Disneyland advice..?

[heartbroken22]

We're going with 1 year old and 5 year old in 2 days. I'm scared out of my mind. Airport is quite far from the hotel so we've decided to get a taxi instead of using public transport. Any tips on food or anything really? Did anyone take snacks or anything? We're definitely taking a pram...

Airport is huge, make sure you know which gate your taxi will get you.
We took snacks for dd, crisps, croissants, fruit winders that type of thing.
Pram is a must, I would also consider a buggy board for your older child. It's an awful lot of walking, we done over 20,000 steps each day. I ended up having to put my just turned 4 year old in a buggy.

Know what you want to do each day, we went for 3 days and still missed lots that we wanted to do.

Disneyland or Disney world? And what are you scared off x

Which hotel are you staying in?
Do you have a meal plan?

Assuming you mean Paris? Just research. Lots online about strategy. You need to decide what rides you want to go on and if you are using genue plus (not sure this applies in Paris) or whatever the fast pass system is that applies. You should be able to get dining reservations late notice we did in WDW but had to go very early in the day.

Just take a lot of money. Its no fun eating warm sarnies.

Disneyland Paris? Is your hotel in the resort? Because there's a shuttle bus to the parks hotels from Charles De Gaulle.

OP don't be scared, Disneyland is fab! Where are you staying? We took small refillable bottles as it was hot when we last went & there are refill water fountains all over the parks - saved £££ on drinks. Other main tip is get up early & get on popular rides when the parks are quieter. Then go have a break/nap in your hotel late morning or afternoon when it gets crazy busy, and come back for the evening when it will quieten down (a bit) again. After we'd watched the fireworks display & laser show the first night, we used the time it was on to go on the big rides and walked straight on.

We are at Hotel Campanile Marne La Vallee - Bussy Saint Georges. Booked it through group on but should have done it ourselves and saved money. Breakfast is included. I'm just worried about my kids getting very tired but I didn't know you could go back to your hotel and come back. We'll have to find some eating places too.

Don't eat in the park - the prices are extortionate and the food is crap.

We've stayed at that hotel before OP, only for one night but it's only a few mins drive from the park & the breakfasts are decent - buffet style, so I would say fill up as much as you can so you can get through to dinner with snacks. I agree not all the food at Disney is great, the fast food places are really expensive & not great quality. But some of the restaurants are actually quite nice and pretty standard price-wise. Most of them are all-you-can-eat so a fixed price. Our favourite was the Aladdin themed Moroccan restaurant in Adventureland, the food was really nice. We took sandwiches in a backpack for lunches some days, there's no issue with taking food in. You can either make them yourself or buy them on the way in - there's a shop at the Marne Le Vallee train station literally at the entrance to Disneyland (after you've parked you get on the travellators then you will walk right past the station).

@Badtasteflump thank you. Is there a supermarket/shop very close?

Thank you everyone...so helpful...keep the posts coming in...

Take calpol with you. Medicines for children aren't easily available in France like they are in the UK.

I've just had a quick Google, where you are staying , you can walk to the RER and get the train into a) disneyland Paris b) access to Auchan (huge supermarket at Val d'Europe). We did this when we stayed at Torcy, another stop from where you are, and it was really easy to get the train. It may also be cheaper than parking all day at DLP.

Have you researched any of the parks at all? If you’ve not please do so as you’ll not get anything out of your time there without a bit of planning. There are good Facebook pages to read through. Disneyland Paris for Brits being a good one. The DLP TripAdvisor page is good too.

book one of the private hire companies that take families, just likes yours from the airport to the parks and surrounding area. Prestige is one. I always use EZY shuttle. They come into the airport for you. Wait with a name board, help with your bags etc.

Food wise, we’ve always had a huge breakfast, then something from Main Street bakery during the day and then arranged dinner around the timing of parades and fireworks. That said, I always go November so it closes earlier than just now I’d imagine. Have you got any dinner reservations at DLP booked?

Watch sam4god on youtube. There's nothing the woman doesn't film or know!

There's plenty of places to eat just outside of the park, in their leisure bit where the cinema is etc. but you might need to book, except for places like Earl of Sandwich and McDonald's etc places like Rainforest Cafe and whatnot are usually rammed

We would always eat in the shopping centre. It has a food court and was good value for money. Yes to coming and going. It makes for a long day but will prob be a welcome break from the disneyness.

Yes there's a mall really close with a huge supermarket - Google Val d'Europe - it's huge & v close. Agree with previous posters about booking restaurants in Disney ahead if you have an idea where you want to go. Having said that, one year we forgot and we just went round earlier in the day & booked and it was fine. Also def do a bit of research yourself - the first time we went I bought a little guide book before I went and it really helped - we got the 'Brit Guide' one.

Also if you are going with another adult and v small children and you want to take turns going on some adult rides without them, there's a single rider queue for rides which obviously moves much faster.

Don’t go! Worst holiday of our lives and granddaughter whose treat it was also hated it 🥲

Olderkids are you serious?! Mine love Disney so much they're disappointed whenever we book somewhere else now 🙄. I only know one person/family who didn't enjoy it there, and I could have told them it wasn't their thing - their usual holidays are wild camping/bird watching ...

Hi OP, I live next to Disneyland 😁 and I'm in Bussy Saint Georges most days too.

Hotel is in a good area. There will probably be a "navette" bus from the hotel to Disney, ask at reception. Otherwise you are only 2 stops away from the park on public transport.

Picnics are banned at the park but it's not unreasonable to bring bottles of water and croissants for quick snacks. There is a Carrefour supermarket at Bussy SG which I recommend for little snacky bits.

In terms of food and restaurants Bussy has some great places to eat actually and because it's not super touristy the prices reflect that. It's got some great authentic Japanese and Vietnamese food, as well as Turkish and Italian. There is also a McDonalds that you can get delivered by Uber Eats at the end of the day. Food prices at the park are extortionate, eating in the Disney Village is cheaper but less practical - McDonalds, Earl of Sandwich, Starbucks and Vapianos are cheaper options.

As previously mentioned there is a huge shopping mall at Val d'Europe, and it contains a massive supermarket called Auchan.

I recommend a buggy board and a pushchair. I also recommend sunshades, hats and sun cream - it's been regularly hitting 30 - 40 degrees in this region for the past 2 months.

Kids medicines are very easily available - but not in supermarkets. There are a lot of pharmacies in Bussy Saint Georges, Calpol is sold over the counter under the name "Doliprane" - there are a few options so make sure you know your kids weight in kgs and in French - my 5 yr old is 24kgs so vingt-quatre kilo 😊

From the airport depending on when you arrive you can take the TGV train (35eur p/adult) not sure how much for kids - which will take you from Paris CDG to the park directly. It's probably more practical to get taxis, just be aware that you will need to ask for child seats prior to arriving. Otherwise the Disneyland coach can pick you up and costs 23euro for an adult and probably about half of that for kids. Definitely have a Google!

Once you're in the park (I used to work at Disney too😅) you'll want to stick to the main park, there's very little going on for small kids at the studios. Fantasyland is good for littles. I think the fireworks are at 11pm at the moment, I will confirm tonight when I hear them 😂

W00p - just to clarify, I know it says picnics are not allowed but I think they must literally mean getting a picnic blanket out and setting out a lunch. So many people take their own sandwiches and drinks, and it's not as if they get sneaked in because, as you know, they literally check every bag you take in and clearly don't care 🤷‍♀️.

That's what I mean @Badtasteflump, pulling out a picnic blanket with your cutlery and cold cuts will get you moved on, but some croissants, babybels and water in back pack aren't worth security's time.