Disneyland Paris is a park suitable for all ages. For the young kid, teenagers and adults. When Walt Disney opened his first park, he envisioned it to be a park for the family to enjoy. Not for the rides but for the park itself. You can still see element of that today. Walking down the park is an experience on its own. Everybody wants to make most out of their visit to the parks. Here are some tips and tricks to make your visit to Disneyland Paris unforgettable.

Dates to visit

Planning your trip to Disneyland is crucial. It can be very busy at times and when traveling with young children, you don’t want to queue for over 2 hours per ride. Some periods in the year are ideal and occasionally it so happens that the parks are almost empty and waiting times could be as low as 5 minutes. Avoid weekends and holidays. Especially holiday seasons. Look online at find out when the European holidays are. Pay close attention to holidays for France, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are usually the best.        The best times to visit are: mid-late January, March and November.

Year pass

Disneyland offers yearly access passes. It sounds like you might not need it but it could actually be helpful. Annual passes come with all kinds of benefits that, in the end, could make your trip better and cheaper. Annual passed start from 149 Euro all the way up to 399 Euro. Best value for money would be the Magic plus pass at 259 Euro. Discounts on restaurants, shops, shows, free parking and discounted hotel rates with up to 40% discounts on the hotel rooms. If you plan to visit for multiple days, call and ask what the rates would be for annual pass holders. You might save more than you would pay for the pass and only one member of the party needs to have it.

Fastpass first

Some popular rides at Disneyland have a fastpass lane. You get a ticket and it will tell you at what time you get to enter the ride. No need to wait in a long queue. On busy days these tickets run out fast and your benefits are gone. If you visit Disneyland on a busy day go and get your fastpasses first. Walk up to the rides and get your ticket. Now that you have the tickets, plan the rest of your day accordingly. The tickets are registered to your entrance ticket and trying to take more than one ticket per ride is not possible. Look out for people that throw away their entrance ticket. Usually just outside the entrance area. If you collect a few, you can get more fastpass tickets of your favorite ride.

Rides during parade

Who doesn’t love the Disneyland parade? Seeing all your favorite characters dance and sing. These are the times to go and visit your favorite rides. Most people are out watching the parade while you get to enjoy your ride with a shorter queue.

Lunch with princesses

Getting a picture with your favorite character is not always easy. Although they do walk around, they are usually followed by a crowd and getting the chance to take a picture with them is small. Auberge Cendrillon is a restaurant that offers a lunch or dining experience with some of the princesses. They take the time to talk to you, take a picture and provide the guests with a small dance show. If you are willing to spend that little extra for this magical experience, it is highly recommended. Make sure to book well in advance.

Castle club Disneyhotel and VIP fastpass

Staying in the Disney hotel with a view on the park is magical. The Castle club at the Disneyhotel offers some of the best rooms, breakfast with some of your favorite characters, a private elevator to the park, afternoon tea and so much more. It comes with a price tag but worth every penny. Ask for the Walt Suites with park view or the Sleeping beauty suit. Along with a castle club rooms comes a VIP fastpass. These will grant you unlimited access to all fast pass rides. A little extra nobody else can get.

Download the app

The free downloadable Disneyland Paris app has all kinds of nice features. One in particular is extra helpful. It shows the real time queue times of the rides. For no reason queues can instantly get shorter or longer. Keep an eye on those times and visit the rides at the time the queue is short.