We went for a family trip to France (Paris + Provence) this June and we finally got to visit Disneyland Paris this time! We had intended to bring Laurent to Disneyland when we were in Paris 2 years back but the weather was terrible and we did not do any proper planning in advance. This time, we intentionally included it into our itinerary so we did some research beforehand and I’m so thankful we really enjoyed our first Disneyland experience together as a family!

I’ve shared photos and videos of our Disneyland experience on my Instagram (you can still find it pinned to the highlights) and some of you were asking me to share more information. So here’s a blog post to offer some tips which helped to make our Disneyland Paris experience even more “magical” 🙂  Hope you guys will find them useful too!

1. Stay at a Disney Hotel

When we first thought of visiting Disneyland Paris 2 years ago, we didn’t think it was necessary to stay at a Disney Hotel because it is rather convenient to get to Disneyland by train. Even so, it still takes about 1.5 hours to reach there from the city centre, not including walking to the station if you are staying at less accessible places. You might think it’s fine, but when you’re dead beat after a whole day of playing, that might be the last thing you want to do!

Staying at the uniquely themed Disney Hotels also adds to the magic of being at Disneyland, especially for the little ones. We chose to stay at Hotel Santa Fe, a Cars-themed Disney Hotel, because we knew Laurent would be so thrilled by it – and indeed he was!

Moreover, when we visited in June this time, the fireworks shows only happen around 11pm (probably due to the longer days), so it may not be easy to make your way back to the city by public transport by the time you are done.

2. Make Disneyland your First Stop

The good thing about staying at a Disney Hotel, and making Disneyland your first stop in Paris, is the convenience of taking the Magical Shuttle. It is a coach that takes you directly from the airport to any of the Disney Hotels and is particularly useful when you travel directly from the airport because the shuttle caters for luggage space. You book your shuttle tickets online (https://magicalshuttle.co.uk/shuttle/), print out the tickets and proceed to the bus terminal at the airport (Terminal 2F for CDG airport – just walk past the huge Marks & Spencer shop at level 0 and you will see the Magical Shuttle sign).

Image Credit: Magical Shuttle Official Website

The prices are at 23euros for adults and 10euros for children between 2-12. It works perfectly for me as I had to travel to Disneyland Paris with Laurent alone and wait for Wayne to join us at the hotel after his flight from Germany. It felt safer and more convenient than booking or trying to flag a cab at the airport to send us there.

3. Spend at Least 2 Days at the Parks

We spent 4 days 3 nights there and felt that is was barely enough for us to experience everything there! And that was in the summer months where days are longer (sun sets around 10pm). This is another reason why I will totally recommend staying at a Disney Hotel. The Disneyland Park itself is huge and there is also the Walt Disney Studios with rides and shows for you to explore. You need to queue for rides, to take photos with the characters, for food and even to take the train that goes around the park.

4. Utilize the Hotel Easy Pass (if available)

The Hotel Easy Pass was a real bonus for us. I went to Disneyland dreaming of taking a nice photo with the Sleeping Beauty Castle (hopefully not one with hordes of our tourists
around), and we managed to capture a rather decent shot because the Hotel Easy Pass grants us entrance into the park as early as 830am, before it opens to the main crowd at 10am. When we reached the park at 9am, there was already a snaking queue waiting for the park to open, but we managed to skip all the queuing and go straight in with our pass.

Some rides are already open at 830am and some of the characters are already meeting their fans as early as that! I am not sure if the Hotel Easy Pass is available all the time or only during summer months so it is best to check when you are booking a Disney Hotel!

5. Download the Disneyland Paris App

Using the app is so much easier that navigating the park with the usual open up paper map! You has GPS to tell you where you are, you can filter rides by categories, age, height, etc, you get almost real-time update on the waiting time for various rides and understand more about what the rides are about before making your way to the location.

6. Plan Your Meals in Advance

Food is expensive in Disneyland, so it is best if you choose the half board or full board meals option when you are booking your hotel. We chose the half-board option which included breakfast vouchers for express breakfast (which includes 2 bread, a tea/ coffee and a drink) in Disneyland. It also includes vouchers for another buffet meal each day, you can choose to have it any time during the day, so either for lunch or dinner, at selected restaurants in Disneyland.

Besides choosing the meals option when you book you hotel, it helps if you can plan where you want to eat and be there before the peak period or even better, make reservation in advance. The waiting time during peak meal hours (around 7pm for the summer months), can be as crazy as 1 hour or more.

7. Plan Your Activities in Advance

It is useful to note down the activities that you want to go for and the characters you want to meet and cater around 1 hour of queueing time for each activity. We found that most of the kids-friendly rides are in Fantasy World so we went straight to that area and spent most of our time there. There are some kids-friendly rides and shows at the Walt Disney Studios as well and if you purchased tickets for both parks, be sure to allocate at least half a day for the studio! Similarly, for the parades and show, you might want to find out the route/ location and be there about an hour earlier if you can to get good views/ seats.

8. Check with Your Hotel for Character Appearance

Disney characters often make appearances at various Disney Hotels to take photos with the guests at the lobby. We managed to meet Goofy and even Mickey Mouse at our hotel before leaving to take the shuttle bus to Disneyland! The queues are usually more manageable at the hotels and that will help you to save some time from queuing!

9. Leave Souvenir Shopping to the Last Day

There are Disney shops everywhere, even at the hotels. You will be tempted to buy every Mickey and Minnie you come across (or every toy if you have a little one with you), but I
found that leaving the souvenir shopping till the last day gave us, especially Laurent, some time to think about what we really want to get and makes the experience more treasured.

10. Go Shopping at La Ville Outlet Shops

If you are staying at a Disney Hotel and have an afternoon to spare, hop over to La Ville Outlet Shops which is just one train station away! We went for outlet shopping on our last
day, during the afternoon, because we wanted to let Laurent take a nap before we return to the park in the evening for dinner and to wait for the Fireworks show. The arrangement worked our pretty well for all of us – we managed to get some shopping done, Laurent got to take his nap and even had an ice cream, and we returned to the park more refreshed compared the previous few days which had been super intensive!