Disneyland Resort Paris - A truly magical place for both young & old
Once on board the train you can sit back and relax and enjoy the ride! The train pulled out of the station bang on time and then we are on our way. There are also buffet carriages that allow you to purchase a light snack or drink. The Eurostar train stops briefly at Ebbsfleet International station and at Ashford in Kent where passengers board the train. After a short while you say goodbye to England and enter The Channel Tunnel on route to France. On exiting the tunnel on the French side the trains speedily continues and until it reaches the station at Lille for a brief stop, before continuing onto Disneyland Resort Paris.
Arrival at Marne La Vallee station for Disneyland Resort Paris is excellent with well positioned sign posts indicating your way to the upper concourse to where you would leave your luggage if you have the Disney Express service. From here it is delivered straight to the Disney hotel that you are staying in – no hauling round heavy bags! No time wasted we headed straight into the Disney Parks, which only took a short seven or eight minute walk from station. To the left hand side of you is the Disney Village which offers a whole host of shops and a good choice of places to eat or grab a light snack and drink. There is a McDonalds, an Annette's Dinner, plus a 15 screen cinema.
As you make your way to the Magic Kingdom your eyes become fixed upon the beautiful Disneyland Hotel at the entrance in all its glory; pastel shades of pink and beautifully colourful flowers adorn this area, which is complete with spectacular water fountains – what a welcome!
A quick pass through the turnstiles and you are in. It is not long before you set eyes on some of the Disney characters that are out and about in the park. Many of the guests are having their photos taken with them! Directly in front of you is Main Street leading down towards the beautiful Cinderella's Castle and Adventure, Discovery, Fantasy and Frontier lands that lead off it.
The afternoon brought a show of Mickey's Magical moments with some of the Disney characters performing on the stage in front of castle. The Magical Kingdom has an excellent choice of rides to suit all ages from the very young to the more adventurous teenagers or even adults who like the wilder faster rides. The park has the Dumbo Elephants ride, the Spinning Tea Cups, the Alice in Wonderland Maze, the Peter Pans ride where you fly up high, "It’s a Small World" - a great for little girl's, the fast rides like Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Indiana Jones Roller coaster ride and many more besides!
Afternoon brings the daily procession when all the public do their best to grab a good vantage point to enjoy the fantastic floats parade down the Main street, with Mickey and Minnie at the head. This is one of the things that you cannot afford to miss; colourful and gigantic floats with all your favourite Disney characters move past you, all the while singing and dancing and waving to you all - the children just adore this and it is what I think Disney do so well!
The other park that is next door to the Magic Kingdom is the Walt Disney Studios. This again is excellent with a great choice of rides, where you will find the Tower of Terror, Rock N Roller Coaster, The Crushes Coaster ride, the magic carpet and many others.
You can come and go between the two parks at your convenience, meaning that you really will never be bored and have plenty of different rides to enjoy.
The hotels in Disneyland Resort Paris can suit all budgets, the Santa Fe and Cheyenne Hotels are clean and comfortable family accommodation. In the Cheyenne it is possible to have a room with one double bed and 2 bunk beds for the children. The higher graded Sequoia Lodge and Newport Bayclub hotels offer a higher standard of room, having 1093 rooms and a swimming pool. The Disneyland Hotel has 476 rooms and 18 Suites.
Why not go and experience the magic?