Social News Assistant Editor Samantha Bartlett took her toddler to Disneyland, Paris, and didn’t expect that she’d have to fork out so much cash for some bubbles
Taking your child to Disneyland, Paris, is something most parent dreams of when they have kids. However, if you’re planning to take your little one to Disney anytime soon, then I suggest you start saving up for the trip now.
Of course, we all know the accessories on sale at Disneyland aren’t going to be cheap, but I was left a little startled by just how expensive a few things were when I went there with my toddler last week. Getting prepared, I ordered us some mouse ears online before we went there as I knew my three-year-old would want some and they would be expensive in the theme park. However, when I went to pack, I had completely misplaced his ears – something I knew would be a costly mistake.
Of course, as soon as we started walking up to the park and he saw everyone wearing mouse ears, he had to have some. I offered him mine but then when he saw the other sparkly versions on sale, he decided he wanted to pick his own. These will set you back €25 (£22) each, so they don’t come cheap – especially if you have more than one child.
He was happy with his ears, however once he saw some other kids with the Disney bubbles he just had to have those too. He is madly into Spider-Man at the moment and had his heart set on those bubbles, which were again another €25, plus another €2 (£1.70) for a bubble refill.
As he chomped his way through an €8 (£7) popcorn and a €4.50 (£4) ice cream, things were starting to add up.
It was then onto lunch and my little one and his dad had hotdogs, which were €10 (£9) each and then €3.59 (£3) for fries and a €3.49 50cl drink. Meanwhile, I opted for a vegan chilli, which was €8 (£7), but was very tasty.
We also treated ourselves to some chocolate-covered waffles later in the day, which I think were around €5 (£4.30) each.
The only other thing we spent out on were some fast passes for one of the rides. You can pay €90 (£80) to get you on all of the rides quicker, however we didn’t bother with that, considering our toddler couldn’t go on everything and that’s nearly the same price our ticket cost. Instead, you can also buy individual fast track passes for a ride of your choice, which we did for Orbitron, which cost us €5 (£4.30) for both adults.
So all in all, we did spend quite a lot, however, having only one child, it did make things a bit cheaper. I didn’t actually know that Disneyland also allows you to bring in your own food into the park, so if you’re prepared, you might want to pack lunch and snacks if you want to save a bit of cash there.
Those who are planning to take a toddler may want to do what we did and take them just before their third birthday as they get in for free up until they’re three. My little man managed to stay awake the whole time we were there from 10:30am to 6:30pm at night and enjoy himself on the rides, but if he was any younger I do think he would have struggled a bit with the long day and would have had to have a nap.
As well as Disneyland, he also travelled on the Eurostar free, which they can do up until they’re four.
So am I a bit sore about paying £22 for bubbles? Well yes, it wasn’t ideal. But to be fair, they made his day and brought him joy, and as parents, we know that’s priceless!