I vividly remember my childhood trip to Disneyland, Florida, from the newly-opened Splashback Mountain – my first – chasing iconic characters for autographs. My family were savers, and this was a big trip for us. My dad picked America as the destination during the Gulf War, when flights to the US were cheap, stayed in a motel nearby and drove into the park for two days, with sandwiches in our backpacks and a strict no-merch policy. Those two days are all I can remember from a two-week holiday to Orlando, such is the power Disney has over a young brain.
And this is exactly what I want for my own daughters, aged four and eight. They’re at that magical age where they are still delighted by Disney (although, isn’t everyone?), and as we’ve learned from Inside Out, are forming core memories. I want to make their first trip to Disneyland as sparkly as possible, and like my parents, as much as I want to do the full bells-and-whistles experience, I can’t afford it all.
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Which is why I’ve spent months researching exactly where I should splurge and spend the holiday budget to cherry-pick the perfect Disney experience, include some indulgences, but save where I can. Here’s how I did it.
How to get there and where to stay
The first big saving was driving from London, straight from the last day of school, rather than a train or flights, which for four of us in school holidays was going to cost the best part of £2,000. Driving would cost less than £50 in petrol and £118 in Le Shuttle fares (I saved £20 with Tesco Clubcard points).
Then came the decision about where to stay. For the first night, I found the perfectly serviceable Résidence du Parc Val d’Europe hotel, which fit all four of us in one room for €131 (£114) a night. It had a kitchenette, and I brought a cool bag from home so we could have breakfast in the room, saving €15 (£13) per person for the hotel breakfast.
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Only a 10-minute drive from Disney, it would have been fine as a base for the whole trip. But back when my eldest was three, we stayed in a Legoland hotel in Tampa, and she remembers every detail of the themed room. The main on-site Disneyland Paris hotel looks like…
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