A lot of people dream of visiting Disneyland Paris. But this dream can come crashing down with the brutal reality of the prices! As Rumplestiltskin said in Once Upon a Time, “All magic comes at a price.” There’s no doubt that visiting Disneyland Paris can be expensive, so in this blog we’re sharing some tips to help you plan a realistic budget, and maybe save a little bit of money along the way.

Step 1: Decide your non-negotiables

To go to Disneyland Paris on a budget there needs to be some give and take. It’s simply not possible to stay at the best hotel, travel first class, eat at the poshest restaurants and enjoy days upon days in the park for a low budget! If you want the best then, sadly, you need to be prepared to pay for it.

So when you are planning your budget for your Disneyland Paris trip, the first thing you need to decide is your non-negotiables – the things that you simply aren’t ready to compromise or give way on. What that might be is going to vary by person. It might be that for you, staying in a Disney-owned hotel to be in the ‘Disney bubble’ is a must. For another, it might be a minimum of five days in the parks, regardless of where you stay. Some might want to only eat food from Disney itself and not worry about bringing in snacks or eating off-site. You know your priorities and your group best, so decide what’s going to be a must, and what might simply be a ‘nice-to-have’. This then gives you a bit of flexibility.

One thing I will talk about more later in this blog is travel as it’s one of the major costs, but it might be that it’s a de-facto non-negotiable for you because there’s literally only one way to get to Disneyland Paris from where you live! If that’s the case then get an idea of pricing so you know what you’re working with.

If you decide any non-negotiables, after that you can always create a priority list of what you’d prefer to have. So if having 5 park days is non-negotiable, your next priority might be staying onsite, or eating at certain restaurants. With a priorities list you can then look at your options, and know where you’re most willing to compromise if need be.

Step 2: Decide when to go and your accommodation

Unless you happen to live just round the corner from Disneyland Paris (in which case we’re only a little bit jealous, honest) then you’ll almost certainly need somewhere to stay – whether that be near the parks, or perhaps nearer Paris if you’re only planning to visit Disney for a day or two among a longer trip to this area of France. Accommodation is likely going to be a massive part of your budget, so it’s worth getting sorted early on.

But where you stay might also be shaped by when you go. Hotels everywhere do something called surge pricing, where the rooms cost more at busier times of year – and Disney is no exception to this. So avoiding school holidays (French and UK) and public holidays, staying away from the launches of new festivals in the parks, and yes maybe not even staying over weekends can be a way to save money. Of course if you’re restricted by having school-aged children, limited time off from work or similar then you might just need to work with what you can get!

I’ll admit that in the past we’ve always wanted to stay on-site – the magic of the Disney bubble, and the ease of getting around the site, have made it worth it to us. And thankfully Disney have made it easy to compare costs on their website with a comparison calendar – to access it on the home page (below where you’d put your dates in) you can see a small link to the price comparison calendar. Bring it up and you’ll be able to see the prices for two months at a time at a chosen hotel, and all you need to do is change a drop down to change the number of days / nights, the hotel or the number of people. The cost is based on the arrival date. Below is Disney’s Hotel New York in March / April 2025 from the Disneyland Paris UK site:

These calendars are a great way to see comparable costs, and to see that even by slightly tweaking your arrival by a day or two you might save hundreds. On this calendar you can see someone wanting to arrive on 23rd March would pay £2249 – if they arrive on 28th March that price jumps to £4022 – that’s a whopping £1773 difference!

It might be that by looking at the calendar you realise a Disney hotel is out of reach completely – which is when you’re looking offsite for accommodation. There’s a lot of hotels near Disney at a much cheaper price point, as well as Air BnB’s and the like in the area. My only suggestion with these is do your research – read reviews, read the amenities and read the small print! Sometimes what looks like a good deal on paper isn’t. But with some careful research you should hopefully find a place that looks good to you on your budget. And if you had your heart set on a Disney hotel and can’t afford it, then at least this lets you know you should take some extra time to save. Just bear in mind though that Disney can change the prices daily based on demand.

Last tip – Disney normally has a special offers tab on their website. Make sure to look at it! You might be able to snag extra nights for free, free dining or maybe free tickets for little ones!

Step 3 – Choose Transport

So you know where you’re staying, how are you going to get there? You’ll need to decide your transport, and that could be another big chunk of your Disneyland Paris budget!

Transport is a funny one because the demands of each group are going to vary – by where they live, by group size, by whether any of the group have special needs that need to be accommodated, and so on. There’s really not a one size fits all approach to this. The good news is that Disneyland Paris itself is reasonably easy to get to – it’s just outside Paris so is easily reach by public transport (particularly train – there’s a station on site!), there are airports not too far away, and of course you can drive there too.

Often, if it’s an option for people, then driving can work out the cheapest. Maybe. But when costing out any sort of transportation make sure you include costs for everything associated with that. For example if you drive make sure you factor in not only any crossings you may need along the way (such as ferries or the Eurotunnel), but also the tolls in France (and maybe at home), and the cost of fuel (be it petrol, diesel or electric). Will you need an overnight stop to break up a long drive? Look up hotel costs, and likewise how many meals etc you might need on the road. And check your car is up to French rules and up to a long drive, and if not factor in the cost of sorting that out too. Builds up doesn’t it? And driving isn’t alone in this! If flying you’ve got to factor in how and the cost of getting to and from the airport at either end. If you choose to go budget look at any luggage fees. For the train you’ve got to factor getting to and from the train stations, potentially long inter-changes, food for onboard and more.

It may be for you that you’ve only got one option – if you’re coming from Australia really flying is the only thing that’s practical! Fair enough, but then make sure you compare prices for different airlines, and what they’re offering for that price point – you’d be surprised how much it can vary!

The last thing that I’ll say about transportation is that do think about other factors than the financial cost – there’s also the stress of different types of transport and how that may impact your group. It’d probably cheaper for us to drive but we don’t do it because we know it’ll really impact my husband who’ll have to do the driving – the stress, the possible traffic, and the extra stress of unfamiliar roads just isn’t worth endangering his mental health for! This is when going back to those non-negotiables is handy – this is one for us.

Step 4 – Park tickets

Another big chunk of the budget for any Disneyland Paris trip are the park tickets. Like the hotels themselves, park tickets vary in price by day, depending on demand. The more busy Disney think the parks will be, the more the prices go up. Annoying? Yup. Good money sense for Disney? Also yup.

If you are buying a package with a hotel stay you will get your tickets included with them. (That comparison calendar we shared earlier was for hotel stay and park access combined). Usually the tickets you get included with the packages are pretty good value compared to buying them separately – although interestingly how those costs break down can vary by hotel and date, there’s not a ‘standard’ mark up for the ticket proportion of the package.

Ignoring Disney’s ‘probably need a super-computer to understand it’ package pricing structure, if you’re not staying on Disney property or booking through Disney then you’ll need to get tickets separately yourself. The big way to save money on tickets really is to either a) go at a cheaper time of year or b) go less days. Fun right? Here’s where your non-negotiables come into play again – how many park days do you think you may need? Planning how much you can fit into a park day is a fine science and very dependant on your group and their preferences, but realistically you can’t ‘do it all’ in one day, or even two. To tackle just what’s in the parks and get it done I’d say you really need at least three days, and even then might need to do some hoofing (and hope for lighter crowds). I’d say go for what you can realistically afford – we prefer a longer trip because it gives us more time for breaks, but we need to pace carefully because we’re differently-abled. A group of super-fit twenty somethings can probably keep going for longer than us and might get away with less time!

When looking at tickets, look at Disney themselves, and then maybe look at some licensed ticket sellers such as Attraction Tickets. But, buyer aware! While there are some licensed sellers where you can get a bit of a discount, there aren’t a huge number. What you can find is a huge number of dodgy tickets for sale that either don’t exist, or are partially used and being ‘resold’ even though the tickets can’t be transferred and have an expiration date (that might have passed). Never buy tickets off somewhere like eBay. And don’t wait until you’re at Disneyland Paris either because tickets ‘will be cheaper on the door’ – generally speaking they’re not for sale on the door, and even if they are they WILL NOT be cheaper. And may be sold out! For peace of mind we prefer going to Disney direct, but it’s up to you where you go and what risks you are willing to take on.

Step 5 – Plan a food budget

So you know how much it costs to stay where you want to stay, how to get there and to get into the parks. Great! Now comes the last big expense of any trip – the food. Because when you’re running around at a Disney park, you’re going to need to eat to keep your energy up!

Disney of course offer a range of food on-site. These vary from small snacks to large multi-course meals. But this food also tends to be on the expensive side. While people complain about it, it does make sense – think about any major city, tourist attraction or venue where you’re a bit of a captive audience like an airport. The food prices are always marked up aren’t they? Well Disneyland Paris is the same!

When planning a food budget there’s a few things to think about. Would you like to go to any of the table-service restaurants, or do experiences like character dining? These tend to be your most expensive food options on site. If so, look up online to make sure that you a) like the menu – no point paying to go somewhere if people in your group won’t like the food! and b) Look up the cost! This will then give you an idea of what you’ll be paying. A lot of the character meals are a fixed cost, but if that’s the case look to see if it includes things like drinks, and add costs on for those if need be (and note, no free refills in Disneyland Paris!). Actually we think it’s worth looking at menus before you go, choosing restaurants to eat at and putting together a spreadsheet of costs so you can see what food expenses you’ll be looking at. We typically cost up as if we’re buying the most expensive thing on the menu at each restaurant as this gives us some leeway in the budget, and then add on extra euros per day for snacks, drinks and the like.

So that’s how to set a food budget, but how to keep your budget as low as possible? Here are a few tips!

• If you’re interested in eating at table-service restaurants, look at the Disney meal plans: Disney offer a range of meal-plans to folks staying in their hotels. The cost of the meal plan depends on where you stay, and they can vary to just covering breakfast at the hotel, to covering breakfast and one meal, and covering breakfast and two meals. Bear in mind though that the meal-plans are priced for convenience more than money-saving – you can save money using them, but be prepared to eat and some more expensive places, and for taking time out for table service. Sometimes though Disney can offer them for free with bookings in which case grab them, they can save a lot of money! Budgeting wise though it can help you know that a massive chunk of the food budget is already spent, so you don’t need to worry about budgeting while at the parks.
• Eat quick-service: If you just want meals in the parks and aren’t fussed about a longer dining experience, eat at the quick-service restaurants. Will they be the best meals you’ve ever had? Probably not, but there are decent options that will help fill you up and that are pretty cheap in the Disney-context!
• Bring in your own food: People think this isn’t allowed but it is, you can bring your own food into the parks! Now you can’t bring in items packaged in glass, in loose ice, or alcohol, or anything that needs heating (except baby food). But you absolutely can bring in sandwiches, snacks and bottles of water if you like. As well as being a money-saver this can also be a life-saver for picky eaters! Snacks can be picked up at the supermarket at Val d’Europe if you don’t bring them with you. Do bear in mind though that you will need to be prepared to carry about the food all day so this is maybe not such a good option with back or shoulder problems! And bear in mind that Disney doesn’t officially allowing picnicking in the parks – they ask you to step out to tables next to the Disneyland Hotel. Having said that we’ve seen plenty of folks sat on benches eating their own food, my guess is that if you don’t try to eat it in a Disney restaurant or set down a blanket in the middle of Main Street and you’ll probably be okay. And make sure you pick up any rubbish!
• Drink the free water, if you can: If you are one of the folks who likes drinking water, then bringing a water bottle can save some money. You can add squash or other things to help the taste! Personally I’m not a fan of carrying a bulky water bottle all day, but it can be a way to save the pennies. And it’s important to keep hydrated!

Step 6: Do you need those extras?

Disney offer a lot of ways to plus up your trip – for a cost. But it’s really up to you to decide if they’re necessary.

These can include prime viewing spots for the parade and fireworks, the Premier Pass that allows you to skip ride queues (you can buy one that covers the entire day, or pay individually for rides), makeovers at My Royal Dream, and more.

Our take is that it depends on what you really want out of your trip. If you can’t face any ride lines and have very limited time then the Premier Pass might be worth it for you, but unless you’re going at a very busy time we’d suggest seeing how the queues are and deciding from there if you need it. Viewing slots for the parade and fireworks can be got for free, and you can get into most shows free if you arrive early enough – although if you want guaranteed entry then paying for show entry might be worth it. Of all the extras the one we hear is the most worth it is the fireworks viewing as you get a prime spot without the pushing and shoving that happens elsewhere! (Check out our other post for more information).

As for plusses such as My Royal Dream and souvenirs, check out costs and decide what you can afford! But try to set a budget if you can and stick to it, it’s amazing how quickly those costs can add up.

Hopefully with this advice you can plan your perfect Disneyland Paris trip without breaking the bank! Feel free to share your budgeting tips – they can help others too.