3 Days Disneyland Paris Itinerary for Families

We visited Disneyland Paris in October 2021 and stayed at an Airbnb in Val D’Europe. This was about a 17 minute walk to the park and it was an ideal place to base ourselves. Click here for more details. It was my third trip to Disneyland Paris but our first visit with the children who were 7 and 4 at the time. We arrived in the evening and then had 3 full days in the Disney parks.

It was decorated for Halloween at the time and it was incredible. if you can go during the Halloween season I really recommend it. You will notice in some photos my husband, myself, and my 7-year-old wearing a mask. On our first two days, the mandate was for everyone over 6 to wear a mask all the time but on the last day, this changed to over 11s only.

Day 1 – main rides and familiarisation

We got to the Park early on our first day and I would recommend it. As we walked in we saw Mickey and his friends welcoming everyone, which was utterly magical and a great way to see some Disney characters. There was Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Chip and Dale, and Goofy (plus one other character who I couldn’t quite see!)

Our priority was to go on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad as it was a favourite of mine on my previous visits and I knew my 7-year-old would love it. As we were there early the queue was quite short so we got on it pretty quickly. My husband and the 4-year-old (who was too short for Big Thunder) had a little exploration whilst we rode it. I was advised by a cast member to take off my Minnie ears once on the ride as they have been known to fall off! Our goal on day 1 was to go on the most popular rides if we could.

After this, we headed to Pirates of the Caribbean which I also remembered from previous trips. I have to be honest, it scared both the girls. I really enjoyed it but perhaps be mindful if you think they might be a bit frightened by the idea of Pirates.

At this point, I felt we really needed to have a calm relaxing ride, and what better than It’s A Small World for a bit of magical escapism? This became a favourite ride of our trip and we did it about 3 times. The queue was never long (as the boats arrive continuously and get lots of people in them) so it was ideal. Next to It’s a Small World is a really nice quiet area with benches where we sat and ate lunch or snacks quite often during our visit. It is also where some of the parades leave the park so if you’re lucky you can see a Parade here. We were told that if the music suddenly changes whilst you’re in the park, there might be a pop-up parade, and this happened to us in this spot!

We sat for a while and looked at the App, which we found to be a bit of a lifesaver during our visit. It has a map so you can see which attractions you are near to, find out wait times, and book table reservations and fast passes. It saved us so much time and stress.

Next up me and the 4-year-old went to Autopia, the car driving ride which also didn’t have too much of a queue and was a fantastic fun ride (however it would be great if they could change the cars to electric, the fumes from the petrol were horrible!) During this time my husband and 7-year-old went on Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain, which was her first ever loop-the-loop ride. They loved it and I’m a bit gutted I didn’t get to go on it.

We also went on the Carousel (which is also beautiful after dark) and explored Alice’s curious labyrinth. This is a great place for photos and it was a good chance for the girls to have a run-around. After that, we paused for a snack and got it from March Hare Refreshments. It was expensive and not worth the price (we didn’t have the option to get anything that is especially Disney) so we vowed to snack wiser from then on! However, it did have nice outdoor seating so we appreciated the break.

After that, we walked back down Main Street, took some photos outside the sleeping beauty castle, and as our last ride of the day, we went on the Disneyland Railroad. It was a really lovely way to end the day and the queue wasn’t too long either. it was around 5 pm by then and we had been in the park since 10 am. We’d walked around 16,000 steps and it was time for a rest back at the Airbnb. I should add, at the time we visited there were no fireworks as there were still significant Covid restrictions.

Day 2 – More Disneyland Park. Lion King Show and then Walt Disney Studios Park

We woke up to rain so decided to have a slower start to the day. We walked there at 11 am and hit some big queues trying to get in, I expect this is because everyone waited for the rain to pass! However, we were in within 20 minutes (head to the left of the queue to get in, it tends to be quieter!). Another top tip is that if it’s raining head to the left of Main Street and there is a gorgeous covered walkway parallel to the road. It also has benches to sit on if you need a bit of a sheltered break!

Our main focus on Day 2 was The Lion King show which we had booked for 12.30 pm. We had pre-paid for tickets so we knew we’d get seats, you can turn up and hope for the best which I noticed a lot of people did. Those who had pre-paid however got preferential seats. The show was outstanding, we were all mesmerized.

After this, we queued for an hour to see Mickey. We also happened to see Minnie, Pluto, and Goofy. As we were still socially distancing with characters I don’t think I’d recommend queueing for that long again. However, it was undercover and the girls seemed to enjoy it so I’m glad we did it all the same. Someone had also suggested to me that we don’t miss Le Pays des Contes de Fées, especially for little ones, which is at the far edge of the park and can easily be overlooked. It’s a lovely little boat ride that we all really enjoyed. Next to it is the Casey Jr. – le Petit Train du Cirque, a cute train ride that we all loved.

As this was my husband’s 2nd and last day in the Parks we then decided to head over to the Walt Disney Studios park. We walked straight into the Park with no queues and headed straight to the Aladdin ride, Flying Carpets over Agrabah. This ride has the same premise as the Dumbo ride but it was extra fun to be on flying carpets and the girls thought it was brilliant.

The 7-year-old and I then went on RC Racer which had quite a long queue (of about an hour) but it was a fun ride (although scarier than I’d expected!) While we were on that the 4-year-old and my husband went on Slinky Dog ZigZag Spin and had a photo with Buzz and Woody.

Next, we went on Cars Road Trip which was a bit tucked away and I think quite easy to miss. It’s a fun little ride with a few surprises thrown in. After that, we headed to the Ratatoulli Ride which was one of our must do’s for the visit. It’s fantastic, make sure you take the 3D glasses handed out in the queue. The one ride we didn’t get to do was Crushers Coaster but the queue was always more than 70 minutes which we didn’t want to stand in.

By this time it was 6 pm and we were exhausted! So we walked back to Val D’Europe and had pizza at one of the restaurants in the Mall.

Day 3 – ‘Sweep up day’!

Dave had to work on day 3 of our visit so it was always planned that I would take the girls to the parks by myself, which worked out really well. We’d been careful to make sure we’d done any rides that the little one couldn’t go on beforehand and really treated Day 3 as a ‘sweep-up day’. I really recommend it. My goal was to go on anything we could that didn’t have huge queues and to see any shows that were available. And, spoiler, we had a BRILLIANT day. Some of the unexpected, less well-known things turned out to be my favourite of our visit.

So we started our day at 10 am and hot stepped it to Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast as this had had long queues the first 2 days of our trip. We still had to queue but not longer than 20 minutes. It was a brilliant ride and we all enjoyed it.

Next up was Dumbo which had been my 4-year-olds goal since we arrived. I had put it off waiting for a quiet time but alas, there never was one, so we queued for about an hour for it. But she was THRILLED. And you do get lovely views of the Park from it. Handily, my 7-year-old could ride in a Dumbo by herself.

After this we headed to Mickeys PhilHarMagic, and we really enjoyed it – nice for a sit-down and really fun for all the family. It can feel like you’re heading into the unknown a bit with some of the shows, as they are obviously inside but we went to a few and enjoyed them all.

One of the rides we did twice was Autopia, children just love to pretend to drive a car! And we could fit two (small) children and me in one car so it’s fine for parents visiting solo.

We felt like we’d pretty much ticked off our list of things to do in the main Disneyland Park by then (mid-afternoon) and headed over to the Walt Disney Studios to see what we could do there. On the way in we bumped into Goofy for a photo which was great. Our rough goal had been to get to the Frozen show but the queue was HUGE and we didn’t make it in for the 3 pm showing. By that point, people were already getting ready to queue for the 5 pm show so if it’s a must-do for you, be ready to queue! Instead, we went to Stitch Live! Show which the girls thought was hilarious.

Due to Covid-19, there weren’t full parades or fireworks but on our third day there was a small scheduled parade in Disneyland Paris so we headed back there for that. We had time to queue for snacks at one of the shops on Main Street and picked up some candyfloss and a Mickey cake pop.

At this point, my husband came by and picked our 4-year-old up. So the 7-year-old and I used all our spare energy and had a browse around the shops, another ride on It’s a Small World (very quiet when the littlest children have mostly left for the day) and a walk around the park after dark. We then decided to queue for Big Thunder Mountain to ride it in the dark. If you get the chance do it! It was brilliant. The queue was really long, but it felt worth it.

By 8 pm we were well and truly exhausted so headed back to the Airbnb.

That was it for our visit to Disneyland Paris! The following day we had a day out in central Paris which was also brilliant. The train station is directly outside the park entrance that takes you to Paris.

So what would be my best tips for a visit to Disneyland Paris?

• Plan ahead, and get the Disneyland Paris App. Prior preparation is really key, especially if you have things you really want to do.
• Try and have a day or half a day for ‘sweeping up’ anything you’ve not managed to do or to just go on things that seem to not have a queue at that time.
• Wear super comfy shoes. It’s imperative! We walked up to 16,000 steps each day and it was tiring.
• Take snacks, it’s so expensive in the park so if you go prepared you can snack in the queues, etc and then treat yourself to the odd purchase for the parades for example.
• Aim to be in the Parks most of the day. That gives you plenty of time to take a rest if you need it or, in peak season, allows time for some of the longer queues.
• Check out my Disneyland Paris Packing list here.

Please Note:

We went in October 2021 and there weren’t the Disney Illuminations, no proper character meets (you could see them and have a photo but behind a rope), no Disney dining, and very few parades. And our days were FULL. I think it actually took a lot of pressure off us not having these other things to consider but if you DO want to do them, it might be hard to fit it all in 3 days. Also, the new Avengers Campus has opened in Walt Disney Studios so that will add to your list of things to do as well.

Summary

Disneyland Paris is a fantastic place for a family trip, and we had a great time there. I think 3 days in the park was the absolute minimum number of days I would do and ideally, I would go for 4 or 5 days. Staying in an Airbnb worked really well, and saved us quite a lot of money but I would like to go and stay at one of the Disneyland Paris Hotels next time just to experience it.

With 3 full days, there was still some big rides we didn’t do, such as the Tower of Terror (too scary!), and Peter Pan (the queue was always huge) but I think it’s unlikely anyone ever fits absolutely everything into a trip. However, we covered the main attractions and did everything we wanted to. And by not having done everything, it gives us a great excuse to go back!

I am a qualified Independent Travel Agent and have specialist training in Disneyland Paris. If you would like a quote for a trip of your own, please do feel free to contact me at beckyscholestravel@outlook.com for a no-obligation quote.