After spending most of our first day during our trip to Disneyland Paris in the Studios, we moved to Disneyland Park itself. After a wonderful experience in Disneyland Studios, we were wondering what else Disney had in store for us!
Disneyland Park is the main attraction where you’ll find the majority of rides and attractions. Upon entering Disneyland, turn right and this will lead you straight to the entrance to the park.
Exploring Disneyland Park
The park is split into various attractions or sections: Main Street USA, Discoveryland, Fantasyland, Adventureland and Frontierland.
Main Street USA
Main Street USA is located at the entrance to the park and thus the first attraction you will encounter. I wish we had spent much more time here as there was so much to see and do. The entrance to this attraction is simply stunning and incredibly overwhelming as you enter the park.
Here you’ll find City Hall (where you can collect your Priority Pass if you require one).
As you continue down Main Street USA, you’ll find a multitude of shops selling all sorts of Disney goodies.
Discovery Land
As you approach the castle, you can choose which path to take to explore a different part of the park. We began with the path to the right, which took us to Discovery Land. Here we enjoyed the Buzz Light Year Lazer Quest ride, which was perfect for me as someone who hates fast-moving rides! This was a great one for all the family.
There are also some more fast-paced rides here, such as Orbitron (the Flying Machines). I wouldn’t recommend this ride, if, like me, you’re afraid of heights. I was petrified!
Some of the main rides and attractions are located here too, such as Space Mountain: Mission 2 and Star Tours.
We had lunch in Cafe Hyperion. This was a fabulous restaurant. Not only was the food great, but the venue was simply breathtaking. It was a great place to relax and watch some old Disney cartoons!
After stumbling across Donald and Daisy Duck, we made our way to Fantasyland.
Fantasyland
Fantasyland was perhaps our favourite part of the park. To me, it was everything I had imagined Disneyland to be! This is the part of the park where the Princesses hang out! We particularly enjoyed the rides here. The Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride is iconic and a must-ride!
We all loved Alice’s Curious Labyrinth. It does involve quite a bit of walking, so not great for those with limited mobility. Around every corner, there was surprise after surprise!
We also enjoyed Pinocchio’s Travels and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves rides.
The Lancelot Musical Ride was extremely popular but we were so glad we waited for this merry-go-round ride! The Land of Fairytales was a lovely gentle boat ride that took us on a storytime adventure!
We spent the most amount of time in Fantasyland, perhaps half a day. But we could have spent so much more time here. The shops were simply stunning and there were so many incredible rides and attractions.
We enjoyed dinner at Pizzeria Bella Notte. This was a Lady and The Tramp-style restaurant. We all had a delicious pizza here. The service was quick and there were plenty of seats.
The Castle
The most iconic of all Disneyland’s attractions is the castle. You’ll see the castle as soon as you enter the castle but it is located in Fantasyland.
I was pleasantly surprised to learn we could enter the castle. The theme is Sleeping Beauty. It is a wonderful attraction.
Take your time to get the perfect photo outside the iconic castle, it is always filled with tourists trying to get the perfect snap! We snapped a few shots each time we passed the castle to try and get as many different poses as possible.
Adventureland
Working anti-clockwise, we move on to the next location – Adventureland.
I was particularly excited to visit this location as I love Pirates of the Caribbean and all things pirate! Unfortunately, we didn’t have the time to go on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, but we did have a lot of fun exploring Skull Rock and Ben Gunn’s cave.
There was plenty to do in this area and plenty of spaces for the children to explore and play!
We heard Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril is a rather fast and scary ride, so we gave this one a miss, but you’ll find it in Adventureland and it does attract a lot of visitors, so expect to queue!
Frontierland
We left Frontierland until last! This was another area of the park we wished we could have spent more time in.
We could hear the screams from Big Thunder Mountain. This is must must-ride for thrill seekers!
One of my favourite rides of the entire trip was Phantom Manor. This is another iconic ride. Tucked away in the corner of Frontierland, it is worth the trip! This is a haunted house-style ride which was full of thrills but ideal for those with younger children and those who don’t enjoy the faster rides.
The perfect way to relax is by taking a ride on the Thunder Mesa Riverboat. You can board the steamboat in Frontierland and enjoy a sail Old West style!
A great way to see the whole park is via the Disneyland Railroad. This train ride will take you past many of the park’s main attractions. We really enjoyed the train ride and would love to do this again!
How Much Time Would I Spend in the Park?
So, if I could, I would honestly spend a week in Disneyland Park! In reality, 3 or 4 days is probably enough. We spent 3 days in the park and just about managed to get around the entire park. But it is massive! We didn’t get on every ride nor did we see every attraction. If you do want to go on as many rides as possible, you will probably need 4 or 5 days in the park! The queues are massive and you can expect to wait in line for the shows too.
If you’d like to read about the Disney Parade and Fireworks display, look out for my next post!
