Paris Photographer at Disneyland Paris: my visit, experience and tips!
In 2019, I celebrated my birthday in Disneyland Paris and although I wouldn’t go as far to call myself a lifestyle blogger or a travel blogger, I thought: it’s 2021 and we’re in a pandemic. Why not blog about my experience at Disneyland Paris and also give some tips on having the best day possible? As a Paris photographer, this was also a good excuse to edit my birthday photographs and also relive the day.
Transport / journey to Disneyland Paris: Disneyland Paris is situated around 19 miles east from Paris. The RER train makes it super easy to get to the park - stopping outside the Disneyland Paris gates. We got off at Nation to change for the RER train to take us directly to Marne-la-vallee Chessy which is the stop you’d get off for the park.
If you’ve got a weeklong Navigo pass, it doesn't cover travel to Disneyland Paris (as it is so far from Paris) so you’ll have to get separate tickets. A one way adult ticket was about €7.90.
The entrance to Disneyland Paris and initial thoughts: When you arrive at any of the multiple entrances Disneyland Paris has, security will do standard checks looking through your bag before allowing into the main area to purchase your ticket. It is super simple - think airport style but not as long (or stressful). Even the entrance to the park is gorgeous - we spent a good 20 minutes snapping our Instagram content before even thinking about getting our tickets out and going inside the actual park. As a Paris photographer I couldn't stop taking photos wherever I went!
If you already have your tickets, go straight through the turnstiles and into the park. I’ve been to Disneyland multiple times and every single time, it is like watching your childhood characters come to life.
The Disney experience: You probably wouldn’t imagine it, but the park is actually huge and you can easily spend a whole day here. We spent about 8 hours at Disneyland Paris in total, and only then did we manage to tick off all the rides and attractions we wanted to visit.
With regular parades around the park, the overall Disney ambience is incredible. There is joyous music wherever you go! Disney take huge pride in creating a truly magical experience- their attention to detail from what their cast members wear to the intricate details in their park makes your ticket price completely worth it.
The park itself: There are four mini parks within Disneyland Paris, and each differs from the next. You pretty much cannot escape the shops which are practically everywhere, and everywhere you go will be a sea of either visitors repping the Disney merch bought straight from one of the stores within the park, or people donning the infamous mickey mouse ears.
The park is super clean and tidy, and the staff are all really kind and ready to help. All of them speak English too, so no need to worry if you don’t remember much from your GCSE French. It is definitely a park suitable for both children, teenagers and adults - there were people of all ages experiencing the disney magic.
Queues: If you are a normal human being and hate queues, I would highly advise you visit Disneyland Paris in it’s off-peak seasons (such as September, which is when we visited). Although it was an off-peak ticket, the park was still packed but I definitely wouldn’t say it was crowded. It was the perfect combination - we didn’t really need to queue for rides - maybe 5-10 minutes each, and the longest we waited was half an hour which was for the last ride we went on. Still super reasonable for disney! It definitely meant we didn’t need to purchase the fast track add on ticket.
As for arriving on the day, most people tend to arrive when the park first opens. Don’t do this! There will be queues to get in. We arrived at about 12pm, so 2 hours after the park opened. We had our tickets pre-booked in advance, and all we did was walk straight to the turnstiles. No queues!
Rides I’d recommend:
A good number of rides were closed for refurbishment which was disappointing, but the rides we did go on were incredible!
For the thrilllseekers:
Hyperspace Mountain was a favourite of mine, as was Big Thunder Mountain.
Not to be missed:
Star Tours which combines virtual reality and simulators - pretty high tech and cool stuff!
Buzz Light Year Laser Blast: we got pretty competitive with the laser blast and shooting the green aliens with our pistols.
It’s a small world: a really cool cruise that takes you to different countries. Sounds bizarre, I know but it was really cool!
Mad Hatter’s Tea cups: cool opportunity to take some cute Instagram paps - perfect for any blogger in Paris!
Most instaworthy spots:
The whole of Disneyland Paris is super instaworthy and a great place to create some of that social media content. It is the perfect place for any blogger in Paris or travel blogger! My favourite building in the park has to be the Sleeping Beauty Castle - we made it a mission to find the best angles/spots to take the ultimate photo for Instagram without anyone photobombing.
My top tip for any blogger in Paris, or Paris photographer would be to avoid the most ‘obvious’ spots - these are usually the most crowded (e.g. if you’re taking the photo from the main entrance). Have a good walk around the Sleeping Beauty Castle, including under it! You’d be surprised that some of the spots are completely deserted - and that’s when you have the #perfectcontent. It is definitely the most sought out photograph in Disneyland Paris, and as a Paris photographer, I was determined to make it happen!
Fireworks:
Every night in Disneyland Paris is finished off by the infamous ‘Disney Illuminations’ which starts at 8.30pm sharp. It is an incredible firework display which is rumoured to cost $50,000 A NIGHT which is insane. It is definitely not to be missed.