Disneyland Paris
As always we travelled there on Eurostar from St.Pancras although this is now less convenient since it moved from Waterloo. The train left on time at 10:53am with an almost full compliment of excited children and stressed adults. After a couple of quick stops at Ashford and Lille we arrived at Disneyland at 13:31pm. As we only had 2 day passes and we were there for 3 days we decided not to go straight into the park and instead walk the short distance to the New York Hotel via the Disney Village area.
The New York Hotel is the second nearest to the park entrance and within 10 minutes we arrived at the hotel with its temporary ice rink outside. This is open during the winter months and usually closes at the end of March. Skates can be hired from a shop by the rink although we hardly saw anyone skating. At reception we were told that we could leave our luggage but that the rooms would not be ready until 3pm so we went for some lunch and a walk around the lake to see the other hotels.
Just after 3pm we went back to the hotel and our rooms were ready as promised. We had requested adjacent rooms as we travelled with friends and this was actioned. The rooms were of good size with two queen sized beds in each to accommodate 4 people. There was ample wardrobe space and a very small safe inside. There was also another set of drawers in a unit containing a TV.
After we had unpacked we decided to go for a swim in the hotel pool. Pool towels and the locker key were free. The pool is half indoors and half outdoors although the door connecting the two parts was closed as it was still cold outside in late March. The water was fairly cold in the main pool and most people had congregated in the much warmer Jacuzzi section.
The following morning we decided to make use of the extra 2 hours exclusive park time for hotel guests. We got down to the breakfast room just after 7am and enjoyed the buffet. There was a good selection of fruit, yoghurts, cereals, cold meats, cheeses, scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon, juices and pastries. The following morning we arrived around 9am and had to queue for nearly 30 minutes.
As for the parks themselves, they still look great! With a mixture of rides and attractions for both young and old. The addition of the Walt Disney Studios Park has now enhanced the experience and now makes a 2 night/3 day stay much more enjoyable. The Hollywood Tower Of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster add more thrills which I think were missing before. As we went mid-week the queuing times for the rides were very short, with the longest being Crush’s Coaster at around 30 minutes. However, a friend of mine went the next weekend and the queues had dramatically increased. The hotel receptionist told me that the park had around 17,000 people during the week and 42,000 over weekends.
One negative point I feel I should mention are the prices once you are there. Food is unbelievably expensive! We went to the Rainforest Café in Disney Village for a 40th birthday treat and a burger with French fries came to £20. This was the same in all the other restaurants, eateries and shops. For example a helium balloon was £7,a Magnum ice-cream was £3.30 and a cocktail in the hotel was £11. So be prepared, especially with the exchange rates being so bad.
Overall we had a great 2 night stay and the hotel was fine and the park was clean and enjoyable. I would recommend anyone thinking of coming to try to stay midweek to avoid the queues and be prepared for the high prices.