Stay for 2 weeks - crazy?

exchanger

Earning My Ears
Joined
May 22, 2020
I can get accommodations at the Marriott's Village d'ile-de-France for very cheap. I have toyed with the idea of buying an AP, and alternating days between the parks and cultural activities. Is that too long of a time? I know that we could probably do most of what there is to offer in the parks in 3 days, but our family kind of enjoys "slow" vacations where we can mix things up.

Any thoughts?
 
I would say a relaxed visit at Disneyland Paris needs 3-4 days, depending on the season.
Before I got my AP, about 10 years ago, I did a 5 day visit and 5 days in a row was too much for me. So alternating days would definitely be good, and yes get an AP.
I'm not sure about transportation, I think your best option is to rent a car. Also because there is plenty of beautiful countrysides, little villages etc. outside of Paris.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I'm guessing we probably wouldn't go for 18+ months, but it's something to dream about. Ever since our 6 year old watched the imagineering documentary on Disney+, she's been asking to go to DLP.
 
I agree with Karin that around 3-4 days would be a good amount of time to do everything in the parks at a relaxed pace. Last summer we went and stayed at the Villages Nature Paris which is a Centre Parcs owned place with a €2 shuttle bus (10 mins) to DLP - we could easily have spent 3 days just in the accommodation as there is a huge pool with 6 or 7 water slides, a bowling alley, restaurants, bars, Virtual Reality, bikes to hire, nature walks, a farm, horse riding.. As with anything Centre Parcs, it can get expensive, but could be worth considering if you wanted a relaxed trip with different activities each day.
 


I think it depends on what you consider the cultural activities. If you want to go to Paris every other day, it'll drive you crazy, it's not as close as the name suggests, but close enough for 2 day trips in a row or 3 or 4 in two weeks. If you do what Karin suggest and rent a car and go to some villages, it's an amazing idea! The nice thing about the AP is, it'll be cheaper by day 4 and you can choose to just go to the fireworks one day, or do a ride (or the extra magic time! (depending on the AP)) and then do you cultural activity
 
I've never been much of a city person, so I think I'd see all that I wanted to see in Paris in a few days (spread out over the two weeks). I think I would enjoy going to different villages, and I really like the idea of doing fireworks at night and since we'd be getting AP's we wouldn't have to feel like we needed to "get our money's worth".

So it does sound like something like this could work. Now to figure out when...
 
We were supposed to be at that Marriott (check in today actually) and we were going to be 2 weeks in France (1 week at the Marriott, 3 days at DLP and the rest at an AirBnB in Paris. Postponed til next year. From all the research the past 4 years (was supposed to be a graduation trip) 2 weeks sounds about right-we'd planned on a car for our week at the condo and exploring, then being able to "live" in Paris and see the sights...Hoping next year happens. There is a good trip report by Leslie Wake that was pretty good in helping plan
https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...e-18-completed-4-22-ride-comparisons.3693499/
Have fun dreaming and planning!
 


We were supposed to be at that Marriott (check in today actually) and we were going to be 2 weeks in France (1 week at the Marriott, 3 days at DLP and the rest at an AirBnB in Paris. Postponed til next year. From all the research the past 4 years (was supposed to be a graduation trip) 2 weeks sounds about right-we'd planned on a car for our week at the condo and exploring, then being able to "live" in Paris and see the sights...Hoping next year happens. There is a good trip report by Leslie Wake that was pretty good in helping plan
https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...e-18-completed-4-22-ride-comparisons.3693499/
Have fun dreaming and planning!
So sorry about missing out on your trip, and thanks for the advice. Hopefully, you can do everything next year!
 
I would go for 2 weeks in a heartbeat! That way you can take your time and Disney and hop the Eurostar and visit other close by countries! We took a backpack and filled it with just enough to do a couple of days in London and left our stuff in our hotel in Paris. Next time we'll probably spend a day or two in Germany and Belgium. Why not?
 
I would go for 2 weeks in a heartbeat! That way you can take your time and Disney and hop the Eurostar and visit other close by countries! We took a backpack and filled it with just enough to do a couple of days in London and left our stuff in our hotel in Paris. Next time we'll probably spend a day or two in Germany and Belgium. Why not?
The Eurostar only goes to London, to visit other countries you'll need the Thalys or TGV or ICE
 
The Eurostar only goes to London, to visit other countries you'll need the Thalys or TGV or ICE
Oh wow. All of the trains leave from Gare du Nord though right? or the other Gare du l'est or lyon? I guess I just thought it was all one thing. I haven't tried the other countries yet, just London.
 
Oh wow. All of the trains leave from Gare du Nord though right? or the other Gare du l'est or lyon? I guess I just thought it was all one thing. I haven't tried the other countries yet, just London.
No need to go to Gare du Nord, Thalys, TGV and Eurostar all leave from Marne la Vallee also
 
We did an 8 day trip and stayed in an apartment one stop away from DLP. We did what you are suggesting and got annual passes. At the time my kids were toddlers (twins just under two at the time) so I wanted to be able to leave and go back if I wanted. They did well sleeping in the stroller so we never needed to go back, but I had the option.

I live in California so everything takes 30 minutes so the commute into the city didn't bother me, just don't miss the last train because it would be an expensive taxi if you miss it. Non-Disney hotels/apartments in the DLP area were a lot cheaper than the city. Versailles was difficult to get to, but other than that most things we could get to easily with public transport. You do not want your car in the city. Like the other poster suggested, if you want to explore other areas outside the city get a car.

I assume you have not been to Paris before, but you could easily spend 12 years in Paris and not see it all. Your plan to mix it up is a good one.
 
We did an 8 day trip and stayed in an apartment one stop away from DLP. We did what you are suggesting and got annual passes. At the time my kids were toddlers (twins just under two at the time) so I wanted to be able to leave and go back if I wanted. They did well sleeping in the stroller so we never needed to go back, but I had the option.

I live in California so everything takes 30 minutes so the commute into the city didn't bother me, just don't miss the last train because it would be an expensive taxi if you miss it. Non-Disney hotels/apartments in the DLP area were a lot cheaper than the city. Versailles was difficult to get to, but other than that most things we could get to easily with public transport. You do not want your car in the city. Like the other poster suggested, if you want to explore other areas outside the city get a car.

I assume you have not been to Paris before, but you could easily spend 12 years in Paris and not see it all. Your plan to mix it up is a good one.
Thanks SO much! We have twin 2 year old boys right now and I'm guessing we won't go for another 12-24 months, so it's good to hear that someone else successfully did something like this with even younger boys.
 
Mine are actually a boy and a girl, but the principal is the same. At 3 and 4 you will probably still want a stroller because of the amount of walking. A lot of people will say they can wallk, but that is because they only have one! If you do a single umbrella like stroller, (to make it easier on public tranport) and have them take turns, it really made a difference.

We had to deal with a drastic time change so them having a place to sleep made my life easier. Many of the train stations didn't have an elevator so our bulky stroller wasn't easy on public tranport, though the Disney train and one stop away from Disney train did have elevators. If you do the car, you won't need the stroller and depending on the annual pass, they have stroller perks/discounts.I believe at four they need public transport cards of their own so look into the pass because it is only an hour 25 euro a week Monday to Sunday (less I think for kids). If you get the car, check for parking which isn't always included.
 
Last edited:
I pop over to Paris now and then as it's only just 3 hours from my front door. But it's good if you mix it up. I normally go for sports (it's the same price to go to a ENGLAND rugby game for a long weekend in Paris as it is for a day trip to Twickenham!)

If your using public transport I could not recommend citymapper enough as it works out the price and tells you in easy step by step instructions. One thing I'd always check on are strikes. The French are always on strike especially at weekends. So if they are make it a Disney day if that's closest as getting across Paris in a strike is not cheap or easy. (The app will help you).

Also check if you need to buy a public transport weekly ticket again. It's a bit backwards in Paris as alot of the options run Monday to Monday so if you buy the pass on a Sunday you have to buy a new weekly one the next day!!
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top