We are back and ready to share some tips :-)

[Florida Mel]

Hi fellow DLP loving Dibbers

Well we are back and having had a wonderful time thought I would share some do's and dont's with you for your future trips in the school holidays

Do

• Do make dinner reservations in advance - We booked 2 months in advance and we saw lots of people queuing for tables and not being able to eat where they wanted
• Give DLP a chance - It's much smaller than WDW but gives you that instant Disney fix, great for a little break
• Plan - the queues are horrendous, especially in the Walt Disney Studio's park. Make a list of what you want to do and stick to it so you won't be disapointed
• Go for breakfast in the Disneyland hotels early - we went for breakfast at 7.15am and the queues as we were coming out were unbelievable
• Use the Extra Magic Hours - great to get onto those popular rides and to get an early start into the parks. Also nice photo opportunites with the castle before the crowds come in
• Fast Pass - otherwise you face queues for hours

Don't

• Forget your thermals, hats, scarves, gloves and ski wear for little ones (honestly there were lots of european kids wearing these) if you visit in the cold winter months - when I say it's cold I mean COLD brrrrrrr
• Forget you can take snacks and drinks into the DLP parks, unlike WDW. This can save you a small fortune

Our Highlights

• We stayed at the Newport Bay Hotel and loved it. The location is perfect. Our room was about half a mile away from reception! but this worked out to our advantage as we never heard people passing our room so we had lovely peaceful nights.
• Dinner at Cape Cod (Newport Bay) and Parkside Diner (Hotel New York). Both were buffet meals but the standard and quality of the food was top notch and there was something for everyone. The chocolate fountain in Cape Cod was wonderful. We ate quite late and went straight to bed after a night cap.
• Cocktails in the 'Cafe Fantasia Bar' in the Disneyland Hotel - I highly recommend this. It is a wonderful hotel and the bar is a nice chill out from the parks. Me and my friend had the Royale Mojito which was a Champagne Mojito and they were delish. It's not cheap but worth every penny.

Our Lows

• The pool in the hotel - only 8 changing rooms and the water was cold. Tut Tut Disney
• VEA transport from CDG to the Hotel. It took and hour and a half but luckily we were the first drop off but not the best experience.
• The Queues - 50 minutes for Big Thunder Mountain (The fastpass queue wasn't much better) and 90 minutes for Crushes Coaster (no fastpass!)

Hope this helps anyone visiting in the next few days :-)


My dream home :-)

[neilhd]

The only way to do Crush is to run there at park opening!

[ojoboots]

Glad you enjoyed it

[Florida Mel]

Originally Posted by neilhd

The only way to do Crush is to run there at park opening!

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I know what you mean - we were in the park before opening at 9.30am with EMH and the queue was all the way upto Walt and Mickey's statue! I will just have to go again

Originally Posted by ojoboots

Glad you enjoyed it

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Thank you

[squishy]

Sounds fabulous! Glad you had a great time and thanks for the concise tips! Looks like you had some lovely sun and blue skies as well - is the castle bridge still covered up?

[Katie C]

Glad you had a load of fun, and some great tips (which I quite agree with!)

[Guest]

Hi Mel

glad you had a great trip.

We are off at end of March and have booked Sequoia lodge for our first night's meal but am interested to find out what you thought of Parkside diner as we are staying at Hotel NY. From what I had read the buffet was just average, what type of food did you get on offer? TBH it would be easier for us to eat there on our first night so if it's recommended then i would change my ADR.

Thanks

Elaine

[Florida Mel]

Originally Posted by squishy

Sounds fabulous! Glad you had a great time and thanks for the concise tips! Looks like you had some lovely sun and blue skies as well - is the castle bridge still covered up?

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Yes it was till covered not sure how long for, there was a building on Main Street covered up with scaffolding too :-S

Originally Posted by Katie C

Glad you had a load of fun, and some great tips (which I quite agree with!)

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Thanks Katie :-)

Originally Posted by EMC88

Hi Mel

glad you had a great trip.

We are off at end of March and have booked Sequoia lodge for our first night's meal but am interested to find out what you thought of Parkside diner as we are staying at Hotel NY. From what I had read the buffet was just average, what type of food did you get on offer? TBH it would be easier for us to eat there on our first night so if it's recommended then i would change my ADR.

Thanks

Elaine

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We loved the food and were not disapointed with anything. The food comprised of:

Starters: soups, cold meats etc
Main Course: There were approx 12 hot meals to choose from plus dishes of potatoes, chips, cous cous, pasta etc. A great selection for kids too with chicken nuggets and fish pieces in breadcrumbs.
Dessert: The largest selection of pastries and cakes I have ever seen plus the most delicious fruits of the forest crumble

I thought it was slightly better than the Cape Cod restaurant in Newport Bay I also liked being able to choose what I fancied from the buffet instead of choosing from a limited menu.

Hope I have helped and have a great trip

[squishy]

Sounds yummy - lots of people saying how busy it was last week, guessing it was because of half term?! (my DD is 3, so don't yet appreciate when the peak and off peak times are!)

[disney owl]

Good tips, thanks