Disneyland Paris with a 2.2 year old...

[curiousgeorgie]

My DH is taking me to Disneyland Paris for my 30th birthday in December...

This year we've been to Rome and Las Vegas and I've left my DD with my parents for both of them and felt awful about it. (they were both for people's birthdays - very adult trips and we only stayed for 2 nights in each - even Vegas, we were exhausted!!)

For this reason I absolutely refuse to go anywhere else without her and so decided on Disneyland Paris.

Thinking of staying in Disneyland hotel, going with two other childless couples (who adore DD though) and wondering if anyone had any advice...

Is there actually anything for DD to do? She will be 2 in October....

Thanks!

Not much really but there are all the characters wandering round and plenty to look at. She will enjoy herself anyway but I'm not sure if there are any suitable rides etc. There are shows and things though and the good thing is you'll be with people who can watch her so you can go on things that she can't :)

Loads!

DD was 18m when we went, just as a day trip as we were in the area. DD loved it so much that we booked to go to Florida the next summer with my parents. DD was 2y4m in Florida and had the best time ever!

Lots of the rides are suitable for this age, and I am sure she will love looking around, seeing characters, and going on some rides. Just be prepared to queue - get DD in the habit of being able to, if she isn't already. We always find DLP rather busy. But she'll love it!

Also measure her before you go and see if there are any additional rides she can go on.

It's only the rollercoasters, etc she can't go on. Many of the DLP rides are from very young ime.

Great! So rides like Peter pan and snow white are fine... What about pirates of the Caribbean and the haunted mansion? (or are they a bit scary?)

I'm actually hoping to be pregnant by then so wouldn't mind sitting out rides with her... I'm hoping for Christmassy magicalness and a perfectly behaved toddler lol...

Going away twice without her was just hellish.

Most of fantasyland is fine in terms of suitable rides. The hotel is great, especially if you want to pop back fr her to have a nap. Pirates is probably ok, haunted mansion might be a bit scary. Playhouse Disney show in the studio likely to be a hit too!

You can check out ride footage on you tube. At a similar age DS loved the castle and just wanted to walk round and round being told the story of sleeping beauty over and over. Oh, and there's a dragon under the castle too!

Have a wonderful time

Do you think castle club is worth it?

Don't do it! At least not for another 4 yrs or so. There are very few rides for very little ones and frankly she will probably find the characters scary (our 4 yr old did!). Save it for when she is older.

Do do it. We took DS first one when he was 3.2 and had a ball! Christmas is a lovely time to go, bit stayed at the Disneyland hotel but would love to.

have been with DD and DS multiple times between the age of being a bump 6 months and 6 years. Am a bit at there not being enough to do....

Can say Christmas is a very cool time of year to go, DLP goes into party mode and has a lot of parades and shows. With a 2 year old you really wan to catch as many of these as possible. The evening parade (doesn't run off peak) can be a bit late for little ones, but is absolute spectular,worth taking a break in the afternoon and going back just for that.

Fastpass rides the grownups want to do and 2year old can't. There really aren't that many and actually theres enough to do anyway if you decide just to enjoy things together.

Some youngsters are a bit scared... However if you only buy one souvenir, I've found buying an autograph book at the start of the holiday really helps. (ideally also one of the pens that the characters find easy to use). Helps character interaction. From memory I'm sure I've read that breakfast in Disney hotel is character dining which is a good way for little ones to meet character

Don't miss doing the Studios park, Stitch Live is awesome (If you don't come out in love with stitch I'll eat me hat). I'm sure someone has mentioned Disney Junior, but don't miss animagique either. If you DD is not scared of loud noises catch the stunt show, if you leave after the lightening mcqueen bit ou miss the burning man (or just hide under a blanket.

Key is to take it slow, especially if your pregnant (check out paperwork for special access pass), plan to mix rides with shows for a rest.

Castle Club is really doing disney in style, no you certainly don't have to to enjoy DLP. but given the option would definitely castle club!!!

excuse the typos!!

Ps. have never castle clubbed so am most

Thanks :) now I'm really excited!!! Xx

I'm also surprised by people saying there won't be enough for little ones to do. DD really did love it and went on every ride she could. She wasn't scared of any of them. Some are a bit dark inside but depends on your child I guess.

She's quite the daredevil so I think she'd be okay... She constantly leaves me at soft play, climbs up (or down things) without a second thought and to be perfectly honest I live with an absolutely insane dog and she barely blinks at him :)

She'll crawl upstairs into the dark etc....

Hi curiousgeorgie,
Children much younger than your daughter have a lovely time in DLP. There are very few rides that she cannot go on because of a minimum height restriction, but some do depend on the individual child and what they will or won't enjoy.
There are more restrictions for babies under 1 year, but even they can go on quite a few things in parent's arms.
You have plenty of time for trip planning to make your visit successful. Christmas Season is a wonderful, Magical time to be there, although it could be very cold, so pack plenty of warm clothes that you can layer. Ski wear is ideal for children when the weather is very cold, and could possibly snow.
It isn't always very cold though - we have had varying weather on December trips, sometimes quite mild and sunny, or it could be mild but wet.
You can find me and other DLP fans to help you plan your trip on the Trip Advisor Disneyland Paris / Marne La Vallee forums which are linked, so posts appear on both forums.

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowForum-g226865-i2224-Marne_la_Vallee_Seine_et_Marne_Ile_de_France.html

You will be made very welcome.

Do it! We took ds at 10 months :) and he loved it. There are plenty of rides for her to go on, and she will enjoy the cinemagique and other shows in the WD Studios land. Am in that a group of adults would go to DLP without kids tbh - there isn't enough money in the world to pay me to do that

She may be scared of some of the rides/characters - dragon under Cinderella's castle, the red riding hood ride and peter pan are quite scary - but DLP at Xmas is magical with lots of pretty lights. BUT it can be freezing so make sure you take snowsuits, blankets, plenty of changes of clothes, and make sure you stop every so often to warm up inside with a hot drink.

See this thread about rides for young children and nervous adults, as not all grown ups like thrill rides! Pregnant ladies can get a special pass from City Hall or Studio Services to avoid standing in a queue line for suitable rides, along with their direct family members.

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g2079053-i21935-k5316174-Gentle_attractions_for_children_and_adults-Disneyland_Paris_Marne_la_Vallee_Seine_et_Marne_Ile_de_France.html

You can't currently have Character Breakfast in the Disney hotels - only Character Breakfast in Cafe Mickey, and Character Dinner or Sunday Brunch in Inventions buffet in the Disneyland Hotel. Also sometimes Character Sunday Brunch in The Steakhouse in the Disney Village.
The other Character Dining restaurants are Cowboy Cookout BBQ for lunch and tea, or Auberge De Cendrillon in Fantasyland for dining with Princes and Princesses.

The new Disney Dreams spectacular after dark at park closing time is now on every night of the year, weather permitting, so extended park hours in future in spring / summer months with longer daylight hours.
Fantillusion Electrical Parade is on this Summer Time, along with Dreams, but don't know about Christmas Season yet. The extra shows like Mickeys Winter Wonderland ice skating show should be on in Chapparal Theatre in Frontierland as usual - I have not heard otherwise so far.

" Red Riding Hood ride..."
I think PiedWagtail means Blanche Neige et les sept nains / Snow White & Seven Dwarves ride!
This can certainly be scary for young children, as it features the darker side of the story, with the Wicked Queen / Witch and the dark woods. Do Pinnochio ride first, which is almost next door and a similar design ride - if kids don't like that, they won't like Snow White ride.

If you don't have a small blanket to take for kids in pushchairs, they sell lovely soft fleecy Disney ones in various designs, in the parks, Village and Disney hotels shops.

My 3 yr old nephew dismissed Fantasyland as too ' babyish ' and wanted to spend all his time in Pirates Of The Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain, Phantom Manor, and threw a real wobbly when he was not tall enough for the rollercoasters, like his brothers and cousins.
If Tower of Terror and Crush's Coaster had been built then, he would have loved those as well.
But some 3 yr olds and older kids would be scared witless by these, so you need to know your own child.

I agree, that there's plenty for very young children to enjoy. Ds and dd were 2 and 6months when they first went (we went with some other people with older children). DS loved it and remembers it.

One thing though - DS was terrified of the characters. I had not expected that and had forgotten to pre-warn him about this. His first encounter was with Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dee in the hotel lobby as we were checking in and he properly screamed. But we calmed him down, keep him away from the characters and he had a great time after that. So perhaps something to mention beforehand?

We took our two boys to ' EuroDisney' ( as it was originally called before Disneyland Paris ) every year, sometimes twice, until they were 9 and 13, then took them to WDW Florida for the first time, which I think was about right, as we could go on most things together as a family by then, and they could cope with two weeks of theme parks with early starts and late nights, in the very hot weather ( even though we went in October or April / May ).
Still carried on going to DLP as well though, as some rides are better there, and being smaller it has its own charm, with the prettiest Disney Castle.
Ideally you need at least 3 days in DLP - one day in each park, and a third for doing favourite thins again or things you didn't have time for.
Monday to Friday is good outside French school holidays to avoid the very busy weekends ( not Public Holidays either ). Also try to avoid Spanish school holidays. This gives you time in both parks without rushing, plus spare time for relaxing in hotel pools ( if you have one ) or going on the train into Paris or Val D'Europe, where there is a huge shopping mall and Sealife Centre.
May half term is good for UK school age kids as the French, Spanish and most other countries don't have this holiday, so low crowd levels, short queue lines, and mainly British people in resort!