Thinking of 2019 for first visit to DLP.

1Grumpy9

DIS Veteran
Joined
May 2, 2011
I know it sounds like I am an over planner, but I like to give my friend that travels with me enough time to figure out if she wants to go on the next adventure I plan (and save money up)...Also, we are already have our 2018 (going to California). For giggles I just plugged into Expedia dummy dates for this year to Paris and found some great bundle deals with flight and hotel (non-disney hotel), but close.

I got talking to her and she was on-board with going, but we want to stay in Paris for a couple of days first before going to Disneyland. So I am trying to figure out if going through a travel agency would be the best or just "winging-it" on our own.
 
Where are you based? It is quite straight-forward to find and book hotels independently; but if you book through a travel agent, you get extra protection if something goes wrong - could be useful if you are travelling a long way, for example. However, if you are in the UK, and just hopping across the Channel, then I'd say going it alone is no issue at all.
 
I am based out of Pennsylvania and just looking at the DLP website it is confusing. I am working with a local travel agent for my upcoming cruise so I may bring this crazy idea to her.
 
Yes, the DLP website can indeed by confusing.

Here is the basic lowdown:

There are two parks, with one ticket to go between them. They are next to each other.
There is also Disney Village, which is outside the parks and contains shops and restaurants.
Further out, there are Disney owned hotels. Some you can walk to the park, others have shuttle busses (although you could walk from ALL the Disney hotels, if you really wanted to.)
Further out again, there are other, independent hotels. Some of these are listed as 'Disney Partner' hotels. Some are not. Most have their own shuttle busses. If you stay in Val d'Europe (a region a little away from the parks) there is the local train and it is dead easy to get to the parks.

If you want a Disney hotel, that is when it can get confusing. They all offer different deals. And different country's websites have different deals, but anyone can access any of the deals; so lots of the people on this board check all the country's websites and choose the best one for them (4 days for price of 3, or under 12s go free, or free half board, or whatever.)

Having a Disney hotel allows you to get into the park at 8am, for some of the rides. This is useful if you are going at a busy time. If you have flexibility over when you go, then avoid the European school holidays - Easter and Summer being the worst. I was recommended the last week in May and it was great.

You can book hotels and tickets separately, which is why you can go to a non-Disney hotel and may find this a LOT cheaper. But some of the deals make it worthwhile, especially if you have a family with you.

You have plenty of time to research. And this board is very useful, if you have a nose around.
 


DLP is a much more compact resort when compared to WDW and all hotels are in walking distance to the parks. It is more similar to Disneyland than to WDW.
The distance from the cheapest (and further away) resorts to the parks is similar to that from the Disneyland Hotel in California to the park gates. Not too bad. For a once in a lifetime trip, I would suggest to consider one of the onsite hotels (note the word hotels and not resorts), it allows you to never leave the Disney Bubble. Shop around the European Countries websites, you cna get much better deals than the official US site.
 
Thanks everyone for the information!!! Once we decide that this is a "GO" trip, then I will have to start looking at different things (like other countries websites for DLP) to see what the deals are like.
 
I have another question that I just saw come up on a facebook group I am in...would it be cheaper for one in our party to get a Magic Flex Pass for the discounts (like hotels and extra tickets)? The discount for the hotels is what is the enticing "perk" that I could see buying one for.
 


I have another question that I just saw come up on a facebook group I am in...would it be cheaper for one in our party to get a Magic Flex Pass for the discounts (like hotels and extra tickets)? The discount for the hotels is what is the enticing "perk" that I could see buying one for.

If for example there are 3 Disney adults in the room, you could book just for two: this would give them the room and tickets for lenght of stay. The third adult would buy a passport and at checkin add himself to the room, paying just the local taxes (about one euro per night I think). So you should take the difference between booking a room for 2 and a room for three and subtract it to the cost of the annual passport. Even if the passport costs more, you could make up the difference with all the discounts. Just be aware that in some hotels there are rooms with a different configuration than the norm, it is possible that they would pre-assign you a room without the second bed, so there is the very small chance that you could have a problem at checkin with this strategy. Probably checking in early in the morning would be better.

The passports allow you to get a discount on room only rates too. However I find it more difficult to make this work. Booking through the website you can often get 25% to 50% off rack rates, if you book a room with the passport discount you get up to 40% but it could be less (depending on season) and you need a passport for everyone in the room. If you plan to visit only once I don't think you can make this work.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Latest posts

Top