Disneyland Paris

I planned a 2 night trip to Disneyland Paris with my sister just before Christmas – see my video of the trip here.

It was an amazing couple of nights (despite being horribly ill), but there were a few things I wish I knew before I went. This blog will be short and sweet but hopefully helpful for first timers.

Costs
Because we were booking for a the Christmas period which is incredibly busy, we planned the trip through Magicbreaks for ease.

We travelled with 5 adults, 1 child (4 years old) and 1 baby (under 3 go free).

• Hotel (2 studio apartments for 2 nights), park tickets (Disneyland & Disney Studios for 2 days): £1,785
• Eurostar: £1,723
  Total: £3,508 / £585pp (baby: £0)

Prices vary depending on the time of year you travel – Christmas is famously expensive.

We stayed at StayCity hotel which was a 10 minute shuttle from Disneyland (free every 15 mins throughout the day). It’s super basic and the ‘studio rooms’ were mini, but you’re barely in the hotel anyway so it did the job. If you have more cash to splash, definitely pick one of the Disney themed hotels where you can have breakfast / lunch with the characters.

There are a few useful things to know before going:

• there is a Disney app which you should download before going! You can see ride queue times so can shoot around the park accordingly (if you have willing children!)
• the Disney app shows you when and where the parades are so you can be ready for them – definitely try to see the main one but there are a few throughout the day
• there are some great shows which last about 30 mins and are inside so a perfect place to be if the weather is bad. You can pay extra to guarantee seats and skip the line, but we got in easily so I don’t think you need to
• you can look on the app / online to see what rides are in both parks to see what will suit you and your children
• Disneyland / Disney Studios / Disney Village are right next to each other so you can switch between the 3 in any one day (don’t need a ticket to get into Disney Village)
• the Eurostar and train terminal is right by the entrance to both parks and Disney Village, so if you want to day-trip from Paris / other locations, it would be pretty easy
• take ears / outfits with you if you don’t want to pay a small fortune for them (we got our Disney jumpers from Vinted)
• the queues to meet characters are very long!! If that’s what you / your children are into, bring a signature book as they’re expensive to buy there
• there are fireworks every night at about 9.30pm
• don’t expect the best food you’ve ever eaten – the nice restaurants are ridiculously expensive and the food is average at best. Even the fast food chains (McDonalds / FiveGuys) are overcrowded and not as tasty as normal 😦
• everything is incredibly expensive – if you have young children who like eating, come prepared with snacks!
• bring ponchos or rain jackets – most of the attractions are outside and it rains regularly in Paris
• the Disney Eurostar definitely seemed less organised then in London and there was a really long queue which took ages to go down, so definitely leave more than enough time to get your train

I have been to most Disneyland locations (California, Florida, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong) and the one criticism I have of Disneyland Paris at Christmas is that they were blasting Christmas songs around the parks and not Disney songs. I actually think the real magic of Disney is the music and remember arriving at Disneyland Hong Kong / Tokyo as an adult, hearing the music and feeling excited like a child again.

Overall, I love Disney, it truly is the land of dreams, and will definitely be back when my niece and nephew are a little older and I can take them on Space Mountain.