Tips for a frugal Disneyland Paris Trip

Anyone who has been to Disneyland Paris, (or any of the Disney parks really I expect) will know that it is extremely expensive. 


Of course there are ways to save money and I intend to try lots of them.


We went to Disneyland Paris for the first time as a family in March this year and it was amazing! It was so amazing in fact that we are returning in November for the opening of the Enchanted Christmas season, we should just catch the end of the Bonfire Night celebrations too so I'm very excited to say the least. 


For both trips we will have travelled by coach which is a good 11-12 hour trip, I thought we were prepared last time as I bought them a wordsearch puzzle book each but I think they looked at it for about 15 seconds and gave up because it was boring. Talk about a fail!


So, for the next trip I have already made some wordsearches that are Disney themed so hopefully these will catch their interest a little better. The picture below shows three that I did for the kids to do in the Spring Bank school holidays.

Disney Princes, Princesses and Movies. I also have a Toy Story one, a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse one and also a Monsters Inc themed one as this is Rio's favourite and he was complaining that the ones I had done were too girly. 


If you fancy doing your own it's completely free, if you google 'free wordsearch creator' there are quite a few that come up but the one I used was Discovery Education's. It only takes a couple of minutes. I printed them out plain as they were only for the school holidays but but for the Disney trip I'll pretty them up with some co-ordinating stickers. 
These wordsearch puzzles will be hole-punched and placed in an A4 binder with colouring sheets like the ones below. These were found doing a simple google images search.

I've got to admit that I don't have pictures for many more of the 'common sense' tips as I haven't completed any of them, or even really started them!


The Mickey silhouette you see in the picture below is Pinterest inspired, I can't find the original pin right now but when I post the tutorial for the how-to on this, I'll make sure I locate it as was their idea really, I just made it easier for me.

This is just fingerknitting rolled up into coils and sewn together with black cotton. You can get an idea of how big it is from the size of the needle, I deliberately made them so small as I intend to hot glue them to snappy hair slides and brooch pins for my kiddo's to wear. 


I intend to make a few of these and add embellishments to dress them up in different styles, for example I'll add a red and white spotty bow and turn it into a Minnie Mouse. I'll add a bandana and a gold loop to one of the ears and turn Mickey into a pirate. 


I figured I'd probably make them in pairs for the hairslides as there's only going to be Sophie wearing them. 


For the brooches I'll probably add sparklies for Sophie's and different coloured wool details to Rio and Corey's, actually, Corey's so small I might not give him a brooch.


Other money-saving tips I've learned are: 
- to always have snacks available for the children. We spent a fortune at service stops so I will definitely be taking 'snack packs' and sandwiches next time. I might even make the snacks Disney themed, like Mouse shaped rice-cakes and sandwiches. 


- I will definitely be making their own personalized autograph books for November. We didn't collect autographs at all in March but they want to next time and I am not paying 8euros for a book of paper! When I make them I'll post the results and tutorial.


- This one may seem obvious but I think for November I will arrange a small Disney themed treat for each day to stop them asking and asking while we're there. Maybe just a new pen, or a small plush toy each day, maybe even a letter from Mickey or the Princesses? 


- I have already started a 'Disney Fund'. I started this as soon as we returned in March and put all of our unused Euro's in there instead of changing them back. Everytime I get some spare change of 50p or higher I drop it in there. It's the kind of tin that you have to open with a can opener so there's no chance of dipping into it.


There's loads more I'm sure but these are the main ones I'll be implementing. There are loads of activities I'll be doing for them too, I'll post them as and when I do them. 


Eeeek, writing about Disney has got me all excited again! I think I'll go and watch The Princess and The Frog with the kids, it's the current favourite!


Do you have anymore helpful Disney tips you'd like to share? 
I'd love to hear them.


Love,
Kaye x