Traveling with Kids: Disneyland Paris

What’s better than a trip to Europe? Well, according to my 11 year old, a trip to Europe with a stop-over at Disneyland Paris! 

Disney is, and always has been, the best trip to take with little kids. No matter how little your little, it’s a place full of fun, color and understanding— seriously, who doesn’t have a crying baby and a stroller at Disney? Our toddler enjoyed every exhausting minute at Disney when she was a toddler! She loved meeting the Princesses (Cinderella and Elena were her favorites), riding Aladdin’s Carpet and swirling on It’s a Small World. It was fun then, but it was actually even more fun now!

Visiting Disney with Older Kids

As our daughter got older, ie influenced by influencers, she started talking more and more about the international Disney destinations. While we were planning a summer trip to Paris, the relentless begging to visit Disneyland Paris began, so we gave in and took her to Disney’s two parks in Paris: Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park. Like all of the Disney properties, it’s great for families with kids of all ages. I always knew Disney was great for babies/toddlers, but I now see the value for big kids, too. With them— it’s FUN! They can decide what rides they want to go on (or wait on long lines for), where they want to eat, what night-time events it’s worth staying up late for, and which rides are too scary— or just exciting enough.

How to get to Disneyland Paris (from Paris or the airport)

Getting from Disnleyland Paris to the city of Paris (or vice versa), you have a few options. You can take the train, the bus or an Uber. We went the Uber route which was easy and not expensive at all for the whole family— the ride was about 45 minutes.

If you’re arriving or leaving from Charles de Gaulle airport, the Magical Shuttle Bus makes it easy. You schedule this separately from your park experience. It takes you from the airport directly to your Disney hotel. This isn’t big and flashy like the Disney Magical Express bus in Orlando, but it gets you where you need to go (especially when you’re jet lagged like we were after a red-eye from NY).

Hotels Near Disneyland Paris

There are great hotel choices near Disneyland Paris. We stayed at Disney Hotel NY, the Art of Marvel, which was filled with cool Marvel decor. It was a chic, upscale hotel that felt sophisticated yet still fun. The pool was beautiful (it’s both indoor and outdoor) and the restaurant (where we had a buffet brunch) was actually really good. The best thing about the hotel is that it’s only a ten minute walk to the park. It’s incredibly convenient— leading you straight through Disney Village— great for quick bites and souvenir shops (all Disney themed).

Best Disney Hotels in Paris

There are 7 Disney hotels to choose from while visiting Paris. The newly reimagined, Disneyland Hotel, is the first 5-star hotel in the world dedicated to Disney Royalty. It’s set right at the foot of the park and brings a princess feel to your family’s visit. Dine with Disney characters and relish in every moment of your royal fairy tale experience.

Disneyland Hotel

Disney Hotel NY, the Art of Marvel

Disney’s Newport Bay Club

Disney Hotel Santa Fe

Disney Sequoia Lodge

Disney Hotel Cheyenne

Disney Davy Crockett Ranch

Buying Tickets for Disneyland Paris

You can either buy a ticket valid for the 2 parks, allowing you to go freely from one park to the other during your day or you can purchase a 1-park ticket. Ticket prices vary depending on the season and how far in advance you are booking tickets.

Map for Disneyland Paris

It’s a great idea to have the app open to the map and to plan out your day beforehand. We literally did a counter-clockwise circle which was very do-able at each of the parks.

Castle at Disneyland Paris

The castle at Disneyland Paris is beautiful, like all of the castles at Disney! The Paris castle, known as the Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant, is twice as tall as the original Sleeping Beauty castle in Disneyland California and is even more elaborate. You can visit two floors of decorative stained glass windows with scenes from the Sleeping Beauty tale and also visit the Dragon’s Lair down below. 

Once you’ve seen the inside, step back out for that perfect castle back-drop photo. The exterior of the castle faces South— built this way so that the castle would not be backlit for those wishing to capture the perfect princess photo in front!

5 Best Disneyland Paris Rides for Little Kids

It’s a Small World (newly refurbished and more colorful than ever!)

Peter Pan’s Flight

Dumbo the Flying Elephant

Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast

Disneyland Railroad

5 Best Disneyland Paris Rides for Tweens, Teens and Adults

Ratatouille : The Adventure

Crush’s Coaster

Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain 

Alice’s Curious Labyrinth

Autopia

*Ratatouille and Crush’s Coaster are exclusive to Disneyland Paris!

Scariest Rides at Disneyland Paris

There are currently seven roller coasters in the two theme parks (Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios).

Tower of Terror (This wins scariest in our book for sure! If you like drops-this is for you!)

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril

Avengers Assemble: Flight Force

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain

Best Family Show at Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Paris launched a brand-new musical show :  Alice & The Queen of Hearts : Back to Wonderland.  Guests of the Walt Disney Studios Park are brought into the topsy-turvy and colorful world of Alice in Wonderland during an exclusive new stage show that offers a modern and flamboyant twist on the beloved Disney Animation classic. This energy-packed musical brings together various types of performers. The best part? Families are able to influence the outcome of this show.

5 Tips for Visiting Disneyland Paris with Kids

Buy a Premium Access pass— it makes the lines much shorter. Disneyland Paris didn’t seem to have lines as long as Disney Florida (we saw 30-50 mins versus the 2+ hours we’ve experienced in Florida), but it still helps.

Start early in the day! The night events are gorgeous, but your kids won’t make it so enjoy the time they can. And let the nap happen if it happens, you can pull over into the shade and enjoy the break. Disneyland Paris can be done in less than a day (per park), you don’t have to cram everything in.

Take the stroller! It’s worth it. Again, that nap! Disneyland Paris is not overwhelmingly large, it’s actually a very reasonable size.

Do one park per day. If you spend one day at each park, you can reasonably see everything the kids will enjoy plus take some downtime to enjoy the pools and sites at your hotel.

Download the app. It’s so much easier to keep all of your reservations organized in one place. You can do your premiere access passes, meals, and more here. You can book new things and cancel just as easily through the app.

Disney Premiere Access

If you’re not into waiting on long lines (I mean, who is with kids!?), you can certainly splurge for the Disney Access passes. With Disney Premier Access Ultimate, you get quick entry for all eligible rides (there are some good ones on this list)— plus you don’t need to book times, just show up when you’re ready. With Disney Premier Access One, you can pick the specific rides that you want to get onto more quickly, booked at a specific time slot. These can be pricey, but they are seriously worth it. Just know you won’t be the only one with an access pass, but these lines were significantly shorter than the regular line at every single ride at Disneyland Paris.

Photos: ©Disney and (c) Disney – PIXAR