I have finally given in and said yes to persistant "When are we going to Disneyland?.... but WHEN are we going to Disneyland?!" requests from our 6 and 8 year old, (and my wife for that matter!). What I want to know is what have I really let myself in for? What is it really like? Will it leave us bankrupt? Is it going to be v stressful? Should we stay in a Disney hotel or rent a villa nearby or stay in a nearby hotel? and finally, What can we do to make sure we all enjoy it as much as possible?

We went to Disneyland Paris in August. It was hot and wet. We had a ball. The girls are 5, 11, 13. The key was to have a plan. We stayed at the resort and went first thing in the morning, took a break at lunch then went back in the late afternoon. We used the Disney guide to organise the roller coasters which were the most popular ride and got to ride them lots before the ques arrived. Our youngest was sick and Disney flew into action to help out. Great staff.The rain helped keep down ques and we just kept going. (as did most of Disneyland). Would love to go again.

Well, here are my thoughts. We are a family of four (two boys aged 3 & 7) and we went to Disneyland in California in August and Disneyland Paris for October half term. I would love to go during term time as queues are VERY long when the massess are on school holidays...but I'm too scared to take additional school leave! Both California and Paris are of a similar size, but for my money I preferred California. As well as similar rides, they seem to make much more of an effort at night-time with nightly fireworks and the lake-side Fantasmique show which is all smoke, water and lasers (very impressive)The friendliness and service is much better than the French offer too! (sorry) In California we stayed in a lovely hotel about 30 minutes away and spent a day at the park then a days rest at the hotel before heading back which was great. In Paris we stayed in a Disney hotel and did 3 days of parks on the trot...very tiring. After the expense of the entry tickets, you will be paying for meals, drinks and merchandise. The food is all a bit samey (fried, fried and fried)and it's not the cheapest place to be, but it is FUN! Of course the weather in Paris is always going to be unpredictable, but it is nearer. We booked very late and only had the Santa Fe hotel to choose from. A bit well worn, and if I go again I would look to stay in the Disneyland Resort Hotel which is right at the gates to the park, so you can nip back for a bit of R&R if needed! Otherwise you have to take a bus to the park. Whichever Park you go to, your children will LOVE it! If you're braver than me, take them during term time to escape the queues (popular rides can often have a 45-60 min wait time) and whilst fast-pass can help, it's actually has quite limited uses.

Disneyland Paris may not bankrupt you, but you might well feel it has! The problem is that that the Disney Hotels on site are very expensive, even the cheapest. You pay per room, so underoccupancy costs a lot! However, with four of you you'll be getting maximum value. If you want an on-site Disney hotel with a pool, (and one that's open in winter, as it's indoors), then Sequoia Lodge is the least expensive (it's bang in the middle of the price range there. The advantages of the Disney hotels is the 'bonus' for children (well, the young ones) of being ina 'real' Disney hotel with the characters available for photographing (in a long queue, for money!), and being within walking distance of the twin entrances to the Magic Kingdom and the newer Studios. However, their main disadvantage, apart from price, is the food, which is incredibly expensive and quite disgusting (apart from the evening restaurants which are not bad for quality but hideously expensive - I mean, really, REALLY expensive!). Worst of all, throughout the entire Disney estate (parks and hotels etc) it is impossible to get any coffee other than instant Nestle, as they have the sole concessiion. The coffee is utter muck, and vile (remember, the rooms don't have kettles etc! They want you to buy all the food in the hotel itself). Considering this is France, home of fantastic coffee, it's a disgrace. The food in the parks is just as disgusting, but that is true of the US Disney parks as well. They have sold the concessions to garbage food companies that make Macdonalds look wholesome! (in fact, the MacD at Disney Village is a whole lot better than some of the food outlets there, and the Rainforest Cafe/Planet Hollywood are probably your best eating bet - which says a lot, doesn't it?!). So, if you want better quality and lower cost for staying, look at the 'close to the Magic' hotels, which are not owned by Disney. My Travel Explorers looks good and sells out really fast - it does cabin rooms for six people with adults the main room and four children in the bunk bed room for privacy - great idea)(plus it has an indoor pool). There are also a lot of appartments in the nearby shopping centre (a taxi ride from Disney), but check if they do shuttles to the Park. At least you can self cater from the supermarkets in the shopping centre, and, of course, the actual decent French cafes/restaurants there. Alternatively, if you like the Underground trains, as Disney Park is on the RER (station right by the park entrance)you can stay at the holiday hotels a couple of stations away from Disney (eg, Novotel), or even in Paris itself.

Sorry to post again, but the message above was getting long. As to the parks themselves, do use fastpasses whenever you can, even if this means committing yourself to a time. For the most popular rides it's a godsend, especially with young children (do take things like Gameboys/PSPs for the queues, but keep them secure!). The other best bet is to get to the Park when it opens and do the big rides then, or at the end of the day. During the parades the queues shorten as well. The European parks are much smaller than the US ones, and wear out the shoes less! All the merchandise is hideously expensive, so you may need to ration the wish list of the children! As at the hotels, the food is awful, quite, quite awful, atrociously so (in fact, it makes the hotel food look good). However, the waffles and icecreams in Main Street are very tasty, if expensive. Beware that everything that looks as if it might be an interesting building is in fact a merchandising outfit. The train circling the park is good, but can be queues to get on, and sometimes just walking is quicker. If you can at all avoid peak UK holiday times, it's well worth it - the queues are definitely far less. The Thunder Mountain ride is great, but Space Mountain, for which I think your two will be too young anyway, is very rough on the head which gets banged about a lot, and the ride does a 360 degree loop, as does the Temple of Doom. I think Aerosmith in Studios also does, but is a much smoother ride. The Disney excusrion to Paris is very expensive (I think about ?40) and takes a day of your holiday (though if you've the stamina you can visit the parks in the evening), but I would say its very good indeed for showing you all the 'main bits' of Paris, from the comfort of a coach. No trekking around etc. It includes a ride on a bateau mouche on the Seine and a ride up the Eiffel Tower (without queueing!). We found it expensive, but really good and 'painfree'. However, we've also simply taken the RER into Paris, and done the town the proper way as well, which is more tiring but more exciting. By the way, there are no food shops in Disney at all, so self-catering, even for sandwiches, is not an option. You can take some bread rolls from breakfast (which isn't too bad apart from the vile coffee and rubbish fruit juice). Remember that the Disney hotels have queues for breakfast as well, and evening meals. And for the shuttles to the park (usually quicker to walk). The whole place is pretty tacky, but at least its relatively upmarket tack, and the children won't mind and won't care. If you do the Sequoia Lodge or hotel with a pool, it's great to have a swim at the end of the day. I think they charge for towels. Sequoia Lodge pool has a slide - great! Don't think the others do. In winter, the icesaking rink out side the New York hotel is very good, and not that hideously expensive considering. Have a great holiday - your children will remember it all their lives, so be brave and go!

We went to Orlando this Easter. We rented a villa about 20mins from the parks which was great, own pool, clubhouse and our own space, beats a hotel room any day. You need time to unwind after a day in the parks and a villa allowed us all to do that and not be on top of each other in 1 hotel room, we could spread out!
The crowds were not too bad and lines got shorter after Easter Monday when the US kids went back to school.
Where ever you go Disney, Paris, Orlando, LA you will have a great time, even just seeing your children's faces light up is wonderful and you might even enjoy it yourself!!!