Christmas at Disneyland
Being passionate about Disney myself, I wanted my daughter to follow in my footsteps and love it as much as I do - I'm pleased to say she does!
Transport We took the Eurostar from St Pancras, which was fairly straight forward and spent 2 hours and 52 minutes on the train. It wasn't busy, so there was plenty of room for little ones to walk around and enough to keep an inquisitive little toddler busy!
Half way through the journey, a Disneyland Paris Representative passed through the carriage and handed us an envelope, with our hotel and meal vouchers, as well as our park tickets and Disney Express passes.
Disney Express Once we arrived in Marne le Vallee (Disneyland Paris train station), we proceeded upstairs to drop out bags off at Disney Express. This is a fantastic option for anyone arriving by Eurostar, you drop your bags off and get a ticket and go straight into the park - saving time! Well worth paying for as you then don't see your bags until you get to your hotel. Fabulous!
We then headed off into the park for an afternoon of fun. After having a look around the park and Darcie enjoying the snow on Main Street, we headed to our hotel for the next 3 nights.
Hotels We stayed at the Newport Bay hotel, which is around a 15 minute walk from the parks, through the Disney Village. Around the lake, there is also the Disney’s New York Hotel and the Disney’s Sequoia Lodge, which are within walking distance of the parks. Each hotel has its own theme and the Newport Bay is based on a colonial New England Mansion, with wonderful maritime feel. We had a lovely room, overlooking the lake.
Extra Magic Hours Daily, we had breakfast in the hotel and made use of the Extra Magic Hours, where the Disneyland Park opens at 8am. The park opens to the general public at 10am, so you get to do some of your favourite rides, before the masses descend! I would also recommend visiting Mickey in these first few hours, as the queue is next to nothing and we didn't even wait 5 minutes, it was great!
The Walt Disney Studios doesn't open until 10am, but again, get in there as early as possible and you can do most things without a huge queue. I would recommend heading over to Ratatouille first thing, to avoid any large queues, as this is a very popular attraction.
We managed to go on most of the main attractions without any fuss, and even got to meet a Princess and a few of the characters.
Restaurants The restaurants are fantastic at catering for children and anyone with an allergy, they have plenty of choice, even on set menus and I would highly recommend paying the extra for Half or Full Board Plus as it takes the stress away from the cost and helps you budget for your trip.
We booked the Full Board Plus option, which gave us access to various buffet and table service restaurants. The first evening, we decided to eat in the hotel, as it had been a long day, so we chose Cape Cod, the Mediterranean buffet restaurant. We weren't disappointed, there was enough choice for all of us and plenty of it.
I would also highly advise to pre book restaurants, especially for the evening. They can get booked up very quickly whilst you are there and unfortunately, I didn't book anything on this occasion, apart from Café Mickey. All restaurants can be pre booked up to 60 days prior to arrival (this is whether you have a meal option or are paying for it yourself.
Another wonderful thing about having the Half or Full Board Plus option, is that you can use Café Mickey for lunch or dinner and it's included in the price. Café Mickey provides character dining for breakfast, lunch and dinner and is an awesome experience, especially if you haven't managed to see all your favourite characters. We met Mickey, Minnie, Eeyore, Geppetto, Tigger, Goofy and Pluto. To see the children’s faces when the characters appear is just magical, and they get a chance to play with them!
Photo Pass What a wonderful idea – advisable to pre book for £45 (in resort its €59.99), this photo pass allows you to download any photo that has been taken either on a ride or by one of the cast members, onto an app. A huge saving on photos and they stay on the app for one year, so you can easily use them when you return home. Finally, you can get pictures of the whole family, without asking someone to use your own camera!
Christmas Season at Disneyland Paris One of my favourite times to visit is at Christmas. Snow on Main Street, a visit to Santa, Christmas Tree lighting parade and various other Christmas themed parades, characters and shows. It really brings the Christmas magic to life.
As well as Christmas, they have a great Halloween period, summer season and currently, there is a wonderful celebration of 25 Years at Disneyland Paris, with specialist theme shows and the illuminations.
If a visit to Disney is on your list, contact me for the most up to date information, advice on hotels, dining options and prices, call me today on 01183 914650 or email sarah.clarke@travelcounsellors.com
