Disneyland Paris

If you are a Disney fan, I 100% recommend that you visit Disneyland Paris!  I like Disneyland Paris better than California's Disneyland.  It is less crowded, less expensive, and easier to get on all the rides.  Disneyland Paris was opened in 1992.  Their official website is here:  Disneyland Paris

Ticket prices vary based on date and when you purchase them, but you can get tickets for under $100.  It is open every day of the year, and its opening and closing times vary depending on the day.  Disneyland is a half hour drive from the Charles de Gaulle airport.  It is located at Bd de Parc, 77700 Coupvray, France.  It is about an hour drive from the Eiffel Tower, so is not very close to the center of Paris, but it is close enough to make a visit to this Disney theme part totally worth it!

There are fewer rides at Disneyland Paris compared to Disneyland in California, but there are some parts about Paris's Disney park that are much better.  For instance, the Sleeping Beauty Castle has a dragon in the basement!  Discoveryland, Fantasyland, Adventureland, Frontierland, and Main Street USA will sound familiar if you've visited Disneyland in California.  Rides such as Big Thunder Mountain and the Phantom Manor will remind you of rides from the famous California park.  Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain and Star Tours will also remind you of their California counterparts.  Character encounters occurs in Paris just like in California, and we had the opportunity to have an up-close-and-personal time with Darth Vader.  He even did a private "photo shoot" with just me, and gave me a hug before we left!  The confused workers told me as I was leaving, "he never does that!"  It might have had something to do with the Leia Disney shirt I was wearing...

Peter Pan's flight was the big ride that everyone wanted -- every time we checked the app for wait times it was always an hour or more long!  So, sadly to admit, I didn't ever ride on it.  I can't tell you what the big draw was to this particular ride, so next time I suppose I'll have to wait in the long line and see what all the hype is about.  The It's a Small World ride is very similar to the California one, although perhaps a bit more modern.  And the Tea Cups ride is the exact same as in California.  I really love roller coasters, so Big Thunder Mountain was my favorite ride.  We were able to go on this ride repeatedly as the park was getting ready to close.  I also really enjoyed Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril.  

One problem that we did encounter was that as the park was preparing to close, they started closing walkways and we actually had a hard time finding our way out of the park!  We had chosen to continue going on rides rather than watching their Disney Tales of Magic at Sleeping Beauty's castle.  Then we had a hard time finding our way out while avoiding the crowds gathered at the Castle.

My daughter, son, and grandsons with me at Disneyland Paris in March of 2025

Location of Disneyland Paris

Entering the parking area of the park. Parking is 30 euro per car per day

moving sidewalks help get visitors from the parking lots to the entrance to the park

Still walking through the parking towards the park entrance

The gated entrance to Disneyland Paris

My daughter and I as we're about to enter Disneyland Paris

We visited on a rainy day

Main Street USA in Disneyland Paris

Heading down Main Street USA to the Sleeping Beauty Castle

We stopped to grab some Mickey-shaped breakfast sandwiches that were divine!  Strongly recommend!

We also enjoyed a Mickey cookie

My son, his wife, my daughter, and my 2 grandsons at the Sleeping Beauty Castle

My grandson stopped to try out a shooting game

The dragon in the dungeon of the Sleeping Beauty Castle

You can access the Dragon's Lair either through Merlin's shop on the inside of the castle, or over on the west side of the castle on the outside

map of Disneyland Paris

We decided to enter Adventureland first

The Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril ride

The warm rain fogged up my camera lens

The pirate ship

Pirate Galleon

Next to Adventureland is Fantasyland

Next we visited Fantasyland

The Alice in Wonderland ride

The Mad Hatter tea cups

Next we headed to Discoveryland

My grandsons' favorite ride is the Buzz Lightyear ride

We waited in a short line to meet the Mandalorian

And then we waited in another short line to meet Darth Vader!

Darth with me, my son, my daughter, and my grandson

We were all wearing Star Wars Disney shirts, and that may have contributed to Darth Vader's special attention to us.

Darth told the rest of my family to leave and then did a private photo shoot with me, and left me with a hug.  The surprised workers who were taking photos for us said that he never does that.

We enjoyed a Darth Vader waffle at Discoveryland

The Orbitron ride in Discoveryland

view of the Sleeping Beauty castle from Discoveryland.  You can view and access the Sleeping Beauty Castle many times during your visit because it is central to all of the different lands.

The castle appears to go on forever from the viewpoint of the bridge from Discoveryland into the Sleeping Beauty castle

The ceiling and upper balcony of the Sleeping Beauty Castle

inside the Sleeping Beauty Castle

view up on the balcony inside the castle

view from up on the outside balcony of the Sleeping Beauty castle.  This is overlooking Fantasyland

The foot of the dragon in the Dragon's lair underneath the Sleeping Beauty Castle

Since we were in France, we needed to eat French fries at Disneyland Paris

The Star Tours ride in Discoveryland

Back in Fantasyland, my grandson was pretty close to pulling the sword out of the stone!

This time we tried a Mickey-shaped ice cream bar

We ate dinner at the Cafe Hyperion, where we got to watch a Disney movie while eating.  This is located in Discoveryland near Videopolis

The It's a Small World ride in Fantasyland

It has a more modern look than the It's a Small World in California's Disneyland

The Italy section of It's a Small World, featuring the leaning tower of Pisa

The United States section of It's a Small World

We needed one more Mickey-shaped treat when we visited Frontierland before leaving the park

The wetness of the day might have affected the crowds, but we were happy with it.  We were able to ride all of the rides we wanted to, with the exception of the Peter Pan ride, which always had an hour-long-or-longer line.

If you are visiting Paris, put Disneyland Paris at the top of your list and plan a full day at the park!