Driving to Dlp
 

Booked 4 nights next summer and thinking about driving due to cost of flights, cancellation or Eurostar, benefits of taking unlimited luggage/drinks/snacks. Will be travelling from north east but usually drive to ebbsfleet for Eurostar so not concerned about the drive this side - will travel down day before stopping half way ish for day out then stay overnight so can get early crossing. My confusion starts the next day.
Is ferry or tunnel best way to travel?
tunnel is £135 return is that a decent price (for school holidays)?
It looks to be around a 3 hour journey in France is this straight forwards journey?
Can you park for free, we staying at Disney hotel or will there be parking fees to consider?
Anything else we might need to know about driving?

Have a look at overnight ferry from hull. We last paid about 300 return but obviously this is an overnight sailing so no need for hotel. You also cut the ferry drive to the south by half (we live in the lake district).

Journey is straight forwards from calais or zeebrugge. About 50/60 in tolls return. We usually stop at lille for a snack break (cheaper than the service stops). Usually gets busier near CDG, then you can follow the giant disney signs if you aren't using satnav.

Disney hotel is free parking, this includes all day of departure.

It’s really straight forward- have driven a few times and always book the premier inn Folkestone which is about a 3 min drive to the entrance of the tunnel.
There are vloggers on you tube that have done the same journey twice this summer- yaz and ash.
May give you an idea of what it’s like.
Parking will be free if you’re staying on site.

Hi donna252,

As you're happy to drive from the north east then I would suggest the tunnel, especially if anybody in your party is prone to get seasick. Can't say whether £135 is good or bad as DW normally does the arranging (I just drive) but £135 for a return doesn't sound too expensive, especially for school holidays.

DW and I prefer to drive than take the train or plane as you can take more stuff with you and bring more goodies home ;) ! I also prefer the EuroTunnel than the ferry as I find it quicker and more relaxing and as I've already said above if you have anybody in the car who might suffer from seasickness then the Eurotunnel is a must.

I think that it was nearer to 4 hours journey time in France, however we were in a slower vehicle (Land Rover Defender) and did stop once. The journey is straight forward, especially if you use the toll roads. I just followed the directions that the SatNav gave.

We parked for free when we stayed at the Disney hotel.

Before you go, ensure that your car is fit for a long journey and get it serviced and MOT'd if necessary. Make sure that you have the France driving kit suitable for the number of people that you are taking. Have a look at the AA or RAC website for information.

We prefer to take the quickest route and not sightsee when we go to DLP so we will take the toll roads. If you go by Eurotunnel get the free toll tag offer, if you use a tag then you can sail through the toll booths and not have to worry about cash or card and the tag can reduce journey time. The toll tag is a great way to save journey time as we had loads of cars go past us only for us to catch up with them again at the toll booth and if they were paying by cash/card then you often beat them using the tag. It's a good game for kids (of all ages) to spot the cars that overtake you but which you beat when going through the toll.

If you're not used to driving on the 'wrong' side of the road then buy a DriveRight Lane Safety Device, which is a fancy reversible sticker that you place on your windscreen as a reminder as to which side of the road you should be on and how to drive around roundabouts. I found this product very useful and even temporarily used it when I got back to the UK just to remind me to drive on the 'correct' side of the road.

Have a decent road atlas with you but nowaday I'd take a decent SatNav that has traffic so that you can just follow the instructions and hopefully have a relaxing journey with no holdups. If your SatNav can take custom POIs (Points of Interest) then download the free Disneyland Paris POIs from PocketGPSWorld, just select France as the country and Disney Hotels for the accommodation. If you're already a member of PocketGPSWorld (it's free to join for POIs and forum) you'll see the Disneyland Hotel as an example. The benefit of the custom POIs from PocketGPSWorld is that they should direct you to the main entrance of your hotel when the builtin POIs are not always as accurate.

Regards,

My tip would be to get decent breakdown cover, I broke down about 5 miles from the ferry and it cost me €150 for a 2km tow and around €80 for the guy to fix the car, or rather bodge it to get us back to England.

We did the ferry the year before last, calis to Dover. We stayed at PI the night before, got the 6am, ferry. Had a relaxed breakfast in the bistro, stroll around the ship, trip to Starbucks and we were ready to drive the 3hrs straight. The ride was so easy and straight forward. We arrived at DLP at 09.30 so could spend the whole day there! We wouldn’t do it any other way now (unless hubby doesn’t come as I won’t drive abroad lol)

What a useful thread ! Nit that we are considering a DLP trip atm but you never know :)

Hi donna252 - we drove to DLP in March this year (yes literally just made it home before it closed). My DD was pregnant and we had to factor in a couple of stops. It took us 4 hours from the shuttle. We prefer the tunnel to the ferry because it’s just so easy. We were at Santa Fe and parking was free. Of note, on our last day, we drove to the Disney car park and left our stuff in the car while we went to the parks and shops one last time. This was also free to onsite guests.

You’ve had some great advice here, so I won’t go on much - just wanted to agree that it’s a great way to travel. We’ve done the ferry once and the tunnel for the other 5 journeys. We prefer the tunnel, because it’s so quick and easy, plus we pay with Tesco clubcard vouchers which brings the price right down!

How many people was that for, and what time of year? We live quite close to Hull, so I’ve wondered about the overnight ferry to Zeebrugge before. I last went on it on a school residential trip, many years ago!

We usually pay around £50 in clubcard points for the Eurotunnel and £50 for an overnight hotel. I wouldn’t want to pay too much for the overnight ferry, but it would be worth a bit extra for the convenience of skipping the drive down to Folkestone. How long is the drive from Zeebrugge to DLP?