Disneyland Paris and Crécy-la Chapelle
We booked a total of two nights at Camping Country Park, Crécy-la-Chapelle, enjoying the night before our Disney visit and the night after. We purchased one-day tickets that provided access to both Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park. We have previously shared our Disney Paris adventures, which go into some detail about booking and how to utilise lightning lanes.
Disneyland Paris in a Campervan — Hyem from Hyem
https://www.hyemfromhyem.com/blog/disneyland-paris-in-a-campervan
We finally arrived at Camping Country Park after a long drive from near Lyon. We have always enjoyed staying at this campsite primarily because of its convenient close proximity to Disney, as well as the two pools and the various inflatables for the children to play on. However, this year, we were a little disappointed with the overall upkeep of the facilities, particularly when it came to the bathrooms. The showers are clearly in need of a deep clean, and some shower heads are unfortunately ready to be replaced. It was quite the nightmare trying to get shampoo out of Esme's hair while contending with a few jets of water squirting in different directions! Overlooking these issues, the campsite still has a lovely feeling, and the pitches are both private and well-maintained. We also noticed the gates into the site now close at midnight rather than 11pm, allowing a little more time to return from the Disney Illuminations night-time spectacular. Our booking this year was in mid-August, so the site and Disney parks were much busier than last year.
We initially planned on exploring Disney Studios first, followed by walking over to Disneyland for lunchtime. However, this year felt much more rushed and chaotic than we anticipated! The park was the busiest we have experienced, and the kids, being a year older, were determined to enjoy a greater number of rides. In order to ride everything on our to-do list during the limited time we had, I purchased lightning lanes for the longest queues (Ratatouille : L'Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy, Spider-Man W.E.B. Adventure) and one pass for The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror so Steve, Sam and Esme didn’t have to wait around for me! All lightning lanes were either 14 or 15 euros each, and it is worth prioritising as the cost quickly adds up.
For lunch we stayed in the Studios and found a good selection for the kids at Stark Factory, which offers pizzas, pizza slices, salads and pastas. It is quick service, and we were in and out in less than an hour. For the ice cream challenge today, it had to be a Mickey ice lolly!
Luckily, we had the buggy, and both kids can fit on it in a back-to-back arrangement when we need to walk quickly! We made our way to the Disneyland Park, which has the magical feeling missing from the Studios. We wandered up Main Street and through Sleeping Beauty's Castle to Fantasy Land. Sam was eager to visit La Tanière du Dragon, the dragons lair underneath the Castle. We made our way down the secret steps located in the back corner of Merlin l'Enchanteur crystal and jewellery store. There are two other entrances down, but this one always feels the most magical!
We continued to walk through the enchanting Cottage of the Seven Dwarves, which is a truly lovely shop to wander through, and then we ventured into Fantasy Land. We managed to experience many attractions from our to-do list without the need of lightning lanes (with the exception of Buzz Lighyear Laser Blast in Tomorrowland). Luckily, we arrived in Fantasyland during the time when most people were having lunch. Additionally, by utilizing the Disneyland map feature and zooming in on our location, we were able to view and refresh the wait times for attractions. We made our way to the shortest queues available in Fantasyland and then Tomorrowland!
Knowing we were going to be pushed for time and not wanting the kids to miss out on the magical experience of seeing characters, I made the decision to book character dining at the Plaza Gardens Restaurant well in advance. Reservations for this popular dining experience go quickly and must be made two months before your visit. The dinner is served as a buffet, costing 80 euros for adults and 40 euros for children aged 3-11 years. We paid upon entry to the restaurant, and it was such a relief to finally sit down and relax! Steve was hitting a wall and we had only been to half of the park! Once we had settled in, we made our way to the buffet, eager to enjoy the choice of food, and sat down to eat our meal. Throughout dinner, characters including Tigger, Eeyore, Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, Chip, and Dale made their way around the tables numerous times, stopping for cuddles, taking photos, and signing autographs for the kids. Sam enjoyed every moment, and eventually, Esme came out of her shell to happily cuddle with Tigger. While it would have been lovely for some of the more popular main characters to make an appearance, the kids didn’t seem to mind at all and loved every second!
We did rush around the other various areas of the park to ride and experience all of our must-do attractions. Esme kept her eyes tightly closed for most of the journey around Phantom Manor and Pirates of the Caribbean! By 9 PM, she was in the buggy, cuddling her new Daisy Duck teddy bear. In the next moment we glanced down, she had fallen asleep! We had originally planned on staying in the park to see the firework show, Disney Illuminations, and had decided to leave the choice to Sam. His little legs were tired and his eyes were barely keeping themselves open, so we made our way slowly down Main Street for one last look in the shops before finally heading back to the van.
We had made a note of our parking location, however, the exit signs that are supposed to guide you from the park entrance to the car parks are conspicuously absent or very well hidden from view! Similar to our experience last year, we found ourselves walking in the wrong direction twice before finally discovering a narrow gap between the ongoing building works that allowed us to access the car parks. We carried Sam to the van and popped their pjs on for the short ride back to the campsite.
If we do happen to return to Disneyland Paris at the end of a trip, I will certainly be booking one-day one park tickets, or saving up for two-days and two parks. There is just far too much to see and do in a single day, especially for little legs that get tired easily!
