Help me plan Disney Paris for a nearly 4 YO

[Sunshineinmadrid]

Any anecdotal advice needed.

How many nights? ChatGPT suggest 4 nights to include downtime between park days, is this correct? It certainly changes the price of it!
on my little research it seems staying in a hotel onsite is ideal (Cheyenne /Santa Fe seem more affordable but no swimming pool, is the pool useful?)

• Does everyone pay for breakfast at the hotel?

It seems like the thing to do is the Eurostar via London. What’s best, this or taking the car with added journey time?

i like the idea of freedom as would love to nip to a supermarket to avoid the shackles of Disney food, or do I accept the inevitable?

There are loads of facebook groups which cover this. I find that is the best place for info. Search Disneyland Paris planning and you will find them

If you can do stay on site but driving is usually more economical if you are se based, book a non Disney hotel nearby the night before your tickets start to maximise time on your tickets. The ranch has kitchen facilities and parking, big carrefour etc nearby but we stayed at the lodge one once and Newport the other time which are walking distance.

I don’t want to be a party pooper, but (and I speak from experience!) I think nearly 4 is too young. There is a LOT of queuing at Disney and 3 year olds find this frustrating. There is a lot of walking around and they get tired. I took my niece when she was 4 and she didn’t like it as much as I thought she would. It was tiring and overwhelming and -something I hadn’t anticipated- she was terrified of the characters and cried whenever Mickey, Minnie, etc came anywhere close.
I took my own children when they were 7 and 11 and they both loved it.

We have been before and did 3 nights. Stayed at Sequoia, which is the cheapest hotel with pool. We loved being able to go back to the hotel and chill/swim in the afternoon, then back to the park. The pool is blooming cold though. They do have a deal with nearby centre parcs where you stay there and get 2 days park entry, which might be a suitable mix from your wish list.

We did the centreparcs and 2 day Disney, it was absolutely perfect (you can do 3 days Disney if you wanted)

so easy to get the shuttle bus and you still get magic hour but you can retreat to the centreparcs - great outdoor spaces, huge lake, indoor play area animals, outdoor play area, ginormous outdoor/indoor pool, rapids etc it was fab

i took my daughter at the start of November as she has a two week half term. There was a sweet spot between the end of the Halloween and the start of the ‘official’ Xmas season. Lots of the Xmas devs were up though. The prices were quite a bit lower for a few days in the midweek.

My 16 year old has absolutely no memory of any holiday before the age of 7 or so, and only sketchy memories of things before age 9. Taking a 4 year old to Disneyland is a huge waste unless you are planning to go every year or at least every 18 months or so such that it becomes somewhere familiar that she knows her way around. If it's going to be a one-off then really, wait for at keast 3 years.

Thanks, all useful and will take on board. I was panicking that it will be a lot more once she starts school and we’re tied to school holidays.

I've just come back, DD is 4.5. We (she) had a good time. She wont remember it but I will . . . We didn't do loads of rides, we focused on character meets and the shows.

We were there 3 days, arrived mid afternoon on the first day and left mid afternoon on the third, so 48 hours really. That was an okay amount of time for us especially with the heat.

We stayed at Sequoia and the pool was a godsend in the heat (although pretty packed most of the time). Being able to just pop back to the hotel was really useful.

We traveled by Eurostar, it was easy enough. You do have to change at Lille which was a little bit stressful as everything was in French and my French isn't great.

So so many queues for all the rides and a lot of them were closed due to the heat. I found that quite stressful and DD isn't impressed by queueing (she managed though).

Disneyland Paris First Timers is a good facebook group (albeit somewhat full of stress heads!)

4 is definitely not too young , both of our now adult children were going since they were babies , we have lovely photos and memories .

I went to Disney California and can remember the toys I chose in the shops, the flights there, what we did in the area (Alcatraz, Yosemite, San Fran, trams), the rides we went on, and hotels we stayed at, the golden retriever who
lived there called Jackson and what I had for breakfast some days 😂 and was 7.5 years old. I’m sure having lovely
photos helps with that which is obviously
much improved from my childhood.

For a 4 year old I’d take a buggy. It sounds strange but you won’t be out of place and it saves so much time and means little legs don’t get too tired.
I was so glad we did this.

Yes but you were 7.5 years old which fits with what I said. What can you remember from when you were 4? I have one memory from a holiday when I was 4 - a visual snapshot of a roller coaster ride that had a big dragon head as part of the styling. No other memories at all of that holiday. I have a few similar snapshot memories from other situations age 4-7 but nothing it would have been worth my parents spending thousands of pounds for. Obviously you want to go and you're going to go and that's your choice, but she'll remember it so much better if she's 7 rather than 4.

4 is too young. We took DD1 at 6 and DD2 was too years younger. They simply were not fussed and we just did a day trip from Paris. They were never interested again! We “made memories” by better holidays elsewhere that have given them interests as adults. When they are older, they will remember but at 4 they don’t.

We did three nights at Hotel Cheyenne in May, we didn't pay for meal packages as my 3 /12 year old is very painful with food and it would have been a complete waste of money, we took some snacks in the suitcase and got ths train to Val De Europe on one of the days and had a nice lunch and stocked up on other bits she would eat.

We watched the main parade on one of the days and the smaller ones a couple of times, but after that headed to rides when the parades were on as the queues were smaller.

They have virtual queues for things like the princess pavillion, we didn't get on them early enough, which was a shame and the queues to meet characters were ridiculous. She did love the trip though, we put a smallish limit on shop spend and once it was done nothing else. They do a magic hour so you can get into the park before non hotel guests, if you are wanting the new frozen ride you need to be at the gates waiting to go into that part of the park before anyone else and be prepared to walk very fast or run as the queue was massive. We took a cheap buggy as buggy hire was 70 euros a day i think. To fast track the frozen ride its 19 euros per person, the price changes depending on what time of the day you are on the app, just before midnight it was 27 euros per person.

We didn't do the shows as didn't think she would sit through them, we also went in the morning then headed off for a break around lunchtime, going back in around 4/5.

I agree with some posters here. For reference / experience, we have been around 10 times. I have got 4 kids with biggish age range (nearly 10 years from oldest to youngest) and at the time it was good for us because they had a pass that they don't advertise very much which suited large families and was cheaper than 2 days, the explorers hotel did a fab room for 6 (cheap) with soft play, pool etc. and we like theme parks (in general) on the "something for everyone, safe etc. kids are entertained" basis. Plus we could fly direct into CDG in an hour and there was a TGV at the time that took us to the park gates in 13 minutes (not sure if you can still do this). BUT, with one 4 year old, it is a slightly different. I am not sure I completely get the "they won't remember it" thing, obviously, if you completely HATE Disney and are only going for your child to remember it, then it is a no. But actually it can be a nice holiday for you to enjoy your child enjoying things, even if they cannot remember them in years to come, you will, you will have the photos to show them (always make us laugh now, they are all adults). The hotels are geared up (overran) with children, which can in itself be a blessing (if your child is sociable) or a curse. On the downside / tips front - It is packed, queues for the most benign rides can be over an hour, and in the heat, it can be awful. Cheapo foldy pushchair is a must, and keep your eye on it - the buses to the hotels are rammed with people who do not understand the queueing system, your best bet is to get on with child, let partner get on with folded pushchair - everyone has children so there is none of the normal politeness of letting children on first etc... . We used to do B&B basis, the food in Disney is expensive, although there is a park between the two parks which is slightly less eye watering, if you go one stop on the metro to Val D'Europ (5 mins) there is a huge supermarket, and also a relatively calm shopping centre, with some restaurants etc. As others have said, check out the unofficial DLP websites, and understand how to use the fast pass system for some of the most popular "4 year old" rides. One of the big benefits you get from going now is you won't have to take DC out of school, they can share your room etc...Also do not go into a Disney shop unless money is no object. Get whatever it is before you go (those light things that whirl around, the T-shirts, the disney princess costumes) and wear your contraband with pride ! Hope you have a lovely time x

Wait until your child is older..7 or 8 is ideal. Same as someone above said, my adult children have no memory of holidays before the age of about 7 . We stayed in Cheyenne hotel when ours were 7 and 10 and it was a great trip all round , they loved it and we loved it. We actually went back again a few yrs later but stayed outside the park and got the train in each day but I have to say that staying inside the park was so much better , it really enhanced the entire experience . No comparison really between a Disney hotel with the whole Disney atmosphere and Disney theme , Disney shuttle bus taking you to park and back each day and then staying in a self catering appartment outside the park and going in and out each day. If you can do it then definitely stay in a hotel, Cheyenne is perfectly fine .
But waiting until your child is older is very sound advice !

3-4 is the perfect age. Boy or girl?
4 nights is enough. We only went for 3 nights and 4 days but we stayed at Newport Bay so quick walk.
Didnt book breakfast and instead went to Starbucks or McD each morning en route to the entrance.
The hotels have character meets in the evening (some in morning) which we did rather than queue in the park (which can be hours).
another way to see characters is to book character dining so you see several while you eat and they come to your table. Much better than queuing to see 1 character.
Download MagiPark which tells you the wait times and go to the rides with short queues. We went in Sept and it was busy but we didn’t wait more than 10 mins on any ride.
You can also buy fast pass for certain rides. Was worth it for Auto cars one.
Eurostar was very easy - even non direct. Just 1 switch.
plenty of places in Disney Village to buy food and not eat in the park itself. Supermarket close to the train station which is right next to the park.

My daughter was 3-4 when we went and she was a huge Disney princess fan so it was perfect for her age. Lots to - we didn’t even have much time to go on any of the rides ourselves. She enjoyed the shows too.
We got a good deal where they offered 20% off for Disney+ subscribers so look out for that.
if you want dinner in the park just be aware that restaurants book up MONTHS in advance for the good ones, so you need to be quick.
YouTube has loads of helpful videos for planning.

Our first trip was Hong Kong Disney, the youngest was 4 (almost 5) and the oldest was 7. We had lots of fun, but neither really remember it now. Provided it's not intended to be a once and done, I think aged almost 4 is fine. I like to stay onsite, but we like to take advantage of the hour early entry that gives you and we tend to stay from opening to close, so it's good to be able to get back to the hotel quickly after a long long day. Often it's not much more expensive to do the hotel and park tickets package, than to just buy the park tickets alone, but I tend to sandwich a package stay with being offsite (in Marnee la Vallee) the first and last night, because the package is 2 days/1 night or 3 days/2 nights. It's always more park days than hotel nights. I would price up all options before deciding. I think 3 days is a good amount of time for a leisurely visit with small kids.

We did it at that age but stayed near Meaux I think near a lake and then did Disney for a day and Paris. Ds enjoyed Disney but it was busy and we did not do loads of rides but he loved seeing the characters. He also loved Paris especially a boat trip so it worked well as a holiday.

Do people not bother doing anything with younger children because they won't remember it?

Sounds miserable. Not everything has to be "making memories" bleugh.

It's nice to see your children happy and having fun even if they won't keep it as a life long memory.

This. It’s a bizarre quirk of mumsnet, I don’t see this in real life.

Do you all just stay home with your kids until the age of 7 as anything fun is a waste before then because they won’t have “speshul memoriessss”?

4 is a great age for DLP.

Totally agree , I’ve seen it on plenty of threads . I had loads of fun with mine when they were pre schoolers / toddlers and I remember it even if they don’t .

@tinyspinyWe did all sorts of things with dc as pre schoolers. Never stayed at home! We didn’t go to Disney though as we preferred other things. I found dc liked beaches, the sea side, pools, kids clubs, going for walks etc. By the time they were 8 and 6, we started to go on safaris, then went to the Galápagos Islands, Peru, Alaska, Caribbean on a yacht etc. We did plenty - just not the making memories yuk at an American theme park. What we did has lasted with dc and made then aware of the world in a more meaningful way.