My Disneyland Paris Holiday and 27th Birthday

For my 27th birthday, four friends and I escaped on a Disneyland Paris holiday. Originally the trip was for my 25th birthday – my quarter-life crisis – but COVID and variants of COVID delayed the holiday by 2.5 years. But we finally made it in June 2022.

We had an absolute blast, celebrating not only my birthday but Pride and Disneyland Paris’ 30th Anniversary.

The weather was delightfully hot – to the point that I ended up buying PJ shorts as I only had dungarees and I was melting. Thankfully, so long as you’re not dressing provocatively Disney and the people at Disney don’t care what you’re wearing. So yes, I wore PJ shorts in public and I have no regrets.

The only regret I do have is not wearing suncream. My poor skin was burnt to the point of blistering. I have a photo allergy to certain suncreams so I was hesitant to wear it in case I had a reaction, but boy did I regret that decision.

Traveling to Disneyland Paris

We left on Friday morning via the Eurostar and traveled directly to the Disneyland Paris station.

Due to COVID and the numerous cancellations and rebookings we had enough money on our Eurostar account to upgrade us to Premium seats. It kickstarted the holiday right. We had breakfast brought to us, our own area of seating and it was super comfortable. The way back was a bit more cramped and there weren’t any perks – to the point the cafe ran out of stock an hour after we set off. I highly recommend traveling Premium on Eurostar. It’s worth it.

We arrived and headed off to our Hotel. We stayed at the Campanile Val de France which is like France’s answer to a Premier Inn. Apart from having the worst mattresses any of us had ever slept on – the floor would have been more comfortable – the hotel itself was lovely. The staff were great, there was an open-all-hours bar, a little farm at the back of the hotel, and food options until 11 pm.

It was a great cheap option. And the shuttle wasn’t too bad – except when we left at midnight on Saturday and had to wait 1.5 hours to get on a shuttle with everyone else leaving Disney. We watched children get trampled it was that bad. Disney needs to sort that issue asap!

When we first arrived we didn’t realise you could go into the Disney Village without a ticket so we ended up spending the evening chilling with some snacks by a gorgeous lake behind the hotel instead.

We did a silly photo shoot – the photos of which no one will ever see – and we spent 4 hours chatting and chilling. It was a very relaxed way to start the holiday.

27th Birthday at Disneyland Paris

We woke on Saturday at 5:30 am British time to rush down and get breakfast. It was also my birthday, so I started off my morning by opening an amazing present from my friend, Angelize. She spoilt me with a pair of Tinkerbell style Minnie Mouse ears, as well as a Tinkerbell Pandora necklace which broke me! It was such a surprise and so well-thought-out. I’m so grateful to her!

If you couldn’t tell, my favourite Disney character is Tinkerbell. So I loved everything.

We had a glorious breakfast of French pastries and coffee, before heading off on the Shuttle for the parcs opening. We actually got there so early that we had to hang around the Disney Hotel and had another impromptu photoshop at a gazebo – photos of which will never be seen.

But we hung in there, until we finally got through the gates into Disneyland, which is the bigger of the two parcs at Disneyland Paris.

Immediately we spotted Micky and Minnie having a boogie and we joined in – the only adults to do so.

Before having a must-have group selfie in the gazebo in front of Sleeping Beauty’s castle.

After walking down the promenade and taking a lot of selfies with my selfie stick – which turned out to be illegal at Disney… oops! – we headed to Discoveryland and jumped in the biggest queues of the day.

The Rides

First up was Buzz Lightyear Blast Power; a laser tag game. My friend Freyja and I were in a car together and had a great time shooting and turning on the spot, very fast.

We then headed to Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain, the only issue was that we didn’t realize that Freyja was genuinely terrified of rollercoasters. And this was the fastest one I’ve ever been on. It literally took my breath away. It was worth the 55-minute wait but Freyja’s face afterward… we had to sit her down to recover.

Our favourite ride as a collective was the Les Pays de Contes de Fees which is a gentle water ride in Fantasyland, which takes you around a mini Disney village.

The ride stopped at one point and we were in a tunnel, and it was the first shade of the day. Just what we needed.

We also all loved the Peter Pan’s Flight ride which was the last ride we did on my birthday. I was a little girl in heaven as Peter Pan is a favourite of mine. It was very well done, and worth the 45-minute queue. Just lovely.

The Parades and Characters

Other highlights of the day included the Parade and the Disney dance show. We had prime standing positions for both and were dancing and singing along like crazy.

One thing to note is that there aren’t many characters walking around Disneyland anymore. Apart from the characters in the parade, we only saw Pluto on this own.

It was a shame as a lot of us wanted to meet our favourite characters, but none of them were out. And the Princess Pavillion and ‘Meet Mickey’ area had 2-hour waits. It was my only real bugbear, but we still filled our days with a lot of activities to make up for it.

The Illuminations

We stayed in the parc until closing to see the illuminations of Sleeping Beauty’s castle. It was a 30th Anniversary Special and very impressive.

People were irritating us by this point of the day, unfortunately. I had two children constantly kicking my back – which wasn’t great as it was really hurting after all the standing/walking that day. Everyone else was taking photos and videos and blocking people’s views. And just generally ignoring and taking up our personal space.

Thankfully the castle is quite large so you can still see most of it regardless of other people’s behaviour. And it was special.

Would I stay that late to watch it again? No. But it was enjoyable in the moment, and I didn’t record a thing so I could enjoy it for that reason.

Last day of Disneyland Paris Holiday

The following morning I was crisp. The skin on my arms and chest was red raw and so sore. I covered up and grabbed those PJ shorts; I looked a hot mess but was comfortable.

We packed up our things and headed to the Eurostar storage to drop off our bags before heading to the Walt Disney Studios.

I definitely preferred the Studios to the Disneyland Parc. I think it’s slightly more modern, more adult and there were more characters and things to see when you were walking and queuing.

Also, there way more food options than in Disneyland Parc.

We immediately went to Ratatouille as this was the ride we had all been told we had to do. The queue was massive so we bought fast passes for €18 euro each and got on straight away. It was the best ride of the holiday. I won’t spoil why, but I’ve never been on a ride like it and it was brilliant.

We also went on the Crush’s Coaster and we got fast passes again due to the queue and it was the last ride before we got the Eurostar home. It was insane. So fast and it spins, a lot of fun but bonkers.

We also saw Stitch: Live. But the English version wasn’t running that day so we had to see the French version. My french is conversational, I can just about pass without panicking now. But I barely understood what Stitch was saying; it was cute though.

Shopping

The other big part of our Disneyland Paris holiday was going shopping!

On the last day, Freyja bought me some stunning silver hoop earrings with Tinkerbell on, to match my necklace from Angelize. I also got a silly Tinkerbell toy that sits on your shoulder and a Pride at Disney keyring. There may have also been some pin badges… but these are gifts for friends and family so no spoilers.

I didn’t buy much else. A lot of the items in the store are for children, not adults. And the items for adults were €30+ euros and not worth it to me, especially as someone on a budget. The memories are priceless after all. (It’s a Disney holiday, I can be cheesy!)

We were exhausted by the time we got home that evening. And we had a 60 mins passport control queue when we got to St Pancras, which was a nightmare! Particularly as we were all desperate for the loo! Not a good combination.

Final Thoughts

Would I have another Disneyland Paris holiday? Yes, but not for a few years. I don’t quite understand why people go back every year, as there’s not much to do there? It takes a day to cover everything, but the rides themselves are much shorter than I was excepting and there’s not much else to do except go on rides and shop.

Maybe it’s COVID-related or maybe it’s from getting older, but some of that magic touch from when I visited Disneyland as a child was missing slightly. But I still had a lot of fun, especially with my friends.

The highlight was when Angelize called Mickey ‘Michael’ and it stuck. He is Michael Mouse forever more to me.

We have discussed going to Disneyland Florida for my 30th birthday though… so watch this space.

What do you think about Disneyland Paris? Would you go on a Disneyland Paris Holiday? Let me know in the comments below.

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