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Disneyland Paris in a day?

54 replies

Fridaynightfish · 16/07/2025 09:45

Can we manage it?

Tween and teen.

Disney isn’t my thing but I’m sure I will get caught up in it all when I get there and enjoy it.

Heading to Paris in August and would prefer not to use two days of the trip at Disney but also don’t want to waste £500 on one day if we can’t do it all.

OP posts:
Squirrelintree · 16/07/2025 17:52

Would definitely suggest Parc Astérix instead

AnotherEmily · 16/07/2025 17:55

Squirrelintree · 16/07/2025 17:52

Would definitely suggest Parc Astérix instead

I was going to say this!

JungAtHeart · 17/07/2025 18:29

IthasYes · 16/07/2025 10:08

There is a beautiful old fair ground in Paris park acclimatised or something like that

It’s in a super dodgy neighbourhood!

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Glitchymn1 · 17/07/2025 18:31

You’ll need to get there VERY early. 7.30/8am. We were on a ride at 7.50am.

tinyspiny · 17/07/2025 20:59

Glitchymn1 · 17/07/2025 18:31

You’ll need to get there VERY early. 7.30/8am. We were on a ride at 7.50am.

It doesn’t open to people staying offsite until 9:30 in the summer , hotel guests can go in at 8:30 .

Glitchymn1 · 18/07/2025 08:10

tinyspiny · 17/07/2025 20:59

It doesn’t open to people staying offsite until 9:30 in the summer , hotel guests can go in at 8:30 .

We did stay on site admittedly but queues were still massive so still worthwhile getting there early if you only have one day there. 😊We were still waiting 30/40 mins to actually get in, then there’s security and it’s a hell of a lot of walking. I’d probably take a packed lunch as there can be long queues for food too.

Fridaynightfish · 19/07/2025 19:44

Thanks everyone - so we are going to do it in a day despite a lot of people saying we won’t get it all done. We will look at the map before and decide what it is important to us.

If I was taking dc alone I might have opted for two days - but I don’t feel strongly enough to push it with DH and also it’s only one DC who is desperate to go as the other has been with school (for one day incidentally 🤣)

If we absolutely love it, we can go back. We were always going to Paris whether we went to Disney or not so will just view it as an extra on our already planned trip.

Thanks again!

OP posts:
Fridaynightfish · 19/07/2025 19:47

Glitchymn1 · 18/07/2025 08:10

We did stay on site admittedly but queues were still massive so still worthwhile getting there early if you only have one day there. 😊We were still waiting 30/40 mins to actually get in, then there’s security and it’s a hell of a lot of walking. I’d probably take a packed lunch as there can be long queues for food too.

So should we aim to arrive at 8.30 to queue?

We will take food - dc have allergies so we always carry something anyway.

Someone else suggested not eating at typical meal times to avoid very busy periods. We are quite chill about things like this and will be happy to snack for a day.

OP posts:
Martymcfly24 · 19/07/2025 19:53

Fridaynightfish · 19/07/2025 19:47

So should we aim to arrive at 8.30 to queue?

We will take food - dc have allergies so we always carry something anyway.

Someone else suggested not eating at typical meal times to avoid very busy periods. We are quite chill about things like this and will be happy to snack for a day.

I would definitely arrive early to get through security so that you are at the gate for 9:30.

Are you doing the two parks.?

Download the app now it is so worth it.
If you are doing one day forget look at the app and decide what you want to do.
McDonald's is just outside the gates if you want a cheapish lunch .

Fridaynightfish · 19/07/2025 19:56

Fab thank you @Martymcfly24! Didn’t know there was security before the gates so that’s helpful. Will be an early start but that’s fine!

Will download the app and take a look thanks.

I don’t know whether to attempt elements of both parks or not? I am totally clueless when it comes to Disney and haven’t looked in to it at all.

OP posts:
Martymcfly24 · 19/07/2025 19:59

Fridaynightfish · 19/07/2025 19:56

Fab thank you @Martymcfly24! Didn’t know there was security before the gates so that’s helpful. Will be an early start but that’s fine!

Will download the app and take a look thanks.

I don’t know whether to attempt elements of both parks or not? I am totally clueless when it comes to Disney and haven’t looked in to it at all.

Do your kids like marvel if they do it is all in the studios but otherwise I would just stick to the main park. The parade and fireworks are there and there is more than enough to keep you busy..plus you get the nice castle photos !

Martymcfly24 · 19/07/2025 20:01

Because you are there in summer you will have a very long day but the fireworks/drone show were amazing.

Food in the parks is not great but the Coco restaurant was nice and relatively cheap and self service.

Fridaynightfish · 19/07/2025 20:07

Martymcfly24 · 19/07/2025 19:59

Do your kids like marvel if they do it is all in the studios but otherwise I would just stick to the main park. The parade and fireworks are there and there is more than enough to keep you busy..plus you get the nice castle photos !

Nope they don’t love marvel at all - none of us do!

OP posts:
Fridaynightfish · 19/07/2025 20:08

Should we pay extra for a better spot at the parade and fireworks?

OP posts:
Martymcfly24 · 19/07/2025 20:15

Perfect don't bother with studios, yes it's lovely with Toy Story land and that but it's not worth it if you there for one day

Don't pay for the parade place. It's only a few minutes long and if your kids are tall enough they will be able to see. However if you are not that bothered about the parade it's a great time to get on the more popular rides because they are quieter.

Fireworks are worth being up close for and paying for because the water show is only available to be seen the first bit back. plus people queue really early to be up close However it also depends on how you are getting back to your hotel because being close to the castle means you are the last to leave the park and the transport fills up quickly.

If your kids would like to meet princesses and other characters I think you can book it on the app first thing in the morning now so there is no queue. But I wouldn't queue to long to meet them. The queues can be insane to meet stitch and that.

Btw the main park is quieter in the morning than studios so head straight for Thunder Mountain or something big first thing when it's quieter but the app has all queuing times.

Sorry information overload

doodleschnoodle · 19/07/2025 20:16

I found it insanely overwhelming and was absolutely done after two days, but I think you do need two to get the things you want to done. The layout is pretty annoying, it’s two separate parcs separated by a central area that you need to beep in and out of with your pass, so you’ll want to prioritise one parc at a time or you’ll end up spending so much time schlepping back and forth. You’re basically glued to the app seeing what queue times are like, if you see something is low then hotfoot it over as it changes really quickly,

We got all the rides we wanted done across the two days. We did pay for a couple of them as we were done with the queuing by them and just wanted to get them done and leave. I did find the whole thing a very cynical exercise in getting money out of people, obviously to be expected but it was worse than I thought with the reserved space for fireworks or guaranteeing show entry, given the extremely high cost of tickets in the first place. Whenever we saw a show was going to start soon, the queue was already gigantic and signs up saying it was full etc, so I don’t know how organised/early you need to be to get into the shows without paying for the guaranteed entry and I refused to do that as it was per person and was like £100 or something. It’s a good chance to get on some rides though as queue times tend to reduce.

My kids aren’t really that mad about the whole Disney thing, so the character stuff wasn’t really that interesting for them, they didn’t know who most of them were. But they did love going on the rides. If you stay at a Disney hotel you get in an hour early and a few of the big rides are open then (only a handful, most rides are closed till 9:30 when park opens proper). We did Crush’s Coaster on day 1 but even being there at 8:15 to get in park the queue was still up to 45 mins by the time we reached it. It was 75+ mins rest of the time we were there though. The next day we decided to bash out several slightly lower key ones which was a better use of our time I think. If I was doing it again, I would just go for quantity in the magic hour and accept I will pay for premier access for a couple of the others.

Anyway this sounds a bit negative, we did enjoy it and I think it’s definitely a worthwhile experience but I am not in a hurry to return. We are going to try Efteling next time, have heard very positive stuff about it and it seems a bit less crazed.

Def get one of the Nutella crepes, they are so good!

Martymcfly24 · 19/07/2025 20:18

We are going to Efteling too this year. Am looking forward to trying it out!

doodleschnoodle · 19/07/2025 20:19

Yes I love the aesthetic of it all so I’m very excited! We are going in October half term, so not sure if weather will be on our side or not, but we are back in NL again in spring so can have another go! Beekse Bergen safari park looks really good too and there’s a sort of kids theme park thing that looks good for littler kids.

Preciousprincess75 · 19/07/2025 20:20

We also did it in a day. Just the main park, split into two as Dad and one DC like the big rides, other DC wanted to do parades and smaller rides. Met up at lunch then again at tea time to spend the rest of the evening together. Stayed all day from opening to end of fireworks. Didn't feel well missed out at all.

Martymcfly24 · 19/07/2025 20:22

doodleschnoodle · 19/07/2025 20:19

Yes I love the aesthetic of it all so I’m very excited! We are going in October half term, so not sure if weather will be on our side or not, but we are back in NL again in spring so can have another go! Beekse Bergen safari park looks really good too and there’s a sort of kids theme park thing that looks good for littler kids.

We are going in May and doing a course of days in Amsterdam. Can't wait. Must look at that safari.park👍

user1476613140 · 19/07/2025 20:22

Went in the October break last year (with a trip via Harry Potter Warner Bros. Studios in London first!) and took two days to see everything at Disney Land Paris. One day for the main park, second day for the other park with the Marvel rides. Then a little time spent back and forth between the two in the afternoon in case we missed anything. I had sore feet by the second day so wouldn't have entertained three days going round DLP!!

user1476613140 · 19/07/2025 20:27

The app was utterly useless as we got our Disney Tickets from our hotel on arrival so couldn't prebook anything. Small inconvenience but the experience of going to DLP was amazing in itself and it was a trip of a lifetime. My 4 DC loved it. They were 17,14, 9 and 7 at the time and all were at great ages to get a lot out of the trip.

IthasYes · 19/07/2025 21:39

@JungAtHeart is it and why !!

IthasYes · 19/07/2025 21:41

Ratatouille in the studios is absolutely fabulous definitely don't miss that

IthasYes · 19/07/2025 21:44

Efteling is much better and does not need the insane plannjg