After visiting northeastern Italy and watching mom and dad play water polo for several days in Barcelona, the girls were itching for some true playtime. And is there any better playtime than two full days at Disney? In this post, we will be walking you through our time at Disneyland Paris including the rides that were worth the lines, and the rides that just aren’t worth the hype.
Before we dive into the breakdown of each ride, we have to highlight a truly magical moment for our youngest at Disneyland Paris: she lost her very first tooth!
We had a friend tell us we could go to guest services at the front of the park and get a celebration pin. Unfortunately, the only thing they had for her was a park map for kids. Maybe we asked the wrong way, or they just don’t do pins like that at the Paris park. Maybe you’ll have better luck than us if your kiddo also experiences the magic of losing their first tooth at Disney!
Fun fact we weren’t aware until our child lost her tooth in France, but France doesn’t have a tooth fairy. They have La Petite Souris, or The Little Mouse. Our youngest was fortunate to have been visited by La Petite Souris, who left 5 euro under her pillow in exchange for the tooth!
Disneyland: rides you can’t miss
No height restrictions
It’s a Small World: a Disney staple that, believe it or not, we had never experienced at any Disney park we had visited. We absolutely loved it! It is a slow ride that takes you through different areas of the world, with characters singing “It’s a Small World”. The girls were enamored the entire ride. This is one ride we recommend visiting if you haven’t experienced it before, or if you’re looking for a ride with a reasonable line.
Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast: if you’ve been to Disneyland in California, this ride is the same as Buzz Lightyear Astros Blasters and just as fun. This is an interactive ride where you’re taken on a mission to save the universe from Zurg’s evil plans by shooting targets with lasers. This is a fun ride for all especially those that are competitive in nature.
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81 cm (~32”/~2’ 8”) or above
Autopia: our kids loved jumping in the driver’s seat and driving race cars around the track of Autopia. However, if your kids are anything like our youngest, you may want to be the one in charge of the steering wheel.
1.02 m (~40″/~3’4″) or above
Big Thunder Mountain: Big Thunder Mountain is a Disney staple, and the first ride we sought out when we visited Disneyland Paris. This is a must, even if the line is daunting. It provides the perfect amount of adrenaline, and fun for all ages. Our friend, who doesn’t care for the “drop”-type roller coasters, even found this coaster enjoyable. Highly recommend!
Disneyland: rides to skip if you get motion sickness
No height restrictions
Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups: pulling the exact description from Tackling Tokyo Disney, “spinning teacups while also spinning around the attraction. Not a great ride if you get motion sickness. The girls always want to do these kinds of rides, so Austen and I usually play ‘nose goes’ to see who draws the short stick to ride with the girls.” Austen lost this round so he unfortunately had to ride the teacups with the girls while I got to sit by and watch. It was hot so I guess he got a good breeze as he whipped around in the teacups. I just enjoyed my time in the shade…
Disneyland: rides kids love, but you can skip if don’t have time
No height restrictions
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant: this is the same ride we did at Disney Tokyo; the typical ride that takes riders around in a circle, but you can adjust how high the elephant flies throughout the ride. We just could not justify waiting for an hour in line to ride it, so we didn’t. However, since we have ridden it at other parks, we felt we could speak to it here in this post as well since it is the same ride.
- Le Carrousel de Lancelot: this is your standard carousel. There is nothing special about it, but our girls always want to ride one when they see them so, here we are. Is the line worth the wait? We would argue ‘no’, but our kids always have such a great time, so their excitement does make the line marginally better.
- Peter Pan’s Flight: similar to the comment we made in the Tackling Tokyo Disney post, “This is a pretty tame ride…” but unlike Tokyo, this ride in Paris had the longest wait time of any ride at the park: 90 minutes! It is not worth the long wait. In the words of our youngest, “why did we have to wait so long for such a short ride?” If the line is short during your visit, go for it but if the line is showing longer than 30 minutes, skip it.
- Les Voyages de Pinocchio: this is the same ride mentioned in the Tackling Tokyo Disney post and we share the same feelings, “eh, this one was okay. The kids enjoyed it but it’s just a slow ride that takes you through different scenes of Pinocchio. To be honest, we only remembered the high-level points of the story so some of it, we were a little lost. If you have 15-20 minutes to spare (line and ride are fairly short), this is a good filler but otherwise, we think this one can be skipped.”
Disneyland: other experiences/attractions
Frontierland Playground: if you’re looking for a way for the kids to burn off some energy and get a break from the long lines, we recommend a stop at the Frontierland Playground. The kids had a blast climbing the various obstacles throughout the playground, and we appreciated having a shady spot to sit, relax, and enjoy a quick snack.
La Cabane des Robinson: we really didn’t see a point to this attraction. You climb a bunch of stairs to the top of a tree house and then climb right on back down. There is a spyglass in one section, but the kids weren’t able to see much through it. There are also some treehouse ‘rooms’ throughout which gave the illusion someone or something lived there, but there wasn’t much to this. You can just skip this one.
Disney Adventure Park: rides you can’t miss
No height restrictions
We highly recommend this ride! Frozen Ever After opened in late March 2026 and it is definitely worth the hype. We had gone on a similar Frozen-themed ride while in Tokyo, but we are happy to report that it’s not the same one. Although we did get the fast pass both times, the line at the Paris park was significantly shorter. When we were in Tokyo, the lines were consistently exceeding 120 minutes in the rain (we even saw 180 minutes at one point!), but we never saw the Paris ride top more than 80 minutes. If you love Frozen, you will adore this ride. If you don’t love Frozen, you’ll still be in for a treat!
Spider-Man W.E.B. Adventure: this is honestly such a fun ride! You are placed in a vehicle, and your mission is to help Spiderman destroy as many spider bots as possible. Similar to Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast described above, this is a really fun ride for all especially those that are competitive in nature. The line was fairly long for this one, but we sucked it up and did it twice because of how much the kids, and admittedly, us adults enjoyed it.
1.02 m (~40″/~3’4″) or above
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror: it doesn’t matter which Disney Park we’re visiting, Tower of Terror will always be sought out, and we will wait any amount of time to ride it. The line was so short at the Disneyland Paris park, that our 5-year-old rode it five times; one as a family, one with dad, and three with mom!
1.2 m (~47″/~3’11”) or above
Avengers Assemble: Flight Force: get ready for the ultimate adrenaline rush! Unfortunately, our youngest wasn’t tall enough to ride this rollercoaster but our oldest was. This ride is full of twists, a 360-loop, and speed. At the start of the ride, hold on tight because it immediately slingshots you into the fun. Be aware that your head will bobble around a little, so watch those ears against the restraints and if you get motion sick, you may want to pop the Dramamine beforehand. Although we get motion sick, this one wasn’t too bad but we did want to make you aware of the twists and turns that may not sit well with some.
Disney Adventure Park: rides worth visiting, but you may get motion sickness
No height restrictions
Ratatouille: L’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy: although we loved this ride and it had such a cute concept of seeing the ride from the perspective of a mouse, a lot of this ride is virtual reality, and you’re jerked in different directions when moving from room to room. Our kiddos had a blast, but it did make us parents a little queasy. If you can handle VR and quick movements, this one is definitely worth experiencing. However, if you are like us, you may want to take the Dramamine beforehand.
Disney Adventure Park: rides kids love, but you can skip if don’t have time
No height restrictions
Les Tapis Volants – Flying Carpets Over Agrabah®: Don’t let the picture fool you. This one was rough for us because we allowed our girls to sit in the front of the carpet and control the height of the flight. Dumb. They were yelling at each other the whole time and jerking the carpet up and down two inches at a time. It was nauseating. 10/10 do not recommend allowing full control for a 5- and 7-year-old that are already hot and tired.
HOWEVER, we have ridden this ride before in Tokyo, so we’re just copying what we said over there in that post: “this is another one of those rides that you can control the height of your vehicle while you spin around in a big circle. This was a great ride to go on with our 4-year-old when one of us parents went to some of the bigger rides with our 6-year-old. A great filler ride with a short line that our 4-year-old just loves!”
Where to stay
It’s worth mentioning the Chessy apartment we stayed at that was only a 20-minute walk to the park. When we first started looking at Disneyland Paris, we started looking at the Disney hotels on site. If you have visited a Disney park before, then you know the Disney hotel stays can be quite expensive, so we started looking into nearby AirBnBs to see if the prices were more reasonable. Not only were some of the nearby stays cheaper, but they were also much bigger than a single hotel room.
The apartment we found accommodated eight total people (2 families in all: our family and our friend’s family). Each room in the apartment was decked out with stuffed animals and Disney characters, and the living room was filled with children’s toys. When we weren’t at Disneyland, the kids had a great time playing at the apartment. We highly recommend staying here!
How does this Disney stack up to others?
Although we had a great time, this park did not stack up to others we have visited. It could have been the weather (rainy one day, very hot the other), or the fact that the vast majority of the rides at this park are identical to other parks (…and not even the really good ones), but our kids mentioned going back to the apartment a few times to just play with toys.
But it is Disney and you can still expect to have an incredible time. If you have the opportunity to visit and only have one day, we recommend spending your time at Disney Adventure Park. Between Tower of Terror, Frozen Ever After, Avengers Assemble: Flight Force, Ratatouille, and Spiderman, you’re guaranteed to have a blast!
Oliver Family Adventures 
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