Disneyland Paris is magical. It’s wonderful. It’s joyous. But after several days traipsing round the parks, your feet might have a different opinion! Walking over 15,000 steps a day is pretty typical – on our last trip one day was over 21,000 steps, another over 25,000! So it’s important to prepare your feet to save yourself a whole lot of pain. In this blog we’re sharing out top tips and tricks.

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Start walking in advance

You wouldn’t run a marathon without training, would you? And you shouldn’t tackle Disneyland Paris without training either!

We’re not recommending you go and spend hours in the gym (unless you want to, in which case, kudos to you I guess). But what we do recommend that in the few months before your trip you walk a bit every day, trying to increase distance. And get other folks in your group to do it too! This will give a lot more stamina, and hopefully prevent some moaning.

Get good footwear…

While you might be obsessing over your cute Disney-bound, the piece of clothing that’s the most important for your trip are your shoes! These should be supportive and well-broken in. This isn’t the time to rock your brand new trainers, and certainly not a pair of heels.

With your favourite shoes try to wear them for some long days in advance of your trip. That way you have an idea of where they may potentially rub, and can have blister plasters on standby. And if you need them, make sure you use orthotics in your shoes too!

I see a lot of posts online about what brands people recommend, but honestly you know your feet best and what they’re likely to get on with. One thing to think about though is whether you might want some waterproof shoes as a rainy day can mean damp shoes and a miserable day. If you are not taking waterproof shoes then if possible pack a back-up pair, just in case your main set need time to dry out!

.. .And good socks!

Your shoes might be great, but what about your socks? In the winter they’ll need to be very warm, but in the summer they should also be well-padded, and good at wicking away sweat. Hiking and sports socks can work really well.

If you can, do a test run of your socks before a trip too! Take it from sad experience, there’s nothing more annoying on a park day that a sock that keeps slipping down and then bunching to create sore spots, or leaving you with cold ankles.

If the weather is supposed to be wet during your trip you may want to take spare socks with you into the parks. While Disneyland Paris doesn’t (at present) have any water rides, a deep puddle can still soak your feet! And soggy socks is a one way ticket to blister-ville. If you would like a recommendation, I’ve found Dr Scholl’s socks good – and they’re diabetic friendly too! You can buy them on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/4jT8Qfu and there’s a men style too: https://amzn.to/446txQn

Make time to sit down

This is an important one. When you’re at Disneyland Paris, take time to sit down and rest your feet for a bit! And no, 2 minutes on Dumbo doesn’t count.

What could count though is one of the long indoor shows such as Mickey and the Magician or Rhythm of the Pridelands. A break to sit down and eat a meal is also great – quick service is fine, but table service might be better for a decent break! And buffets are a bit less than ideal for this because while you have a seat in a restaurant, you do need to keep getting up to get food.

Even a snack and a perch on a bench to people watch for a while is better than nothing! If you have a longer stay you might want to have a day off from going to the parks to allow some rest, or you might want to consider popping back to the resort for a rest in the middle of long park days if it’s practical.

Pack those blister plasters

Even with all the training, best shoes and sensible socks, a blister could strike. We’ve found a pack of blister plasters an essential to take around the parks. If you start feeling a hot spot developing on your feet, pop a plaster on before it gets any worse.

Make sure others in your group know to say when they are getting a sore spot on their feet too, and with little ones you might want to inspect their feet now and then. They might overlook a hot spot in all the excitement!

You can get multi-packs of the Compeed blister plasters on Amazon, which we recommend: https://amzn.to/3YPtSTQ

Treat your feet in the evenings

By the end of the park day, your feet are going to be sore as heck. So the evening is a perfect day to give them a treat.

A lot of people swear by magnesium (aka Epsom) salt baths to give their feet a soak in the evenings. It’s a great idea but might not be possible if you struggle to get in and out a bath, or are in a room without one, and you don’t have your own basin to hand. Instead we recommend Magnesium Salt rubs and creams. They’re pretty common in the USA, not so much in the UK but we’ve been able to order some from Amazon. Rub this into your feet morning and evening and it’ll help them feel rejuvenated. This is the one we’ve found really helpful, although it’s not the cheapest: https://amzn.to/3RCt0hB

If you are really prone to foot pain you might also want to consider rubbing in a pain relieving gel (as long as it’s safe for you to do so of course – please read the leaflet to ensure it’s suitable if it’s not something you’ve used before!). Deep Relief is good because it contains both anti-inflammatory and levomenthol: https://amzn.to/4jmYZ1v

Some folks also really recommend foot masks at the end of your trip – these are a bit like face masks but for your feet! We’ve never tried them so let us know if you have. We have heard good things thought about the Dr Scholl Foot Masks: https://amzn.to/4cNqKxE

Also make sure you do things like keeping your toe nails trimmed and callouses sanded down to help prevent soreness.

Listen to your body!

I said earlier that little ones might not notice a foot problem due to excitement but lets be real, it can happen to anybody! So make sure you listen to your body, and don’t push yourself too far. An extra sit down is better than debilitating foot pain – and makes for a far more magical trip.