Disneyland Resort Paris

We visited Disneyland Resort, Paris in October 2022 for a 2 night stay at Hotel Cheyanne. We travelled by coach and had a 2 day ticket for Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios.

The Coach Journey

We travelled as part of a coach trip which I was slightly apprehensive about (the total journey time going there was about 11 hours in total) and I was six months pregnant while travelling. I expected it might be a bit of a long journey for my daughter who was aged six but it actually worked out to be an easy journey and included plenty of stops along the way to stretch our legs and use the toilets.

Travelling there we we went via Dover on a Ferry. Coming back we travelled via Eurostar and the journey time was slightly less.

The coach company picked us up at a stop which was about 3 miles away from our house, so it meant we didn’t have to travel far with our luggage in tow, once we boarded the coach the luggage stayed onboard until we got to the hotel. The coach was nice and clean and as it was only about half full, it meant there was space to spread out. There were toilet facilities onboard which came in handy when travelling with our little-soon-to-be-big one (L(stbb)O) but for anyone who prefers not to use the onboard toilet, we stopped at service stations frequently.

Hotel Cheyenne

The resort

We arrived at the hotel at about 11pm local time and were all worn out from a long day travelling. I was hoping we’d be able to order room service but there is no room service facilities at this hotel.

Cheyenne is themed like the wild west with saloon buildings and Toy Story themed rooms. As we were there in October the resort was dressed up for Halloween and it looked very atmospheric at night.

There is a Starbucks on site if you wanted to grab a quick bite to eat enroute to the parks and a gift shop selling a small selection of Disney merchandise. There is also a saloon-style restaurant but we didn’t visit it during our stay

The room

The room we had contained a double bed, sofa bed and an en-suite bathroom. The decor is themed around Woody/Jessie.

The room was nice and beds were comfy so perfect for our 2 night stay as we really only needed a place to sleep and shower.

Getting to the Parks

Cheyenne was about a 20 minute walk away from the Parks and Disney Village. The walk follows a canal path and is quite a nice little stroll away from the crowds and noise of Disney.

Disneyland Paris

Day one

After a great nights sleep we woke as early as we could in order to get breakfast from Starbucks in Disney Village and get to the Disneyland Park for the start of Extra Magic Hours (after a long queue at Starbucks where they messed up our order we ended up without breakfast and getting into the park towards the end of EMH).

As you enter the Disneyland Park you walk directly down Main Street USA with an array of different gift shops and restaurants either side of you. At the end of Main Street you can see Sleeping Beauty’s castle directly ahead. Having never been to Disneyland or Disney World before I was taken aback by how grand it all looked.

We entered the park early, and as we were staying on Resort, we had Extra Magic Hours so were allowed in before the park was open to the general public. This was a great time for getting photos of Main Street and the castle before the crowds ascended.

I hadn’t done a great deal of research on this trip having only found out we were going a few days before we went but we headed straight for Big Thunder Mountain as I know from various vlogs (see Adam Hattan on YouTube) it’s one of the most popular attractions and one I thought my daughter would enjoy. We used the Disney Magic app to check wait times (it was only 10 minutes) and navigate the parks but shortly after L(stbb)O and OH entered the queue, they came back out as L(stbb)O had changed her mind.

We had a wander round and took in the Coco-themed Halloween decorations and then headed to Adventureland to try out some of the gentler rides. My daughter and her dad (OH) tried out a few of the rides (Seven Dwarves Mine Train, Flying Dumbos and Mad Hatter’s Teacups) before heading back to Frontierland for Pirates of the Caribbean (PotC). We didn’t really know what to expect from PotC ride but it was apparently quite dark throughout and the L(stbb)O hated it.

Unfortunately for us it was a rather wet day but at least the rides still stayed open. It dried up just enough for the Halloween Parade and we bagged a good spot on Main Street USA from which to watch it. Our L(stbb)O enjoyed the parade but wasn’t up for any interaction from the dancers as they passed.

After the parade had passed we made our way to Fantasyland and had a soggy walk round Alice’s Curious Labyrinth (my first attraction of the day) and then headed for Le Pays des Contes de Fées (The Land of Fairy Tales) which very much reminded me of the Fairy Tale Brook ride in Legoland. It was nice to finally get on a ride though and as it was still raining, lots of the rides were walk-ons at this point in the day. Note: I don’t like rides so although there were probably more rides I could have gone on safely whilst pregnant I chose not to.

L(stbb)O and OH went on one last ride; Casey Jr. – le Petit Train du Cirque and then we caved in to the weather and sought out a show (Mickey and the Magician) over in Walt Disney Studios. We had to wait in a standby line to see if there would be space as we hadn’t booked and lucky for us there was and it ended up being the highlight of the day.

After emptying puddles from our shoes we decided enough was enough and set about heading back to our resort so we could rest and get dry before heading back out to see the fireworks. This was our only chance of seeing them as we were leaving early the next evening. We kept everything crossed that they weren’t rained off.

As we walked back through Disney Village we went into the big McDonalds as L(stbb)O could not resist a Happy Meal. The McDonalds has a large outdoors but covered eating area as well as a second floor. There are the machines to order food on as well as a separate coffee and pastry/dessert counter.

In the evening we headed back out (to our despair it was STILL raining), our L(stbb)O got some candyfloss bigger than her head (it melted in the rain) and finally got into Disneyland Park and the entire area in front of the castle was already packed. We found the best space we could to watch the fireworks but unfortunately our daughter could not see most of the show and some of it was curtailed owing to the rain. We were there about 10-15 minutes before the show started, so lesson for next time – get there at least an hour before.

Day two

We woke up to… yes, more rain! But today is a new day, this was our last day before getting the coach back home and we were fully rested (if not a bit achy) and determined to make the most of the day.

First we headed to the reception desk at the resort where I got an access wristband which would enable us fast pass access to the rides as pregnancy is one of the “conditions” accepted with a doctors certificate. I used my MAT B1 certificate which is issued by a midwife in the UK.

Wristband obtained, we headed back to the Disneyland Park (after a much more enjoyable McDonalds breakfast) where we enjoyed Buzz Lightyear Blast (twice), Orbitron, Autopia, Hyperspace Mountain (OH only) when FINALLY the sun came out.

We headed back through to Fantasyland to ride Peter Pan’s Flight which was probably the most extreme ride you’ll ever catch me on (I really don’t like them) and right as we were about to leave to head over to Walt Disney Studios our L(stbb)O piped up and said she wanted to give Big Thunder Mountain (BTM) a go. Checked the app and the queue was over an hour so off they went to queue while I took a well needed rest and went in the search for food.

My daughter was on top of the world when she came off BTM and said it was the best rollercoaster she’s ever been on. I was so happy for her that she’d given it a go as I knew she’d like it (but also secretly peeved that she could have ridden it in a quarter of the time the day before).

We had a great hot dog from Casey’s (there was a massive queue, so get there before you’re hungry if you can or while one of the parades are on) and then headed over to Walt Disney Studios Park for the final two hours of the day.

We headed straight to World of Pixar where my daughter and her dad rode the Slinky Dog Zigzag Spin (she loved it), OH then wanted to try the RC Racer, so while he queued for that we went on Cars Road Trip. As previously mentioned, I hadn’t done much prep for this trip (for once) and assumed this would just be like a regular road train admiring the views, my daughter thought it was extremely lame until the ending when I have never seen such fear and panic in her poor little face. Without wanting to spoil the ending, the ride is definitely gentle enough for little kids (or big babies who can’t even stomach the teacups) to ride but definitely have them sitting next to you for the surprise ending.

We finished up on the rides just in time to catch Stitch LIVE (not worth the effort) and then managed to get seats in the Disney Juniors Live show (excellent). We tried a couple of times to go the the Frozen live show but each time it was full so if you’re wanting to catch it, definitely queue up early for it.

Then just like that it was time to head back and catch the bus. I stopped for Earl of Sandwich on the way back to eat on the bus which did not disappoint but the others went for Five Guys which was just outside the Disney Village.