Disneyland Paris in one day with a 5 year old

Visiting Disneyland Paris in one day with a 5 year old, or with young kids is possible, it just takes some patience, a little planning, and many breaks and snacks.

Here’s my experience visiting Disneyland Paris in one day with a 5 year old, as well as some Disneyland Paris tips and tricks that I found helpful, that I hope helps you decide if you’d like to spend a day in Disneyland Paris with your children.

Disneyland Paris in one day – my experience

Before taking my 5 year old to Disneyland Paris, I researched what it would be like travelling with kids there, and came across heaps and heaps of Disneyland Paris tips, so many that it felt overwhelming.

So to avoid overwhelm, I looked at a few Disneyland Paris tips and tricks, and then spent the majority of time looking at which areas within Disneyland Paris my 5 year old would get the most out of, and then planning our day solely in these areas.

Disneyland Paris has two parks within it, Walt Disney Studios Park, and Disneyland Park.

Here’s what we did in each.

Walt Disney Studios Park

We went to this park first and visited only two areas within it, which were Avengers Campus, and Worlds of Pixar.

I choose Avengers Campus because it had only just opened, so the novelty of it being new was appealing.

I chose Worlds of Pixar because it had a Mickey Mouse show that I knew my 5 year old would enjoy.

When deciding to spend time at Avengers Campus, I didn’t consider that it would be crowded due to it being new, and as a result we wasted 2 hours in line for our first ride, which I don’t recommend when you’re at Disneyland Paris with a young child.

Due to the crowding we left Avengers Campus after our first ride and headed to the Animagique Theatre in Worlds of Pixar, to see the Mickey and the Magician show, which was fantastic, and well worth the visit.

As we only had one day at Disneyland Paris, in hindsight I realised that we should have visited only one park to make the most of our time, and that park should have been Disneyland Park, the park that’s most associated with Disneyland.

Disneyland Park

Disneyland Park should have been where we spent our one day at Disneyland Paris, because it’s the park best suited to younger children, as well as being a park that you really do need a minimum of one day to explore.

When we got to this park, I looked at the list I made on my phone showing me the two areas that had the most rides my 5 year old could go on, which were Fantasyland and Discoveryland, and headed straight for Fantasyland, where the fun really began.

Fantasyland

If travelling to Disneyland Paris with young kids, I highly recommend you start in Fantasyland, as the rides there don’t have tall height restrictions, wait times aren’t long, there are many characters younger children will recognise, and it’s where the iconic Sleeping Beauty Castle is located.

The rides we went on in Fantasyland were:

• The Dragon’s Lair, located under Sleeping Beauty’s Castle
• Sir Lancelot’s Carrousel
• Alice’s Curious Labyrinth, a maze with a tower in the middle providing gorgeous views of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle
• Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups
• Disney Stars on Parade, a parade with colourful floats and Disney characters
• Snow White’s Scary Adventures
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant

My 5 year old loved these rides, they were colourful, interactive, and he was tall enough to enjoy them.

Discoveryland

On the other side of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle is Discoveryland, a land where you’re taken on an intergalactic voyage through space and time.

We got here later in the night, so wait times for the rides were about 25 minutes, during earlier hours of the day wait times can be 50 minutes – 2 hours.

We only did a couple of rides in Discoveryland, which were:

• Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast
• Autopia, fantastic for younger children due to the minimum height being 81cm, and involves driving a car around a track

Disneyland Paris fireworks

A visit to Disneyland Paris isn’t complete without viewing the nighttime fireworks, which started at 10.55pm on the day we went.

At 8.30pm people started securing their spots for the fireworks, but I knew there was no way we could do the same with a 5 year old, so instead we went back on some of our favourite rides.

Once the fireworks started they were definitely worth the wait, but we made sure we left 15 minutes before they finished so we could beat the crowds back to the bus.

Disneyland Paris food options

I packed a lot of kids snacks to eat during the day, which consisted of:

• Biscuits
• Breakfast bars
• Dried fruit
• Lollypops

However, we still needed to have lunch and dinner there, and I purposely didn’t pre book any restaurants so I could choose restaurants to eat at that were close to where we were during meal times, and that were affordable and family friendly.

We ended up having lunch at Restaurant en Coulisse in Walt Disney Studios Park, where we had burgers, chips, and a drink, prices here started at €9.

For dinner we ate at Au Chalet de la Marionnette, which was located behind Dumbo the Flying Elephant in Fantasyland, and had roast chicken, chips, a drink, and a mini magnum for €12.

Disneyland Paris tips and tricks

There are so many Disneyland Paris tips and tricks available online, but the ones I decided to focus on were:

• Buy Disney clothing and ears before your visit from a high street retailer, and take them with you to Disneyland Paris to save money
• Download the Disneyland Paris app before you go, it contains maps, show times, ride wait times, pre booking show links, and much more, which helps you a lot when at the park
• Make sure your ticket includes a visit to both of the parks if you want to visit both of them
• If there’s a restaurant you want to go to, or a Disney character meal you want to experience, pre book them well ahead of the date you’re due to visit
• List the rides your child is tall enough for, they’d enjoy, and where they’re located, so you can focus your time on them. The Disneyland Paris app, or Disneyland Paris website can help you with this
• Put calendar reminders to go off 1 hour before the start of a parade or show so you get to them on time
• Take a portable charger for your phone, and a backpack with a light jumper, snacks, water, your phone, and your wallet with you so you’re hands free during your visit
• Make time to rest and recharge often
• Get a paper map at Disneyland Paris’ entrance, or on Main Street, so you don’t have to continuously use your phone
• If you want a photo outside Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, take it as soon as you arrive, before it gets too busy
• Disney Village is great for a break, it’s quieter than the park, and has great dining options
• Be flexible, you may not get to do everything you planned, but you’ll still have a great day

Overall thoughts about visiting Disneyland Paris in one day

Visiting Disneyland Paris in one day was tiring, but worth it, despite not realising before we went that the day would be exhausting for my 5 year old.

He got tired quickly, which resulted in toddler tantrums, even though he’s not a toddler, and lots of complaining about sore feet, and wanting to leave, which I should have handled with more breaks.

Despite the exhaustion of it all, I would do it in one day again, but would make sure we just visit Disneyland Park, take way more breaks, and ideally would love to do a hotel stay with kids in an onsite hotel, so we could really rest and recharge before heading back out to the parks.

What would you like to do during a day at Disneyland Paris?