There is nothing quite like the excitement of booking or planning a trip to Disneyland Paris! I am a HUGE fan of all of that Disney magic, almost as much as my kids are!
We have planned a few visits to Disneyland Paris over the years with our children. Always on self-drive holidays where we booked a Dover to Calais ferry crossing, as we feel this is a more affordable option for us. Because of this we have managed to compile everything you need to know about Disneyland Paris into this one article!
Booking – everything you need to know about Disneyland Paris
If you do your research you will discover that there are a few different ways you can book your Disneyland Paris holiday. However, I find that the best deal is always with Magic Breaks.
Price wise, Magic Breaks offers the better deals. I have booked Disneyland Paris holidays with Magic Breaks twice now and so far I have not been disappointed!
Finding The Best Deal
The best time to book is when the offers are on – of course.
One of the best ways to know about these is to sign up to mailing lists. I’m generally not a fan of doing this. Most of the time I find myself deleting the emails straight away and not even bothering to read them.
However, I am always on the lookout for a good Disney trip and from the emails I can easily see when the deals are just too good to pass up!
Things to do Before Your Trip to Disneyland Paris
Meal Plans
If you’re on a half board or full board meal plan on your Disneyland Paris break make sure you book your meals ahead of time.
This is not always made clear at the time of booking, however, if you want the most choice on where and when you eat, you need to prebook. Here’s a list of restaurants available to you depending on what meal plan you have gone for.
You can book your choices by calling the booking reservations line.
Disney Extras – everything you need to know about Disneyland Paris
This is the best time to arrange and book any Disney extras you would like to do such as a Character Breakfast, Princess Breakfast or Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.
The price of these extras may differ depending on if you have a Meal Plan with your booking. To find out what is available to you and and what cost always best to ask at time of booking.
Apps To Use
Download the Disney app to get the latest news on shows, wait times, Fast Passes, opening times and ride information and restrictions.
This is handy, especially when travelling with little ones who might not be high enough for some of the attractions.
Also, download an app called Lineberty. This is how to book meet and greets with the Disney characters in the Walt Disney Studios Park.
I found this a bit hit and miss. You have to book through the app to meet a character, but it seems that unless you are lucky or go on the app at the exact moment the tickets are realised, you miss out and there are no more tickets left.
However, when I did manage to book a ticket it was all very easy and quick.
This is only used in Walt Disney Studios Park. In the Disneyland Park it is not needed and if you want to meet a character you queue as normal.
Character Meals
Character Breakfast
If you have booked a full or half board meal plan you can make up the price difference and book a character breakfast at the Garden Plaza Restaurant in the Disneyland Paris Park.
This is a truly lovely way for you and your family to meet some of the Disney characters up close and personal and a great way to get those autograph books signed.
It is also very easy as they stop at every table while you tuck into a very tasty buffet breakfast. Yum!
Princess Breakfast
The Princess Breakfast is an opportunity for you to have a one of a kind dining experience with some of your favourite Disney Princesses.
The Princess Breakfast is located at the Auberge de Cendrillon restaurant, just to the right of Cinderella’s Castle.
It’s a great chance for your own princess to dress up as their favourite Disney Princess and snap some lovely photographs all while you tuck into a delicious breakfast served at your table.
All the princess interactions were not rushed and they were very good with both our kids, taking the time to speak to them separately and sign their autograph books. They joked with the baby and chatted with our eldest who was probably a little overwhelmed!
This experience is table service and a little more expensive. To check prices according to your Meal Plan click here.
There are other character dining opportunities in the park such as a buffet lunch at Inventions in the Disneyland Hotel and dinner at Cafe Mickey.
Check In
Make sure you pay attention when checking in to the Disneyland Paris Hotels.
When booking with Magic Breaks I was told we would received a ‘Grab and Go’ breakfast from the hotel in the morning, which was described as a breakfast in a bag you helped yourself to.
However, our ‘Grab and Go’ breakfast was actually a bit more of a sit and eat affair in Videopolis, which is situated in Discoveryland, in the Disneyland Park! We actually preferred this, but it was a little different to what I was told when booking the holiday.
Also, make sure you look after your passes! They act as your room keys, park tickets, access to FastPass and payment for your full or half board meal plans.
10 Points About The Disneyland Paris Park
Fantasyland and Discoveryland
1 You will find most of the rides in Discoveryland and Fantasyland. It is here you will find you spend most of your time.
2 Fantasyland also has lots of rides for the littlest ones among us. So if you are travelling with little ones don’t be surprised if you keep getting pulled back here.
3 Lunch and dinner times in Discoveryland and Fantasyland can be the busiest and the restaurants and fast food places fill up quickly. My tip would be to find somewhere to eat in either Adventureland or Frontierland. These lands don’t have the amount of rides to keep people around for as long, so people pass through them much quicker.
Disneyland Paris Parades
4 Schedule in a parade. The floats are quite impressive and the characters and actors are really interactive. Our little one got a kiss from Tigger!
Fast Pass – everything you need to know about Disneyland Paris
5 Fast Past the busiest rides to keep your wait times as low as possible.
Ratatouille and Crush’s Coaster in the Walt Disney Studios Park and Peter Pan in Fantasyland always have very long queue times. Thunder Mountain, Star Tours and Hyperspace Mountain are also handy Fast Passes in busy periods.
6 If you have an adrenaline junkie in your party bare in mind that the Indiana Jones ride is relatively quiet first thing in the morning.
Check out: Disney World, Florida Fastpass Secrets and Tips here!
Eating and Resting
7 Videopolis, where we picked up breakfast, is essentially a huge room with a stage at the front and tables and seating right across the building.
We found this was a good place for moments of down time as they played old style cartoons on three big screens, which our kids loved! They were happy watching a bit of telly for ten minutes and we got to stop and relax with a coffee. It was a win win!
Keep in mind that this is in Discoveryland though, so it does get busy.
Pushchair Hire – everything you need to know about Disneyland Paris
8 If you don’t want to get to the point where you are carrying your tired and heavy children around the park you can hire buggies at the entrance.
We took our own pushchairs and a baby carrier. However, lots of people were carting their little prince and princesses around in them as you’d be surprised how many miles you cover just walking around!
Fireworks
9 Make sure you stick around or head back to the park for the illumination show on the castle. It’s a great show full of light, music, your favourite Disney stories and fireworks!
Walking from the Disney Hotels
10 The walk to parks from the Disneyland Paris Hotels is really quite enjoyable. Especially as it allows you to have a little nose at all the other hotels along the way.
We felt there was no real need to catch one of the shuttle buses as the walk only takes about 15 minutes to the Disney Village.
Disney Village – everything you need to know about Disneyland Paris
The Disney Village is a great place for a little retail amble. There are lots of places to eat and shopping is plentiful just in case you missed something in the park!
If you go to Disneyland Paris at Christmas time you will find a lovely Christmas market in the Disney Village. All the stalls sell a mix of sweets, mulled wine, roasted chestnuts and yummy cakes and waffles. All with that sprinkle of Mickey Mouse magic and that ever present Walt Disney touch!
You don’t need a park ticket to go into the Disney Village. This means you can pop in here before and after your park days have finished. That’s if you want the magic to last just that little bit longer.
There is paid parking in a multi story car park right next to the Disney Village. It’s really easy to find if you are arriving by car – just follow the road signs for the Disney Village. Simple.
It’s not crazy expensive, but it’s not cheap either. Here are the tariffs as per Dec 2018.
Things To Keep In Mind at Disneyland Paris
If you are travelling to Disneyland Paris with babies be aware that high chairs are not as plentiful as they could be. There were moments when finding a high chair for a very hungry baby was quite stressful.
Character meets in the Disney Park are a bit hit and miss as they don’t stay around for very long.
Disneyland Paris states that all of its parks are non-smoking. There are now designated areas for people to smoke and vape in.
The Princess meet and greets at the Princess Pavilion is always extremely busy. If this is a must see on your list then get there early and be prepared to wait.
Badges are available for free from City Hall in Disneyland as you first enter the park. However, when we were there they didn’t have any. If this is the case your best bet is to go into the hotels and ask for one instead.
Pin it for Later!
Follow Us on Instagram!
Take a closer look at the Princess Breakfast at Disneyland Paris
Why you should book your Disneyland Paris holiday with Magic Breaks
I cannot even explain how helpful this was, especially about the app, meeting the character and where and when places will be the busiest. I am going in Jan and I will re visit this post before then! Thanks so much, fab post xx
Have a fabulous time!
This sounds like fun. Lots to do and experience.
I haven’t been to Disneyland Paris before but been to the original Disneyland so many times. The Disneyland app is such a life saver! The meet and greet with the characters is a great experience for kids. Love these tips! I need to take note of them for my own trip to DL Paris one of these days!
Nancy ♥ exquisitely.me
Wow! I didn’t know there is so much about Disneyland to know. Thank you for sharing all these tips and tricks.
Great ideas and tips, especially apps. I’ll keep these in mind.
I haven’t been to Disney Paris before, but definitely want to visit with my son. Thanks much for these tips. Lovely shots here!
https://www.missymayification.co.uk
Our boys have been to Disneyland and Disneyworld- we’d love to get them here someday!!!!
And we would love to go to Disney World!
I was in Disneyland in August, and stayed in the Explorers Hotel, I had no idea about te=he Grab n’ Go breakfast, that sounds much better than waiting in line for the buffet in the morning!
In all fairness we had to wait in a bit of a line for our Grab and Go to 🙂
I’ve never been to Disney b/c as a child I was never a fan. My boyfriend asked if I wanted to go the other day and after this I have to admit it looks so cute! Might just have to reconsider that one!
Definitely, say yes!
I went to disneyland a few years ago and I wish I had some of these tips! I definitely found fastpasses great for busy rides!
Fast Passes are great!
I heard Disneyland Paris was the first park to introduce the Boutique where kids can dress up as their favorite princesses. Why can’t adults do that?
They do it in California too! So cute!
I would love to go to disneyland paris but it seems daunting to book a trip to disney because there is so much to do/ see! Thank you for this post, so so helpful x
My recent post: https://lifeofellabella.blogspot.com/2018/12/a-festive-day-in-london.html
There is so much to see and do, but a couple of days at the park can be pretty simple
So many great tips! I can’t wait to book a trip so I can use them all! Thank you so much for sharing! I look forward to more great travel tips!
Great stuff!
I haven’t been to Disneyland Paris in YEARS and this makes me want to go in a heartbeat. Such practical tips and it really looks like the happiest place on earth (or France).
Char xo
Bizarrely I’ve never made it to Disneyland with my little one. She never really had huge love for the Disney characters. That said your guide was great. I like how you focused on the possible negatives that will have to be overcome on a visit.
Looks quite a bit different from the Disney Parks in the US!
Hey there!
I have heard that the Efteling in the Netherlands is much better for younger children. Look it up! It’s like a storybook. Hunkie took the kids to Disney and the Efteling and all of the kids liked the Efteling better and want to go back. It is much more personal and not as busy.
Christine xx
Hi, I check your blogs on a regular basis. Your story-telling style is witty, keep doing what you’re doing!
Wow, that’s what I was searching for, what a material!
present here at this blog, thanks admin of this site.
Just wanna say that this is handy, Thanks for taking your time to write this.
This page really has ɑlll the informaton and facts I needed about this subject annd didn’t know who to ask. https://christmaslightbulbtesteronline.blogspot.com/
My partner and I absolutely love your blog and find almost all of your post’s to be just what I’m looking for.
Do you offer guest writers to write content for you
personally? I wouldn’t mind writing a post or elaborating on a number
of the subjects you write about here. Again, awesome website!
Adorable pictures, I really love it. Your information is very helpful for readers and those people who don’t know about specially Disneyland Paris Park. i like your tips and tricks for travel .Thank you for sharing this amazing post.
I’m really glad you found it useful. We have another Disney trip in the works so stay tuned for even more tips!