Disneyland Paris

We visited Disneyland Paris in August 2023 and it was absolutely amazing! We booked through Magic Breaks, which has lots of different deals, budgets and they can tailor it to what you would like. 

There’s lots of different options when it comes to visiting Disneyland. You can stay off site (Non Disney hotels) and buy your tickets separately, but we really prefer the inclusive packages. You can get the euro tunnel, ferry, self drive or fly.

We tend to fly (find it easier with little ones), which is what we did this time around. We flew the night before & stayed at the Disney B&B (it worked out cheaper than flying the following day & meant we could wake up already close by, to enjoy our first full day). We transferred first thing to the Sante Fe Hotel, which is an on site Disney hotel.

HOTELS

There are many hotels to chose from. The Sante Fe is Pixars Cars themed and one of the cheaper Disney hotels to stay at. Then you have the Cheyenne, cowboy themed with toy story themed rooms. These are both slightly off the Disney lake.  

The Sequoia lodge (which is my favourite hotel), has indoor & outdoor swimming pools, an open fireplace and just cosy, especially if you go around Christmas. Then you have the slightly more expensive New Port Bay, which is very fancy and on the Disney Lake, (it’s really pretty and lit up at night time). The closest hotel to the Disney Village is the Marvel Hotel, which is super hero themed and only a few minutes walk to the Disney Village. 

For all of these hotels, there are character meet & greets. In the Sante Fe we saw Pluto on several days & Mickey on another. They are usually in the reception area, with a photographer to add to your photo pass if you have bought one.

The Disney hotels, apart from Davy Crockett have a free shuttle, from the hotel, directly to the parks. For anyone with SEND, sensory needs, these shuttles can be extremely busy. We were literally being barged about, people pushing in front of us, there was no space for the children, so it could be really overwhelming. 

We walked from our room to the parks in about 15 minutes and started to do this as an alternative to the shuttle. Its a lovely walk by the canal and then you join the Disney lake, see the hot air balloon, the other hotels and through the Disney Village. 

PRIORITY PASS

The priority cards here are fantastic for anyone who has a disability. The cues are very long, especially in summer, however with a priority pass, you can book character meet & greets in the park, rather than waiting, you can use the disabled access for the rides and barely wait to get on. The staff are brilliant, its well sign posted and it significantly reduces your waiting time.

There is no limit on how much you use your pass and it covers the person who has the pass, plus 4 members of their family, so that you can still all go on the rides together.

You can also access a seperate area for the parades with the priority pass, which is at the front in a sectioned off area for yourself and 2 others, as well as an area for the firework display. There is alot of waiting about for parades and shows, people getting there an hour early, sitting on the pavement, so having this pass would mean you don’t have to try and get your children to wait for long periods of time just to get a space! 

Tip for anyone not able to request a priority pass – go into the castle before the parade and you will find lots of little alcoves for you as a family to stand and watch. We found a great little spot, was there for 10 minutes before the parade started and could see it all really well.

DISNEYLAND PARIS APP

The Disneyland Paris app is a must for your trip! It is your guide to both parks, waiting times for the rides, up to date info on any ride closures. The app has times of the shows on that day, the times and characters for meet & greets.

The app also gives you the option to prebook a timeslot for your photoshoot and experience with Spiderman or an Avenger. There are 2 options when booking and you need to be in Disney for it to allow you to book a slot. You can access the Hero training centre once a day, so make sure you chose Spiderman, if that is who you want to see. Once you have booked, it gives you updates of how long it will be until your session and even sends you a reminder when its almost your turn. When you are inside, its 1:1 with your super hero, lots of time and pictures that can go on your photo pass if you bought one. We saw Spiderman, Black Widow and Black Panther in our visits

If you want to prebook restaurants, buy fast pass tickets, reserve seating for shows (we got seats everytime without pre booking and paying), you can on the app. 

RIDES

The rides can be really busy – an hour or 2 wait for some of the rides, which we all know with children is very challenging. The magic hour is good for anyone staying on site, as you can go in an hour early and get straight to the rides which are busier during the day. 

We found that in the Magic Kingdom, Thunder Mountain, Buzz Light Year, Autopia, Space Mountain, Dumbo, Pinoccio and Snow White had long waiting times throughout the day, so they would be good ones to go too in that hour. In the Studios, Crush Coaster, Ratatouille, Spider-Man web adventure, Toy Soldiers parachute drop, seemed to be busier and longer waiting times throughout. 

We found evening waiting times reduced a little, so staying in the park until 11pm and going on the rides then can be a good idea.

Rides wise, there is just something from everyone. We enjoyed the rides on boats, the Pirates of the Caribbean, It’s a Small World, Le Pays Des Contes De Fees which we all did. 

For the older ones, Our 6 year old went on the Tower of Terror, I think I was more scared, as your bum literally comes off the seat, as you drop several floors in the elevator! But it was so much fun. Thunder Mountain is brilliant and a ride we went on several times a day. Our youngest age 2 was tall enough and went on with us for this.  Phantom manor is a little spooky, so the walk through part can be a bit creepy for younger ones, but again ours went on. Space mountain is for the adrenaline seekers, and wow, it goes fast! Zoom in on the picture of us there to see our eldest’s face haha. Crushes coaster is one for older ones, it goes really fast, spins you around in the dark. I didn’t know what day it was when I got off.

The RC racer is not for me! But my eldest and husband went on several times and enjoyed being rocketed up back and forth, whilst I took the photos!

The 3d ones were great, like Star Wars, where you are in a spaceship, again all of us went on that. Ratatouille takes you off in your pod and you experience the life of a rat in the film. Web Adventure is the Spiderman ride, where you help Spiderman to defeat the baddies, by it simulating you shooting webs when you do the spider man moves. 

For little ones, the Slinky Dog, Aladdin’s Flying Carpets, The Rally, Dumbo, Pinocchio, Snow White, Carousel, Peter Pan’s Fight are all suitable for younger children. Autopia was fun, the boys got to drive their own cars around the track. Buzz Lightyear is a brilliant family ride, where you travel arond space (in pods of 2 people) and you get a score at the end. 

FOOD

We went half board, which is really helpful, given Disney can be expensive for food. It gave us all you can eat breakfast and another meal, which you can use at either dinner or tea time. ****** If you go half board, make sure you pre book your restaurants ****** Their availability goes very quickly, so booking months in advance is very much needed! If you book your holiday last minute, keep checking the app, as people cancel their reservations on the day and you can also que.

We went to several different restaurants, my favourite being Billy Bobs. It was really good food, all you can eat, lots of variety and tables full of different deserts, which the kids loved!

The PYM restaurant in the Studios was our second meal (was not a huge fan, no real kids meal options like nuggets, fish fingers etc), but they did have mini burgers, chips. 

The Plaza gardens is central to the Magic Kindgom, next to the castle and they offer Character Dining for breakfast and evening meal. We went for Breakfast and it was a brilliant way to meet some of the characters, without the queing. Top tip – get there 20 minutes early! We arrived and were one of the first families there, so had literally a few minutes to wait to be seated. Within 5 minutes of us arriving, there were so many families queing, (well over 50 families). You get an hour in there, to have an all you can eat breakfast, and the characters come around to the tables to see you, to sign your autograph books, give you a hug and take lots of pictures. You can’t guarantee who you see, however from advice we had before we went, if you want a chance at seeing Mickey and Minnie, you need to book the evening meal. We saw Geppetto, Pinocchio, Pluto, Tigger, Eeyore and Captain Hook

CHARACTERS

There are character meet & greets throughout the parks, which is updated on the Disneyland Paris App. The Princesses were at the Princess Pavillion and it was around a 2 hour wait during the summer. We were lucky in that we went on the Casey Junior Le Petit Train Du Cirque, and happened to be next to the gate where the princesses were coming from and heading towards the pavillion. Within half an hour, Ariel very kindly stopped and signed their autographs, and we saw Snow White, Belle and Cinderella, who walked past, waving to the crowd. They don’t usually stop, as you can imagine they wouldn’t get to the pavillion, but they were blowing kisses and smiling for the camera on their way past. 

Mickey Mouse was next to Phantom manor from 10am, so if you get there at 9:45, the que is reduced. 

We found the characters to be lovely! Really spent time with the kids, interacting and making them feel special. It didn’t feel like you had to rush and could just let them enjoy it

SHOWS

The shows and parades were fantastic. People do arrive really early to try and get the best seats, so bare that in mind if you are wanting central views at the front. Our boys are not great at waiting and we were happy to rock up ten minutes before and get some seats towards the back. The views are brilliant where ever you sit and it just made our experience better for not having the stress of trying to get the kids to sit still for an hour before they even start!

The same with the fireworks, people are sat down 2 hours before it starts at 11pm. Once it starts, people are all standing up, climbing on the fences, pushing their way in front, which we saw a lot of comments about on fb groups before we went. We enjoyed the rides, wandered around and then at 10:50pm we found a space to the right of the castle and still had an amazing view. 

SHOP & THE DISNEY VILLAGE

The Disney village is right next to the entrances to the park. Lots of bars, restaurants and a McDonalds (it was actually really reasonably priced and fed 4 of us for 40 euros).

It leads to the Hot Air Ballon, which looked brilliant, and the lake where the hotels are based around. We walked through the Disney Village each day and its a lovely place.

Lots of shops, with so many different toys, pens, cuddly toys, costumes and ornaments to take home. I bought a lanyard for work for 10 euros, which I love! And obviously we had to buy fridge magnets, pens, key rings.  

Our eldest is Jack the Pumpkin King mad, so he bought the hat (30 euros) and the large cuddly toy (30 euros) and a pumpkin king t shirt (16 euros) from the Tower of Terror shop. our youngest really liked the bubble guns so he bought one from the Buzz Light Year shop (25 euros). 

TOP TIPS

Prebook your meals before you go – they book up months in advance

Contact Disney if anyone has a disability (they can send you their criteria for requesting a pass) and you may be entitled to a priority pass mentioned above

Try not to pre plan and go with the flow of the day. It makes it so enjoyable

Bring some snacks – we packed loads for the kids to have whilst there

Use the app for all updates on ride/show times

Look into travelling the day before (we are booking for Christmas 2024 and its only £82 for a family room at the Disney B&B the night before). It means we can get the free shuttle to our Disney Hotel, drop the luggage off and enjoy a full first day

If you want personalised T Shirts like the ones we had, Alfie’s Gifts and Treats can make what ever design you like

Take some waterproof poncho’s just incase, as they are quite expensive in the park

Bring your water bottle to top up using the water fountains, that are around the park. We took small concentrated cordial to use

Walk into the parks from your hotel if you don’t want the busyness of the shuttle buses and all the barging about. People seem to forget their manners at Disney, and it can be like a stampede, with people shoving you, pushing through, even trying to move the pram. The walk in was so peaceful 

FLIGHTS

We were unlucky, like many others and had our flight home cancelled as we were due to board! So after several hours, we managed to get a hotel and prebook flights for 24 hours later (some families couldn’t get a flight for 3 days!), we decided to make the most of it and go into Paris for the day

PARIS

Paris is brilliant, but busy. You can use public transport, however we got an Uber from the Hotel (amazing and arrived in 2 minutes of ordering). It was 75 euros each way for 6 people and we were dropped off at the Arc De Triomphe

Paris is beautiful and we spent hours walking around seeing the sights, before sitting by the Eiffel Tower – It was expensive to go up and there was a 3 hour wait, so with 2 sleeo deprived kids was a definite no! 

There were lots of restaurants close by, just be prepared for the price increase. It was 15 euros for a slice of pizza and a small portion of chips.  So we dug deep and bought them dinner, but it did sting!

The Eiffel tower has lots to relax. We found some grassed area to sit down on for an hour. Toilets wise, they did have one lot of public toilets, but it was quite a walk and really long ques.

There’s people selling fridge magnets and Eiffel tower souvenirs, which they kindly show the kids and let them hold! Luckily there were really cheap, so we bought a few to take home (5euros for 2)

It was a really nice opportunity to show the boys Paris 

Such a magical holiday, exhausting as we walked over 50 miles in the 4 days we spent in the park, but so special with the kids. We are just booking our next visit for Christmas next year