I went to Disneyland Paris for the fourth time last October, and I just realised that I had so much going on when I got back that I didn't write my holiday review for the trip! This particular trip to Disneyland Paris was also our first holiday with Wilbur, so it was very different from when we went on our own (all care free!) but it is truly a magical place to take a holiday. This review will be very child-centric, but lots of the tips will be the same no matter who you're travelling with!
We stayed at the Explorers Hotel, which is a Disney Partner hotel, but isn't owned by Disney. The only real con of this is that you don't get 'extra magic hours' in the park before it opens for general admission, but we were really happy with the place. It had a huge swimming pool complete with water slides and a working pirate ship, a soft play area, a nice Continental-style breakfast offering and a free shuttle bus to the parks that only took around 5 minutes! The parks is where we spent most of our time: that's why you go to Disneyland! And it's no lie that they really are the happiest place in the world:
Make sure you grab a park guide as you arrive and check the timings of everything in it carefully. I'm a super-organised person anyway, but it really pays to be on a trip like this. For example, we really wanted Wilbur to meet Duffy bear, and I noticed on the guide that he was doing a meet and greet from 10am to 11.30am. We turned up at 9.58 (because I plan with military precision!) and we were the very first in the queue: it was lovely to be the first people to see him as he arrived, and we didn't have to worry about Wilbur fussing during a long queue:
The parades are fantastic and definitely worth catching. Depending on the time of year your visiting, you may have to queue for up to an hour to get a front row spot and a decent view (essential if you want a child in a buggy to see everything). At the beginning of October we found that we got a really great view by arriving on the parade route around 10 minutes before the parade started, but there were people arriving once the parade had already started that still seemed happy with what they could see:
If you really want to meet as many characters as possible with the least amount of queuing and waiting then I heartily recommend paying for Disney character dining. We went to the Inventions restaurant in the Disneyland Hotel, and whilst it is one of the most expensive Disney dining options, it really was worth it. The food was surprisingly delicious, but more importantly, we got loads of one to one time with the characters. They were wonderfully attentive, they kept coming back to our table for photos and to interact with Wilbur, and I would say that meal was one of the highlights of our holiday:
Finally, make sure you ride the Buzz Lightyear space raider spin ride! It's one of the best rides in the park, and it's suitable for everyone. If you're competitive (like Mike and I) then you may find yourself riding it over and over again competing to get the highest score!We had a wonderful time, and I would highly recommend this trip if you do have little ones. In fact, we enjoyed it so much that we've booked to go back again for a week at the beginning of Septmber! I'll write another review then, because it will be interesting to see how different the experience will be now that Wilbur can walk and talk and generally has a mind of his own!
Check out my previous holiday guides here:
Holiday Guide: Fabfrocks does Venice
Holiday Guide: Beautiful Berlin
Love Tor x
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