About my DIY Guide to Disneyland Paris
This DIY guide to Disneyland Paris explains how we enjoyed two trips to DLP without breaking the bank. We have experienced one luxury trip and one budget trip – both booked DIY style.
I explain how we booked our holidays, recommended experiences, useful advice and top tips to get the most out of your Disney holiday.
Contents
- About my DIY Guide to Disneyland Paris:
- About Disneyland Paris:
- Our trips to Disney:
- How to get the cheapest prices:
- Look at the cheapest time of year:
- Luxury Stay – Disneyland Hotel:
- Budget Stay – Explorers Hotel:
- Book Restaurants and Experiences:
- Auberge de Cendrillon:
- Captain Jack’s Restaurant:
- Bistrot Chez Remy:
- My DIY Guide to Disneyland – Top tips:
- Is Disneyland worth it?
Some of my content may contain affiliate links for companies I use and love and recommend to awesome readers like yourself. If you take action, (i.e. subscribe, make a purchase) after clicking one of these links, I’ll earn a small amount of pocket money (at no extra cost to you), so I can buy a coffee while creating more helpful content like this.
About Disneyland Paris
Disneyland Paris was built in 1992 and celebrated its 30 birthday in April 2022. It has 2 main parks: Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park, and a Disney village.
🏩Disneyland Paris Hotels
There are 7 onsite hotels to choose from and Davy Crockett Ranch (only accessible by car), as well as a good range of partner hotels.
Park tickets are included when you stay at any of the park hotels but not the partner hotels.
🌟Tip: Partner hotels are fantastic value for money and provide a free shuttle bus to the parks.
Getting To Disney Land Paris
✈️ You can fly from the UK to Charles de Gaulle airport.
🚆 Take the train direct from London St Pancras to the park.
Transfers
Transfers are easy to arrange. You can pre-book a taxi, order an Uber or even get the train from the Paris Charles De Gaulle to Disneyland Paris.
Some of my content may contain affiliate links for companies I use and love and recommend to awesome readers like yourself. If you take action, (i.e. subscribe, make a purchase) after clicking one of these links, I’ll earn a small amount of pocket money (at no extra cost to you), so I can buy a coffee while creating more helpful content like this.
Our Trips to Disneyland Paris
Our first holiday abroad with our children was a trip to Disneyland Paris. At the time they were aged 3, 6 and 7 and huge Disney fans. We kept it as a surprise until it was time to leave for the airport. We will never forget their reactions when we told them the news!
We took them again, a few years later, when we were lucky enough to have Easter holidays that didn’t coincide with the rest of the country.
The first time we went was in February 2012. At the time, there were fantastic deals on Disney holidays where children under 12 stayed and played for free but unfortunately, those deals are no longer available.
How to Get the Cheapest Prices for DLP
You can still save money by booking your hotel, travel and tickets separately. Disney offer deals to book your travel with them as a package.
🌟 Tip: I found that it was far cheaper to book travel and transfer separately myself – so it’s worth comparing the prices.
Tickets are included with Disney hotels. However, if you choose to stay at a non Disney hotel, don’t purchase your tickets from Disney because you can get great deals on tickets elsewhere. We used Attractiontix:
👉Search for Disney Tickets on Attractiontix
Look at the Cheapest Time of Year
The time of year you go has a significant impact on prices.
January and February are the cheapest months, not only for hotel prices but also for travel costs. EasyJet return flights to Paris in February are around £67 (not including half-term).
It is very cold in February, -10’C when we were there, but it didn’t spoil our fun and the queues were tiny. We had Disney Hotel passes but we didn’t need to use them.
If you don’t fancy the coldest months, try to go outside of the school holidays because prices are much cheaper.
Luxury Stay – Disneyland Hotel
Our first stay was in the Disneyland Hotel, which was simply wonderful. It was February, not in the school holidays and so significantly less expensive than other times of year.
The advantage of staying in the main hotel is that it is located right at the entrance of the park so you can easily nip back to your room for a break.
Disney characters are at the hotel every day and you can meet them at breakfast. You get all the benefits of a 5 star luxury hotel, including chocolates on your pillow, which our kids thought was the best thing ever!
✨ You also get extra hours and a MagicPass.
If you are wanting to go all out on a luxury Disney stay, you can’t go wrong with this hotel and you will never forget its gorgeous smell!
Budget Stay – Explorers Hotel
Having said all this, on our second trip to Disney, we booked the budget hotel, Explorers Hotel.
The children absolutely loved it here! If McDonalds made hotels this would be it. It was designed to be a kid magnet – loud, brash and exciting!
There is a pirate ship indoor play area and swimming pool and cabin themed rooms. They provide a free shuttle bus to the Disney parks and breakfast is included – fantastic value for money.
👉 See Availability at Explorers Hotel
A 3 night stay for a family of 4 in February is around £545 including breakfast. You do have to pay for park tickets separately for hotels outside of the park but it still works out cheaper.
There are often deals on Disney park tickets so it’s worth shopping around and not automatically buying them from the Disney site. We bought our tickets from Attractiontix:
👉Search for Disney Tickets on Attractiontix
Book Restaurants and Experiences
Once you have booked your stay and travel, it’s definitely worth reserving restaurants and experiences because they get booked up quickly and there are often long queues if you don’t have a reservation.
You can find all the information about experiences and restaurants on the official Disney website: www.disneylandparis.com
Auberge de Cendrillon
Our girls were huge Disney Princess fans so we decided to splash out and have dinner with the princesses at Auberge de Cendrillon.
The restaurant is beautifully designed to make you feel like you are in a castle with stone archways, fireplaces and chandeliers.
You dine in the restaurant and the princesses visit all the children at their tables and make a fuss of them. Afterwards, they have a ‘ball’ and the children can dance with the characters.
It was expensive but very special. The children dressed up in their favourite characters outfits and it was the highlight of their stay.
Be warned, if your children are fussy eaters; the food is French and very fancy. My 3 year old son would only eat the bread!
Other restaurants I would recommend are Captain Jack’s Restaurant des Pirates and Bistrot Chez Remy.
Captain Jack’s Restaurant
Captain Jack’s restaurant is situated in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It has a night-time, tropical lagoon ambiance, lit up with lanterns and there is a Creole style menu.
Some of the reviews I’ve read are very unfavourable and would definitely put me off had I not already been but our experience was fantastic and we all enjoyed the food.
Bistrot Chez Remy
Chez Remy also serves French food. The restaurant is designed to make you feel like you have shrunk to the size of a rat, with tables and chairs that are corks and bottle top lids. It looks great and the food was very good.
There are loads of restaurants and cafes to choose, from budget self- service diners to expensive waiter service restaurants but none of them are particularly cheap so it’s best to fill up at breakfast at your hotel.
My DIY Guide to Disneyland – Top Tips ✨
Disney really is a magical, immersive experience with imaginative themed rides, shows, parades, character ‘meet and greets’ and firework displays but it does get incredibly busy and can feel like money is burning through your pockets.
Here are my top tips to not lose your mind while you are there:
1. If possible, don’t go during the school holidays – but if you have no choice and can afford it – buy Premier Access passes.
2. Book restaurants and experiences 2 months before you go.
3. Follow groups like Disneyland Paris advice, tips and help on FaceBook: www.facebook.com/groups/disneylandparisadvice
4. Download the app for an interactive map, live queue times and info about shows, parades and meet n’ greet locations.
5. Buy autograph books and pens from the Disney store when you arrive so that you can collect autographs from the characters. It really is a thing!
6. Get to the parks as early as possible and join the queue for the most popular ride.
7. During the parade and early evening the queues reduce.
8. If your children are older and happy to ride alone, join the single rider queues.
9. Turn up to shows and ‘meet and greets’ at least 30 minutes early to guarantee entry and a seat.
10. Keep snacks in your bag to save money and keep them happy whilst queuing.
11. Be warned, there are stores at the end of every ride. Agree a budget with your kids before you go or buy blind folds!
12. Accept that everything is going to cost a small fortune so you can relax and enjoy yourself.
Is Disneyland Worth It?
Disney parks are amazing places, there are surprises and incredible details around every corner. There is even a sleeping dragon beneath the castle. We loved our Disney experience both times.
We have been to Orlando and will be going again in 2024 but for younger children, we think Disney Paris is ideal. It is large enough to keep you busy for at least 2 days but small enough not to be as overwhelming as Disney World.
Paris is only a short train ride away for a whistle stop tour too, which is what we did on our second trip. I think for your first trip it’s better to plan ahead and do your research so you know what to expect and make the most of your stay.
We enjoyed our luxury and budget stays equally, so it doesn’t matter if you’re on a limited budget because the children will have wonderful memories either way.
Can’t wait to take our grandkids one day!
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