Here we go again... Disneyland Paris!

I can’t help but book a day at Disney when travelling through France. We are usually heading back home at this point and it is always a fantastic day to end the holiday. This year we decided to try a different campsite, Camping Les Rives de Paris - Neuilly-sur-Ma, a site nestled in a peaceful wooded area between the River Marne and the adjacent canal, in Ile-de-France (Seine-Saint-Denis). The campsite offers 111 pitches, each secluded by greenery, along with areas of small rental cabins.This location proved to be ideal, perfectly situated halfway between Disneyland Paris—just a half-hour drive away—and the French capital, reachable by a 30-minute walk along the river followed by a quick 20-minute train ride on RER A. We prefer to drive to Disney so that we have our van available at the end of the day. This way, the kids can easily get changed into their pjs before we start the journey back and we avoid the hassle and waiting time for the public transport or shuttles. When we visit, we usually park in the RV section, which costs 40 Euro, while parking a regular car in the standard area is 30 Euro. Campervans do have the option to stay overnight in this area, but there are no on-site facilities available. Public toilets can be found at the very top of the car parks, which is approximately a 10-minute walk from the RV park, however, we are not certain whether these remain open throughout the night.

This trip to Disney was a complete surprise for the kids, and Sam only realized what was happening as we got closer to the gates. They were over the moon as they thought we were driving to the ferry. The joy on their faces was priceless, making these times more memorable..

We purchased one-day, one-park tickets this year from Tiquets. The cost for two adults and two children—Esme needed a ticket since she is aged 3 and above—came to £254.40 after applying a discount through Tiquets. It is alot of money for one day, especially when including how much is spent in the park itself, but the kids don’t stay young forever and we love spending time at Disney. Before arriving at the park, it is highly advisable to link your tickets with the official Disney app in advance. Doing so will grant you easy access to book character meet and greets, secure Premier Access for popular rides, and take advantage of click and collect meal options.

We made our way to Fantasyland first, jumping in the line for Les Voyages de Pinocchio and working our way around some of these smaller attractions before the lines hit 60 minutes. In peak times the lines in Fantasyland average around 40 minutes, with some such as Peter Pan’s Flight averaging at 60 minutes. In Disneyland Paris, you can pay to skip the line for some attractions through Disney Premier Access. There are two types of Disney Premier Access available: Disney Premier Access Ultimate, which provides you with fast-track access to multiple attractions at any time you wish throughout the day without specific time slots, and Disney Premier Access One, which grants fast-track single-use access to one attraction of your choice during a designated time slot. The cost of the Ultimate pass ranges from approximately €90 to €190 per person, with prices fluctuating based on the day and expected demand. Meanwhile, the price for Access One varies depending on the attraction and the day, typically falling between €5 and €18 per ride. We aimed to stick to a budget this year so kept the app open on the map, checking the ride times as we ventured around.

We always make time to visit La Tanière du Dragon and La Galerie de la Belle au Bois Dormant. The kids love exploring the castle and it’s caves!

We stopped for crêpes in Fantasyland and watched Disney Stars on Parade at 11.30am. We managed to squeeze in a few more rides and explored Alice's Curious Labryinth before the kids wanted lunch. We still had a few rides to do, including It's a Small World and Le Carrousel de Lancelot, but decided to come back to these at the end of the day when ride times are shorter.

We headed to Au Chalet de la Marionnette for lunch, primarily because it offered a click and collect service accessible through the Disneyland app. Additionally, the restaurant featured kids meal options. The kids can choose between a hot dog or a chicken burger as their main meal, then select a side, dessert, and drink. What's great is that the sides and desserts available throughout Disneyland Paris include healthy options.

Our next plan was to see Mickey Mouse. There is no physical queue within the park to visit Mickey; instead, you must use the official app to join a virtual queue at specific times once you have entered the park. This system is the same for many of the character meet-and-greets, including the Princess Pavilion, Olaf, and Stitch. The main queue release times occur at 9:45 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., and it is essential to be ready right at those moments, as spots are claimed within seconds. These times to join the virtual queues may change, so it is highly recommended to check the app shortly before your arrival at the park. I successfully joined the first wave of the virtual queue to meet Mickey at 9:45 a.m. When booking, you can select which individuals want to visit the character. Once conirmed you will be told an approximate wait time. Our wait was just over 300 minutes, so we set off around the park knowing we'd be notified nearer the time. By selecting the Mickey queue, we missed out on Stitch, but we knew Stitch was participating in some of the Disneyland Music Festival 2025 shows, so we added those performances to our itinerary for later in the day.

Esme was initially shy to greet Mickey but eventually did so once Sam had given him a cuddle. The cast members kindly allowed us to take our own photos and even used my phone to capture a family photo. They also provided us with a photo pass, which can be used to purchase the photos at a kiosk or download them online for a fee.

After meeting Mickey, we made our way over to Adventureland and Frontierland to explore more of the park. Unfortunately, Pirates of the Caribbean was temporarily closed for a short while, which caused its wait time to increase rapidly once it reopened. To make the most of our time, we decided to purchase Premier Access tickets for 7 euros each. This allowed us to skip the majority of the queue. There’s something truly nostalgic about the smell of Pirates and the Caribbean!

We continued to explore the areas, including the charming Le Passage Enchanté d'Aladdin, La Cabane des Robinson and one of our favourites, the Phantom Manor. Many characters were spotted around the park taking part in Disneyland's Music Festival including Miguel’s Fiesta Latina, Timon's Matadance and a meet up with Rapunzel and Flynn. There were many more but we caught a glimpse of the above!

We headed to Tomorrowland next to catch the 17.30 show of Mickey's PhilharMagic. We had really hoped to see The Lion King: Rhythms of the Pride Lands as well, but missed out this time while trying to fit in more attractions. PhilharMagic is a 4D musical show that gave us a nice chance to sit down and relax for a short while, which was much needed. On our way out, we noticed the wait time for Star Tours was only about 10 minutes, so we quickly made our way over. It was Esme's first time riding it, but she didn’t enjoy the experience as much as we’d hoped. To make up for it, we promised her we'd go on It's a Small World next, since she had been excited about that ride all day.

To keep the kid's energy levels up, we decided to head over to Pizzeria Bella Notte. We opted for no fancy meals since we were trying to be mindful of the budget and keep the overall cost down. The kids' menu offered pizza and pasta options with a side, dessert and drink included all for a reasonable price of 10 euros.

After finishing her meal, Esme suddenly experienced a burst of energy, so we decided to make the most of the moment by fitting in a quick ride on Le Carrousel de Lancelot. Both of them eagerly took turns trying to pull the sword from the stone, enjoying the challenge before agreeing to call it a day.

We slowly worked our way down Discovery Arcade, lit by gas lanterns, taking our time to peek into each of the shops along the way. The arcade provides a documentation of the construction of the Statue of Liberty – you can even take part in the statue’s grand inauguration at the Statue of Liberty Tableau, which is located about halfway down the arcade. Afterward, the kids happily spent the remainder of their holiday money and I couldn’t resist picking up a delicious Mickey Beignet along with Disneyland Music Festival souvenir cup!

Before our final goodbye, we took the kids into the Storybook Store. We always encourage the children to look up and say a goodbye to their favourite characters displayed throughout the shop. The Audio Animatronic Tigger at the entrance, who used to hand-stamp books for visitors, still moves around and remains a lovely feature of the store. We spent some time browsing through the books and posters before leaving with a few pens as souvenirs.

Until 2027…goodbye Disneyland Paris!