When I was 10 years old (and my brother was 5) our parents took us out of school for a week to go on a Looney Toons cruise ship and to visit Disney World. This was a big deal if for no other reason than we weren’t a family who missed school other than for illness. But it was an even bigger deal because it was our first time visiting any of these places!
Fast forward about 25 years, and my husband and I decide to plan a trip to Disney World in Orlando with our then pre-kindergartner…for March 2020. As you can probably guess, that didn’t happen. We postponed the trip for September 2020 because we were confident “everything would be over by then.” (Take a minute to roll your eyes at our naivete.) Then we decided to postpone it for an entire year. By the time that rolled around, we had learned we’d be moving to Germany later that year or in early 2022. Therefore, we decided that it was an acceptable risk to us to push forward with our September 2021 trip. Unfortunately, just before our make-changes- without-penalty deadline, Florida experienced spikes and surges that made the risk no longer acceptable to us. Finally, everything aligned in November 2021 and we took our older child on his first Disney World trip (and the first visit for both my husband and me in about 25 years, although I had been to Disneyland Anaheim for a conference in college).
We knew about Disneyland Paris because a friend of mine had visited with her family and even lent us some swag for our WDW trip. It seemed a foregone conclusion that we’d visit the French location during our Germany tour; for one thing, our second child was a good age for such a trip and for another, it was only a 5ish hour drive.
Hotels
During each of our three visits, we stayed at a different Disney hotel.
When planning our first trip for April 2023, the Disneyland Hotel was not open; that made the choice of Hotel New York an easy one. It was important for us to be able to walk to the parks, so we prioritized convenience over price (there are off-property options). Plus, superhero theming sounded fun for my husband and kids (and if they are happy, Mom is happy!).
Hotel guests also had exclusive access to a superhero meet and greet.
The hotel was an easy (10-15 minute?) walk to the parks (although it was a challenge to carry a then-four-year-old back to the hotel after the fireworks and light show because he fell asleep in my arms).
I recommend Hotel New York and would personally stay there again.
Immersive theming is key to a fulfilling Disney experience; we experienced this at Disneyland Hotel in November 2024.
Princesses appeared from balconies.
You could even sign up for a non-crowded meet and greet with a princess, only for guests of the hotel. (This is booked in the Disneyland Paris app.)
Even their coffee was on theme.
I recommend Disneyland Hotel and would personally stay there again.
If a loose nautical theme is important to your family, then Newport Bay Club could be a good fit for you. For our family, Hotel New York and Disneyland Hotel are better options and we’d choose one of them if we visited again.
Dining
The coffee wasn’t the only dining to enjoy at Disneyland Hotel. We dined at two of their restaurants during our stay, Royal Banquet (buffet) and La Table de Lumière (table service). Both of them were character dining experiences; a character meal is one of the most special experiences to be had on a Disney trip.
A character breakfast is a family favorite. We’ve dined at Plaza Gardens during each of our Disney trips. If you book the 8:15am breakfast, you have the opportunity to take pictures in front of the castle with (almost) no one else around.
Other dining highlights for our family are as follows:
Captain Jack’s: You can see the Pirates of the Caribbean ride from the restaurant (and vice versa). The menu wasn’t extensive, but the food and cocktails were still good.
Chef Remy’s: The Ratatouille ride may be one of our most-ridden attractions, but it wasn’t until our third visit that we dined in the attached restaurant.
Brasserie Rosalie: This is one of the few dining experiences we’ve had at Disney that was not one of their themed restaurants reserved through the app (but it does accept online reservations through Google). Located in Disney Village, a dining and shopping experience, it was a hidden gem that had some of the most enjoyable food we’ve had at Disneyland Paris.
Unfortunately for Walt’s, their food was not our favorite but we could see the parade going down Main Street from our window table.
Rides
Some of our family’s favorite rides were/are:
Tower of Terror
Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin
Ratatouille
Spider-Man W.E.B. Adventure
One thing disappointed me about rides at Disneyland Paris: there was no option for children to opt out. We’ve visited a non-Disney theme park that allowed an older child who wasn’t interested in a roller coaster to walk through the seating area (rather than sitting and getting buckled in) and waiting for us to meet them when we returned from the ride. Unfortunately, Disneyland Paris did not make it easy for us so at times we had to take turns riding attractions. I respect their right to make their own policies, but it was disappointing given our experience at Tivoli Gardens a month prior.
Characters
If you’re interested in collecting character autographs, purchase an autograph book early in your trip so you don’t have to make a frantic dash into the nearest souvenir shop if Goofy suddenly appears.
Between character meals, hotel experiences, and being in the right place at the right time, our kids have a plethora of character autographs. Some character highlights for our family have been:
Stitch
Jack Skellington
Mrs. Incredible
Additional Tips & Information
Disneyland Park has a couple of playgrounds. We didn’t use them during our November 2024 visits, and they were closed during our May 2025 visit. They provided a welcome break during our 2023 visit.
Disney Village has a Lego store. Of course, our family visited it and got stamps in our Lego passports.
Our travel agent booked all of our Disneyland Paris trips for us and even helped us with specialty items, like character dining. I recommend hiring her if Disneyland Paris sounds fun to you! She will even give you tips, like where to find the champagne cart with souvenir flutes.
If you know anyone interested in a Disneyland Paris trip, please share this post with them.
