Getting to Disneyland Paris

Driving, train, flying and the practical trade-offs around the journey.

We’ve driven, flown and taken the train to Disneyland Paris over the years. These days, we nearly always choose to drive.

On paper, flying looks fastest, the train looks easiest and driving looks longest. In practice, the best option depends far more on timings, luggage, flexibility and how much of your first Disney day you are prepared to lose.

Our choice nowDrive

More effort, but complete control over the journey, luggage and stops.

We missDirect train

The old St Pancras to Disney service was brilliantly easy. The current journey suits us less.

Looks quickestFly

A one-hour flight can still become a six-hour door-to-door journey.

By car

Driving to Disneyland Paris

Driving is the most tiring option for the person behind the wheel, but it gives us something none of the others really can: complete control over the journey.

FlexibleLeave when we want, stop when we want and change the plan if we need to.
More luggageNo airline baggage limits, and considerably more room for whatever follows us home from Disney.
Easy in FranceWe find the French motorways quick, reliable and much more relaxed than the UK leg.
The UK is usually the hardest bit

From the South West, Folkestone is straightforward enough to reach, but traffic around London can make the journey unpredictable. Once we are in France, the roads and regular services make the drive towards Paris feel much easier.

Our route

How we actually do the drive

We do not try to turn the South West to Disneyland Paris into one enormous push. We make the journey part of the trip.

MorningLeave the South West and head towards Folkestone, with proper coffee and comfort stops on the way.
Late afternoonArrive around Folkestone with enough time for check-in, border controls and a final UK break.
EveningCross on LeShuttle, arrive in Calais and stay near the terminal rather than carrying on towards Paris.
Next morningBreakfast, then an easy drive towards Val d’Europe with a service-station stop on the way.
Lunch onwardsArrive around lunchtime, explore Val d’Europe or La Vallée Village, then check in without sacrificing a Disney park day.
Our biggest driving tipDon’t drive all the way there and then try to do a full Disney day.

We would rather arrive rested, stay nearby and wake up ready for the parks than spend an expensive first day exhausted.

Channel crossing

LeShuttle or the ferry?

We’ve done both and would happily use either again. The choice is really about whether you value speed or a proper break.

LeShuttle

Quicker and easier

  • Our choice for convenience
  • Gets you into France quickly
  • Not much of a rest from driving
  • Delays can still happen
Ferry

A proper rest

  • Slower overall
  • Chance to walk around
  • Time for food and a real break
  • Useful if you are carrying on driving in France

Tunnel for speed. Ferry for a proper rest.

By train

Going by train

This used to be one of our favourite ways of getting to Disneyland Paris.

What worked brilliantly

The old direct service

We would stay opposite St Pancras, get on the train in the morning and get off at Disney. Disney Express could take our suitcases to the hotel while we headed into the parks.

What changed

Less direct, less flexible

The current journey means a change, fixed train times and, for us, much higher prices. We would still happily take the train to Paris, but it no longer has the same advantage for a Disney trip.

We wish it was cheaper. We wish there were more services. Most of all, we wish the direct train would come back.
By air

Flying to Disneyland Paris

We’ve flown to Charles de Gaulle from Exeter, Bristol and Gatwick, including several trips with easyJet. The flight itself is quick. The full journey often is not.

2 hours to the airport+2 hours before the flight+1 hour flying+around 1 hour to Disney≈ 6 hours door to door
CDG is hugeWe found it particularly hard work when the children were younger.
Times dictate the dayThe most useful flights can be the expensive ones, while cheaper times may force an extra hotel night.
Luggage mattersIt limits what we take, and just as importantly, what we can bring home.

On one return trip a two-hour delay helped turn Disney to the South West into an eight-hour journey. Flying meant less actual driving, but not necessarily less travelling.

Protect your park time

Should you fly on your first Disney day?

We’ve done itWe wouldn’t rush to do it again.

Airport travel, security, waiting, the flight, Charles de Gaulle and the transfer can take a substantial chunk out of day one. If everything lines up perfectly it works, but we would rather arrive earlier and start the next morning with the whole Disney day ahead of us.

From CDG

Magical Shuttle from Charles de Gaulle

In practice

It works

We found it surprisingly difficult to locate at the airport, but once we were on board the service itself was absolutely fine.

The “magical” bit

It’s a coach

It gets you where you need to go, but there is very little sense that the Disney holiday has started.

Put an actual Disney character on board to greet the children and suddenly the Magical Shuttle really would feel magical.
What we choose

So, how would we travel to Disneyland Paris?

Maximum flexibilityDrive

Our choice now. It gives us control over timings, stops and luggage.

If direct rail returnedTrain

It would immediately become much more attractive to us again.

If you hate drivingFly

Still perfectly workable, but plan around the full journey rather than the one-hour flight.

For a family travelling from the South West, the freedom of the car now matters more to us than saving an hour or two on paper. The trade-off is fatigue, so we build time around both ends of the holiday rather than squeezing the journey in.

What we’ve learned

Protect your Disney time

The biggest lesson from trying all these different ways of getting to Disneyland Paris is simple: protect your Disney time.

We used to focus on getting there in the fewest possible hours. Now we care more about arriving relaxed enough to enjoy the trip. Sometimes that means a night in Calais or near Disney before the first park day.

There is no single perfect option for everyone. Where you live, who is travelling, luggage, prices and timings all change the answer. For us, right now, the car keys win.

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