Disneyland Paris

Welcome to one of the most magical places on earth! It had been 15 years since we last visited Disneyland Paris and in that time they’ve really upped their game. Before if you’d been lucky enough to visit the parks in Florida, the Paris ones were never quite as glitzy, tidy or ambitious. Not anymore. Disneyland Paris sits on the outskirts of the city at Marne-la-Vallée which will take you about 40 minutes by train from the centre of Paris. There are two separate parks here, surrounded by hotels, restaurants and other services. To get the best out of your visit you’ll need to get a ticket with access to both parks. Buying in advance will save you money too. We recommend buying from GetYourGuide for that sweetspot of discount price, but still great customer service. Avoid school holidays if you can and you will save money. Check out latest prices here.
Disneyland Paris: Flexible Tickets

Disneyland Park has 5 different lands surrounding Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. So you’ll find attractions like a particularly good versions of Space Mountain now Hyper Space mountain incorporating a Star Wars theme, Pirates of the Caribbean, Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast and the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. At Disney Studios there are 4 different ‘lots’ each with their own attractions. Dominating the park is the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror with attractions like Crush’s Coaster, the new Avengers Campus and Toy Story Playland.

Disneyland Park – The entrance to the park leads you into the first of 5 different lands. Main Street USA is a traditional looking line of american stores from yesteryear and inside the buildings there’s all the Disney merchandise you could ever need, plus some food outlets. The street leads to a very pink version of Sleeping Beauty’s castle, which is tiny compared to Cinderellas castle in Florida, but is still a fitting centre piece for the park. The other four lands are grouped around the castle. In Fantasyland, there’s a whole load of rides and attractions for younger children based on make-believe like “It’s a Small World”, Peter Pan’s Flight and the Voyages of Pinnochio. Discoveryland embraces science and technology and has a great version of the Space Mountain roller-coaster given a new Star Wars update along with a Buzz Lightyear ride where you spin your car around and zap aliens. Frontierland celebrates the wild west with the Thunder Mountain Railway as its main ride along with the haunted Phantom Manor and your chance to ride the steam boat. Finally, there’s Adventureland where you can ride in a runaway wagon in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril or enjoy the antics of the Pirates of the Caribbean.

In 2022 this is also home to the Legend of the Lion King show, an experience with performers of West End calibre alongside circus performers reminiscent of Cirque Du Solei. As well as a the famous parades they’ve also updated their night time shows, incorporating drones, projected images onto the castle itself, huge water fountains and fireworks. All in all, there’s everything you need here for a great family day out and although it’s not an even match for the park in Florida, all the best bits are here.

Walt Disney Studios Park – The main entrance to the studios brings you into the Front Lot and through a large movie sound stage with stores and characters. In the Production Courtyard you’ll find the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. This ride takes you on a mystical journey through the Twilight Zone and then flings you up and down in a crazy elevator. It’s great fun, but not for the faint hearted! The Toy Story playland is as you’d expect a hugely popular part of the park appealing to various generations. Here you can ride the Slinky Dog, be scared by the RC Racer or simply pose with a giant Buzz.

Just around the corner is the Ratatouille ride where you are shrunk down the the six of a rat before being whirled around a 3D experience that Disney does so well. The old studio tour with the effects stage where a truck looks like it’s been set on fire before gallons of water descend on it and you has been given an updated Cars theme. We were disappointed that the cars tour itself featured so little of the characters – that said our 6 year old loved it. The other big area of the studios is the Marvel Avengers Campus, with a Spiderman inspired web shooting ride and the old Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster rebranded with an Avengers theme. In 2022 this park is also the home to the Mickey and the Magician Show. If you want to pack in 30 minutes of well known Disney songs and characters you will not be disappointed.

The Disney Village – This area outside the Disney parks is free to enter and sometimes has entertainment. You’ll find lots of major restaurants here. Previously we’ve not had the best of experiences eating here. Whilst still pricey the quality of the food has been successfully improved. We had several meals here, all of which were good.

Disneyland Paris is open all year round from 10am. Closing times vary depending on the time of year but typically it’s 11pm in the summer and 9pm or 10pm at other times. Just turning up and paying the gate price will be in the region of 50 Euros for a 1 day, 1 park ticket (2019 prices) so we recommend that you buy tickets in advance. See the offers above.

LOCATION, RER TRAINS & CONTACT

To get to Disneyland Paris, take the RER A (red route) from central Paris to Marne-la-Vallée. You can buy your ticket at the automated machines (which speak English) or at the counter where there’s a good chance the operative will speak enough English to get by too. A single adult ticket is around 5 Euros (2022 prices). The first time we visited from Paris we had a ‘Paris Visite’ 3 zone pass, which meant we only had to buy a ticket for the remaining bit of the journey to zone 5, although we had to get off and validate the ticket at the first station of zone 4! Also just make sure you’re on the a train heading to the right destination as the Red RER route splits in two. The train should say Marne-la-Vallée on the front and the screens will indicate where each train’s destination is too.

Address: Disneyland Paris, Place des Passagers du Vent, Chessy, France
Tel: +33 825 30 02 22