Is the magic real?

Disneyland Paris

Having two young daughters has its benefits, for one thing, it's a great excuse to experience Disneyland for the first time as a 33-year-old without looking too weird.

We decided to fly over to Paris rather than drive or train, purely for ease. It would have been a perfect flight if our pushchair came off at the other end, what a great start. The 8 am flight got us to the Hotel Cheyenne by midday Wednesday giving us half a day to head to the park and get our bearings. Our hotel was just a 10-minute shuttle bus ride into the parks.

With a bag packed full of snacks(bribes) and spare clothes for a toddler who may or may not play ball with wearing big girl pants and using a toilet, we headed through the turnstile minus the pushchair.

It was like entering a snow globe of make believe for me. Our 5-year-olds jaw hit the floor as the view down Main Street ended in the distance with the perfect princess castle. Moments like that are what we all work so hard for, not the photo's for social media but the real-life moment.

We ticked off a number of the smaller rides the first day to satisfy the children which they loved. The park seemed busy but manageable but also nothing in comparison to what was to come Friday and Saturday. TIP 1 Try and go midweek.

A long first day sharing the load with Ranrad(Grandad) acting like a pair of mules for both kids with tired legs made my mind up we needed to hire a buggy.

TIP 2 - Be prepared to pay through the nose for everything, we found a hot drink and a crepe the best value midday snack that we could consume on the move and in queues. Located just in front of the castle served from a wagon. We started each day with a coffee and pastry.

Some adult thrill rides in Disneyland Park worth queuing for are Hyperspace Mountain, Thunder mountain which is even better at night. Pirates of the Caribbean is great and we all loved the Buzz interactive ride. We watched the lunchtime Christmas parade, everyone in the crowd dancing and smiling, if you don't enjoy this you may have a swinging brick.

Tip 3 - Get the Disneyland app, use it to navigate the park, find toilets and check queue and parade times.

With our own pushchair and buggy board returned we were all set to hit Disney Studios park. We ticked off a few more characters, the Magic Carpet ride and Cars. By this point we understood the fast pass and decided to try it out, we headed to Ratatouille which is in a really cool France themed part of the park with a little street food market serving mulled wine, very authentic feeling. We had an hour to kill so we went on Slinky Dog with both girls and the Toy Soldier Parachute ride which the 5-year-old has voted for as her favourite. Fast Pass time on Ratatouille with 3D glasses on, this probably has to be the cleverest ride at Disney. You sit in a cart following the rats around the kitchen watching all the drama unfold in the Chefs kitchen. The girls went to watch a Mickey show and I went onto Tower of Terror, apologies to the Madame who sat next to me whose leg I grabbed when the ride plummeted to earth. We also did the awesome Crush's Coaster.

Make sure you plan to see the night time illuminations if you go, a real spectacle to rival scenes from Dubai and Times Square, well worth standing in the rain, luckily I was wearing Albert. A fantastic place for all ageswhere the Magic is real, not spoilt by Queues.