Things to consider before planning a visit to DISNEYLAND !

Disneyland Paris was one of my dreams come true, totally reviving my childhood memories and reminiscing the good old days I have had while watching cartoons like Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, Cinderella,The Little Mermaid, Rapunzel ,etc,. It was a captivating flashback and an enthralling cognizance to my childhood days.

Truly a wonderland and spreading its magic across the entire Europe, Disneyland Paris is a must visit. No wonder why so many of us flock to this theme park. After all, it offers a rewarding experience for everyone, no matter what age.

But, besides enjoying and taking almost every ride over there, I have a post specially for the first timers to foster before you plan a visit to this fascinating and enticing world of wonders. Here are some of them which I assessed for different travelers from across the globe coming to this enthralling cosmos 🙂

1. Choose your footwear wisely : The one particular mistake that generally first timers make is choosing the wrong footwear. I would recommend all of you to go for an old pair of shoes you are comfortable with and the ones you could swear by anytime. Even flip-flop lovers or the one’s who’re in love with floaters should consider for shoes as the first option. It is exhausting to run around and stand in long queues to take those roller coasters in something uneasy and unsteady and this would definitely help you bear with the inordinate walking at this theme park.
2. Carry your water : Well! we all are familiar with how water in Europe is : too expensive! I would recommend you all to carry your water bottles in your bags so as to avoid burning a hole in your pockets by ending up paying 5 to 6 Euros for a tiny water bottle every time you run around the parks. It gets real exhausting and only water comes to your rescue. There are water dispensers installed after every few steps overhere which may help you refill water as and when required.
3. Assess the weather in advance : Not ending up wearing sweatshirts on a hot sunny day and shorts on a chilly day always counts up for checking up the weather in advance. Since Disneyland is an hour away from the main city of Paris (In Chessy) , it tends to be chillier during the evenings in July (that is what I witnessed) and I wasn’t carrying my pullover, but thankfully my husband was and it was a big relief for me. But if you are going with your kids, pack yourselves up accordingly !
4. Keep your ticket safe for it is not trash : Post entering the theme park, I saw many people tearing up their tickets and throwing them away. However, what they did not realize was that these tickets still hold a lot of value inside the theme park as well. Do not throw away your tickets or vouchers thinking them to be a waste. These tickets are gold mines for your ‘Fast Pass‘.
5. The Fast Pass : Avoiding standing in the lines is the only wish while visiting any theme park. Disney is grand of all of them but sadly it does NOT cater to  any ‘Express Pass’ or ‘VIP Pass‘ like the ones available at the Universal Studios, Singapore, valid for the entire theme park and all the rides.
   However, Disneyland, Paris dispenses ‘one fast pass‘ for every particular ride. So if you see that long queue or like a particular ride which you want to repeat, go and scan your tickets/vouchers and take a time slot for it without wasting time and energy.
   However the sad part is, once a fast pass is issued for one ride on your ticket, you cannot book any further rides till a time limit. A fast pass generally issues a time slot of 2 hours from the time you scanned your ticket (depending upon the footfall and crowd of that particular day). For instance : If I scanned my ticket and got the time slot of 1:45pm-2:15 pm. Perhaps, the ticket would mention a footnote of using the fastpass for the other rides not before than a particular time. It is important to be punctual for the time slot allotted or you would lose to avail this opportunity as well.

   

   Image courtesy : Google

6. Choose a weekday : We did plan our visit wisely by choosing for a weekday like a Monday rather than the weekend for Disneyland and trust me that did work. Visiting Paris during the high peak season time counts up to long long queues for any minor thing, be it an ice cream stall, crepes or anything. Wonder yourselves in 2 hour long queues for every ride. You won’t be able to cover up with the entire theme park. Hence, choose a weekday over a weekend to cut off a percentage of crowd, chaos and hassle.
7. Not renting a stroller : Leaving your stroller at home or not renting a stroller at Disneyland Paris can be one of the gravest troubles you’d be inviting, even if you have kids who do not fit onto a stroller anymore. Your kids are far more excited for the rides rather than their need for resting in a stroller and perhaps you may even  use it to carry stuff such as : bags ,water bottles or any weight that you generally carry while on a trip with your kids. Renting a stroller costs about 20 Euros per day at Disneyland. However, you need to make a security deposit of 50 Euros which you may retrieve later on, post returning the stroller.
8. Download the Disneyland App (DLP) in your phones : Yes ! absolutely that is a big necessity. This tip credit would go to my husband as he was aware of this and he’d already downloaded the DLP App on his phone. This app helps in providing all the basic information related to directions (maps), all the rides (whether open or shut in case of renovation), the waiting time for each ride, all info about restrooms, entertainment schedules, restaurants, attractions, fastpass, photopass, ATMs, any live shows happening around the entire theme park, directions and what not. So be wise and check it out !
9. Avoid bringing your plastic money : Cash is far more convenient and time saving in Disneyland. Avoid bringing Debit cards or Credit cards here because firstly, you cannot tip with your cards. Cash is the only medium for paying a tip. Secondly, and most importantly, small stalls selling ice-creams,crepes,coffee,chips,water all deal in cash and no cards. Hence, it would be a lot more easier and simpler for you to manage stuff rather than running around with plastic money to the bigger restaurants with longer queues just for water or anything small. However, there are ATM’s all over the park. You may use the DLP app to locate the ATM’s.
   
10. Carry your belongings safely : The French capital, particularly the eminent touristy areas like Disneyland and various other prominent attractions are famous for pickpockets and petty thieves. Attracting almost over 33 million tourists a year, it’s no mystery why it’s a hot spot for sticky fingers. Therefore, keep your belongings safe and prefer a sling bag or a waist pouch for carrying your basic necessities. Also I would suggest you NOT to carry your original passports/documents.We took scanned copies of our passports to avoid any such risk.

I hope you liked this bit of familiarity with DISNEYLAND PARIS through my post. If you did, please do consider subscribing to my blog. Any feedback, thoughts or comments on my post would be great. You may leave the link of your blog in the comment’s section and I’ll visit you for sure.

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Disclaimer : All the views presented above are purely mine. I do not intend to impose them on anyone. The matter written above and pictures presented above have been written and clicked by me (respectively). Images taken from Google have been mentioned in the footnote.Also I have taken special care of not personifying any specific person in my pictures. The suggestions and opinions are my personal thoughts which I am sharing here with you all through this platform. Not liking a particular place / brand does not mean that I hate it or am against it. This post is related to the culture of a particular place and country and therefore it does not imply on places which do not support/allow such a lifestyle.