Below are a few tips for making your European Disney dreams come true:
1.What You’ll Need for a Trip to Disneyland Paris
Planning a trip to Disneyland Paris is much like planning a trip to one of the domestic parks. Before you leave you’ll need to ensure you have the following:
- A Valid Passport
- Roundtrip Airline Tickets to Paris (recommend flying into CDG)
- Hotel Accommodations (recommend staying at a Disneyland Paris Resort)
- Transportation to and from the airport
- Theme Park Tickets
These are the basics. Once you have the basics booked, the rest is super easy and fun!
2. Staying at a Disneyland Paris Resort
There are three ways to book a stay at a Disneyland Paris resort:
- Over the phone (but you’ll need to call internationally and foreign rates may apply)
- Online at DisneylandParis.com
- Through a Disney Travel Agent (most travel agents don’t advertise this service but if they are an authorized Disney travel agent they should be able to book a trip to Disneyland Paris too!)
Unlike in the US, once you book a trip to Disneyland Paris through Disney, it’s really hard to cancel and get your money back, so you’ll need to be sure of your travel dates and take out insurance if you think you’ll need to cancel for any reason.
3. Do You Need to Speak French?
I think the most common misconception is that you need to speak French to go to Disneyland Paris. This couldn’t be further from reality. When Disneyland Paris originally opened in the 90s it was actually called Euro Disney and was supposed to be a place where Europeans from all countries could come and experience the magic of Disney. For this reason, there are cast members that speak several languages and almost all cast members are fluent in both French and English.
Throughout the park itself, most entertainment including shows and rides are dual language, meaning that there is French and English spoken throughout. This is really fun because it ensures you understand the premise of the entertainment while also hearing another beautiful language being spoken. See if you can pick up any French this way!
4. How Many Days Do You Need at Disneyland Paris?
This one depends entirely on your Disney travel style. I’ve spent 4 nights / 5days at Disneyland Paris and I’ve spent 1 night at Disneyland Paris.
There are 2 parks: Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park. If you just want a “taste” of Disney on your wider Parisian vacation, then a day at the parks is doable. You likely won’t be able to ride EVERYTHING but you’ll experience the magic. I would recommend at least 2 days at the parks so you can do one day at each (although some may argue that WDSP is more of a half day park and Disneyland is more of a 2-day park).
If you want to really relax, enjoy the resorts, and soak up the Disney experience, then I recommend 3-4 days.
5. What if You Want to Go to Paris?
Disneyland offers several day trips from the parks. This can be a GREAT option for first time European travelers who are a bit unsure about exploring the country alone and don’t want to move hotels halfway through their vacation.
6. Getting From the Airport to Disneyland Paris
Disneyland Paris is located in Marne-la-Vallee, France, which is about an hour away from the CDG airport as well as about an hour from Paris city center. The best way to get from the airport to Disneyland is really by taxi or Uber. This will cost you roughly 50-60 euro each way but it’s the most efficient.
Alternative options are to go by train or bus. If you take the train you will need to take the main line from CDG to Paris and then transfer to another line that goes from Paris to Marne-la-Vallee and this will take about 2 hours. It is much cheaper however.
If you choose to go by bus, Disney does offer their own version of a Magical Shuttle. This costs about 26 euro per person and is VERY slow. Buses leave CDG every half hour and they do dropoffs at every Disney hotel with the first being Newport Bay. On my recent trip, I sat on the shuttle for over an hour and half after waiting 30 minutes for the bus to depart from the airport. This ate into very valuable park time. For a family of 4, it’s actually cheaper to take a taxi than it is to take the Magical Shuttle.
7. Disneyland Paris App
Disneyland Paris has a mobile application that provides up-to-date wait times as well as maps and entertainment schedules. It is a valuable resource when figuring out how to navigate around the parks throughout the day.
8. FastPasses
Disneyland Paris has a FastPass system just like the parks in the States. Similar to Disneyland (pre-MaxPass) you get a paper FastPass outside of the entrance to the rides that offer them. One thing to note about FastPasses is that all are distributed by 2pm each day so you want to try and take advantage of these as soon as you enter the park.
Unlike the parks in the States, Disneyland Paris offers a premium FastPass ticket that you can purchase in advance (in addition to your theme park admission) that guarantees you FastPass access onto certain rides. This can be a great addition to your arsenal if you’re going on a very busy day and want to ensure you get to experience some of the best rides.
9. Extra Magic Time
If you are staying at a Disneyland Hotel, then you will be given access to extra magic time each morning which begins an hour and half before regular park openings. This time is EXTREMELY valuable. You are able to get most of the biggest rides out of the way within this window. It’s also crucial that you take advantage of these if you have any hope of waiting less than 60 minutes for Crush’s Coaster in WDSP (which is the BEST ride at Disneyland Paris, in my opinion, and has no FastPass).
10. Dining
Just like at the U.S. parks, Disneyland Paris offers quick service, table service, and character buffet dining options. Reservations are highly encouraged and you need to call Disneyland Paris directly to make them (another great reason to go through a Disney Travel Agent for this trip). You can also make them upon arrival at the concierge counter of your hotel but you risk not getting the ideal reservations if you wait.
There are meal plan options that you can purchase with your resort stay. These are half board and full board meal plans (which come with 2 and 3 meals per day respectively). The meal plan is a great option for saving money as some of the restaurants can actually be quite pricey. That said, if you choose the meal plans, then you are relegated to the specific meal plan menu at certain restaurants, so there are pros and cons to both.
That about covers it. Did you find this article helpful? Are there any additional questions or areas you’re curious about? Comment below!
