Happy Bank Holiday Monday, you can put the chocolate down now. Put it down.
I’ve spent the last seven days enjoying all the wonders (mostly food-related) that France has to offer, and loving every minute of it. We spent two days at Disneyland Paris (on a budget) and three days at my parent’s house in the Vendee, encompassing a 1000 mile+ round-trip seated uncomfortably in the back of a Citroen C3 Picasso. My daughter was an angel, not once did I hear an “are we there yet” emanate from her lips, I am truly blessed.
If you follow me on instagram, you will have seen plenty of photographic evidence of the aforementioned wonders, both food AND Disney-related… but in the event that you haven’t already been treated to these out-of-focus, overly filtered delights, allow me…
It really is a bit magical
I got photobombed by the happiest face EVER
The Disney Dons
The view from the Queen of Heart’s castle is pretty impressive
New best friend. Could she be any prouder?
New best friend also!
I know that some of you on Twitter were interested in the logistics of my budget Disney break, so… to quickly break it down… we got 2-days of park tickets via a Sun newspaper promotion last November (they do these regularly) for the grand price of £40, our return ferry trip with LDLines came to just under £80 (Dunkirk out, Le Havre back), and a three-night hotel/motel stay on the outskirts of Paris in Torcy (Premiere Classe) came to £110 in total for the three of us (though I think I’d stretch the budget for the next door Campanile hotel next time!)
For lunch, we picnic’ed on sandwiches and pain au chocolat bought from the hotel’s nearby Carrefour, whilst dinner consisted of the 12.99€ menus at the Disney Village Sports Bar and Billy Bob’s Country Western Saloon, both of which were extremely reasonable and included dessert and a beer! Finally, we bought a carnet of train tickets on arrival at Torcy for 26€ which covered travel to/from Disneyland to the hotel for the entire period. I wish I’d factored in another day to travel into Paris itself but I wanted to visit my Mum and Dad’s house which I hadn’t seen since 2003-ish.
We may have scrimped in places but it certainly didn’t dampen our enthusiasm or enjoyment, it just meant that Leila got to bring home loads of Disney tat to be honest *le grand sigh*.
It was quite busy and the fast-pass system was out of action on a few of the rides but we still managed to make the most of the 48hrs at our disposal. Leila’s favourite rides (useful for parents of toddlers?) included: Alice’s Curious Labyrinth (mostly because I chased her around, calling her “Alice”), It’s a Small World (I still have the song stuck in my head), Dumbo, The Flying Elephant (but the queues are not worth it!), Casey Jr. – The Little Circus Train, Orbitron, and Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast.
Being rotten parents, we also dragged her on Phantom Manor (“noooo, it’s not scary!”), Pirates of the Carribbean (“nooo you won’t get wet!”)… etc. etc. The shows were also great, Leila thought that Stitch Live! was pretty much the best thing she’d ever witnessed.
The only ride we missed out on (that wasn’t subject to height restrictions) was the Studio Tram Tour, everytime we went past, the queues were horrible.
Being only 3, I wasn’t sure if Leila was still a little too young to fully enjoy the experience but with the benefit of hindsight, I’d say that it’s a great age to take a little one – she was enchanted by the characters, shows and princesses in a way that only a 3-year old can be. When she’s older, hopefully we will take her back to enjoy some of the more thrilling rides.
I hope my recap helps anyone who hasn’t been to Disneyland Paris before. Being a bit of a cynical type who gets wound-up by the up-selling (“would you like to buy a bag/pen/DVD?”) at the local Disney store, I honestly didn’t think I’d enjoy it that much… but the truth is, I may have loved it even more than Leila.
Have you been to Disneyland Paris? Want to go? What were your favourite bits?
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Oh I wanna go, I wanna go! Thanks for all the travel tips, very helpful. My only concern is that we would be without a car. I wonder if it’s still doable on a budget if you’re on foot?
Franky xxx
You could do the travel for about £375 return (for everyone) via Eurostar from the South West.
Looks like you all had a fabulous time. Can’t believe how grown up Leila looks?! She’s such a gorgeous little lady. You’re never too old for Disney. I’m off to Orlando in September and I can’t bloody wait!
I went there a few years ago and really liked it. The castle is my favourite ever Disney castle, I looove the square trees and the dragon underneath! My favourite rides are It’s A Small World (all that glitter!) the Rock n Roller coaster, Phantom Manor and Space Mountain. Looks like you had a lovely trip 🙂
What a beautiful post. I managed to go a couple of times when my lads were little and you’re right, it truly is magic for the ickle ‘uns.
Leila’s face is priceless in the pics, she’ll remember that trip forever x
Oh my god – the looks on her face are amazing! Can’t wait to take my little one there one day!!!
We took our own little princess to Disneyland Paris for her fourth birthday and it was a perfect age – she knew enough of the characters and stories from her dvd collection to be absolutely enchanted. And she was overwhelmed when she got to meet Woody from Toy Story and sit on his knee for a photo. I am a fellow sceptic about Disney, but I have to agree that it was all very well done and enjoyable. I loved the fact that there are characters around who are happy to pose for pictures and we loved the parade and the shows. Four years later, my girl loves the photos and videos of her there and she wants to go again. Now you’ve reminded me, I might try to take her again soon.
One top tip we learned was that when you are travelling by plane it’s not a very good idea to let your child buy replica guns as souvenirs. Since our girl was heavily into Toy Story and cowboys at the time, of course she wanted her own six-shooter and a rather snazzy Winchester-style rifle. We were happy to let her have them, and only realised we might have boobed when I had to explain to the check-in staff at Charles de Gaulle airport that we had packed what would show up on the scanners as dangerous firearms… Oh bum. Though bless them, they did manage to sort the problem out and our little sharp-shooter got to keep her armaments. And everyone got a funny story to tell. 🙂
I took Emmy last year aged 5 and will be taking her next year too! I will admit to paying extra to stay in the park hotel of some sort but as Emmy is free I don’t mind that!
We had the most awesome time and can’t wait to go again!
I live in the states (so I haven’t been to Disneyland, Paris) and up until a month ago I lived only 4 hours from Disneyland in Anaheim. My hubby and I have gone about 4 times in the past 5 years and always have so much fun. We don’t even have kids… 🙂
Is it normal to have such clothing envy of 3 year old?! I LOVE Leila’s coat!! Glad you had a great time!
This post had me beaming with delight the whole way through! You & Leila look so happy! I was lucky enough to go to Disney World in Florida when I was about 10 & it was the most magical time! Definitely useful to know that Disneyland can be done on a budget 🙂 xx