#DisneyDisney
In November 2018 we decided to try and ‘do Paris on the cheap’.
We opted to take advantage of a deal – Disney Paris for 3 nights via Bus. Yup – Bus. That’s a 13 hour ride there and another 13 hours back both via the Euro Tunnel crossing. We then also found out we were pregnant a few weeks before we travelled. Needless to say it was definately going to be a cheap holiday.
The bus pick up was 6 am. We left the house at 5:20am. The journey was stress free and we could not fault the staff at all for the attention to detail and just the general customer service. Time flew by and it was a novelty getting to be a in a big bus going into the tin can tunnel trains that transport you over to France under the water (even if you are absolutely petrified of water).
We arrived in Disney Paris just after 7pm local time. It was dark but bright still due to the lights emanating from all the hotels and the parks. The neon tube lighting of our hotel, the Christmas tree and the general feeling of excitement when you arrive at Disney – it’s something else. It’s like a warm fuzzy feeling you get from your first morning coffee – but better! We stayed at the Hotel Santa Fe. Mainly due to the traffic cone style lights in the room.
The hotel was a bit outdated, however the reviews of all the hotels in Disney Paris said the same. The parks hotels need some modernisation. It appears as thought they will get it as well with plans to refurbish the Hotel New York into a Modern Marvel themed wonder land.
After we unpacked and found the onsite Starbucks (obviously) we got the shuttle bus into the Disney Village as we were starving. It was a quick 7 minute trip meaning we didn’t feel out of the way of the parks. At night, the place is just as magical (if not more) than it is during the day. As we had chosen to go reasonably close to christmas, we got to take advantage of all the christmas decorations as well as the remainder of the Bonfire celebrations. The village was amazing! Market stalls like a christmas village with snacks including churros, donuts, and mulled wine. Everything was disney themed where possible. I even got a photo of a Jack Skeleton candy apple. It was just truly amazing.
We found the sports bar offered the cheapest meal / snack within the village so we ate there. Rated it 3/10. It wasn’t great but I had also heard that about Disney Paris – the food on offer lets the place down.
The next morning we wanted to venture into the Parks early doors and make the most of the extra ‘magic hour’ you get when staying at a Disney Hotel on site. We were up with the crowds for breakfast. As far as breakfast goes it was 5/10. Usual continental offerings when it’s a giant buffet breakfast and I would not like to visit the parks during peak capacity. We went at a reasonably quiet time of year. I would hate to think what summer would be like.
The parks themselves were amazing, but I couldn’t actually ‘ride’ many of the attractions. Even if you are unable to ride, there is still alot to see and alot to do within the parks. Alot of steps were made by us both and we loved every minute. The Walt Disney Studios side of Disney Paris had more non-ride based attractions. That included a look at how the illustrators create the Disney Characters and a chance to take a drawing class!
At the other side of the parks is ‘Disneyland’ itself which is located at the end of alot of shops and merchandise! Worth it though to get to the other side and be greeted by Sleeping Beauty’s castle in all it’s glory! Inside the castle you can explore upstairs and marvel at the stain glass windows, or venture underneath the find the Dragon’s lair.
Once inside the various ‘lands’ of Disneyland – the rides we did manage to enjoy included It’s a Small World, Buzz Lightyears Astro Blasters and the Thunder Mesa Riverboat. We explored the Alice in Wonderland Labrynth maze, found our bearings around each area of the park and enjoyed several disney themed snacks.
On the Tuesday we decided to venture to Paris city centre. As far as experiences go it was one that both of us will never forget. In this country, when trains make a noise before the doors close you generally have a small amount of time to sprint into the train – without fear of being trapped by the doors in question. Turns out in France – that’s a no. You do not have enough time to sprint on the train and the doors will not stop but instead will start to crush you while the glass safety secondary doors on the platform – slam shut. Thus seperating you (pregnant) from your husand who looks like he is about to smash the glass barriers and get arrested in order to free his wife he thinks is about to be crushed to death by train doors. Luckily – they opened. Luckily.
The museum of choice on that fateful day was the Louvré. Turns out – on tuesdays the Louvré is shut. Never mind. Maybe next time. We walked from the Louvré down the Champes Élysées for a while, admiring the park in all it’s glory. The statues, the OAP’s enjoying what looked like a blend of Yoga and Karate and everything in between. We ventured outwith about half way down into the designer district so I could take a venutre into Jimmy Choo and drool at the window of Chanel. From there, we utilised google maps to try find a stockist for my charm bracelet. Over an hour later we found it!
Onwards and upwards, we found the nearest subway (wasn’t easy) and got on for the Eiffel Tower! Yeay. You can’t go to Paris and not go to the Eiffel tower… or so I have heard. Well remember how we went to Berlin and the Brandeburg gate was cordoned off, and oh when Mark went to Rome the Trevi Fountain was drained for maintenance? Well we went all the way to Paris for the Eiffel and the iconic park where everyone gets their photo taken – It was cordoned off. Standard. So no Museum, no Tower photo.
The tower was amazing. The let down was all the men outside trying to sell trinkets that acoste you on the way in and out. If I wanted cheap tat mate I would have gone to B&M for the weekend, not Paris.
We chose not to go up the tower, as one lift was down (for maintenance) and the queue for the other was immense. I wasn’t prepared to walk up it pregnant, it was simply a no. If mark hadn’t knocked me up then we would have walked it, with about 20 stops for his lordship and his inhaler of course.
These little niggles in no way hampered our enjoyment – don’t mistake my generally high level of sarcasm and witt as hating the whole trip. Despite the no ‘instaphoto’ that EVERYONE else has or not going up the tower, to even get to Paris and see Paris including the designer shops. It was all enough for me. I didn’t need anything else. You can’t have everything in life. Not that it wouldn’t be lovely to experience going up and having champagne, or going up and having a meal at the restaurant. Or just going up full stop. It was still something we reflect on now and feel grateful for the experience we had. It’s important to remember that everyone’s experiences in life are different.
We saw the Arc de Triumphe (from across the roundabout of death) and happened upon a lovely local restaurant. We paid €32 for 3 pints of coke and 2 pasta dishes. We loved it. Food was lush. Actually for the price, the food was amazing. Service was super. Don’t buy fizzy drinks in Paris FYI – namely Coca Cola or any variant thereof. If you want to buy a pint of coke when your eating then remortgage before going to Paris.
We got the train back to Disney (which was ridiculously easy once you got the hang of it) and headed back to the hotel to reflect on a day of experiences including near death.
Day 2 in Paris complete. We decided to venture out for the second time that night to see the fireworks at the Castle. The extravaganza! Disney Illuminations. We never caught the ones at the ‘other park’. The Illuminations (sponsored by Pandora but good luck finding the shop in the parks) just beat everything else hands down we didn’t even need to check that fact. We knew it to be true.
The first bit of advice after this trip is as follows – do not take a holiday when you are in throws of first trimester nausea, and definately not one that takes 13 hours to get to your destination. If we hadn’t have been so busy with the house as we moved in 5 months earlier – we would have simply cancelled.
Things we weren’t expecting at Disney included the distinct lack of diversity when it came to a decent meal. I was expecting to at least grab something satisfying. Having eaten at the Rainforest Cafe in Vegas I was excited. Then we ate at the one in the Disney Village and it was a total let down. Planet Hollywood was somewhat unmemorable as well even though I can’t fault the staff for properly cooking my red meat having been told I was pregnant. It was just something else that let it down so slightly. Both myself and Mark have been to Florida and done the whole American parks thing. Maybe we just preferred the sheer size of Florida or maybe it was that we felt let down by the volume of souvenir / Disney merch shops at every meter of the park. It was still however an amazing trip and Disney truly is where dreams are made. We would go back without a shadow of a doubt but we would stay in a revamped hotel and be prepared as far as the food goes. It would also be a trip for children rather than just for us.
Would we go back? To Paris- no. To Disney? Yes.
Links:
Travel Company: https://www.siestaholidays.co.uk/
Events Company: Margaret Rose Events – Jane Morland.
Things To See – The Free Stuff we did:
- All the decorations in the hotel (Christmas).
- All the decorations in the parks: There are little things you might miss if you aren’t looking. You have to keep an eye out!
- Captain Nemo’s Boat: This was less of a ride and more of a ‘walk through’ experience. Still good!
- Stunt Show: Good for both kids and adults! Watch the car stunts and there’s a sneaky surprise at the end as well!
- Walking – so much walking: Explore the parks properly. Have a wander around for a day, and take it all in. The attention to detail is as expected with Disney parks – high.
- Everything: Once you have your pass – everything in the park is free except souvenirs and food. So do as much as you can.
- The Arc: The Arc de Triumphe is free to see. Personally it was far too busy for us and we just could not be bothered with the hassle for a sake of a photo, but that’s who we are. We went, we saw, we conquered!
The Money Bit:
- Bus and Hotel: £385pp
- Spends: We took just under 700 Euro total between us. We had 3 days there and did not see it as a requirement to take a fortune. This sticks to our usual £100pp per day roughyl give or take a few extras.
- Food: As mentioned many times before on this page, once they have you – they have you. When you are in the parks the food is a premium and don’t expect quality. We have heard that for families – it is more cost effective to actually buy the ‘meal plan’ where you are covered for certain meals at certain restaurants. I would whole heartedly say to do this if you have children. We struggled to find cheap eats that we were happy with and therefore having the meal plan would be hugely beneficial.
- Tipping: Not required as far as we were concerned this time around. The one time we did tip was when we had a lovely meal in Paris city centre round the corner from the Arc. Although a small restaurant the food and service was exceptional.
- The Unforeseen: If you have a credit card – take it. In case of emergency ONLY. Ours stayed in the safe for all of our trip the same as other trips. However – had the near death experience on the train turned out any differently then it would have been required to get the hell home the way I was feeling after it.
Things To See – Paid For:
- Paris: Not a bad way to spend a day if you have booked at Disney for a few days. the train was reasonably priced and quite easy to navigate once you knew where you were going and how the system worked.
- The Eiffel Tower: This comes at a cost to go up the actual tower. Costs increase depending on the experience you want to have as well. You can have champagne at the top or even book the restaurant.
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