One day was all it takes for my husband and I to visit and enjoy Disneyland Paris in France. Based on the reviews and feedback we got, we gave Walt Disney Studios Park a miss and spent the entire day at Disneyland Park instead. The highlight of our trip was Disney Illuminations special effects, fireworks and lights display at night – it was the best magical time of our lives!
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Disneyland Paris, France
Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallee, France consists of two Disney Parks – Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park. There are also eight magical themed hotels, over fifty themed restaurants, a golf course, and a Disney Village for dining, shopping and entertainment.
The theme parks offer over fifty magical and adventurous attractions for the young and old to enjoy which includes meet and greet sessions with one’s favourite Disney characters, fun rides, colourful parades and breathtaking shows.
Disneyland Paris receives around twelve million visitors a year which makes it the most visited place in Europe.
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Sleeping Beauty Castle & Five Magical Lands
Disneyland Park located in Disneyland Paris is divided into five magical lands namely Main Street U.S.A, Frontierland, Adventureland, Fantasyland and Discoveryland. Each land has its own unique sights and attractions, and in the centre of it all is Disneyland Paris’ iconic landmark – Sleeping Beauty Castle. Entrance tickets to Disneyland Park can be bought online or at the entrance gates to the park.
Good news is every Disney Park admission ticket receives a complimentary FASTPASS ticket valid on the same day. One can only have one FASTPASS ticket at a time, per person. Another ticket can only be obtained once the previous ticket has been used or 2 hours after the previous one. Do note that the number of complimentary FASTPASS available per day is limited.
Disneyland Park opens from 10am to 11pm, while extra magic hours are from 8:30 am to 9:30 am. Halloween, Christmas and New Year’s Eve are the most popular, also the busiest and most magical time to visit Disneyland Paris, France.
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1-Day in Disneyland Park @ Disneyland Paris
Unlike our previous trips overseas, the decision to visit Disneyland Paris for our honeymoon was a spontaneous, spur of the moment decision. We were fortunate that Disneyland Paris was having the “adult ticket at child price” promotion at that time where two adults 1-Day, 1 Park MINI tickets only costs €102.
We made our way to Disneyland Paris, France by train via RER A to Marne-la-Vallee – Chessy (Parc Disneyland) which happens to be the last stop on the RER A4 line. To get into Disneyland Park, we had to go through not one, but two security checks. It is also good to note that selfie sticks are not allowed into the amusement park.
At Disneyland Park, we visited all five magical lands including Sleeping Beauty’s Castle (my favourite!). We forgo most of the rides because the queue was extremely long, but we managed to ride on Sir Lancelot’s very own merry-go-round just to amuse and please the child in us.
We met a dragon, posed with Darth Vader, explored Captain Nemo’s Nautilus and even climb up into the Swiss Family Robinson’s tree house to name a few! Sadly, Jack Sparrow’s Black Pearl was off-limits to visitors. Other than that, we also enjoyed browsing through various shops selling an assortment of Disney merchandises along Main Street U.S.A and Disney Village, and had a fine lunch at Walt’s – An American Restaurant.
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Disney Village – Shopping & Entertaiment District
Access to Disney Village at Disneyland Paris is free and opens every day from 07:30 am to late. The village is littered with shops, eateries and restaurants and even a cinema. We especially enjoyed browsing through the Disney boutique store. Everything looks so pretty in there!
At the LEGO store, we could not resist buying a Superman and Wonder Woman LEGO figurine keychains and bring them back home as souvenirs. Tony enjoyed his time at Planet Hollywood too. We caught a glimpse of the eye-catching hot air balloon hovering over Lake Disney, but the tickets cost a bomb!
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Disney Illuminations Show – A Night Time Spectacular We’ll Never Forget
Apart from the fine dining experience at Walt’s – An American Restaurant, Disney Illuminations Show was in fact the highlight of our trip to Disneyland Paris. We intentionally stayed in the park until closing time at 11pm to watch it and had to fight for a good seat to enjoy the show.
When the time comes, colourful and incredible special effects, lasers, dancing water fountains and fireworks lit up the night sky over Sleeping Beauty Castle as Mickey led us on a magical journey through impressive projections of famous Disney tales, old and new such as Frozen, Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean and The Little Mermaid.
There are no words to describe how happy and excited we were to be in Disneyland Paris and watching the fireworks, hand in hand, having the time of our lives. I managed to record the entire show on video so that we will be able to remember and relive the moment again, time after time, wherever we are.
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In a Nutshell
Disneyland or in this case, Disneyland Paris truly is the happiest place on earth and we could see why. Even though we did not enjoy all the rides and attractions offered, we still had a wonderful time exploring Disneyland Park and Disney Village.
Most importantly, I got to spend quality time with my husband and I could not ask for anything better than that. Disneyland and honeymoon makes a good combination.
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Up next: Beauty & the Beast couple photoshoot in Paris