The Smartest Disneyland Paris Planning Checklist (And Free Printable!)

The first time I planned my family’s Disney trip, I had very mixed emotions. One side of me was giddy with excitement, thinking about all the rides, characters, and Disney Magic my kid was going to experience for the very first time. The other side of me was paralysed with nerves. Where should I begin with pricing? Accommodation? Transport? Tickets? What should I pack? If only there had been a Disneyland Paris planning guide for first-timers like me.

Contents peek inside

So now, many trips later, I’ve written an easy-to-follow Disneyland Paris Planning Checklist. And I want to share it with you, in 10 easy steps!

10 Easy Steps to Plan Disneyland Paris for First-Timers

A Disneyland Paris planning guide has 10 easy steps to get you in front of this gorgeus Sleeping Beauty Castle. It's a blue sky sunshine day with picture-perfect clouds breezing by...

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Disney Adventure World banner at Disneyland Paris featuring Elsa, Anna, Olaf, Iron Man, Buzz Lightyear and themed lands

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Step #1. Get to Know the Disneyland Paris App

Before you do anything else, go to the app store and download the free Disneyland Paris app to your phone. Three things for you to do (within the app) to help you plan Disneyland Paris:

Set up (or sign in) to your Disney account. Keep that Disney log-in in a convenient place. You’re going to need it when you connect your park tickets and make restaurant bookings.
Have a look around the Disneyland Paris park map and get excited about everything you’re going to see!
If you see anything you want to do in the parks, like rides, characters and shows, save those to ‘My Wishlist’ in the app.
Check out more helpful (and free!) Phone Apps I love for Disneyland Paris.

🤓 GOOD TO KNOW: Your Disney login will be the same as your Disney+ subscription (if you have one).

A blonde woman in Bright blue sequin Mouse Ears is holding a plate with a crepe on it — Don’t forget to budget for delicious Disney snacks – crêpes are my favourite. (I love them so much, I named this blog after them!)

Step #2. Work Out Your Budget

The next item is not as magical as the Disney app, but I promise it will be super useful!

Start to figure out your budget for Disneyland Paris before you purchase anything. Begin with a piece of paper or use a spreadsheet. I’ve got a budget planner included in my Disneyland Paris Itinerary Guide (discounted now!).

On your budget sheet write down the main things you need to pay for like hotel, travel and tickets. Leave space for food, drinks and shopping, too. Don’t worry if you don’t know yet how much everything costs. As you work your way through the steps below, you can pop the estimated costs into your Disney budget sheet.

Disneyland Paris Halloween 2026 printable planner featuring a Halloween itinerary, bucket list and wishlist

👻 Shop the Halloween Planner →

📌 Worried about your spending money? Discover how how to Save the Most Money for Disneyland Paris. Slash the costs of everything for your trip!

Santa Fe Hotel entrance lit up in neon at night, a poster of Lightning McQueen and Sally hangs above

Step #3. Consider Your Disneyland Paris Hotel Options

Unless you live locally, you are going to need somewhere to stay when you go to Disneyland Paris.

Your next step on the planning Disneyland Paris checklist is to look at your hotel options, whether that’s on-site at the Disney hotels, off-site nearby or even try Air BnB.

If you don’t know where to start, check out:
– Best Disney hotels for First-Timers
– Cheapest Way to Stay at Disneyland Paris (Including 17 hotels with a free shuttle!)

Once you have picked your favourite hotel, you should then look at travel options.

The blue and yellow Eurostar is parked at the platform with its door open — The Eurostar is one of three ways to travel to Disneyland Paris

Step #4. Travel, Transport and Transfers – How Will You Get There?

In a dream world, I would prefer for Peter Pan to whisk my family to Disneyland Paris with the help of faith, trust and pixie dust! But the reality is, I need to rely on flights, trains or my car.

Let’s work out the best way for you to travel to Disneyland Paris.

3 Travel Options for Disneyland Paris

There are three ways to travel to Disneyland Paris: Eurostar, flights and driving. Let’s look at the pros and cons of each option.

1. The Eurostar Train Service From St Pancras in London

➕ Pros of taking the Eurostar to Disneyland Paris

Eurostar is fast and convenient. You can arrive at the Disney entrance within 3 hours!
Eurostar has a generous luggage policy. Take all the clothes you want, and pack snacks to save money in the parks.
Train times are very good, usually arriving in the park by lunchtime and leaving for London in the early evening. Eurostar is my favourite way to travel to Disneyland Paris solo or with a friend because I only need to buy 1 ticket.

➖ Cons of taking the Eurostar to Disneyland Paris

Eurostar can be expensive for a family, with tickets averaging around £200 per person in summer holidays.
Eurostar no longer offers a direct service to Disneyland Paris. However, you can still use it via a quick change of platforms in Lille. Alternatively, if you don’t have much luggage and speak a smidgen of French, you can use public transport. Check out the exact steps to Go From Paris to Disneyland Paris.

2. Flight to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG)

➕Pros of Taking a Flight

Depending on where you live, an airport may be much more convenient than London St Pancras.
With a wide variety of airlines, flight prices are often very reasonable, especially if you use Easy Jet (though I prefer Air France).

➖Cons of Taking a Flight

You will need to factor the cost of transfers into your budget. I recommend Disney’s official partner, Magical Shuttle or using taxis like UBER.
Another drawback for some flights is that they often arrive late at night or depart from Paris early in the morning. This can take away a lot of time from your Disney park day. You could consider booking an offsite hotel for the first night to make the most of your Disney package.
Luggage allowance is more restricting.

3. Driving and Using the Eurotunnel from Calais

➕ Pros of Driving

Using the Eurotunnel is easy. (Check out my family’s trip report on the Eurotunnel)
You can take as much luggage as will fit in your car!
Convert your Tesco Clubcard points into vouchers for money off.
Even factoring in petrol and toll costs, driving is usually the most economical way to travel to Disneyland Paris.
The route from Calais to Disneyland Paris is easy, too.
Driving is my favourite way to travel to Disneyland Paris with my family.

➖ Cons of Driving

Of course, you have to have a driving licence and a reliable car to make the journey.
Driving might take the longest amount of time, at around 5 hours and 40 minutes from London.

🚨FREEBIE ALERT: Get your Disneyland Paris Planning Checklist (Download and Print Now!)

All the steps in this post are here at your fingertips, so you don’t need to write anything down or struggle to remember everything.

🚀 Grab your printable Disneyland Paris planning checklist when you sign up (in the box below) now. It will make your planning so much easier!

🚨📆FAQ: When is the Best Time to Go to Disneyland Paris?

Whether low crowds, low cost, festive seasons or fabulous weather is your priority, there is a perfect time to go to Disneyland Paris! Check out this post: Best Time to Go to Disneyland Paris to find your best option.

Step #5. Choose Your Disneyland Paris Tickets. Then Price up and Book Your Trip

Now that you have chosen your hotel and know how to travel there, your next item to check off your list is tickets for the parks.

Choose the number of days for your Disney park tickets and decide if you need park hoppers

➡️ If you need help, check out the Cheapest Way to Buy Disneyland Paris Tickets. This post has a breakdown on how many days you need. And it has lots of hacks for getting a discount.

Alternatively, if you wish to book a Disney Package Holiday, your tickets will be already included in the price! Easy-peasy.

✏️ PRO TIP After you buy your tickets, don’t forget to make a note on your budget sheet (Step #2 from above) and link them in the Disneyland Paris app (from Step #1).

Blonde woman in yellow sweater with the Mandolorian and Grogu (Baby Yoda) — Meeting Disney characters like the Mandalorian is included in your Disneyland Paris park ticket

Step #6. Book Your Disneyland Paris Holiday!

Now with all of that done – You are ready to book your trip!

Decide if you will get a Disney package holiday or book it yourself separately. Use your Disneyland Paris budget sheet (from step 2) to weigh and compare the different costs.

Then get out your credit card because you’re about to get spending!

Step #7. Eating and Drinking – Do You Need a Disney Dining Reservation?

Now that you’ve booked your holiday, the next thing to tick off your Disneyland Paris planning checklist is to make dining reservations.

Go back to the Disneyland Paris app, go to the ‘Food’ tab at the bottom, then scroll down again to ‘See all restaurants.’ And have a look around the restaurant and quick service establishments. ✏️ PRO TIP: A full menu with prices is available by clicking on them individually.

Next, decide whether you want to buy the Disneyland Paris Meal Plan or not. If you are staying off-site, this is not available to you, so that is an easy decision to make! If you are considering a Disney hotel, you can read more about the Disneyland Paris Meal Plan and whether it’s worth it.

🤓 GOOD TO KNOW You don’t need to decide right away on the meal plan. Add it to your Disney hotel booking or Disney holiday package after you have paid the balance by logging into your account online. Alternatively, you can contact Disney via messenger on the official Disneyland Paris Facebook page or by calling and they will add your meal plan to your booking up to 7 days before your trip.

A dining room in Auberge de Cendrillon with posh pink chairs, pale blue velvet booths, elegant candle-like light fixtures and a cloudy sky fresco painted on the ceiling — You’ll need a reservation to dine with Disney Princesses at **Auberge de Cendrillon** – Cinderella’s Inn

🔥 Of course, you do not need a Disney meal plan to eat in any of the restaurants in Disneyland Paris. But what you do need is a reservation for table-service. The most popular Disneyland Paris restaurants will require an advance reservation, but there are 9 Clever Ways to Get a Table Booking even when they are sold out.

Step #8. Plan an Itinerary for Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios

Planning your family’s visit to The Happiest Place on Earth in one or two (or even 5!) days can feel more than a little overwhelming. There are so many choices that it’s easy to be confused about how to organise your days in each park. You don’t want a super strict plan, but you don’t want to be arguing with your family over what to do next either.

If you want to make the most of your time, the next item on your Disneyland Paris planning checklist is to come up with a loose Park Day Plan.

Start making a wish list (and grab my free Bucket List!) for all your Disney must-dos. Do you want to see all the shows? Meet characters? Eat in specially-themed restaurants? Ride all the roller coasters? You don’t need to plan every hour of your trip, but knowing what’s important to your family will make it easier to prioritise your time.

⭐ Need inspiration? Check out all my Itinerary Posts OR save yourself loads of time and get printable itineraries in my Disneyland Paris Planning Guide.

Listing of Disneyland Paris Guide Book 25 / 26

Step #9. Organise Your Packing List

Call me crazy, but I love making a Disney holiday packing list (check out the pre-made ones in my DLP Guide Book to save time!). I enjoy the security of knowing I have everything I need with me when the unexpected happens.

Your next task for planning Disneyland Paris is to make a packing list. It might be helpful to have a smaller list of items for each part of your holiday: travel, hotel, kid’s essentials, park bag etc.

Make sure you consider your mode of travel in conjunction with what you want to bring on your trip. That Easy Jet flight might seem really cheap until they whack you with baggage fees if you’re not careful!

➡️ Here are some more tips for your Disneyland Paris packing list:

❄️🎒 Check out my post on the ultimate Disney Backpack List for Winter. It even includes my 5 favourite backpacks for park days
☀️🧳 Everything you need to Pack for a Summer Trip to Disneyland Paris
🧸Travelling with children? Here’s an awesome list of things that are perfect when Packing for Your Kid’s First Trip

The pavement is shiny with newly fallen rain. People in raincoats and carrying umbrellas are strolling through Discoveryland in Disneyland Paris. The sky is partially cloudy and it looks like it has been raining

Step #10. Plan What to Wear to the Parks (Even When the Weather Is Unpredictable!)

As you’re writing and ticking off your packing list, you might be wondering what clothes to pack for Disneyland Paris.

Your last task is to check on the weather forecast about 1 week before your trip. You will want to know if rain, snow or soaring temperatures are predicted. Then you can work out what clothing you need.

📌 You might want to read up on What to Wear to Disneyland Paris during the season you are visiting. There are lots of tips and ideas here for weather-specific clothing and shoes.

⏰ Last, but Not Least – Enjoy the Countdown to Your Holiday!

Whether it’s getting top recommendations on where to eat, planning all the gifts you’re going to bring back for loved ones, or watching all the Disney movies you can to get you in the mood – there are lots of ways to countdown to your amazing holiday.

All that’s left on your Disneyland Paris Planning Checklist is to enjoy this special time of looking forward to your trip. Once-in-a-lifetime memories are all ahead of you!