A lot has been written about the opening of St Pancras International and new Eurostar services. But not much to interest my six-year-old daughter Peggy.

All she wanted to know was how quickly it would get us to Disneyland Resort Paris. She was marginally interested in the train breakfast (“not bad”), the loos (“no paper, mummy”) and the family opposite (“Nathan is really funny”), but the architecture and engineering passed her by.

As I’m sure it will most passengers on the new daily Eurostar service from St Pancras to Disney. Most on our train were under ten. And not one mentioned the £5.8 billion project to speed up train travel between London and France and Belgium.

Pirates and princesses were very much higher on the agenda. It made me wonder how Peggy, who despises pink and has never worn a flouncy dress in her life, would get on.

Fortunately, the Disney magic kicked in as soon as we arrived. Peggy remained smiling through the discovery that we would be staying on the second floor of Hotel New York rather than a turret at the top of Sleeping Beauty’s castle. And I found myself queuing for scary ride after scary ride despite swearing we would stick to the Flying Carpets and Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride.

The scariest by far was the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, which we stumbled across after a hasty exit from a freezing open-air performance of car and motorcycle stunts in Walt Disney Studios Park. I thought it would be nice to do something indoors, out of the cold.

So in we went, the deserted entrance giving nothing away about what was to come. In fact, it wasn’t until we actually got on the ride and found harnesses instead of seatbelts that I began to worry. But by then it was too late.

We were propelled forwards and upside down at 100 kilometres per hour on the fastest roller coaster ever built for Disney which, I later read, features three inversions: a double roll over and corkscrew, each more terrifying than the last and made all the worse by the unrelenting beat of Aerosmith blasting out of 120 speakers.

I was amazed that terrifying people that much is legal. Peggy, on the other hand, would have gone again straight away had I not put my shaking foot down and agreed to buy her as a sop the “hilarious” in-ride photo of me gibbering wildly.

I got her back by beating her at Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast. A newish ride where you use a hand-held laser gun to shoot at an evil army of invading robots, your score of “hits” displayed on the dashboard of your space cruiser. It was brilliant fun and we braved the queue three times for more goes until Peggy was too hungry to continue.

Sadly the Disney magic did not extend to lunch. Our burger and fries in Café Hyperion were the worst we have ever tasted (worse even than Russia). And the coldest. And soggiest. Poor Peggy, who would normally sell her soul for a chip, was bitterly disappointed and I was amazed that the French guests didn’t start a revolution.

But it was the same everywhere we tried. Dinner at Steakhouse in the Disney Village was institutional and slow and breakfast at our hotel (for which we had to queue almost as long as the rides in the park) virtually inedible. I noticed a lot of people smoking and wondered if they trying to stave off hunger pangs. We survived on boiled sweets and hot chocolate. A bit like the war.

At this time of the year, before Christmas proper, we didn’t find queuing for the rides too troubling. Much harder to bear was the cold, despite having come prepared with ski gear. We coped by interspersing the scary rides with indoor attractions such as CinéMagique – a fun film of old films and the Art of Disney Animation – a screen based history of Disney characters.

Still, by the end of the trip we were both exhausted and looking forward to getting back. So much for getting you to Disneyland faster. What Peggy and I really, really liked about the new Eurostar service from St Pancras was how quickly it got us home.

NEED TO KNOW

In November, Disneyland Paris prices for a two-night, three-day package with return Eurostar travel starts at £248 per adult, £159 per child aged 7 to 11 years or £83 per child aged 4 to 6 years. The price includes B&B accommodation and three-day hopper tickets for the Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park.

Park life

* It takes approximately two and a half hours to get from St Pancras to Disneyland Resort Paris. You can speed up entrance to the park by prebooking the Disney Express luggage service with your operator. When you arrive, you leave your luggage at the Disney train station Marne La Vallée and it will be taken to your hotel while you head to the parks. On your final day, you leave it with your hotel concierge and it will be transferred to the station where you can pick it up at the end of the day without having to return to your hotel.

*When it’s cold, check out indoor attractions such as CinéMagique. Avoid the Moteurs…Action! Stunt Show Spectacular. It is outdoors and long and freezing.

*The food is terrible. Fill your pockets with snacks from home.

*On the way home, there is usually a long queue for check in for Eurostar at Marne La Vallée station. Leave plenty of time.

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