Theme park review: Disneyland Paris

Getting there
You can get to Disneyland Paris from London in three hours by train, or two hours from Ashford International, Kent. Visit the Eurostar website to plan your journey. If you want to drive over from the UK, go to the Disneyland Paris website for directions from Paris.

Soak up the atmosphere
Disneyland Paris is an exciting, hectic destination and absolutely brilliant fun for the kids. We went for the day, which I actually wouldn't advise - you need at least a weekend to do justice to this massive theme park. And probably longer if you plan to fit in The Walt Disney Studios Park too.

To avoid disappointed tears, I would strongly suggest paying a little extra for a Fast Pass ticket, which cuts the waiting time for the rides enormously.

The rides
The Disneyland Park is split into five main areas, each with its own rides and restaurants. Adventureland takes its theme from characters such as Indiana Jones and Aladdin. We, however, headed straight for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. All the rides display an age (and often height) limit and this was billed as over age three. However, my five-year-old charge found some of the scenes we sailed past quite alarming.

Frontierland is set in the Wild West at the time of the Gold Rush, and we gleefully jumped into our wagon for a thrilling ride on a runaway train. Again billed as over three years, I did find myself holding my son in a vice-like grip during the more hair-raising bits. In this part of the park you can also hitch a ride on the Disneyland Railroad, take a river trip or get spooked in the Phantom Manor.

Fantasyland is the best area for smaller children. Rides include, the Mad Hatter's Teacups, the (rather nauseating!) It's a Small World, and the one we plumped for, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, which, after waiting a thousand years to 'board' (no Fast Pass queue here) was short and disappointing. Peter Pan's flight was much more successful with our two small boys - and the grown-ups found it quite enchanting too.