Disneyland Paris With Kids: Tickets, Rides & Tips

Why Visit Disneyland Paris

If you’re in Paris, do not skip Disneyland Paris with your kids! It’s so fun and just the right amount of culture mixed with familiarity for kids. I would put it at the beginning or in the middle of your trip. I would only devote one day to it if you’re visiting. You can hit all the highlights in a day, and it’s an easy train ride to and from Paris. If you’re a Disney Parks fan, this is a must!

But First, Let Me Introduce Myself

Hey! I’m Camille, mom to three kids and owner of San Diego Mamas, one of the largest adventure mom communities in San Diego. I share cool places to go with kids in SoCal and beyond. I’ve been writing about exploring with kids for 10 years now!

Kids don’t have to be a reason to stop exploring. If anything, they make adventures even better. I share practical tips to help other moms feel prepared to tackle any outing with their kids.

I’m on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, and I also have a newsletter where I share all the best things coming to San Diego every weekend.

Also, if you’re going to Disneyland Paris, you might also want to check out my Paris With Kids guide to plan out the rest of your trip!

Getting to Disneyland Paris

Getting here is so easy. Take the RER A train all the way to the end of the line at Marne-la-Vallée–Chessy. You can’t miss the stop, there’s literally a mouse icon next to it on every sign. The RER train lets out right at the Disneyland Paris gates. Literally, the train station and Disneyland Paris are closer together than the Disneyland parking lot is to the entrance in Anaheim. The train stays open late, so you can make it back after the fireworks. It took about an hour for us door to door. Easy!

Where to Stay Disneyland Paris

We chose to stay in Paris and do the day trip, but you could easily stay at the Disneyland Hotel (it’s pink!) if you’ve got a big budget, or there’s another one that kept coming up in my searches called Vienna House Dream Castle Hotel. Keep in mind that if you stay off-property, you still have to take a bus or transit to Disneyland Paris unless you choose to stay at the Disneyland Hotel. Disney hotels generally include the park ticket, since the Disneyland Hotel is part of the park entrance.

Note that the Disney hotels give you early access to the park, so you can get in and do some rides before everyone else! If you get there the day before your park reservation, you get time to explore Disney Village (that’s like their Downtown Disney).

What to Book Beforehand

Grab your tickets and hotel reservations the minute you know your dates. Both sell out. I’m pretty sure the hotel booking includes tickets, so keep that in mind when booking. You’ll get a dated ticket and a reservation. The best place to get tickets is the official Disneyland Paris website.

You’ll also want to grab a dining reservation at Chez Rémy, the Ratatouille-themed restaurant. Those sell out months in advance, and we actually weren’t able to get one!

Also consider whether you want skip-the-line passes, since they’re cheaper ahead of time. We did not buy them ahead of time but ended up regretting it and bought them there. It was more expensive.

The Disneyland Paris App

I would download the app and click around a bit before arrival. Check there for opening times! It actually opens later than the American Disneyland, usually around 9:30 am. You can see wait times in the app and find where character meet-and-greets are happening.

You can grab dining reservations here as well as look at skip-the-line passes. They’re cheaper online ahead of time. Make sure to load your tickets into the app ahead of time too.

They have a mobile food ordering option called Click and Collect. It works just like the one at Disneyland.

Skip the Line Passes at Disneyland Paris

The good news is there are no Fastpasses or Lightning Lanes at Disneyland Paris. There’s only one unlimited line-skipping pass (officially called Disney Premier Access), or you can purchase line-skipping individually for each ride. The bad news is it’s more expensive. It’s one of the best ways to avoid long lines though, so sometimes it’s necessary.

For the unlimited pass, prices start at 100 euros per person and go up from there, depending on the day you go. If you buy it the day of, it’s going to be more expensive, unfortunately. These passes do work quite well, so I feel like they’re worth the money, especially in the summer.

They don’t check which ticket goes with which pass, so if you have little kids, you may not need to get line-skipping passes for them. We bought three unlimited passes for our family of five. I planned on paying individually to skip the lines my daughter wanted to do. On the day we went, August 6, 2026, it was 600 euros for 3 unlimited line-skipping passes. Quite expensive, but since we only had one day and the park was full, it was well worth it for our family.

Shows to Catch at Disneyland Paris

Do not skip the parade or the fireworks show. The fireworks show is very, very late. It’s worth it to stay, trust me. It’s 22 minutes long and features projections and movies from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Beauty and the Beast, and more. When we went, it was at 10:50 pm because it didn’t get dark until then! We went in early August.

The other show you want to make sure you see is the parade! When we went, there was only one showing at 11:30 am, but check the app before you go for times.

Scheduling Time at Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Paris has two parks: Disneyland Park and Disney Adventure World (recently reimagined from Walt Disney Studios Park). Disneyland Park has all the same rides as the Disneyland in California, with a Paris twist on them. You’ll find a lot of classic Disney stories here. Disney Adventure World has a lot of new rides and lands you can only find at Disneyland Paris. I’d do a park hopper if you can.

We started at Disneyland Park for the parade (arrived around 11 am, though I wanted to arrive sooner) and then went to Disney Adventure World. Then we finished the rides we missed at Disneyland Park while waiting for the fireworks.

If your family can handle it, I’d get there half an hour before park opening and prioritize the popular rides like Crush’s Coaster and Big Thunder Mountain.

Food at Disneyland Paris

We didn’t get to try everything, but we did love the crepes from the crepe stands! I also liked the food stands over by Arendelle called Berlioz, Toulouse, and Marie (get it??). There are some cute stands in Ratatouille Land with Parisian food too. I already mentioned Chez Rémy, which you need advance reservations for! The food there is supposed to be amazing.

Other than that, the food was disappointingly American. We had very subpar Mexican food at Coco’s Cafe (but we’re from SoCal, so I think all Mexican food outside my area isn’t very good). We’ll have to go back to try more food, and I’d love to hear if you tried anything you loved.

Best Souvenirs at Disneyland Paris

Unlike Disneyland, where you’ll see repeat merch at every store, Disneyland Paris has a lot of specific themed shops around. My favorite was the Ratatouille one (rat merch, anyone?), the Frozen one, and the Christmas shop in the castle!

Be warned that if you collect Christmas ornaments like my family does, there’s really only one shop that sells them, and it’s in the castle and it closes early. You’ll spot it because it has Christmas trees outside year-round!

People love shoulder pals here. This is a little stuffed animal you can attach to your shoulder with a magnet. They run about 30 euros, and each store carries a different one. Of course, Remy is the favorite. My husband talked me out of one; apparently they’re impractical, and I wouldn’t wear it anywhere else. Mickey ears aren’t as much of a thing here, and neither is wearing Disney merch like matching shirts, though I did see some!

What Not to Miss at Disney Adventure World

This park has more of the new rides and lands unique to Disneyland Paris, while Disneyland Park has the castle and the shows. Definitely make time for both!

Ratatouille Land and Ride

I loved this land. It was so cute and so distinctly Parisian. Honestly, Paris looks like Disneyland to me anyway, so this was just the cutest spot.

The Ratatouille ride is here too. You travel around on mice, kind of like Mickey’s Runaway Railway. I was slightly disappointed by how much of the ride was screen-based, but it’s still a cute ride to try!

The food in this area is good too, and don’t miss the Remy merch store. I’ve always wanted a rat hat.

Arendelle / Frozen Land

This was honestly smaller than I was expecting but still super cute! See if you can time your arrival with the boat show. Anna and Elsa arrive on these fantastic boats. This live show is hard to see from the back row, so get there a bit early, especially if you have short kids with you.

The Frozen ride is amazing and was my favorite ride we did all day. They used zero screens, which I loved. Be warned that although there’s no height limit on this ride, there are a few drops. Think Pirates of the Caribbean-size drops. Just don’t tell your kids, they’ll be fine.

Beyond the ride, there’s a Frozen merch store, a restaurant, and a beauty parlor where kids can get their hair done like Elsa! The mini Frozen toys that you fill a jar with are very popular and a pretty good price for how much you get. My kid wanted a snowman shoulder pal.

Pixar Pals and Crush’s Coaster

This roller coaster is unique to Disneyland Paris. You won’t find it anywhere else! It’s a pretty tame roller coaster (it doesn’t go upside down), but it does spin a lot. There’s an Aladdin Flying Carpets, Dumbo-style ride next to Crush’s Coaster for the littles.

There are also a few Toy Story rides, like Slinky Dog Zigzag Spin, and a unique Cars ride called Cars Road Trip. Honestly, it doesn’t hold a candle to Radiator Springs Racers, definitely skippable.

Tangled Ride

Justice for Tangled! This is one of my favorite Disney movies, and it doesn’t get the hype Frozen does. But Disneyland Paris did give Tangled its own teacups-style ride and mini land. I loved the little gazebo and the lanterns above the ride.

This ride is only at Disneyland Paris, nowhere else in the world! They’re building a Lion King land next to it (there’s a lot of Lion King merch at Disneyland Paris, by the way, not sure why), opening date TBD.

Avengers Campus

There’s an Avengers roller coaster that goes upside down, Tower of Terror (not rethemed for Guardians like in Anaheim), and Web Slingers (exactly the same as Anaheim, also breaks down a lot, just like Anaheim).

There are also some fun shows in this area, and Pym’s Kitchen is great to peek into. The store has a lot of Spider-Man-themed stuff that little boys will love!

What Not to Miss at Disneyland Park

The Disneyland Hotel and Main Street

Honestly, you can’t miss this because you walk right through it to get in! It’s pink and beautiful and makes for even better photo ops than the castle. I’ve heard the interior is fabulous too, though we didn’t get to go in and check it out.

Main Street is super cute and has a distinctly Parisian flair to it. I loved City Hall especially! Note that there are covered arcades on each side of Main Street that make for a much cooler walk and an easier route with a stroller, especially after the nighttime show or if it’s raining.

The Disneyland Paris Castle

Where the Anaheim castle is just a quick walk-through, the Disneyland Paris castle is massive and has stores inside. There are lots of nods to Sleeping Beauty, including stained glass windows that tell the story.

Don’t skip going down to the basement to see the life-size animatronic dragon. It’s difficult to capture in photos or videos how cool this is. It’s very loud though, so be aware of that for small children. To find the dragon, go to the left of the castle if you’re facing it from Main Street.

Alice’s Curious Labyrinth

Instead of an Alice in Wonderland ride, they have a walk-through maze here called Alice’s Curious Labyrinth. It was super fun and ended with a castle and a slide!

There’s also Casey Jr. over here (more like a roller coaster than at Disneyland Anaheim) and a cute fairytale boat ride (similar to the Storybook Land Canal Boats at Disneyland).

Rides That Are Different at Disneyland Paris

Make sure to ride Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Phantom Manor, and Indiana Jones. They’re all very different from the Disneyland Anaheim versions. Hyperspace Mountain has a corkscrew and goes upside down three times. My kids love this ride at Disneyland Anaheim. They stood in the whole line at Disneyland Paris, found out it went upside down, and then got out of line and let Dad ride by himself.

Big Thunder was probably my second favorite ride after Frozen. It’s one of the best rides at Disneyland. It’s on an island here, and it’s much longer than at Disneyland Anaheim. You go through pitch-dark tunnels under the water twice. Absolutely do not skip this one.

Indiana Jones is an outdoor roller coaster instead of an indoor ride here. It goes upside down a few times too. It’s great for older kids. Their version of the Haunted Mansion is called Phantom Manor, and frankly it’s terrifying. Less silly ghosts, more spooky skeletons and dark parts. Much more like a real haunted house. My kids were not amused.

I’ve heard some of the Fantasyland rides are a bit spookier too. I didn’t get to ride them all, I’ll have to go back!

Small World at Disneyland Paris

Do not skip this one, it’s completely different from any of the other versions I’ve seen, and it’s so cute! There are a lot more countries to look at, and I like that they haven’t added characters to it like the California version. Also, I love that the outside is pink!

Their USA section is so funny to me. They have us as farmers and sports fans.

Rides That Are the Same at Disneyland Paris and Disneyland Anaheim

Peter Pan’s Flight and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters were almost exactly the same as at Disneyland California. Pirates of the Caribbean and Autopia were a little smaller than their California counterparts.

The Fantasyland rides like Snow White, Pinocchio, and the teacups are the same or similar.

I can’t speak for the rest of the rides since I didn’t personally ride them, but from what I hear, they’re pretty similar. So prioritize the ones I mentioned if you want the true Disneyland Paris experience!

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Hi! I’m Camille, a San Diego mom who loves to explore with her kids both in San Diego and beyond! I’m a huge Disney and LEGOLAND nut, and I love breaking down theme parks for other moms to easily understand.

You can find tons more guides on my website, including my guide to Paris With Kids and Harry Potter London With Kids, plus LEGOLAND Windsor and so much more!

If you love travel and practical tips for adventures with kids, follow me on Instagram or Facebook under @sandiego.mamas.

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Thanks for stopping by, and please comment, email me, or send me a DM on Instagram if you have any questions! Have so much fun at Disneyland Paris.