Going to Paris and thinking of adding Disneyland Paris to your itinerary?

It really comes down to the answer to one simple question. Are you a big fan of Disney? If yes, then you should absolutely add at least one day to your trip to Paris. I love Disney and have been to both Disneyland (US) and Disneyworld so it was a no brainer to add another park to my bucket list. It’s an easy 45 minute train ride from the center of Paris. If you already have a weekly train pass that goes to Zone 5 (also covers Versailles) then you don’t need to purchase a new ticket. You can just take the RER A to Marne-la-Vallée-Chessy which exits right at the entrance of Disneyland Paris.

Disneyland Paris Resorts consist of 7 hotels (Disneyland Hotel is currently under renovation), a shopping and restaurant village and of course the two parks – Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park.

For our recent trip, we decided to stay one night onsite at the Disney Sequoia Lodge with a “hotel + ticket” package which would allow us to have  two days at the park and have early entry. Now we didn’t actually do two days in the parks. We had a full morning in Paris and then took the train to Disneyland in the late afternoon. After checking into the Sequoia Lodge, we were able to have dinner in the parks while getting acclimated to where all of the attractions were located. We were also able to see the nighttime drone and castle show on the first night. This would prove to be a great idea because we didn’t have to stay until the park closing on the 2nd night which was when we were taking the train back to Paris. 

Early the next morning, we got into the parks an extra hour early with magic hours. In this hour we were able to get several rides done in the Studios Park. We had hoped to get on Crush’s Coaster but the line was already long so we instead opted to buy a version of their “lighting lane” for that specific ride.  We did ride everything we wanted at least once on the 2nd day so we could have just done it all in one day but having that extra magic hours and waking up onsite made it less stressful. Eitherway, it can be done in a day as long as you are the “go-go-go” type of group. If you have younger kids who need more breaks or need more time then we would recommend two days for your Disneyland Paris trip. BUT if you are coming to France primarily to visit Paris – that is the real attraction and Disneyland Paris is a bonus so don’t spend too much time here because Paris itself has so much to offer. 

Dining was hit or miss. We were luck enough to get reservations for Bistrot Chez Rémy. The theming of the restaurant was amazing. I had heard mixed reviews of the limited menu options but we had no issues and enjoyed our meal. Other than Remy’s we had typical theme park food (think hamburgers and fries) and didn’t see too much of the typical Disney food we see in the US. 

Do we recommend DIsney Sequoia Lodge? It was ok. It was the cheapest option for us to stay on property at the time. There was a lot of renovation going on so that might be why. It was a fairly easy walk to the parks and the rooms were fine. There were limited plugs in the room so we had to charge our phones in the bathroom. There are a lot of “lodges” so you could end up very far from the hotel lobby. It was a trek with our luggage. Overall it worked just fine for our purposes but I would probably try a different hotel next time just for a different experience. 

Why is Disneyland Paris worth it? Well, frankly, there are many reasons why. Here are my top six reasons::

1. The castle is just beautiful and the drone show (which I hope they continue past the 30-year anniversary show) was spectacular and like none of the shows in the US. The dragon under the castle is very cool and again unique to Paris.
2. The rides are so much faster in Paris. Thunder Mountain was a blast and it’s on an island.
3. Ummmmm….Space Mountain (known here as Hyperspace Mountain) goes UPSIDE DOWN! How cool is that!
4. My favorite Disney ride since I was a kid has always been the Haunted Mansion. The version here called Phantom Manor starts off the same but then focuses primarily on the bride and her phantom. She can be found throughout the house. 
5. They have some unique attractions like Crusher’s Coaster (again it’s fast) and Alice’s Curious Labyrinth are two we enjoyed
6. It can be done in a day and is easy to get around. It’s fun to hear the animatronics speak in French like on Star Tours with C3PO.

So yes we will go back to Disneyland Paris and hope to see you there too!