Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Paris 2019 what an amazing time we had! We decided to take our son for his 4th birthday and he absolutely loved it. We arrived into Paris around 9am and we jumped into our private transfer to take us to Newport Bay Club Hotel. The transfer took approximately 40 minutes and before we knew it, we had arrived. We were met by security guards and X ray machines to check our suitcases. It was all a bit overwhelming at first, but you got used to it after the first time. Check in was extremely busy but well controlled. We were given our welcome pack with our cards for the theme parks in and told to return at 3pm when our room would be ready. We left our suitcases with the hotel and headed on down to the parks.

A short 10-15-minute walk takes you right around the lake to the entrance, but the shuttle buses were running every half an hour if you didn't fancy the walk (we chose this option a few times, but the walk was quite nice). Again, lots of security presence when we arrived, and metal detectors/bag checks were done upon entry.

We arrived on a Wednesday and it was quite busy, by Friday and Saturday the parks were extremely busy with queues of up to 70 minutes average for the more popular rides. My tip would be to try and get at least 1/2 days through the week so you can make the most of your time there.

We soon discovered that the price of food was pretty extortionate, and we didn't have a dining plan so all of ours had to be paid for. I had accounted for this before we went but if I was to return I would 100% make sure we had a half board dining plan at a minimum.

With staying in the Disney resort, you get 'extra magic hours' where basically the parks open to Disney customers an hour earlier (08.30-09.30). This was a godsend for the more popular rides. Our little boy loved the Buzz Lightyear laser ride, so we used this time to go on that each morning and a few of the other popular rides (It’s a small world, Peter pan, Pinocchio). It’s very long days while you are there, Noah is 4 and all he did was complain his legs were tired. I would definitely consider taking a pushchair for under 4's or you could hire one when you are there, children of all ages were in them! We wanted to make sure we saw the illuminations one night, so we had the morning in the parks then walked back to our hotel for a little afternoon nap then headed back out for tea and the illuminations. I have to say they were amazing! You won’t understand until you see them, but they literally brought a tear to my eyes. They were on every night at 7.30pm at the castle.

We didn't have a plan for our trip, we just kind of went with the flow or what our legs where telling us. This meant that we were not disappointed if we missed a certain ride or never got to see our favourite character.

In a nutshell I would definitely recommend a stay in the Disney resorts. With a meal plan. Take plenty of snacks for the parks. Don't miss the illuminations and most of all take your kids before they get too old!

It’s the most magical place in the world.