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This article is the first in my Disneyland Paris series, where I’ll be sharing my experience travelling as a person with various disabilities, reviewing accessibility across the parks, documenting my journey on the Eurostar, and sharing practical advice for disabled travellers. If you enjoy it, please share it with someone who might be travelling soon!
This was my second time visiting DLP – the first having been in June of 2025, so I wasn’t sure how different it’d be. The first time I visited was 1 year post-op, which meant I wasn’t well enough to do as much as I was this time around. So, although it was my second time, there were plenty of ‘firsts’ to enjoy.
I was so honoured to be joined this time by one of my bestest friends (who also happens to be Neurodiverse) Phoebe. We went for 5 days in total – 3 days in the Disney parks, and 1 day either end for travel via Eurostar, through Lille, France.
When I shared with everyone that I was going back to DLP, I was repeatedly asked what I was most excited about and which rides I wanted to re-ride. Whilst I definitely did have a list, as a disabled traveller, my mind was racing to questions like ‘Would the journey be accessible?’, ‘are the parks still manageable with my current wheelchair setup?’ and ‘how would I manage my conditions, being outside of the UK?’ Travel with a disability is very involved – things that are ‘easy’ for a non-disabled person, can become a whole adventure for someone like me, so I definitely found myself on a few unexpected side quests.
After a jam-packed, action filled 5 days, I returned to the UK with over 1,500 photos and videos, a delightful amount of merch and plenty of thoughts about how to do Disney as a disabled person.
So buckle in, this will be a multi-part series about how I made this achievable for me, what I learnt, what worked well and what I’d do differently next time – and yes, you heard me right – I very much hope there will be next time!
This is the reality of experiencing the Euro Disney experience, as a disabled content creator, who is ambulatory, uses a wheelchair and has a stoma.
Getting There: The Eurostar Journey
I’ve been told so many times that there used to be a direct train between London St-Pancras and Disneyland Paris – I SO wish there still was, but sadly I had to take the route which went via Lille. This meant changing trains from Eurostar, over to a French InOui TGV.
I believe that holidays don’t begin when you reach your destination, but when you leave your front door. For disabled travellers like me, transport can often be the most stressful part of the experience. We opted to go by train, because it guaranteed no damage would occur to my wheelchair, something which every disabled person lives in fear of with busy aircraft terminals. In theory, it was all going to be straightforward…
From the perspective of ramps and lifts, it fairly well was. At London St-Pancras, the Eurostar team were quick to guide us through security, customs and on to the accessible train carriage via a lift system. There were a LOT of people boarding all at the same time, but that’s to be expected on such a large train. As long as I kept my eyes on Phoebe, and followed her, we managed to fight my way through the crowds. Once we got to the platform, Eurostar brought us a ramp to allow me to wheel onto the train and the Passenger Assistance team helped to ‘push’ me up the ramp when I asked at the London end.
However, good accessibility should be just about the ramps and lifts, its also about the confidence you have in being able to use them, as well as knowing where to go. I would say that throughout the whole process, there was a lack of explanation from the staff about what was coming next. This got so much worse once we reached Lille.
As we pulled into Lille, after a very quick 1.5 hours, there was a French Passenger Assistance person there to help us off the train which was a huge relief (anyone who’s ever been left on a train, knows the slight dread of ‘what if they don’t turn up’) but once down the ramp and our bags off, we were abandoned on the platform to find our way to the next train. We couldn’t see any staff to ask for direction, so in the end we resorted to going up to the main concourse. Once we reached it, we did attempt to ask for directions to Passenger Assistance – but there were very few English-speaking staff members anywhere to be found so we weren’t getting anywhere fast. Eventually, we learnt that all French train stations have a ‘tactile guide route’ on the floor, which shows you exactly where to go for assistance – this is great, if you know it’s there!
We made our way to ‘handicap assistance’ (also sometimes referred to as variations of ‘aides et dèmarches’) which was a small office type room, with some benches. We let the staff know which train we needed to change to and were told to sit until it came in. We opted to stay close to this office, rather than explore as it had been a bit of an adventure to find it, but we could see the popular Disney Primark outside at the shopping centre, and if you were feeling brave it seemed quite close to get to.
As our time to change train came closer, we found the communication by PA continued to be very short and we didn’t really know what was going on, until we heard the announcement that our TGV was the next one due to arrive, and followed a PA person down to the platform. As is typical with priority seating, we had to go to the opposite end of the train, so it was a very long, straight walk down to the far end, but quite manageable thanks to my power add-on and at this point, the Disney adrenaline was building.
Once we got there, we were gestured at to wait, as they assisted another disabled passenger onboard. I was troubled to watch this process and realise that the platform lift system that the station was using for this train had various safety catches which were not being used, resulting in the disabled person in front of me (who was not able to self-propel) almost sliding backwards off of the platform at one point, until PA caught them. Finally, my turn came around and again, the safety measures weren’t used – instead they were just ‘propped’ in place by the staff, which did not fill me or Phoebe with confidence.
Finally, we got onto the train, but there was no assistance to lift my bags onboard so I was very grateful that Phoebe was able to help with this and we entered a fairly tight carriage. These trains did have a nominated area for wheelchairs to fit, but it appeared to be designed for only one wheelchair at a time, so I took the small gap to one side, which was very tight. There was a flip down table at my height, but due to the angle to which I had to fit my chair, I couldn’t fit this against my knees for the majority of the journey. We also noticed that our tickets appeared to have a seat reservation, which obviously wasn’t relevant in my case, but meant Phoebe was sitting some way ahead of me, which was a bit frustrating considering I’d alerted the train company the day I booked the tickets, 6 weeks before. I genuinely think these carriages would be ok if there was only one wheelchair in them at any time, but having more than that it becomes a squeeze. There was a disabled toilet nearby, but I didn’t use it, as I couldn’t safely squish back out past everybody.
Once actually on board and moving, we noticed that the audio notifications were only in French for the most part, so some understand of the language and where you’re heading is useful, so you can pre-empt when you may need to get off. There was a train guard, who did come through to our carriage near to the Disney stop and checked that I was disembarking there. Pulling into this stop, there was a PA person who came and set-up a much more robust ramp system to get me off once more, and then helped with getting our bags through the station. Again, very little communication, but good service in terms of helping us to get through the station!
I have a lot more to say about the Eurostar train itself, but that feels like a separate article.
What I’d suggest to other disabled travellers:
– Arrive earlier than you think you need to to the train, I would suggest at least 1 hour for Eurostar.
– Keep a note on your phone of where you’re going, exactly where you need to change and your tickets handy. It may also be a good idea to use a translate tool to explain anything you might need staff to know, as you can just point at it rather than verbally trying to explain. For instance, ‘I need help with my suitcase’.
Hotel at DLP: Staying at the Ki Space
We opted to stay off-site, as I did this last time and I liked it. We found the Ki Space hotel, which had good ratings and was advertised as being a partner hotel of DLP with a shuttle, so it made sense! I have a lot to say and show you about this hotel, so that will be coming in a separate article. Overall, the shuttle bus system worked relatively well – there was a sign up which told you what times it went in each direction. The biggest downside here was that at the Ki Space end, there was no curb for the ramp to sit again, meaning it would be at a lethal gradient. There was no way I could wheel down it on my own without flipping out my chair, so I would either have to get Phoebes help or get out and walk the chair down the ramp. Not ideal by far. The other issue was that this bus quickly became obscenely crowded after the shows – we had an incident with this and both Phoebe and I got injured.
Once we arrived, the hotel was nice enough and clean. It had a spa and basic amenities such as a restaurant (we didn’t try eating there this time). The biggest frustration for me was that each of the hallways to the rooms were carpeted – it was the type of carpet that makes your wheelchair wheels vere to the wall, so it was a fight to get to our room, even with the power add-on. We also found that the hotel had a very unusual method to providing your room key, in the form of QR codes that you had to scan on your phone which could be tempremental.
There didn’t appear to be any ‘door hangers’, so there was no way to ask room service not to come in and when they did, on two occasions they left the door open and the TV on – not to mention, kept moving things for seemingly no reason. We had an accessible room, which was only available as a double bed set-up (a bit strange considering how often disabled people are likely to travel with carers) and the bathroom was a spacious wet room, but it had no shower chair. You couldn’t use the shower without soaking the toilet area – so our assumption was that they wanted you to sit on the toilet to use the shower… very, quirky!
All such things were overcomeable, but felt like the hotel was trying to say they ‘accomodate’ disabilities, without doing a whole lot to make it easier. I was the only wheelchair user that I saw during my stay and I wasn’t asked at any point if I needed help with anything or about things like a flashing fire alarm or similar, but I know France’s safety rules are different. When I did ask for the odd thing from the front desk, they were quite impossible to get hold of, English was very limited and it took a very long time to sort problems (on Day 2, we waited over 4 hours for some extra towels). As a non-disabled traveller, I think it would’ve been classed as an ‘ok’ hotel, as a disabled traveller, I’d be inclined to say unless you’re very self-sufficient there’s others that I would think do it better. This hotel is also quite in the middle of nowhere, so you can’t do much if you decide to not use the shuttle without a taxi.
The time finally came – Disney Parks
We had the BEST time in the parks. On day 1 we went to the main park and got my priority card. We then tried to as systematically as possible work our way around and we managed to go on lots of rides. The staff were lovely, we caught glimpses of some of the princesses and we got to go on rides neither of us have ever seen before such as Autopia.
I was a bit disapointed when we got to the castle to find that the lift inside was out of service, so I couldn’t go up the castle which was a highlight of my last visit but I also understand they need to do the work they’re doing on the castle. For the most part though, apart from the park being busy due to the nice whether being combined with the August holidays we had the loveliest day.
Day 2, we aimed for adventure world, and went straight to Frozen’s Arendelle, which WAS INCREDIBLE. I knew it would be good, but my breath was taken away. Jaw droppingly amazing. We loved this park, and had a good look around as well as met Anna and Elsa in the castle. before going back to Fantasyland in the main park that evening for priority viewing of the fireworks.
Day 3, we went back to adventure world in the morning and went back on some our favourite rides and just soaked up all the Disney glory, before heading Fantasyland for lunch – meeting Aladdin, and some more rides. In the evening, we popped to the water show in Arendelle an had a drink The Regal View which I highly recommend.
Disney Blues: Returning home
The sad time of us needing to go home came around, but we made sure to grab some breakfast in the Disney Village and do a spot of merch shopping before we did. We were truly weighed down with goodies but didn’t mind a bit!
Whilst we were shopping, we opted to leave our luggage at the lockers in the train station, which was a great idea and meant that we could carry more. The biggest downside of these were that they required you to put the bigger luggage in the top part of the lockers, rather than lower which I couldn’t do, so Phoebe helped me with this.
We then made our way to the PA 15 minutes before our TGV – it turns out, they prefer you to be there 45 minutes before so I did get into some trouble over this. Our train was delayed by 15 minutes, but then a very pleasant PA person helped us down to the platform and pulled my bag for me.
Once onboard, we had another wheelchair user in the same carriage again, so as with our outbound journey I fitted neatly into a tiny corner. It definitely isn’t particularly comfortable but it’s doable. We then set off, and once again announcements blared fuzzily in French but we weren’t entirely sure what was going on. We started to get texts from the French transport authority to say our train had been delayed and what should’ve been about 1 hours journey ended up being closer to two.
Eurostar had arranged it to we had 1 hour between our TGV and Eurostar, but by the time we go into Lille, we had about 15 minutes so the PA staff rushed frantically to get us off and through the elaborate and slow lift system to Passport control. This was all a bit of a rush and there was again very little English so it was stressful.
Once we go to passport control, the French passport office kept us in a line for about 20 minutes – we weren’t sure why, but the English office explained there was IT issues going on that day. Then came security, Phoebe was ushered through and helped me to take all the bags off my wheelchair. She went through the scanner and then was asked to move our stuff. When I shared that my Smoov couldn’t go through the scanner due to magnetism causing it to stop working (which had been the same case on the way into France and had no issue), we hit a problem. Nobody knew what to do and everyone spoke very broken English.
I said that I could stand and go through the scanner, but they’d need to check the Smoov seperately. This didn’t go down well and very quickly I was surrounded by people. Then border force turned up, as I was told I was being ‘oppositional’ so for about half an hour I was sat with the BF people, not allowed to go anywhere near Phoebe, who still had my bags and medication. The other thing was, they asked me to remove anything with metal in it, which included my hearing aids. So I really couldn’t hear but I wasn’t allowed to put them back on even when I asked. I’m not going to lie, this was scary and I was very puzzled as to what I’d done but I tried to be as helpful as I could be and stay calm.
After about 30 minutes, a female PA lady came along with gloves on and asked if she could pat me down, which I was happy for her to do and after this (which was very quick) I was allowed through to the platform. I still don’t really know what the issue was. At this point, we were easily 30 minutes late for Eurostar so we thought we’d missed it. However, we were told to go to the platform and low and behold it seems they held it for us to get on which we did.
However, because we were being rushed at this point, we weren’t able to stop at the Skiptax machine after customs – meaning that we didn’t get the same chance as everyone else to claim back our tax which was really frustrating(perhaps another article to write here…!).
However, we were grateful to be on the Eurostar, the team were lovely and gave us some tea – THE BEST tea after that, and I took some medication because I was just about done with stress. The journey otherwise then went smoothly, apart from running very late.
I don’t know if my experience was a one-off or if others have had issues at Lille, but the lack of communication about what was going on was definitely quite terrifying for both Phoebe and I.
What worked well:
– The train station outside Disney is easy to get to
– My wheelchair was treated nicely by everyone and it is all in one piece!
What could be better:
– Communication – surely there needs to be some English speakers, considering how many people are going to DLP.
– Understanding of Mobility equipment
– Eurostar need to allow a system for if disabled travellers trains have been delayed.
As a disabled traveller, I’m really not looking for perfection, I’m looking for understanding, assistance and being made to feel like it’s just as important that I get where I’m going as it is that anyone else does.
Unexpected Moments:
We had the loveliest time as a whole and some really sweet interactions which I can’t wait to tell you more about. On one of the days, I got rather squashed unintentionally in a crowd and lost my drink from my wheelchair. A cast member realised this, spoke to Phoebe and I and arranged for us to get a photo with Mickey Mouse which was such a lovely start to the day.
Another time, we helped to instruct somebody on where to go to make sure they could see the firework show at the castle and a cast member rewarded us with a collectable card. In the Avengers shop, we got chatting to the cashier and got Mickey stickers.
We also giggled practically non-stop, went back on the Frozen Ever-After ride no less than 3 times because it scared us in the MOST fun way. We took photos outside the castle, got to attend the Princess Pavillion to meet Belle and ate Mickey shaped everything.
What this trip taught me
Every adventure teachers you something new and this one reminded me how good it can be to lose yourself for a few days in just having fun for the sake of fun. I adore the attention to detail at Disneyland, and there’s something about it that really pleases my autistic side. Getting to experience that with a friend and go at our own pace was blissful.
I was able to spend three days making memories, rather than thinking about accessibility challenges – not because they weren’t there, but because we rolled with the punches as much as we could, we planned as well as we could beforehand and we allowed ourselves to get lost in the Disney spirit.
Were there elements that could’ve made the trip better? Yes, absolutely – and disabled people shouldn’t have to ‘put up’ with being injured on the shuttle, being made unwell by the stress of some situations or being held by border force on account of their wheelchair – BUT, we made the best of what we had. Now I just hope these companies learn from it.
So please, if you’ve read this far, help me to get Eurostar, Ki Space and Disneylands attention, so we can make this trip more accessible for everyone and most importantly – accessible on our own if we want it to be.
Access means equity. The real magic isn’t everyone getting a perfect experience, it’s making sure everyone has the opportunity to experience the magic in a way that they enjoy.
