Doing Disneyland Paris on a Budget Part 1 – Transport, Accommodation & Tickets

Almost two years ago I did a post about doing Walt Disney World and Orlando on a budget. Although I have been lucky enough to do Florida 4 times in less than two years, I won’t be back this year no matter how much I budget. Instead we’re settling on multiple trips to Disneyland Paris and a few trips to London, all this roughly comes to the price of our very first trip to Florida back in April 2015. In the past two years prices have increased due to the unstable economy and just general inflation making it harder for me to afford it as a single parent without giving myself a good year and a half to save, which is what I’m currently doing. I know when we get back our friends will be waiting for us and we’ll have a magical time. But for now, we’re going to enjoy the 25th Anniversary celebrations at Disneyland Paris to it’s absolute fullest while sticking to a tight budget.

You can go all out, spend loads of money for a top end hotel but then it will probably end up being a once a year trip. That doesn’t work for us, we’d rather spend as little and go multiple times a year and make our own magic, and that is what this post is about. This is a post about how to get the most bang for your buck at Disneyland Paris and still have a magical time.

Transport
There are four main ways to get to Disneyland Paris (however personally I only have experience with two) Eurostar, flying, driving or bus. I can’t drive but I know a lot of people say it is the cheapest way to do it especially if you want to stay on site or are a larger family as Davy Crockett Ranch is the cheapest of the Disney accomodation but you must have a car. They also cater to larger families without the need of a family room or adjoining rooms. Since I cannot drive this has never been an option for me. If you do drive you can use Tesco Club Card Points to pay for the tunnel which reduces cost. Another cheap way to do it is a bus tour. You can do one day, where you don’t stay over night but sleep on the bus, or you can do multiple days where hotel price is included in the tour. Again at the moment i’ve never done it as Little Miss is just too young right now, however my best friend has and you can read about her experience here.

Now onto the two I have done.

First up, Eurorstar. The most expensive but more convenient way (isn’t that how it always is?) is direct from England to Disneyland Paris. For me the extra money could be spent else where and since I’ve changed twice flying to Orlando, changing a train doesn’t phase me at all. The first time we went via Eurostar we went to Paris Gare Du Nord and took the metro and then the RER. I think for an adult it was about £60 return on the Eurostar (at the time Little Miss was free due to her age), then about 15e each way from Gare du Nord to Disneyland Paris. I did find navigating the train stations a little complicated but I’m sure that’s because I had a buggy and a 3 year old in tow. It took just over an hour from getting off the Eurostar to getting to the parks. I’d do it again if it worked out cheaper but I much prefer going via Lille which is the route we took last time.

Going via Lille cost is £125 return for both of us and that was the full price from Disneyland Paris to London St Pancras. You take the Eurostar to Lille then change to a TGV to DLP. I found the change very quick including getting through security on the way back. Loads of helpful staff around and even if your French is weak simply saying “Eurostar/Disneyland sil vous plait?” is enough to have someone point you in the right direction. I’ve paid more for Little Miss and I to travel around the UK than go from London to Disneyland Paris this way.

Next up, flying. Our nearest airport that offers budget flights is Edinburgh. The price can range from as little as £24.99 one way to £99.99 way (including taxes using hand luggage only). Easyjet is probably the cheapest airline there is to fly to Charles de Gaulle and it flies from most big airports. Usually the bigger the airport the cheaper the flight, I’ve seen prices from Luton as low as £9.99 one way! But please remember once you get to Paris you have to get to Disneyland and that’s where it can get expensive. For Little Miss and I it’s about 40e return now matter how early I book it.. and while that might seem cheap remember this is for a less than 10 minute journey. Ouch. For larger parties it might be better to take a pre-arranged transfer service like Prestige or by a bus service like Magical Shuttle. You need to work out which is cheaper for you and your party.

Over all when it comes to transport it’s best to look at all routes and way up which is the cheapest. It’s sometimes even cheaper to fly into CDG and out of the other Paris airport Orly. Set up alerts on Sky Scanner for the dates you’re looking for and you’ll get an email every time the price changes. For Little Miss and I the cheapest we’ve got it is less than £100 for flights and transfers from Edinburgh on Easyjet.. this was a week day flight, hand luggage only in February 2016. I recommend signing up to Easyjet’s website, Eurostar and the SNCF website as they often run sales and discounts and this is 100% the absolute best time to book.

Accommodation
Like with transport, I’m going to split this up. Firstly, how to get the cheapest deal with a package holiday.

So with a package holiday you get your hotel & your park tickets (and sometimes a dining plan depending on when you book). You can also book your transport as park of a package but 99% of the time this is way more expensive than booking separate. But you can often get a good deal on the accommodation side of things. Be flexible with your holiday dates. I know this isn’t always possible if you have school age children (believe me, I’m feeling the sting at the moment as Little Miss’ headmistress is incredibly difficult). But sounds out your kid’s school, some are more lenient with term time holidays and if this is the case, go then! Not only is it cheaper but the parks are much quieter! If you check the crowd forecast calendar you can see what is classed as peak and off peak. Play around with your dates, sometimes arriving a few days before or after the dates you’d picked out can save you hundreds of pounds! If you have an annual pass, you’ll know you can get between 30% and 60% off the standard hotel price, if you want the 60% off this will be more likely to happen during the Super Off Peak dates.

Prior to getting an Annual Pass I usually booked to go during term time (my daughter only just started school in September) and went on a package holiday as our passes would be included. I never had a dining plan. I used to book directly through Disney and call up so I could pay only the 15% deposit and pay the full balance 6 weeks before. As a single parent it made it so much easier to save having a set date I needed the money for. Term time was a good few hundred cheaper than school holidays. Rooms fit 4 people and the cost is per room so if possible try and fill the room! I’ve taken my mum on one trip, shared with a friend another and then two friends on another trip. Dividing the cost between people definitely takes the edge off! Check other package holiday websites not just the standard Disneyland Paris one, try the French and German sister websites. They get different offers and sometimes for the type of stay you’re looking at it works out cheaper. When you phone up you can request one of the offers on the other websites and they’ll honour it. Also check with Thomas Cook, Magic Breaks and the Walt Disney Travel Company as sometimes they work out cheaper than the main website. Don’t be afraid to ask for a price match.

Right, if you have an annual pass or are looking at getting an annual pass while there.. book one of the partner hotels. A lot of them are listed in the Disneyland Paris park brochure and on the main website under places to stay. As of yet I haven’t stayed in any, but every single one of our trips for the rest of 2017 we’re booked in to stay at a partner hotel. We have Kyriad in April, B&B Hotel in June, Hi Park in August and Vienna Magic Circus in October. I have booked all these through Hotels.com as they have the option of paying on arrival! This is amazing for me as I know exactly how much I need to have when I arrive to pay for our room and it gives me up until that day to save it. Not only that but staying off site is a 3rd of the price of staying on site and all the partner hotels offer a free shuttle service to the parks. For me the only perk of staying on site was Early Magic Hours but with an Annual Pass you get that anyway!

I understand that some people see a hotel as more than just a bed, and usually for a trip that is longer than a week that is the case for me, however we never go to Disneyland Paris for more than 4 nights meaning we want to be out the room morning until night. It seems such a waste to us to pay more than the bare minimum and with hotels.com, we can do this!

Tickets
So if you haven’t booked a package where your tickets are included you’ll need to buy them yourself, and they’re not cheap. If you’re planning multiple trips or you’re there for more than three days I cannot recommend an Annual Pass enough. There are rumours that the prices are going up so they’ll no longer be better value for money than buying tickets but for the time being, they are so get them while they’re priced low. I’ve blogged all about the benefits along with how to get one and pay by direct debit so I’ll not go into it too much here. But for 24e a month for both my pass and LM’s with a 47e each deposit, totally worth it.

However, if this is a one off trip or you’re only going for a couple of days definitely buy your park tickets before you go. Buying on the gate is the most expensive way to do it. Websites such as Attraction Tickets Direct & Attraction Tix often run offers which include money off the tickets themselves along with vouchers for restaurats in the village which will save you money if you aren’t on a dining plan (and if you’re buying your tickets separately there is a high chance you don’t have one!)

As this has ended up being almost 2000 words, I’m splitting it into two separate posts. Come back for a post on how to eat, shop and genuinely save money on your next Disneyland Paris trip!