Who would not love to experience a magical world even just for a day? I guess everybody has this dream. That’s why Walt Disney transformed this dream into a reality by building Disneyland Parks. Both kids and adults get the chance to meet their favourite Disney characters, which bring back the memory of their childhood days or their kids’ favourite Disney cartoons and movies. However, despite the promise of a magical day, going to Disneyland still reminds us that there is actually no perfect world. Magic comes with a price. There are some downsides to visiting Disneyland Parks. By reading this blog and the reviews of other people online, you will get prepared on what to expect when going to Disneyland. This blog talks about our experience and review of Disneyland Paris and the tips and tricks on how to “reduce the price of magic”. After talking to others, I would say that the same experience can be expected for the other Disneyland Parks around the world.

Disneyland Paris is one of the most visited places in Paris and therefore it is important to get prepared when planning to come here. For us, it took quite some thinking on whether to come to Disneyland Paris since we had a train ticket to Paris and we are already in the region. We decided to come to Disneyland Paris in the end to celebrate the first birthday of my youngest boy. Of course, this is in addition to visiting some famous places in the Paris region. If you are interested to see the places to visit in Paris, check my blog on Discover Paris with family and friends. Since this was our first visit ever to a Disneyland Park, we learned that planning ahead and having the right expectation makes sure that you get the best experience in your Disneyland visit. After knowing the process of booking and experiencing the place, here are some considerations before you book your tickets and make the travel arrangements to Disneyland Paris.

Considerations when visiting Disneyland Paris

• It is only worth it to visit Disneyland Paris if you get the discounted tickets. Most of your time in Disneyland will be spent on queuing and waiting in line for around 30 minutes up to a maximum of two hours, in order to ride an attraction that often lasts for 1.5 to 2 minutes. In our case, we were able to get only 6 rides, which could be translated to “12 minutes of magic” during our 10 hours of stay in Disneyland Paris! The walking and the viewing of the park still gives a magical experience even without doing rides, however, standing in the long que is not magical at all. Therefore it depends on your perspective and expectation on whether you will be enchanted by this fantasy land. For us, we were satisfied with our visit and still consider visiting again in the future as long as we don’t pay for the full entrance fee. To plan your visit to Disneyland Paris, there are many websites that offer discounted tickets, which I discuss below under tips on booking your Disneyland Paris ticket.
• The food prices inside the Disneyland Paris are really expensive. For instance, a regular fast-food menu that costs 10 euros will cost you double! A bottle of coke will cost 3.70 euros or a piece or a magnum ice cream for nearly 4 euros (which is already 4 packs in a supermarket). Imagine if you stay there for more than 10 hours and you buy drinks and foods for your whole family, the costs will definitely be horrendous! The management encouraged not to bring food, but actually bringing your own food and drinks is allowed and will save you a lot of money without affecting the experience of the park since the food being served is overpriced.
• If your ticket is eligible for two parks in a day, start visiting the Walt Disney Studio. It closes until 8pm, while the other one – Disney park, is open until 11PM. Moreover it is easier to get the rides with less que in the Disney parks in the evening at around 8-11PM. This is only feasible if you visit with older children or only as a couple. If you visit with young children, you have to accept that you cannot try all rides unless you stay for few days. If you are constrained with money and or time, we would advice you to only visit the Disney park and delay the visit to the Disney studio for when your kids are older.
• Disneyland Paris is very expensive as compared to other theme parks for kids in Europe. For instance, Loveexploring.com mentioned that the Efteling in The Netherlands exceeds Disneyland Paris in terms of the experience while tickets being much cheaper! Visiting Legoland in Denmark is also a great alternative with tickets being sold for a good price during promotions.
• If you are a Disney fan, try to give it a go! For the real fan, the experience is definitely worth it. Disneyland Paris is said to be the most complete realisation of Walt Disneys original vision for Disneyland compared to the rest of Disneyland Parks worldwide.

What kind of ticket do I need?

There are multiple types of tickets to book, depending on your situation:

• 1 day-1park – The 1day-1park ticket is recommended if you go with younger kids and if you have a limited time to visit Disneyland. With this ticket, you have the option to visit either the Disney Park or the Walt Disney Studio of Disneyland Paris. The rides in the Walt Disney Studio are on average for older kids as compared to Disney Park. In the summer time, the Disney Park is open from 10am-11pm, thus you have a full day to enjoy the rides without being in a rush.
• 1 day -2 parks – If your family and kids are older and you stay for only limited time in Marne la Vallee region, this ticket is recommended. It is easier to move from one ride and park to another especially if the kids are much older. Having this type of ticket makes your day intense, but at least you will get to see the two parks in a single day. However, do not expect you can experience all the rides in a single day so make sure to have a bucket list ready with all the rides that you at least want to experience.
• Multiple days (2, 3, or 4 days) – If you guys want to have a relax visit in Disneyland Paris and have sufficient budget to stay a little bit longer, then you may choose this option.

Tips and tricks on booking your tickets to Disneyland Paris:

Some people still choose to que in the long waiting line in Disneyland and buy the expensive side tickets there. I guess these people did not search information online before their visit. An hour of searching for cheap tickets online will definitely save you a few bucks and precious time otherwise spend queuing at the entrance when buying the ticket in the park itself.

Booking online is the cheapest and fastest way to have your ticket to Disneyland Paris. There are many websites that sell Disney tickets online, but the following are the cheapest options after scouting the web.

• 365tickets.com – This website has the promotion year round under different seasons of the year. It is also possible to have other tours in combination with your Disneyland Paris ticket.
• Picniq is a UK-based website that also offers cheaper tickets to Disneyland as compared to most sites. in fact, this is the cheapest that I have found online so we used this site in booking our Disneyland ticket. It is very easy to make booking via this site and the ticket goes straight to your webmail inbox after booking.
• disneylandparis.fr – The French website of Disneyland Paris often offers cheaper deals compared to websites in other European languages, such as English, Italian, German to name a few.