Its finally here!! DISNEYLAND PARIS 2025. A highly anticipated trip. We have been in our group chat for WEEKS talking about all the exciting things we were going to be doing.
Travel Day – 6th September
Troy packed our cases into the car and off we went to get Kirst and Leni. We picked them up, added their cases to the car and set off for Birmingham Airport.
We arrived at the drop off zone, unloaded the car, said our goodbyes and started the first part of our trip. We had gotten a message from Air France to say our flight was full and we needed to check in our hand luggage for free. The week before we had bought and additional checked luggage (only booked travelling with hand luggage) as we didn’t know how much merch we would end up buying. So headed straight for the check in desk. The Air France Rep was lovely, she checked all our bags in and printed out our boarding passes.
We got in the lift to head to security. Which was relatively quick and easy. Leni made us all laugh by standing like a star fish in the scanner. Rubi’s case and bag got flagged to be checked. This was because of her deodorant and camera. Mine got flagged because of thew DJI gimble we had planned to use to Vlog the trip.
We headed off to the departure lounge, smelled all the samples of perfume, maybe had a spritz then went through to go and get food. We had originally discussed Weatherspoon’s as our breakfast, but once we had got in there, there were no tables, and it would have taken a little while for our food to come out. We decided on Burger King. Their breakfast was tasty, and the drinks were also refillable. I grabbed a Starbucks as I needed caffeine. We found a little table to sit at after taking a quick toilet break and mandatory selfie and waited for our gate to be announced.
We were at Gate 43, the same gate me and Kirst had been at for last year’s trip. This was Leni’s first ever time on a plane. It was only Rubi’s second. She was so excited to be going to Disney. We all had been given stickers from her. I had a rainbow and Stitch. We got to board the plane sooner as we had a child. We got on at the back and were in our seats in no time. Our flight was relatively quick (54 mins) We hit a few small patches of turbulence that lasted less than 30 seconds and landed in CDG to beautiful sunshine. Something we had not really planned for….
Security at CDG was reasonably quick. We knew we were going to get the train to our first destination. We bought our tickets via one of there machines and went to wait. We had just over an hour until our train arrived. The announcement board and ticket stated we would be on platform 5. We walked out to the outside waiting area and Kirst mentioned we were on platform 4 last time. I thought the same. As the time for our departure got closer, I noticed it wasn’t being announced on the platforms screen, so went to check the internal screen. The platform had changed to 4… I asked a member of staff which platform my ticket was for, and he said this one, you need to go down there now. I shouted for Kirst and the girls to come quickly (with all 5 cases) and we made our way down to the right platform (I’m glad I checked). It was busy… we had 5 cases… The train pulled in and people rushed the doors to get on. Kirst and Leni managed to squeeze but me and Rubi (and the cases) didn’t. One of the train conductors said we could go down to the next carriage and get on there. I called Kirst to let her know what was going on and to get off at the next stop and we’d meet her on the platform.
We arrived at Marne-la-Vallee train station and made our way up the stairs to get the next train to Val d’Europe, where we were staying for one night. Kirst managed to get the train tickets for the 1 stop to Val d’Europe. We got on our train and took the 3-minute ride to our next stop. We had paid for an apartment for 1 night via booking.com and I messaged the owner to let him know we were just getting the RER A to the area. We met him out the front of the hotel, which was directly in front of the train station exit, and he took us through to his apartment. He was really lovely and explained everything even what was going on throughout the area. The apartment was really nice. It had a bedroom that had a double bed and then a lounge/kitchen that had 2 sofa beds and a really nice shower room and toilet. He had left some waters in the fridge for us. The kitchen had a cooker and induction hob, sink, dishwasher, washing machine and fridge-freezer. It had a small balcony that had an amazing view.
We quickly got changed and headed over to the shopping centre for some food. Rubi wanted to go to Bershka and Pull & Bear, Kirst wanted to go to Undiz and Primark. We all needed to find some shorts for the weather. Me and Rubi had both packed 1 pair of shorts, but Kirst and Leni had none. We headed to Bershka first and Rubi managed to find the jorts she wanted. She also found and awesome Lightening McQueen top. We headed to Primark as we thought this would be the best place to get shorts…boy were we wrong. Every store we went to had no summer clothes. We were all starving, so headed to McDonalds. We ordered via the machine and went to wait in the que while Rubi and Leni found a seat. We waited what seemed like an eternity for our food. We had little ranch wraps that were delicious. We continued our search for shorts, H&M had nothing, JD had nothing, French Sports Direct had nothing… we were just about to give up hope, when we decided to go to Auschen. This is one of our favourite snack stores to go to in France.
We went in and realised the store sold CLOTHES… we managed to get Leni, Kirst and me some shorts!! We had looked at the weather all of the week before and it said it would be about 23/24c so had packed light clothing… not the 30c we had. We walked round and got snacks as Leni wanted a snack party. We headed back to our apartment and settled in for the night.
We all had showers and got ourselves ready for bed. Kirst and Leni had the double bed and me and Rubi opted for the sofas. They were really comfy. We had our snacks and headed to bed. Me and Rubi decided it would probably be more comfortable to open the sofa beds out. We all went to sleep and set our alarms for 6:30am the next morning ready for our first full day at Disneyland Paris.
We left the apartment at about 8am and got the train to Disney. We got to the bus station and took the shuttle bus to Santa Fe. We waited in the que in reception. Got to the front, gave them my booking information and the staff member reminded me we had got a gift card, courtesy of booking with attraction tickets, and went to go get it. She handed me the gift card, and I could see surname wasn’t quite right and the amount wasn’t right. Good job I’m honest… they had given me someone else’s gift card with a similar surname for a bigger amount. I was handed my gift card and some information on the hotel… but hold one… where are our magic passes? I asked the staff member, who informed me they were no longer handing out physical passes and we had to use our mobile app ☹… We had a 6-year-old who doesn’t have a phone, we were told to go to city hall…even though the person before us had been given one and the family before that had too. Oh well, we’re in Disney. We went over and put our luggage in their complimentary luggage hold and headed off for the main park. We decided to walk as it was only 15 minutes. It was so nice, and we got to see the village. The new shops are so nice.
The que to get in was a little bit big, but we managed to get through in a few minutes. Rubi had taken her camera with her and said to Kirst she would run ahead when we first walked into the park to capture Leni’s first time seeing the castle and it did not disappoint. The photos were amazing, and Leni was in awe of the castle!
We completed our tradition of riding Phantom Manor as our first ride. She looked simply stunning in the sunshine. It was a 5-minute wait… and we were in the little room. The cast member was hilarious (see video) and before we knew it, we were stepping into the seat. Leni opted to ride with Kirst. We tried the gimble out and managed to get a really good video of the whole ride. We then went over to Thunder Mesa to have a little look around. The pin selection was good, I got a new Maleficent/Aurora pin and Rubi got a Tiana one.
Pirates of the Caribbean was only 15 minutes, “Yo Ho Yo Ho a pirate’s life for me”. I love this ride! Leni thought it was fun too! As we were stepping out of the ride, my shoe got caught and pull my ankle! It really hurt, I nearly fell (running joke for thew whole trip was when will I trip over!)I’m clumsy, but we all tripped this trip) I couldn’t really walk after that, but I carried on (I’m in Disney). We laughed at our photo and walked across to fantasy land. It was relatively busy as it was a Sunday. Nothing too bad though. We headed back towards Main Street and decided we were going to try and watch the parade… It was heaving. No space whatsoever for any of us. I decided I wanted ice cream so went and got 3 scoops and a drink. I had chocolate, Vanilla and Popcorn and shared it with Rubi. We moved round the back by the old passport annual, to try and get a better view of the parade. It was so busy, but we managed to see. Rubi got some amazing photos.
We were hungry at this point so went over to our first meal of the trip; Hakuna Matata’s. Their Chicken strips and curve fries are delectable. I crave the veggie dip that comes with it. Rubi went and found a table for us to eat. We ordered and used our magic passes to pay. Once were finished, we went over towards the castle in hopes of getting to see the dragon underneath, but it was too busy. We found a little gap on the way out and managed to get some cute photos with a beautiful blue sky behind the castle. Leni wanted to go into the Alice’s Curious Labyrinth and Climb the castle, so that’s what we did. It was a lot of fun. They went all the way to the top.
We headed back to main street for the shops. Emporium is such a good place to find all the little things you want. Minnies Marching band parade was on while we were in the shop, and we saw and heard a little bit of it. Rubi FINALLY got her sorcerers hat that she has wanted since our 2018 trip! I got Troy his UP! Lanyard and my Rapunzel one! We had a message to say our room was ready and decided it was a good point to head back. We headed to the bus station and jumped on the shuttle bus.
We were it Tow Mater section, right by the bridge to Cheyenne! This was a win as it meant we could get either bus back or walk and be close to our room. We were on the 3rd floor. Our room was clean and fresh when we walked in. Me and Rubi flopped on the bed. I took my shoes off at this point and realised how swollen my left foot was… whoops! I ran some cold water in the bath and just sat on the edge with my feet in. Rubi joined me and then Leni decided she wanted in too!
We stayed in our room until it was time to go for food. Our first evening meal was at Cheyenne’s Chuck Wagon. We got there a little early so we could go and have a little look round the shop. The hotel shops sometimes have merch that is specific to that hotel. Like pins.
We were all starving! We got our table and ran straight to the buffet. Chuck wagons is loosely based on BBQ food. Ribs, wings, jacket potato’s a wok station, steaks. It’s delicious. I have added a video of the whole buffet to our YouTube channel. The had an outdoor BBQ on the go too! I had 3 plates of food and a plate of pudding. I have to be careful eating the puddings as they tend to contain nuts that I can’t have. There was a delicious banana caramel mousse pudding that has walnuts and salivate every time but can’t have it. Rubi tried it (doesn’t have a known allergy to nuts) and her tongue started stinging. I gave her some antihistamine just to be safe.
We got the bus back to the park and caught the end of the Final music festival parade. It was amazing (not quite 30th anniversary parade iykyk) I said to everyone that Big Thunder Mountain was only 20 minutes, so we ran through the arcades, through the secret passage and straight into the que for BTM. Ready to ride in the dark!!! Leni decided she wanted to go on with Rubi. It was absolutely AMAZING! If it’s, one thing you have to do while you are there its ride BTM in the dark! The Castle was all lit up, it looked beautiful. Leni didn’t like the ride at all and the photo that followed was hilarious. We asked Leni what she would like to do to make up for traumatising her and she said TEACUPS! I think I got my favourite photo of the trip on this. It so pretty at night! She loved it! Although, its bit of a squeeze getting 3 adults and child in those tiny cups. The park was about to get ready to close, so we headed towards mains street when the heavens opened up and we got soaked. We got back to our room and had a shower, ready to get up early the next day for extra magic hour. My ankle was hurting quite bad at this point. I took some strong pain killers and fell asleep.
6;30am wake up… ready for 7am breakfast…. Breakfast tatos!! Me and Kirst crave these so bad! Don’t know why, they are literally just sliced fried potatoes. We had what we wanted and got the shuttle. The que for Studios (soon to be world premier) wasn’t too bad. We waited about 20 mins before we were let in and went straight to Crushes Coaster! We were determined to get on it this time!! 25 minutes later and we were on! Leni went on with Kirst for this and I’m glad she did! I forget how rapid this ride is! She did so well! Kirst absolutely loved it! Rubi and Kirst decided before the trip that they wanted to go on Tower of Terror, I flatly refused! So, me and Leni decided we would go on another ride while they went on that. Studios only has 3 rides open for extra Magic hour: Crush, ToT and Avengers Flight force. As there was nothing we could go on, we walked around and took some cute photos. We could see ToT and hear the screams. Leni asked if it was Mommy and Rubi, I just laughed.
We went over to Slinky Dog and waited for it to open. We were the first people on, and Leni loved it! We tried to find Rubi and Kirst and found them in the ToT shop. Rubi had been visibly crying! Kirst said she was absolutely hilarious and was really glad she was there to witness their first time together! Rubi said, “First time, wasn’t what I was expecting, I feel bad for the poor man that was sat next to me as he probably wasn’t expecting me to deafen him and fall into him” She screamed before the ride even started, it hadn’t even moved, and Kirst said she was shouting “NO! STOP! NO!” the pre-show cast member freaked her out and she cuddled into Kirst and told her to go away! Kirst said it was quite possibly the funniest thing she has ever seen.
Avengers flight force was only a 5-minute wait, Kirst isn’t a fan of this, so just me and Rubi went on it! I love this ride! Leni wanted a bubble machine, so ended up with a Disney camera one! Leni wanted to go on the CARS quattro ride after we had finished, and she just wanted to go on with Rubi. We then went on Ratatouille and got to sit in Emil. While it is no longer 3D, it still has the 4D effects. We decided to head over to the main park after this and took a quick detour into the Disneyland Hotel, so we could look at the shop. It is such a stunning hotel. We all got to sit on the throne!
We decided on Bella Notte for our meal. I had the rigatoni, and Rubi had the Mickey Pepperoni Pizza. It was so good! We ate it all! The garlic bread!! As we were leaving, Rubi noticed that there was a character meet with a small que, it was MAX! He looked so cute! We were in the que for about 10 minutes. He stole Leni’s popcorn and gave everyone a hug while we posed for photos. As we headed towards the storybook boat ride (something I’ve never been on) we passed all the food carts and even though had just eaten, Rubi got chocolate covered strawberries. It was a 20-minute wait for the boat ride, it wasn’t too bad of a wait. We got to the front and Kirst made us all laugh by saying “one of you better help me out of this when we get back, I’m not falling in the water” you enter the boat on a rotating platform. It’s a cute little ride, not worth more than a 10-minute wait though as we were only on about 2 minutes at most. We were then forced on to It’s a small world! I detest this ride! The little dolls creep me out! But, as it was Leni’s first time, we were obliged to go on it! I was thankful for the sit down as my ankle was really hurting at this point. Leni then wanted to go on the Carousel with Rubi, so me and Kirst snuck off for a little treat. We had the cookie and shortbread shaped mickey, and they were delicious.
Kirst wanted to go into the castle shops. So, me and Leni went up the castle and looked round the top of the castle. I told her all about Maleficent and how she is obviously the best villain. We even managed to get onto the outside of the castle. We met Kirst and Rubi at the bottom and went a bought the viral friendship bracelets that had been all over TikTok. Me and Kirst had Mickey heads and Rubi had a castle. We got some awesome photos in front of the castle and then headed over to Phantom Manor as it was a 13-minute wait. Kirst wanted to go into Thunder Mesa, so me and Leni waited outside, and she played with her bubble machine. Watching her was magical!
We made the decision to watch the parade before we headed back for our meal at La Cantina. It was 40 minutes until the parade started, and main street was looking a bit busy, but we managed to secure a front row seat right outside the emporium. So, we sat and got comfy ready for the parade. Again, thankful for the rest as my ankle really hurt. I genuinely do not understand some people! One woman pushed Rubi and told her to move and then another woman with her grown up daughter tried pushing in front of Leni! A 6-year-old! I think not! Me, Rubi and Kirst are queens of pettiness! So, we made sure Leni was protected! Ensuring neither of them could move forward. While that was happening, another women was trying to push her child through the non-existent gap between me and Kirst 2 minutes before the parade started, after we had been waiting for 40 minutes with other parents and families. Her child was then constantly standing in the main street path and had to be told by cast members to stand on the curb. Now I know that seems like I am being hypocritical, however, me and Kirst were literally shoulder to shoulder, and the other family were shoulder to shoulder, there was nowhere for this child to squeeze, and I had hold of Leni and Rubi. The girl stood behind Leni kept stepping on her and Rubi! It was awful! We watched Stars on Parade and followed the end of it to exit the park (again video on our YouTube channel). I tried walking fast for the bus and my leg kept going numb.
We got to La Cantina a little bit late. But our reservation was fine. Until the door wasn’t open and there was no one in the restaurant…. I must have been in an alternate dimension as when the staff member walked us down… it was busy! We got shown to our table and headed straight up to the buffet. Now, I always record the buffet for social media as I like to see food before I got places to make sure I can eat. I was recording, walking round, when one of the chefs said “bonsoir madame, you are supposed to eat the food, not record it and you look like you enjoy food” laughed and walked into the kitchen, leaving the other chef looking horrified. I was humiliated and retorted with “well he seems like he’s a bit of a dickhead” the chef laughed and I walked off. I have never, ever been so upset! I am a larger person (something I am trying to fix) but there was no need for it! The food was slightly disappointing as they didn’t have a few things we’d had on previous trips! The white chocolate mousse ☹. After our food, we went back to our room and started packing. We wanted to go and look round the other hotel shops. We walked to them as it was quicker than waiting for the bus. The sky was really pretty, and it was a nice walk. We went to Newport Bay first. As we were walking towards it, Kirst and Rubi were reliving the ToT AND Leni was off skipping ahead, Kirst said for her to wait a little bit as she gone a bit far and ask Kirst told her to stop she turned and nearly walked into a man causing her to jump back theatrically (think cartoon character) the man laughed and we all burst out laughing so much so, we nearly wet ourselves! We went to the boutique, and I got Troy a cute Mushu pin. Leni got her Anna doll. We then went to Sequioa and got a few little bits from there before walking back to our hotel. As we were walking back, the drone show started in the main park, and we could see all of it! It was amazing.
We got back to our hotel and carried on packing our cases. I was exhausted and my foot really hurt. I took strong painkillers again and fell asleep. At about half 12 me and Kirst were woken by screaming… Rubi was having a nightmare (probably reliving Tower of Terror) and we had to calm her down. It was TERRIFYING. I thought we were under attack or something. She calmed back down and went back to sleep. Only to continue to sleep talk most of the night.
We woke up late… understandably… which then had a knock-on effect to for breakfast. We went straight over to the luggage hold and left our luggage before heading over for breakfast. I have NEVER seen a que like it! It was back up by reception. Took us 25 minutes to get to the front and seated. We ate quickly in hopes to get to the main park before extra magic hour finished. We just about caught the end of it. We saw Mickey and Minnie at the beginning of the park. We saw Hyperspace was only a 10-minute wait and ran! Or tried to walk fast! My ankle was so bad, but we got there in time! Me and Rubi got on in 5 minutes. We met Kirst and Leni and headed for Pinocchio. Leni said this was her favourite ride. We did Phantom manor, Pirates and the teacups one more time before going to Bella Notte for our last meal. We went shopping and I managed to get Layton his Emille shoulder pal and Ellia a Dale one, Before going back to the hotel to get our luggage and get on the Magic shuttle to CDG. We had our Magic shuttle booked for 2:25pm As this would get us to the airport for 3:25pm 2 hours before our flight. We got to bus station, waiting for the Santa Fe bus… except it didn’t turn up! We waited and waited and decided it was best to get the Cheyenne bus back and walk…. Except we couldn’t walk we had to run because we only had 20 minutes to get our luggage before the shuttle arrived! Rubi sprung into action… literally…before the bus had fully opened its doors, she started sprinting towards Santa Fe’s luggage hold to retrieve our cases. Kirst was trying to run with Leni, and I was semi hobbling behind. I told them to leave me! I couldn’t walk fast as my ankle kept going numb making it hard to walk.
We managed to get sorted and had 15 minutes before our shuttle. I needed a coffee so headed to the onsite Starbucks for a fix. I ordered and paid and as the barista was just starting my order…. Power cut! Sake! The staff members were lovely, they offered to refund or make me another drink, I decided on the lime refresher, which they made large and gave me a free blueberry doughnut for my troubles. The also wrote a really CUTE message on my cup. Kirst and Rubi decided to go to the toilet in the hotel… They both said that the toilets were completely trashed and had excrement all on the wall.
We got on our magic shuttle and started our journey to the airport. We got stuck in traffic as there were strikes all across France. No biggy… but it was the start of the biggy. We get to CDG terminal 2E and head towards the departure gate. We get in the lift to take us to 2nd floor… the lift breaks… We print our boarding passes on their digital machines, and it doesn’t print our checked luggage tag… we go to the desk… our hand luggage gets weighed… we don’t know how to get to departures… we get put in the primary que… with only 2 people doing passport control…. It takes ages. We then go through to get in line for security… there is 1 conveyor open with 2 staff members for the whole of terminal 2E?? ARE YOU KIDDING ME! We waited nearly 40 minutes… I have a notification that our flight is boarding soon… EXCUSE ME! The staff member was not bothered by it and said we had loads of time! I’m starting to panic a bit… They open up another conveyor and have more staff appear! Great! Kirst and Leni go first… Kirst’s pulled to the side for a check… her cases gets pulled to the side for a check… the departures board is flashing that we are boarding!!!! Oh crap! We try to politely ask if they can check her case as our plane is boarding… its 7 cases back. We get told to “wait our turn” I nearly screamed! Finally, her case is checked… we don’t even know why! I grab Leni’s hand RUN to our gate! I have 1 case Rubi has 3 cases, Kirst has hers. We run down the stairs and frantically find our gate… where everyone is still waiting to get on the bus to take us to the plane! ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME! We got on the bus, and it took us to our plane.
We landed back in England just before 6pm, Troy come and collected us, and we went home.
To summarise, it was a magical experience for Leni. We had a really great time, But the merch was terrible. There is no individuality, it’s all the same, in every shop. Other than the hotel shops. There is no availability for it! The food isn’t as good as it was at the hotel buffets, you’re paying more for less choice which is devastating as I love the variety! The hotel wasn’t in the best condition but again, its only a 2 * which is budget. You get what you pay for! I can’t wait for the new Frozen Land to open, it looked amazing.
It turned out that the almost fall off the ride left a small fracture on my ankle… and I continued to walk 76,000 more steps after it! That’s some commitment right there.
We aren’t planning to go now until November 2026 for Troy’s 30th Birthday and we are staying the DISNEYLAND HOTEL! I cannot wait for that trip!