Best Age For Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Paris is a fantastic place for a family holiday. The park has something for everyone, from young children to adults. But what is the best age to take a child to Disneyland Paris?

We’ve found that Disneyland Paris is best suited to children between the ages of 3 and 10. This age allows the child to meet the height restrictions for the majority of the rides while also still believing in the magic of Disney.

However, that’s not to say that you shouldn’t take younger children or older children either, after all, we took our son Oliver to Disneyland Paris aged just six months.

Instead, it’s all about knowing what to expect and what might interest children based on their ages.

Taking Children Under 2 To Disneyland Paris

We took Oliver on his first trip to Disneyland Paris at just six months old.

Of course, we were under no false illusions that he will remember the trip, however, we’ll certainly remember making magical memories with him.

Children aged two and under don’t need a ticket for Disneyland Paris provided they are entering the park with one paying adult. 

If you’re the paying adult and you’re not staying on-site then get the cheapest & best range of park tickets from AttractionTix. We use them for all our Disneyland Paris & Walt Disney World tickets.

This combined with them flying for free on a parent or guardian’s lap makes the trip relatively affordable.

When it comes to rides while some have no height restriction the child still needs to be able to sit or stand independently. In Oliver’s case, this meant only going on the Disneyland Railroad and Cars Road Trip.

However, if you’re child is closer to the age of two they’ll also be able to go on the likes of Slinky Dog Zigzag Spin and Peter Pans Flight.

Both Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney Studios have baby changing facilities and a Baby Centre – perfect for warming up bottles, food or taking a break from the heat.

The Baby Care Centre also sells nappies and wipes. However, they don’t sell baby formula we’ve found the best place to get that is the Auchan supermarket inside the Val d’Europe shopping centre.

Meanwhile, most hotels at Disneyland Paris will also come with baby facilities including a crib and high-chair.

When it comes to eating in restaurants you’re unable to take a pushchair inside and instead will need to transfer the child into a high chair.

Oliver was just about big enough to sit in the high chair inside Victorias at the Disneyland Paris park. I’m not sure if there’d have been an exception if he was smaller or was sleeping.

Taking Children Between 3 – 8 To Disneyland Paris

Between 3 and 8 has long been the perfect age to go to Disneyland Paris (this has since expanded since the launch of Toy Story and the Marvel Avengers Campus).

At this age, your children will well and truly believe in the magic of Disney and you’ll no doubt see their faces light up as they meet their favourite characters or see the castle for the very first time.

Given this make sure you make time to meet Mickey Mouse either in Disneyland Paris or at Café Mickey and the princesses at the Princess Pavilion.

For added theming magic consider staying on-site at one of the Disneyland Paris resort hotels. Some of our favourites for kids of this age include;

• Hotel Cheyenne – Toy Story / Cowboy themed
• Santa Fe – Cars themed

Staying on-site at a Disneyland Paris hotel you won’t just come with the added benefit of a themed room but also be within walking distance of the parks, have access to a complimentary shuttle and be able to access the parks before the general public.

Being able to access the park early with Extra Magic Hours is fantastic for children between 3 and 8 as they’ll likely be at the right height to go on the vast majority of the rides.

Of course, it’s no secret that many of the popular rides at the resort have long wait times, especially at peak travel times.

Given this, you’ll want at least three days to cover both parks (Disneyland and Walt Disney Studios) and potentially consider investing in the Premier Access pass to skip to the front of the queue.

Taking Tweens To Disneyland Paris

A couple of years ago there wasn’t much for tweens to do in Disneyland Paris.

However, the resort has recently undergone extensive redevelopment and now tweens will no doubt be thrilled with the attractions and entertainment available.

If you’re staying on-site at Disneyland Paris consider booking Disney’s Hotel New York – The Art of Marvel.

This newly launched hotel is absolutely incredible complete with a swimming pool, fitness centre, incredible Marvel decor and an opportunity to become an artist at The Marvel Design Studio.

If all that wasn’t enough this hotel is a stone’s throw from the Disneyland Parks directly next to the Disney Village and includes Magic Hours.

Both of which you’re going to need since there’s a whole host of rides that tweens are going to want to go on during a trip to Disneyland.

While tweens may want to skip meeting the characters they’ll no doubt be thrilled with thrill rides at the parks including Big Thunder Mountain, RC Car and Hyperspace Mountain.

Sadly all these rides often come with extensive wait times, especially during peak travel times. As such if the Magic Hours from staying on-site aren’t enough you may want to consider a Premier Access pass.

A Premier Access pass is a paid pass that gives you access to the front of the line for all eligible rides.

This resulted in me waiting just 1 minute for Ratatoulie instead of 60.

Taking Teens To Disneyland Paris

Depending on your teen’s interests they may be incredibly excited to visit Disneyland Paris, or an unwilling participant in the trip, exclaiming how “Disney is just for babies”.

Of course, you can do a couple of things to win them over and ensure they have a great time either on their own or with their siblings.

Firstly, look at staying on-site.

The new Hotel New York – The Art of Marvel is a fantastic choice!

I’m not the biggest fan of Marvel (eek!) yet, even I was incredibly impressed with the high-end design and incredible facilities inside this newly launched on-site hotel.

Just footsteps from Disney Village, it’s the perfect place to retreat to after a long day.

Alternatively consider staying at Newport Bay Club. 

This colloquial-themed hotel has minimal theming and offers high-end dining choices, all with the benefit of being just footsteps from the parks and providing extra magic hours. 

Given that teens will most likely want to ride the ‘big rides’ at Disneyland Paris it may be worth looking into the benefit of a Priority Access pass.

This pass allows them to skip the queues on all participating rides. It’s no secret that the more thrilling rides in the park (RC Racer, Ratatouille & Hyperspace Mountain) often have significantly larger queues (upwards of 100 min) than other rides in the park. 

However, with a Priority Access pass, they’ll be able to cut that wait time in half (at least!) and instead spend more time exploring the parks. 

If you’re travelling with a teen and only have one day at Disneyland Paris you could either look to do both parks in one day (something we don’t recommend) or just visit Walt Disney Studios.

The theming of Walt Disney Studios is significantly more mature and less traditional when compared to Disneyland Paris instead focusing on the likes of Pixar and Marvel. 

Although a quick side note – If your teen loves Star Wars that’s all inside the Disneyland Paris park. So you’ll likely need to visit both of the parks at the Disneyland Paris resort, for which we recommend three days on average.

Of course, this more mature theming also translates into more mature rides with the likes of Crush’s Coaster, RC Car and Ratatouille: The Adventure all being huge hits!