Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Paris consists of two parks: Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park. We visited both in one day in October of 2022. It was easy and much less expensive to arrange our own public transportation from Paris to the parks. We took the Réseau Express Régional (RER) express train for 5 Euro per ticket from Paris to the Marne-la-Vallée/Chessy train station. Since we were only doing one day there, we got there as early as we could.

Walt Disney Studios Park

The Avengers Campus was opening the month we were there so we went there first. Grandma Jack rested in a comfy spot and looked in some shops while the rest of us rode a few rides. We rode Avengers Assemble Flight Force then Spider Man W.E.B. Adventure. We waited in a very long line to ride Spider Man so the ride ended up being fun but not worth the wait. We ventured over to the Production Courtyard area and rode Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Dan and I had done this one in Florida and it was on Caden's wishlist. It ended up being Caden's favorite ride of the day. We had hoped to ride Ratatouille: The Adventure or Crush's Coaster in the Worlds of Pixar area but we opted to leave Walt Disney Studios Park to allow for more time at Disneyland Park.

Disneyland Park

It was a short walk from one to the other. After going through the gates we viered to the left and found the cobblestone path to cut through from the Main Street USA area through the Liberty Arcade to Frontierland. We rode Phantom Manor and all loved the similarities and differences to the Haunted Mansion ride we were used to. We were hoping to ride Big Thunder Mountain but it was closed. We had a great BBQ lunch at Cowboy Cookout while still in Frontierland. Next we walked through Discoveryland. We had hoped to ride Les Mysteres du Nautilus but it was also closed. We approached Fantasyland and waited to ride Le Pays des Contes de Fees (Storybook Land Canal Boats). There were several delays and we probably could have gotten in a different ride line, but by that time we had waited so long we just kept waiting until the ride reopened. This was a nice relaxing ride with views of classic fairytales. There is also a Casey Jr Le Petit Train in the same area.

Then we braved the crowds and headed back towards the center of the park. We were on the back side of the castle so we peeked under the castle to see La Taniere du Dragon blow some smoke. Caden waited patiently to try his hand at removing the sward from the stone. We walked to the front side and admired the Sleeping Beauty Castle. It is a beautiful site with its stained glass windows and pink color against the grey/blue French sky. We rode the Disneyland Railroad from the station on Main Street USA all the way around the park to rest our legs and see the entire park. It happened to be the 30th Anniversary of Disneyland Paris the year we were there so we were lucky enough to enjoy a freshly refurbished castle as well as a few other special exhibits such as The Gardens of Wonder. We had fun finding the artistic sculptures scattered throughout the grounds and trying to be the first to guess what Disney story it represented.

We had a bit of Disney magic as we walked passed Big Thunder Mountain and they happened to open the ride just as we approached. We were on the first ride (which was my favorite one of the day) and because few other people realized it was open we got to jump right back in line and ride it a second time! We continued to Adventureland and ride Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril. This was an awesome roller coaster that was a little more intense of a ride than we were expecting. There was a short line so we didn't have too much time to get nervous before it was too late and we were already strapped into the ride!

We all rode Pirates of the Caribbean. This was another one that was fun to compare the French vs US versions. We had dinner at Captain Jack's. It had great reviews but we all agreed it was just okay. Good food and service but it didn't "wow" us. We all loved seeing the castle and buildings all lit up as it got dark. By 8:00 pm, most of us were pretty tired so we didn't stay for the nighttime shows that started at 9:00 pm. I was a little disappointed to not stay until the very end, but it was probably a good decision because we didn't have to wait long for our RER back to Paris.

Takeaways

Out of the four of us on this trip, I'm probably the biggest Disney fan and I'm definitely NOT a Disney fanatic. (Dan's mom is our family's biggest Mickey fan!) I don't have any Disney tatoos or decals on my car but I do appreciate and genuinely enjoy visiting Disney parks. That being said, we are all glad we added this day to our Paris itinerary. If we only had a couple days in Paris, we probably wouldn't have done it. We chose to spend most of our trip in the city of Paris and just added a Disney day so we could get a little taste of it, knowing we wouldn't be able to do and see it all. I have a friend who is a Disney fanatic and she chose to stay on site at Disneyland Paris and hardly go to the city of Paris at all. To each their own!

Our day at Disney was the most "Americanized" day we had. At times, we forgot we were in a different country. Everyone spoke English and many things felt very familiar. The Disneyland Paris parks are beautiful, artistic, and are a perfect size that you can see a lot in a short amount of time. I'm very glad we went but I feel like we saw enough in one day that we don't need to plan another trip back anytime soon. 8 Disney Parks down, 4 to go!