Why I’m Already Planning Our Next Trip

Starstruck. That’s the only word that accurately describes my typically chatty toddler’s sudden silence when she walked into her meet-and-greet with Anna and Elsa at Disneyland Paris’ new World of Frozen.  

For a month, it was all my daughter, Etta, could talk about. “We’re going to Elsa’s house!” she’d exclaim at entirely random times of the day, to anyone within earshot. But in the presence of her idols, she (ahem) froze. 

In true Disney fashion, Anna and Elsa coaxed a smile, then a laugh, from my two-year-old. By the end of the character visit, Etta was planning an imaginary party with her favorite princesses. “We’ll have French fries and chocolate!” she said. “And we’ll finally use those salad plates!” Anna quipped, nodding to the lyrics of “For the First Time in Forever.” 

Disney is betting on more magical moments like these with its new World of Frozen, part of a $2-billion transformation of the resort and a highlight of its newly christened Disney Adventure World (formerly Walt Disney Studios). 

When I was invited to the late March grand opening, I expected charm, of course.  What I didn’t anticipate—especially after flying from New York with a wriggly two-year-old—was that it would actually be easier than other Disney trips I’ve taken. 

I’ve visited Disney World in Orlando a half dozen times, and after each trip I come away with two thoughts: Disney is amazing at what it does, and wow, that was a lot of work! 

It can be a real undertaking to plan a Disney World vacation: dining reservations and character meet-and-greets fill quickly; travel between parks usually requires a bus or a boat; and just a handful of the on-property hotels are within walking distance to a gate. Because of the logistics, many families try to time a trip for the “perfect Disney age,” an elusive period when midday naps are non-essential, kids form core memories, and (critically) magic is real. Not an easy trifecta.

Disneyland Paris, by comparison, is a surprisingly approachable on-ramp for parents who don’t want to wait for a goldilocks age. All but one on-property hotel is within walking distance to Disneyland, with free shuttles also available to a centralized transit center. Even a visit from central Paris is simple: The 45-minute RER route from Châtelet les Halles drops you directly at Disneyland’s front gate (Marne-la-Vallée Chessy), with trains running every 15 minutes. 

When you’re wrangling a toddler all day, that accessibility changes the dynamics of the entire vacation. Walking back to the hotel for a midday nap took just 15 minutes. Hopping between Adventure World and Disneyland was a five-minute walk. And at closing, we didn’t need to rush to get on a bus before they filled up (we were already basically home). 

The park was at capacity when we visited, but crowds never felt overwhelming. On our last day, we easily secured a last-minute lunch reservation to Agrabah Café, and by the evening, wait times for classic rides like Dumbo were nearly non-existent. 

To my surprise, even jet lag worked to our advantage. Etta never completely adjusted to Paris time, so we shifted naps and bedtime down, allowing us to sit down for later dinners, see the evening light shows, and hop on rides when lines dwindled toward the end of the night.

Of course, every child manages jet lag differently. And I won’t pretend an eight-hour flight with a toddler is easy (we all tire of unlimited screen time eventually). But for us, embracing the time change made the days manageable and helped us settle into a more relaxed rhythm. 

That same rhythm translated well after we left the parks and headed into Paris for two days. We enjoyed relaxed mornings over pain au chocolate, let Etta ride carousels and run free at local playgrounds, and still indulged in three-course dinners at normal French dining hours (Paris restaurants typically don’t open for dinner service until 7 p.m.).

That’s the real beauty of Disneyland Paris for families with young kids: The trip isn’t just about maximizing park time. You can pair a few Disneyland days with a couple of nights in Paris, or extend into a longer European itinerary. Once home, we all felt like we’d had a break.