DISNEYLAND Paris and Celtic patron saints don’t usually appear in the same sentence.

But for one weekend in April The Happiest Place on Earth plays host to the Welsh Weekend – a festival of song, food and fireworks where the Land of the Dragon is celebrated in true Disney style.

I would be experiencing the weekend with my Londoner best friend, staying in the resort’s New York Hotel – a mock-Art Deco behemoth about five minutes’ walk from the park entrance. Our twin room was big and came with daffodils and Mickey Mouse dolls – signs of the strange cultural mash-up to come.

Within metres of the security check there were already signs of Wales. Every year stallholders are invited to sell their wares inside the park, offering leather bags, jams and Welsh cakes to visitors. It was bizarre to see the craft stalls of Cardiff transplanted into the centre of Disney, but nice to have a wander through. Even the Welsh wine stall had plenty of attention.

Following the daffodil signs, we discovered the Welsh Weekend main stage.

Special performances from choirs were to take place inside a huge wooden amphitheatre – conducted by special guest Goofy.

For an hour we clapped and laughed our way through Welsh and English songs alike.

One of four National Urdd Eisteddfod winners to perform, Cadi Lois Owen, aged seven, belted out Fi di’r Deinosor (I am the Dinosaur) with more confidence than Beyoncé. With everything from Calon Lan to Welsh renditions of Under the Sea and the ubiquitous Let It Go, the concert was a great balance of Disney and Welsh culture and I left happily humming Bread of Heaven.

After the singing there was a rare chance to have a cwtch with Mickey and Minnie, dressed in their best Welsh costumes. Face painters were on hand to stencil dragons and daffodils onto any willing cheek and overall it felt strangely like the pre-match build-up on international days.

Come night fall and it was time for Disney Dreams, the park’s immense projection show set against the backdrop of the 89ft Sleeping Beauty Castle. That night, especially for St David’s day, dragons, daffodils and leeks were made to dance and shoot about the castle, accompanied by flame jets and blasting Celtic music.

The whole show is a bit of a sledgehammer to the senses but certainly worth waiting around for even after a full day.

The Monophonics, a Stereophonics tribute band from South Wales, were the Saturday night entertainment for the Welsh Weekend, playing in Billy Bob’s – the only proper bar in the park (outside the hotels). They did an excellent set – covering all the ‘Phonics favourites. And after they were done, Billy Bob’s became a miniature night club open until 2am (as we happily discovered).

Besides the attractions of the Welsh Weekend, there was time to explore what else Disneyland had to offer. Out of the five lands, the Hollywood Studios is where the big rides live. I was happily surprised by the discovery of the Rockin’ Rollercoaster – a corkscrewing masterpiece built inside a warehouse which blasts Aerosmith songs at you while you scream. We were lucky enough to have Fast Passes, which allow you to skip the queues on most of the key rides and we would have been driven insane without them.

The whole weekend was an oddly wonderful mix of St David’s pride and everything Disney and, as we discovered, it’s not just a place for families – just don’t bring along anyone you’re not tight with as you will spend a lot of time queuing together, being buffeted by other people’s children.