We are not long home from our second magical trip to Disneyland Paris, so to help me recover from the Disney blues (seriously, they're definitely a real thing!), I thought I'd write a little round-up 'trip report' of our stay. I am going to apologise now if this is long, but if you've been to DLP before then you'll know that it's anything but a relaxed and slow holiday!
As a quick re-cap, we are a family of 5 (two adults, and 3 children aged 5, 3 and 16 months), and this is our second visit to DLP - we went last March which you can read about
here. This year we decided to travel by car via the Eurotunnel, and stayed at the Newport Bay Club Hotel with the Half Board+ meal plan.
Day One - Sunday 2nd June
The day started bright and early with our holiday reveal, which had us all buzzing with Disney excitement! We live in Kent so the drive to the Eurotunnel was incredibly easy and quick. We arrived earlier than our booked train, but managed to get onto an earlier one for free. The train journey was only 35minutes and it wasn't long until we arrived in Calais. The drive to Disneyland Paris itself was incredibly easy. It's mainly motorways with plenty of services and rest stops along the route. You go through a toll at the start and get a ticket, then just keep driving and you'll reach the end - it was super easy to pay (€22.50 each way) and the machine does give change if needed. The whole journey took roughly 3 hours which was totally manageable.
We arrived at Newport Bay, checked in quickly and went straight to our room to drop off our bags and change. We just had a standard room (4240) but it was lovely, and even had a balcony looking over the front of the hotel! It was a roasting 32 degrees this day which was probably a bit too hot for us, but we sun creamed up and walked to Disney Village to grab a quick lunch at Earl of Sandwich, before heading into the Disneyland Park.
After taking plenty of pictures and finding the dragon under the castle, we headed for Pirates of the Caribbean as this was due to be closed the rest of our trip. There were actually lots of rides closed during our trip (Buzz, Dumbo, Slinky Dog, Cars, Autopia and the Railroad), but I don't think it made any difference to our trip - so don't worry about closures when you go! We did a few more rides before wandering back to Newport Bay for dinner at Cape Cod. We all really enjoyed this meal; there was plenty of choices apart from fish (which was my main concern), and the littles loved the ice cream machines and sweets for pudding.
As we were all still buzzing with excitement and not too tired, we decided to stay up this night for the fireworks. The queues were tiny during this time, so it's worth staying out late to get on the rides that usually have longer queues. Illuminations wasn't until 11pm, but it is totally worth staying up late for at least once!
Day Two - Monday 3rd June
Despite the late night, we were up for breakfast early to make it into Studios Park for Extra Magic Hours (EMH). There was lots of choice including hot and cold options, and plenty of fruit too which was nice to see as it can be a rarity in Disney. We used EMH to do Tower of Terror (my 5 year old LOVED it, my 3 year old HATED it!), Aladdin's carpets, and the Studio Tram Tour. While I was waiting for the others on ToT I used the Lineberty App at dead on 9.45am and managed to get a Buzz slot (and then Jack got a Mickey slot around 9.55am). I just kept refreshing the app around that time and got a slot easily, so definitely download the app before you go! These were amazing meets too so definitely worth it!
Our main aim for the morning was to meet Spiderman, so Jack joined the pre-queue around 11.40am whilst I took Indiana on Ratatouille. He was one of the first in the queue, which was lucky as by 12.15pm the queue was miles long and Spiderman had only just come out! It was another amazing meet though, so definitely worth the wait. We went to Mcdonalds for lunch this day as there aren't many quick service restaurants in Studios at the moment (or anything at all really...). It was relatively cheap and quick, so we could squeeze in a few rides at the Disneyland Park before dinner.
We had pre-booked Buffalo Bills* (the 6.30pm show) for this night but wasn't really sure what to expect. But WOW, what a show! The food was yummy and plentiful - we had cornbread and tortilla chips when we arrived, chilli, chicken, sausages, ribs and potatoes for main, and an apple crumble with ice cream for dessert. The littles had everything but the ribs and a rocket lolly for pudding instead! Our drinks (coke, beer or water) were constantly refilled, and the show itself was brilliant and really interactive. My youngest didn't get a seat or meal, but they gave her food anyway and there was plenty of room to pop her in-between myself and Jack on the benches. We were in Category 2 seating but I don't this affected our view at all, so I wouldn't necessary say you need to upgrade!
The show ended around 8pm, so we did a bit of shopping in the Disney Village and then went back to Newport Bay for a swim. Jack took the two eldest alone no problem, and he said there were plenty of floats, armbands, and towels available to use for free.
Day Three - Tuesday 4th June
We were up and out early again, as we had character breakfast at Plaza Gardens booked. We arrived at 8am for 8.15am booking, so it was lovely and quiet in the restaurant and we were seated quickly. Despite this I found the character interactions SO rushed and crazy. There was hardly time for my big two to look up from their plates before the characters were already posing for a picture. It didn't feel very special which was such a shame. I honestly wouldn't recommend it, and have decided we wouldn't ever go again.
Once we'd eaten we headed straight to Princess Pavilion as we heard Snow White was there (who the girls were dressed up as), but despite it still being EMH it was already a 90 minute wait! But with the girls dressed up and Snow being Indie's favourite, we decided to just go for it. There is nothing to do in the queue though, so if you're going to do it then bring phones / iPads and lots of snacks with you to help with the waiting. It was all worth it though as Snow was perfect, and the pictures we got on our PhotoPass are amazing!
We had lunch at Colonel Hathi's Outpost in Adventureland where the littles got Mickey pizzas, and we had star shaped pizzas. Their meals also came with a salad, a mini ice cream, and milk which was one of the healthiest lunches we had. After being a drizzly morning the sun came out, and it was absolutely roasting again this day. So after a few more rides and wandering around Alice's Curious Labyrinth, we popped into the Disneyland Hotel to have a look around and some drinks at Cafe Fantasia. Four drinks cost over €50 (that did include my Glowtini that was €19 alone) but they were super yummy although incredibly strong!
We spent the rest of the afternoon back at Studios watching Mickey and the Magician followed straight after by the Superheros United show. Both were incredible, but do arrive about 20/30 mins before their start times to get in (ALL the seats have a good view though). We didn't have an evening meal booked this night so went to Annettes Diner in the Disney Village. This was one of my favourite meals of the holiday, and the service was incredibly quick! It was pouring by the time we were done though, so after more shopping we had a well needed early(ish) night.
Day Four - Wednesday 5th June
This was our last full day, so once again up and out early for EMH. It rained basically all of this day but prepared with coats and rain covers, we didn't let it spoil our fun. We managed to fit in Thunder Mountain, Star Tours, Hyperspace Mountain and Pinocchio during the extra hours. We made use of Parent switch service that DLP offer so much during this trip, so this helped us to get on lots of the bigger rides without as much queuing. We quickly ran over to Peter Pan's meet before the heavens opened and I feared we had queued for nothing. The staff were absolutely fantastic though, and within minutes we were guided to an undercover location and the meet continued as normal. Well done Disney!
We had lunch at the Marionette restaurant next to Pinocchio, which was nice but nothing special (or very healthy). I think we would have gone somewhere else if it wasn't raining so much. Everyone was absolutely exhausted by this point, so with the younger two asleep in pushchairs we used the time to wander at a slower pace, and we finally hunted down some Mickey shaped treats! These were in the sweet shop along Mainstreet (on the right as you walk towards the castle, not the bakery as we originally thought!) and were just as good as I hoped.
The rain definitely helped with queues this day, as everywhere was so quiet and empty. We easily got a spot by Small World for the parade, where we ate Mickey waffles and had hot drinks while we waited (Jack got these from the Old Mill in Fantasyland). Despite the drizzle the parade went on as normal. I don't think Parker stopped waving for the whole of the parade, and it was just as good as I remembered. Watching from here meant we could dash to a few rides whilst the parade finished with ZERO queues - Jack was even asked if he wanted to stay on the Storybook Boat ride as no-one else was there.
After a few problems with our meal vouchers on our Magic Passes, we ended up switching our Chez Remy reservation for the Silver Spur Steakhouse in Frontierland. I hadn't looked into this restaurant at all, but it was amazing and some of my favourite food! Jack and I both had Ceaser salads to start, steak, chips and corn for main, and a huge chocolate dessert. The littles had cute Mickey shaped plates with spaghetti and veggies, and ice creams for dessert. I'd definitely recommend! Unfortunately it did get very cold this evening and the rain continued, so we bailed early and went back to the hotel to relax and pack.
Day Five - Thursday 6th June
You guessed it, another early start! We needed to finish packing everything away and into the car, so we could make the most out of our last few hours at Disney. We spent the morning at the Studios Park for EMH as Jack and I wanted to go on Crush's Coaster. I went in the single rider line which took about 15/20 mins, and then used parent switch so Jack got straight on after. It's such a unique and fun ride, so definitely try using your magic hours to enjoy it!
After trying (and failing) to go on Parachute Drop, we spent our last few hours in the Disneyland Park. We waited about 5 minutes to go in one of the Mainstreet Vehicles (the police car) as it was on my
Bucket List. It is only one way but such a fun way to head up to the castle! As it was still relatively quiet we found a perfect spot to take castle pictures with minimal other people in too - if you head to the right of the castle, on the path towards the castle stage / Discoveryland, you can get some lovely pictures with the Castle in the back!
After some final rides we had our last lunch at Auberge De Cendrillion (the princess lunch), where we saw Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel, Rapunzel and the two mice Suzy and Perla. We had a 12.15pm booking so it was super quiet when we got there, and we managed to see most of the princesses really quickly. It was lovely and the food was good, but it is expensive - about €150 on top of half board plus dining - worth it though if you don't want to queue for hours to meet just one princess!
It was a lot busier by the time we'd finished eating, so we made the decision to do some last minute shopping and then head back to the car to drive home. Within 5 minutes of leaving the Newport Bay all the littles were asleep, and the drive back to Calais felt like 1 hour not 3! We stopped for diesel on the way which was simple and roughly the same price as at home, so don't worry about needing to fill up. We made the 8.20pm tunnel crossing, and with the time difference we were home by 9pm.
We had the most amazing time, and despite Lilah being only 16 months she still went on plenty of rides! If they were open she could have also gone on Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast, Slinky Dog Spin, Cars Rally and Dumbo, (and she didn't make it onto Snow White or Phantom Manor) but she did do -
- It's a Small World
- The Carousel
- Pinocchio
- Orbitron
- Peter Pan's Flight
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Flying Carpets
- Ratatouille
- Mad Hatter's Tea Cups
- Casey Jr Train
- Storybook Boats
- Alice's Curious Labyrinth
- Studio Tram Tour
Despite not really enjoying the characters she would happily wave to them from a safe distance away, but she absolutely loved the shows, sitting mesmerised throughout them! Running around the parks and playing with her bubble wand was her favourite thing to do though, as well as eating all the yummy treats.
If you have any questions feel free to ask them below, or message me on any of my social channels!
*We were gifted our tickets to Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show by Magic Breaks. All opinions are honest and my own.
