As anyone who has seen our YouTube channel, social media posts and even images on this blog have probably noticed, my husband and I are both folks of a larger size. (Or ‘Pooh sized’ as it’s lovingly known among Disney adults). Now I’ve always been someone who supports people to be whatever shape and size they are and to be proud of that – so to all the curvy and proud folks out there, we salute you! However, in our cases the extra weight was exacerbating health conditions, so for the sake of our health we’ve been trying to lose weight. And we’re doing this with the help of Mounjaro, the weight-loss medication. Our most recent trip was our first time visiting Disneyland Paris while on the medication – and let me tell you, it was a learning curve!

Of course there are more weight-loss medications out there than Mounjaro, but given the popularity of the latter medicine we thought we’d share some of the things we learnt while on our trip that might be helpful for other folk’s planning. We think it could be helpful for anyone on a form of weight-loss medication though, or even those with sensitive digestive systems or who are watching their weight. So read on to discover our top tips!

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Managing sharps and keeping medication cold at Disneyland Paris

The first thing you will have to encounter when planning to visit Disneyland Paris on Mounjaro or other weight-loss medication that requires injections (or any other medication that involves sharps, such as Insulin) is how to travel with the medicine and dispose of the sharps needed. Mounjaro also requires to be kept cold (ideally in a fridge), so that’s something else to consider on your trip.

Regarding travelling with sharps, if you are going through any form of security or bag check on your journey to Disneyland Paris (which is likely to be the case regardless of where you’re travelling from), then get a letter from your doctor confirming that you have the sharps for medical purposes. You can usually request this from your GP’s reception here in the UK. There may be a charge for the letter as it counts as a private service, I think ours was around £25 to get, but that may vary by doctor’s practice. If you have the medication on prescription I’d take a copy of your repeat prescription too, just in case. (If you are buying the medication privately you may be able to get a copy of the prescription from the provider, or inform your GP and still ask for a letter).

You also need to think about keeping your medication cold when you’re travelling. We had a Frio wallet which we found very effective for keeping our medication cold – you can see an example on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/445Ei55. All you need to do is submerge the pouch in cold water for five minutes or so before putting the medication in, and it then keeps it cold for around 2 days!

When you arrive at Disneyland Paris you have a few options for keeping your medication cold. Some of the Disneyland Paris hotels have fridges but not all – notably you’re more likely to find them in Club level rooms in the more expensive hotels. If your room has a fridge then great, pop your medication in there. If not (like us while staying at Hotel Cheyenne) then you have a few options. If you travelled with a Frio wallet then you can just keep your medication in that – just make sure to resubmerge it in cold water every few days (the packets will have the exact instructions) and it’ll keep everything keeping nice and cold. You can also store items in fridges at reception – they have a special fridge just for keeping things like guest medication. If you do this make sure you medication is clearly labelled – I’d pop it in something like a ziploc bag and then write your name, room number and check-in and check-out dates on it clearly. I have also heard of people storing medication in ice from the ice-machines in the hotels – I’ve not tried it but I’d imagine it’d be hard to keep a stable temperature for the medicine, but it’s worked for you in the past then maybe try it!

You then have the sharps themselves to deal with. We kept new sharps with the safety lid on inside the same pouch as the medicine itself to keep it all together. With used sharps you have a few options. It’s worth noting that Disneyland Paris hotels, and the standard toilets / restrooms around the parks, do not have sharps disposal bins in them. If at a resort you could ask reception for a sharps bin. You can also dispose of needles at the first aid locations in each of the two parks. Or you could get a portable sharps bin like this one: https://amzn.to/462ImVd. We did that, popped the needles in there and sealed it, and then disposed of them properly once we were home. I’d go with what you’re most comfortable with.

Two final things to note – weight-loss medications tend to be injected once a week, and most Disneyland Paris trips tend to last less than that. So you may be able to change your injection day to not worry about transporting the medication at all! We decided not to do that simply because we wanted to stick to our routine, and the travelling to London and back before and after our trip meant that not having the medication at all might be tricky. Also, this is probably stating the obvious but if you’re flying, make sure you keep the medication with you in your hand luggage!

Skip the Meals plans… Probably

One of the most-used add-ons for a Disneyland Paris package are their meal plans (for more detail on package add-ons check out our blog post on the subject!). When staying at a Disney hotel you’ll have three options of meal plans – breakfast only, half-board (breakfast and either lunch or dinner) or full-board (breakfast and both lunch and dinner). If you use them wisely, they can be both convenient and a cost-saver. But we’re not sure they’re worth it if you’re on weight-loss medication!

For the breakfast only meal plan, the breakfast it includes is an all-you-can-eat buffet at your Disney resort. Then the other meals cover either one buffet, or a prix-fixe menu at one of the other table services (so typically a starter, main and dessert). Whichever plan you go for, the up-shot of it all is a lot of food! To get your money’s worth out of the breakfast buffets you really need to go hungry and load up, and for the other meals if you’re on appetite suppressants then chances are you’re not going to want to eat a full buffet, or a three course meal. The result? A lot of wasted food, and on your part a lot of wasted money too! Because you could probably save a lot by just paying out of pocket for what you actually want to eat. Now sure you can use your lunch or dinner credits at quick-service meals instead which is less food – but by doing so even once you’ve essentially lost money by getting the meal plan!

So our advice would be to not bother will the meal plans… probably. And we’re saying probably for one reason only – it’ll depend on the people you’re travelling with! If you know you’re travelling with a lot of big eaters who will be taking full advantage of the meal plan, then it may still be worth booking it for your party and accepting the fact you’ll be getting less value out of it. Because unfortunately you can only book meal plans for everyone on the same reservation, or not at all. If you are going for a meal plan for your group then maybe go for the half-board as opposed to full-board, because chances are the two meals included will be more than enough food for you!

Steer clear of buffets (mostly!)

I touched on buffets in the point above, but thought it worth highlighting. Buffets are priced for people to come hungry and fill up in a big way. And if you’re on weight-loss medication that’s not something you’ll probably be able to do!

As such we’d steer clear of buffets. We did try the buffet at the Chuckwagon Cafe on our last trip, mainly to cover it for our content. It’s a very home-town barbecue vibe in there, and the food’s decent enough. But we both felt we just couldn’t do justice to it – despite having been awake that day for around 18 hours by the time we hit the restaurant and having had an early lunch too, we just couldn’t eat enough to make it worth the price point for us!

Like the meal-plan point above though, there’s a caveat to this. If you have folks in your party who are big eaters, or who desperately want to eat there, it may still be worth going to a buffet for that, with the acceptance you’ll just eat less. Buffets may also be worth going to if it’s a character buffet – in these situations the characters are far more of a draw than the food! And we’ll say this for buffets – at least you can pick the type of food that may work best for you. A lot of people on Mounjaro stick to high protein diets, and a buffet does offer the chance to load up on just the proteins if that’s what you want.

Don’t be afraid to go a la carte

In both the quick-service and table-service restaurants at Disneyland Paris, the most advertised options are going to be the combo or prix-fixed meals. For the quick services this combo is typically a main, side and drink; and at table-service restaurants the prix-fixe menu is usually a starter, main and dessert. And again, these meals can be a lot of food!

But what a lot of people don’t realise is that in many places you can order items a la carte. So you can opt to get just a main like a burger without the fries at the quick-service restaurants, or just an entree at some table-service restaurants. This can be a great way to just get the food you want, and also to save some money too!

A side note though – some of the table-service restaurants only serve prix fixe menus, so check the menus before you go! Examples of prix-fixe only restaurants include Remy’s in Walt Disney Studios Park, Walt’s: An American Diner in Disneyland Park, and the Secret Forest in the Disneyland Hotel.

Sharing is caring!

At the quick-service restaurants in Disneyland Paris there’s no problem in sharing a meal. And of course snacks around the resort can be shared too! This can be a great option for those watching their weight or with smaller appetites.

Two quick-service meals that we thought are great for sharing include the Sheriff’s platter out of Cowboy Cookout Barbecue, and the Fish and Chips at Toad Hall (our portion here was huge – the picture on the menu outside depicts a smaller portion though so we’re not sure if we got the standard portion size or just had extra food for some reason!). But we also shared things like the Croque Monsieur at Market House Deli. Sharing has great advantages – partly because it helps save food wastage, but it also saves a lot of money! It also means you can try more things by having a smaller portion each time.

Just to say with the table-service restaurants, if it’s a buffet or a prix-fixe meal each individual will be expected to pay the cost, regardless of how much or how little you eat. So sharing probably isn’t an option here. (I’ve heard a couple of people get away with sharing in a prix-fixe meal but it seems to be in in the minority so don’t bank on it). Also, whether you are allowed to share entrees in an a la carte table service will be down to your server. You can ask of course, but if they’re not able to accomodate your request please accept it gracefully. After all, the server doesn’t make the rules!

Research menus and snacks in advance, and prioritise

Disneyland Paris is a snackers paradise – and potentially a dieters nightmare! Of course when at Disney you are expending a lot of calories, and on holiday, so I don’t suggest or expect anyone to stick religiously to a weight-loss diet (unless you really want to in which case, kudos to you!). But when on weight-loss medication we found it better to go in forewarned, and I spent some time researching menus to decide where we were going to eat this trip, and researching the snacks to prioritise which ones we wanted to try!

This wasn’t easy – especially with the Music Festival and a whole range of new treats to try as a result (see our previous blog for more information on the Music Festival). And a couple of times we did end up with a spontaneous snack because we fancied it, like trying the Apple Strudel at Pinnochio’s restaurant during a mid-afternoon break. Deciding what to have for breakfasts was a bit of a struggle due to the lack of options but we discovered the muffins and croissants at the Cable Car Bake Shop were a great start to the day! But by having a plan in advance we were able to stick mostly to our plans of what to eat, and were able to resist the temptations of trying other things along the way too. And like with the point above, we found that sharing snacks was a good option!

Bear in mind savoury snacks aren’t that easy to come by…

Given that Mounjaro was originally prescribed for diabetes control, it’s not surprising that many people on the medication want to avoid the sweet stuff. And some other folks on the medication have found they have just gone off sweet things anyway! This has happened to Ken, and while I still have my sweet tooth I’m less inclined to eat super-sweet things than I was before.

This leaves a problem with savoury snacking in the parks. There really aren’t that many options – and the options they do have tend to be quite large and could really be more of a meal than a snack. This includes the Doritos at the Overtrail Cafe, the turkey legs at the Last Chance Cafe, and the Croque McQueen at the Laugh ‘n’ Go truck.

So if you’re a savoury person, bear in mind you’ll likely be doing most of your eating as part of meals or in the restaurants. And again, this is when sharing might be a great option!

A quick savoury recommendation from us – if you go to Lounge Lightspeed you get a choice of biscuits with your drink, salty or sweet. The salty are actually very tasty cheese biscuits at a great snack size! However given that you can only get them with an extremely expensive mocktail or fizzy drink I’m not sure we can recommend them to everyone. But if you’re trying out Lounge Lightspeed, give them a try. (The sweet option is a shortbread type biscuit – again tasty but pretty pricey!)

Plan for drinks as well as food…

Some folks on Mounjaro or who are losing weight prefer to avoid fizzy drinks – partly because they’re admittedly not the healthiest, but also because the fizz and bubbles can really upset the stomach if you’re not careful!

When it comes to drinks options around the parks, if you’re looking at cold soft drinks in many cases your options are fizzy drinks or water. Now as a confirmed fizzy drink monster myself I didn’t mind this, but again Ken struggled with this and he’s been moving away from fizz. His option left was water – but he’s not fond of plain water!

If this is you too, we’d strongly recommend planning in advance by bringing something you can add to your water. Some people like the squeezy squashes from the likes of Robinsons like this: https://amzn.to/3I0UXOy. Ken however much prefers taking sachets of powders to help flavour drinks – there’s more options, and they’re lighter and easier to pack and carry round the parks than the squash minis. His recommendation is Bolero, who offer dozens of flavours and which are sugar and caffiene free. You can by a selection of their items on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4llBHti. (His favourite flavours in case you’re wondering are Almond, Coconut, Pina Colada and Vanilla!).

Look after your digestive system

Taking medication like Mounjaro can impact your digestive system. But when you’re at Disneyland Paris you’re more likely to be eating unfamiliar food at unfamiliar times, let alone exhausted and stressed, and all that combined can really do a number on your body. Nothing can bring a trip screeching to a halt like a bad stomach, so prepare to support your system so that you keep feeling your best on your trip!

One thing that Ken has found essential is taking a good probiotic, and that’s particularly so when you’re on holiday. He really recommends this one from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3G1BCw9 and it’s well-recommended by a lot of folks taking Mounjaro too. It’s handy because it contains prebiotics as well as probiotics, and doesn’t need refridgeration or anything. If you find that taking the weight-loss medication also makes you more prone to things like nausea, heartburn or acid-reflux, we’d also recommend a peppermint oil capsule like these: https://amzn.to/3I1d1bo.

Changes in diet like you might encounter when at Disneyland Paris can also disrupt the routine of your digestive system too, so to help to keep things regular you might want to consider something like the Fybogel Chews – https://amzn.to/4lsXm2W (while travelling we find the chews much easier to manage than the sachets you need to add to water). And if despite all your best efforts you end up with an upset stomach then we and a lot of other people who use Mounjaro swear by Pepto Bismol, you can get a handy travel-sized bottle here: https://amzn.to/4kXd1rr.

A note about anything we’ve mentioned in this section – these work well for us, but you know you and your body best, so obviously get what works for you, and if you have any allergies or other medical conditions please check that a product is suitable before getting it. Also it’s worth remembering that due to French law on the sale of medicines you’re not going to be able to buy anything like this on site at Disneyland Paris. While you could go to Val d’Europe nearby to the pharmacy, for us it’s worth the piece of mind to have with you!

So there’s our top tips and ideas for visiting Disneyland Paris while on Mounjaro or other weight-loss medication. While being on the medicine gives you more to consider, with a bit of planning it doesn’t have to stop you having a fun and delicious trip to the parks! Do you have any tips to share? Please do so in the comments, and subscribe to our blog for more Disneyland Paris tips! (You can subscribe in the box at the top of the page).