Disney Disney Disney. We are big Disney fans in our house and this year went to Florida for some Disney fun (blog posts coming soon) . A Disneyland Paris trip was not part of the travel plans (nor indeed the budget). However, Miss 10 got an offer too good to miss to go to Disneyland Paris to perform with her musical theatre group in the Let’s sing Christmas show. Of course, we couldn’t let her go all that way without her support team! So a pre Christmas, celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary and Mr nearly 5’s birthday trip was planned.
Having had a good Disney fix this year we were quite relaxed about this one, just booking a couple of meals in advance but nothing like the scheduling of the summer in Florida. We booked on the same flights as the performers from Belfast International Airport, and headed to Charles De Gaulle in Paris. My timing is always impeccable (as you will probably see over time), so we arrived in the weekend of the ‘gilets jaunes’ protests (it’s a theme – ask me about my Argentinian protests experiences sometime!) Thankfully we managed to hop on the last train to Disneyland Paris without any issues (and apparently without paying accidentally) and we arrived. Miss 6 had been a bit unsure up to this point, I’m not sure what she was expecting, but as we arrived, she squealed with delight and shouted ‘oh it’s not a fake Disney, it’s actually really big!’. Sorted, adventure on.
We stayed in the New York Hotel while Miss 10 hung out with her performer buddies in Santa Fe. Mr nearly 5 got ever so confused, had he been brought to New York like his sister a couple of months earlier. Geography lesson complete, we settled in our room on the top floor with a great view, after a late night visit to the Rainforest Cafe of course. The New York Hotel is getting a little tired, an exciting update is planned, in a Marvel themed way that will be open in 2020. Anyway for us, it was grand as we say in Ireland. We got a super deal for our not planned or budgeted trip. A little hint for booking- with the help of rusty GCSE French and Google translate I booked through the French website and saved a few hundred euros!
This was our 3rd trip to Disneyland Paris. The first when Miss 10 was a little 2 and our first Disney experience with kids. It was magical and wonderful. Then we celebrated little man’s first birthday there four years ago (how tiny are they all in the pictures below!). I thought after our Florida adventures this Summer we were past Disneyland Paris, but I was wrong. We had a super wonderful weekend.
Our highlight was of course seeing the fabulous ‘Let’s Sing Christmas’ Choir. They did 4 performances over the Saturday and Sunday to a full house in the Videopolis in Discoveryland. Seeing your daughter, singing her wee heart out on stage, with Mickey, Minne and Pluto, sure it would draw tears from a stone. They did a fabulously great job – check them out.
We were the loud over enthusiastic support club! The performers enjoyed a workshop on the Saturday morning, their 4 performances, then got time to hit the Parks which they did hard! I’ve never seen as tired a bunch of kids at the airport on Sunday night.
Minus Miss 10, who was showing us glimpses of the future with her ditching us to hang out with her friends, the wee ones and us set off to explore. We caught the Christmas parades. Miss 6, ever the adrenaline junkie enjoyed Big Thunder Mountain, and there was high completive battles with Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast. Peter Pan’s ride over London was a hit once again, and of course It’s a Small World after all, now all sing together…….. We had a lovely dinner in Cafe Mickey before enjoying the fabulous Disney Illuminations Show. Mr nearly 5 and I had front row viewing, while Miss 6 hung out under the Christmas tree for her preferred slot. We celebrated our 12th Wedding Anniversary in style by hanging around until park closing to try and get some good nighttime shots!
Sunday, after singing along twice more to ‘Let’s Sing Christmas’, we enjoyed A Very Merry Stitchmas then headed to Walt Disney Studios. We enjoyed Crush’s rollercoaster, although Mr nearly 5 remembered that he wasn’t a fan of fast rides, he preferred Cars Race Ralley, an explore around Toy Story land, and Ratatouille. We ended the day with a lovely dinner in Chez Remy which was a first for us. Most of our dining experiences we did 4 years previously when we had Christmas Brunch at Inventions, the Princess Lunch at Auberge de Cendrillon and Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show yee ha.
A few Christmas decoration and soft toy purchases later. We headed to meet up with the performers and start the journey home. The big one got her Hyperspace Mountain and Tower of Terror hits, lived on sugar and little sleep, and thought it was the best weekend ever. 
A wonderful anniversary weekend to end our adventuring of 2018!
The details:
Easyjet flights – Belfast to CDG Paris
2 nights in Disneyland Paris New York Hotel (booked via the French site for some serious savings)
TGV Train from CDG to Marne La Vallée–Chessy (only a 10 min ride, we hitched a lift back with the performers via bus on Sunday night and it took over an hour!)
= Magical Disney memories with lots of proud Mum moments to end 2018!
Wow. Awesome post. Thank You sharing it.