Karin1984
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2012
I haven’t done a trip report in a long time, but I am in the mood. It was a very good trip these past 2,5 days. Truly magical. There is a bit of an intro, and I love travel day reports, if that’s not your thing. Be patient, I’ll get to the actual park part eventually.
To give some background: I have been an AP holder to Disneyland Paris for the past 10 years or so, and in the past years (even during Covid) I do about 3 – 5 trips a year. I have been to DL once, WDW twice, Asian parks once. I am from the Netherlands, my preferred mode of transportation is the direct train. However, due to Covid, this route got cancelled and only recently restarted. Downside: The train only goes on Fridays and Saturdays. So, usually I fly.
I usually travel with my best friend, who lives in Belgium. We have been to WDW in 2015, the Asian parks in 2017. We were supposed to go to California, the last castle my friend still has to see, but Covid intervened. We have a trip to WDW in 6 weeks, because a great offer came by on the UK website. California has to wait. When we travel to Paris we both arrange our own transportation and park reservations, I take care of the hotel, restaurant reservations and planning of what to achieve on each trip.
Because we go to DLP so often, we are not really regular guests anymore. We don’t do a lot of rides, we are there for the entertainment and characters. We are fine with skipping rides, because we know there will be another time. When we went in 2020 right after the Covid reopening, we realized how much time we spend time in line waiting for shows and characters.
This trip all started about two months ago. I had no trips to DLP planned. There is a vague plan about going to the park on the 12th of April for the actual 30th birthday, but nothing set in stone.
Then the announcement comes on Facebook, in the middle of a work day. I am busy and stressed. My friend texts me: ‘There is an AP party planned! I booked my ticket!’
I am too stressed to really look into it. Also the day before the party is my father’s birthday, who passed away 4 years ago, and usually we go out for dinner with the family the weekend around his birthday. So I am not really able to make a quick decision.
I quickly book a hotel stay at Cheyenne via Booking.com, and decide to look into it when I am at home. I get home around 17:00, about 6 hours after the party was announced. I open Facebook to look for the details and just now a message appears: SOLD OUT!
I curse out loud. And start texting my friend. She feels guilty for not booking a ticket for me as well. All AP holders could bring 2 guests (that was one thing that annoyed most AP holders. Many probably couldn’t get tickets due to guests of other AP holders). I tell her it’s fine. My friend has done most of the AP parties, I have only done the disastrous Character party in 2019. A night such a disaster I never felt the need to do a party ever again. I tell her, she should go tot he party, I will just chill in the hotel. These parties are unpleasantly busy, because a park with only AP holders… These people can be brutal. Especially around rare characters and shows. I will not enjoy myself. She should go and have fun. But deep down I am still a little bummed, but try to convince myself this was not meant to be.
I do however send an e-mail to DLP if they please please please can sell me a ticket, explaining what happend. Tickets were surprisingly cheap, only 49 euros. Maybe that helped in the decision for some AP holders to go. Of course, the customer service center is overloaded at the moment (understaffing due to Covid, and with special events everyone starts calling at the same time). I get an automated response that it will take a while.
The next day, I do call the service center. I didn’t have any expectations, but I do want to have tried it. I speak to a very nice cast member from Germany, best service I ever got to be honest. He was pleasant to talk to, helpful. A true example of a cast member. He only couldn’t help me to get me a ticket besides telling me to keep hope, you never know when magic happens. I send in a cast compliment, also referring to the e-mail I have sent the day before.
Live goes on.
A few weeks later, I realize, I have received a reply to my cast compliment message, but never got a reply to my e-mail with me begging them for a ticket. I send another message, referring to my previous message and please please please, I still want a ticket. Still not expecting much, because I have read the complaints online from other AP holders who couldn’t book right away, or just missed the announcement on Facebook completely. I assume they are too overloaded to answer, or don't want to send out apology e-mails.
Fast forward to 10 days before the event. I get an e-mail from DLP! With an apology for the delay and that they have put me on the guest list! I can pick up my party ticket on the day of the event at the registers at the park entrance! I can’t believe the amount of pixiedust I get. Polite persistence (and a little bit of luck) can get you very far! I really am in shock that it worked.
So, now I have a ticket! Only… we have no information about what the party is going to be about! It’s for the 30th anniversary. It will be fun! Crowded. But fun! Hopefully.
Also, originally, I was supposed to be on my own on Thursday, my friend would join on the Friday (party night) and then Saturday a park day as well. My friend decides in the end that she will take an extra day off as well, and join me on Thursday. Normal trips are about 1,5 day, we are now there for 2,5 days.
Fast forward to 7 days before arrival. I get an e-mail from Booking.com: “Hi there, your credit card bounced, so we have cancelled your booking at Cheyenne, have a good day!” (summary of the message). Nothing about that they ask me to contact them within 24 hours, to pay differently. Just: POOF! Reservation gone.
Excuse me?
I start calling Booking.com while texting my friend: 'Houston, we’ve got a problem.' The girl on the phone is polite and friendly, but she cannot reinstate my booking. All she can do (after consulting with her supervisor) is asking me to make a new booking online.
A new booking. Onsite at DLP. For a weekend, when there is an AP event… One week in advance…
Almost everything is sold out. Cheyenne was already more expensive than I wanted it to be (150 euro a night) The only room that is still available is club level at Sequoia Lodge at (422 euro a night). Over 500 euros more expensive for these two nights.
There are partner hotels available for only 100 euro a night, but… Park reservations. At Disneyland Paris, if you are staying at an onsite hotel, you do get a park reservation included. You do not need a separate reservation. This is the same for AP holders and regular guests. There are no park reservations available (by the looks of it) for the Friday. On top of it: The party will last till about 2:00. I do not want to wait for a bus at the end of the night to go to a partner hotel.
I discuss it with my friend and luckily we are both in the financial position that we can afford it. We just normally don’t do club level. We are usually in the park from open till close. We don’t go back to the hotel room during the day. Also because we often stay at Cheyenne or Santa Fe, which is a bit of a further walk, we usually don’t bother. We sometimes go to the hotel bar in the Disneyland Hotel to retreat, but that is closed.
If we do club level, it’s normally during the Run Weekends. Then we make more use of the room, then we take the time to appreciate the lounge. Club level is really nice in our opinion, but not always worth the money.
However… given the circumstances, we decide to close our eyes and pay for Club level at Sequoia Lodge. We come up with all the benefits of Club level, from the included breakfast, lounge, being located in the main building, etc. to convince ourselves this is the right decision, even though it’s incredibly expensive. I know for some it’s normal to pay over 400 euro a night for a hotel. That’s not how we travel, we want a cheap hotel, that has a good location, and is clean. Around 100 – 150 euros is our normal.
Now, everything is settled. We have a nice hotel, we have party tickets, we can relax. (No foreshadowing, we can really relax).
To give some background: I have been an AP holder to Disneyland Paris for the past 10 years or so, and in the past years (even during Covid) I do about 3 – 5 trips a year. I have been to DL once, WDW twice, Asian parks once. I am from the Netherlands, my preferred mode of transportation is the direct train. However, due to Covid, this route got cancelled and only recently restarted. Downside: The train only goes on Fridays and Saturdays. So, usually I fly.
I usually travel with my best friend, who lives in Belgium. We have been to WDW in 2015, the Asian parks in 2017. We were supposed to go to California, the last castle my friend still has to see, but Covid intervened. We have a trip to WDW in 6 weeks, because a great offer came by on the UK website. California has to wait. When we travel to Paris we both arrange our own transportation and park reservations, I take care of the hotel, restaurant reservations and planning of what to achieve on each trip.
Because we go to DLP so often, we are not really regular guests anymore. We don’t do a lot of rides, we are there for the entertainment and characters. We are fine with skipping rides, because we know there will be another time. When we went in 2020 right after the Covid reopening, we realized how much time we spend time in line waiting for shows and characters.
This trip all started about two months ago. I had no trips to DLP planned. There is a vague plan about going to the park on the 12th of April for the actual 30th birthday, but nothing set in stone.
Then the announcement comes on Facebook, in the middle of a work day. I am busy and stressed. My friend texts me: ‘There is an AP party planned! I booked my ticket!’
I am too stressed to really look into it. Also the day before the party is my father’s birthday, who passed away 4 years ago, and usually we go out for dinner with the family the weekend around his birthday. So I am not really able to make a quick decision.
I quickly book a hotel stay at Cheyenne via Booking.com, and decide to look into it when I am at home. I get home around 17:00, about 6 hours after the party was announced. I open Facebook to look for the details and just now a message appears: SOLD OUT!
I curse out loud. And start texting my friend. She feels guilty for not booking a ticket for me as well. All AP holders could bring 2 guests (that was one thing that annoyed most AP holders. Many probably couldn’t get tickets due to guests of other AP holders). I tell her it’s fine. My friend has done most of the AP parties, I have only done the disastrous Character party in 2019. A night such a disaster I never felt the need to do a party ever again. I tell her, she should go tot he party, I will just chill in the hotel. These parties are unpleasantly busy, because a park with only AP holders… These people can be brutal. Especially around rare characters and shows. I will not enjoy myself. She should go and have fun. But deep down I am still a little bummed, but try to convince myself this was not meant to be.
I do however send an e-mail to DLP if they please please please can sell me a ticket, explaining what happend. Tickets were surprisingly cheap, only 49 euros. Maybe that helped in the decision for some AP holders to go. Of course, the customer service center is overloaded at the moment (understaffing due to Covid, and with special events everyone starts calling at the same time). I get an automated response that it will take a while.
The next day, I do call the service center. I didn’t have any expectations, but I do want to have tried it. I speak to a very nice cast member from Germany, best service I ever got to be honest. He was pleasant to talk to, helpful. A true example of a cast member. He only couldn’t help me to get me a ticket besides telling me to keep hope, you never know when magic happens. I send in a cast compliment, also referring to the e-mail I have sent the day before.
Live goes on.
A few weeks later, I realize, I have received a reply to my cast compliment message, but never got a reply to my e-mail with me begging them for a ticket. I send another message, referring to my previous message and please please please, I still want a ticket. Still not expecting much, because I have read the complaints online from other AP holders who couldn’t book right away, or just missed the announcement on Facebook completely. I assume they are too overloaded to answer, or don't want to send out apology e-mails.
Fast forward to 10 days before the event. I get an e-mail from DLP! With an apology for the delay and that they have put me on the guest list! I can pick up my party ticket on the day of the event at the registers at the park entrance! I can’t believe the amount of pixiedust I get. Polite persistence (and a little bit of luck) can get you very far! I really am in shock that it worked.
So, now I have a ticket! Only… we have no information about what the party is going to be about! It’s for the 30th anniversary. It will be fun! Crowded. But fun! Hopefully.
Also, originally, I was supposed to be on my own on Thursday, my friend would join on the Friday (party night) and then Saturday a park day as well. My friend decides in the end that she will take an extra day off as well, and join me on Thursday. Normal trips are about 1,5 day, we are now there for 2,5 days.
Fast forward to 7 days before arrival. I get an e-mail from Booking.com: “Hi there, your credit card bounced, so we have cancelled your booking at Cheyenne, have a good day!” (summary of the message). Nothing about that they ask me to contact them within 24 hours, to pay differently. Just: POOF! Reservation gone.
Excuse me?
I start calling Booking.com while texting my friend: 'Houston, we’ve got a problem.' The girl on the phone is polite and friendly, but she cannot reinstate my booking. All she can do (after consulting with her supervisor) is asking me to make a new booking online.
A new booking. Onsite at DLP. For a weekend, when there is an AP event… One week in advance…
Almost everything is sold out. Cheyenne was already more expensive than I wanted it to be (150 euro a night) The only room that is still available is club level at Sequoia Lodge at (422 euro a night). Over 500 euros more expensive for these two nights.
There are partner hotels available for only 100 euro a night, but… Park reservations. At Disneyland Paris, if you are staying at an onsite hotel, you do get a park reservation included. You do not need a separate reservation. This is the same for AP holders and regular guests. There are no park reservations available (by the looks of it) for the Friday. On top of it: The party will last till about 2:00. I do not want to wait for a bus at the end of the night to go to a partner hotel.
I discuss it with my friend and luckily we are both in the financial position that we can afford it. We just normally don’t do club level. We are usually in the park from open till close. We don’t go back to the hotel room during the day. Also because we often stay at Cheyenne or Santa Fe, which is a bit of a further walk, we usually don’t bother. We sometimes go to the hotel bar in the Disneyland Hotel to retreat, but that is closed.
If we do club level, it’s normally during the Run Weekends. Then we make more use of the room, then we take the time to appreciate the lounge. Club level is really nice in our opinion, but not always worth the money.
However… given the circumstances, we decide to close our eyes and pay for Club level at Sequoia Lodge. We come up with all the benefits of Club level, from the included breakfast, lounge, being located in the main building, etc. to convince ourselves this is the right decision, even though it’s incredibly expensive. I know for some it’s normal to pay over 400 euro a night for a hotel. That’s not how we travel, we want a cheap hotel, that has a good location, and is clean. Around 100 – 150 euros is our normal.
Now, everything is settled. We have a nice hotel, we have party tickets, we can relax. (No foreshadowing, we can really relax).