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,