Suzanne’s Disneyland Paris First Trip Report (Sequoia Lodge, Princess Dining & Family Tips)

Suzanne’s Disneyland Paris Trip Report (August 2022) ✨🏰

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• 🏨 Disney Sequoia Lodge review
• 👑 Auberge de Cendrillon princess dining guide
• 🍽️ Disneyland Paris meal plans explained
• 📅 Best dates & crowd calendar
• 📖 More Disneyland Paris trip reports

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💡 Planning your own trip? Picking the right dates can make a huge difference 👉 check crowd levels here

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First-Time Family Trip to Disneyland Paris ✨

This was our first time visiting Disneyland Paris. We travelled by Eurostar and booked a package with park tickets included for our whole stay at Disney Sequoia Lodge Hotel.

We stayed for 3 nights and 4 days, and there was myself, my husband, and our two children aged 2 and 7.

We travelled directly on the Eurostar on the way out and really wish we had done the same on the way back. On our return journey we changed at Lille Europe, and the local train to Lille was absolutely packed.

That meant the journey home didn’t feel nearly as smooth or enjoyable. Next time, I’d still be open to changing, but I’d much rather do that on the way out when the excitement levels are high and nobody’s legs are completely done in.

When you first see the parks, it’s just the best feeling ever. It’s honestly breathtaking and such a proper WOW! moment.

The Disneyland Hotel looked amazing, the first sight of Sleeping Beauty Castle was perfect, and we walked straight into the Shine Brighter parade. It was sensational. That song still lives in my head now — so happy, so Disney.

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Food Highlights 🍽️

We had reservations at Pym Kitchen, which had really good food and enough variety for all of us.

We actually liked Pym’s more than Downtown Restaurant, which was okay but didn’t feel quite as child-friendly in our opinion. The desserts there were amazing though.

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Sequoia Lodge Hotel Review 🏨

Each day we used our Extra Magic Time and then headed back to the hotel for a mid-afternoon break.

We used the swimming pool twice, and the outdoor pool was very welcome in the heat. Our 7-year-old absolutely loved the slide!

I loved the overall atmosphere of Sequoia Lodge, and photos really don’t do it justice. The rooms are a little dated and there are no USB points, but we were prepared with an extension lead and travel adaptors.

We were lucky enough to have a lake view from our room, and there’s a lovely decking area to sit out in during the evenings.

There is a free shuttle bus, but we actually walked to the parks every day. It’s a really nice 10-minute stroll through Disney Village.

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Rides, Shows, Characters and Champagne! 🎢🥂

Over the course of the trip, we managed every attraction we really wanted to do. The only one we missed was Crush’s Coaster, but none of us were too bothered and it gives us a good excuse to go back.

Parent swap worked brilliantly for us when one of us stayed with the 2-year-old. You get a little ticket and the second adult can then go straight through the Premier Access entrance without queueing again.

The whole thing was probably a bit much for our youngest with the heat, crowds and change of routine, but he still enjoyed himself. At that age it’s more about the atmosphere anyway, and under-3s are free, so we never felt like it was wasted.

His favourites were Autopia, Storybook Land Canal Boats and Dumbo — plus the fountains and the cranes fixing the hotel 😄

Autopia was especially pretty after 9pm, and the queue was relatively low after 9:30pm.

Our 7-year-old loved all of the rides, especially Big Thunder Mountain. Thanks to parent swap, she rode it four times in one day.

We didn’t arrive too early for shows or parades and still managed to see everything we wanted. Just to the right of the castle, beside Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast, there’s a really quiet spot where we turned up just before the show and still got a good view.

We watched the main parade from the curb outside City Hall. We arrived around 30 minutes before and there was loads of space with no pushing. I even had time for a glass of champagne while we waited, which felt very civilised!

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Princesses and Magical Moments 👑

Everyone we came across was polite and helpful. Mickey and the Magician was brilliant and had so much space that we didn’t feel the need to upgrade to a Premier seat.

Our 2-year-old had a pushchair, but our 7-year-old walked everywhere. By the final day she was shattered though—we were doing around 25,000 steps most days.

Because it was our first visit and we weren’t sure if we’d return, we booked princess dining at Auberge de Cendrillon to get the full Disneyland Paris experience.

The princesses were magical. It was expensive though, and I maybe wouldn’t do it every trip. That said, it was a brilliant way to meet four princesses without joining the huge queue at Princess Pavilion.

To save money, it was just me and my daughter doing princess lunch while the boys explored Adventure Isle, which turned out to be a great plan.

Adventure Isle is fabulous, especially for escaping the heat a bit.

We also added the Half Board meal plan to our package, but for us it felt like too much food. It was useful on a first visit, but next time I think we’d just pay as we go.

Yes, we are already looking at our next trip! Halloween is looking very tempting.

We were also so lucky to stumble across Belle, who took our daughter’s hand and walked her all the way to the Princess Pavilion. Such a magical memory.

We also had great interactions with Winnie the Pooh and Pluto, among other characters.

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We Can’t Wait to Return ❤️

Well done if you made it this far! Any questions, please let me know in the DLPtips Facebook group.

Happy Disney! I am now completely addicted and will definitely be back soon.

Next time I will probably have a Loungefly bag too… something I never saw the point in before this trip 😄

This was meant to be an in-between trip while we saved for Disney World in Florida, but honestly… Disneyland Paris was so magical that I’m not even sure I feel the need to do Florida anymore. I could easily spend those savings on three more trips to DLP instead of one to Orlando.

My top tip: if you head to the ice cream place opposite It’s a Small World, you’ll often see princesses walking past on their way to the parade or Princess Pavilion. They won’t stop for photos, but they do wave and say hello, which was still lovely for the kids.

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Thanks to Suzanne for sharing her magical first Disneyland Paris trip! ✨