honestly a split stay is better. Stay in Paris for all the Paris stuff, stay at Disney for going to the parks.
When you stay off site you are at an immediate disadvantage regarding wait times. General public opening is at 10am BUT onsite hotel park guests will be in the park since 8.30am.
It is approx 1 hour travel time from central Paris.People start waiting in line for general opening around 9.15am. It will take about 10 minutes to get from the train platform to the security line. So in reality you are looking at leaving central Paris around 8am for a 10 am park opening time.
Then in the evening, in August
Disneyland Paris will close at 11pm. The main fireworks and animation show projected onto the Castle will start at 11pm. This is because it does not get dark until that time in Paris in the summer. The show is approx 20 minutes long and it can take a good 30 minutes to exit the park after the show.
You will need to check the train times back into Paris. These trains are very crowded and again it will take you approx 1 hour to get back to your hotel.
There are 6 onsite hotel, the budget ones are Santa Fe and Cheyenne. All are walk-able to the parks and also have free shuttle busses. All onsite hotels have access to the early opening.
There are 6 partner hotels, located at the edge of Disney property. These do not have access to early oping and are not walk-able to the parks
some things you need to know about Disneyland Paris which are different to the American Parks
- You dont have to book using the website for your country. Disneyland Paris has different deals and offers on the different country websites. Most of us regulars would advise AGAINST booking with the American site as it is by far the most expensive
- The other country websites to check are
- http://www.disneylandparis.ie/
http://www.disneylandparis.co.uk
http://www.disneylandparis.fr
http://www.disneylandparis.de
http://www.disneylandparis.it
http://www.disneylandparis.be
http://www.disneylandparis.nl
- Disneyland Paris does not mail anything in the post. You get a confirmation email which you bring with you to checkin
- When you book direct with Disneyland Paris you are booking a hotel and park hopper tickets package
- Your park tickets are valid for both arrival day and departure day
- You can book direct with Disney through any of the websites. When you book through the website you will pay the full amount at the time of booking
- You can also book direct with Disney by phone. To call Disneyland Paris and not have to pay the international phone charges, just call the regular phone number for Walt Disney World in Florida and ask to be transferred to Disneyland Paris.
- When you book direct with Disney by phone you pay a 15% deposit and the balance is payable 30 or 60 days before arrivial, I cant remember which
- When you have booked you will get a confirmation email with your itinerary, you will need this email to check in
- Once you have your confirmation number you need to go to the website / country you booked with, not the country you live in. You will need to create a new MY DISNEY ACCOUNT on that website
- When you log in to your new My Disney Account you will see your itinerary. If you have a balance to pay you will see an online payment form.
- To pay your balance you can either phone again or pay online