Train help for American heading to Disneyland Paris

bajadahl

I am the Pirate your mom warned you about!!!
Joined
Feb 10, 2012
Help.... I apologize because I am feeling a bit overwhelmed....

We have booked a cruise next summer out of Barcelona. This has been booked for well over a year and we have a decent plan for our cruise, however, We are now trying to squeeze a few days in Paris and Disneyland Paris before the cruise but I need help figuring out how to get around.

As it stands now we are planning to land in Paris at 8:15am on July 2nd (Charles De Gaulle). We will then spend 2 days in Paris before traveling to Disneyland and staying for 2 more nights at Disney. On the 6th we need to catch a train to Barcelona. We board our ship for the cruise on the 7th.

I am having a heck of a time figuring out what train I can take to get me to and from Disneyland. It looks like there is a train station (or two) near the Disney property but it doesn't look like either of those have any routes that go to Barcelona directly or even allow me to route through another major city. So it looks like I am on my own to figure out a train schedule from Disney back to Paris and then onto Barcelona.

It appears that there is a train station in Paris (Paris Gare Lyon) that has a high speed train to Barcelona (Sants) daily or most days and several times during the day.

Can someone better familiar with the Paris Train system tell me if there is a train from the Stations near Disney that will get me to the Paris Gare Lyon Station to catch the high speed train to Barcelona? Am I thinking about this correctly? I am also worried that we will have luggage with us because my teen daughters don't understand the concept of travel light.....

Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
So, I am not Pairs train pro myself but I just did some quick googling... (as a German I am used to using trains and actually spend a fair amount of time this summer fingering out how to get from CDG to DLP)

I think the train „tickets“ for your dates aren’t released yet. (I think they will be released about 3-4 month out) At least I was unable to check your exact dates but I checked for some random dates....

Yes, there should be a train leaving from Paris Gare de lyon going strait to Barcelona (6h44). (And I think that will be the easiest train connection for you)
You can easily take the RER from the train station at DLP to Paris Gare de Lyon its even a direct connection. There is just one train station next to DLP but it serves the „local commuter“ trains (RER) and the long distance high speed trains like the TGV.

I don’t know about the luggage... when I used the TGV (CDG to DLP) we only had carry-on bags and the 9 min train ride was hardly enough to get to our seats... but I think I recall seeing some luggage racks. Maybe someone using the TGV more often (maybe even with luggage) can give some first hand experience...
but I don’t think the French don’t travel with luggage if they take the train...

I hope I was able to help a little...
Your planned trip sounds like a lot of fun for sure!
 
So, I am not Pairs train pro myself but I just did some quick googling... (as a German I am used to using trains and actually spend a fair amount of time this summer fingering out how to get from CDG to DLP)

I think the train „tickets“ for your dates aren’t released yet. (I think they will be released about 3-4 month out) At least I was unable to check your exact dates but I checked for some random dates....

Yes, there should be a train leaving from Paris Gare de lyon going strait to Barcelona (6h44). (And I think that will be the easiest train connection for you)
You can easily take the RER from the train station at DLP to Paris Gare de Lyon its even a direct connection. There is just one train station next to DLP but it serves the „local commuter“ trains (RER) and the long distance high speed trains like the TGV.

I don’t know about the luggage... when I used the TGV (CDG to DLP) we only had carry-on bags and the 9 min train ride was hardly enough to get to our seats... but I think I recall seeing some luggage racks. Maybe someone using the TGV more often (maybe even with luggage) can give some first hand experience...
but I don’t think the French don’t travel with luggage if they take the train...

I hope I was able to help a little...
Your planned trip sounds like a lot of fun for sure!


Thank you so much for the reply B3rlingirl. I will check out the RER site to make sure I figure out the train schedule.

yep - luggage is my biggest fear at this point. I have bad memories of luggage woes when I lived in Germany a long long time ago.... not sure how they run in Europe these days but back in the 80's the trains stayed on schedule! We moved to Germany in 82 and took the train from Frankfurt to Fulda. Unfortunately while we were loading our luggage for a family of 5 onto the train the doors closed and the train left on time. My mom was pretty frantic. My dad's briefcase with our passports and pretty much everything of value was on that train. Long story short... An employee radioed ahead about the silly Americans and our luggage was removed from the train at the proper stop and was just stacked up neatly waiting for us to arrive on the next train. I moved back to the US in 1985 and haven't been back... So I am super excited to finally be visiting Europe again to celebrate my oldest daughters high school graduation.

If I can get my family down to 1 bag each I won't worry so much but that's a big IF....

So I am very curious - I see in your signature that you planned to visit DL for Thanksgiving this year? Was that DL California or did you use DL as shorthand for Disney Paris? The reason I was curious is that we were at DL California for Thanksgiving this year... and I was just thinking it's a very small world indeed! Of course maybe you were referring to Germany's Thanksgiving "Erntedankfest" which I see is in October. I'm trying really hard not to be an inconsiderate American that thinks everything revolves around American dates.....

Anyway, Thanks again for your reply!
 
As already mentioned there is 1 train station at the gates of DLP - Marne la Vallee/Chessy but there are different sections of it.

The RER is the commuter train from central Paris and connects to the metro system.
Marne la Vallee is the last/first stop on the line so when you get on to go back to Gare de Lyon you should be able to get a seat easily however as it is the train used for commuters it does get very busy at rush hour times so I would avoid travelling at those times with a lot of luggage if possible or you may not be popular (There is no luggage space on these trains you just keep it with you)
The trains runs every few minutes and as mentioned Gare de Lyon is one of the stops. Have a look at this map - its line A (Red)
Dont be fooled by the small number of stops between Gare de Lyon and M la V as the map only shows Central Paris stops - there are a lot more and shows the metro as well.
The 2nd map is just the RER so shows all stops



https://parisbytrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/paris-metro-map-2019.pdf
https://parisbytrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/rer.pdf
How are you planning to get from your hotel in Paris to DLP? Are you using the RER then as well or getting a private transfer?

Im sorry I cant tell you about the train down to Barcelona but your other possibility is to go back to Charles de Gualle and fly down
 


My feeling is there are more delays in France then there are in Germany. Germany is known for punctuality, but in general trains go on time.

If I were you, I would send your family videos of how to pack as economically as possible. And make it very clear: You are responsible for taking your own luggage from A to B, the more you pack, the more you have to carry around (small children and elderly people excluded ;-) ) I love travelling by train from Amsterdam to Disneyland Paris. Now that it's a direct route. It's so relaxing, you just get in and a few hours later you are there. The seats are more comfortable, you can easily walk around, having snacks or a meal is much easier. I would bring your own food at the station, cause the on board restaurant is too expensive for what they offer. If you are travelling with a family, you can sit opposite each other instead of next to each other. Playing games, etc.

Have fun!
 
Thank you so much for the reply B3rlingirl. I will check out the RER site to make sure I figure out the train schedule.

yep - luggage is my biggest fear at this point. I have bad memories of luggage woes when I lived in Germany a long long time ago.... not sure how they run in Europe these days but back in the 80's the trains stayed on schedule! We moved to Germany in 82 and took the train from Frankfurt to Fulda. Unfortunately while we were loading our luggage for a family of 5 onto the train the doors closed and the train left on time. My mom was pretty frantic. My dad's briefcase with our passports and pretty much everything of value was on that train. Long story short... An employee radioed ahead about the silly Americans and our luggage was removed from the train at the proper stop and was just stacked up neatly waiting for us to arrive on the next train. I moved back to the US in 1985 and haven't been back... So I am super excited to finally be visiting Europe again to celebrate my oldest daughters high school graduation.

If I can get my family down to 1 bag each I won't worry so much but that's a big IF....

So I am very curious - I see in your signature that you planned to visit DL for Thanksgiving this year? Was that DL California or did you use DL as shorthand for Disney Paris? The reason I was curious is that we were at DL California for Thanksgiving this year... and I was just thinking it's a very small world indeed! Of course maybe you were referring to Germany's Thanksgiving "Erntedankfest" which I see is in October. I'm trying really hard not to be an inconsiderate American that thinks everything revolves around American dates.....

Anyway, Thanks again for your reply!
That’s certainly an „exiting“ memory and a reason to be a little uncomfortable about luggage... at least in Germany times have changed though... I don’t think something like that can happen easily nowadays...(but nevertheless when we are loading much luggage onto the train we always have one person on the plattform, one person loading and one inside the train...)
oh, and if you would ask anyone in the streets about punctuality of Germans trains you would be surprised how bad the reputation is... but don’t be fooled, we just like to complain a lot about such stuff because it “used to” be better... but in reality it isn’t soo bad and trains usually run on time..

and yes... I was at DL in California this year for Thanksgiving. It was my first time celebrating the American Thanksgiving (I celebrated the Candadian Thanksgiving a couple years ago when I did an exchange year). I enjoyed the thanksgiving dinner at storytellers and had 5 great park days afterwards...(it has been my first solo trip)
Yes, it’s a small world after all...
 
Thank you all for the replies... I already feel a little better about getting this trip planned. I should say we are a family of seasoned travelers we just don't travel very light...

How are you planning to get from your hotel in Paris to DLP? Are you using the RER then as well or getting a private transfer?

We only added Paris to this trip in the last 2 days so I didn't have a firm plan for how we would transfer from the airport, however, I was leaning towards the train because that's what we did 30+ years ago...
I appreciate the maps! That definitely makes understanding the local train lines very easy to understand. However, knowing now that these are really mainly commuter lines I am wondering if hiring a car service or Taxi might be better for our trip from the airport and to the main train station for are continuation to Barcelona.

My original plan was to spend 2 days in Paris city center. Must see list: Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Arch De Triomphe, and if time permits a trip out to Versailles. Then we would change hotels to stay at Disney to give us access to the early entry at the parks. How we changed hotels was not yet decided while I tried to figure out transportation options.

Maybe it's a better plan to stay all 4 days at the same hotel and use the RER to get to city center or Disneyland as needed. This way I am only moving with luggage twice (from the airport) and (to the train station)

Now my next question - If we only stay in one hotel while in Paris do we stay near city center or Disneyland? I can already hear my wife yelling at me.... She wants to see Paris not another Disneyland! Of course I agree that we want to see Paris. DL Paris in this trip is the bonus not the destination. However the hotels at Disney seem to have good deals right now making them more affordable than staying in city center.
 


I just got back and the train system is really simple to use. You'll just jump on the train at Marne le Valley the station at the gates of Disneyland and head back into Paris and change over to a line that will take you to Gare de Lyon. You can buy your train tickets to Barcelona through Eurostar and already have them ready to go. I would definitely tell your family only one suitcase per person or they will be HATING life! Paris is an old city and not many of the train stops have escalators or elevators. You WILL be schlepping those suitcases up and down lots and lots of steps! Trust me on this one. It sucks!
 
I'm a french commuter and I agree with most of the informations given on this thread.

Set in my own personal order of preference considering heavy and / or many luggages :

from CDG to Disneyland Paris, depending on what time the plane lands and the custom checking process, I would suggest the french bullet train -aka TGV- going to Marne La Vallee "(Inter)national" train station). Price is approx. 25 eur per person and journey time is approx. 10 mn. The train station is inside the airport.

Second choice is the equivalent of DME (Disney Magical Express) aka Magical Shuttle here https://magicalshuttle.co.uk/shuttle/charles-de-gaulle-shuttle/ Journey time is ca. 45-60 mns depending on traffic

Third choice is a private shuttle. Pro of this solution is you can spread the cost on each person / couple if you wish to. Another plus is that the shuttle will wait for you even if your plane is delayed or the customs require extra time to go through.

Final solution is to take the suburban trains but I really don"t recommend this solution for you as a transfer will be necessary inside paris and even if moving stairs (escalator) and lifts are availale through the transfer, I think that it is not the easiest way.

For the outward journey on July 6th, you can take the RER A as offered by A small World it is direct from MLV suburbanstation -which is in the same building as the national/international train station. Journey time is ca 45 mns

Please fell free to ask if you need further enquiries
 
Thank you all - I think I have a plan. Now just need to convince my family that packing lighter is better! I really appreciate you tips and insight!
 
This is all good to know, following. We want to go to DLP after our Northern Cruise.
 
Help.... I apologize because I am feeling a bit overwhelmed....

We have booked a cruise next summer out of Barcelona. This has been booked for well over a year and we have a decent plan for our cruise, however, We are now trying to squeeze a few days in Paris and Disneyland Paris before the cruise but I need help figuring out how to get around.

As it stands now we are planning to land in Paris at 8:15am on July 2nd (Charles De Gaulle). We will then spend 2 days in Paris before traveling to Disneyland and staying for 2 more nights at Disney. On the 6th we need to catch a train to Barcelona. We board our ship for the cruise on the 7th.

I am having a heck of a time figuring out what train I can take to get me to and from Disneyland. It looks like there is a train station (or two) near the Disney property but it doesn't look like either of those have any routes that go to Barcelona directly or even allow me to route through another major city. So it looks like I am on my own to figure out a train schedule from Disney back to Paris and then onto Barcelona.

It appears that there is a train station in Paris (Paris Gare Lyon) that has a high speed train to Barcelona (Sants) daily or most days and several times during the day.

Can someone better familiar with the Paris Train system tell me if there is a train from the Stations near Disney that will get me to the Paris Gare Lyon Station to catch the high speed train to Barcelona? Am I thinking about this correctly? I am also worried that we will have luggage with us because my teen daughters don't understand the concept of travel light.....

Any help is greatly appreciated.
Hey there! We are flying into Paris next June and heading to Rome for our cruise in July. With luggage… my suggestion would be to use the magical Disney express bus to go from airport to the hotel.. and then back to the airport to fly to Barcelona. Surely flights would be cheapish and you don’t have to worry about training hopping and luggage. I found the system to be well mapped, but still disoriented… without luggage. But the rer-a is efficient at getting you from dlp to Paris for sure.
Good luck
 

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