Ultimate Guide to Visiting Disneyland Paris With a Toddler

Ultimate Guide to Visiting Disneyland Paris With a Toddler: Tips, Tricks, and Experiences

Early June 2024 My husband, toddler, and I traveled to Euro Disney and loved it so much we went back one month later!

We visit Walt Disney World in Florida every year (check out Top 9 Must-Haves for a Magical Disney Trip With Your Toddler ), and while I knew Disneyland Paris would be different, I couldn’t help but compare sometimes. That said, this didn’t diminish my enjoyment of Disneyland Paris; I just had to remind myself to manage my expectations since Disneyland Paris is smaller. Which made traveling to Disneyland Paris with a toddler easier because of the close proximity of the parks to each other and the hotels!

So, I created the Ultimate Guide to Visiting Disneyland Paris with a Toddler! Here is a recap of our experience along with some tips and tricks.

Me holding my toddler waving at Mickey and Minnie mouse — Ultimate Guide to Visiting Disneyland Paris with a Toddler. Waving good morning to Mickey and Minnie at Early Entry.

Disneyland Paris Packages With a Toddler

It is true that Disneyland Paris is generally cheaper than Walt Disney World. When you book a hotel stay on property, you automatically get park hopper tickets for each day booked. I initially called to request only 3 days of tickets because I’m so used to Walt Disney World and paying for each day of park tickets. The cast member informed me that it would be more cost-effective to do stick with the 5 days. We definitely took advantage of that! We also took advantage of our toddler being under three years old and free!

Best Time to Visit

Unlike school breaks in the vast country of the United States, where the entire country is off of school seemingly at the same time, European countries all have different break schedules. This helps with tourism all over Europe including Disneyland Paris!

Wait times are much lower than at Walt Disney World. The longest we waited in line was probably 35 minutes. Disneyland Paris does offer Lightning Lane and Premier Passes but we did not feel that we needed these during our visit.

Getting There

Transportation to Disneyland Paris is easy as long as you arrive at the right airport. Disney’s Magical Shuttle airport transfer picks up and drops off at Paris-Orly and Paris-Charles De Gaulle airports. They will also take care of your luggage for you so you can go straight to the parks when you arrive!

You can also take the train if you are staying in the city or arriving at the Paris-Charles De Gaulle airport. The Marne-la-Vallée Chessy train station is at the entrance of the theme parks and right next to the free shuttle busses to all the hotels.

You can also rent a car- parking is free at your on site Disney hotel! If your traveling with a toddler don’t forget to consider the car seat.

Where to Stay

There are many Hotels to choose from on Disney property. Most are walking distance and offer a free shuttle to the park, but there are some that don’t so pay attention when booking. Another on site hotel perk includes extra magic hours that allow you to get into the parks early.

The Disneyland Paris Hotel sits right at the gates of the park so if your looking for extra convenience, imagine waking up and seeing Sleeping Beauty’s Castle out your hotel window, then just walking downstairs and into the park!

My toddler climbing up the bunk bed ladder in our hotel room

Our Cars themed room at Hotel Santa Fe featuring a queen bed accross from a dresser with a traffic cone lamp and flat screen TV

We stayed at the Cars themed, Hotel Santa Fe and the Toy Story themed, Hotel Cheyenne. Both hotels were about a 15-20 min walk to the parks and offered a free shuttle that comes every 8 minutes. We took advantage of both during our stays!

When we stayed the Hotel Santa Fe, we had a bunk bed in the room which was so exciting for our toddler. The room itself was clean and cute featuring all the necessities, queen bed, flat screen TV, shampoo and conditioner. We were able to meet Goofy right in the hotel lobby and enjoy the onsite Buffet style restaurant and of course, Starbucks!

Our room at the Hotel Cheyenne – Toy Story Themed Hotel

Hotel Cheyenne also had a Buffet style restaurant and Starbucks. There was also a coin laundry room, pool, and a coloring station for kids in the lobby that we took advantage of when waiting for our shuttle to the airport.

Paris Excursions

Disney offers a variety of tours to popular sites around Paris. We chose the Paris Essentials tour. The itinerary included a bus ride into Paris City center, a one-hour riverboat cruise and free time in Paris with the option to purchase a hop-on-hop-off bus ticket, and the bus ride back to the hotel.

Given the upcoming summer Olympics, many locations were closed, making our planning a bit challenging. We chose not to do the hop-on-hop-off bus and walk. I know what your thinking, we walked with our 2 year old? YES! She loves walking and we have a hip seat to help cary her when she gets tired. We only rented a stroller in the parks!

After the river cruise, we walked to the Opera house and the Arc de Triomphe. Paris quickly became one of our favorite cities because of the beautiful architecture. We had a wonderful dinner before heading back to our meeting point. Round trip, the walk was about 2 hours, not including stopping.

One up side to how the Disneyland Paris tickets are included in a package everyday is being able to go to the parks for a few hours after an excursion. Definitely take advantage of having park tickets everyday and head to the parks for some rides or watch the drone show and fireworks!

Right at the entrance of the parks is the Marne-la-Vallée Chessy train station. If you wanted to go and explore Paris on your own, you could easily hop on a metro to get into the city.

Places to Eat

The buffet at both hotels offered a wide variety of breakfast options, and I was excited to indulge in my favorites. We enjoyed croissants, cereals, sausages, potatoes, fruit, and, of course, Mickey waffles. Pro tip: syrup isn’t always the go-to topping for waffles or pancakes in Europe! I almost poured honey on mine.

Breakfast from the Buffet on a place setting featuring mickey shaped waffles, syrup, a croissant, and orange juice. — DisneyLand Paris Hotel Breakfast buffet at Hotel Santa Fe

While at the parks we mostly opted for quick service meals and snacks. On the Disneyland Paris app you can find a list of quick service restaurants, view menus, and order on your mobile device for pick up. Our favorites were Casa de Coco, Last Chance Cafe, and Cafe de la Brousse. We also loved the mini crepe poffertjes at The Old Mill! Keep in mind, if you have a nut allergy, Nutella or other generic hazelnut spread is a common filling, even when it’s labeled as “chocolate.”

There are many themed sit down restaurants that you can make reservations for right on the app before your trip starts.

Stroller Rental

We did rent a stroller for the days we were at the parks. There is an option to put a deposit down to be able to bring the stroller between the two parks, and your hotel room. I highly recommend this option. Otherwise you have to return the stroller before park hopping and rent a new one at the park you hopped to. By doing this you run the risk of all the strollers being rented out and losing the one you had.

The strollers are basic, made of metal but with a fabric seat. It reminded me more of a wheelchair than a stroller. There is very little shade when you pull the shade over and overall didn’t seem very comfortable. The Disney World are made of plastic and have more shade. Neither stroller seems all that comfy.

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The Disneyland Paris Parks

The two parks are right next to each other, walking distance apart and walking distance to Disney Village- an area with restaurants and gift shops. This close proximity makes it easy to conquer both parks in one day if your short on time.

Disneyland

Disneyland is where Sleeping Beauty’s Castle is along with other classic rides like Dumbo, Peter Pan, Le Carrousel de Lancelot, The Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups, Haunted Mansion, and Buss Lightyear.

This park has some unique areas too like Alice’s Curious Labyrinth. A fun little maze to walk through ending at the Queen of Hearts Castle where you have a beautiful view of Fantasyland. Also, Maleficent as a Dragon lurks underneath the castle!

Walt Disney Studios

Half of Walt Disney Studios was under construction during both our visits. For more information about the updates check here.

There was still so much to see and experience that we didn’t feel we missed out on anything. We loved Crush’s Coaster and the shows Frozen: A Musical Invitation and TOGETHER: A Pixar Musical Adventure.

Riding the rides at Disneyland Paris With a Toddler

Just as Walt Disney intended, Disneyland Paris is a “Place where parents and children could have fun together.” So many rides are suitable for all ages and both parks!

Image of the boat on top of a globe outside the "It's a Small World" ride — Outside It’s a Small World Ride

Rider Swap

Of course there are some thrill rides not suitable for toddlers and if you are there with more than one adult you can still experience these rides through Rider Swap!

Each attraction may have slight differences in how they do Rider Swap so always talk to a cast member at the entrance of each ride you want to do Rider Swap on.

Rider Swap essentially works where one adult will go on the ride in the standby lane while the rest of the group can do whatever they want around the park. When the adult on the ride is done, they will be handed a ticket or a password to pass on to the adult off the ride so that the other adult can take that back to the ride and be directed on to the ride, not in the standby line.

View of the Disneyland Paris Castle with the Electrical Sky Parade — The Electrical Sky Parade, Drone Show above the Sleeping Beauty’s Castle

Premier Access

Similar to Lightning Lane, Disneyland Paris has Premier Access for purchase before or during your stay. You can easily purchase one of two options on the Disneyland Paris app on your mobile device.

Premier Access Ultimate allows you to join the Premier Access queue one time on each available attraction at any time throughout the day.

Premier Access One is a one time use on one attraction and you are given a time slot to join the Premier Access Queue.

Personally, we did not feel the need to purchase either of these. The lines are much shorter than what we are used to at Walt Disney World. There is also a feature in the Disneyland Paris app that allows you to set favorite attractions and the app will alert you when those wait times are low.

During both or visits and multiple days at the parks, we never waited longer than 35 minutes for a ride!

Character Meet and Greets

There were many spots to meet characters throughout the park. Any place that was inside with the character listed had long lines. The only place to meet a princess was at the Princess Pavilion. The line was never shorter than 80 min, and was on average 120 min. It also never says what princess is there, you just find out when you meet the princess.

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Do I Need to Speak French?

Nope! French and English is written and spoken all over Disneyland Paris including other common languages in the surrounding European countries. In the shows and rides, where characters are talking to each other, typically one character will speak in French and the other in English.

Sleeping Beauty's Castle in Disneyland Paris — Disneyland Sleeping Beauty’s Castle

Conclusion: Ultimate Guide to Visiting Disneyland Paris With a Toddler

All in all we had a fantastic time and we can’t wait to go back! I hope this Ultimate Guide to Visiting Disneyland Paris with a Toddler helps you plan out your perfect trip OR when you’re ready to plan your Disneyland Paris trip, email me at theresa.bauman@academytravel.com!