Disneyland Paris from London

Published 28 September 2026 · By the Guide to London editorial team · Editor: Terje Moy

There is no through train from London to Disneyland Paris any more. Eurostar's own route for the park is now a direct train to Lille Europe in 1 hour 22 minutes and a change onto a French TGV to Marne-la-Vallée–Chessy, which takes just over an hour: 2 hours 59 minutes in total at best, on one booking. Add the 75 minutes Eurostar wants you at St Pancras and it is four and a half hours door to gate, which is why we would not do this as a day trip.

Marne-la-Vallée–Chessy station sits a two-minute walk from the park entrance, so once you are on French soil the journey is easier than almost any airport transfer. The difficulty is all in the middle: a change of train at a station you have never seen, with a connection the booking system chooses for you and a train that will not wait.

Our guide to Eurostar from London covers the classes, the luggage and the border checks; our Lille day trip page explains the station where you change. This page is about the Disneyland journey: how long it really takes, what a family pays for the travel, and whether to stay over.

What the change at Lille adds

Eurostar's instructions for the change are short, and worth learning before you are standing on the platform with two tired children. You arrive at Lille Europe, go up to the main concourse and read the departures board. Platforms are normally shown about twenty minutes before a train leaves. Then you go back down to platform level and board the TGV to Marne-la-Vallée–Chessy. Doors close two minutes before departure.

The booking system only offers you connections that leave enough time, and it suggests two trains that work rather than letting you pick a four-minute change. Staff are on hand at Lille Europe. In practice the change takes fifteen to twenty-five minutes of standing about, and the awkward part is that Lille Europe's concourse is a level above the platforms, so you go up and then down again with your luggage.

Nothing about the border happens at Lille. The UK exit check, the French entry check and the security screening are all done at St Pancras before you board in London, which is why the 75 minutes there is not optional.

Why a day trip does not work

Do the arithmetic on a single day. You need to be at St Pancras 75 minutes before a morning departure, then travel just under three hours, then walk two minutes. Coming back you need to be at Marne-la-Vallée–Chessy in time for the TGV, which means leaving the park before the evening show, and then repeat the three hours.

On a realistic early train and a realistic evening return, that leaves about six hours inside the park, and you arrive well after opening. Six hours is enough for one of the two parks at a walk, not both, and not enough for the rides most children have come for. You will also be on a train at bedtime.

One night turns it into a proper visit: a full afternoon on the day you arrive and a full day after that, with the evening show and the parade both on the same trip. Two nights is better still if you want both parks. If a single day out with children is what you actually want, our list of day trips from London that work with children has options that fit one.

What a family of four pays for the travel

Eurostar's advertised lead-in fare is £39 one way per adult in Standard, subject to availability, so two adults travelling out and back start at about £156 if every leg is at the lowest price. Children under four travel free on an adult's lap and do not need their own ticket; if you want a seat for a toddler, or you are travelling alone with more than one small child, a paid child ticket guarantees one.

Child tickets on this route cost less than adult tickets, but Eurostar prices by availability rather than by a fixed discount, so the only way to know is to search your dates with the ages you are actually travelling with. Two adults and two children of primary-school age, booked well ahead, is realistically a few hundred pounds return. Booked the week before, it can be double.

Two cost rules apply whatever the date. Search as a group of four rather than pricing one adult and multiplying, because Eurostar releases its cheapest fares in limited numbers per train and fills a booking from the cheapest band upwards. And book early: this is a route where the difference between six weeks out and six days out is the largest single saving available to you.

The park ticket, and why we do not print a price

Disneyland Paris sells dated tickets whose price changes by day, with one-park and two-park options and separate multi-day tickets, and the park's own booking pages would not load for us when we checked in September 2026. We are not going to guess at a figure that changes every week.

What we can tell you is the shape of the budget. For a family of four, the park tickets are normally a larger line than the travel, and a two-park ticket costs meaningfully more than a one-park one. Buy them for the dates you are actually going before you leave home, not at the gate, and check whether your dates fall in a French school holiday, which is the single biggest factor in how long you will queue.

If the reason for the trip is a theme park rather than this theme park, compare the cost with what is on London's doorstep. Legoland Windsor is an hour from Waterloo and works as a day; Thorpe Park and Chessington are closer still; and the Warner Bros. Studio Tour is a different kind of day out altogether, twenty minutes from Euston.

The Paris alternative, and when it is better

Eurostar's other suggestion is to take the direct train to Paris Gare du Nord and finish the journey on the RER. Marne-la-Vallée–Chessy is the eastern terminus of RER line A, and from central Paris the ride takes around forty minutes.

This is the better route in exactly one case: when you want Paris as well. It costs you more total travelling time than the Lille change, it involves crossing Paris with luggage, and the station is outside the central fare zones, so the RER ticket costs more than a city ticket. Check the current fare on Île-de-France Mobilités rather than assuming a Paris day pass covers it.

If you are tempted to bolt a day in the city onto the trip, read our Paris for the day page first. Doing Paris and the park on the same short break is how families end up seeing neither properly.

Passports, the ETA and travelling with small children

Every traveller needs a passport in both directions, including babies. Eurostar says so explicitly, and an identity card is not accepted. British passport holders should check the Schengen validity rules on gov.uk: issued less than ten years before you arrive, valid for at least three months after you leave, and visa-free stays capped at 90 days in any 180-day period.

Coming back into Britain, most visitors who do not need a UK visa need an Electronic Travel Authorisation, and every member of the family needs their own, including children and babies. It costs £20 each, lasts two years or until the passport expires, and covers unlimited trips. Our page on the UK Electronic Travel Authorisation sets out who is exempt.

On board, pushchairs have to be folded and stored in the luggage racks, and every Eurostar train has baby-changing facilities. Getting the pushchair to St Pancras in the first place is the harder part in London: see our guide to getting around London with a pushchair, and our King's Cross and St Pancras station guide for where the Eurostar entrance is.

Timing the trip, and the two dates that matter

Eurostar sells these tickets up to 180 days before your return date, with available days shown in black in the booking calendar and unreleased dates greyed out. The park publishes its own calendar of opening hours and show times, which change by season and are shorter in winter.

Line those two calendars up before you book anything. The pattern that goes wrong is booking cheap trains first and then discovering that the park closes at 18:00 on your dates, or that a show you have promised the children only runs at weekends. Our checklist of what to book before you go covers the order to do things in, and our guide to London with kids has the London end of a family trip. For everything else within reach of the capital, see our day trips from London.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a direct train from London to Disneyland Paris?

No. Eurostar's own route for the park is a direct train to Lille Europe in 1 hour 22 minutes, then a connecting TGV to Marne-la-Vallée–Chessy that takes just over an hour. Both trains are sold as a single Eurostar booking, and the fastest total journey time is 2 hours 59 minutes.

How long does it take to get from London to Disneyland Paris by train?

Two hours 59 minutes at best, plus the 75 minutes Eurostar asks Standard and Plus passengers to be at St Pancras, plus the change at Lille. Plan on four and a half hours from arriving at the London station to walking through the park gates.

Can you do Disneyland Paris as a day trip from London?

You can, but we would not. A realistic early train and evening return leave about six hours in the park, arriving after opening and leaving before the evening show, with a three-hour journey at bedtime. One night makes it a proper visit; two nights if you want both parks.

What happens if I miss my connection at Lille?

Eurostar and SNCF have an agreement that puts you on the next available train at no extra cost when your first train runs late. The connecting TGV will not wait for a delayed Eurostar, so go to the staff at Lille Europe rather than the platform, and expect to lose an hour rather than a day.

Do children need a passport for Disneyland Paris?

Yes. Eurostar requires a valid passport for every traveller in both directions, including babies, and an identity card is not accepted. Each child also needs their own UK Electronic Travel Authorisation, at £20, if they are returning to Britain and are not British or Irish.

Sources

• Eurostar - London to Disneyland Paris train tickets, route and connection (checked September 2026)
• Eurostar - Fares and fees, exchange and refund conditions (checked September 2026)
• Eurostar - Travelling with babies and toddlers under four (checked September 2026)
• Eurostar - Check-in and recommended arrival times (checked September 2026)
• GOV.UK - France travel advice: entry requirements (checked September 2026)
• GOV.UK - Apply for an Electronic Travel Authorisation (checked September 2026)