How to plan the perfect weekend break at Disneyland Paris
Whether you’re a king of the swingers, an undercover supervillain or a self-styled Disneylicious princess, fun and enchantment abound at Disneyland Paris. Just 40 minutes by RER train from central Paris, 28 miles (45km) east, the hugely popular theme park can be visited on an easy Disneyland Paris weekend break. A colourful choice of themed hotels near Disneyland Paris continue the Disney experience well after the last sunburst firework has cascaded down in a riot of explosive colour and crackles on Sleeping Beauty’s bewitching baby-pink castle, as do several luxurious hotels on site. Dining – be it breakfast with Cinderella or a plate of ratatouille in a Parisian bistro frequented by a certain much-loved rat – is equally characterful.
The best rides at Disneyland Paris are split across two parks: the smaller Walt Disney Studios Park and the flagship Disneyland Park with Disney’s signature Main Street USA, four themed lands and traditional white-knuckle rollercoasters. Just one ride (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril) has a minimum ride height of 1m 40cm (4ft 6in): minimum height otherwise is 1m 20cm (3ft 9in) – meaning from around seven years up, pretty much anyone can have an absolute ball, no fairy godmother required. Here's how to plan the ultimate family getaway.
Getting in
Queues build up at the airport-style security checkpoint – the first step to accessing the two parks. You must buy tickets in advance, via the Disneyland app or online: you can’t buy tickets at the entrance. An undated adult one-day ticket (valid one year, register visit date prior to use) for one/two parks costs £95/118 (child 3-11yrs £88/110), but it is dramatically cheaper to book a ticket for a specific date (from £58/80, 3-11yrs £53/76).
The further in advance you buy your ticket, the cheaper it is. All multiday tickets (from two days) cover both parks and are cheaper per day the longer you stay. Tickets for children (3-11yrs) are almost the same price as those for adults; under-threes get free entry. Annual passes are only worth the investment if you plan to do Disney several times a year. Disney packages ticking off hotel accommodation with free parking and luggage storage, various meal options and other add-ons can be good value.
The best rides
Exciting new lands – including long-waited Frozen and a second land yet to be revealed – remain under construction until 2025, but Marvel fans can now hobnob with Spiderman in the new Avengers Campus, open since 2022. Frozen fans, meanwhile, can dance with Anna and Kristoff, sing Let It Go with Elsa in her ice palace and snap selfies with snowman Olaf at Frozen: A Musical Invitation in Walt Disney Studios Park. Mickey and the Magician and The Lion King likewise remain wildly popular – reserve seats via the app to avoid disappointment. The musical show Alice in Wonderland, taking to the stage in Walt Disney Studios, is the hot ticket of Spring 2024.
… to scare yourself silly
Of Disney’s four Big Thunder Mountains worldwide, the runaway mine train that hurtles through Paris (minimum height 1m 2cm) is the biggest and fastest. The Disney rollercoaster classic Space Mountain – refashioned in Paris as Stars Wars Hyperspace Mountain (1m 20cm) – is likewise the fastest on the Disney planet. Disneyland Park’s other big ride sees thrill-seekers join Indiana Jones in the menacing Temple of Peril (1m 40cm). For an adrenalin surge in Walt Disney Studios Park, seek out Crush’s Coaster (1m 7cm), The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (1m 2cm) and RC Racer (1m 20cm).
… for younger children
Fantasyland in Disneyland Park is the land to linger in – a twirl on the Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups and spin on the Dumbo Flying Elephant carousel are classics. The whimsical boat cruise past 185 audio-animatronic dolls dressed up as children from 25 different countries in It’s a Small World is spell-binding for adults too, as is Peter Pan’s Flight across London rooftops. Sleeping Beauty Castle is the world’s only Disney castle to have a resident dragon – tip-toe through its dark, dank lair if you dare.
How to skip queues
Disneyland’s original Fastpass was replaced in 2023 by Disney Premier Access, available for an extra cost when you buy your ticket (online or via the app) or in the park on the day you visit (via the app or, if you don’t have a smartphone, from City Hall in Disneyland Park or Studio Services in Walt Disney Studios Park).
There are two versions. One Access gives you skip-the-big-queue entry to a single attraction of your choice: on the app, select the attraction and time slot, and pay €5 to €13 for the privilege. Ultimate Access gets you into the fast line one time, any time of day, on 15 of the most popular attractions (including Walt Disney Studios’ wildly popular Avengers Assemble: Flight Force, Crush’s Coaster, Ratatouille and Spider-Man W.E.B. Adventure; and Peter Pan’s Flight, Stars Wars Hyperspace Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain in Disneyland Park).
Even with Premier Access, you can still expect to stand in line at certain times of day and in high season, when queueing time might be 15 minutes instead of one hour, for example.
A handle of rides, including Ratatouille, Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain and Crush’s Coaster, have a second entrance for single riders – an easy way to skip soul-destroying long queues at the main entrance.
Insider tips
Getting around
Upon arrival, grab a programme to check the day’s shows and when/where to see Stitch, Darth Vader, the Queen of Hearts and other larger-than-life Disney characters.
City Hall (Town Square, Disneyland Park) is the hub of village life and the place to go to for anything and everything: complaints, currency exchange, restaurant reservations, lost children, Premier Access add-ons etc. In Walt Disney Studios Park head to Studio Services (Place des Frères Lumière).
You can bring your own food and drink (no alcohol or glass bottles) into both parks, but picnic areas and benches are frustratingly scant. Outside the parks, try the grassy shores of Lake Disney.
On hot summer days the coolest place to be – literally – is Adventureland in Disneyland Park. Its exotic green vegetation (25 different flora species), sky-high trees and bamboo forests, river and chilly grottoes provide ample shade and refreshing chill time.
Timings and planning
To get the most out of the daily Main Parade (5.30pm) skip the crowds on Main Street USA and park yourself at the spot where Tinkerbell and her shimmering entourage of floats and characters enter Disneyland Park – beside It’s a Small World in Fantasyland.
Many visitors head out of the parks around 6pm (keep your ticket to get back in and, if required, get your hand stamped before leaving) and return just before closing to join the crowds on Central Plaza in Disneyland Park for the day’s electrifying after-dark finale: 20 soul-stirring minutes of Disney music, water-fountain dances, synchronized drone shows and spectacular fireworks at Sleeping Beauty Castle.
For families with young children, staying in a hotel within or just outside Disneyland Paris means you can pop back for lunch, an early supper, baby’s nap, a swim in the hotel pool between the Main Parade and after-dark Disney Illuminations – or simply when the Disney razzmatazz gets too much.
Where to stay
Choose between a central Paris hotel, one of seven official Disneyland Paris hotels (ensuring Disney characters strolling around at breakfast and early entry into Disneyland Park), or an off-site lodging in the green belt surrounding the parks (the best-value option), linked by free shuttle bus every 15 minutes to Disneyland Paris.
Reservations are now open for Disney’s luxurious flagship Disneyland Hotel, by the main Disneyland Park entrance. Expect five-star service fit for royalty, sumptuous dining and the closest Disney gets to French chic in a palatial, fairytale-pink Victorian mansion of monumental proportion.
Disney Hotel New York – The Art of Marvel, Lake Disney
Ten minutes away, this 561-room Manhattan ‘‘scraper’’ overlooking Lake Disney celebrates Marvel superheroes. Enjoy Marvel art, two restaurants, a New York metro-styled indoor pool and selfies with Spiderman in the Super Hero Station.
Disney’s Newport Bay Club, Lake Disney
Retreating to this peaceful lakeshore hotel, evocative of a New England seaside resort from the 1900s with its buttermilk-yellow and dove-grey woodwork, is heaven after a busy Disney day. Count a 10-minute walk from the parks.
Grand Magic Hotel, Magny-le-Hongre
A spellbinding favourite for all ages, linked by free shuttle bus to Disneyland two miles away, this contemporary design hotel immerses guests in the spectacular world of illusion.
Disney’s Hotel Sante Fe, Marne la Vallée
Pull up on Route 66 in America’s southwest: this sweep of an ochre-red, 1,000-room hotel is a must for fans of the Disney film Cars or simply families seeking top-value, two-star accommodation a 10-minute shuttle-bus ride from the parks.
Moxy Paris Val d’Europe, Montevrain
Marriott’s fun lifestyle hotel, 15 minutes from Disneyland door-to-door by RER, mixes Disneyesque whimsy with an urban cool particularly appreciated by teens. Spend summer evenings playing pétanque in the Mediterranean garden.
Where to eat
For quality French street food search out the line-up of wooden chalets in Walt Disney Studios Park serving regional specialities: warm and gooey raclette cheese from the French Alps, Alsatian sauerkraut, Breton fish soup, crepes and oh-so-Parisian pistachio and raspberry éclairs. Grab a summertime seat on nearby Place de Rémy and lunch in the toe-tapping company of an accordion jazz band. Alternatively, track down a nearby food truck: FAN-tastic cooks up New Yorker hot dogs (€11/£9.50) and vegan cookies on Avengers Campus, and Ice Cream Creations creates Disney-themed Magnums to order.
Advance reservations are vital at Disney’s best table-service restaurants: Ratatouille-styled Bistrot Chez Rémy (two-course menu €40/£35; three-course menu €55/£47.50) cooks up top-notch bistro cuisine in Walt Disney Studios Park; and Auberge de Cendrillon (four-course menu with/without wine €115/95 or £99.50/82) in Disneyland Park serves refined French cuisine; breakfasting or lunching here with Cinderella, Elsa and other Disney princesses is a young dream come true. By Lake Disney, Marvel-themed Manhattan Restaurant (three-course menu with/without wine €75/55 or £65/48) is the park’s finest contemporary address for evening dining – bookended, of course, with a signature martini cocktail in the Sky Line Bar.
Several themed eateries in both parks – including Avengers Campus’s highly entertaining PYM Kitchen, where dishes come in giant and shrunken sizes – offer an all-you-can-eat buffet (adults €45/£39; 3-11yrs €25/£21.50). Meal-plan options available to Disney hotel guests can include B&B, half- and full-board in any Disney restaurant. Outside the parks, Disney Village conjures up yet more eating options: tuck in to steak-frites and other timeless French brasserie classics in the stylish new Rosalie here, overlooking Lake Disney.
Every Disney restaurant offers at least a couple of vegetarian and vegan dishes. Before the evening Main Parade, watch for roving pushcarts on Main Street USA selling flutes of champagne.
What to bring home
The best boutique for princess dresses is opposite the Auberge de Cendrillon in Fantasyland. Beneath Sleeping Beauty Castle, La Boutique de Merlin l’Enchanteur (pictured) stocks triple-spouted tea-pots, princess tiaras and a seriously wild collection of Christmas baubles. Star Wars fans can build their own droid or lightsaber at Star Traders (Discovery Land, Disneyland Park). Other quality souvenirs include Ladurée macarons, scented candles and chic Parisian homeware from Chez Marianne (Place de Rémy, Walt Disney Studios Park); and hand-blown glass Mickeys and snow globes from Harrington’s Fine China & Porcelains (Main Street USA, Disneyland Park).
When to go
Disneyland Paris enchants year-round, but consider which month works best for you. High season – essentially most school holidays (Easter, July and August, October half-term and mid-December to early January) – sees a maximum of attractions open, but queuing time can be up to an hour for each one. By contrast, in low season some rides close for maintenance work and shows are fewer, but queues are minimal, meaning you can razz around the rides at speed, packing in double the number.
Parisian summers, particularly August, can be uncomfortably hot (bring a refillable water bottle); October to February is often cold and wet (bring waterproofs). In low season you can cover the highlights in one long day, but during busy periods a minimum of two days is the only sane option.
Seasonal festivities worth booking a trip around are Hallowe’en (when all the wicked Disney villains and evil queens come out the woodwork) and Christmas. Pumpkin-orange decorations magically appear overnight in Disneyland Park on October 1 and remain until early November, when glittering Christmas baubles cast their spell instead (until early January). Each celebration ushers in a new themed show, additional autograph and photo ops with Disney characters, and enticing festive “delicacies” (spotty Cruella cupcakes, evil Maleficent burgers, you get the gist). Disneyland Paris is the only Disney park to celebrate Gay Pride in June with a parade and a rainbow of other festivities.
How to get there
Mainline train and RER station Marne la Vallée-Chessy (40 minutes from central Paris; €7.60/£6.80) and bus station Chessy Nord are right by the Disneyland entrance. Magic Shuttle (adults €24/£21; 2-11yrs €11/£9.50) provides direct coach links with Paris Orly airport – the one-hour bus ride is quicker and easier than crossing central Paris by Orlyval, metro and RER A (€19/£17). Coaches stop at Disney resort and partner hotels, as well as Chessy Nord bus station.
TGV trains speed between Terminal 2 at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport and Marne la Vallée-Chessy in nine minutes (advance reservation required; from €19/£16.50). Eurostar trains from London St Pancras (three hours direct, four via Lille) also stop at Marne la Vallée-Chessy.
Disabled access
Visitors with reduced mobility or special needs are entitled to reduced admission and can collect an Access Pass at City Hall or Studio Services, allowing them to enter suitable rides and attractions via specially adapted entrances. One companion or carer gets free park admission. Accessibility maps indicate which rides are wheelchair accessible, open to guide dogs, etc.
Know before you go
ATMs: Several in both parks.
Luggage storage: Suitcases and bags larger than 55cm x 40cm x 25cm are not allowed in. Queues can get long at Disney’s Guest Storage (cost per bag per day: small €6/£5; medium €8/£7; large €10/£9). Use left luggage lockers inside Marne la Vallée train station instead (cost per 24hrs: small €5.50/£5; medium 7.50/£7; large €9.50/£8).
Selfie sticks: Leave at home – camera and phone extension rods are banned.
Smoking: Only outside (including electronic cigarettes) in designated smoking areas.
Parking: Guest car parks (€30/£27 per day) are a five-minute walk.
Pushchair & wheelchair rental: To the right of the main entrance, beneath the Disney Railroad railway line. Rental costs €25/£22 per day, plus €50/200 (£44.50/178) cash or credit-card deposit per stroller/wheelchair.
Toilets: Clearly signposted and generously dotted around both parks; most have water fountains (bring your own water bottle) and baby-changing facilities.
Tourist Information Kiosk: Open daily, 9am-8.30pm. Grab Paris maps, museum tickets and information on visiting Paris at this racing-green kiosk on the square between Marne la Vallée train station and Disneyland Paris (00 33 1 60 43 33 33; tourism77.co.uk)
Wi-Fi: Free access in Walt Disney Studios Park and most Disney hotels; or rent a pocket Wi-Fi device before entering from the Tourist Information Kiosk.
Find more inspiration in our guide to the perfect break in Paris here.
