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Short Breaks – Disneyland Paris


Try a short break in Disneyland Paris to explore the European version of the Disney Empire, which is officially known as Disneyland Resort Paris and more often referred to as ‘Euro Disney’. Hotels and flights are included in the package deals on short breaks to Disneyland Paris from City Breaks Direct, with some excellent deals available online.

The magic of a short break in Disneyland Paris comes from the attention to detail in recreating a world of fantasy. Employees are ‘cast members’ and the parks are spotlessly clean, with perfectly running machinery and puppets as part of the parks attractions. There are no duplicates of Disney characters on the park and visitors will be sure to meet many of their favourite Disney characters on their travels around the massive theme park. The park is geared towards families and children, but there are plenty of attractions to enchant the parks older visitors too on a Disneyland Paris holiday.
City Breaks Direct offer a range of Disneyland discounts, staying on a short break in Disneyland Paris in luxurious Euro Disney hotels.
Consisting of three parks, Disneyland Paris holidays offer an array of enchanting attractions. The main park of Disneyland Paris is a fantasy theme park offering the best rides, attractions and entertainment in Europe, the Disney Village contains an array of stores and restaurants to explore and the Disney Studio Park offers a fascinating insight into movie making, all of which sparkle with the magic of Disney.
The overt commercialism is part of the Disney experience and on a short break to Disneyland Paris, visitors can choose to ignore, accept or enjoy the ‘sponsored’ rides and merchandised stores in magnificent theme parks and resort.
Tips on Short Breaks to Disneyland Paris
The popular theme park and resort is crowded almost all year round and with some attractions visitors can be waiting in lines for forty-five minutes. So here are a few tips on navigating your way through the parks on a short break in Disneyland Paris:
The best time to visit Euro Disney is in the spring and summer months, as the Paris weather in winter can make queuing a lacklustre experience. Summer weekdays on a short Disneyland Paris holiday are the best time, the parks are not as busy and the weather is warm. Disneyland discounts are available on Euro Disney hotels and short holidays in May - June and September – October, which are ideal as July and August are the busiest months in the parks.
Short breaks to Disneyland Paris are ideal to take a tour of the resort, and it takes at least two days to explore the abundance of attractions and entertainment, meaning that staying in Euro Disney hotels are the best way to experience Disneyland Paris.
Disneyland Resort Paris is a lot of fun and if you manage to avoid the queues with a well-timed short break to Disneyland Paris, you will have an unforgettable experience. However if you do want to visit the park in the peak summer months or over the school holidays, see below for some tips about “fast pass” tickets.
It should be said quite clearly that Disneyland Paris is a lot of fun when you don't have to wait a lot - but almost no ride is worth waiting 45 minutes or more. However, see below for "Fast Pass" tickets.

Arriving on a Disneyland Paris Holidays

When you first arrive at the Euro Disney hotel you are booked into, you will be provided with Disney tickets, maps, information about the resort and breakfast vouchers for the duration of your stay in the magical resort.

Getting around Disneyland Resort Paris

The majority of visitors on a short break to Disneyland Paris choose to walk around the main park, which is home to four themed sections and at the heart of it is a shopping centre and information area called Mainstreet USA. Frontierland, Fantasyland, Discoveryland and Adventureland, are the four divisions of Disneyland and all offer an abundance of rides and attractions to satiate even the most hyperactive child.
A quick route from one side of the park to the other is on the Disney train, which circles the park all day and stops at every major attraction.
There are also several bus services free to guests in Disneyland, which pick up from the main entrance of the theme park and drop off guests are their Euro Disney hotels at the end of the day.

Things to See on a Short Break in Disneyland Paris

Although theme parks are mostly filled with activities, Disneyland Resort Paris has extra attractions to explore and see, which is one of the reasons it is the best theme park in Europe.

  • The enchanting Castle dominates the skyline of Fantasyland and although cynical visitors may view it as a stark plastic construction, the magic of the castle cannot be ignored by anybody who grew up watching Disney magic. There is also a fabulous Dragon Cave in a side entrance, where a sleeping dragon resides as one of the best examples of puppetry animatronics in Disneyland.
  • Disney Characters can be encountered throughout the parks and most are available around the clock. Characters like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck are found more easily, while some characters are only available at certain times. Some of the Disney characters move around the parks, while others are stationed at certain attractions permanently and the Disneyland administration ensures that no character can be met twice at the same time, so every encounter with them is a new experience. For more information visitors can enquire at any of the stores or information outlets about the character’s schedules. The main purpose of the characters in Disneyland Resort Paris is to give out autographs and to pose for photographs. If you have a favourite Disney character, simply enquire as soon as you can on your arrival to the resort to find the harder to track down characters, like Stich.
  • A variety of Parades occur throughout the day in Disneyland Resort Paris and some are famously known. These include a range of Disney and non-Disney characters and are held in different parts of the Park at different times, which are scheduled on the park map.

Shows in Disneyland Resort Paris

These are the listings for current shows available to visitors on a short break in Disneyland Paris:

  • Tarzan (Frontierland) featuring some excellent acrobatic acts combined with the wonderful music from the animated film.
  • Honey I Shrunk the Audience (Discoveryland) is an interesting 3D movie with "interactive" elements, which stars Eric Idle.
  • Animagique (Walt Disney Studio park) is a small musical attraction with dancing Disney characters and pink elephants, which is suitable for children.
  • CineMagique (Walt Disney Studio park) – a fascinating interactive show, where the theme is a trip through a hundred years of movie history.
  • Armageddon Special Effects (Walt Disney Studio park) Related to the film Armageddon, where visitors can experience the destruction of a space station by incoming asteroids.
  • Moteurs! Action (Walt Disney Studio park) A highly entertaining stunt car show, which is located next to Rockin' Rollercoaster With Aerosmith.

Other Disneyland Paris Activities

The majority of attractions on a short break to Disneyland Paris consist of theme park rides and unusual characters. However there are also a few discos and bars, for the adults to have a drink and dance the night away in on the resort.

Disneyland Paris Rides

The biggest attraction to Disneyland is the rides, which are crowded most of the time, even on quiet days in the parks.
Some of the best rides are:

  • Space Mountain is located in Discoveryland and is the most famous of the Disney rides. As it is also one of the oldest rides in Disneyland Paris, Space Mountain is surprisingly taxing, although in comparison to the recently installed Space Mountain 2, it is far less exhilarating. Space Mountain 2 is thrilling and harsh, which evokes strong reactions that some riders love and some hate.
  • Indiana Jones and the temple of peril is an Adventureland ride, which goes backwards! It offers an interesting perspective, especially since you of course can't see what's going to happen next, but in many ways riding backwards is less demanding than riding forwards.
  • Big Thunder Mountain in Frontierland is an exhilarating ride offering an abundance of thrills and chills.
  • Rockin' Roller Coaster with Aerosmith is one of the most exciting roller coasters in Walt Disney Studio Park and the coolest ride in Disneyland Paris. The design includes an excellent sound studio and accelerates in time with Aerosmith music.
  • Pirates of the Caribbean in Adventureland is probably the best-known Disney ride. The thrilling piracy themed water ride is pretty harmless, featuring an array of animatronics puppets and it is suitable for all ages. Expect to get wet as the ride takes you through the "The Blue Lagoon" and the "jungle ambiance" restaurant.
  • Star Tours in Discoveryland is a Star Wars themed flight simulator, which is a must for Star Wars fans, as it’s extremely well done and worth a few tries for the exceptional design, attention to detail and hidden jokes on the ride.
  • Phantom Manor in Frontierland is a spooky haunted house in Disneyland, with some excellent chills and thrills and a lot of laughs in the fake cemetery at the end of the ride.

Fast Pass on a Short Break in Disneyland Paris

Fast Passes are for those who wish to plan their trip to Disneyland Paris, and a wise option for visitors who wish to avoid the queues. You can visit a ride and book a pass to skip the queues at a later time. So getting a fast pass effectively is like booking in advance to walk past the queues of people and straight onto a ride at the time of your choice. This is an excellent way to make sure you experience all of the top rides on your short break to Disneyland Paris, whilst avoiding the queues.
For a Fast Pass you go to the front of your selected ride and get a coupon with a time frame on it. That is the booked time of your ride; if you want to select a different time you would have to come back later. But it is ideal if you would like to have a coffee break while waiting to go on a ride. Remember that Fast Passes are limited, so get one before they are all gone for the day.

Disneyland Resort Paris Shopping

There is an abundance of shopping opportunities on the resort and absolutely no limit to the amount of money you can spend on a short break to Disneyland Paris. Themed and general stores selling everything from Disney merchandise to movie memorabilia and a grotto’s worth of toys, ensure that every parent is reaching for their wallet at some point on their visit. The main shopping sections are situated in the Disney Village and Mainstreet USA and for those who don’t wish to overspend, simply browsing through the shops can be an entertaining pursuit in itself.

Eat and Drink

As the Disneyland Paris Resort is mostly subsidised, the array of restaurants and bars are expensive, and they range from simple fast food to gourmet cuisine. Here are some tips on eating in Disneyland:

  • McDonalds offers the cheapest menu on the resort and surprisingly does not exceed the regular McDonalds prices.
  • The most interesting atmosphere is in "The Blue Lagoon", which is built inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. The prices are high, but the atmosphere is wonderful.
  • If you chose to stay in a Euro Disney hotel, breakfast is included in the price, which basically means an all you can eat buffet, including rolls, cereal, yoghurt, and a selection of fruit. Visitors should also get vouchers to eat in the Park at least once as part of their booking deal (more than once may be offered depending on the booking situation). Not only is food provided, but also guests are admitted to the park one hour before it officially opens, giving them a head start to the rides.
  • A large shopping complex is located near to the resort and if you have access to a car, all kinds of shopping can be obtained here, which can certainly relieve the stress on your holiday budget.
  • If you plan to walk around all day, make sure you bring a drink to the park with you, especially in the hot weather.

Sleeping in Disneyland

There are a variety of Disneyland hotels available, from the highest quality accommodation to cosy Euro Disney hotels. All include a free safe, for valuables and can be enquired about at the reception desk.

  • The Cheyenne hotel in Disneyland is highly influenced with a Western theme. It isn’t as close to the parks as some of the other hotels, but you can take the bus to reach the Village. The rooms are nice and it's a good value for the money and the hotel is classed as a budget accommodation.
  • The Disneyland hotel is the most opulent and as a result the most expensive. It is ideally located above the entrance to the Magic Kingdom and offers all the best luxuries on a short break to Disneyland Paris.
  • The New York hotel is beautifully situated on Lake Disney. The hotel is a modern corporate structure, which attracts business customers coming for conventions to Disneyland.
  • The Newport bay hotel is also located on Lake Disney and its theme is New England.
  • The Sequoia Lodge hotel on Lake Disney is a hotel consisting of a main block where most of the rooms are and offering a woodland retreat are a number of smaller blocks scattered through the woods surrounding the main hotel.
  • The Santa Fe hotel is situated on the over the river beside the Cheyenne hotel, so again a bus is the easiest transportation to the theme parks.

Language in Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Paris is predominantly French, however all the menus and signs are also available in English and some in other languages, to cater to the variety of tourists visiting the resort. All cast members in Disneyland Paris speak English and are recruited from all over Europe, so many are multi-lingual.

Postal Services in Disneyland Paris

Mail

Many of the shops in the park sell postcards and stamps and mailboxes exist in some of the central locations. The shopkeepers are helpful, so if in doubt about the cost of postage or location of a post-box, simply ask.

Internet

Internet cafes are currently only available in some of the hotels; however keep your eyes open for new developments in the park.