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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.
To date, our children 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 certain to get pleasure from per week hopping round Disney World in Florida.
We love an excellent theme park basically, 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 children in the future. Then, in December with our one-month-old son, we hopped on a flight to get pleasure from a spontaneous Disney journey as our Christmas current to the children.
Effectively, actually to Ellie. Eli simply slept loads.
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 instructed us about going to Disney World and seeing “Mickey Mouse’s home.”
It was her reminiscence of the parks—”Keep 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 here are the parks:
- Disney World Resort in Florida (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kindom, Hollywood Studios, Hurricane 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 it’s good to find out about Disneyland Paris is that it’s truly two parks: Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney Studios Park.
In contrast to Florida, the parks are instantly subsequent to one another and related to Disney Village, which is like Downtown Disney or Disney Springs with eating places and buying. Along with the parks being related, many of the Disney lodges are additionally related to the parks by strolling paths. You undergo safety once you enter the Disney Village space so that you don’t find yourself in lengthy strains on the gates.
We stayed on the Lodge 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! The whole lot was so shut and handy.
This is without doubt one of the largest variations between Disneyworld and one in all my favourite issues!
Trams and buses make park hopping potential within the US, however it’s perhaps a two-minute stroll from gate to gate between the 2 parks in Paris. The accessibility made the whole lot 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 children to nap, and spent the afternoon and night at Disneyland. We had been a bit of nervous that we wouldn’t have the ability to slot in each parks in in the future, however we simply did. Particularly with Magic Hour.
Magic Hour (Is 100% Value It with Little Youngsters)
Between 8-9 AM, Disney Parks are open for Magic Hour. You’ll be able to solely get magic hour entry in case you keep at a Disney resort, which may be expensive. Throughout our Christmas go to, we waffled backwards and forwards on if the added expense of a Disney resort could be value it. We opted for a neighborhood 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 children who require a number of naps a day, it will’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 Lodge Santa Fe final minute on Expedia after we reserved our tickets for each parks in a single day.
We determined to start out with Walt Disney Studios because it had extra rides that the children may journey. (Observe: determine your children’ heights in centimeters earlier than you go!)
We rode 4 rides earlier than the park even formally opened!
I’m undecided 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 Lodge
We positively ended up within the finances motel and didn’t understand it. As a result of we booked the whole lot final minute, we had two choices: keep on the Disney Lodge New York (also called the Artwork of Marvel) for $1,500/night time or keep on the Disney Lodge 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 bath which we hadn’t seen in lots of different lodges 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 lodges which supplied character greetings and a number of eating places. If we return to Disneyland Paris, I’d (for starters, plan issues greater than 24 hours upfront) positively guide a distinct resort. The Sequoia and New York lodges had been each attractive. The reward store in Sequoia even had a desk with coloring pages and markers for youths to paint whereas mother and father 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, in case 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 may simply stroll to the station and journey out to Chessy, the place Disneyland is. Disney has its personal prepare station that stops proper outdoors Disney Village. It’s truly nearer than the parking tons!
After we checked out of our resort within the metropolis, the entrance desk clerk requested the place we had been heading and if we would have liked assist with our travels. We instructed 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 a bit of cheaper. However, he defined, there are various stairs within the prepare station. With two suitcases and two children, he instructed us to seize an Uber as an alternative. We didn’t journey with a automobile seat, so I didn’t notably 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 when you can simply take the prepare after which take a Disney shuttle (or stroll) to your resort, a automobile could also be simpler in case you’ve obtained a variety 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 truly sooner to stroll straight to our resort ourselves, however generally we simply wanted to avoid wasting our ft and shuttle again!
After we first arrived and walked round Disney Village, we wished to take a shuttle again to the resort. We began strolling within the route somebody suggested us to catch the shuttle bus, however missed the signal, obtained misplaced, and ended up strolling allllllllll the best way to the parking tons. The parking tons had been so. far. away. For those who can, arriving by prepare or staying at Disney will prevent a number of thousand steps!
Disneylands are all Carbon-Copies
There are six “fortress parks” around the globe and these parks are all comfortingly related. 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 obtained Principal Avenue full of retailers main you to the fortress, Fantasyland straight by means of the fortress, Frontierland and Adventureland on the left. And off to the best 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 fascinating (like Alice’s Curious Labyrinth and Snow White’s mine automobile) and sufficient acquainted rides just like the Haunted Mansion and carousel that you simply really feel like you recognize your method round.
One particular distinction that I beloved in Paris was the element throughout the fortress. You’ll be able to go underneath the fortress and see a dragon (which terrified Ellie!) and stroll upstairs contained in the fortress 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 response to Google, that is true. Disneyland is a bit of smaller than Magic Kingdom, and Walt Disney Studios park is without doubt one of the smallest theme parks at solely 62 acres in dimension. Although 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 get pleasure from each parks in a single day.
The very best Disneyland Paris park for toddlers: Walt Disney Studios
The web instructed 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 the entire 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 once we visited. Many Disney rides don’t have any peak requirement, which suggests you’ll be able to convey or put on infants on the journey. We wore Eli on most rides in Florida. Nonetheless in Paris, lots of the rides had no peak requirement however had an age requirement of 12 months. So Eli missed out on driving a number of rides…not that he seen.
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 take a seat in it. I assumed Paris’ wouldn’t be significantly 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. Having the ability to match each ages alone was a win! The black strollers had a sturdy material seat and a metallic step on the entrance (or presumably a foot relaxation for taller children) making it simple for our three-year-old to climb out and in herself. The strollers had been simple 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 which you could 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 instructed to carry onto it, so each time we left a park all day this grew to become an enormous headache. We even obtained 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’ll be able to’t lose it!
Strains & Wait Occasions
Get the park app. Your life turns into wonderful.
Disney parks now have apps that inform you (pretty) up-to-date wait occasions 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 seen at each Disney park. Most wait occasions 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 occasions. For instance, Magic Hour might 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 many of the day, however some open later, and lots of shut at nightfall. Pay shut consideration to this once you begin planning your day.
Much more necessary to notice is which eating places are open. After we desperately wanted lunch, it was 2:30 PM and the whole lot was closed! We needed to hunt for some time to search out an open restaurant. Plan forward, in case you can, and know which consuming areas will likely 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. In the case of touring with little children when your mind is already overloaded with discovering a altering desk for diapers and snacks and ensuring your children aren’t operating away or consuming rocks, it’s good to have the ability to perceive the staff.
Disneyland Paris: Would go to once more.
We’re suckers for Disney and would completely return to Disneyland Paris. The one factor I’d do otherwise is to remain on the Marvel resort because it’s closest to the park entrance. (Okay nice we’re additionally superhero obsessed!)
Have you ever been to Disneyland Paris? What did you suppose?
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