Flying to Disneyland Paris for a day trip

When we mentioned to friends we were flying over to Paris to take Baby Girl to Disneyland Paris, some commented it sounded like hard work. But one of the brilliant things about living in London is that it’s perfectly doable to take the family across the Channel for a day to experience the magic.

Here are our top tips for how to make a day trip to Disneyland work:

Pre-book Short Stay parking
We prefer driving to Heathrow and parking at the airport, and when taking the car, we always pre-book Heathrow Short Stay parking online. Parking in Short Stay makes getting to the departure lounge quick and easy, and it’s great to avoid extra hassle when travelling on an early morning flight.

Pre-book airport transfers
Disneyland Park is around 35-40 minutes by car from both Orly Airport and Charles de Gaulle. We travelled to Orly, which is smaller, and we found this airport ideal for a day trip, as it was not too busy and there were relatively short distances to walk. At the airport we were met by a driver from City Shuttle, the company providing the private transfer we had booked via online booking site Resorthoppa. We paid around £120 return, and the service was reliable, the drivers spoke good English and we had a contact number to call. There’s also a shuttle service from Orly Airport and Charles de Gaulle Airport to Disneyland Paris.

Pre-book tickets online through Disneyland Paris
To save time at the park, pre-book tickets online at the Disneyland Paris website. We arrived at the park soon after opening, and the queues to buy tickets were already very long. The voucher exchange queues–for tickets bought through other suppliers–were relatively short, but we were glad to have booked direct with Disneyland Paris, as our tickets allowed us to go direct to the turnstile. We paid £54 per adult for entry and under 2s go free.

Plan your day in advance
When travelling to Disneyland during a school holiday, it’s best to expect long queues to avoid disappointment on the day. To ensure you still have a fantastic time, ensure you know what’s most important for you to experience and prioritise. It’s impossible to do everything in one day with all the queuing, but part of the magic is simply being in the park and experiencing the atmosphere. I wish we’d looked at the program when we booked flights, and dared to fly home an hour later to avoid missing the parade, which was at 5.30pm.

Tags: 23 months, Airtravel, Day trip, Disneyland Paris, Family day out, France, Heathrow, Parking, Travel