The Disneyland park is full of classic attractions, shows, character meets, restaurants and it all depends on what you want to enjoy. On most visits we split our time with roughly a day in each park with perhaps a little more weighted towards the Disneyland park. This is usually sufficient to do most of what we want each time. However if you really want to do everything, enjoy some nice meals, take your time and enjoy the detail you could spend up to 3 days here.

Park tickets can just be bought directly through the Disneyland Paris website, and you can buy single day tickets or multi-day tickets for single or both parks. Generally for 1 day in 1 park you’re looking at around £350 for a family of 4 with prices increasing for more parks and days. You can save a little by booking a hotel and ticket package if you want to stay on site at a Disney hotel.

Disneyland operates a Premier Access system enabling you to skip the queue, much like the ones in their other parks. You can purchase single pass for individual rides which we’ve done on occasion. Or you can buy Premier Access Ultimate to cover all participating rides for the day. This is very handy (but pricey) but if you have enough time and you’re smart you can get by without it by rope dropping the major attractions etc.

Early entry is granted to anyone staying at a Disney resort - a very handy perk. This gets you into the parks 30-60 minutes before everyone else. That’s not a lot but means you can be almost first in line for a headline attraction (or maybe two) and save a load of queuing time.

You enter the park underneath the beautiful Disneyland Hotel, and then the Disneyland Railroad Main Street Station - a wonderful way to enter each morning. The centre of the main street square has a gazebo where you’ll sometimes find characters to meet, and there is a great photo op with Sleeping Beauty’s castle at the other end of main street. On your left is City Hall if you need any assistance, bathrooms and a store, and also a character meet spot. On the other side of the square is stroller rental and a few more shops. From the square you can take a horse drawn streetcar down main street, you can walk down main street itself, or you can walk down the arcades which run down the back of the stores, undercover, and are a great option if the weather is bad.

Down main street itself you’ve got all your usual shops, the emporium, a candy shop, coffee shop, ice cream parlour, bakery and several other shops, so you can find most things you could possibly want down here. You’ve also got some other dining options – Casey’s Corner (which we’ve tried on a past trip and weren’t that impressed), Victoria’s home-style restaurant and Plaza Gardens restaurant. This is where you’ll find one of the character meals in the park. We’ve done this before several times and love it here. We particularly like the breakfast buffet with Pinocchio, Gepetto, Captain Hook and Smee and this is definitely worth trying out if you want to meet some characters.

Just outside of here is a lovely garden area and fountain, just off the main hub, and nearby you’ll find the champagne cart, where you can enjoy a glass of champagne. On the opposite side near Casey’s is a little hidden pathway undercover which is a nice shortcut to Frontierland so keep a lookout for this.

Into the central plaza, this is the spot for your classic castle photos and there are currently cool character and film statues dotted around for you to take in. This is the best spot to come back later in the evening for the nightly fireworks and drone show – don’t miss this - we’ve not seen anything like this at any of the other Disney parks, so make sure to stay up and take this one in during your trip.

Inside the castle itself there are a couple of attractions to enjoy. In the main entrance you’ve got a great Christmas shop on the right hand side. Upstairs is the Galerie de la Belle au Bois Dormant which is a lovely walkthrough of the story of Sleeping Beauty. Underneath the castle – look for the entrance down to the left, is La Taniere du Dragon, where you can visit the dragons lair under the castle. This is a cool little addition but be warned it can be scary for little ones.

Fantasyland, like all Disney parks, is a wonderful area aimed at younger kids or the young at heart.

This area is packed with attractions including; the Carousel (le Carrousel de Lancelot), Mad Hatter’s Teacups, It’s a Small World, Snow White & the Seven Dwarves (Blanche-Neige et les Sept Nains) , Railroad Station, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Les Voyages de Pinocchio, Casey Jr. le Petit Train de Cirque, Peter Pan’s Flight, Le Pays des Contes de Fees (i.e. Storybook Land Canal Boats) and Alice’s Curious Labyrinth. All of these are smaller rides for the younger audience.

In terms of dining, there are several options such as Au Chalet de la Marionnette and various snack stands. However the standout option is Auberge de Cendrillon, a princess character meal which we’ve done several times with the kids. It is pricey but the food is great and you usually meet around 3 princesses plus some of the mice from Cinderella. If you’ve got young kids who love the princesses this is a must do.

Fantasyland is also a great spot for meeting characters be it the Queen of Hearts, Winnie the Pooh, Alice or the Mad Hatter. You can also stop by the Princess Pavillion where you can meet your favourite princesses if you haven’t splashed out on the meal at Auberge de Cendrillon.

Adventureland is home to a couple of headline attractions - including one of the main original rides, Jungle Cruise. A fun cheesy boat ride through the jungle, this is a must do. The second is the Indiana Jones Adventure - the same ride system as Dinosaur in Animal Kingdom, but with a fun Indiana Jones theme, this was one of our favourite rides when we visited.

Otherwise the land is pretty small with just the Adventureland Treehouse and the Enchanted Tiki Room show to note. Bengal Barbeque and Tropical Hideaway are your dining options, including the obligatory Dole Whip.

Another original land, Tomorrowland is a fun area with a couple of major attractions. The main one being Space Mountain which in our opinion is one of the best versions of the ride - a fun speed through space - in this version you sit side-by-side with a lapbar, so not as intense as Paris, and smoother than Orlando.

Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters is another fun attraction where you blast targets to beat each other’s scores - identical to the versions in the other parks around the World. Star Tours, Astro Orbiter and Autopia are three similar additions for the whole family, but the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage is the most interesting here, unique to this park - a family dark ride simulating a submarine ride. Tomorrowland also has a Railroad station, and a Monorail station - a unique way to get around.

For characters don’t miss the Star Wars Launch Bay where you can find all your favorite Star Wars heroes and villains.

There’s a couple of dining options here - the best being Alien Pizza Planet - a big quick-service restaurant that’s very handy down in this corner of the park.

Continuing out the other side of Adventureland you emerge into New Orleans Square, usually quite a busy area of the park due to this corner being home to some major attractions and brilliant restaurants.

The area itself is themed around New Orleans and is a very pretty area with shops and restaurants tucked away in the corner. The first major attraction is Pirates of the Caribbean - another Disney classic now themed around the hit movie franchise which was based originally off of this ride. This is always very popular so ride it early. The second is the Haunted Mansion, a fun family friendly ride through a haunted house. Other than this there is a Railroad station here, but you’ll stay for the food.

First you’ve got the Blue Bayou restaurant overlooking the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. This one is popular so make sure to get a reservation. Then there’s Cafe Orleans - serving more Cajun and Creole cuisine and which also offers a Fantasmic dining package including access to a reserved viewing area. Tiana’s Palace is a great quick service option and then rounding it all off is the Mint Julep Bar.

Continuing the Louisiana theme, Bayou Country is themed as you’d expect around the Louisiana Bayou. This is a mini land right on the far side of the park but remains popular due to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure (previously Splash Mountain) - a massive fun log-flume ride.

The second attraction here is the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh - a fun family dark ride like the version in Orlando. Finally you can also go out on the Davy Crockett Explorer Canoe’s from the landing by the water.

For food, you’ve got the Harbour Galley on the way into the land, or the Hungry Bear Barbeque Jamboree.

Themed around the old west, this fun land has two headliners here - Big Thunder Mountain and River Belle Terrace.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (one of our favourite rides) is a fast race around on a old mini cart and is tonnes of fun. Again, it’s very popular so it’s one to prioritise. As far as attractions go that’s pretty much it other than the Mark Twain Riverboat and the Shootin’ Exposition

In terms of dining though the River Belle Terrace is one to note mainly because it has an outdoor terrace overlooking the Fantasmic evening show which takes place down on the water. Book the premium package to be able to enjoy a meal and the show right from your own table - see our vlog below where we enjoyed this on our last visit. This show is not to be missed. You also book a standard dining package either here or at the Rancho del Zocalo for access to a reserved viewing area instead. The Golden Horseshoe is another dining option but doesn’t offer a dining package.

The newest area of the park, the Star Wars themed land is designed to be the outpost of Batuu and the theming here really is next level. You do honestly feel like you’ve entered the Star Wars universe.

There are two headline attractions here - the first is Rise of Resistance, one of the most popular attractions in the park, so queues can be long here. It is a fantastic multi-experience attraction though so worth the wait.

The second is Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run. Also a great ride and also pretty popular, this is fairly similar to Star Tours in that it’s basically a simulator. The only difference being this is next level as you ‘fly’ the Millennium Falcon yourselves as a team and can interact to carry out your assigned tasks.

There are loads of little character interactions/shows which happen throughout the day and you can often see Storm Troopers wandering around, or sometimes the Mandalorian, Rey or Kylo Ren.

For dining, Ronto Roasters is the main option. Oga’s Cantina is very popular and the theming in this bar is amazing, but it’s very hard to get in and so feels very crammed and busy. Still the themed drinks are amazing. Finally don’t miss the Milk Stand , where you can get the popular Blue and Green Milk.