PARIS - DAY 2
Upon waking up on our second day in Paris, we were as excited as kids on Christmas morning because we’re on our way to Disneyland Paris! If you know anything about us, we’re Disney fanatics. Unfortunately, that might not impress some of the Disney-goers. Why? Well---we’re the stereotypical, "childless millennial" couple, that “ruins” Disney for all of those stroller-yielding moms and their children. Whoops! All jokes aside though, we do happen to really enjoy Disney just as much as the next kid.
Regardless, let’s get back to the story. So, first thing in the morning, we set off to Gare de Lyon train station, so we can try and beat the crowd. As far as booking tickets, we purchased them right at the train station outside of our hotel. The tickets were rather affordable and the commute over to Disney Paris was only 55 minutes maximum.
*Note: hang onto your TINY train ticket, there are several gates you have to scan your ticket at.
Upon arrival at Disneyland Paris, we notice a couple of things:
1) The park is rather compact and easy to navigate.
2) We most definitely went on an "off day" as there weren't that many people or children.
Before we get into the park itself, we want to tell you all about the on-sight Disney Hotel we
checked in at (obviously had to stop here first to drop off our bags and see where we would be staying for the night) . First off, the hotel is in proximity to the theme park--- in fact, its steps from the main gates of the entire park! However, because we were only staying one night, we had to call the hotel directly to book a room. If you try to book a room and ticket package via the website, their only option is a Two Day ticket, which we obviously didn't need. When we booked the hotel, we told them we were on our honeymoon, so they put us in a room with a balcony that had a view of Sleeping Beauty's castle.
So, Disneyland Paris is set up very similar to Disneyland in California.
It's comprised of two parks, Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park (which is comparable to Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in Florida).
Nonetheless, both parks were so much fun and worth visiting--- why wouldn’t you with them being so close that you can visit both one in ONE day! Yes, you heard that right, just one day for both parks. With wait times for rides being no longer than 35 minutes, we were able to ride every ride on our list at both parks with time to spare to explore the shops and enjoy the sites!
So you're probably thinking "What the heck?! TWO parks, in ONE day? HOW?!"
Well, first off, we purchased a one day two park ticket via the Disneyland Paris website. We also purchased the One Time Speedy Access Ultimate Fast Pass, which allows you to enter the fast pass line with out getting a return time. We chose this option over the unlimited fast pass because we knew we were going to be a little cramped for time. In our opinion it was definitely worth the extra money. If you buy your ticket online, you have to print out your ticket confirmation and bring it with you to the park. At the entrance there are kiosks to scan your confirmation and you will receive your ticket. You also get to skip the line.
Unfortunately, we don't have any restaurant recommendations for y'all. We chose not to book any reservations because to be honest, there are TONS of options and we weren't really sure which were worth spending money on, and we didn't know how our day would pan out. By the time we checked into the hotel and dropped our bags, it was lunch time so we ran straight for the first thing we saw which was a counter service restaurant, Market House Deli, where we had a croque-monsieur jambon fromage, which is a ham and cheese toasty sandwich. While exploring Walt Disney Studios Park, we came across small booths set up for their holiday food market. We tried many different goodies: beef stew, sauerkraut, and crepes, just to name a few. The parks close early and it was getting cold, so instead of heading back to Disneyland Park to watch the fireworks, we just went back to our room to watch the fireworks from our balcony. We had a lovely surprise waiting for us, Catherine's bridesmaids had a bottle of champagne sent to our room for our honeymoon! After we enjoyed our champs and the fireworks we set off to find dinner. We went to Disney Village (the Disneyland Paris equivalent to Disney Springs at Walt Disney World) and grabbed a couple of sandwiches from Earl Of Sandwich --- hey, we were hungry and desperate. And since the parks close early in Paris, Disney Village was PACKED. We quickly got our sandwiches and went back to our hotel and called it a night. Two parks in one day really wore us out!
![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
---|---|---|
![]() | ![]() | ![]() |