I have been to Disneyland Paris before, twice in fact. Once in 2003 on a road trip around France just for the day, and once in 2005 on a day trip from Paris. At the time I thought one day to visit 2 parks was enough. But looking back, I didn’t realise what I was missing out on by not staying in a Disneyland hotel and making full use of being onsite.

Fast forward to 2023, my family and I (including my Mum & stepdad) were due to fly to Barcelona to go on a Mediterranean cruise. Then through unforeseen circumstances we had to cancel because my husband wasn’t going to be able to come. I came up with alternative holidays for me to do with my children (who were 14 and 11 at the time). I decided to take them to Disneyland Paris as we had never been, I knew my husband wasn’t interested in going there (because he’d been spoilt by the Orlando parks). It was just going to be me and my daughters, but my Mum and my stepdad decided to come with us and because this was going to be our one holiday for the year, I didn’t want to just do the standard 3 nights that most people do when they go to Disneyland Paris. I wanted it to feel like a holiday, so I booked for us to go for 6 nights.

A few weeks later, our situation changed and my husband could now come. So after amending the booking it was now back up to all 6 of us going on our family holiday!

We stayed at Disney’s Newport Bay Club, which is a moderate level resort, less than 10 minutes’ walk to the parks. I was impressed from the moment we arrived. It has a nautical theme throughout with blues and whites and subtle Disney touches. Check in was easy, and we were very happy with our room.

With 6 nights ahead of us, we knew we didn’t need to rush around the parks. And this is the important bit. We had breakfast in the hotel every morning (it was included in our meal plan) and we headed out to the parks after 10am every morning. We missed early entry for resort guests every day! We took our time. We fully explored the parks, took in all of the details, paid attention and made no plans. We had no fast passes, and we went on all of the rides. We saw all of the shows, and we ate in multiple restaurants around the parks, the Disney Village, and even in the Art of Marvel hotel.

We even had time to visit the huge shopping mall about 20 minutes’ drive from Disneyland.

Most people who visit Disneyland Paris stay for 3 nights, and not always on site. You can definitely ‘do’ Disneyland Paris in 3 days, but why not spend a bit longer, and treat it like a holiday?

Have you been to Disneyland Paris before? And if so, how long did you stay? If not, get in touch and let me help you plan your own holiday to Disneyland Paris.