7 Disneyland Paris tips for your first visit

If you’ve ever wished for a more manageable Disney theme park experience, with affordable park tickets, easy public transportation straight to the front entrance and effortless park-hopping, a trip to Disneyland Paris may be the perfect addition to your next French vacation.

Oh, and there’s a Champagne cart on Main Street, U.S.A. and even a dragon living under Sleeping Beauty Castle that you can visit.

Disneyland Paris opened in 1992 and was then known as Euro Disney — the theme park is now officially on the upswing. It’s home to what might now be the nicest Disney hotel in the world, the Disneyland Hotel. The area’s second park, Walt Disney Studios Park (once widely regarded as the weakest international Disney park) now has some top-tier rides and, since 2022, also houses the Avengers Campus. What’s more, in the next few years, even more rides and lands will be arriving at Walt Disney Studios Park — including a forthcoming new identity: Disney Adventure World.

Disneyland Paris is beautiful and affordable compared to U.S. parks. It’s also extremely easy to get to if you are coming from or through Paris — making for a great multiday stop on your European vacation or a perfect fun-filled daytime detour from a bigger trip to the City of Light.

Here’s everything you need to know about Disneyland Paris if you’re visiting for the first time.

Related: Every new land and attraction coming to Disneyland and Disney World in 2025 and beyond

Disneyland Paris basics

Disneyland Paris is home to two parks: Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park (soon to become Disney Adventure World).

Disneyland Park is a castle-themed park that feels like a mix of Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in Florida and Disneyland Park in California. It has a lovely Sleeping Beauty Castle and familiar lands such as Frontierland, Fantasyland and Adventureland.

But don’t let the obvious similarities confuse you, as it’s far from a clone of any other park. There are some things here you won’t find anywhere else, and the rides that sound familiar, such as Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain, are much more intense in France than back in the U.S. of A.

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And then there’s Walt Disney Studios Park. When it eventually rebrands to Disney Adventure World, it will get an all-new Adventure Bay, alongside a “Tangled”-themed ride and a World of Frozen land, similar to the one that recently opened in Hong Kong, in 2026.

The two parks are adjacent to each other across a plaza, as shown below, similar to the two parks at Disneyland in California. This means it is quick and easy to hop between parks if you wish.

You can likely hit the highlights of one or perhaps both Disneyland Paris parks in one day. If you want to devote two days to the parks, then you’d have ample time to enjoy most of what Disneyland Paris has to offer, especially with a little line-skipping strategy.

There are nearby hotels where you can stay, or you can easily take the train to and from the airport or from the heart of Paris for added convenience.

Disneyland Paris tickets

While not as cheap as the tickets we enjoyed earlier this year to Tokyo Disney, Disneyland Paris tickets are still much more affordable than tickets for the U.S. Disney parks.

One-park, one-day tickets at Disneyland Paris start at $63 per adult per day, with children’s tickets (for kids ages 3 to 11) costing slightly less than that.

Around the holidays, ticket prices go all the way up to $148, but much of the time, you’ll pay significantly less, especially if you can visit during the week — you’ll find fewer crowds then, too.

Park-hopping only costs 25 euros ($27) more per person, per day, so that’s a decent option if you don’t want to spend two days in the parks.

Look for ticket deals before you check out on the Disneyland Paris website. This summer, we bought our tickets under a “Friends and Family” promotion that gave you further discounts on your tickets if you were traveling with four to six people, which we were.

As an added benefit, dated park tickets are currently eligible to be canceled up until three days before travel, which made committing to the purchase before our trip easy.

Related: How to use points for Disney tickets

Disneyland Paris hotels

There are seven official Disneyland Paris hotels, ranging from the recently reimagined Disneyland Hotel at the literal entrance of the park to cabins at the Davy Crockett Ranch (a 15-minute drive away, and sadly doesn’t have a shuttle). Multiple hotels are also just a 10- to 20-minute walk or shuttle bus ride from the parks.

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If you stay at an official Disneyland Paris hotel, you get an Extra Magic Hour each morning. During this time, you will get early access to some areas of the parks an hour before non-hotel guests — it’s a great opportunity to meet a character or get on a ride before the gates officially open.

If you’re choosing between the hotels, the nicest Disneyland Paris hotel is unquestionably the eponymous Disneyland Hotel.

It reopened in early 2024 after a transformation befitting a fairy-tale princess. From the massive lobby chandelier to the hotel’s own unique Champagne, it’s undeniably bougie in all the best ways.

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The bad news is that rooms here start at around $1,000 per night. The good news, however, is that the rooms often sleep four guests, which is unusual for Paris, where occupancy limits typically prohibit more than two or three people sleeping in a room. After paying for two rooms for the four of us in Paris (and other parts of Europe), a night here all in one room didn’t sound quite as painfully expensive as it otherwise would have.

Dare I say, factoring in not having to book two rooms, it was worth it for a night for the convenience and just the posh, upscale nature of it all.

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I used the annual $100 Citi Strata Premier℠ Card (see rates and fees) hotel credit and booked my stay via the Citi Travel site, which meant I also earned 10 points per dollar on the paid portion of my stay, which was a pretty hefty return.

TPG values Citi ThankYou Rewards points at 1.8 cents each (as of August 2024), so I saved $100 by booking with that card’s annual hotel benefit and earned approximately $162 in points I’ll use on future trips by being strategic with my reservations.

There is (what looked like would be) a lovely character meal at Royal Banquet with Mickey and friends making appearances in some truly royal outfits, but it costs 100 euros ($111) for those 12 and up and 50 euros ($56) for children ages 3 to 11. So, we passed on that experience this time since dinner for four would have totaled nearly $400.

There is also a popular indoor pool and a Royal Kids Club, though when I visited the kids club staff didn’t seem to speak very much English (and my French is almost nonexistent), so I wasn’t able to get all the details on how the club works firsthand. However, the website indicates it is free for up to two hours per day for children ages 4 to 11. Since it is next to the spa, it could be a convenient option for those with younger kiddos who are hoping to get a little time to themselves.

You can also book a royal makeover for your kids for prices that range from a little over $100 to almost $500 (the costumes are among the nicest I’ve seen), or you can keep your eye out for surprise theatrical performances that pop up throughout the hotel that cost nothing at all.

The second-nicest hotel at Disneyland Paris is likely Disney Hotel New York — The Art of Marvel, which reopened in 2021 after a massive superhero-themed renovation. Expect rates from around $700 to $800, with peak nights costing more.

You might want to avoid some of the still-expensive but less recently opened or renovated Disneyland Paris hotels.

For example, while it sounds promising, with a national park lodge theme and moderate prices, the Disney Sequoia Lodge’s rooms and common areas are reportedly a little tired and dated. There have been rumblings of possible renovations in the coming years, so stay on the lookout for that.

If none of the Disneyland Paris official hotels are right for your trip and you’d like to stay on points nearby, you can try Marriott’s Village d’ile-de-France, which is less than 4 miles from the park entrance. But do note that award availability via Marriott Bonvoy is notoriously very tough and, at times, potentially impossible to lock. There’s also the Holiday Inn Express Marne-la-Vallee Val d’Europe, which is bookable with IHG points, starting at around 32,000 IHG points per night.

Another nearby option is the Moxy Paris Val d’Europe, which can be booked with Marriott points and is handy for taking the Reseau Express Regional (a commuter network of five express train lines that connect Paris to the suburbs) to Disneyland Paris.

Related: The best hotels in Paris

Getting to Disneyland Paris from Paris

You don’t have to stay near Disneyland Paris if you don’t want to, as getting to Disneyland Paris from the city center is fairly simple, thanks to the RER A train. You can take this line from many central locations in Paris to the Marne-la-Vallee — Chessy station, which is so close to Disneyland that you can just about smell the churros when you step outside.

Also, it’s pretty easy to tell if you are on the right train to Disneyland Paris — just look for a Mickey symbol on the stations’ signs. You can purchase tickets from kiosks at the station, and they cost 5 euros each. The ride from the Auber station, which was closest to the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome, where we had been staying with points the nights before, was simple and about 45 minutes long.

Just be aware that the RER A splits into two different lines before the Marne-la-Vallee — Chessy stop, so make sure your train has the Mickey symbol and is going to the right station before you board.

Once you’re off the train, you’ll walk just a few steps out of the station and then clear security to enter the Disneyland Paris complex.

If you’re coming from or going to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) on a Disneyland Paris trip, you’ll still begin and end your journey at the Marne-la-Vallee station, but the quickest and easiest route is to take a TGV high-speed train. It’s a great option since it’s a 10-minute ride from Disney to the airport.

Note that tickets can be expensive for such a short journey, but we observed prices dropping as you get within a week or so of your travel date, with tickets starting around 16 euros ($18) per person, though prices vary by time and date.

Related: Best ways to get from Charles de Gaulle Airport to the Paris city center

Best Disneyland Paris rides

At first glance, many rides at Disneyland Paris appear to be the same or similar to ones in the U.S., but that’s not always the case.

Space Mountain

At Disneyland, the ride that would usually be known as Space Mountain is Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain, and it goes upside down … multiple times. Consider it a must-ride if coasters are your thing.

Big Thunder Mountain

Then there’s Big Thunder Mountain, which I’d also say is better than the U.S. versions of the ride.

First of all, it’s “haunted” and thus ties into the nearby Phantom Manor storyline (more on that shortly), but it also goes under the lake. No, you don’t get wet, and if you aren’t paying attention, you may not realize that’s what is happening, but it definitely happens.

Phantom Manor

Phantom Manor can be thought of as Disneyland Paris’ version of the Haunted Mansion, but like the other rides mentioned, it is also far from a replica of anything that can be found in the U.S. It’s not just different in name — it’s a different story. And don’t worry; most of the narration is in French and English, so you can keep up, even if you don’t speak French. It’s beautiful, it’s haunting and it’s a must-ride.

Pirates of the Caribbean

The Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland is generally regarded as better than the one at Disney World as there are more scenes and a second drop. I’d rank this version at Disneyland Paris as very close to the one at Disneyland in California. There are two drops in this attraction, and these scenes, while familiar, are in a different order and unique enough to make it a must-ride.

Crush’s Coaster

Located in Walt Disney Studios Park, this spinning coaster is “Finding Nemo”-themed and the only one of its kind in the world. While we didn’t ride Crush’s Coaster on this trip since we were only in Disneyland Park, it’s a must-experience thrill ride if you visit Walt Disney Studios Park. It was a highlight of TPG Managing Editor Jordan Waller’s trip last year, who said it was “way scarier” than he thought it would be.

A fire-breathing dragon under the castle

This isn’t a ride, but it is something you must experience if you visit Disneyland Paris. While you should absolutely take time to explore inside Sleeping Beauty Castle, you also need to go under it, too, as you’ll find its oversized prisoner there.

This dragon is often resting, but stick around until it wakes up, and you won’t be disappointed — it’s unlike anything you’ll see at a Disney park in the U.S.

Go inside Sleeping Beauty Castle

You can go inside Sleeping Beauty Castle and enjoy the view below, stained glass windows and more. It’s breathtaking and unique, especially when compared to the Magic Kingdom castle.

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More Disneyland Paris rides to consider — or skip

Some other rides we enjoyed were Disneyland Paris’ version of Snow White’s Scary Adventures, which was still the creepier and scarier version that Disneyland has moved away from in California, and Peter Pan’s Flight, which I think is also better than the U.S. versions of that ride in Florida and California.

Other popular rides at Walt Disney Studios Park include Ratatouille: The Adventure, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Spider-Man W.E.B. Adventure and Avengers Assemble: Flight Force.

I will add that a ride I did not personally enjoy at Disneyland Paris was Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril. It was incredibly rough and prone to cause not only motion sickness but head, neck or back pain, based on my experience, even when you follow instructions to keep your head all the way back against the padding, so this one gets zero out of five stars from me.

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Is Disneyland Paris Premier Access worth it?

Now that we’ve talked about the best rides at Disneyland Paris, the next logical topic is wait times … and how to avoid them.

Disneyland Paris has two skip-the-line options: Premier Access and Premier Access Plus. The first is a per-ride purchase, and the second provides Premier Access (similar to Lightning Lane access in the U.S.) to all eligible rides (once per ride) across both parks.

Costs to book Premier Access on a per-attraction basis currently range from 5 to 16 euros ($6 to $18), depending on the ride. Rules state that you can buy a maximum of three Premier Access passes per day (and a maximum of one per attraction). You can only book day-of in the park, and after you purchase one, you’ll get the next available time slot.

In contrast, the Premier Access Plus pass covers all the eligible Premier Access rides and you aren’t tied to any specific time to use the lanes. Instead, you can go once on each eligible ride at any time. The cost for this pass varies (a lot) but starts at about 90 euros ($100) per person, per day and goes up on busier days.

I think it’s unquestionably worth it to get the Premier Access pass in some form for busy rides to make the most of your time at Disneyland Paris. Still, I’d say that the Premier Access Plus pass is only worth it if you are park-hopping and hitting the parks hard all day or if the cost isn’t a big hit to your budget. Having the flexibility to avoid as many lines as possible and not being tied to any specific return time is a big plus.

Otherwise, you can be strategic about the three rides you use Premier Access for and avoid the longest waits while also not paying as much as you would for the Premier Access Plus pass.

Eating at Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Paris has some good rides, it’s beautiful and it’s easy to get to, but the food … isn’t a highlight, at least not in my book. It’s not that the food is bad. It’s just not especially good in many cases.

That said, as a fan of the weird but endearing Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride at Disneyland in California, I really enjoyed the Toad Hall quick-service restaurant in Fantasyland.

The fish-and-chips was pretty darn good, especially compared to other dishes I got later in the day from other Disneyland Paris quick-service restaurants. I’d recommend this restaurant for an easy lunch, assuming you like fish-and-chips, which is the mainstay of this menu and will run you 12 euros ($13).

As you can see, some of our food later in the day wasn’t as great.

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Cafe Hyperion, shown below, wasn’t my favorite restaurant, but it was large and air-conditioned, and you could watch cartoons while eating your fish or chicken burgers and fries. This restaurant, and several others, utilize “Click and Collect,” which is the equivalent of “mobile order” in the U.S. However, lines still get pretty long during peak times.

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We did not eat at any of the sit-down restaurants due to a combination of factors, including pricing and our limited time in the area. But if you want a sit-down meal and you’re staying at a Disneyland Paris hotel, you can book them up to two months out.

To end this section on a positive note, if you enjoy Champagne, you have to buy a glass on Main Street from the Champagne cart and toast to a fun day at a beautiful park. It was 20 euros ($22), but you get to keep the fun flute, and I’d say it is worth it for the experience.

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Is Disneyland Paris worth it?

I’ve loved both of my visits to Disneyland Paris. It’s not the best Disney park in the world, but it’s still very good at a variety of things, including just giving you and your kiddos an easy break from doing and seeing things in Europe that may take some effort or not be as comfortable and familiar as a day on Main Street, U.S.A.

It’s a beautiful park, and it’s possible to spend as little as a day here and still feel like you got to experience a good amount of things and that you also got your money’s worth from the ticket, especially if you strategically use your Premier Access pass.

It’s very easy to stay a night or two here at the beginning or end of your trip if you’re coming from or going to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, thanks to the high-speed train that takes just 10 minutes and runs directly between the two points. The Disneyland Hotel really is exceptional if you have the budget for it (or use points to make it happen), but there are other hotel options in the area, too.

Alternatively, you could just stay in Paris and take the RER A train to Disneyland Paris — it’s a very easy way to layer some Disney magic into a bigger trip planned around experiencing the City of Light.

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