High Five with a Donkey!

You can fly, drive or take the train to Disneyland Paris. We decided to take the train (as our 2yr old grandson loves buses & trains) so arrived directly in the park & took advantage of the baggage transfer so on arrival we could hit the ground running and enjoy the parks straight away. Our luggage was taken from the train to the hotel directly & we just collected on arrival when we checked in later in the day.

There’s lots of pf accommodation options to suit all budgets & tastes. We opted to stay at the 4* Disney’s Newport Bay Club which is located overlooking Lake Disney & a 15mins walk to the Parks (although always felt longer when your 2yr old grandson wants to walk every where & refuses to go in his pushchair). Disneyland Paris has 2 parks - the Disneyland Park (like the Parisian Magic Kingdom) and the Studios - both are fabulous with lots going on and are suitable for all age groups. If you’re character spotting and autograph hunting, Toy Story Land and the Marvel characters are located at the Studios along with other attractions and rides. Your favourite Disney princesses, Mickey, Minnie and friends are all in the Disneyland Park.

A programme advised of the times and locations of the character meet and greets and the parade. At most attractions there is information estimating the queuing time, if it was too long, we went back later. There is also the Fast pass service you can pre-purchase on some rides which books you a time to return and ride. Most of the rides’ queues are undercover as Disneyland Paris is in Europe with European winter weather being the same as the UK!

Make sure you don’t miss character parade through Disneyland in the late afternoon, it gets very busy with tourists sitting on the pavements lining the streets for a glimpse of their favourite characters dancing to popular Disney theme tunes. Plus, there’s a nighttime spectacular show centred around Sleeping Beauty’s castle with music, fireworks, laser shows and projected images onto the castle.

To guarantee meeting the characters I’d highly recommend pre-booking at least one Character Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner as characters change at different venues. All the main characters stopped at our table & took time to make a fuss of our grandson & were happy to have pictures taken with us.

We all agreed we will return but next time we’ll stay at Christmas & stay at the Disneyland Hotel!