Ever wondered what you need to know when planning your trip to Disneyland Paris? Want to know some hints and tips for your trip? Well here are a few tips to start with when planning your visit!
Where to stay?
With 6 on-site hotels available at Disneyland Paris, you have loads of options for where to stay! The Disneyland Hotel is located at the entrance of Disneyland Park with some rooms offering views of Main Street USA and Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. As well, hotels such as Newport Bay Club, Sequoia Lodge, Hotel Cheyenne, Hotel Santa Fe and Hotel New York – The Art of Marvel (Currently closed for renovations, due to open in Summer 2020) are all amazing themed hotels and all vary in price range to suit your budget.
There are also a number of partner hotels available within close proximity to Disneyland Park. I personally would recommend the hotels located in the Serris, Val d Europe area; HiPark by Adagio, Adagio Hotel, Hotel l’Elysee or Relais spa. These hotels are located right near a huge shopping mall which has a grocery store called “Auchan”, so it’s great to stock up on snacks and drinks for your stay.
How to get to Disneyland Paris?
Despite the name, Disneyland Paris is not actually located in the heart of Paris. It is about 32 km (20 miles) east of the city, located in Marne-La-Vallee, Chessy. However, no matter where you are staying, getting to Disneyland is easy!
Staying on-site?
If you’re staying on-site in one of the 6 Disney hotels, there is a shuttle service available that runs to and from your hotel to Disneyland Park. These shuttles leave the hotel every 12 minutes and run 7 days a week between 6:30am – 11:00pm. The shuttles from Disneyland Park are located opposite the Marne-La-Vallee SNCF Train Station, near the security entrance to the Disney Village (Super easy to locate!).
Staying at a Partner Hotel?
The partner hotels mentioned above all have a free shuttle bus service to and from Disneyland Park and are also about a 20 minute walk to the Park.
***TIP*** If you are getting these hotel shuttle buses, you can pick up a bus time schedule from your hotel or download the app “Zenbus” to track the bus times in real time!
Staying in Paris?
Depending on where you are staying in the city you may need to get your closest Metro to any stop that joins the train line “RER A” (Red Line). You can then get the RER A towards “Marne La Vallee, Chessy” where you will get off at this stop directly at Disneyland Park. The RER A trip takes around 40 minutes. (Nation, Gare de Lyon, Chatelet, Auber and Charles de Gaulle-Etoile are some of the main stations that have the RER A Line)
The link below includes a helpful map of the City metro lines. (If you have any questions about this, please ask me! After a year of navigating the Paris train lines, I have become a bit of a master!)
https://parisbytrain.com/paris-metro-rer-map/
The cost of the train is not too expensive either. You can get a 1 way trip ticket for around €2. However, if you’re staying longer you can get a 1 week ticket, a “Navigo”, for around €22.80. The 1 week ticket gives you unlimited public transport for the week. You can purchase these tickets from a ticket machine at any station or from the station service desk and speak to someone to help purchase tickets. The link below has more information on train ticket type and costs.
https://www.ratp.fr/en/titres-et-tarifs/navigo-monthly-and-weekly-travel-passes
***TIP*** If you are purchasing a single trip ticket to and from the City to Disneyland, I would recommend purchasing your return trip ticket at the same time you purchase your first ticket. 9 out of 10 times in the afternoon/night, the lines to use the train ticket machines at Marne-La-Vallee Station are ridiculously long! Save yourself the hassle (and more lines) and buy your return ticket in advance! You can thank me later!
Where to meet Mickey Mouse?
The one who started it all, Mickey Mouse! Meeting Mickey is a must do when visiting Disneyland and I’ve got all the info on where to find him!
Mickey has his very own photo location in Disneyland Paris where guests can line up to meet him and take their photo together. “Meet Mickey Mouse” is located in Fantasyland, just behind Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride (you can’t miss that one!).
Mickey will sometimes do a meet and greet throughout the Park as well, depending on the different seasons. For example, during Halloween season, you can usually meet Mickey in his festive outfit in Frontierland near the Cowboy Cookout. These meet and greets aren’t usually programmed and can be changed without notice, so be sure to keep an eye out or ask a Cast Member on the day for more information.
What is a FAST PASS &
what rides have FAST PASS available?
FAST PASS is a system that allows you to avoid long lines on certain rides. There is no additional cost to use the FAST PASS service and the process is easy!
1. Simply scan your Park Admission ticket at a FAST PASS machine at the entrance of the attraction you wish to ride.
2. You will be presented with another ticket with your time to return to the attraction. E.g. “Return Between 12:00pm and 1:00pm”.
3. Enjoy other attractions while you wait.
4. At your designated time, return to the special FAST PASS entrance of the ride and enjoy the ride almost instantly!
There are also child swap options available for adults with children so that both adults can go on the ride without having to line up twice. You can ask a cast member at the attraction for more information.
Not all rides have the fast pass service available. The list below is all Fast Pass available rides:
Disneyland Park:
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril, Adventureland Star Wars: Hyperspace Mountain, Discoveryland
Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast*, Discoveryland
Big Thunder Mountain, Frontierland
Peter Pan’s Flight, Fantasyland
Star Tours, Discoveryland
Walt Disney Studios Park:
Rock’n’Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith, Backlot
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Production Courtyard Ratatouille: The Adventure, Toon Studio
My personal recommendation is to FAST PASS Big Thunder Mountain and Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast. Both rides are extremely popular and can have much longer wait times than other rides, so it’s great to skip those long lines! They’re also both so much fun!!
How many days do you need?
Personally, I think you can never have too many days at Disneyland…. with that being said, if you are on a time limit with your travels there are a few options for you!
It does really depend on who you’re travelling with, you may need more time if travelling with children or less time with adults. In general, I would suggest 2 days at Disneyland Park and 1 day at Walt Disney Studios. (These are 3 full on days…. so if you prefer a slower pace, add some extra days!)
You can purchase 2, 3 and 4 day tickets which includes access to both parks. If you are lucky enough to be staying any longer, there are 4 different annual passes available with some that are not too expensive, so if you plan on entering the park multiple times it’s well worth it!
Best time to visit?
Now everyone has a different idea of the “best time to visit Disneyland”. So depending on whether you enjoy Christmas festivities, cool/hot weather or just want short lines for rides there is a different best time to visit.
Disneyland Paris has different entertainment seasons throughout the year. There is the Halloween and Christmas season which see the park decorated head to toe in wonderful Disney magic, with special entertainment such as parades, shows and character meet and greets. They also have other seasons such as Princess and Pirates festival, Marvel Summer of Superheros and currently the Festival of the Lion King to name a few. These seasons are usually only limited time.
If you prefer short attraction wait times and don’t mind some cooler weather, then visiting between November and March (minus the week of Christmas and New Years) will have fewer crowds in the park. The week of Christmas and the first week of January is a busy time in the park, so try to avoid going then if you can.
July and August are peak summer times in the park, so crowds will be higher as the weather is warmer in Paris at this time.
When booking your trip it is also important to keep in mind the holiday times around Europe and the UK. There are a lot of guests visiting during England school holidays as well as Spanish school holidays.
The park is visited by many people all over Europe, so if low crowds are an important thing for you, do some research on different holiday times around Europe, as well as public/bank holidays in France as these are times to avoid!
Language
Last but not least, people are always worried that when visiting Disneyland Paris and do not speak French, they will find it difficult to navigate around.
Not to fear! Almost all Disneyland Cast Members speak English as well as French. There are many cast members from all over Europe and the world, so more often than not a Cast Member will understand multiple languages or will be able to find you someone who speaks your language. But for my English speaking friends, you will not have any trouble understanding. Though if you do speak a little French, then give it a go! It’s nice to show that you are trying to speak the language even if you only know a little, plus it’ll give you a good chance to practice!
So there you have it! This is just scratching the surface of some of the top tips to know when planning your trip to Disneyland Paris.
Be sure to follow along on Instagram @journeywithjadee for more updates, with new posts and more Disney planning tips to come!
Leave a comment below and tell me what you would like to know about Disneyland Paris!
xx
Journey with Jade 