The Ultimate Guide to Disneyland Paris

This summer, I had the incredible opportunity to visit Disneyland Paris during my trip to the Paris 2024 Olympics. As it turns out, it was the absolute best time to visit because the crowds were super low, which is unusual during the summer. I’m attributing that to the Olympics scaring all the usual tourists away. But no matter the reason, it was a benefit to me. I was able to ride all of the attractions I wanted to save Big Thunder Mountain and I probably could have worked that in too if I didn’t take a break at the hotel. What I was not able to experience in that one day was meeting any characters (okay that’s a lie, I happened upon Captain America with no wait) or watch any shows except the nighttime shows – Disney Electrical Sky Parade (drone show) and Disney Illuminations, (fireworks.) I may have gotten my glass of champagne on Main Street and enjoyed the fireworks. A perfect end to the day.

I put together this guide to help you plan your trip to Disneyland Paris. I cover everything from how the hotel packages work to transportation to dining. It answers the questions I had when planning my trip and I hope you find it helpful as well!

Hotel/Ticket Packages

When it comes to hotel packages, Disneyland Paris is a little different than Walt Disney World or Disneyland California. While you can purchase them separately (or stay off-property and only purchase park tickets), it is significantly cheaper to purchase a package. DLP bundles tickets with their hotel stays at a discount. Meaning, if you book just a hotel reservation it will cost almost the same price as it would if you added park tickets to the reservation.

In fact, you can’t even book a room-only reservation online. You’d have to call Disney to do that, or your favorite Disney Travel Advisor could do it for you.

However, you cannot choose how many days your park tickets are good for. They will always be good for one day longer than how many nights you stay. For example, If you stay for only one night, you will have two days of park tickets. If you stay for three nights, you will have four days of park tickets. But since the added cost for tickets that you are paying for your package is minimal as compared to a room-only stay, it outweighs that. Meaning, you won’t save money by booking separately and going to the parks for fewer days.

How to get to Disneyland Paris

For this section, I am going to assume you are coming from Paris, whether that’s Charles de Gaulle airport or you’ve spent a few days in the city. There are a couple ways you can get to Disneyland Paris:

• Magical Shuttle – This magical option is a bus you can book in advance and will pick you up from Charles de Gaulle or Orly airports and take you directly to the hotels, parks, or Disney Village. Expect to pay €24 per adult and €11 per child each way. They also have private drivers available for booking. Prices start at €117. For information or to book, you can visit their website here.
• TGV Highspeed Train – The TGV highspeed train services all three Paris airports and will take you directly to the Marne-la-Vallée/Chessy train station in approximately 10 minutes. A ticket on the TGV will vary depending on when you book, but expect around €37 for a 2nd class ticket and €50 for a 1st class ticket. I recommend booking directly through SCNF Connect. The train station is conveniently located about 200 meters from the parks.
• Metro/RER – If you have been in Paris for a few days, the RER train is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to get to Disneyland Paris. You want to take Line A (depending on where you are you may have to transfer to this line) and get off at the Marne-la-Vallée/Chessy train station, which is the end of the line. There will be helpful Metro signs for Disneyland Parc. One point-to-point ticket is €5.
• Uber/G7/Taxi – Of course, grabbing an Uber or Taxi is always an option, though this can be fairly expensive and takes longer than the trains.
• Rental Car – Lastly, if you prefer to drive yourself, Disney partners with Avis, or you can rent a car from your preferred rental agency. Parking is free if you stay on property. If you are staying offsite (and not at a partnered hotel booked through Disney directly) you can expect to pay €30-€40 per day.

Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios

There are two parks at Disneyland Paris – Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios. Many remember it being called Euro Disney, but that name was changed all the way back in 1994, only two years after it opened. Then in 2002, Walt Disney Studios opened, expanding the attractions for visitors to experience. For reference, I would compare Disneyland Park to Magic Kingdom or Disneyland in California and Walt Disney Studios to Hollywood Studios or California Adventure. The entrances to the parks are next to each other so you won’t need any transportation to get between the two other than your own feet.

Disneyland Park has Sleeping Beauty Castle and all the classics like Main St. USA, Big Thunder Mountain, it’s a small world, Dumbo, Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups, Pirates of the Caribbean, Peter Pan’s Flight, and of course, you can meet Mickey Mouse! But it also has some different attractions like La Tanière du Dragon (a dragon you can visit under the Castle,) Alice’s Curious Labyrinth, and Les Voyages de Pinocchio. It also has some classic attractions with a twist: Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain, Phantom Manor, and Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast.

Walt Disney Studios is exciting because it has the Avenger’s Campus, a smaller version of Toy Story Land, Crush’s Coaster, and The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (be careful, you can’t film on this ride like you can in the US!) It is also currently undergoing renovations to add new attractions.

Disney Village is comparable to Downtown Disney. Either in California or Downtown Disney in Orlando before it became Disney Springs. It is the area of restaurants and shops between the parks and resorts. You can find shops like the World of Disney, Starbucks, and more!

Hotels

There are seven official resorts on Disneyland Paris property: Disneyland Hotel (newly renovated), Disney Hotel New York – The Art of Marvel, Disney Newport Bay Club, Disney Sequoia Lodge, Disney Hotel Cheyenne, Disney Hotel Santa Fe, and Disney Davy Crockett Ranch. All the resorts are within walking distance to the park entrances, but the ones that are farther away, they also have a complimentary shuttle bus you can use. For my stay, I chose the Disney Newport Bay Club.

I enjoyed my stay at this hotel and I would stay here again. It has a 1920s nautical theme with touches of Mickey and Minnie. I definitely did not get to experience everything it had to offer because I was only there for one night, but I still enjoyed it. The beds were typical Disney beds, which was great because beds tend to be smaller in Europe. They were comfortable and after walking 30,000 steps that day, I slept great. There is an indoor/outdoor pool, a sauna, a gift shop, and two restaurants. Basically, it was just like staying on property at Disney World.

Dining

Similar to Walt Disney World, you can make advanced dining reservations for table service restaurants. However, the difference is that with Disneyland Paris, you can make them up to 12 months in advance. Because of that, I recommend making them as soon as you book your trip! Some of the restaurants will always be available, even for walk-ups, such as the Agrabah Cafe Restaurant (which is where I ate and yes, I just walked up.) However, the highly sought after meals like character dining, will be difficult to get. I’m looking at you Royal Banquet.

Magical Extras

• Express Luggage – If you take the train, when you get to the train station, you can drop your bags at the Disney Express luggage desk (located on the 2nd floor) and they will take your bags to your hotel for you! Very convenient if you want to go directly to the parks. Then you can pick up your bags from Bell Services once you make it to your hotel. Since DLP does not use Magic Bands, you will receive your park tickets/room key at this time. You must pre-register for this service and it will run you $20 per person each direction. (Yes, that is USD, not Euro.) You can use this service again when you leave, or you can choose to take your bags yourself.
• Dining Plans – If you prefer to have a dining plan, there are a few more options available to you at DLP than there are at Walt Disney World. When you book your hotel reservation, you can add Breakfast only ($34.12 per adult) and is valid at one of the resort restaurants. You can choose the Half Board option ($73.93 per adult) which is breakfast plus lunch OR dinner. Or you can add the Full Board option ($119.42 per adult) which includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The last two options include meals in the parks or Disney Village.
• Premiere Access – Disneyland Paris’s version of skip-the-line access is called Premiere Access. You can use the app on the day of your park visit and buy individual attractions as you go, or you can buy the Premiere Access Ultimate Pass for a ride at every available attraction. If money is no object, this is a great way to maximize your time, but it can be quite expensive at €99 per day per person in the lower crowd times and up to €199 per day per person for peak crowd times.
• Photo Pass – Of course, I would be remiss to not mention the Photo Pass ($85.30). Once purchased, it is good for 10 days, so I don’t recommend purchasing it until your arrival to get the most out of it. You don’t want it expiring before your trip is over!
• Reserved Areas for Shows – You can also pre-purchase (up to 7 days before) reserved areas for the various shows at Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios, including Disney Illuminations, the nighttime fireworks show. Prices vary per show.

I hope this helps answer any questions you may have when planning your trip to Disneyland Paris! I personally loved my time here and can’t wait to go back in the hopefully near future. If you have any questions, be sure to drop them in the comment box below. And if you want a free price quote for your trip to Disneyland Paris, you can email me at TravelNow [at] NowViewingTheWorld.com.