Disneyland Paris - Davy Crockett Ranch

Just after Pip’s 1st Birthday we had a lovely holiday in Disneyland Paris. We went with our friends and their children of similar ages; we truly had a fantastic time and were on a budget. Here’s some things that worked for us that might come in handy for you too.

Transport and travel –

We drove to Disneyland Paris from the northwest of the UK. This worked for us as it meant we had no luggage limit, we could take what we needed so long as it fitted in the car (we had a lot of baby paraphernalia). It’s a long drive about 6 hours to drive from where we live to Dover. We drove through the night so that the kids slept, as six hours in the car with them awake and bored would be no fun for anyone. We set off about midnight which got us to Dover in time for the morning ferry. Whilst on the Ferry we got the children changed out of the PJs and into their clothes for the day, had breakfast and my husband got an hour or so sleep before the next leg of the journey. The sea was quite choppy and a few of us didn’t have our sea legs, so be aware and take travel sickness medication if you need it.

When you get to France it’s a fairly straightforward drive to Disneyland Paris, from Calais to Disneyland Paris is about a 4-hour drive with stops. There are tolls on the way, which you pay for with card, it’s really easy but the passenger needs to do the tapping as it’s on the wrong side of the car for people in British cars.

It's also worth noting that if you're driving in France there are certain rules you need to follow, the best place we found to keep up to date with the rules is using this website Driving in France and Monaco | AA (theaa.com)

Accommodation –

As we were a group and had very small kiddos with us, we stayed at Disney’s Davy Crockett Ranch. It was perfect, the theming was just everything and the space is what we needed. It had 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a kitchenette with a full-sized fridge. Our kids were both still having bottles of milk at bedtime, and we didn’t think they would agree with UHT milk, which is often sold in Europe, so we took a plug in cooler full of milk for the kids and all the snacks they like. Nothing worse than a grumpy toddler that doesn’t like a change in routine, or their snack doesn’t taste the same. We decided that sticking with what they knew was the best option. This is a similar cool box to the one we used https://amzn.to/3QQU8ds

The beds were comfy, one room had a double bed with an ensuite. There was no bath in either of the bathrooms but the sink in the ensuite was huge, it was like it had been designed for bathing babies in, and this is exactly what we did. The other bedroom had 4 single beds and a travel cot in. We obviously didn’t need all of them, we pushed two of the single beds together as Izzy hadn’t got used to sleeping in a bed without a side and we didn’t want her to fall out and Pip slept in the travel cot. It also meant that if either of them were unsettled in the night we could sleep with them and still get a good nights sleep. The other two beds were used to put our open suitcases on for easy access.

Davy Crockett Ranch is well equipped for long stays with children, there was loads to do there too. It has a pool, with a waterslide and whirlpool and an outdoor park with swings, as well as many other activities suitable for older children. We took advantage of the facilities and spent a morning at the pool. As we were staying onsite and they days were long for the kids, this was really good for splitting up the days and having a (sort of) rest before a busy evening in the parks.

Davy Crockett's whilst being classed as an onsite hotel, it is actually a short drive from the parks, only 5-10 minutes in the car. That being said, you can’t stay there if you fly as there isn’t a shuttle from the hotel to the parks. If you’re flying to DLP I would advise staying at a different hotel that has use of the free shuttles.

Food –

As we were on a budget and had self-catering facilities, we made the most of what we had on offer. We didn’t book a meal plan because it would have been wasted on the kids, so we got up early and had breakfast in our cabin. Disneyland Paris also let’s you take in a small amount of food, we made up snack packs for each person, for each day. This consisted of a sandwich bag that had things in like crisps, breakfast bars, chocolate bars, pieces of fruit, raisins, sweets, things to entertain the children with in queues and for those Winnie The Pooh moments when you just need a smackrel of something. We also took refillable bottles of water (as water is free in the parks) and Robinsons Squash’d concentrated juice, to add a little flavour to the water when we needed it https://amzn.to/3P6nsLW . For lunch we complimented our snack bags with bits and bobs from the park, we got Mickey shaped Pizza to share at Bella Notte, Nugs and Fries from Hakuna Matata and other small bites (the quick service meals are quite big and easily shared. We only ate a full meal out at dinner in the evening. We also chose our restaurants wisely, to ensure that they served food the children would eat, but also ensuring that they didn’t live off nuggets and fries. We ate in places like The Rainforest Café (the kids loved this one), Vapiano's (great concept, complete faff!) and Planet Hollywood. These were all located in the Disney Village outside of the parks and we found getting a table was really easy if we went just before the end of the parade.

We also booked one character dining, we opted for breakfast at the plaza gardens. This was amazing, I have so many fond memories of this. The children’s faces said it all, my favourite is when daisy duck went in for a hug with Pippa, Pip was in a highchair, Daisy lent in and Pip has a good old yoghurty suck on Daisy beak. If you can, I would try and do at least one character dining, it’s worth the splurge, the children’s excitement was worth every penny. It’s also a great way to get those character autographs.

Day Trip to Paris –

As we had managed to get a bit of a bargain trip, we stayed for 4 nights, 5 days. This meant we had time to do a Paris day. This was super easy to do. Parking was free in the parks, so we drove into Disneyland Paris in the morning and jumped the RER into Paris. The RER station is literally in the Disney village. It cost less than £20 for return tickets for a family of 4. We then just used the metro to hop our way around the sites. We took the double pram as Pip was a baby and Izzy was only 3. This was great for hanging bags on and those tired little legs, not so great for getting through the turnstiles in the metro in Paris. There was one station, and the disabled access gate was padlocked shut with no one about to open it. I’m glad we were there with friends as ‘the husbands’ had to lift the prams over the top of the gates, needless to say we didn’t use that station again!

Whilst in Paris we stopped for a proper Parisian lunch in a café, Croque Monsieur and Onion soup, it was delicious. As we were getting back to DLP quite late, we decided to stop by a few shops and pick up a few nibbles for dinner, a boulangerie for bread, fromagerie for cheese, patisserie for some cakes, and then a minimart for meats, microwave meal for the kids and a few beers. As soon as we got in we fed the girls, and got them to bed, we then feasted on our French delights! If you have enough days in your itinerary, I recommend doing a day in Paris to see the sights, even though the kids were small, they really enjoyed the adventure and seeing the Eiffel Tower.

Parades, Characters and Fireworks –

If you’re staying onsite, you get access to the park earlier than the general public, this is possibly one of the best perks. Extra magic time is great for character meets, rather than queuing for 40 minutes plus to meet Mickey and Minnie mouse, we walked into the park at the start of the magic hours and straight into a character meet with Minnie, it’s also great for getting on those rides that always have a large queue but be sure to check before you dash to your favourite ride that it’s actually open, not all rides are open during Magic hours. In fact, whilst we were there, we never actually waited in line to meet the characters, one of the best things about Disneyland Paris (unlike other Disney parks) is the characters walk around and do random meet and greets around the parks. We stumbled upon Pinocchio and Geppetto, we saw many princesses walking around the park on their way to the princess pavilion, Winnie the Pooh and Jesse from Toy Story in the Studios Park. If you’re there with small kids the best way to get the attention of the Characters is to dress up, adults aren’t allowed to wear fancy dress, but the kids are. Izzy my eldest dressed up as Ariel and during one of the parades and the characters absolutely loved it, they all stopped dancing and came over to say hello, this was the absolute highlight of the trip, the kids felt so special, core memories were made for all of us that day.

Just before the parades ended is when we dashed into the Disney Village for dinner, time to rest, re-fuel and re-group. This gave the kids a second wind of energy to make it to the end of the day. We made sure we got a spot for the fireworks about half and hour to 40 minutes before they began to make sure the kids got a decent view. We got the kids in their PJs and wrapped up warm in their pram, with hot drinks and snacks, the nights can be quite chilly in the parks. We went during the Easter holidays, so the weather went from glorious sunshine in the day to needing hats and gloves in the night. As always, the fireworks are incredible! If your little one struggles with the noise, you might want to purchase a pair of ear defenders for them https://amzn.to/3KRgUOu . Ours were absolutely fine and actually were so snuggly in the pram they fell asleep. It’s also good to note that when the fireworks finish there is a mass exodus of the parks, and the Disney Village is extremely busy. As the kids were happily asleep, we decided to hold back and wait for the park to empty before we left, this gave us an opportunity to get those photos in front of the castle without anyone else photobombing in the background, it was really magical with the castle lit up in all its glory.

Is it worth it if the kids don’t remember it?

Absolutely! Who doesn't love Disney?

The kids adored it whilst they were there, it was an easy holiday to do that catered to all ages and the girls love looking back at the photographs we took and always ask to go back. It’s a holiday that just works for us. If we lived a little closer and the girls were a little bigger I would look into getting annual passes, so we could go more times in a year.

Right I’m off to plan the next Disney trip…