SPECIAL OFFER:ABBEY TRAVEL and Xtra-vision have a special offer starting this weekend that will give Xtra-vision members the chance to go to Disneyland Paris for half price.
Abbey Travel says it is offering 2,500 people 50 per cent off their hotel and park passes at Disneyland Paris with kids under seven free.
To qualify you have to rent five new release DVDs from Xtra-vision over a five-week period.
Abbey Travel is one of two official agents in Ireland and says it sends 10,000 Irish people to Disneyland Paris a year. The offer runs until July 19th and is subject to a minimum stay of three nights and excludes flights, transport and transfers, and is valid for arrivals from now to November 8th.
Neil Horgan of Abbey Travel says the number of Irish people who go to Disneyland Paris every year “is far in excess” of the 10,000 who travel with Abbey but “Disney won’t release the figures”.
Horgan says the ages of children visiting Disneyland Paris have dropped. “Up to 2007 or 2008 the norm would be two adults and two children aged nine to 11 but now we’re finding the majority are under seven since Disney introduced its offer to allow them travel for free. The perception used to be that four to six-year-olds were too young for Disney.”
He says the disruption of flights by volcanic ash has had “a huge effect” but the company has received a lot of bookings for the autumn. “September and October are very popular months, with many people going for mid-week breaks which are the cheapest. People travel in school time because it’s cheaper and they know the summer months are quite hot and the queues are longer.”
The average length of stay has gone up from two-and-a-half days to four days in recent years but it is still looked upon by many families as a short break, says Horgan.
He says Disney is the most popular family short break destination in Europe – “more people went there last year than went to the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre combined.”
