Just booked! A few questions please

[HelenJNT]

Hi all.

First time poster in here I think! I’m a WDW veteran but have only ever done day trips to DLP as part of a Paris city break. Most recent one was about ten years ago and I can’t remember a lot about it.

We’ve just booked for three nights in December, flying LHR-CDG and staying at Newport Bay.

Had to book via a third party as it was paid for by a travel voucher (prize from work, nice!) so not direct with Disney. It’s room+flight only, so no dining plan, and we’ve booked our park tickets via Attraction Tickets Direct. Easy.

My questions are:

1) The parks close at 6pm each night. Is there much to do in the evenings around the Disney Village?

2) What are your preferred counter service restaurants?

3) Does the US Landry card work at the DLP Rainforest Cafe? I’m not a huge fan of said restaurant but would be amenable to it if we could get a walk-up and use our birthday credits for this year

4) The week before Xmas, I’m expecting it to be busy. Should I make any ADRs?

5) Is there a MDE style app for DLP?

6) It’s old school paper FPs, yes? Are all the headliners (Crush, Ratatouille, R&R etc) FP eligible?

I think that’s all for now! Thanks if you take the time to answer my questions. I’m very excited, especially as this was meant to be a non Disney year, haha. It nearly was!

[Guest]

Originally Posted by HelenJNT

Hi all.

First time poster in here I think! I’m a WDW veteran but have only ever done day trips to DLP as part of a Paris city break. Most recent one was about ten years ago and I can’t remember a lot about it.

We’ve just booked for three nights in December, flying LHR-CDG and staying at Newport Bay.

Had to book via a third party as it was paid for by a travel voucher (prize from work, nice!) so not direct with Disney. It’s room+flight only, so no dining plan, and we’ve booked our park tickets via Attraction Tickets Direct. Easy.

My questions are:

1) The parks close at 6pm each night. Is there much to do in the evenings around the Disney Village?

2) What are your preferred counter service restaurants?

3) Does the US Landry card work at the DLP Rainforest Cafe? I’m not a huge fan of said restaurant but would be amenable to it if we could get a walk-up and use our birthday credits for this year

4) The week before Xmas, I’m expecting it to be busy. Should I make any ADRs?

5) Is there a MDE style app for DLP?

6) It’s old school paper FPs, yes? Are all the headliners (Crush, Ratatouille, R&R etc) FP eligible?

I think that’s all for now! Thanks if you take the time to answer my questions. I’m very excited, especially as this was meant to be a non Disney year, haha. It nearly was!

See more...

1. Disney Village is mainly shopping and restaurants, with the park closing early it would probably be best to save your main meal until dinner and eat either in the hotels or the Village. There is Buffalo Bills Wild West Dinner show in the Village which is definitely worth researching to see if it would appeal to you.

2. Lucky Nugget is kind of a counter service/table service hybrid with entertainment whilst you eat. Cowboy Cookout and and Toad Hall are also good options we find.

3. Landry card isnt accepted in DLP

4. If you want to secure specific restaurants and/or times then yes book in advance, saves being dissapointed if you can't eat where you want.

5. Download the DLP app, it has a map and queue times so useful for when you are in the parks. Also download the Lineberty app, this is used to secure character meet and greets in the Studios park.

6. Yes Fastpasses are paper versions. Crush doesn't have FP so that is a definite one to save for Extra Magic Time to get the shortest wait. Rock n Rollercoaster has now closed at DLP. But the other headliners such as Tower of Terror, Ratatouille, Space Mountain, Star Tours, Peter Pan and Big Thunder all have FP.

Hope that helps!

[GjDisney]

Staying on site guarantees you extra magic which will help massively the week before Xmas.

I’d highly recommend BBWW show if you haven’t done it before it’s completely unique and well worth the extra imo.

With parks closing early id second leaving your main meal for the day for after park closing. This fills in your evenings nicely. I’d also recommend checking out the hotels after park close for a drink etc. Sequoia Lodge is great with the fire roaring.

[cairn114]

In the evenings I would recommend some hotel exploring if you have time. The Sequoia Lodge is next door to NPB so very easy but all the hotels are just a small walk. As it’s Christmas definitely go into the Disneyland hotel, to see the Gingerbread house and decorations.

For counter service in the parks we like, Fuente del oro, Market street deli and snacks from Cable car bake shop or Boardwalk candy palace. In Disney village, Earl of Sandwich, Five Guys and New york style sandwiches.

Be aware that the hotels don’t really have counter service like in WDW, the bars have some options but they are expensive.

[kk20]

Hakuna Matata is our fav CS. We also like cowboy cookout. The village has enough to keep you busy for a few hours. Even though park closes as 6, thats when the fireworks show starts and thats another 30 mins plus exit.

In the village you have some decent food outlets such as earl of sandwich or five guys. We tend to avoid the bigger rainforest cafe and planet hollywood as there are better offer s elsewhere (IMHO).

Im partial to king ludwigs as I enjoy german faire.

We are going on 18th dec. It wont be super busy as most european schools break up on 21st. ADR still a good idea though.

[DaisyDuck87]

Bistrot Chez Remy in the studios has really cool theming and pretty decent food. Good idea to make an ADR if you want to go here. Food in general isn't great in DLP though, unfortunately! Counter service is slow and often cold, and the Disney table service restaurants aren't brilliant either.

The nice thing about going at that time as year when the parks close early is that you can spend time in the hotels and in the village without feeling like you're wasting park time. Definitely go to the Disneyland Hotel for drinks, it's gorgeous. And sequoia lodge has a lovely bar too 😁

Hope you have a brilliant time! Newport Bay is a really lovely hotel too. My first visit to DLP was at Christmas and it was magic 😁

[Gill H]

As you don't have a dining plan, I wouldn't bother with breakfast in the hotel. It's nice but stupidly expensive for what you get - unless you would rather have a big breakfast and skip lunch.

If you want breakfast elsewhere, the Village has Earl of Sandwich, Starbucks, McDonald's and my favourite, New York Style Sandwiches which does a croissant/juice/coffee breakfast. Annette's does a hot breakfast but doesn't open early enough if you want to do EMT.

Counter service in DLP is generally glacially slow service for food that is often cold by the time you find a seat, and isn't that great anyway. In particular, avoid Casey's, Cafe Hyperion and in the Studios, Restaurant En Coulisse.

Better options are Au Chalet de la Marionette, Fuente del'Oro, Lucky Nugget (more expensive but you get to sit in and be brought your food, and there's puppet shows and live entertainment). In the Studios you don't really have any other counter service options, but at Christmas the food festival should be on in Place de Remy so you could always get something there.

If you are in the park for 8.30 EMT and stay till after Illuminations, you will probably not want to do much in the evening! We tend to just have dinner and relax in our room. However, there will be live music in Billy Bob's, there's a sports bar if that's your thing, and of course there's always a hotel cocktail crawl...

I have to disagree about the table service restaurants, they are generally pretty good IMO. Yacht Club is nice, or the Steakhouse. We rediscovered King Ludwig's last time and had a really nice flatbread (flammkueche). The buffets can get busy and noisy, but we found La Grange at Billy Bob's was a quieter option and surprisingly good, particularly for desserts.

Buffalo Bill's sometimes has cheaper tickets for the 9.30pm show on DLP's website (check the French version and look for a 'billet malin' offer). The food is not gourmet but it is hot and plentiful, and the show is great fun. Definitely do it. Don't pay extra for front seats though, the view from higher up is just as good.

Fastpass is the old system. Now that Big Thunder is open during EMT, you can usefully get it done then - but for the rest of the day it is still the most popular FP in the park, apart from maybe Peter Pan (which you can do as a walk on during EMT too).

In Studios the only FPs you really need are ToT and Ratatouille - although again, if you go during EMT you can do Ratatouille as a walk on, and there's always single rider.

The biggest queues in Studios are for Crush's Coaster which doesn't have FP (they trialled it but because of the way it loads, it didn't help). Also, make a point of going to the show in the Animagique Theatre. Last year at Christmas it was the Big Band show which they also have in Tokyo, which was one of the best Disney shows I have ever seen.

They also did an evening show in Studio's last year involving Goofy and a letter to Santa. This is done with projections on ToT and was absolutely superb.

In Disneyland Park there will be a Christmas parade several times a day, probably a show at the side of the castle, and also the tree lighting when it gets dark.

For a nice warm up, head to Victoria's Home Style Cafe at the top of Main Street on the right, and have a chocolat viennois. Not just a hot chocolate, it is so rich and creamy!

My biggest tip is take lots of layers! It wasn't stupidly cold when we were there, but if you are out in the park all day, you do feel the cold.

Enjoy. I've done Christmas season in WDW and DLP, and I prefer DLP's version by miles. They really do it well.

[Leanne1977]

Originally Posted by Gill H

As you don't have a dining plan, I wouldn't bother with breakfast in the hotel. It's nice but stupidly expensive for what you get - unless you would rather have a big breakfast and skip lunch.

If you want breakfast elsewhere, the Village has Earl of Sandwich, Starbucks, McDonald's and my favourite, New York Style Sandwiches which does a croissant/juice/coffee breakfast. Annette's does a hot breakfast but doesn't open early enough if you want to do EMT.

Counter service in DLP is generally glacially slow service for food that is often cold by the time you find a seat, and isn't that great anyway. In particular, avoid Casey's, Cafe Hyperion and in the Studios, Restaurant En Coulisse.

Better options are Au Chalet de la Marionette, Fuente del'Oro, Lucky Nugget (more expensive but you get to sit in and be brought your food, and there's puppet shows and live entertainment). In the Studios you don't really have any other counter service options, but at Christmas the food festival should be on in Place de Remy so you could always get something there.

If you are in the park for 8.30 EMT and stay till after Illuminations, you will probably not want to do much in the evening! We tend to just have dinner and relax in our room. However, there will be live music in Billy Bob's, there's a sports bar if that's your thing, and of course there's always a hotel cocktail crawl...

I have to disagree about the table service restaurants, they are generally pretty good IMO. Yacht Club is nice, or the Steakhouse. We rediscovered King Ludwig's last time and had a really nice flatbread (flammkueche). The buffets can get busy and noisy, but we found La Grange at Billy Bob's was a quieter option and surprisingly good, particularly for desserts.

Buffalo Bill's sometimes has cheaper tickets for the 9.30pm show on DLP's website (check the French version and look for a 'billet malin' offer). The food is not gourmet but it is hot and plentiful, and the show is great fun. Definitely do it. Don't pay extra for front seats though, the view from higher up is just as good.

Fastpass is the old system. Now that Big Thunder is open during EMT, you can usefully get it done then - but for the rest of the day it is still the most popular FP in the park, apart from maybe Peter Pan (which you can do as a walk on during EMT too).

In Studios the only FPs you really need are ToT and Ratatouille - although again, if you go during EMT you can do Ratatouille as a walk on, and there's always single rider.

The biggest queues in Studios are for Crush's Coaster which doesn't have FP (they trialled it but because of the way it loads, it didn't help). Also, make a point of going to the show in the Animagique Theatre. Last year at Christmas it was the Big Band show which they also have in Tokyo, which was one of the best Disney shows I have ever seen.

They also did an evening show in Studio's last year involving Goofy and a letter to Santa. This is done with projections on ToT and was absolutely superb.

In Disneyland Park there will be a Christmas parade several times a day, probably a show at the side of the castle, and also the tree lighting when it gets dark.

For a nice warm up, head to Victoria's Home Style Cafe at the top of Main Street on the right, and have a chocolat viennois. Not just a hot chocolate, it is so rich and creamy!

My biggest tip is take lots of layers! It wasn't stupidly cold when we were there, but if you are out in the park all day, you do feel the cold.

Enjoy. I've done Christmas season in WDW and DLP, and I prefer DLP's version by miles. They really do it well.

See more...

I’m not the op but thank you so much, such useful information and tips for our December trip. 👍🏻👏🏻

[JayTheDisneyDad]

We are going the week before xmas too - 16th-19th Dec.

Crowd prediction calendars tend to be useless for DLP but everyone seems to be saying that this week shouldn't be too busy so fingers crossed!

1) I must admit when I first saw the closure times I was a little disappointed it is so early. But with a 1yr old and a 5yr old it's probably for the best to avoid them falling asleep for the fireworks. Also note the 16th and 17th first went up as 6pm close but is now 7pm..

2) We're going to try Lucky Nugget Saloon for a quick lunch for the kids (they don't eat big at breakfast and last all day like us adults) and a warm up drink for us adults.

4) Despite my comment about it not being too busy hopefully I would always make reservations at Disney... made the mistake of not doing so before and it can get stressful and waste more time hunting for somewhere that will let you in.

6) Don't bother with FP for Buzz.. it's a waste of time and I have often found practically walk on in EMH and towards the end of the night just before the fireworks. FP will be needed for Peter Pan, Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain in Disney park plus Ratatouille and ToT in Studios.

Finally don't forget you'll want to do lots of xmas shopping and the shops on Main Street often stay open at least an hour after park closes so don't waste time in the shops until after the fireworks!

[Gill H]

Although I would say if you get in at the beginning of EMT and head straight for Peter Pan, it is a walk on for a good half hour.