Top Tips For Visiting Disneyland Paris With Kids: What You Need To Think About And Take

Back in March, we visited Disneyland Paris for the first time and before we went I made sure that I did lots of research and planning into not only what we would do whilst we were there but also what we needed to take with us. Today I thought I would share some of the things that we took with us and used a lot of that could easily be overlooked on your general 'Disneyland packing list'. We are a family of four with a 5 and a 2-year-old so this post includes things that are aimed at those travelling with young children as well as for adults.

Travelling around the Disneyland parks

• Wear trainers - When it comes to getting around Disneyland Paris there's a LOT of walking, especially if you're going between the parks. I cannot recommend wearing trainers enough. I specifically bought trainers for our trip and my feet didn't hurt once they were so comfortable!

• Plan your children's transport - I spent a long time working out what our best option for the boys was going to be. They don't use a pushchair at home anymore but I know their little legs would get tired. In the end we decided we were going to take our pushchair AND a buggy board that attached to the back so that the boys both had the option of resting their legs. The buggyboard that we chose was the Lascal MAXI Buggyboard from cheekyrascals.co.uk and it was an absolute life-saver! Like I said, the boys don't use a pushchair at home, but after a few hours walking around Disneyland they were desperate to rest their legs. They both used the board at different times and found it really comfortable and easy to jump on and off of. I completely recommend this option if your children are similar in age to mine. 

• Take a backpack - Both my Husband and I took a backpack each as we find backpacks are always the best choice for going out anywhere with children. We can both carry the things that we need for during the day whilst still having both hands free. 

Keeping warm and dry 

We visited in March and it was rather quite cold. My top tips if you are visiting when it's cold too are the following..

• Layer your clothing including your socks - we wore two pairs of socks most days. 

• Buy hand warmers to keep your hands warm - I bought several packs of these Hand Warmers from Amazon before we went and they were amazing. They lasted the entire day from morning to night and were just what I needed to ensure my hands didn't get too cold. 

• Take blankets with you - If you're taking a pushchair, make sure you keep a blanket in the basket underneath for your little one when they are feeling cold or for the evenings when it gets a bit chilly. 

• Take a hot water bottle - I found a Mickey Mouse hot water bottle reduced to £3 in Primark before we went and it was great for the evenings when we went out to watch the fireworks as the boys could have it with them in the pushchair to keep warm. If you're staying in a Disneyland Hotel your hotel reception should be able to provide you with a kettle for your room if you ask. 

• Take umbrellas with you - France is a bit like the UK in that rainfall can happen at anytime so make sure you take an umbrella with you or at least waterproof clothing with a hood. 

• Take ponchos - Another option for keeping dry is to take ponchos with you, I bought two adult 2 packs at Poundland for £1 each and then I bought some children's ponchos like these from Amazon. 

• Remember to also take everyone's hats, scarves and gloves.

Snacks and drinks

• Take snacks with you - Before we went I made up snack packs for us for each day which included things like fruit, sandwiches, chocolates, snack bars, juice cartons and more. I placed our snacks in empty food bags and labelled them so that we knew who's was who and so that we could get rid of our empty snack bag when we had finished everything to save on space. Doing this saved us so much money as Disneyland prices food prices are not cheap and my boys, like most children, love to snack.

• I also took our own drinks bottles and the boys drinks cups. I took one of those Robinson's Squash'd mini bottles that easily fit into my bag so that I could make up juice for the boys. 

• I also took a pack of the variety mini boxes of cereal and lots of brioches so that the boys could have those for breakfast, this meant that we were able to make better use of our Extra Magic Hours rather than spending a big chunk of time sitting around eating breakfast. 

Staying on the safe side

• Don't forget the first aid kit - I never go anywhere without taking my first aid kit. I picked up mine from Poundland and it is the perfect size, it's really small and can sit at the bottom of my bag without taking up much room at all. It has everything I could need and offers me peace of mind when I'm out with the boys. 

• Taking a bike lock for your pushchair - I'd seen this recommended a few times whilst I was doing my Disneyland planning as apparently some pushchairs have gone missing previously. So to stay on the safe side my Husband and I bought a bike lock from Amazon and we carried it around in the basket of the pushchair. I have to say we didn't use it as often as I thought as we didn't feel we needed to, but there were a few occasions where we did chain it up to a railing where we could just to be safe. 

• If you're driving to Disneyland Paris then make sure you've looked into all the rules of driving your car in France as you'll need to ensure that you have certain things in the car with you. Have a read here to find out what the current regulations are. Don't forget that if you take the Eurotunnel then it is possible to rent a car in Paris if you'd like to do more than just visit Disneyland when you're there.

• Print out any documents that you think you might need beforehand at home and keep them somewhere safe but accessible to you in your bag. Consider moving any important documents/passports to your hotels safe when you arrive. 

• Ensure that your car insurance covers you for driving in France. If it doesn't then make sure that you ring them and request temporary cover. 

• Also remember to take a portable phone charger with you in case you unexpectedly run out of battery. 

Entertainment for the kids

• When we travel anywhere that takes more than an hour in the car we always take our iPad and iPad car stand with us. Our iPad holder for the car has been invaluable and we always get a lot of questions about it. The one we have is this one from Amazon. In terms of what the boys watch, we have a subscription to Disney Life so we are able to download films/tv shows before we go and they can watch those offline via the app. 

• Before we go away I always like to treat the boys to a few new inexpensive things like magazines and books that they haven't seen before, just so that they have something to look at in the car or in restaurants or whilst we are standing around waiting in queues. The market in our town sells old issues of magazines for really cheap and I always find cheap books in places like The Works or Poundland or even sometimes online.

I hope this post has been helpful, as I said above I wanted to share some things that you wouldn't generally find on a standard packing list for Disney as there can be so much to think about with planning a Disney trip. Please feel free to pin or save this post on Pinterest so that you can easily return to it when you need it. And if you're going to Disneyland soon then I hope you have the best time - it really is such a magical place to visit! If you'd like to you can check out our trip as first timers there here: http://www.bump-to-baby.com/2018/04/first-timers-in-disneyland-our.html. 

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Thank you for reading. 

  Alex xo 

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