Hand Luggage for a Trip to Disneyland Paris

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you will know that we spent our summer holiday in Disneyland Paris in 2019. Initially, I had the idea of just doing a general packing post. However, splitting it into different posts made more sense as there was far too much to cover in one post. This post is all about what I packed in my disabled son’s hand luggage and perhaps offers some ideas of what things to buy and where.

In the way of disclosure, I am not sponsored, paid, nor have I been gifted anything I mention in this post. I purchased it all with my own money!

First Trip Aboard in Four Years

We embarked on our first trip aboard in four years! We decided to visit Disneyland Paris for three nights and four days! (I was a tad excited). We booked our hotel, tickets, photo pass and luggage with Magic Breaks, and it couldn’t have been easier. They were so helpful, and I never struggled to get hold of them. We decided to book our transport separately and booked directly with Eurostar.

On the way out, we went via Lille Europe and changed trains (dreaded change), but on the way back, we had a direct train back from Disneyland Paris to Ashford. It saved us a fair few pounds (hundreds, in fact)!

The last time we ventured out of the UK was, in fact, for our previous Disneyland Paris trip in 2015. It was all sorts of crazy getting forced onto the wrong compartment of the train, and when approaching a staff member, I had a whistle blown in my face. I am super organised (not that I wasn’t then). I got thinking about hand luggage and what Thomas would need close by.

Thomas’ Needs

Thomas is nine years old and has cerebral palsy, epilepsy and learning difficulties, including autistic traits, erratic behaviour, outbursts and a lack of understanding to add to the mix. He’s a complex kid, but we love him. He loves his routine, and this is way out of his comfort zone plus an enclosed space with people, and it’s a Thomas shouting fest! When packing for travel, we must consider that his iPad will only occupy him for a few minutes. Despite being nine, he has a learning age of two or three, so the bag will reflect that.

What’s in his hand luggage?

I saw an article on ‘Flying with a Baby‘, and so much of it rang true. It’s all in preparation. I read an article about wrapping little presents, placing them inside a child’s hand luggage, and opening them every hour of a flight. Thomas has an attention span of about 10 minutes, but I’m giving it a go for the train. I thought I would share what I took and where I bought them with that in mind.

It looks like a lot, but this is outbound, return and during, I had to cover all angles. I have allocated each item a number and will write about it below, including where I got it from and how much I can remember! I will try and leave links where I can.

1. Spiderman four-wheeled rolling luggage – ShopDisney.co.uk (£40.00) Sadly, it was in the sale, and they don’t sell this one anymore.

2. Disney Store Disney Pixar ToyBox Action Figure – ShopDisney.co.uk (£4 – £10). At the time, I didn’t understand what these figures were; they were in the sale. Thomas loves figures, so I bought them to be new and exciting. They sell them in Disneyland Paris, but they are cheaper in the UK.

3. Toy Story 4 Busy Book – Asda (£8.00). I originally bought it from Asda. However, they do have them on Amazon for £10.49, and they contain a board book and mini characters that you can use to follow the story.

4. Toy Story 4 Pencil Case – Asda (£4.00). I saw this cute pencil case in Asda and thought it would come in handy for my Thomas’ extra bits like his cutlery, bibs etc.

5. Toy Story 4 Money Wallet – This was given to Thomas as a gift.

6. Disney Baby Wipes: Poundland (£1.00). Every time I shopped in Poundland, I picked up the Disney themed wipes for our trip. Although Amazon now has their own Disney baby wipes, which are so cute!

7. Toy Story 4 Activity Tub: Asda (£6.00). My son isn’t very able in this department, but I thought we could attempt together to get delayed etc.

8. Toy Story 4 Mess-Free: Amazon (£6.78). Amazon bought this as some mess-free fun for the train journey home.

9. Buzz Lightyear Board Book: Abebooks(£4.88) It has increased a little since last year. It’s a simple board book about Buzz and his adventures.

10. Board Puzzles: The Works: (£5.00 each) We liked the transport and beach-themed puzzles. They have different versions, including farm animals and chunky transport puzzles, and they are adorable and just another way to change the activity.

11. Toy Story 4 Bubble Wand: Aldi (£4.00 approx) Probably one of the best finds in Aldi. I couldn’t use it on the train but thought it might come in handy waiting for parades.

12. Spiderman Torch: Poundland (£1.00) This was something cute I picked up in Poundland that Thomas could interact with on the train by changing the little discs to different shapes on the floor.

13. Peppa Pig Travel Mess-Free Mat: Amazon (£15.28) I purchased this in December 2018; it was one of the first things I bought after booking our trip as Thomas loves Peppa, and I thought it might come in handy on the train.

14. Selection of Books: The Works (10 for £10 offer) Purchased a selection of storybooks for bedtime, not Disney themed but Thomas’ favourite characters from Cbeebies, one about swimming and a random one about a snowy day. They have changed the offer; it is now ten books for £10! I’m not sure if that’s a current thing or will be permanent.

His Little Bag

Thomas loved having his little case carried as hand luggage that he could wheel around; although he didn’t want to let it go, which caused a mini-meltdown at security, he handled it very well. It held all those treats, a change of clothes and a jumper, so very worth the money.

Not Just for Special Needs

If you have a young child, toddler or an older child who gets bored, this could be the answer; I also included snacks, drinks, emergency essentials in case we needed a change of clothes, shoes, a sweatshirt and a first aid kit in our hand luggage.

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Did it Work?

He did exceptionally well with his Amazon Fire Kids and Disney + the way back was a little stressful as it was a packed train with non-existent WIFI, and the Amazon Fire Kids wouldn’t load downloads properly. No amount of treats would please him, and no food (my stupidity, I left the snacks in the main suitcase), and Eurostar had sold out.

But all things considered, we survived, and it was a fantastic trip, probably our best one yet.

Are you like me, are you super organised and plan all this in advance? Or are you more of throwing it all together at the last minute and hoping for the best? Have you ever tried this method, or do you have your method? Please let me know in the comments below.

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