Before heading off on a possibly ill-timed family holiday with Weasel to Disneyland Paris, part of my prep was to Google ‘pregnant at Disneyland’ to find out just how limited my fun was going to be. Apart from finding the odd old forum, there didn’t seem to be a whole lot of info out there, so hope this could be useful for someone!
Get Your Pink Pass!
Strangely these aren’t pink anymore, but an anemic shade of orange. At least the giant bump in the photo made me slightly less self-conscious of my own!
When you get into Disney, pick one of these bad-boys up by going to City Hall to the left on Main Street and get in the queue that is predominantly people making dinner reservations. I only got a cursory glance to assure the lady behind the counter of my dilemma, but if you are in the early days you might need a doctor’s note. This pass will allow you to queue in the disabled queue with one other guest, thus shortening your wait time significantly. It would be worth it at busy times just so you don’t have to queue with a toddler who has yet to grasp that such a concept exists. It will also allow you to park yourself in the disabled area for the parades.
Places to Sit
This may not be so significant to all, but for someone with back issues, a place to sit saves you having to embarrassingly park your ass on the ground somewhere. Thankfully inside Disneyland there were benches and fat, low fences pretty much everywhere, giving me plenty of rest. Sadly, the Walt Disney Studios Park was much less accommodating. The ride queues and food queues were the most difficult bits I found, and this was outside of school holidays. The terrible inefficiencies I faced meant that a 20 minute wait could be encountered for a drink even with only a handful of people in front of me.
Rides!
Rides were definitely the area I thought I was going to be most limited on. Even given my total lack of cajones for the roller coasters, I assumed I just wouldn’t be allowed on anything. If you do get your pink/70’s orange pass, you’ll get given a booklet showing you all the rides you can ride and plus outlining the ones without height restrictions, disabled viewing areas for the parade, etc. The lap-bars seemed to be the biggest impediment, meaning I technically wasn’t allowed on Snow White, Peter Pan and many other seemingly wussy rides. As soon as I boarded Snow White and realised I had to sit almost completely sideways and be pretty friggin uncomfortable the whole ride that I realised why my giant, preggo belly was banned. On the brighter side, none of the staff even batted an eyelid at me. Pirates of the Caribbean for example, banned because of the drops, I walked onto with no troubles. Yes, I imagine if I wasn’t such a coward and was trying to get onto Space Mountain (which is much scarier/better than at Disneyworld I’ve been informed by husband), I’m sure I would have been at least noticed. But if I can fit into these rides measuring at 8 months pregnant, nearly anyone else could too.
You’re allowed on the carousel, as long as you can get that belt around your waist or want to stand. Stick to the outer, bigger horses with longer belts if you’ve been indulging in the ‘eating for 2’ strategy.
Loos – My Favourite Gripe
You will well know if you are pregnant, you require the use of the facilities much more often that would a normal person. Although you will find what would pass for a loo, you may find the prevalent pung of piss in them a little nauseating. Like everywhere else in France, those of a nervous disposition should probably stay away. I was surprised that Disneyland didn’t have a bit of a higher standard. I’ll save the change facilities for another rant….
Verdict:
It’s tough to do Disneyland Paris heavily pregnant, but it’s also tough to put on your own shoes at this stage, so what do you expect? There are plenty of rides you can go on, food-a-plenty (even with half the restaurants closed) and a pass to help get you through the ride queues. Would I book Disney again heavily pregnant? Screw that. But if you are already locked in, you can still have fun.
adventures with gravel 
oh this is so helpful thank you! I am travelling on Sunday and just found out I am 6 weeks pregnant and wasnt particularly looking forward to going now – feel bad for my daughter in case her fun is spoilt but after reading this feel much better!! X
Glad it’s been helpful! With a pink pass you’ll be able to sneak to the front of the queues with your daughter, so definitely a plus. Have a great time!
Great! I will be 30 weeks, I’m staring at the tab on my iPad now telling what I can’t go on 😦 I really wanted to go on the pirate one…can I?
I walked straight onto it, they didn’t bat an eyelid. There’s no lap bar to squish your bump like on ones like Peter Pan or Snow White, so I think it’s just the drops that make them advise you not to go on. I’m a complete wuss when it comes to rides, but it wasn’t that bad. I think the shocker was that there were 2, I was only expecting 1 drop like in Orlando. I’d definitely do it again! I’d definitely eat at the restaurant in the ride again too, best one in Disneyland I reckon.
We are going todayare and my girlfriend is 18 weeks pregnant and she is worried she can’t go on any rollercoasters. Is this the case at all? Even if it says expected mother’s don’t ride?
Hi! Sorry I didn’t see this and think you’ve already probably been! She will probably be allowed on them as the staff took little notice, she just might find lapbars on things like Space Mountain a little uncomfortable. Medically though I wouldn’t know if it would be advised, I wouldn’t want to get in trouble for recommending it or not! Hope all was ok!
Hi I will be 20weeks when we are due to go, having booked this trip 8months ago and been looking forward to it, finding out there is a list a mile long of things I am not supposed to go on is very down heartening especially as I know my 5yr old will want me to go on with him and the likes of Peter Pan and pinochicco I can only see the bar being the problem as you have said (and you where much futher along than me) I assume that the jerkyness of the rides and the abrupt stopping didnt cause you any problems? We are going for 5days and the prospect of sitting on a bench for 5days watching everyone else enjoy themselves when I have paid over £1k to be there makes me pretty sad 😦
It is a bit scary the list of rides they warn you off, but honestly I wouldn’t worry! I had an awful back (sciatica) and was ridiculously large, and apart from only just fitting in the rides like Peter Pan or Toy Story, they didn’t seem to bother my back at all. That pregnancy pass I think made it easy to take my toddler on rides, because we could skip the queues completely and get in the disabled area for parades, so you feel like a bit of a VIP. The only downside is that you can only take one person with you, so I always took my toddler. Saying that, it was over 2 years ago now, so I hope they still do the pass. I wouldn’t recommend space mountain or any of the big ones (I’m such a wuss, I wouldn’t go on those normally) but the kids rides all felt ok. I’m sure you’ll have a great time and don’t worry too much! x