Disneyland Paris - ok for 2 days?

[Comfypjs]

Hi looking at booking last minute trip to Disneyland Paris. Leaving london on Friday 11 April and returning late sunday.
Only get one full day, is that enough? I know of people that go for a day trip.
Cost is 800 half board, adding an extra day brings it to 1290.
Dss are 12 and 10 and we have never been before.
Tia

If you get a chance get hold of something like The Brit Guide to Disney Paris - it's worth planning your time to get the most out of it. Be prepared to get up early so you get in the park for 'Extra Magic Hours' (if you're staying onsite) as they park is relatively quiet and you can get on a few rides before the queues build up (Fantasyland only).

Go and check www.dlrpmagic.com for info about current schedules and closures so you can think about which shows you might want to see so you can plan around them.

It'll be really busy when you first arrive so it might feel a bit overwhelming but have a plan of action and know that it will be quieter the next morning!

Food is pricey and much of it is crap and queues can be long so do take snacks and drinks around with you - you can't take in full-on picnics but snacks are fine. It'll help when the kids start flagging while stuck in a queue!

Fast passes are useful - free timed entry for certain rides, you get them from machines around the park, near to each ride and they give you time slot for a slightly quicker entry later on.

You'll have a great time I hope :)

Its totally possible to see/do most things on a short break, but bear in mind that the weekends are busier and the Paris area schools break up for Easter holidays the weekend you will be there. the key really is to plan and prioritise the things you really want to do.

I'm assuming you travelling by Eurostar from London, yes? If so use the Disney express service to collect your tickets and head straight to the parks on arrival, you should be through the gates by 3pm. the main park doesn't shut until 9.30pm on the Friday and 10pm at the weekend, so you should be able to fit a fair bit in.

Use fastpasses (free) wherever you can instead of queuing and do other rides while you wait for your time slot. If you are not bothered about watching the parades, this is a good time to go on the busiest rides too as the queues are a lot shorter. During extra magic hours in the morning (8-10am) most of the fantasyland rides are open so do these then rather than queuing for ages at them later in the day.

For the Disney Studios I would recommend being at the gates well before they open in the morning. Officially this is 10am, but often they are letting people in from around 9.30. Once inside run straight to Crush's coaster. The queues for this ride can reach 2 hours! and it has no fast pass.

Also book which restaurants you want to use your meal plan vouchers at. At popular times the queues for a table can also be very long and this will eat (haha!) into your time. People who have a reservation ticket get seated almost straight away. for breakfast get to your hotel dining room by 7am each morning, regardless of which time slot you are given on check-in. There will be no queue this early so you will be allowed straight through. By 7.30am the queue will be huge!

Wow thanks for all the info...DH wants to delay until end of May break. This will give me time to organise myself.
And I can surprise the ds ...hmmm how shall I tell them?

Ooooooh I love doing the surprise trip thing- there are loads of videos on youtube that other people have done for ideas. my favourite is one from USA where the mum tells the kids they got bad grades so are going to a summer school, but then she dials up the satnav and asks for directions to Disney!

If you are going on Eurostar then you could say you are just catching a train somewhere else, then let them work it out when you board the Disney train. I've done this before and also have driven over without the DC guessing until we were almost at the park gates. They truly believed that we had just gone for a booze cruise day trip, but silly mummy had got lost!

The last surprise trip I did was this xmas where I wrapped up the tickets, inside a wrapped box, that was inside another wrapped box, then another and so on. It looked just like a big, main xmas present in the end. which it was really as we left the day after boxing day!