Paris_ City Guide (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Lonely Planet [283]
One-day admission fees at Disneyland Resort Paris ( 01 60 30 60 60 53; www.disneylandparis.com; adult/3-11yr €46/38; Disneyland Park 10am-8pm Mon-Fri early May–mid-Jun & Sep-Mar, 9am-11pm early Jul-Aug; Walt Disney Studios Park 9am-6pm late Jun–early Sep, 10am-6pm Mon-Fri & 9am-6pm Sat & Sun early Sep–late Jun) include unlimited access to all rides and activities in either Disneyland Park or Walt Disney Studios Park. Those who opt for the latter can enter Disneyland Park three hours before it closes. Multiple-day passes are also available: a one-day Passe-Partout (adult/child €56/48) allows entry to both parks for a day and its multiday equivalents (two days €103/84, three days €128/105) allow you to enter and leave both parks as often as you like over nonconsecutive days used within one year. Some shows and activities such as breakfast, lunch or dinner with the Disney characters (from €22/15 per adult/child) cost extra. Admission fees change season to season and a multitude of special offers and accommodation/transport packages are always available.
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TRANSPORT: DISNEYLAND RESORT PARIS
Distance from Paris 32km
Direction East
Travel time 35 to 40 minutes by RER train
Car Route A4 from Porte de Bercy, direction Metz-Nancy, exit No 14
RER train Line A4 to Marne-la-Vallée/Chessy, Disneyland’s RER station, from central Paris (€7.50, adult/3 to 11 years €47/39 incl park admission). Trains run every 15 minutes or so, with the last train back to Paris just after midnight.
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Anyone who abhors long queues, go elsewhere: queues here are hideous and can make it hard going for those with younger children in tow. Buy your tickets at tourist offices or train stations in Paris beforehand to avoid at least one queue (for tickets); once in, reserve your slot on the busiest rides using FastPass, the park’s ride reservation system (limited to one reservation at a time).
Disneyland comprises three areas plus a golf course: Disney Village, with its hotels, shops, restaurants and clubs; Disneyland Park, with its five theme parks; and Walt Disney Studios Park, which brings film, animation and TV production to life, most recently in the walking, talking, life-sized shape of alien puppy Stitch and the dimly lit rollercoaster ride, Crush’s Coaster. Fans of the film Cars will love the Cars Race Rally. RER and TGV train stations separate the first two, and the studios neighbour Disneyland Park. Moving walkways whisk visitors to the sights from the far-flung car park.
Disneyland Park’s pays (lands) include Main Street USA, a spotless avenue just inside the main entrance reminiscent of Norman Rockwell’s idealised small-town America c 1900; Frontierland, a re-creation of the ‘rugged, untamed American West’ with the legendary Big Thunder Mountain ride (minimum height 1.02m); and Adventureland, which evokes the Arabian Nights, the wilds of Africa and other exotic lands portrayed in Disney films, including that of the Pirates of the Caribbean; the spiralling 360-degrees rollercoaster, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril, is the biggie here (minimum height 1.40m). Pinocchio, Snow White and other fairy-tale characters come to life in Fantasyland, while Discoveryland is the spot for high-tech attractions and massive-queue rides like Space Mountain: Mission 2 (minimum height 1.32m), Star Tours and the Toy Story 2–inspired Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast, apparently still the hottest thing since sliced bread.
Before hot-footing it to Disney, devote a good hour on its website planning your day – which rides, shows, characters etc you really want to see.
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EATING & SLEEPING
No picnics allowed at Disneyland Paris! But there are ample themed restaurants to pick from, be it Buzz Lightyear’s Pizza Planet (Discoveryland), Planet Hollywood or the Happy Days–inspired Annette’s Diner (Disney Village), the meaty Silver Spur Steakhouse or