Disneyland Paris - Tips for visiting Disneyland Park in one day
We spent Tuesday, August 22, at Disneyland in Paris. We bought the one day one park pass for the Disneyland Park only not the Walt Disney Studios. I thought I'd share some tips and what I learned during our visit. Since I had two young adults with me, we pretty much just did the Fast Pass rides.
BEFORE YOU GO
Before you go to Disneyland you'll want to buy your park tickets and download the Disneyland Paris app that includes a map and live wait times. You'll want your tickets printed on paper. I recommend buying them while still home and printing them out since you can be flexible about which day you go.
My friend told me to get the pass in advance because it would be cheaper. I was able to find an online deal that sold a 1 day 1 park pass for 43 Euro, which is the child's price. I was pretty happy with that price considering it is peak holiday season. Once you buy the tickets you have a window of time you can use it. Ours was good until 27 September.
I read online that it can be overwhelming to try to do 2 parks in one day, and my friend said if you go for two days, it's cheaper to buy one pass for one park for one day, and then the next day buy a one day pass for the other park. I would say that was pretty good advice. It was nice not trying to run between parks.
The other nice thing about buying tickets in advance is you don't have to get in line to buy tickets there but can wait at the entrance for the gates to open.
Check the app to see what wait times are like for the rides you are interested in. They will be popular at different times of the day and this will give you a sense of when you want to visit what.
ARRIVING THERE
The trains literally takes you right to the park. My google map says it's a 7 minute walk, but I would say it's more like 2 minutes. The RER A will bring you to Disneyland from Paris. RER trains usually aren't too expensive. The RER B takes you to the airport for under 10 Euro, and the RER C takes you out to Versailles for under 4 Euro. So getting to Disneyland shouldn't be too expensive for a family. We spent 10 Euro one way coming all the way from Tourcoing which is close to Belgium.
WHEN IT OPENS - Head to Thunder Mountain
The main gate opens at 9:30, (8:00 for those who are staying at the Disneyland hotel) which will then let you onto Main street. There you can get in line to see characters or go to the shops. But my advice is not to do this. Go to the ropes closest to Frontierland. This will be to the left as you are facing Sleeping Beauty's castle. There should be a person letting those who have the hotel pass through the ropes. I would get as close to that rope as you can.
Once it is 10:00 head straight for Thunder Mountain by walking (some will be running) under the Frontierland sign. This is by far the most popular ride in the park. (Think Splash Mountain at California.) We didn't know this was that popular and accidentally went there looking for Indiana Jones. We could have hopped right on a train (so sad we didn't). My recommendation is to ride Thunder Mountain two times in a row, and then get a fast pass for it later. We picked up a fast pass at 11:20 and it was for 4:45 p.m. That should tell you how popular this ride is.
INDIANA JONES
We were really excited to go to this ride and chose it first, mainly because of what it is like in California. This is nothing like that ride. It's sort of like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride except you are getting hit in the face with a shoulder harness the whole time. If you like getting slapped around, do this ride.
PETER PAN
This is probably my all time most favorite ride ever. Apparently, everyone else thinks so too. We got there around 10:40 and there was about a 20 minute wait. If I were to do it again, I'd head straight to Peter after going to Thunder Mountain. Peter Pan is a fun ride, but for me not one that is worth a fast pass like Thunder Mountain.
BUZZ LIGHTYEAR
We got in line at this ride around 11:30 a.m. and waited an hour even though it said 40 minutes. Discoveryland (or what would be Tomorrowland in California) doesn't have any trees and very little shade. Just about any line you get in will be standing in the sun if it's a sunny day. We pretty much baked waiting to get into Buzz Lightyear. I don't know if I'd do that ride without a fast pass. Maybe it was earlier in the day before the sun is too high or at night. This ride is pretty much like the one in California, a point and shoot game.
HYPERSPACE MOUNTAIN (Space Mountain)
I have a weak stomach when it comes to spinning so I was nervous to be on this ride. We decided to take advantage of the single rider option which cut 15 minutes from having to wait in line. I actually think we saved even more time than that. I would definitely choose the single rider option if you can. You aren't going to be visiting with the person next you anyway during the ride.
I surprisingly really liked the ride. I thought I'd hate it. At one point I thought, "I'd totally do this again." And then I don't know what, but something happened towards the end and I got really nauseous. As I got out, I really thought I was going to throw up. I'm really glad I didn't have anything in my stomach or I might have. If you don't mind spinning, do this ride. Save yourself the fast pass for Thunder Mountain, Buzz Lightyear or Peter Pan and do this one as a single rider.
STAR WARS: THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES
We got a fast pass for this one and I'm glad we did. Even the fast pass line was pretty long. Again, this is a ride best done without food in the stomach. It's a flight stimulator that jolts you around. Be warned that all of it is French, but you don't really need to know what C3PO is saying to enjoy the ride.
THUNDER MOUNTAIN
There is a good reason why this is the most popular ride in Disneyland Park. It's as fun as Splash Mountain but I'd say more thrills and less down time. I would spend 43 Euro just to ride this ride all day long. (Well maybe going back and forth between it and Peter Pan.)
UPDATE: If you decided to stand in line for the ride, at one point the line splits. Choose the left. The right line merges with those with a fast pass and moves more slowly.
FAST PASSES
Just a note about fast passes. In order to get one, you need to scan your ticket that you got you into the park, so don't lose it. There is always someone there to help you with the fast pass in case it won't scan. The rule on the fast pass is that you can only get one for one ride at a time. You can get another fast pass if you the time slot has passed, or if two hours has passed since you scanned for the first one. So be careful which rides you get fast passes for, it might be worth it just to stand in line a little longer than to tie up a fast pass.
NON FAST PASS RIDES
SNOW WHITE - Snow White isn't near as creepy as the California version, but it is definitely for small children. Kinda boring.
IT'S A SMALL WORLD - The app said this was a 10 minute wait, but it was much longer. Probably 30 minutes. While I love the message, the song can drive me nuts. I put in my bluetooth headphones and listened to the Hamilton soundtrack while looking at all the cute little people from different lands. Their interpretation of "America" cracks me up. Apparently we are either cowboys or love football. LOL!
ALICE'S CURIOUS LABYRINTH - This is a great attraction no matter what age you are. You just walk through what looks like the Queen of Hearts maze. It's pretty low key and a great place for pictures. You can climb the Queen's castle and get some good pictures of the Sleeping Beauty castle in the background.
PHANTOM MANOR (The Haunted Mansion)
This attraction is trying to be like the one in California, but it's a fail. The room that slides down revealing gruesome pictures is so dark you can't really see them, plus they have you leaving before the pictures are fully revealed anyway. The entire attraction is super dark and you can't really see what you are supposed to be looking at. It sort of has a Great Expectation feel to it with this bride popping up in random places. Our ride stopped 3 times because people have a hard time getting off and on the chairs. The woman operating them was about to lose it, she looked really angry.
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN
This ride is almost exactly like the one in California and really enjoyable. After getting beat up on Indiana Jones, we came here and walked right up to the boats. The park had been open for about 15 minutes when we got here and there was no line. The one disadvantage to that is your eyes don't have time to adjust to the dark and walking up is tricky because it's hard to see where you are going. We went back again at the end of the day and there was a line giving us ample time to adjust to the dark.
AUTOTOPIA - We didn't ride Autotopia because it was a hot humid day and that ride has absolutely no shade. Sitting in a metal car on black asphalt and being driven around in circles did not appeal to us. We skipped it.
EATING AT DISNEYLAND
No pineapple whips or Mickey Mouse ear-shaped ice cream bars. Just pre-scooped ice cream cones and popsicles like what you'd get at Costco. Drinks are almost 4 Euro, but they are cold. A full meal is about 15 or 16 Euro (chicken sandwich, fries, and a drink).
We ended up having dinner in Frontierland at a BBQ place that was totally empty at 5:00. Our meals were 15 Euro each. Johnny got the ribs and Elise and I got the chicken. When our food arrived, we were shocked. The servings were much larger than in the picture. Johnny's ribs were huge. The BBQ sauce was amazing, and over all the it was a wonderful meal and very satisfying.
Even if you don't like BBQ, I recommend going to that restaurant if you want a cold drink (no line) or need to go to the bathroom (again, no line). Apparently the French don't like BBQ food.
If you want to bring your own food, there are places where you can sit down and eat your food.
RESTROOMS
Restrooms are free (a rare thing in Europe) and there are many around the park. If you aren't close to the BBQ restaurant, I'd first look to see if you are close to a restaurant before getting in line at the public restrooms. It's not like in Paris or NYC where you can't use a restroom if you didn't eat there.
DISNEY CHARACTERS
Since we didn't have young children with us, this wasn't really on our radar. But I will say that the Princess Pavilion is really popular and has a long wait all the time. It was almost always 75 minutes. If you have a daughter who wants to see the princesses, you'll want to be aware of the long wait ahead of you.
The characters don't roam the park, they have specific times when they "appear" and you have to get in line to see them. The app tells you who will be where when. Don't expect to just stumble upon Goofy walking around.
GENERAL ADVICE
PRINCESS DRESSES - It was so cute seeing all those little girls dressed as princesses throughout the park. But be warned, that dress will get thrashed by the end of the day. It will get stepped on and dirty from dragging on the ground. Also, the little girls couldn't seem to walk as fast as their siblings, and I could see many of them get frustrated trying to keep up. If I had a little girl, I'd probably bring a change of clothes for her after she met the princesses.
CELL PHONES - There are charging stations in the park, but we brought portable batteries to recharge our phones. You'll be using the app a lot, so you'll want long battery life on your phone.
UPDATE: I noticed in the Mainstreet portion of the Disneyland, a hallway called the Arcade. Nothing exciting to see here, except the hallway has several electrical outlets. I saw one gentleman using one to charge his phone, but no one else. If you have a French plug adapter, you might want to consider taking a rest on one of the benches and recharging your phone while you are at it.
SHOPPING - If you see something you like, BUY IT. That might be the only store that sells it. (Good advice for Paris too.) You don't want to have to backtrack just because you thought you'd see it somewhere else.
TAG TEAM - To get more rides in, tag team going to the bathroom or getting a drink while in line. Lots of people cut in line to join their family.
CROWDS - I don't think we were there on the busiest day of the year, but we were definitely there during Europe's vacation season. The average wait time was probably around 40 minutes. My friends went on Assumption Day (Aug 15), a national French holiday, and they said the crowds weren't too bad, about a 25 minute wait.
CUSTOMER SERVICE - I'm sure you've heard the stories about Disneyland Paris service not being as good as other Disneylands. Well, that's true. But it's much better than what you'll get outside of Disneyland. They absolutely won't accept a 50 Euro if the total is under 20. They prefer exact change (that's true anywhere in France), and they are not going to assume you are right. They aren't going to smile and ask how you are doing. But I did find them to be more patient and understanding than most French in the service industry. You also don't have to go through the song and dance of trying to speak French first in order to get help. You can walk right up and start speaking English. I saw almost all of them speak in French, English, Spanish, and German. It's kind of refreshing to not have to apologize for only knowing English. (FYI, the same goes for the Eiffel Tower).
FINAL THOUGHTS
I would say you can easily do Disneyland Park in one day as long as you aren't determined to see every single attraction. You can get all the major rides in if you budget your fast passes wisely. I have had friends say they can do both parks, but our train left at 8:00 so we couldn't take advantage of the evening hours. But in 10 hours we were able to do pretty much everything we wanted to.
If your family is going to Paris for a once-in-a-lifetime trip, I don't know if I'd spend one of the days in Disneyland. Especially if you have been to Florida or California. But if you will be in France for quite some time or go to Paris regularly, I would say it's worth the trip. Of course it's always fun to tell people you've been to Disneyland in Europe.
BEFORE YOU GO
Before you go to Disneyland you'll want to buy your park tickets and download the Disneyland Paris app that includes a map and live wait times. You'll want your tickets printed on paper. I recommend buying them while still home and printing them out since you can be flexible about which day you go.
My friend told me to get the pass in advance because it would be cheaper. I was able to find an online deal that sold a 1 day 1 park pass for 43 Euro, which is the child's price. I was pretty happy with that price considering it is peak holiday season. Once you buy the tickets you have a window of time you can use it. Ours was good until 27 September.
I read online that it can be overwhelming to try to do 2 parks in one day, and my friend said if you go for two days, it's cheaper to buy one pass for one park for one day, and then the next day buy a one day pass for the other park. I would say that was pretty good advice. It was nice not trying to run between parks.
The other nice thing about buying tickets in advance is you don't have to get in line to buy tickets there but can wait at the entrance for the gates to open.
Check the app to see what wait times are like for the rides you are interested in. They will be popular at different times of the day and this will give you a sense of when you want to visit what.
ARRIVING THERE
The trains literally takes you right to the park. My google map says it's a 7 minute walk, but I would say it's more like 2 minutes. The RER A will bring you to Disneyland from Paris. RER trains usually aren't too expensive. The RER B takes you to the airport for under 10 Euro, and the RER C takes you out to Versailles for under 4 Euro. So getting to Disneyland shouldn't be too expensive for a family. We spent 10 Euro one way coming all the way from Tourcoing which is close to Belgium.
WHEN IT OPENS - Head to Thunder Mountain
The main gate opens at 9:30, (8:00 for those who are staying at the Disneyland hotel) which will then let you onto Main street. There you can get in line to see characters or go to the shops. But my advice is not to do this. Go to the ropes closest to Frontierland. This will be to the left as you are facing Sleeping Beauty's castle. There should be a person letting those who have the hotel pass through the ropes. I would get as close to that rope as you can.
Once it is 10:00 head straight for Thunder Mountain by walking (some will be running) under the Frontierland sign. This is by far the most popular ride in the park. (Think Splash Mountain at California.) We didn't know this was that popular and accidentally went there looking for Indiana Jones. We could have hopped right on a train (so sad we didn't). My recommendation is to ride Thunder Mountain two times in a row, and then get a fast pass for it later. We picked up a fast pass at 11:20 and it was for 4:45 p.m. That should tell you how popular this ride is.
INDIANA JONES
We were really excited to go to this ride and chose it first, mainly because of what it is like in California. This is nothing like that ride. It's sort of like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride except you are getting hit in the face with a shoulder harness the whole time. If you like getting slapped around, do this ride.
PETER PAN
This is probably my all time most favorite ride ever. Apparently, everyone else thinks so too. We got there around 10:40 and there was about a 20 minute wait. If I were to do it again, I'd head straight to Peter after going to Thunder Mountain. Peter Pan is a fun ride, but for me not one that is worth a fast pass like Thunder Mountain.
BUZZ LIGHTYEAR
We got in line at this ride around 11:30 a.m. and waited an hour even though it said 40 minutes. Discoveryland (or what would be Tomorrowland in California) doesn't have any trees and very little shade. Just about any line you get in will be standing in the sun if it's a sunny day. We pretty much baked waiting to get into Buzz Lightyear. I don't know if I'd do that ride without a fast pass. Maybe it was earlier in the day before the sun is too high or at night. This ride is pretty much like the one in California, a point and shoot game.
HYPERSPACE MOUNTAIN (Space Mountain)
I have a weak stomach when it comes to spinning so I was nervous to be on this ride. We decided to take advantage of the single rider option which cut 15 minutes from having to wait in line. I actually think we saved even more time than that. I would definitely choose the single rider option if you can. You aren't going to be visiting with the person next you anyway during the ride.
I surprisingly really liked the ride. I thought I'd hate it. At one point I thought, "I'd totally do this again." And then I don't know what, but something happened towards the end and I got really nauseous. As I got out, I really thought I was going to throw up. I'm really glad I didn't have anything in my stomach or I might have. If you don't mind spinning, do this ride. Save yourself the fast pass for Thunder Mountain, Buzz Lightyear or Peter Pan and do this one as a single rider.
STAR WARS: THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES
We got a fast pass for this one and I'm glad we did. Even the fast pass line was pretty long. Again, this is a ride best done without food in the stomach. It's a flight stimulator that jolts you around. Be warned that all of it is French, but you don't really need to know what C3PO is saying to enjoy the ride.
THUNDER MOUNTAIN
There is a good reason why this is the most popular ride in Disneyland Park. It's as fun as Splash Mountain but I'd say more thrills and less down time. I would spend 43 Euro just to ride this ride all day long. (Well maybe going back and forth between it and Peter Pan.)
UPDATE: If you decided to stand in line for the ride, at one point the line splits. Choose the left. The right line merges with those with a fast pass and moves more slowly.
FAST PASSES
Just a note about fast passes. In order to get one, you need to scan your ticket that you got you into the park, so don't lose it. There is always someone there to help you with the fast pass in case it won't scan. The rule on the fast pass is that you can only get one for one ride at a time. You can get another fast pass if you the time slot has passed, or if two hours has passed since you scanned for the first one. So be careful which rides you get fast passes for, it might be worth it just to stand in line a little longer than to tie up a fast pass.
NON FAST PASS RIDES
SNOW WHITE - Snow White isn't near as creepy as the California version, but it is definitely for small children. Kinda boring.
IT'S A SMALL WORLD - The app said this was a 10 minute wait, but it was much longer. Probably 30 minutes. While I love the message, the song can drive me nuts. I put in my bluetooth headphones and listened to the Hamilton soundtrack while looking at all the cute little people from different lands. Their interpretation of "America" cracks me up. Apparently we are either cowboys or love football. LOL!
ALICE'S CURIOUS LABYRINTH - This is a great attraction no matter what age you are. You just walk through what looks like the Queen of Hearts maze. It's pretty low key and a great place for pictures. You can climb the Queen's castle and get some good pictures of the Sleeping Beauty castle in the background.
PHANTOM MANOR (The Haunted Mansion)
This attraction is trying to be like the one in California, but it's a fail. The room that slides down revealing gruesome pictures is so dark you can't really see them, plus they have you leaving before the pictures are fully revealed anyway. The entire attraction is super dark and you can't really see what you are supposed to be looking at. It sort of has a Great Expectation feel to it with this bride popping up in random places. Our ride stopped 3 times because people have a hard time getting off and on the chairs. The woman operating them was about to lose it, she looked really angry.
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN
This ride is almost exactly like the one in California and really enjoyable. After getting beat up on Indiana Jones, we came here and walked right up to the boats. The park had been open for about 15 minutes when we got here and there was no line. The one disadvantage to that is your eyes don't have time to adjust to the dark and walking up is tricky because it's hard to see where you are going. We went back again at the end of the day and there was a line giving us ample time to adjust to the dark.
AUTOTOPIA - We didn't ride Autotopia because it was a hot humid day and that ride has absolutely no shade. Sitting in a metal car on black asphalt and being driven around in circles did not appeal to us. We skipped it.
EATING AT DISNEYLAND
No pineapple whips or Mickey Mouse ear-shaped ice cream bars. Just pre-scooped ice cream cones and popsicles like what you'd get at Costco. Drinks are almost 4 Euro, but they are cold. A full meal is about 15 or 16 Euro (chicken sandwich, fries, and a drink).
We ended up having dinner in Frontierland at a BBQ place that was totally empty at 5:00. Our meals were 15 Euro each. Johnny got the ribs and Elise and I got the chicken. When our food arrived, we were shocked. The servings were much larger than in the picture. Johnny's ribs were huge. The BBQ sauce was amazing, and over all the it was a wonderful meal and very satisfying.
Even if you don't like BBQ, I recommend going to that restaurant if you want a cold drink (no line) or need to go to the bathroom (again, no line). Apparently the French don't like BBQ food.
If you want to bring your own food, there are places where you can sit down and eat your food.
RESTROOMS
Restrooms are free (a rare thing in Europe) and there are many around the park. If you aren't close to the BBQ restaurant, I'd first look to see if you are close to a restaurant before getting in line at the public restrooms. It's not like in Paris or NYC where you can't use a restroom if you didn't eat there.
DISNEY CHARACTERS
Since we didn't have young children with us, this wasn't really on our radar. But I will say that the Princess Pavilion is really popular and has a long wait all the time. It was almost always 75 minutes. If you have a daughter who wants to see the princesses, you'll want to be aware of the long wait ahead of you.
The characters don't roam the park, they have specific times when they "appear" and you have to get in line to see them. The app tells you who will be where when. Don't expect to just stumble upon Goofy walking around.
GENERAL ADVICE
PRINCESS DRESSES - It was so cute seeing all those little girls dressed as princesses throughout the park. But be warned, that dress will get thrashed by the end of the day. It will get stepped on and dirty from dragging on the ground. Also, the little girls couldn't seem to walk as fast as their siblings, and I could see many of them get frustrated trying to keep up. If I had a little girl, I'd probably bring a change of clothes for her after she met the princesses.
CELL PHONES - There are charging stations in the park, but we brought portable batteries to recharge our phones. You'll be using the app a lot, so you'll want long battery life on your phone.
UPDATE: I noticed in the Mainstreet portion of the Disneyland, a hallway called the Arcade. Nothing exciting to see here, except the hallway has several electrical outlets. I saw one gentleman using one to charge his phone, but no one else. If you have a French plug adapter, you might want to consider taking a rest on one of the benches and recharging your phone while you are at it.
SHOPPING - If you see something you like, BUY IT. That might be the only store that sells it. (Good advice for Paris too.) You don't want to have to backtrack just because you thought you'd see it somewhere else.
TAG TEAM - To get more rides in, tag team going to the bathroom or getting a drink while in line. Lots of people cut in line to join their family.
CROWDS - I don't think we were there on the busiest day of the year, but we were definitely there during Europe's vacation season. The average wait time was probably around 40 minutes. My friends went on Assumption Day (Aug 15), a national French holiday, and they said the crowds weren't too bad, about a 25 minute wait.
CUSTOMER SERVICE - I'm sure you've heard the stories about Disneyland Paris service not being as good as other Disneylands. Well, that's true. But it's much better than what you'll get outside of Disneyland. They absolutely won't accept a 50 Euro if the total is under 20. They prefer exact change (that's true anywhere in France), and they are not going to assume you are right. They aren't going to smile and ask how you are doing. But I did find them to be more patient and understanding than most French in the service industry. You also don't have to go through the song and dance of trying to speak French first in order to get help. You can walk right up and start speaking English. I saw almost all of them speak in French, English, Spanish, and German. It's kind of refreshing to not have to apologize for only knowing English. (FYI, the same goes for the Eiffel Tower).
FINAL THOUGHTS
I would say you can easily do Disneyland Park in one day as long as you aren't determined to see every single attraction. You can get all the major rides in if you budget your fast passes wisely. I have had friends say they can do both parks, but our train left at 8:00 so we couldn't take advantage of the evening hours. But in 10 hours we were able to do pretty much everything we wanted to.
If your family is going to Paris for a once-in-a-lifetime trip, I don't know if I'd spend one of the days in Disneyland. Especially if you have been to Florida or California. But if you will be in France for quite some time or go to Paris regularly, I would say it's worth the trip. Of course it's always fun to tell people you've been to Disneyland in Europe.
Comments
Post a Comment