Thoughts on Disney Sponsored Excursions from DLP

[maconMouse]

Hi! I'm planning my first trip to France and Disneyland Paris for next year, and will be staying at the Sequoia Lodge for six nights. I just came across this Disneyland Paris website advertising different day & night excursions into Paris as well as the Seine-et-Marne region to see Provins or the Vaux-le-Vicomte Château. They all sound great. It mentions that English audio is also available which would be helpful to me.

http://entertainment.disneylandparis...rt/index.xhtml

I am particularly interested in more details on the day trip to Paris. I was wondering if you avoid waiting in lines. Also, I see that lunch is not provided, and was curious where exactly you stop for lunch and what options are available? Thanks for any advice or recommendations. This will be my very first trip to Paris.

[davewasbaloo]

This is an interesting dilemma. I have only been on the day trip to Paris with Disney. It wasn't bad value. We got on the bus at the Hotel New York at about 9:30. Had a bus tour of the main sites. Stopped at Notre Dame where you could visit the church, explore the area and grab some lunch. Then it was a cruise down the Seine followed by a trip up to the 1st deck of the Eiffel Tower with limited waiting. It hit most of the key sites, but does not hit the interior of the Louvre. We were back by about 5:30.

Overall not bad if your time is limited.

[ralfrick]

Since you're not going until next year, my advice is thus. Take a basic French class at your local community college, buy a good guide book, forget about bus tours, and spend at least half of you trip doing things that do not have the word Disney attached to them. Seriously, as spectacular as Le Chateau de la Belle au Bois Dormant is, it still looks like a wad of chewed up gum compared to Versaille.

A bientot.

[soundtracker]

Originally Posted by ralfrick

Since you're not going until next year, my advice is thus. Take a basic French class at your local community college, buy a good guide book, forget about bus tours, and spend at least half of you trip doing things that do not have the word Disney attached to them. Seriously, as spectacular as Le Chateau de la Belle au Bois Dormant is, it still looks like a wad of chewed up gum compared to Versaille.

A bientot.

Sound advice. The Disney day trips have the benefit of being hassle free, but they really don't show you anything beyond the main tourist sites, so you'll be missing out on the excitement and the flavour of one of the world's finest cities.

A good alternative is to hop on the RER (the suburban train line that runs from Disney into Paris) and hook up with a Paris Walks tour: www.paris-walks.com These guys really are great. The walking tours last two hours a piece, and each take in a particular area of the city, examining its history, its folklore, famous characters, etc. The tours are conducted in English (your group leader will either be British or American), and the groups are always fairly small. This is one of the best ways to see some really unusual, out of the way places, whilst getting to grips with the Parisian culture.

[mikeland]

We did the "on our own" trip to Paris from DLP as well. What you might want to think about doing is stay 4 or 5 nights at DLP and stay 1 or 2 nights in Paris itself. Paris is truly a spectacular city with so much to see and do.

[nbodyhome]

Fat Tires bike tours is terrific too. I have photos here that include the Versailles tour I took this past year, but we've done two other tours with them as well (Monets Gardens and the nighttime bike tour):

http://www.mousesteps.com/index.php?...d=38&Itemid=68

I would use them again! They also have Segway tours and walks.

[DLRP_bopazot]

Disney want you to stay longer in property by not staying in PARIS for the night .

So Disney organise with a sponsor Guided TOur to Paris .

But as said Mikeland it's a way cheaper and more convenient to use the RER A from Marne La Vallee Chessy to Paris for a 40min ride to Paris then using the 40Euros to Paris by Bus .