Overview

As a wheelchair/scooter user with a young child, I'm pretty tired of going to attractions where I have to hang around and watch while he and his dad take part (whether that's going on rides or exploring places with lots of steps). But Disneyland Paris was different - I went on everything I wanted to! Basically, as long as you can transfer from a wheelchair to a chair on the ride, you're good to go on almost all the rides. There are one or two where you also need to be able to manage a couple of steep steps down into a low car (Hyperspace Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean, for example), but just being able to transfer means you can go on a pretty hardcore rollercoaster (Thunder Mountain) and on Star Tours, a simulator ride that is probably the best thing in the park. I guess there would be less on offer if you needed to stay in your wheelchair on a ride, but I did go on one (Buzz Lightyear) where there was a wheelchair place. There are good deals for disabled visitors, but they're not made all that visible on the website, which is where Euan's Guide comes in! Make sure you do the following: - Get a free ticket for an able-bodied adult designated as the helper for the disabled visitor. You need to do this at the park itself, but you can buy the disabled guest's own ticket in advance. The disabled visitor and the helper both need to be present at the ticket kiosk, and you'll need proof of disability like a blue parking badge and photo ID such as passports for both of you. - Get a green accessibility pass for the disabled visitor and everyone else in the party. This has to be done in a separate place from the ticket kiosk, so it's a bit of a faff, but it's really worth it. Go to the disabled pass window next to the 'Donald Desk' in the entrance area, and hand over your proof of disability, your tickets for the park and ID such as passports for everyone in your party. There could well be a long wait while the Disneyland staff member slowly and painstakingly checks that everything is in order and fills some forms in by hand, but once you've got your green pass, the world is your oyster. Everyone in your party (within reason) will be able to skip the main queues and get into the rides quickly through a different entrance - it's brilliant.

Transport & Parking

We stayed at a hotel in Bussy St Georges, a couple of train stops away from Disneyland on the RER commuter line, and going by train worked well - cheaper and easier than using the Disneyland. There are lifts from street level to the platform, but if you're a wheelchair/scooter user you do have to make yourself known to the staff at the station's ticket kiosk each time before going down to the platform so they can arrange for someone to set up a ramp onto the train.

Access

For me the disabled access was great. The paths around the park are good and you can go on almost all the rides as long as you can transfer from your wheelchair to a seat.

Toilets

I used two accessible loos: one which was a wide cubicle in a general ladies' loo (this seems to be quite common in France) and another in its own room. Both were clean and had good enough rails for me, although I think if you had a higher degree of mobility impairment you might have been after something a bit different - which may well be available somewhere on the park but I didn't have reason to seek out.

Staff

It was a little slow and cumbersome getting the right tickets and passes sorted out at the beginning, but you can't fault the staff on the rides - they are friendly, well-trained and keen to help you get on and enjoy yourself.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

Having recently been to a UK theme park which really needed to pull its socks up, I was relieved and impressed at the quality of the accessibility information at Disneyland Paris. Make sure you download the excellent smartphone app that gives access information for each ride (as well as live updates on the queue lengths for anyone who doesn't have a green disabled pass). One more tip: we ended up doing so much that near the end, my scooter battery ran out! You can rent manual wheelchairs but they're a bit expensive at 20 euros, so we just put the scooter on manual and my partner gave me a push for the last few minutes and to the train back to the hotel. Another time I'd take along a spare battery or get one of the lithium ones that lasts longer.