Disneyland Paris Travel Options – North East England 2022
We are planning a Disney trip later this year and I have explored every option I can think of to travel to Paris from where we live in County Durham, North East England. To figure out the best overall option for us (two adults and a one year old) I’m looking at prices, travel time, flexibility, accommodating travelling with a baby and luggage restrictions and thought I’d share my research with you lot. That said, I’m not going to include prices in this post as I’ve found that prices vary massively depending on your travel dates so there’s no way I could capture the spectrum of cost variation. What I would suggest you do is pick when you want to go and do a cost exercise for each of your preferred travel options for that specific date plus the two weeks either side to compare. Remember to review the whole cost as well as cost per person if you are paying as a family as child tickets and travel fares are often discounted.
There are a few extra tips at the end and I’ve wrote a teeny bit about park ticket options 🎟 as I think it’s important to consider those too – many people just go with a package without looking at booking things separately but it could be a lot cheaper to DIY.
Now let’s see those ways that you can get to see the most famous mouse in the world and that beautiful Castle 🏰
Disneyland Paris Travel Options from NE England
Fly
Our local airport is Newcastle International but make sure you look at all airports that are near you (including Scotland) to see if its cheaper (and worth the price of fuel/parking/train tickets) to travel there. Things to consider with flying are luggage sizes and weights for your airline, space for souvenirs, if you are taking buggies and/or carseats and how easy they will be to transport to and from the airport, baby milk, baby food, liquids etc.
It’s a relatively short flight to Paris – Google says it’s about 2 hours – but this could still feel like an age with a twisty baby or child so try and plan ahead by packing plenty of snacks and distractions.
Once at Charles De Gaulle Airport (Paris-CDG) you can get a transfer to your accommodation or hire a car.
Drive and Ferry
The ferry from Newcastle (Port of Tyne) to Amsterdam leaves at 17:00 but remember to factor in that you need to be at the port to check in no later than 90 minutes prior to departure. Travel time onboard is 15h45 and you get a cabin to sleep in overnight. Hull to Rotterdam is also another option generally leaving at 20:30 with a shorter travel time of 11h.
Factor in the price of fuel either side of the ferry (in the UK and in France) and tolls but this could be the cheaper option if you have a car full of adults. Look at your travel time to and from the Ferry ports either side also remembering to take in the check in times of the ferry ports.
We have considered this option quite heavily as we thought the ferry (although a lot longer journey) would be better for our one year old as she would have more freedom to move about and we could have a night’s sleep before our drove to Disney the next day. However, we have decided against this option as the travel time would cut in to our Disney park days too much. I would consider this if we were going to Paris for a week at a time as I do think it’s a nice way to travel.
By taking your own car via the ferry, you aren’t restricted on luggage or liquids but you still can’t take certain foods in to France. Check out Direct Ferries for more info.
Another option would be to drive to Dover and get the ferry or Eurotunnel but with this being a North East guide, I’m not going to go in to that too much.
Coach
There are loads of coach companies who travel from the North East with a huge list of pick up points. To name a few: National Holidays, Siesta and Goldcrest – you could also book a coach trip through your local travel agent. I’ve only used National Holidays personally and it was absolutely fine. Myself and my friend travelled from Sunderland with an early start of 04:30 and we arrived to the Dream Castle partner hotel at around 20:30 to get checked in.
There are toilets on the coach and some companies even have hot food and drinks on sale. They do regular stops so you can get off and stretch your legs at the services so you aren’t stuck on the coach for the whole journey but be warned that travel time is about 16+ hours. Quicker than the ferry when you add in the drive time either side but without the freedom of being able to walk about during a big chunk of your travel time so perhaps not so good for young kids or babies. We sat and watched films I’d downloaded from Netflix on my tablet and ate loads of snacks so it wasn’t too bad.
It worked out that we did one day’s travel, two full days in the parks then another full day of travel home. National holidays was a very reasonable price and if you like someone else to take care of everything, this is the option for you. You literally turn up to the bus stop with your bag, passport and snacks and let them do the hard work.
Drive/Train and Eurostar
This is probably going to be one of the most expensive ways to get to Disney but like I’ve said with all options, you have to way up the pros and cons. You could get the train from NE to London St Pancras or another Eurostar terminal (currently only St Pancras is operating) and take the 2h15 journey directly to the Disney Village and get the free buses from there – Disney and partner hotels have free daily buses to Disneyland in the Disney Village so check your hotel – or you could get a taxi/further train as needed. This is a good option if you don’t want to fly but you don’t want the hassle of driving or being on a coach for a long time and it takes you directly in to the Disney Village – no other options get you from England straight in to the Disney bubble.
Park Tickets
Now, if you’re getting any sort of package (either direct through Disney’s website or flying/coach with a travel company such as National Holidays) you won’t need to book your park tickets separately BUT it’s still good to know your options for next time.
You can buy your tickets separately either from Disney or Attraction Tickets Direct but did you know that you can get annual passes for Disney? There are different levels of service but generally, if you’re buying your tickets separately, it’s worth looking into getting an annual pass as it may be cheaper if you’re going to be in Disneyland for 4/5 days or more in a year. You can also get certain discounts and benefits such as 10% off in Disney restaurants and shops plus free parking. That said, research this well as there are different blackout dates for different levels of tickets and certain terms and conditions you need to know about. Read this guide to get an idea of what is involved.
It’s not straightforward to buy a pass: you can buy when you are in the park but you will need a day ticket to get in and visit the annual pass office (day ticket is discounted from your pass price), over the phone (charges involved) or you can book online (free) but only through the French website. I would definitely go for the online option and I’d recommend watching L&R Dreaming’s video on their experience and how to do it.
Overall things to consider:
– what is the price per person or per group?
– what is the overall travel time and how much of it is spent confined to a seat?
– what is the level of comfort of that travel options for you and your party?
– how much and what type of luggage are you taking and what is the weight of it?
– what terminal or service is closest to you?
– getting to your ‘out’ location (such as an airport or ferry) and then once you’ve arrived, how will you get you and your luggage to your hotel?
– if you’re driving, are you covered on your insurance, do you have a French driving pack (GB sticker, breakdown kit etc), how much will fuel cost?
– are you taking any food? What are the restrictions?
Hopefully all of this will help you make an informed decision on your holiday to Disneyland Paris.
Two final bits of advice I have to offer you is, if you’re booking direct with Disney, price up your booking on the Disney Ireland site as for some reason it’s cheaper to pay in euros. Simply find the Union Jack flag at the top or bottom of the screen and click on it to select a country and find Ireland. Lastly, join a Facebook group such as Disneyland Paris for Brits for more tips and tricks to maximise your Disneyland Paris fun 😀
That’s all folks (sorry Disney, I know this is a Warner Bros reference but I’ve mentioned you a lot in this post), hope I have opened your eyes to the full range of ways you can travel to the Disney Magic! 💫
Now get your ears on and get planning!
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