I bought the kids a countdown plaque off Designs by Nikki so they could start counting down the days.  I did delay giving them this until August otherwise we would have driven ourselves mad!

So it was booked, we were booked to leave on 1st December for 4 nights and spend Eva's birthday in Disneyland Paris, perfect.  We also got quite a good deal by going out of season, we got 2 nights free and the kids under 7 were free.  That is my first tip, if at all possible, avoid school holidays and also avoid weekends if you can.  Saturdays in particular are crazy as a lot of local people have annual passes and use them at the weekend.

I agonised over the meal plan situation.  Everyone I know that has been has commented on the price of the food there, it is expensive to eat out in Disneyland Paris and they offer a variety of meal plan options.  We eventually decided to get the Standard Premium Half Board because we could use that in Cafe Mickey which is a character dining restaurant.  In hindsight, I should not have bothered getting the plan as to be quite honest, with our kids it was a bit of a waste of money as they eat like birds and would have been happy eating in the McDonalds in the Disney Village everyday!  If you enjoy eating out and your kids are good eaters, then I would say the plans are a good buy, you have a wide choice of restaurants in both parks to choose from as well as the various Disney hotels.  There are options to suit everyone, it really is a case of personal taste.  You are looking at an average of about 12 euros for an adult meal consisting of cheeseburger, fries, drink and an ice-cream, if you go for that type of food.  An all-you-can-eat buffet is approximately 25 euros per adult, that is a rough guide for you.

Finally, airport transfers, you can book the VEA Disney airport shuttle bus, at todays price it is 20 euros per adult and 16 euros per child (aged 3 - 11) per trip and roughly takes around an hour or so to get round all the hotel drop offs.  I read on tripadvisor about a company called Ezy Shuttle who provide private taxi transfers and there was only brilliant reviews about them.  I enquired and the price was 70 euros for a direct pick up from the arrival hall in CDG and to take us straight to our hotel, a complete no brainer, quick email to John who owns the company and we were booked.  He asked if we need car seats and advised we just pay the driver on the day.  Our driver would be waiting for us in arrivals and that he was.  An absolutely exceptional service both ways and I would  not hesistate to wholeheartedly recommend Ezy Shuttle.

Stay tuned for the next instalment ......