crazyfamilyof4

ooohhh thank you !!!! how hard is it to get there from the the Disneyland train station. We plan now on picking up a car from here and then we have a car to do site seeing in between our trips to Disney etc but the outlets sound very tempting.

any advice Tommie will be great!

TommieG

The trip form the trainstation(although I don't know exactly where the car rental pick up station is) to the hotel is very easy. Around the parks and surrounding villages is a kind of a ringway (Boulevard d'Europe, D344) with connecting roads either way. The hotel is on one of the connecting roads.
I guess it is an easy 10min drive from the train station to the hotel. Bailly-Romainvilliers (the village where the hotel is) is signposted very quickly, you can also follow 'Golf Disneyland Paris'.

There is also a direct (public) bus (number 34) to the hotel. From the hotel the bus goes to the Disneyland parks in one direction and the Val d'Europe mall (and RER station) in the other direction. If you have got a car, you can very easy park (for free) at the mall, and take the RER direction Paris (and/or Disney) from there. Park near the Conforama store and cross through the mall direction the RER station.

With regards to Disney; be there early, enjoy the parks a little, use Fastpasses whre you can, take a (midday)break at the hotel (great pool) and return later in the afternoon/evening for the daily parade (around 19u at the Disneyland park I believe) and the great nighttime show Dreams (at closure time of the Disneyland park, around 23u in the summer).

My 4 and 7yo really enjoy the parks. My 4yo this year was even big enough for Big Thunder Mountain (a mine roller coaster). Make sure you get some fastpasses for this, as lines can get very long in summer. Another favourite: Meet Mickey Mouse in Fantasyland and It's a small world, also in Fantasyland. Pirates of the Caribbean is also great.
Do you also have a daughter? If so, she will love the Meet the Princesses pavillion. be sure to 'reserve' ticket at certains times (clearly signposted) near the Old Mill in Fantasyland.

At Walt Disney Studios (less big and impressive as the Disneyland park, but still fun for the day) Animagique is a great show for young kids. All the Disney charcaters pass by in a blacklight show. Also Disney Playhouse Live on stage is great for younger kids. Cars ares also there, as is a Toy Story Playland.

In the Disneyland park there are also two normal playgrounds. One at the back of Frontierland and one in Adventureland near the Swiss Family Robinson Tree by the pirate boat.

For dinner, in the parks the food is okay'ish. Toad Hall (fish and chips) in Fantasyland is pretty good. The pizzas at Bella Notte are also decent. Hotdogs at Casey's Corner are good also.

Next to the park is Disney Village, a lot of Disney shops, bars and restaurants. Cafe Mickey is great (character dining), but make your reservations on time (+33160304050), meaning before you arrive! Planet Hollywood also was good in my opinion. Annette's (a 50's diner) has great burgers. Cheaper option is McD.

In the central part of the mall (between the regular mall and the outlet mall) are also some restaurants. Nothing great, but decent food for a decent price.

The villages directly surrounding Disney aren't that beautiful, they are almost all newly build since the opening of Disney in 1992.

For a day trip (about 1hr north from Disneyland) Chateau Pierrefonds is great.

crazyfamilyof4

oh wow thank you so much for this Great info and all advice is taken!

NicolettaLuciana

following

harriet_hughes

Re: your problem with losing the phone and pictures, etc. Maybe too late for this trip but if you set up a Dropbox account on the web all your pictures are saved in the cloud so if your phone is lost you will still have your pictures. Plus you can delete them from the phone and you'll have more battery capacity. Nothing like running out of juice just when a great photo op arises. Also, it's very easy to organize your pictures into albums and share them via email, Facebook, etc. If I can do it, anyone can. Hope this is an appropriate place to share this tip, given your predicament.

crazyfamilyof4

SENSATIONAL TIP Thank you!

harriet_hughes

Good luck with the rest of your trip. BTW, we missed a flight once in similar circumstances. Not overseas, but still...pays to have a sense of humor, doesn't it?

Digbydog

We just returned from Uzes. Don't bother with the restaurants on Place aux Herbes--lovely setting and mediocre food. You were better off having eggs at home. Hope you have a wonderful trip. We also enjoyed Uzes.

crazyfamilyof4

Hi digbydog ... Did you see two insane hyper kids screaming around the fountain having a ball? That would of been my darlings! I'm not having much luck with the food I must say! My lack of French makes it difficult to know what's what except for frittes! Myitalian is much stronger so tonight I was able to order prawns ... Although the fruit de mare was a plate of snails NOT a seafood plate like it would be in Italy nice waitress fixed it up and didn't charge us

The kids are def in a routine now ... Which means dinner around 6 to be home and bath and bed by 8 so we can start our day by 9.

This also allows mad hor to be somewhat tamed

I have bought a local liqueur to have a night once the kids are in bed and I am using the early nights to catch up on emails, wash and plan out the next days etc.

We didn't end up at pont du guard ... My daughter decided to ave a huge sleep in the middle of the day so instead we got the local map from the tourist info centre and did there recommended walking tour.

I don't know how many times I can say that this place is just so beautiful. I really love the architecture ... It's so clean and it feels really safe ... Oh and the locals will attempt to help speak English but I do first start with French until they go super fast and then I say sorry but do you speak English

All being well tomorrow we will go to Avignon ... I believe there should be markets so we plan on getting our tickets to Paris (mum ont let me do it online and I ant be other end arguing on it), look at the markets, go to the bridge and popes palace and then come home. Am I missing anything really important???

Night everyone

thursdaysd

Re: menu - use Google Translate on your smart phone. Or download one of the MANY menu translations available online, e.g. http://www.slowtrav.com/france/restaurants/glossary.htm or http://www.patriciawells.com/glossary/

crazyfamilyof4

http://www.franceforfamilies.com/our...-in-all-france

For others who might need ideas

Thanks thursdaysd

TDudette

Keep this going, please.

Digbydog

Don't miss the Pont du Gard! It was one of the highlights of our trip--much better than Avignon IMHO. I had visited it 30+ years ago and was still enthralled. My children were amazed that I walked across the top, which you are no longer allowed to do. Many people were swimming in the river when we were there, which your children might enjoy. As someone above mentioned, take a picnic.

waterdog

While you are in France it might be helpful to pick up a French-English phrase book. This also might be a good idea for the other countries you are visiting.

aussie_10

Book marking for a later read

StCirq

Fruits de mer is not a plate of snails. You misunderstood, and yes, get a French menu translator so you know what you're ordering.

crazyfamilyof4

well that's what I thought but I am telling you I was given a plate of about 50 cold snails! translator is now downloaded! thank god for French bakeries! Anyway I will report later after our day of travel!

annhig

Although the fruit de mare was a plate of snails NOT a seafood plate like it would be in Italy nice waitress fixed it up and didn't charge us >>

I suspect that was the winkles and the welks.

not to everyone's taste, though I always like picking the winkles out with a pin.

bendigo

"fruits de mare" will be "cavallo" in Italy I think?

Gretchen

May be too late, but a food glossary would be helpful.Even a French phrase book/dictionary doesn't always work for food in France. I guess we didn't get that far with the help in planning!! LOL