Last week I visited Disneyland/Paris for the week and wanted to share some of the photos of my time there! I loved Disneyland Paris and I had an amazing time. In comparison to the Florida Disneyland World Resort (which I have been also lucky to visit a couple of times) it is a bit smaller and some of the rides aren't in this park (such as Splash Mountain) but it's just as amazing and I have a serious case of Disney blues now that I'm back. Be warned as this is a bit of a photo heavy post and quite long!
I've only selected a few photos from the time I spent at Disney as I took A LOT whilst I way there. This post is about the Disneyland Park as I have another going up later in the week all about the Walt Disney Studios. I stayed at a Disneyland Hotel - Santa Fe and I would actually really recommend it. I personally thought the room was large enough (it had two double sized beds) and it was a perfect base when you're spending long hours in the park. There are regular shuttles that run to and from the park but as the hotel was only around a 10 minute walk away, along the river and through the Disney Village, we never used them. As well as recommending our hotel I would also recommend the Disney Dreams show at park closing time (a live projection show that projects on the castle). It really is amazing and definitely something to stick around for. I don't know when this will run to however, as it is part of the parks 20th Anniversary celebrations.
Here are the first of some of my tips if you're plan to/are visiting Disneyland Paris:
Early Opening Hours. If you're staying in a Disneyland hotel make the most of the magic opening hours you get, which mean you can enter specific areas of the Disneyland main park 2 hours before the general public are let in. Although only a select few rides are open at 8am some of them are main attractions such as Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast are opened early. I'd really recommend making the most of these two extra hours especially for the bigger rides like Space Mountain where queues build quickly!
Fast Passes. They are free so use them, they are brilliant! You can only hold one ride fast pass at a time but it means that the time you wait in line is significantly reduced if not cut all together. Fast Passes are only available for some of the more popular attractions but they are all clearly indicated on the map of the parks.
Book a reservation. If you know where you want to eat then book a reservation. Restaurants book up quickly especially around peak times such as around 6pm, an hour before the main parade is set to begin, so to guarantee yourself a table booking a reservation is always a good idea. You can make a reservation to any restaurant from your hotels reception.
Early breakfast. If you can stand getting up early then do it! The first breakfast is at 7am and we always went for this. There aren't a huge number of people in there meaning you have the chance to wake up before heading for a day in the parks and it means you can make a full use of your day.
Half Board. At the time we booked we received free half board meal vouchers, as Disneyland Paris are (at the time this post is published) celebrating their 20th Anniversary. The half board tickets were brilliant and although there were limited to around 10 restaurants across the parks and villages they were great value. We had no problem with any of the food and were amazed at the value the standard meal vouchers had, so half board is definitely something I would consider doing again if I go back.
Plan your route. Tackle the big attractions you want to do first and then head to the smaller rides after. It's often recommended to head in an anti-clockwise direction first (starting in Discoveryland) as Frontierland (first in a clockwise direction) has Big Thunder Mountain which is one of the most popular rides in the park.
Deceptive lengths of queues. Some rides look like they have a large queue but due to the nature of the ride it goes incredibly quickly so it's worth sticking around for and not walking away early. Rides like Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast have a continuous stream of carriages so the queues will go a lot quicker than you expect.
Early breakfast. If you can stand getting up early then do it! The first breakfast is at 7am and we always went for this. There aren't a huge number of people in there meaning you have the chance to wake up before heading for a day in the parks and it means you can make a full use of your day.
Half Board. At the time we booked we received free half board meal vouchers, as Disneyland Paris are (at the time this post is published) celebrating their 20th Anniversary. The half board tickets were brilliant and although there were limited to around 10 restaurants across the parks and villages they were great value. We had no problem with any of the food and were amazed at the value the standard meal vouchers had, so half board is definitely something I would consider doing again if I go back.
Plan your route. Tackle the big attractions you want to do first and then head to the smaller rides after. It's often recommended to head in an anti-clockwise direction first (starting in Discoveryland) as Frontierland (first in a clockwise direction) has Big Thunder Mountain which is one of the most popular rides in the park.
Deceptive lengths of queues. Some rides look like they have a large queue but due to the nature of the ride it goes incredibly quickly so it's worth sticking around for and not walking away early. Rides like Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast have a continuous stream of carriages so the queues will go a lot quicker than you expect.
The second part of my Disney adventures will be going up later in the week and I also have another post coming up about my day in Paris. I hope you enjoyed this post and thanks for reading!