Trip Planning Help

[Daydreamingcreative]

Hi there, I'm new to the board and considering planning a solo trip to DLP next year (either March or January) I'd like some advice and insight if possible.
My main plan would be most of my days in the parks with a couple of days going into Paris. I am considering staying in one of the DLP hotels, would this be a good idea given I'd be going into Paris? It makes it more expensive with the extra nights but I didn't really want to move accommodation half way through my stay. I've stayed in Santa Fe before and wouldn't really want to stay there again. (I've only been once before with a friend more than 5 years ago.)

I'm looking at either January or March next year, would anyone recommend one or the other? I know March is likely to be busier crowd wise but I'm a little worried about the potential minus temps in January, which I know could happen in March too but more likely in Jan. The March dates I'm looking at would be the week before Easter hols in the UK (but the Friday falls on Good Friday so schools will be off from the Thurs. - I was considering a Monday to Saturday trip as I'd be getting the train from my city, Eurostar and change in Lille all on the first and last day so thought an extra night might help in having more actual holiday time.

Would a meal plan be worth it if I did stay on site? I'd definitely want breakfast I think because that just makes sense to me.

Any advice and tips for solo trips appreciated as it's the first time solo and I've not been since the 25th Anniversary year so all the Marvel side is new and we didn't do the Star Wars bit when I was there before either. I've seen mixed reviews about DLP, really enjoyed it when I went with my friend before but I know prices have gone up etc, I'd love to try WDW one day but it'd be a 5-6 year saving for that whereas I could do DLP next year, so any tips to maximise enjoyment on my own would be great.

 

[Louise97]

We did a split stay with a hotel in Paris when we went into the city just because it worked out much cheaper than staying at DLP, it was easy enough to take luggage on the train. If you want to stay at DLP, it might be worth pricing up the room-only rates (e.g. on Expedia or similar hotel booking sites) because the DLP package includes park tickets for each day.

I haven't done January or March, but March will have more daylight hours so I might prioritise that if the prices are similar. The price estimate calendar on the DLP site will let you see the difference in cost:
https://www.disneylandparis.com/en-gb/price-estimate-calendar-disneyland-paris/

I'm not a huge fan of the meal plans because I prefer to get into the parks early rather than eating breakfast at the hotel, and the pricing didn't work out much different for us. You can see the meal plan menus for the table service restaurants on the site so you can compare to the cost of the plan. We packed cereal bars for breakfast on the go, grabbed a snack mid-morning, and booked late lunches so we'd be eating while lines were at their longest.

My biggest tip is that wait times are significantly lower first thing in the morning. On our last trip we did the headliners first thing and knocked off a few rides before the lines built up. Keep an eye on the app before your trip to get a feel for the wait times - we only paid for Premier Access for Web Slingers because we hadn't done it before but didn't need it for other rides because we'd done them while it was quieter.

 

[Karin1984]

Weatherwise it's always going to be a gamble in these months. You can know for sure January will be cold with possible rain (and sometimes snow), March chances of rain are higher. Pros and cons to both, depends where you are coming from.

How do you want to divide your days , how many in Paris, how many in DLP? Weekday s

I hardly do a meal plan because it's usually not a money saver for me. Really do the math and look into what works for you. Are you a big eater? That's also something to take into consideration. If you only need a muffin for breakfast, then a mealplan is not going to make sense.

For 2024:
Christmas break end on 7 January
Part of the country has a break the first week of March
29MAR-1APR is a holiday weekend.