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Do you know there are a dozen Disney theme parks on the earth?
That’s not together with two water parks too.
Up to now, our youngsters have been to 5 and I’m on a mission to go to all 14.
Heath and I love Disney. Throughout our honeymoon, we made positive to take pleasure in per week hopping round Disney World in Florida.
We love a superb theme park typically, however Disney simply does it higher. Each element is magical. Throughout that first journey to Disney collectively, Heath and I talked about returning with our youngsters someday. Then, in December with our one-month-old son, we hopped on a flight to take pleasure in a spontaneous Disney journey as our Christmas current to the youngsters.
Effectively, actually to Ellie. Eli simply slept rather a lot.
We spent three days exploring Magic Kindom, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom. Our daughter, two-and-a-half on the time, was mesmerized. For months afterward, each night time at dinner she advised us about going to Disney World and seeing “Mickey Mouse’s home.”
It was her reminiscence of the parks—”Bear in mind the opposite day after I met Snow White?”—that impressed the objective. We’re going to go to each Disney Park collectively.
Listed below are the parks:
- Disney World Resort in Florida (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kindom, Hollywood Studios, Storm Lagoon, Blizzard Seaside)
- Disneyland Resort in California (Disneyland, Disney California Journey)
- Disneyland Paris (Disneyland Paris, Walt Disney Studios Park)
- Hong Kong Disneyland
- Shanghai Disneyland
- Tokyo DisneySea
As a household, we’ve visited 3/6 of the Florida parks and the 2 parks in Paris. I really feel like most individuals I do know have visited Disney World or Disneyland sooner or later of their lives, so on this weblog, I need to share what to find out about Disneyland Paris earlier than you go to.
What’s Completely different About Disneyland Paris
The very first thing you might want to find out about Disneyland Paris is that it’s really two parks: Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney Studios Park.
In contrast to Florida, the parks are instantly subsequent to one another and linked to Disney Village, which is like Downtown Disney or Disney Springs with eating places and procuring. Along with the parks being linked, a lot of the Disney motels are additionally linked to the parks by strolling paths. You undergo safety whenever you enter the Disney Village space so that you don’t find yourself in lengthy strains on the gates.
We stayed on the Resort Santa Fe and walked to Disney Village to seize meals and walked to the parks. We rented a stroller for our day within the parks and will take all of it the best way again to our resort room! Every thing was so shut and handy.
This is likely one of the greatest variations between Disneyworld and one in every of my favourite issues!
Trams and buses make park hopping attainable within the US, however it’s possibly a two-minute stroll from gate to gate between the 2 parks in Paris. The accessibility made every part in regards to the day simpler. We loved Walt Disney Studios Park from 8-12, caught the 12:15 parade at Disneyland, walked again to our resort room for the youngsters to nap, and spent the afternoon and night at Disneyland. We had been just a little nervous that we wouldn’t be capable of slot in each parks in someday, however we simply did. Particularly with Magic Hour.
Magic Hour (Is 100% Price It with Little Children)
Between 8-9 AM, Disney Parks are open for Magic Hour. You may solely get magic hour entry when you keep at a Disney resort, which will be dear. Throughout our Christmas go to, we waffled backwards and forwards on if the added expense of a Disney resort can be value it. We opted for an area resort which was 10-minutes away…plus insane visitors, parking prices, shuttling from the parking zone and/or getting in your 10,000 steps earlier than you even enter the parks…
We regretted it.
Plus with little youngsters who require a number of naps a day, it could’ve been very nice to take a siesta in a resort room.
With Disneyland Paris, we weren’t going to make that mistake once more. We booked Resort Santa Fe final minute on Expedia after we reserved our tickets for each parks in a single day.
We determined to begin with Walt Disney Studios because it had extra rides that the youngsters might journey. (Notice: work out your youngsters’ heights in centimeters earlier than you go!)
We rode 4 rides earlier than the park even formally opened!
I’m unsure what number of rides we rode throughout the remainder of the day, however we walked straight onto a number of rides and it made the day begin on such a magical observe. We additionally visited in mid-June and the park was by no means too loopy with crowds.
Staying at a Disney Resort
We positively ended up within the finances motel and didn’t notice it. As a result of we booked every part final minute, we had two choices: keep on the Disney Resort New York (also called the Artwork of Marvel) for $1,500/night time or keep on the Disney Resort Santa Fe for $250/night time.
Straightforward alternative!
The resort was simply okay. It was your common resort room, however it did have two beds, room for a crib, and a tub which we hadn’t seen in lots of different motels in European cities. There was a buffet-style restaurant with Tex-Mex meals in addition to a Starbucks, however with a simple stroll to Disney Village. (We normally walked to the village for meals.)
We toured a few the opposite motels which provided character greetings and a number of eating places. If we return to Disneyland Paris, I might (for starters, plan issues greater than 24 hours prematurely) positively e book a special resort. The Sequoia and New York motels had been each attractive. The present store in Sequoia even had a desk with coloring pages and markers for youths to paint whereas dad and mom shopped which was a small, however much-appreciated contact. The New York resort (which was not too long ago renovated) gives a number of eating places and is closest to the Disney Village entrance.
And, when you’re a Marvel fan, the New York resort will simply blow your thoughts.
Attending to the Parks & Park Hopping
I booked our one night time in Paris close to the prepare station so we might simply stroll to the station and journey out to Chessy, the place Disneyland is. Disney has its personal prepare station that stops proper exterior Disney Village. It’s really nearer than the parking heaps!
After we checked out of our resort within the metropolis, the entrance desk clerk requested the place we had been heading and if we wanted assist with our travels. We advised him we had been heading to Disneyland and taking the prepare. He instantly stated, “Oh no. Don’t try this.”
The prepare would take about the identical time as a automobile and be just a little cheaper. However, he defined, there are a lot of stairs within the prepare station. With two suitcases and two youngsters, he advised us to seize an Uber as an alternative. We didn’t journey with a automobile seat, so I didn’t significantly like this as an choice for security, however we had already tried to navigate a Parisian prepare station with our suitcases and it was a nightmare.
We took an Uber straight to the entrance desk of our resort and it was quick and straightforward. So whilst you can simply take the prepare after which take a Disney shuttle (or stroll) to your resort, a automobile could also be simpler when you’ve bought plenty of baggage.
The shuttle buses to every resort are proper subsequent to the prepare station. Busses got here by each 10-ish minutes which meant it was really sooner to stroll straight to our resort ourselves, however generally we simply wanted to save lots of our toes and shuttle again!
After we first arrived and walked round Disney Village, we needed to take a shuttle again to the resort. We began strolling within the course somebody suggested us to catch the shuttle bus, however missed the signal, bought misplaced, and ended up strolling allllllllll the best way to the parking heaps. The parking heaps had been so. far. away. If you happen to can, arriving by prepare or staying at Disney will prevent just a few thousand steps!
Disneylands are all Carbon-Copies
There are six “citadel parks” world wide and these parks are all comfortingly comparable. Since we simply go to the Magic Kingdom in December, the rides and map of the park had been recent in our minds. I used to be shocked at simply how a lot of the Paris park was precisely like Magic Kingdom! You’ve bought Principal Avenue full of retailers main you to the citadel, Fantasyland straight by way of the citadel, Frontierland and Adventureland on the left. And off to the precise is Discoveryland which has Buzz Lightyear and different rides identical to Tomorrowland in Orlando.
I’ve gone backwards and forwards, however I feel I actually like this. There are sufficient completely different rides to make it attention-grabbing (like Alice’s Curious Labyrinth and Snow White’s mine automobile) and sufficient acquainted rides just like the Haunted Mansion and carousel that you just really feel like you already know your approach round.
One particular distinction that I beloved in Paris was the element inside the citadel. You may go beneath the citadel and see a dragon (which terrified Ellie!) and stroll upstairs contained in the citadel and discover. Plus there’s a retailer inside that sells Christmas ornaments, so we purchased a pair for our Christmas tree this 12 months.
Disneyland Paris is…Smaller?
As we walked across the parks, regardless of the same layouts and rides, I swore Disneyland Paris was smaller than Magic Kingdom. I couldn’t put my finger on it since so many rides are the identical, however as we walked round, it felt a lot smaller!
In keeping with Google, that is true. Disneyland is just a little smaller than Magic Kingdom, and Walt Disney Studios park is likely one of the smallest theme parks at solely 62 acres in dimension. Despite the fact that we rode a bunch of rides at Disney Studios, it’s a comparatively tiny park and straightforward to navigate.
However as a result of each parks are so small, it was very doable to take pleasure in each parks in a single day.
The perfect Disneyland Paris park for toddlers: Walt Disney Studios
The web advised us to skip Walt Disney Studios as a result of there wasn’t a lot for toddlers…
BAD ADVICE INTERNET.
Ellie rode each journey besides for 2—Crush’s Coaster and Tower of Terror. And since we did have magic hour, we rode all the rides earlier than midday. Ellie even rode the parachute drop:
I used to be terrified and clutching her so she wouldn’t fall out. She was loving it!
Ellie was 90 centimeters after we visited. Many Disney rides don’t have any peak requirement, which implies you may convey or put on infants on the journey. We wore Eli on most rides in Florida. Nonetheless in Paris, most of the rides had no peak requirement however had an age requirement of 12 months. So Eli missed out on using just a few rides…not that he observed.
Renting a Stroller
The strollers at Disney World in Florida are horrible. Clunky, laborious to maneuver, laborious plastic. It was a battle getting our daughter to sit down in it. I assumed Paris’ wouldn’t be a lot better and didn’t plan on renting one for the day.
However we had been so glad we did!
Our three-year-old rode in all of it day and when she rode rides, our seven-month-old sat in it. With the ability to match each ages alone was a win! The black strollers had a sturdy cloth seat and a steel step on the entrance (or presumably a foot relaxation for taller youngsters) making it straightforward for our three-year-old to climb out and in herself. The strollers had been straightforward to maneuver and had hooks on the again the place we hung our diaper bag.
The one con was leaving the parks with the stroller. I discussed earlier you can take your rented stroller from park to park and even all the best way to your resort—which was wonderful. Nonetheless, you want your receipt to get out of every park. Somebody promptly threw away the receipt after being advised to carry onto it, so each time we left a park all day this grew to become an enormous headache. We even bought a receipt re-printed…which somebody then instantly misplaced once more. Lesson discovered: put the receipt within the pouch on the stroller that has your title on it so you may’t lose it!
Strains & Wait Instances
Get the park app. Your life turns into wonderful.
Disney parks now have apps that let you know (pretty) up-to-date wait instances in addition to when rides are briefly closed. Our longest wait was “55 minutes” on the app and on the signal on the journey, however in actuality, we made it onto Ratatouille’s Journey in about half-hour. (That’s one factor I’ve observed at each Disney park. Most wait instances are literally sooner than the listed time!)
With Paris, the app is much more useful as a result of rides open and shut at bizarre instances. For instance, Magic Hour could begin at 8:00 AM, however the Slinky Canine journey opens at 8:27 AM. Buzz Lightyear at 8:42 AM. The Automobiles journey at 9:15. And so forth. Most rides are open for a lot of the day, however some open later, and plenty of shut at nightfall. Pay shut consideration to this whenever you begin planning your day.
Much more essential to notice is which eating places are open. After we desperately wanted lunch, it was 2:30 PM and every part was closed! We needed to hunt for some time to seek out an open restaurant. Plan forward, when you can, and know which consuming areas can be open all day.
Language Barrier (There isn’t one)
Excellent news for nervous vacationers, actually each worker spoke English. From the wait workers to stroller leases to ticket takers to journey workers. With regards to touring with little youngsters when your mind is already overloaded with discovering a altering desk for diapers and snacks and ensuring your youngsters aren’t operating away or consuming rocks, it’s good to have the ability to perceive the workers.
Disneyland Paris: Would go to once more.
We’re suckers for Disney and would completely return to Disneyland Paris. The one factor I might do in another way is to remain on the Marvel resort because it’s closest to the park entrance. (Okay fantastic we’re additionally superhero obsessed!)
Have you ever been to Disneyland Paris? What did you suppose?