When planning a trip to Disneyland Paris you’ll hear a lot of people tell you what you must do. But we think it’s equally important to go knowing what you shouldn’t do when planning your trip. By avoiding these potential pitfalls, you are more likely to have a perfect Disneyland Paris day!

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1) Leave it too late to buy park tickets

When it comes to tickets, a lot of people seem to approach Disneyland Paris like you might approach a local zoo or funfair, and think that they will be able to rock up and buy tickets on the day. But this isn’t necessarily the case!

Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic, Disneyland Paris have requested that everyone buys tickets for the parks in advance, only having very limited ticket types available to buy on the day. This helps them plan for the amount of crowds that are expected in the parks.

It’s also worth noting that at peak times – so around French bank holidays, the peak of summer, Christmas and New Year, the two theme parks can reach capacity. And if you didn’t buy a ticket in advance, then you won’t be able to get into the parks at all!

So our advice – book your tickets as soon as possible! Then you know there’s no chance of missing out on your Disneyland Paris trip.

Click here to book your tickets via the Disneyland Paris website

2) Miss key booking numbers, dates and deadlines

There are a lot of important dates and numbers to remember when booking your Disneyland Paris trip. When do you need to pay off your trip by? How much do you need to pay up front? And what about booking dining?

Sadly I’ve seen a lot online people who have missed out on their much hoped for dining reservations because they didn’t realise dining bookings had opened, or missing last trip payments. That’s why I wrote a blog setting out all the key dates and figures you need to know when planning your Disneyland Paris trip – find it here.

3) Think you can do it all in one day

I see it online a lot. People in Disneyland Paris groups saying ‘it’s a one day park’ or asking ‘can I do everything in one day?’. Short answer? No. No you can’t.

Look at it this way – Disneyland Paris encompasses 2 theme parks, a shopping district, and 6 onsite hotels (7 if you include Davy Crockett Ranch a short drive away). Between the two parks there are over 50 attractions. And that doesn’t include the character meetings, or night time shows and parades. There are also over 65 restaurants or bars. So realistically, you’re not packing that into one day.

But does that mean you can’t have a great day trip to Disneyland Paris? Not at all! But you do need to proritise. Ask everyone in your group to select the top couple of attractions they must do, and then focus on getting those priorities done. Everything else you do then is a bonus! You’re going to have a far more successful day trying to focus on what you really must do, than running yourself ragged in a futile attempt to ‘do it all’. If you want some help to prioritise, check out our previous blog where we recommend priority rides at the parks, depending what your interests are.

If you are really determined to try and pack as many attractions as possible into your park day you could purchase Premier Access. Essentially Premier Access is a skip the line service. You can either buy it for individual rides as needed, or buy the Ultimate Pass for a complete day of skipping as many ride lines as you can! It’s a good way to pack a lot in, but note – it is an expensive option, and there are still some rides not on Premier Access that can rack up some longer rates, especially at busy times.

Click here to learn more about Premier Access and to purchase via the Disneyland Paris website.

4) Fail to plan!

This is kind of a follow on point from the one above. But apart from thinking they’ll do it all in a day, another big mistake some people make for Disneyland Paris is to fail to plan at all!

Now we’re not saying you should plan your Disneyland Paris trip like a military campaign, with a minute by minute break down of what you’ll be doing when. Not only are there likely to be variables that will mess up your plans like ride closures, but this also leads to lack of spontaneity – and frustration when things don’t follow what you planned!

But we do think you should have a rough plan of your trip. When do you want to arrive at the parks each day? What attractions do you want to head to first? What food or drinks do you want to try, and what’s going to work for your group? Do you have folks who are differently-abled whose needs you need to factor in, or are there likely to be attractions that your little one will balk at, or if they ride put them off all the rides afterwards?

So we recommend a rough road map of your trip – what parks on what days, what priorities, what foods. Also try to figure out when you’ll want to watch things like the evening fireworks, or the parades, as planning around these will be needed to make sure you don’t miss them! And also be realisitic – if you’re keeping the entire family up past 11pm to watch Tales of Magic, are they really going to want to be up at the crack of dawn the next day to rope drop Crush’s Coaster? From my experience, almost certainly not!

As with all plans, we do recommend some flexibility. Things might happen to derail your day, so be prepared to pivot to a new plan if need be. But going in with an idea of what’s happening each day may help prevent that common sight in any Disney theme park, a large group stopped (usually blocking a walkway) while they argue about ‘what we’re doing now’. And it can help you know what reservations you might want to make in advance, if any.

5) Assume you can buy everything you need at Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Paris has a lot of shops, selling a wide range of Disney merch. But when it comes to some more practical items, you might struggle to find them onsite!

We’ve mentioned this before but it bears saying again because I still see people getting caught out regularly – you can’t buy any medicines onsite at Disneyland Paris. This is down to French law, which states that all medicines (even ones like simple paracetamol) can only be sold at a pharmacy. And the nearest pharmacy to Disneyland Paris is at the Val d’Europe shopping centre, a short train or car drive away. Heading here is great if you were planning to do some shopping at Val d’Europe anyway, but not so good if you end up having to take a chunk out of a Disney day to head to the shops and back. There goes that plan we recommended in the last point!

Medicines aside, there’s also only a limited supply of other sundries you can get onsite at Disneyland Paris, and what there is tends to be very expensive. The same for snacks. So our advice? Take what you need, or what you even think you might need, with you – that way you’re prepared for whatever your trip throws at you! For advice on what we recommend you can see our what to pack for Disneyland Paris blog, but below are some tips and links to top items we recommend you take with you to Disneyland Paris.

• Painkillers – either paracetamol, ibruprofen, or whatever painkillers you know works best for you
• Anti-inflammatory gel like Deep Relief
• Calpol or similar if you have little ones
• Antacids or other stomach medicine
• Blister plasters for sore feet
• Lip balms and Chap sticks
• Mobile phone portable charger and a charging hub for your hotel room
• Flavouring for water

Of course if you know you have a kiddo with a must have snack, or other specific medication that you need for some reason, make sure you have those too! It’s better to be over-prepared and have things you don’t need with you, than to be under-prepared leading to your Disney day being disrupted unnecessarily!

6) Underestimate the amount of walking on a theme park day

Compared to, say, Walt Disney World, the Disneyland Paris site is relatively compact. And as it stands, the Walt Disney Studios Park is the smallest Disney theme park in the world! (That may well change as it expands and transitions to Disney Adventure World). So you may be forgiven for thinking that these parks don’t take a lot of walking to navigate. But think this at your peril!

It’s not unusual to top 20,000 steps on a Disneyland Paris day. This could be from toing and froing in the parks to make reservation times, or to take advantage of shorter waits. It could be walking to and from the onsite hotels – there are shuttles to all of them apart from the Disneyland Hotel, but the shuttles tend to get overwhelmed at peak times and walking is often quicker. But this will add quite a few steps! It might be hopping between the two parks – being directly next door to one another it’s very easy to walk from one theme park to another, and back again. And it could even be just walking and standing in ride queues. Disney have mastered the art of fitting a lot of queue into not a lot of space, and the amount of doubling back and forth can add up!

Our top tips for preparing your feet are to build up to some extra walking in advance so the extra amount of steps are less of a shock to the system! We also recommend good, thick socks, and well-broken in comfortable shoes. And we recommend being prepared with blister plasters and pain-relieving gels – see our previous point.

For more details check out our previous blog on preparing your feet for Disneyland Paris.

7) Try to bring something into the parks that you shouldn’t

It’s tempting to go bag and baggage into a Disney park, with everything you may think you could possibly need. But be careful with that bag packing! There’s some things that you are not allowed to have in a Disney park – and if you are found with them you may have them confiscated, or be asked to leave the park.

Some of these items are pretty obvious – like guns, fireworks and other weapons. But others might catch some folks unaware. The big one that seems to fall into this category are selfie sticks – Disney even have warning signs at the Disney Express desk to say they’re not allowed in the parks, probably a sign of the number of people who have been caught out by this! Another one that might catch folks unawares could be large-scale picnic supplies, like coolers. (You can bring some food in, but a full picnic set up is a no!). Food or drinks in glass containers are a flat no. And portable seating also isn’t allowed (and I’ve seen a lot of people recommending them for the parks!)

The reason behind most of these rules is safety – Disney have a lot of people they need to keep safe in their parks, and of course they want to keep the attractions running smoothly. You can imagine the nightmare a broken glass bottle might be in the parks, or someone whipping out their selfie stick on Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril, coming scarily close to the track.

We actually did a previous blog on what items you are not allowed to bring into the Disneyland Paris parks, so check that out for more information – we also make recommendations for what you can bring instead!

8) Ignoring your needs if you’re differently-abled

Planning a Disneyland Paris trip can be daunting for anyone. Mix being differently-abled into the mix and it can be down right intimidating! I know because I’ve been there. And it’s easy to try to push through your needs if your differently-abled, or to plan to wing it, because you don’t want to let your group down. But ignoring your needs in the short-term could lead to long-term disaster!

I get it, the adrenalin of a Disney day can keep you pushing through a lot. But your body makes note of what you’re doing and likes to send you the receipt – typically either later in the day, or later in your trip. And if you’ve ignored your needs up to now, then this pay back could come at the cost of derailing the rest of your holiday.

So my tip, don’t plan to ignore your needs if you’re differently-abled, plan to accomodate them. Wear the joint supports. Take the meds. Bring in the fidget toys. Factor in breaks. Check out restaurant menus to see what you’ll actually be able to eat in advance. If you go in prepared then you’ll have a far better time and a more successful trip! And the good news is that Disneyland Paris also offers a lot of support for our differently-abled friends – you can see a full break down in our blog here.

On the point of joint supports, I highly recommend Bearhug supports for good support and comfort, something that can be hard to come by! Click the banner below to visit their website:

And if you don’t believe me about the importance of making adaptations to your needs if you’re differently-abled, below is a recent short I shared on what I do to get through a Disneyland Paris day!

9) Disrespecting cast members and other guests

When we hear people complain about a Disneyland Paris day, often that complaint is focussed around the behaviour of other guests. Sadly some people seem to think that because they paid money to be there, then the entire park needs to revolve around them and their needs. As a result they’re rude and thoughtless to other guests, and rude and aggressive to the cast members too.

I hope this goes without saying to anyone reading this, but just in case here’s a reminder. The world does not revolve around you. Disneyland Paris does not revolve around you. There are other guests who have paid just as much as you to be there, and who are also trying to have a great day. And the cast members are there to help and support you, and make sure the park runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible. Disrespecting others is frankly unacceptable.

Sadly you see a lot of examples of this in the park. People yelling at cast members because some slight thing has happened to upset their park day is quite common, or being aggressive towards them because the ride / snack / shop they wanted isn’t available at that second for some reason. Or guests hoping that by being aggressive they’ll get privileges they’re not actually entitled to, like access to the Premier Access queues or show viewing areas reserved for differently-abled guests. And chances are, that cast member you’re yelling at isn’t the one responsible for a ride being down, or something being sold out. They’re just the poor soul who had the misfortune to have to face guests and explain it. The cast members work hard and have a lot to deal with – and someone being aggressive or mistreating them isn’t going to help improve their day, or yours. And fun fact, if you genuinely need help with something the cast members are more likely to want to help you if you’re nice to them!

I also hear a lot of stories, and have seen examples myself, of guests disrespecting other guests. Pushing and shoving people who have staked out spots for the parade or night-time shows out the way so they can get a view at the last minute. Driving buggies / strollers into people because they’re not looking where they’re going, or want to push people out the way. And on the flip side, people walking into buggies completely oblivious that they’re there! People sitting down in quick-service restaurants without food, leaving people with food no-where to go (this one really grinds my gears!) Folks trying to skip ride lines, and people making horrible comments about others using the Premier Access or Priority Pass queues.

Disneyland Paris is a melting-pot of different cultures and languages. Of course a few things get lost in translation along the way. But common decency towards other people is something that everyone should be able to get no matter where they’re from! So make sure you’re nice to cast members and other guests – it’ll help both their and your day go a lot more smoothly!

10) Disrespecting the parks themselves

This point is kind of the sister to the one above. But alongside people disrespecting their fellow humans in the parks, a lot of folks seem to think they can disrespect the fabric of the parks themselves and that’s okay.

An example you see a lot is walking across flower beds, stages and other decorative items where the public aren’t allowed to go. They’re off limits for a reason! Another is dropping trash, or people not cleaning up after themselves in a restaurant. It’s not like the parks are short of trash cans, and in the quick service restaurants there are plenty of recycling and rubbish stations. And speaking of the quick-service restaurants, people stealing the reusuable tableware and cutlery is also a problem. There used to be these lovely themed resuable cups that soft-drinks would be served in at counter-service restaurants, but they’re mostly gone now. And why? Because people kept stealing them! This is why we can’t have nice things folks.

Another issue is people climbing on things they shouldn’t in the parks – like railings, walls, and stones. We even once saw a family stand their kid on top of a trash can! If a cast member catches this they’ll ask you to stop pretty quickly. It’s not only to keep things in the park looking nice, it’s a safety issue. And we’ve sadly also seen people throwing stuff out of rides at the theming and scenery. Of course stuff gets dropped by accident all the time and it’s really upsetting when it happens, and that’s not something you should beat yourself up for. But deliberately throwing things out of ride vehicles isn’t on.

And a last thing I want to mention here is people going to the toilet not in the toilets! I’ve seen people using, or let their kid use, the flower beds before now. There’s a lot of toilets around folks, go find one! It’s not hard! (And this is also really gross, and of course a safety risk too). Of course we get some littles who are potty training or folks with medical conditions might have accidents, but that’s different to someone just peeing in a flower bed.

I just ask then when folks go to the Disney parks, they respect what’s been built and is on offer for guests, and they treat it like they’d like their own things treated. It’ll make the parks much easier to maintain, and a more pleasant place for everyone.

So there you go – 10 things you shouldn’t do in Disneyland Paris! Anything you’d add? Let us know! If you like our content do please also subscribe to this blog at the top of the page, and check out our YouTube channel. And you can also support our work by leaving us a tip – it’ll help us be able to keep this website and our social channels going. Thank you!