Disneyland Paris

Soldato
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Thinking of going sometime around Easter. But have a few questions.

How big is it? How long is it going to keep a 5 year old occupied? is 3 nights / 4 days reasonable, or over the top?

How much of an exercise in queuing is it? Is there stuff (like meet n greets) that you have to book ahead of time?

Any other tips?
 
I've been when the park was quiet, I managed to do most of the rides within a day, I reckon you could do everything in two full days if the park was a little busier. It's really easy to get in to central Paris from the park if you do run out of things to do though.
 
I did wonder about that. And it's slightly vexing that 6 months ago we felt it was too early to be worth it (and therefore have missed out on the opportunity to go when it's cheaper and less busy in term time), and suddenly now it'll cost the earth she's ready.

But, on the other hand, she does recognise the Disney characters, and seems to know all about them (by osmosis or something, she doesn't watch that much!) Or do you mean not worth it because she won't get on rides?
 
Nah - 5 is old enough to recognise the characters and take it all in. They are going to love it.

Easter though - a busy period so you might queuing a fair bit but there are plenty of shows. Are you staying in one of the on site hotels?
 
These theme parks are great and all but the child needs to be over a certain height for some big rides,wait until the child is bigger and they can get to go on all the rides :)
 
Nah - 5 is old enough to recognise the characters and take it all in. They are going to love it.

Easter though - a busy period so you might queuing a fair bit but there are plenty of shows. Are you staying in one of the on site hotels?
Yeah, despite the eye watering cost, thought that if we're going to do it, might as well do it right - so planning to try to stay at the Disney hotel - the one right at the park entrance.
 
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3 nights, 4 days is more than enough for young children. If you want to see and do everything you possibly can then two days (as stated by someone else) is not doable. Bare in mind that it'll be busy around Easter, the kids will need breaks throughout the day and queues for rides, lunch and the ignorant French, take up time.
 
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We're going in July, we've chosen to stay at the Davy Crockett ranch rather than one of the disney hotels because there's stuff to do on site there too (pools and treetop walks etc), also, it'll be cheaper and easier to feed my kids (5+6). we've chosen to go for 4 nights with 5 day passes for the parks but we'll probably go to the parks twice and look for other stuff to do around Paris.
 
Did this last year with a five and seven year old.

Both loved it. 3 days is more than enough.

Spend loads. Stay in the Disney hotel. Buy the character diners 3 months in advance. Buy the fast past tickets. It's all worth it to avoid the queues and frustration.

The food for the masses is awful. The food if you have money is excellent and the characters are walking round the resturant especially the princesses even though they have cold dead eyes of a prostitute.
 
Yeah, despite the eye watering cost, thought that if we're going to do it, might as well do it right - so planning to try to stay at the Disney hotel - the one right at the park entrance.

Great, you get early entry, and several of the rides can be queued for immediately and with early entry you can have 3 or 4 rides done before you even get the main park open for others.
we did this 18 months ago, was fantastic, a 3.5 yr old, she still recalls loads about it, at 5 there will be no issues.

We did dumbo, teacups, merry go round thing, whatever that's called, all early, and then peter pan also.
We spent three days there also, split it and went to the 'other' park on day 2, did buzz, rockets, the car stuff autotopia.
There is plenty to do between the two parks and they are subdivided within,

Lots of the queuing is for things they will be too small for, and its great to miss such queues.
Get a park map online, plan what you will hit and in what order, and get in for park opening.


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do you have food as part of your booking?
we were full board I think, meals plus or some such, not meals premium
you booked a;; your resturants on day of arrival with a time, at a desk separate from the checkin desk, then there was no problem overwhat to eat and when, and no queues, and then rocked up for your time and ate what you liked
sit down menus in them, on the meal deal and plus was fine, premium stuff seemed overly expensive, but depending on the restaurant.
 
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We did this with a 7 and 10 year old last Easter and were pleasantly surprised with the lack of queues.

There are a few which will always have big queues (Ratatouille etc.) but if you use the fast pass (which is free) then you can plan around them.

I'd agree with those saying pay a bit extra and stay in a Disney hotel. We also booked an offer with "free" dining and we were surprised how good the food was compared to theme parks in the UK.

It's a lot of walking though, so might be worth buying a cheap stroller from Toy's R Us or somewhere to take with you for younger children as this will work out cheaper than hiring one there and will be more comfortable.
 
We went over Christmas. Bought a Disneyland VIP pass for £75 which was worth it big time in the end. Ratatouille & Buzz light year had 125 minute wait times. We got on within minutes and same goes for some of the other big rides.

As for 5 yr old, will be plenty to do, but yes will be major busy!! Definitely make sure you see the fireworks in the main park one evening at the end of the night and would also say visit Buffalo Bills. Food is very pricey, so if budget is tight, I'd suggest getting pack lunches for the day.
 
is everything in English or French? Do all the characters walking around speak english?

From what we saw they are all multi-lingual and can switch depending on who they are talking to.

In terms of food, if you stay in a Disney hotel you get buffet breakfast which is actually perfectly fine (think Premier Inn breakfast in the UK) and then if you get a dining plan these include a snack and drink in the afternoon as well as a three course meal in the evening.

Because of this we didn't spend much at all on food during the days - snacks and drinks only really which aren't too badly priced.

Bear in mind, I think there is lots of renovation going on this year in advance of the 25 year anniversary next year - the ride closures are published well in advance though and you can check on the website.
 
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