This is my first post on my new website/blog and even though losing all my old posts isn't ideal, I'm excited for the fresh start. I plan to write more and be more active, so I wanted to break up topics from my trip to be more focused. I went to Paris last September for the Disneyland Paris 36K challenge and returned this year for the same reason. These trips were significantly different from each other, so I learned a lot. I'd like to share this knowledge and advice with you all. Keep in mind everyone travels differently and won't agree with me, but this is what I found most helpful.
1. Do NOT stay in Paris if you are doing the Disneyland Paris races. Last year I had a split stay between staying in a hotel in the city and then heading out to a Disneyland Paris (DLP) hotel for the remainder of the trip/races. I think changing hotels in the middle of any trip is hard, but especially when they are located an hour apart and you are likely relying on trains. Last year I took an uber out to Disneyland Paris because I had so much luggage to move and didn't want to drag it around the trains since switching trains would be necessary. The uber was around 100 euros. Not to mention that Disneyland Paris rooms are genuinely nicer than hotels in the city. The rooms more similarly reflect an American size hotel room and they have air conditioning. It's so much easier to train into the city from Disneyland Paris for day trips without luggage and what I did this time for a couple of city days.
2. Stay for a week (if not longer) and arrive 1-2 days before the races. Last year I was in Paris for 3-4 days before I headed out to DLP for the races. By the time I got to DLP, my muscles were sore and tired from all the city time. I had seen a lot of things in the city that required excess amounts of stair climbing and my legs were feeling it. Generally speaking, you also just do a lot of walking through the city. This time I arrived to Disneyland Paris on Thursday morning, which still gave me a day to adjust to the time difference before the 5k on Friday night. We took Thursday and Friday relatively easy so I was starting the 5k with fresh legs and it felt good.
3. Disneyland Paris is small, but it's not THAT small. Last year I basically only had two days in the parks and it wasn't near enough. There's so much I missed. This year, we did 4 days in the parks and I saw a lot more, but still didn't see everything. I didn't meet every character or see every show. You also have to account for the fact that you're not getting FULL days in the parks if you're running the races. We left at 5pm on Friday to get ready for the 5k and then Saturday morning couldn't arrive til after 12, Sunday couldn't arrive until after 1:30pm. Just based on the race start time, our pace, and the time we needed to shower/change and take a breather.
4. Make one of your "city" days one of the race days. I realize that not everyone reading this is going to DLP for the races, but I think basically in the middle of your trip switching it up and heading to the city is best. It adds some variety and for us, we saw a lot in the city on Saturday after the 10k even though we only had 5 hours there roughly because of train travel issues. Make another one of your city days a longer one and prioritize spending ALL day there. We did Versailles one day by hitting up a 7am train, left Versailles at 3 or 4pm (which is much later than it should have been but Versailles had a two hour opening delay that day), and spent a few hours going to a Van Gogh exhibit and doing Champs Elysees. I think most people need at least 3 days in the city to see all the big things, but since I had spent quite a few days in the city just last year, my list of things to see was significantly smaller.
5. Bring your own reusable cup/water bottle because you WILL be dehydrated here. Paris is a place that just doesn't seem to make water easily accessible. The "quick service" restaurants aren't really quick service. You may order at a cashier, but the lines are long and some places seat you after you've ordered. It's basically not as simple as waltzing into a Walt Disney World Quick Service and asking for a free cup of water. Starbucks didn't seem to have a problem giving me water with my purchase, but that is outside of the parks at my hotel or Disney Village. Ice isn't really a thing in Europe and luckily our hotel had a tiny little ice machine in the laundry room, but they do not provide ice buckets in your room. For this reason, I was so grateful I had my own cup to fill with ice and then just use tap water in the room. Bottles of Vittel water in the parks are 3 euros each, so obviously I was only trying to buy one per day, but I'm sure that wasn't good for my body.
These are some of my biggest and most general travel tips. Other aspects of my trip will be broken up in future posts. Please reach out if you have any questions.
xx disneygirlie
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