I have been reading all of the information on this site and others about the Paris Museum Pass and the Carte Orange pass for the Metro and I have a question on what is the most economical, time saving, and interesting way to procede with our Paris plans.
We are a family of 4 (2 adults, and two teens ages 18 and 14) We will arrive in Paris Monday March 19 and will leave on Monday March 26. In addition to wandering the neighborhoods of Paris, I would like to plan a day trip to Versailles and a day trip to Disney.
If I understand correctly, I should buy all four of us a Carte Orange zones 1 and 2 for a week upon arrival. We would then purchase the Forfait Loisirs Chateau de Versaillies and a train ticket (and entrance tickets) to Disney seperately (rather than a Carte Orange that includes zones 5 and 6 and use the Museum Pass for entrance to Versailles).
The museum pass is a little more tricky. My 14 year old is definately free at all of the museums and monuments we plan to visit. The moral question is my 18 year old (who looks much younger). To buy her a discounted student ticket at each venue would defeat the time saving benefit of the museum pass. I will probably just buy her an adult museum pass also. If the ticket guards don't check Passports or id's then she would pass for a child. But I don't want to cause any issues.
I am very confused as I sit down now to work out an itinerary and plan our days so that I know which museum pass to buy and when.
Any input is greatly appreciated.

You don't say how you're getting to Paris, but if you're flying into CDG, a 5-zone <i>Carte Orange</i> would be a good investment, because it will get you in from the airport, to Disney and back, to Versailles and back, plus the usual around-town transport. The Disney trip alone will get you to break-even.

Use the Museum Pass for Versailles (the <i>Forfait</i> includes transport, which in your case is redundant).

If I had a young-looking 18yo, I would buy him/her a pass regardless.

So you can afford a trip to Paris and Disneyland, but think it is okay to try to cheat public institutions like museums that you are going there to enjoy? How nice, that's a good lesson for your children to see and emulate. But I guess that is your family values, you think it's okay to do that if you can get away with it. Do you feel no responsibility to help support museums and public artwork? Do you not think an adult should show some character as to what is proper, rather than what is selfish and cheapest for them?

I'm sure you appreciate my input, you said any -- but I am just really tired of adults showing no sense of ethics or doing what is right, even in minor issues.

So if you have no values or conscience, fine, in practicality, I don't think they do this by eyesight, and there isn't such a thing as a &quot;student ticket&quot; at most museums, anyway. People under a certain age are usually allowed in free, and that age is set by the museum. It is not because they are a student.

Versailles and Disney don't require zones 5/6. I think you are off one zone on each as Versailles is in 4 and Disney in 5. They have those special combination train/entrance tickets to Disney, also.

are you sure the under 26 or 18 admission policies are offered for non EU residents. Just returned from Paris and bought a museum pass for myself and seem to have noticed in fine print something about reductions being available only to EU residents. Not at all sure about this but if so it would change your calculations greatly.

I'd recommend getting the 18yr old an adult pass just because it would be terribly embarrassing if they asked for proof of age.

The Museum Pass is not all that tricky; just choose the number of days you want. It is now offered as 2- 4-, or 6 consecutive days.

http://www.parismuseumpass.fr/flash/hp_en.html

The 4-day pass is probably most cost-effective , considering the other things you will be doing. We found that being able to bypass the ticket lines was a significant advantage at the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay, but I don't know about other areas.

If they don't offer a discounted pass for youths 18 to 25, buy your 18 year old an adult pass. Do not try to cheat.

Under 18 yo get free admission in most Paris museums by showing a...passport (or an ID card for EU citizens), most students discounts have been discontinued because there were too many cheaters - only the age based dicounts remain and - as mentionned before- the young person has to show a valid ID (there are no restrictions tied to citizenship)

When my husband and I take our 17-year-old son to Paris and then to Germany in March/April of this year, we will have a different dilemma: He will still be 17 years old (will turn 18 in May), but he DEFINITELY looks much older, and could probably pass for mid-twenties. We will be sure to have his passport with us all the time, because otherwise, I don't think people would believe us that he's 17.

A couple of years ago, when he was 15, we were returning from a Caribbean destination, and at customs they almost didn't let him through. He didn't have a passport then (wasn't required for him yet), and we were all repeatedly questioned about his age. (On this same trip, the flight attendant questioned whether our daughter was old enough to sit in the exit row -- she was almost 21, and the minimum age is 15! She was a little insulted, but I told her some day she would love it.)

Thank you ALL for your prompt replies.

Robespierre: I had planned on a taxi from the CDG, but will take your advice on the 5 zone Carte Orange. If we use that to get to Versailles, can we rent an audio tour seperately (like the one included in the Forfait Loisirs)?

For all the very valid and convincing reasons mentioned, we will buy three museum passes.

Christina: I did not mean to be offensive and I appolgize if my question was rude. Despite attempts to economize so that this trip would be possible, the cost of a trip for a family of four can be staggering. I truly hadn't thought of my question being a selfish criminal activity. As a general rule we do support museums and performing arts venues. Age cut offs are very arbitrary and when a person is 17 they don't use a museum visit any differently than when they are 18. I appreciate that you consider this lacking in values and moral conscience.And I do appreciate that you took the time to offer your input. As I said, I did not mean to offend. Also as I mentioned above and in my original post, our inclination was to buy the additional pass.

Christina what's your take on foreigners buying the Carte Orange transit pass even though it's clearly inteneded for locals only (and after this March supposedly will only be sold to residents of the area covered? I believe once before you said it was OK to buy but perhaps i'm mistaken.

I'm not Christina, but my daughter and I bought Carte Orange passes two weeks ago (using the pictures we took in the photo kiosks) and all went very easily and well. So Carte Orange passes are still being sold to tourists.

I'm not Christina, either - but on the en.parisinfo.com site, it says this (in English):

<i>Carte Orange
A weekly or monthly pass valid for zones 1 &amp; 2, 1 to 3, 1 to 4, 1 to 5, 1 to 6, 1 to 7 or 1 to 8. This card is non-transferable and you should affix a passport-sized photo to it and place it and the travel coupon into the cover provided. Don’t forget to copy the card number on to the travel coupon.

Weekly pass (“carte hebdomadaire”)
Valid from Monday through to Sunday only, it can be purchased until Wednesday for the current week and from Friday onwards for the following week.

Monthly pass (“carte mensuelle”)
Valid for a calendar month, it can be purchased from the 20th of the preceding month and up to 19th of the current month.</i>

It doesn't explain this very well, but the weekly and monthly &quot;passes&quot; are actually like M&eacute;tro tickets that are valid for the week or month you specify, and operate the turnstiles. The <i>Carte Orange</i> itself is just an ID card designed to prevent more than one person from using a ticket. That's why you are required to write the CO number on your ticket.