Disneyland Paris – where dreams come true. Or so the marketing says. And it can be true too! And with all the magic and pixie dust you’d like to think the scariest things on site are the Disney Villains, rollercoaster thrills and whether or not you’ll ever be able to get out of that Orbitron rocket. (Or is that just me?!) But sadly Disneyland Paris is a large tourist destination, and as a result it’s not possible to entirely block out those who would aim to ruin your magical trip! (Although Disney tries their best). In this blog we’re highlighting some things to consider for your personal safety while visiting the resort. Are some of the risks we’re talking about in this blog likely to happen? No, they’re really not – but they still do happen sadly and we want everyone to be aware!

Keep your wits about you – and your eyes on your stuff!

You don’t need to have eyes in the back of your head in Disneyland Paris. However, it is worth keeping your wits about you at all times.

One of the main types of unpleasantness that can occur in Disneyland Paris is pickpocketing. Pick pockets target the parks because they know people are easily distracted by all the magic and Pixie dust and are less likely to notice them.

As such, if you’re carrying items in a backpack, think about if there’s anything valuable that people could possibly access without you noticing. We’d recommend either not keeping phones, wallets and important documents like passports in backpacks at all, or having a backpack that you can secure shut somehow. (A small padlock can work wonders). Personally, I much prefer a shoulder bag over back pack because I can move it round to the front and keep my hand on it.

A particular time that pickpockets seem to be a bit more prone to striking in the parks is at times when there’s a lot of people in one place – so waiting for parades or the nighttime spectaculars. With more people around it’s harder to keep an eye on who’s doing what. So just make sure at these times you know your stuff is secure as much as possible!

Be careful around the train station

One of Disneyland Paris’ main advantages over other Disney parks around the world is that it benefits from a large train station – linking the resort to central Paris and destinations further afield in France and Europe. Travelling by train is our favourite way to travel to Disneyland Paris! And next door to the train station is a large bus station, with shuttle buses to local hotels, as well as public bus services. This is a great amenity – but it does have its issues.

Notably, the train station, bus station and the land just around it are part of France’s public transport system and technically outside Disney’s control – and therefore they’ve not got a say who comes here. Outside of the station you can often find a multitude of vendors selling cheap products at vastly inflated prices – we strongly recommend you don’t buy any of these, particularly by card. The bus station in particular has also been known to be targeted by pickpockets – and here there’s not much Disney can do about them sadly!

Also around the train station you can often find people targeting guests leaving offering to pay cash for their Disney park tickets. Please DO NOT SELL YOUR TICKETS TO THEM! For starters you’re breaching the terms and conditions of your ticket (they’re meant to be non-transferable after all). But also, a lot of these bought tickets are then used to get people into the park for things like pickpocketing! So by selling your tickets to these groups you are not only breaching Disney’s rules, you’re actually enabling crime too. These people can be a bit aggressive – our advice is to keep repeating a firm no, keep your hands on your stuff and just head into that train station.

Don’t leave items unattended in buggies / strollers or wheelchairs

Disneyland Paris caters to a lot of families. And a lot of families means a lot of buggies! You can often see hordes of them parked up around the parks. A lot of folks also use wheelchairs to manage the huge amounts of walking that often come with a Disney park. But while you’ll certainly need to leave buggies and wheelchairs unattended while experiencing attractions, it isn’t a good idea to leave items in them!

Again lulled by the sense of magic in the parks, it’s not uncommon for people to leave bags, purchases, bubble wands and more behind in buggies or wheelchairs while experiencing rides. I get it, it can be a pain to haul stuff on and off of attractions. But, if the items are left unattended, it does mean that anyone can walk up and grab the items that are left behind! It’s not too common, but it does happen sadly. Our advice is to not leave anything unattended behind that you care anything about, because there’s no guarantee it’ll still be there when you return!

Another issue that can happen is people actually taking an entire buggy / stroller! If it’s a hired one from Disney themselves this is often due to laziness or mistaken identity. Sometimes people’s own buggies go AWOL though – probably taken by someone who wasn’t as prepared and decided they needed a buggy, and didn’t want to buy or hire one! Our advice is to put something on the buggy that’s distinctive but that you don’t care about if it ends up walking off – like a lurid fluorescent scarf or similar. People tend to be a bit more reluctant to swipe someone else’s stroller if they’ve left something personal behind, particularly something easily identifiable! (Of course they could remove it but that’s more effort). If you’re particularly worried about someone taking a buggy, you could get something like a bicycle lock and put it through the wheels. But don’t attach it to anything in the park like railings – Disney will remove it!

A final note, if you come out of a restaurant or attraction and find your buggy isn’t where you left it, don’t automatically assume it’s been stolen. Often Disney cast members have to rearrange buggies in order to allow more to park, or will move those that are causing an obstruction. Check other stroller parking nearby first to see if your property has had a bit of a relocation before writing it off completely!

Don’t leave out valuables in your hotel room

Nowadays people can travel with a lot of valuables – phones, tablets, laptops, cameras etc. These can be a great addition to a Disneyland Paris trip. But of course they can also be attractive to thieves.

For the most part items left in your hotel room will be absolutely fine. But we’d still caution against leaving out any valuables when you’re not in your room. The reason for that is often when rooms are being cleaned the cast members will prop the door open, and if they’ve got the vacuum on or are cleaning the bathroom, they might not notice someone else nipping in and making off with your stuff!

Disney’s hotel rooms do have an in room safe that’s locked via a key pad. We’ve heard a few horror stories about how easy they are to hack but that might be exaggerated! It can bring some extra peace of mind though, as can putting items in locked luggage if you prefer. If there’s anything super valuable you’re worried about they may be able to store it at reception, but honestly we’d caution against taking anything too expensive like a 10 grand Rolex anyway!

Another point with hotel rooms is don’t leave your hotel room door unlocked and unattended, even if you’re just nipping to the ice machine or something. It only takes someone a few seconds to gain access and make off with something of yours. Again, it’s not common, but it can occur sadly.

Walking alone

Here’s some good news – Disneyland Paris is a very safe place to be. I’d be happy walking about the resort at night and not worrying about my safety. But I also realise that some people might be a bit more nervous!

Most areas of the resort are well lit, and you’re more likely to run into too many people than none at all! The hotel grounds all tend to be well lit too if you need to move between buildings, like at Hotel Santa Fe or Cheyenne. We’ve heard a few people say they’ve found the walk from Disney’s Hotel New York to either Cheyenne or Santa Fe quite dark at night – that’s not been our experience to be honest, but maybe sometimes if lights aren’t working properly it could feel that way. If you don’t want to head anywhere on your own though, then we’d recommend jumping on a shuttle bus or ride share service to get to your hotel instead of walking. If you’re really worried, flag down security. You’ll always find some at the security check points near Disney Village and the parks, and normally in the Disney hotels too. Sometimes you even see them whizzing around on what looks like a souped up milk cart! They should be able to help if you need it.

Hopefully there are some useful tips for folks! We do want to emphasise that Disneyland Paris is a safe place to stay and visit, but you do need to be aware of some not so magical folks that might be there too. If you like this blog, please subscribe below – you’ll receive our blogs in your inbox as well as a free copy of our Magically Different Guide to Disneyland Paris attraction accessibility (which you can also buy for £3). We’d also love to see you over on our YouTube channel! And if you’d like to support our work, we’d really appreciate it if you could leave us a tip. Thank you!