Disneyland Paris

Having been to Disneyland Paris before without any children, we were really looking forward to visiting again this time with our 4 year old daughter Lilia. We broke the news to her a few weeks before we departed and she was so excited. We took the Eurostar from Ebbsfleet and travelled in standard premier class, which meant we had breakfast on the way out and an evening meal on the way back. We departed around 10:35 and just over 2 hours later we were there. All the children were given a Disneyland Paris bag, which was full of activities they were able complete onboard the train. Lilia loved completing the puzzles and reading about the Disney parks.

Once there we took our cases straight to the Disney Express luggage desk. I had paid extra for the Disney express service and I would really recommend doing it, as it meant we could go straight into the parks and our cases were delivered to the hotel for when we checked in later that day. It also meant I could take a case with all our clothes and toiletries in and then another case with snacks and drinks in, which saved us money and meant we did not have to buy any food or drink in the parks. It saved us time and the hassle of getting our luggage to and from the hotel. We were there for 2 nights and had 2 days. When we arrived the weather was very wet so we headed straight to the studios and spent the afternoon seeing various shows which meant we were able to stay out of the rain as much as possible.

I booked Disney’s Newport Bay hotel which is a 3 star hotel and was about a 10 minute walk from the park gates. The hotel was great, but we spent very little time in the room. Our room was on the Admirals floor where we had a lovely lakeside view. The breakfast at the Newport Bay was buffet breakfast and there was plenty of choice with everything from croissants and toast to fruit and cereal. We were also very fortunate to have our photo taken with Minnie Mouse on the last morning, as the characters are in the reception area at certain times of the day.

We spent the second day in the main Disneyland Park and took advantage of the ‘Magic Hours’ which meant that we were able to enter the park two hours before the general public were allowed in. We headed straight to Fantasyland as this was the main area that appealed to our little girl. The highlights were definitely the ‘It’s a Small World’ ride and for our daughter she will always remember having her photo taken with Rapunzel, a truly magical moment for any 4 year old little girl who likes princesses. I would thoroughly recommend taking advantage of any rides offering a fast pass, which means you take a ticket and return to the ride in the designated time slot. That way you only have to queue for a very short time and it’s free. Other highlights that day were Thunder Mountain and the Buzz Lightyear ride, which is a laser gun ride where you score points for hitting targets and I have to confess to being beaten by a 4 year old. But the best moment of all was the Disney parade, which was magical. We got in our position about 30 minutes before to ensure we were in a good spot and at the front. We eventually left the park at 9pm and had a lovely meal in Planet Hollywood before heading back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep.

We spent our final day back in the Walt Disney studios park and enjoyed going on all the rides that we still needed to fit in. My little girl loved the magic carpet ride, Crushes Coaster from Finding Nemo and the Lilo and Stitch show. The parade was also well worth seeing. Snow white made my little girl’s day by waving at her and recognising that they were both wearing the same dress. We finished the day with a little bit of souvenir shopping and then headed back to the station for our train home.

We all had a fantastic time and can’t wait to return one day with our younger daughter as well.