Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Paris. Well it had been on the bucket list for a while so it was time to bite the bullet and finally “do” Disneyland Paris. Under the guise of going to Lille for a night we decided to surprise the kids (aged 7 and 10) once in Lille, that our final destination, was, indeed Disneyland Paris. The big reveal was somewhat anticlimactic. “Where?” “Will they have WIFI? “ “Will it be like the Premier Inn in Tooting? “ (their current favourite hotel, I suspect mainly because of the unlimited pancakes for breakfast) Of course there are many ways to get to DLP as I shall refer to it from now on. Trains, planes and automobiles. We opted for the Eurostar, mostly because I am a huge fan it – comfy seats, almost unlimited luggage, liquids are no problem, and a smooth security/passport control experience at St Pancras. You can choose your seats for free. It’s sustainable. You only have to be there 1 hour before, and you can even take small sharp objects in your luggage. Ie a penknife for cutting up snacks. Just don’t forget it’s there and try to take it into DLP – you will get stopped at security and shouted at for one and all to hear: “Why are you trying to bring a knife into DLP? “ Repeated by my daughter at the top of her voice in case anyone back in Lille hadn’t heard, “Mummy -Why are you trying to bring a knife into Disneyland? “ Sadly Eurostar no longer operates a direct service to Disney – you have to either change in Lille or Paris. We opted for Lille, deciding to spend a night there, so we could have 3 full days at Disney- the TGV high speed train from Lille to Disney takes just over an hour – so by boarding a train at 07.30 we were at Disney before 9!! As soon as we arrived we jumped on a free shuttle bus from outside the station to “Sequoia Lodge” the Disney hotel that was to be our home for the next 2 nights. We picked up our magic passes, dropped our luggage in the storeroom and off to Disney we went! Disneyland Paris consists of two parks – the Main Park and Walt Disney Studios. I think 3 days/2 nights works perfectly. We spent Day 1 at the Main Park, Day 2 at the Studios, and then back to the Main Park on Day 3 to do anything we had missed. I wont go into the details of all the rides – but theres a real mix of stuff for younger and older kids, probably mostly for the under 10s, although the number of adults that visit without children is huge. Our favourite rides were Ratatouille, Spiderman’s Web Adventure and Star Wars Adventure. I think what Disney do really well is the 4D type rides which are much more immersive and interactive. There is a lot of fun stuff and lots of shows/parades/characters as you would expect, although the queues can be really long at times. The longest we waited was 70 minutes. Most rides were 30-50 minutes. For this reason alone I would highly recommend staying at one of the Disney Hotels onsite. We stayed at the mid range “Sequoia Lodge” and I was really pleased with our choice. It’s about a 15 minute walk from the Park entrance. It gets some feedback for being a little dated and tired, but honestly? The kids don’t care. There were pancakes with Nutella for breakfast!!! And a huge bonus is the really lovely swimming pool. (with slide and hot tub) Don’t think you’ll have time for swimming? By 4pm, after 8 hours walking/standing in queues and clocking up 25 000 steps, we were ready for a break. (wear comfy shoes) And the pool is the perfect antidote to tired legs and feet. The kids loved it. But the biggest reason to stay at a Disney Hotel is that you get an hours extra “magic time” . Which means you get into the Parks each morning at 08.30 instead of 09.30 when the general public are let in. Doesn’t sound like a lot. I assure you, that it makes a HUGE difference. You can get on rides with a 5-10 minute waiting time, that would normally be 45 minutes plus. You can get as much done in the first 90 minutes of the day, than you can over the whole of the rest of the day. You can also get photos around the park when its empty and before the crowds descend. So was DLP worth it? Was it better than the Premier inn in Tooting? I’ll be honest, its not our normal type of holiday, but looking back I have a strange inclination to return. The kids absolutely loved everything about it, they coped really well with the queuing, they loved the food (highly recommend PYM restaurant) My son rediscovered his love of Spiderman, my daughter has been watching Frozen on repeat since we got back. It was proper family bonding time, memories made forever, and for that reason alone, it was worth every penny.