Disneyland® Paris: A Must-Do Day Trip
Planning a trip to Paris this summer? Why not add Disneyland® Paris to your travel itinerary? This year, Disneyland® Paris is celebrating its 30th anniversary, making the visit all the more magical.
Orange, France’s #1 phone network and a long-time partner of Disneyland® Paris, invited me to experience the parks for myself during this special milestone. You, too, can be invited to celebrate the 30th anniversary with Disneyland® Paris if you have an upcoming trip to France. Every day this summer until August 26, 2022, Orange is giving away two tickets to the parks. Registering for your chance to win is easy. Just use this link to enter the contest.
Let me show you some highlights from this day trip. I’m certain you’ll want to go as well!
Planning Our Day Trip to Disneyland® Paris
Disneyland® Paris is easily accessible from the French capital via the RER A. We used the Citymapper phone app to check RER A times and figure out our itinerary. Here are some other essential phone apps for your trip to Paris.
It’s good to note that Disneyland® Paris is composed of two parks: Walt Disney Studios® Park and Disneyland® Park. There’s a lot to take in, so to maximize our time, we downloaded the official Disneyland® Paris mobile app. We used it to navigate around the parks, check current ride wait times, and consult the schedule of shows for the day. I’m really into roller coasters, so I made sure to search for all the “Big Thrills” rides.
You won’t need to worry about using up your phone data at all when at Disneyland® Paris, as both parks are equipped with free wi-fi access, thanks to Orange. While you’re navigating around Paris, however, you’ll definitely want to consider getting an Orange Holiday SIM card. When compared with costly international plans from your regular phone service provider or worse yet, getting charged exorbitant international roaming fees, Orange Holiday is a no-brainer for tourists traveling to France.
Spending the Morning at Walt Disney Studios® Park
We started at the Walt Disney Studios® Park as it’s the smaller of the two parks and closes earlier in the evening. This park has a variety of attractions, focusing more on modern Disney® films, including some of the Pixar greats. Unfortunately, I was there before the opening of the brand-new Marvel Avengers Campus (July 20, 2022), but I would have loved to explore this area.
My favorite attraction at the Walt Disney Studios® Park was the Ratatouille ride. During this 4D adventure, you shrink down to the size of Remy the Parisian rat and scurry around the kitchen with his friends. I thought this experience was so cool because you become an active participant. Don’t miss this one!
Hopping Over to Disneyland® Park
After spending a few hours in the Walt Disney Studios® Park, we took a short walk over to the Disneyland® Park. This is where you’ll find the iconic pink castle as well as attractions based on the more classic Disney® films. We made sure to carve out some time in our day to catch the daily parade and see all the Disney® characters glide by on their colorful floats. Be sure to get there early to find a good spot along the parade route.
If you’re as into roller coasters as I am, I recommend the Big Thunder Mountain ride. After you climb aboard this runaway train, you’ll find it has all the dips, turns, and speed of a great coaster. Perhaps the most thrilling part was plummeting into total darkness for a bit. We loved it so much that we went on it twice!
Ending Our Magical Day With a Grand Finale
As night fell and the attractions started closing, we headed towards the Central Plaza to watch the final show of the day. This nighttime display starts pretty late in the summer, around 11pm, but it was totally worth staying until the end.
The Disney® D-Light show is a special production that was put together as part of the 30th-anniversary celebrations. I had never experienced a drone light show before and was thoroughly impressed by the choreography. Lasting about 7 minutes, it is followed by the Disney® Illuminations show.
A 20-minute combined fireworks and projected light display, the Disney® Illuminations show is truly incredible. I was mesmerized as Disney® stories and characters played out on the Sleeping Beauty Castle. It was the perfect way to end our Disney® experience.
Before you go, check out these quick tips to ensure you have the best time at Disneyland® Paris this summer.
