"it's a small world" at Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Paris has taken steps to cover its holiday booking terms and conditions against the scheduled exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union on 29th March 2019, adding a “how Brexit may affect your booking” box to the wording.

The clauses have primarily been put in place to allow Disneyland Paris to cancel bookings which cannot be fulfilled due to any “Brexit”-related problems, providing a refund of any payments already made but no compensation, since this would be an “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstance” for the resort.

Disneyland Paris "Brexit" terms and conditions

The note, first spotted by Salon Mickey Blog, also makes clear the potential for visitors from the United Kingdom to require additional travel documentation to fulfil their bookings, and sets out that Disneyland Paris cannot be held liable for any disruption or delay “to any part of your holiday”.

Although the terms are merely a formality and shouldn’t cause any additional concern to British visitors, it certainly feels unusual to find the magical world of a Disney park caught up so closely in a political crisis.

So, how will “Brexit” really affect visiting Disneyland Paris from the UK?

With less than two months until the fateful 29th March 2019 date, you’d expect to see a pretty comprehensive list of tips to watch out for here. Yet such is the fantastically chaotic way in which the entire situation has been handled, it’s still almost impossible to give any concrete advice.

Actual requirements for things like passports and driving in France could change substantially depending on the terms the United Kingdom leaves on. For example, if there is an exit “deal”, UK licence holders will be able to drive in all EU countries with their UK licence. Phew, simple.

But if no deal is reached, things would get more complicated.

The GOV.UK website, for example, states that if the United Kingdom leaves with “no deal” you’ll need at least six months left on your passport from your date of arrival in order to travel — and even has a passport checker tool. This is definitely an advisable step to take, at least.

Those government pages should be followed for the latest updates as things become clearer. The RAC has a page on driving in the EU, too.

French and European flags at Disneyland Paris entrance

In reality, could the only disruption to any Disneyland Paris trip from the UK come from the mode of transport itself? Would it be wise to avoid booking on those ferry and Eurotunnel routes so heavily used by freight lorries? Perhaps passenger flights and Eurostar are safer bets. Or, perhaps, none of the anticipated disruption on the ground will ever materialise. No one knows yet. (If only they’d have paid every Disneyland Paris fan £550 to line up on an A-road so we could check…)

But while we continue to wait for answers, don’t panic. If you’re a British fan or frequent visitor of this very European Disney resort, you most likely didn’t vote for this, but it’s ok — we’ll get through it. Disneyland Paris will still be there for us.

Hopping across (or under) the channel for a Disney escape has always been ridiculously easy, and long-term it makes no sense for it to be made that much more difficult (certainly no more so than what it takes to get to Walt Disney World, and plenty of British people are happy to do that).

If you want to stockpile a thousand Mickey waffles (“it’s for BREXIT, OK?!”) or see how much eBay value your out-of-control pin collection has, fine. Otherwise let’s just keep singing: “though the oceans are wide and the mountains divide, it’s a small world after all” … and no-one’s going to tell us otherwise.

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