How To Book Your Disney Holiday (Tips & Hacks)

If you've clicked on this post I guess your hoping to plan a trip to Disneyland the most happiest place on earth!  Well I was were you are now 6 months ago.  I had a dream of my family and I living our best life and making their (and also mine) dreams come through.
So I'm going to go right back to the start to when I was planning my dream trip to Disney.  I grabbed a pen and paper and got to searching online but to my disappointment I couldn't find anything.  I found loads of blogposts on tips for when your in the parks and what you should pack etc but nothing that got into the nitty gritty and gave tips for booking so hence why I'm creating this post for you now.

When To Book

Okay so the first thing to consider when booking Disney is what time of year you want to go.  Bare in mind there are peak times and if you are looking to do Disney a little cheaper then I would definitely consider going during an off peak time of year.  Here is a helpful guide for 2018 of all peak and off peak times in the park.

Things you need to factor in when deciding to go...

• French school holidays, naturally if Disneyland is on your front door your going to go so keep this in mind for busy park times.  The price of the parks will go up significantly during these times too.
• If travelling with kids you do need to be careful of school holidays too.  Summer time, Halloween, Christmas and mid terms are all peak times in the park.  Depending on the ages of your kids you may want to consider going during school time.  As Cailan is only in Junior Infants we weighed u the costs of taking him out of school for a week and going during a week he had off.  There was hundreds €€€ in the difference so for us it was a no brainer.
• The next thing to consider is seasonal events and activities that Disney have going on themselves.  So say if you have a big Star Wars fan then you may want to consider going when they have their Season of the force event which runs from the 13th of January to the 25th of March. Below is a guideline for all all upcoming events.
• Closures of attractions and rides.  During certain months different rides and attractions go under maintenance so if there is a particular ride or attraction your child or yourself is desperate to see then double checking if its due to close is definitely worth looking into.  You can find details of this on the Disneyland Paris Website.

Something we didn't know and is new to Disneyland for the first time ever is their Marvel Super Hero Event.  If you have a superhero or two of your own this 

may be definitely worth considering.  I definitely would of looked into going during these dates if I had of known about this however I had booked months before the official dates were released.

To Book Alone or Book through a Travel Agent

Now as this was my first time ever booking a Disney holiday I wanted to make sure everything was included and I had forgot about nothing so after discussing with Lee we made the choice to book through a travel agent.  I am a 100% aware that with a little digging and searching online I could of possibly got a better deal if I decided to book everything by myself.  However this is a massive holiday for us and I didn't want to slip up so having someone else plan and organise everything for us definitely at the time was the right thing to do.  If you are more used to booking holidays online for yourself then I'm sure you will have no problem doing this.  We booked our holiday through Travel Creation who thus booked it through breakaway.ie which is Irelands official Disneyland Paris Distributor. 

If you are a little more confident when it comes to booking online here are some tips that may help you when booking.

• keep an eye out for flight deals.  Ryan Air and Air France are two airlines for example that fly from Ireland to Dublin.  Keep an eye on their summer flight deals aswell as their start of years sales etc.
• Or scrap the cost of flying completely and drive to Disneyland.  Now this option is certainly not for the faint hearted and I take my hat off to anyone who drives.  You could take the ferry to France and drive to Disney or if your in Britain you could drive via the euro tunnel.  Of course it would take a little extra time but might be definitely worth considering if you are looking to bring down costs just a little.
• Compare Disney websites.  Okay so did you know that different Disney sites will offer different deals when booking through their site.  Well I didn't and it is something I would look into if booking again.  So currently the German Disneyland Paris site is £300 pound cheaper when compared to the British site and they are also offering free half board when booking through them.  It makes no odds what site you book from so don't be scared to look.

We were lucky that the time of booking through our travel agents they were running a deal that if we booked for 3 nights and 4 days we would get 1 night and 1 day free and if we booked for 4 nights and 5 days we would get 2 nights and 2 days free.  So we jumped at this offer and decided we would do the longer stay in Disney.  So we essentially paid for 2 nights and 3 days however we actually got 4 nights and 5 days!!

• The last thing you need to consider is whether or not you you want to stay on site or off.  So there are 7 Disneyland Paris Official Hotels 

1. Disneyland Hotel
2. Hotel New York
3. Newport Bay Club
4. Sequia Lodge
5. Hotel Sante Fe
6. Hotel Cheyenne
7. Davy Crockett Ranch

Included in our package was the Sante Fe Hotel so we will be staying on site.  The perks of staying on site are extra magic hours which means you are aloud into the park an hour or two before the general public to enjoy some rides and attractions which cuts queuing times etc.  Also apart from Davy Crocketts Ranch all other hotels have shuttle buses that run very regular to and from your hotel to the park.

Another perk which some may or may not know if staying in a Disney Hotel is if you are shopping in the parks or Disney village you can get the stuff sent back to your hotel completely free of charge, amazing right?

F.Y.I. just to note if you are booking yourself don't forget to book your transfer to and from your hotel before you go if your flying or using Eurostar.  Leaving it until you arrive could cost you massively.

Meal Plan or No Meal Plan

This was the biggy for us!  To do a meal plan or not.  I spoke to as many people as I could and weighed up all the pros and cons for the family and I and here is what I came up with...  remember I was thinking in terms of feeding 2 adults and 2 kids.

Pros

• Meals are all prepayed and we do not need to worry about budgeting money for food.
• Our breakfast is covered every morning in our hotel.  So we can get up super early have breakfast and hopefully make use of our extra magic hours.

Cons

• You are limited to where we can use the vouchers. Now of course this will depend on the plan that you choose which I will get into a little later but the option that we choose was half board standard so that included our breakfast (in our hotel) and vouchers in which we could use for our lunch or dinner in the choice of 7 restaurants.
• It has to be fully paid before your trip.  So whichever meal plan you decide to go with will have to be paid in full first before it can be added onto your package.  You have up until about 1-2 weeks before your arrival date to add this on so you do have a good length of time to pay it off.

After weighing it all up we decided that they were definitely worth looking into so we grabbed that pen and paper again and got to work/  I'm going to leave some guides down below for you which breaks each meal plan down very simply.  All guides are official and I got them from DLPGuide.com.

There are 4 options to choose from,

• Breakfast in your Hotel Only.
• Standard Meal Plan, with the option of 7 buffet restaurants and breakfast in your hotel.
• Plus Meal Plan, gives you the option of up to 18 buffet and table service restaurants.
• Premium Meal Plan, which gives you the option to wine and dine in any buffet or table service restaurant in Disneyland Paris.  This option also includes amazing extras like characters breakfasts and Buffalo Bills Wild West Show.

Here is a visible breakdown of the available restaurants that are included in each package.

So to break it down for you as easy as I know how you have three options first off. Whether you just want breakfast if so you will only be able to dine in your own hotel.  Whether you want to go half board which will give you 1 breakfast voucher and 1 meal voucher which can be used for either lunch or dinner.  Now within the half board option you can choose to keep it at just your hotel, standard, plus or premium which will basically decide how many restaurants you have to choose from. The same goes for the full board option. If you decide to go with this then you can upgrade from your hotel to standard. plus or premium.  

Got it now?  If your still unsure of what to do then here is each plan in a bit more detail, including pricing.

Breakfast Only

You will receive 1 Breakfast voucher per person, per night of your stay.  You will only be able to use your breakfast voucher in your own hotel, which will allow you to enjoy a buffet style breakfast.

29th March 2017 to 20th March 2018

• Prices per person per night
  Prices apply to standard rooms only*
• • from 12 yrs
  • 3-11 yrs inc
• Additional supplement for Breakfast with Disney Characters

• • ADULT
  • CHILD
• • ADULT
  • CHILD

• Disney Hotels
• • Disney's Davy Crockett Ranch
  • • £8
    • £8
    • €10
    • €10
  • • £19
    • £19
    • €25
    • €25
  • Disney's Hotel Santa Fe
    Disney's Hotel Cheyenne
  • • £12
    • £11
    • €16
    • €14
  • • £15
    • £15
    • €19
    • €19
  • Disney Sequoia Lodge
  • • £15
    • £13
    • €19
    • €17
  • • £12
    • £12
    • €16
    • €16
  • Disney's Newport Bay Club
    Disney's Hotel New York
  • • £19
    • £18
    • €25
    • €23
  • • £8
    • £8
    • €10
    • €10-
  • Disneyland Hotel
  • • £23
    • £21
    • €30
    • €27
  • • £4
    • £4
    • €5
    • €5

• Other Hotels
• • Radisson Blu Hotel
  • • £18
    • £11
    • €23
    • €24
  • • N/A
    • N/A
  • Vienna House Dream Castle Hotel
  • • £12
    • £7.32
    • €16
    • €9.5
  • • N/A
    • N/A
  • Vienna House Magic Circus Hotel
  • • £12
    • £7.32
    • €16
    • €9.50
  • • N/A
    • N/A
  • Algonquin's Explorers Hotel
  • • Included
    • Included
    • Included
    • Included
  • • N/A
    • N/A
  • Adagio Marne-la-Vallée Val d'Europe
  • • £9
    • £5
    • €12
    • €6
  • • N/A
    • N/A
  • Hotel Elysée Val d'Europe
  • • £11
    • £6
    • €14
    • €8
  • • N/A
    • N/A
  • Kyriad Hotel
  • • £10.40
    • £5
    • €13.50
    • €7
  • • N/A
    • N/A
  • B&B Hotel
  • • £5
    • £2
    • €6
    • €3
  • • N/A
    • N/A

Half Board

This options gives you 1 Breakfast voucher and 1 Meal voucher per person, per night of your stay. 

The breakfast voucher like above can be only used in your restaurant.

The other voucher can then be used on either lunch or dinner whichever you would prefer.

• Hotel Plans, allows you to dine at the Buffet Service restaurant of your Disney Hotel only. Drinks are not included.
• For Standard Plans, allows a choice of Buffet Service restaurants, with one soft drink included.
• For Plus Plans, allows a choice of Buffet Service restaurants or a set menu in Table Service restaurants, with one soft drink included.
• For Premium Plans, allows a choice of Buffet Service restaurants, "à la carte" in Table Service restaurants, Character Dining or Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show dinner show, with one soft drink included.

29th March 2017 to 20th March 2018

• Prices per person per night
  Prices apply to standard rooms only
• Additional supplement for Breakfast with Disney Characters

• • ADULT
  • CHILD
• • ADULT
  • CHILD

• Hotel
• • Disney's Davy Crockett Ranch
    Disney's Hotel Santa Fe
    Disney's Hotel Cheyenne
  • • £25
    • £18
    • €32
    • €23
  • • £15
    • £15
    • €19
    • €19
  • Disney Sequoia Lodge
    Disney's Newport Bay Club
    Disney's Hotel New York
  • • £35
    • £24
    • €46
    • €31
  • • £8
    • £8
    • €10
    • €10
  • Disneyland Hotel
  • • £60
    • £40
    • €78
    • €52
  • • £4
    • £4
    • €5
    • €5

• Standard
• • Disney Hotels
  • • £27
    • £19
    • €35
    • €25
  • • £15
    • £15
    • €19
    • €19

• Plus
• • Disney Hotels
  • • £38
    • £25
    • €49
    • €33
  • • £8
    • £8
    • €10
    • €10

• Premium
• • Disney Hotels
  • • £62
    • £42
    • €81
    • €54
  • • £0
    • £0
    • €0
    • €0

Full Board

Full Board

This option gives you 1 Breakfast voucher and 2 Meal Plan vouchers per person, per night of your stay.

The breakfast voucher like above can only be used in your hotel restaurant.

Both your lunch and dinner are covered with these vouchers.  So all meals are covered on this plan

• Hotel Plans, the Dinner Voucher allows you to dine at the Buffet Service restaurant of your Disney Hotel only, drinks not included. The Lunch voucher can instead be exchanged at Counter Service restaurants in the Disney Parks for one full menu meal, including a drink, except for guests staying at Disneyland Hotel who can choose from a Buffet Service restaurant in the Disney Parks or Disney Village.
• For Standard Plans, allow a choice of Buffet Service restaurants for both lunch and dinner, with one soft drink included.
• For Plus Plans, allow a choice of Buffet Service restaurants or a set menu in Table Service restaurants for both lunch and dinner, with one soft drink included.
• For Premium Plans, allow a choice of Buffet Service restaurants, "à la carte" in Table Service restaurants, Character Dining or Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show dinner show for both lunch and dinner, with one soft drink included.

29th March 2017 to 20th March 2018

• Prices per person per night
  Prices apply to standard rooms only
• Additional supplement for Breakfast with Disney Characters

• • ADULT
  • CHILD
• • ADULT
  • CHILD

• Hotel
• • Disney's Davy Crockett Ranch
    Disney's Hotel Santa Fe
    Disney's Hotel Cheyenne
  • • £34
    • £23
    • €44
    • €30
  • • £15
    • £15
    • €19
    • €19
  • Disney Sequoia Lodge
    Disney's Newport Bay Club
    Disney's Hotel New York
  • • £45
    • £29
    • €59
    • €38
  • • £8
    • £8
    • €10
    • €10
  • Disneyland Hotel
  • • £80
    • £52
    • €104
    • €67
  • • £4
    • £4
    • €5
    • €5

• Standard
• • Disney Hotels
  • • £42
    • £28
    • €54
    • €36
  • • £15
    • £15
    • €19
    • €19

• Plus
• • Disney Hotels
  • • £53
    • £34
    • €69
    • €44
  • • £8
    • £8
    • €10
    • €10

• Premium
• Disney Hotels
• • £88
  • £56
  • €114
  • €73

The Meal Plan we decided on was half board standard and cost us €360 for 2 adults and 2 children (because dylan in under 2 he dines free).

F.Y.I you can pre book tables for lunch and dinner anywhere between 60 days of your arrival date.  This is highly advised if you are travelling at peak times.

That is basically it once you have decided how your getting there, where your staying and if you have a meal plan thats the main bulk of your planning done.

Now there are extras that you can add to your package before arriving but these things are not necessary infact you can get them over there if you wish and that is extras like a photo pass and having special experiences like character dining and Buffalo Bills Wild West Show. 

A Photopass costs €49.99 and upon arrival you will receive a special photo pass lanyard card plus 2 other mini cards.  This is a great option for group parties you could split the cost and divide out the key cards.  All photos stored on the cards will go to the one Photopass account.

How does it work I here you ask?  All you do when you see a photographer in the park which will normally be at character meets and they will scan you picture onto the card its literally that easy the same goes for all ride photos too, they scan straight onto card.  

This is not an option we choose this time however I can definitely see the benefits of having one.  

I really hope you found this post helpful when it comes to the planning of your Disneyland Paris trip.  I hope to create a whole Disney series on the blog and let you guys in on all the secrets.  I am a firm believer that Disney can be done on any budget.  Unless you are in serious debt in which I strongly advise you sort that first whether it takes a year or more trust me once you become debt free planning trips like these will be an absolute breeze and don't worry about the kids missing out, Disneyland isn't going anywhere and the best part about this place?  It can be enjoyed at any age!!!!!

Until next time,

Lisa.

x

You will also find me on the here...
My Facebook Page
My Pinterest

My Instagram Page
My Twitter

My Email

SnapChat : CuddleNContour