Disneyland Paris

A trip to Disney is always something incredibly exciting and magical, and whilst Disneyland Paris is smaller in size, there's no reason why it should be smaller in magic and fun. After all, nothing can compare to the excited butterfly feeling you get on your way to the park, singing Disney songs at the top of your lungs with your Minnie Mouse ears and Mickey Mouse backpack. Right?

My family had a trip to Disneyland Paris this October to celebrate my sister's 16th Birthday. We stayed in Disney's Newport Bay Club Hotel, which is a really convenient 10 minutes walk from the park, or there's a shuttle bus too, but unless you have very small children or lots of luggage it's actually quicker to walk.

I'd heard so much about how amazing Disney Parks are at Halloween, so I was so excited to see the decorations for myself. But to be honest, I just wasn't feeling it. Picture walking into the park to the sound of (to be honest rather badly recorded) ghost sounds and spooky Halloween music; Main Street USA is covered in pumpkins, leaves and ghost statues (which are supposed to look friendly and happy). If you're a massive Halloween fan, maybe you'd have a different opinion (and most people seem to love it...) but I'm not, and for me, Disney's not supposed to be spooky, it's supposed to be magical and walking down Main Street USA to ghost sounds doesn't quite sit right with me. The autumnal decorations, such as the Mickey Mouse shaped pumpkins and leaf garlands were pretty though.

Disneyland Paris is split into two different parks, the Disneyland Park and the Walt Disney Studios Park. They're a short walk away from each other and you only have to go through security once to get into the general Disney area. A lot easier than at DisneyWorld where each park comes with its own huge queue. There's also the Disney Village which you don't need a ticket for, but there's still a bit of Disney atmosphere and lots of shops and restaurants. Of course there's also a massive Disney Store! Whilst we had 3 and a half days in the parks, you could easily do it in 2 and potentially even 1 if you were really organised and made the most of every minute. (Some tips on how to do that further on!)

Fast passes at Disneyland Paris work the

same way as in Anaheim. To get a fast pass you have to go to your chosen ride and scan your pass to get a time back. You can only have one fast pass at a time and you can't really pick your time. This makes planning very tricky and in fact nearly impossible, and that's coming from me! The best thing to do in terms of planning your day is to decide in advance which rides you want to try and get fast passes for. If you're travelling as part of a group make sure you scan all the passes at the same time so you get on the ride together! Some rides, whilst their queues are very long during the day time, have short queues during the parades and just before the fireworks. We managed to walk into Pirates of the Caribbean waiting just 5 minutes (basically the time it took to walk through all the rows to the front of the queue) and Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs in just 7.

There are however some rides that have long queues no matter what time of day, Peter Pan's Flight is MENTAL for some reason and Space Mountain and the Big Thunder Railroad also had long queues. Crush's Coaster in the Studios park had really long queues and doesn't have fast passes so we did that one in Extra Magic Hours. We got to the park before it was due to open and queued with the 50+ other people waiting to get on that ride. As soon as the gates opened it was crazy! Everyone was running to the ride (including us!) but we managed to get through in less than 15 minutes. As soon as we came out there was a 40 minute queue, at 9am! We did walk straight into the Rockin' Rollercoaster multiple times though! Disneyland Paris are a lot more flexible when it comes to the fast pass times though and if you need to get in before or after your allotted time, chances are for most rides you can. The Tower of Terror always has a small queue first thing in the morning and late at night.

Unlike at DisneyWorld there's also no way to see which Princesses will be around each day, so if like me you want to see a certain Princess (Belle, duh!) you have to check back at the Princess Pavilion each day. Asking Cast Members won't help either, they don't seem to know...Again there's no fast passes for the Princesses, but if you're quick at the extra magic hours you can get through reasonably fast.

Hotels

Staying in a Disney hotel definitely makes any Disney Park trip that bit more magical (and convenient!) The magic never really ends. The decor, music, restaurants and of course extra magic hours are so worth the extra money. I could spend weeks just exploring the hotels! Not to mention the fact that staying in a Disney hotel gives you the option to buy one of the dining plans and make the most of the many offers Disney has. When we booked our trip, there was the offer of free half board when you stay in a Disney hotel. There are however lots of partner hotels that still have shuttles to the park and there's also Disney's Davy Crockett Ranch which doesn't offer a shuttle, but is a good cheaper option if you have a car.

Dining Plans

The Disneyland Paris dining plans work very much the same way as the Florida ones. Your allocated meal allowances are loaded onto your pass, and you scan it at each of the restaurants when you order or pay for your meal. As always, if you're planning on using any "table service" restaurants you should book these in advance. Unlike at DisneyWorld, it's not possible to book restaurants via an app, they need to be booked over the phone. You can also book them when you check in to your hotel, but this is probably too late. I booked ours as soon as possible, and some of the ones I wanted were already booked so deffo get that done as soon as you can after booking! If you've got the meal plan try and pick as many table service restaurants as you can. The food's amazing and sitting down gives your feet a bit of a break!

Trains to Disney

When getting the train from London there are various different options in terms of where to depart from in the UK and which station to arrive at in Paris. There's the Disneyland Paris Station (Chessy/Marne-La-Vallee) or the slightly further Gare Du Nord. There are fewer time choices for trains to Disneyland so if you have a particular time in mind it's worth looking at trains to Gare du Nord. That being said, it seemed to be very tricky and complicated to get from Gare du Nord to Marne-La-Vallee and the time we thought we'd save getting an earlier train to Gare du Nord was wasted trying to figure out ticket machines and complicated maps in a foreign language. Not to mention the stress...so I think if we were to ever do something similar again my family would definitely decide to get the train directly to Disneyland.

Airport Transfers

Upon arrival at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris I made my way through passport control and walked towards the RER train as I'd read online that this was the cheapest and easiest way to get to the park from the airport. Once at the ticket desk, I was handed an incredibly complicated looking map and told I'd have to travel into the city and back out again, and that the Magic Express Coach was in fact the best way, and only a few Euros more expensive to get from the airport to the parks and hotels. The Magic Express however, is not particularly magical (I was expecting some serious Disney tunes for the trip, but we just got adverts on the radio!) and not very express (I waited 40 minutes at the airport before we finally left). That being said it was probably less stressful than trying to get the train considering I hate the tube in London...

Having been to DisneyWorld earlier this year and Disneyland California not that long ago, it was really interesting seeing the French take on Disney. I can confidently say that somehow, despite still being a part of the Disney family, Disneyland Paris is no where near as magical. It didn't seem to be as "extra". After spending a day at DisneyWorld you'll see hundreds of groups in matching T-shirts, the cast members are so incredibly animated, everyone everywhere is singing or laughing and that's my favourite thing about Disney. (We still wore our matching T-shirts, but that's just because we're super extra...) Disneyland Paris just didn't have the same feel to it! It's definitely still worth the visit, it's Disney! But I think that in the future I'll definitely wait the extra time to save up and travel the distance to Florida! Not to mention the fact that watching the fireworks whilst trying not to freeze to death really isn't the same!

So top tips for Disneyland Paris?

1. As always, make the most of every minute in the magic! Even if you do need to take a break, do it in the magic! Don't spend your time rushing from ride to ride, remember to stop and enjoy the atmosphere. Go to as many shows, parades and special events as you possibly can. HAVE FUN!

2. Get your fast passes first thing in the morning. If half your party's going to the park earlier, let them take your passes with them. Make sure you scan all the passes at the entrance to be allowed to get fast passes though! The fast pass attendants are a lot more flexible in Paris so don't be afraid to try and get in early if it will make your time at Disney less stressful. It's a good idea to have a list in your head of the rides you want to go on and roughly how long their queue times are so you can prioritise those throughout your trip.

3. Make sure you have your travel to the park planned out, whether that's by train or plane, ensure you know where you're going, what ticket you need and what the timings are to save you some time and money!

4. Because of the way fast passes work, it is difficult to plan a trip to Disneyland Paris, but at least make a list of the rides and attractions you want to see and do. That way you can prioritise them and make sure you get to see everything you want to.

Ok so now you've heard about my experiences and heard all of my tops tips! Fancy booking your own trip to Disneyland Paris? Drop me a message and I can help book it for you! You'll even get some exclusive Disneyland insider tips! Contact me here to book!

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