Magical Disneyland at Christmas

There are a variety of options you can choose to get you there you to there – a flight, self-drive or Eurostar. We opted to fly. Quick, reasonably priced, hassle free and who doesn’t like a ride on a plane?!

Once you arrive at the airport you have three transfer options to Disneyland. Shuttle bus, train, or taxi. We chose the latter. I booked this before we went, and it was great service. Efficient, a lovely clean minibus with a DVD player that the kids could chose a variety of Disney films to watch to get them in the mood. Perfect!

There are lots of choices of hotels as you would expect, to suit all tastes and budgets. We opted to stay at the Disney’s Newport Bay Club for 4 nights. We had a lovely room overlooking the lake which we had paid extra for. It had a nice pool, and the staff were very friendly. With two double beds, the room was large enough for the four of us. Different Disney characters visited the hotel lobby each morning for photos, two different characters each day. Its worth getting up early for breakfast, anytime from 8am onwards is very busy! The hotel is HUGE – and my kids said it ‘took forever’ to get to our room at night! If you have little ones, its worth contacting the hotel and requesting a room a bit closer to reception for little legs!

We enjoyed walking from the hotel, along the lakeside to Disney Village and on to the Disney Parks. It is about a 20-minute walk. Alternatively, the free Disney shuttle bus was frequent, every ten minutes or so between our hotel and the entrance to the parks. The kids always wanted to get on this at the end of the day after they had walked miles! Disneyland Paris has 2 parks - Disneyland Park and the Walt Disney Studios - both are fabulous with lots going on and are suitable for all age groups. My personal fave was the Studios as I loved the Behind the Scenes tour and the Stitch Live! Tour. If you’re character spotting and autograph hunting, Toy Story Land and the Marvel characters are located at the Studios along with other attractions and rides. Disney princesses, Mickey, Minnie, and friends are all in the Disneyland Park.

An advantage to guests staying at Disney hotels is the early access in the mornings. You have 2 hours from 8am until 10am before it is open to the public. Although only certain rides are open for these two hours (there is an app to tell you which). We took advantage of this on one of our days and we got to go on some of our favourite rides during those two hours, it was definitely worth it as some of the queues for over an hour long and it’s a long time to wait around in the cold when you’re four! However, the bonus is that a large proportion of the rides’ queues are undercover.

I got to experience most of the rides, including the Indiana Jones, Big Thunder Mountain and Buzz Light Year’s laser blast. I chickened out on the Hydro Space Mountain! There are also some dining experiences and I would highly recommend these are booked in advance as they do sell out really quickly, especially the princess lunch at Auberge de Cendrillon and Inventions (where you get to dine with some of the Disney Characters). We were fortunate to get a Free Disney Plus Meal plan by booking early and therefore had a buffet breakfast in our hotel each morning and then either lunch or dinner at a choice of many restaurants. We ate at Captain Jack’s, The Steakhouse and Cape Cod. Again, these get booked up so quickly and you need to book it months before you go.

I loved the parades, they were so magical and enchanting, and the kids were mesmerised. A good tip – get there early as crowds do start to fill up. They usually start around half 5pm. We would get there about 4pm and stand on the corner somewhere next to/in front of a bin. (Sounds daft I know but read on…)

My husband would go and get some hot chocolates for the kids to keep warm and bring them back to us. Once the parade starts, crowds can push and shove (even fully grown adults to get in front of small kids which did used to irritate me). However, the kids were then stood in front of the bin and nobody could push them, and they had a front row view! Marvellous.

The illuminations and fireworks in the evening are on another level. WOW!

As soon as you step through the gates and walk down Main Street, the children’s faces light up (and probably yours).

We took my daughters lightweight buggy with us and I was so glad we did. She was 4 years old at the time and whilst it was not being used at home anymore, when you’re expecting them to walk around for about 10hours a day its definitely a good idea!

I would definitely go again in the run up to Christmas, but I would also love to go when it’s not so cold! A stay at the Disneyland Hotel would be the ideal hotel at Christmas as it is the closest to the park gates – not as far to walk if the weather is snowy, raining, or cold in December!

The big question is often when the best season is to visit, however there isn’t one! Each season offers something different, Summer holidays, Halloween, and Christmas – they all have their own exciting offerings.

Don’t delay booking your magical Disneyland Paris Holiday, if you would like to know more then please contact me. There are so many tips I could share! It would be my pleasure to help you.