Following on from my recent Easter Breaks for Under £500 post; I am so pleased to hear so many of you have gone ahead and booked a family trip to Disneyland Paris – some of you being avid experts and snatching up a great deal, and some of you being first timers.
Whether you are a newbie to the mouse trap, or been a hundred times before; I have a full breakdown and itinerary below, to ensure you get the most out of your 3 day visit. This itinerary has been tried and tested on several occasions by yours truly, and I even have some great tips along the way!
First things first – try and get to the park as early as possible. Whether you are getting a flight, ferry or the Eurostar; most packages will have you arriving by lunchtime. If you have booked as part of a Disney Travel Package; you need to check-in before you’re granted access to your park hopper tickets, room keys and meal vouchers. Check-in typically opens from 12pm and you can access your rooms from 3pm. This is where travelling with a car comes in handy, as you can leave your luggage in the boot of the safe hotel car park. Otherwise, the concierge team in the hotel will store your luggage Free of charge sometimes even get the bellhop to take it to your room for you.
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If you aren’t on a dining plan or have a half board plan (whether you have the option of either lunch OR dinner), then I would suggest packing a cool box for park snacks and treats. You can easily store this in the car and package up mini lunches in your backpack for when you are out exploring. This saves money and also the need to get the shuttle bus or schlep back to your room.
When in doubt, go left. Once having been taught this rule in Orlando; it’s something I always follow. People typically walk on the right – especially in Europe and the US. So if the entrance turnstiles seem busy; try and find a quieter lane on the left. Also be prepared with your tickets and buggies to not hold up parties behind you. I would always recommend doing the main Disneyland Parc on your first day. As you’ll be entering the park after lunch, the park will already be quite busy. The rule of thumb to avoid crowds first thing in the morning is to turn left into Adventure Land as appose to right into Discovery Land. As queues are often busy for Buzz’s Laser Blaster and Hyper Space Mountain; people try and get this done first thing in the morning. But if you are a Disney hotel resident; this part of the park is part of the early magic hours – plus is where Café Hyperion is located. Which is often the designated restaurant to redeem your free breakfast vouchers. Now this is the one thing which annoys me slightly in regard to the dining plan. To alleviate the busy rush in the hotel restaurants; many of the pre-paid dining plan deals will encourage you to eat breakfast in the park – however this is often done during your early rider/magic hours and you spend half your time queuing for food, when you could be using that to get a thrill on rides and meet precious characters. If you have bought snacks, eat them to tie you over and grab your breakfast at 10am when the park opens to regular guests. Or if you haven’t got snacks and are happy to hold out that long; then by all means do that rather than wasting up to 30 minutes queuing for food. Don’t forget, there is a Starbucks in Disney Village which opens from 7am so you can always grab something there.
If you are on a half-board dining plan, I would recommend booking it in for dinner, and grabbing dinner a couple hours before the fireworks show. As for lunch, you are best to take pack lunch or plan your lunches around the main afternoon parades. I often grab a bite to eat from one of the concession carts, or go to Casey’s Corner, grab a space on the curb and stake out my spot on Main Street. When the weather is kind, it’s actually nice to sit and get some chill time. It’s best to get a light bite for lunch, as your meals will always include 3 VERY LARGE courses.
So you’ve sorted out where to eat and where to watch the parades – now let’s talk about the important stuff: Rides and character meet and greets! The fastpass system is still quite dated here; meaning you have to get a ticket from a machine next to the ride and are given an assigned hour time slot to come back and ride. Don’t be fooled by the option on the app which says ‘book your fastpasses here’ – it’s a link which takes you through to the payment part of the main website. If you can’t be bothered with that, here are some of my tried and tested tips to get the most out of ride access:
Peter Pan’s Flight is always busy – regardless what park you are in. Always try getting a fastpass for this if you have tiny tots who are desperate to ride. Try and do this first thing in the morning, as the fastpasses often sell out straight away.
Tower of Terror rarely display the right time, plus they have a really interactive queue line and a lengthy pre-show. If the board displays 30 minutes, it’s more likely to be 15-20 minutes wait, so I would suggest just joining the queue.
Crush’s Coaster is always long. You have 2 options here: You can either get a fastpass for peace of mind, or join the 15 minute queue on your second day as part of early ride time. I would always suggest your 2nd day/first full park day be Walt Disney Studios Park, and make use of the early ride time there.
The Ratatouille ride is exclusive to Paris and always has a massive queue. What people don’t really know is that each car holds 6 persons (3 in a row). As most people always visit as a family of 4; there are often spare seats. I would always recommend going down the single rider queue if you don’t mind being separated from your group. The single rider is often advertised as a 10 minute wait, but I have always been fortunate enough to walk straight on and even have my group join me in the same cart.
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Go to the Studios Park on your 2nd day for extra magic hours – head back at 9:45/9:50 to the main Disneyland Parc and stake out your spot to meet some of the rare characters around the plaza in Main Street whilst someone else from your party grabs everyone’s breakfasts. If characters aren’t really your thing, then leg it down to Frontier Land and grab the first ride of the day on Big Thunder Mountain before it gets busy.
This time of year, you get to enjoy the Marvel Superheroes shows, so if you have come specifically for that; I recommend planning your time around their speciality shows. Key timings to remember are the main parade at 17:30 and the fireworks at 20:00 this time of year. Based on everything going on now (between March and June), I have designed a mock-up itinerary for both parks. This is based on 2 half days in the main Disneyland Parc and a full day in the Studios Park. You are more than welcome to follow this hour by hour, or use it as a guide:
DAY 1 - DISNEYLAND PARC
12:00 – Check in to your designated Disney hotel (if you’re in Newport Bay, Santa Fe, Seqouia Lodge or New York Hotel) I would say go for the 10-15 minute walk through Disney Village to get to the park, as appose to waiting around for an already busy shuttle bus. 13:00 – Head to the main Disneyland Parc. Always be sure to allow enough time for slow walkers/tiny feet, and to pass through the security checks. 13:45 – Head to the main plaza fountain in front of the castle, ready to catch the Princess & Pirate show. This is a great show and is on almost every hour of the day. Just one thing to be mindful of is that the pirates and princesses swap routes for each show, as they enter and exit via different gates. If you want to see them on their first arrival into the park; I would recommend standing by the gate at It’s A Small World Ride, or by the gate near First Aid opposite City Hall Guest Services, down Main Street USA. 14:30 – Spend some time doing rides. My recommendation would be to do the smaller thrill ones, which won’t have as a big of a queue during this time of day. Save big ones like Hyper Space Mountain, Buzz’s Laser Blast and Thunder Mountain for first thing in the morning on your last day. I would suggest tackling Indiana Jones Temple of Peril, The Carousel, Snow White and Pinocchio’s rides and possibly even joining the queue for the Princess Pavilion and Star Wars Encounter. It’s tricky to get fastpasses for these attractions, and wait times average between 60 and 90 minutes. If you are happy to kill time before the parade, then this would be a good time to do that. 16:00 – This is the earliest time you can dine, and also a time where restaurants have the best availability, as people prefer dining later (either just before the fireworks or after the park closes in Disney Village). You can easily get a 3 course meal or buffet in an hour and still have 30 minutes to kill to staking out a good parade spot. My top 3 suggestions for dinner are: Captain Jacks, Crystal Palace or (if you are happy to pay the supplement), character dining at Inventions. Make sure you have your cameras and autograph books at the ready, as it’s more than likely a character will be lurking around the tables during this time. 17:00 – Head to Main Street and stake out your parade spot. Some great places to catch the parade are: In front of the Pandora store along Main Street itself – though this area gets really busy, as guests want the money shot of the dragon float; breathing fire with the castle vista. You can also catch the parade at the It’s a Small World Gate; where the castle stage meets the Bella Notte Restaurant. This spot is always quiet, as no safety barriers get put out here so people think you can’t stand here, but you absolutely can and you get a nice glimpse of the characters first. Finally, you can also watch from the curb in front of the popcorn cart on your way into Adventureland. Again, this is fairly quiet and you get to take photos with the castle behind the floats. One word of advice is to sit next to bins – as stupid as it sounds. You then have more room to stake out your place, and won’t have anyone in front/next to you. Plus kids aren’t allowed to sit on bin tops, and won’t stand behind them, as they typically can’t see over. I would always recommend packing a beach towel to sit on, as the gravel on these curbs are super uncomfortable. Remember to sit cross legged, as your feet can’t go over the curb or the staff will make you stand. And you don’t want to be that person standing up at 6ft tall; ruining all the kids’ dreams behind you – I’ve been there… 18:00 – Depending on where you have chosen to sit; you will either be done watching the parade at 18:00 or a short while after. This is the time where the restaurants tend to get really busy, as people are trying to squeeze in their dinner reservations before the fireworks. And this is where you want to squeeze in major ride time (or shopping). The shops are hell on earth after the park closes – this is the only thing to do in the park from 9pm and they stay open for an hour after. Imagine screaming children, messy displays, frantic staff and not being able to find the one mug you are looking for. I wouldn’t recommend getting involved and to try and squeeze in some more rides than shopping in this 2 hour period. If you aren’t a particular fan of rides; this a good time to explore, take pictures and get some great castle shots during sunset. Sadly most of the characters have done their shift for the day at this point, so there won’t be many left to meet. Rides I would suggest doing at this time are the primary walk-through attractions, or even catching a show. Mickey’s Philharmagic is great and you can also enjoy Alice’s Labyrinth, Flying Dumbos, Maleficent in the Castle or even queuing for an hour to meet Mickey himself near Storybook Circus. 19:00 – To get the best spot, you should be waiting about 30-60 minutes, not forgetting the preshow typically starts 15 minutes before. As Disney Illuminations is a pyrotechnic, laser, projection mapping and coloured fountain show; you are best to get fairly close to the castle; unlike Orlando where the fireworks project fairly high and you can stand further back in Main Street. The whole front section of the castle is reserved for wheelchair users. However the central plaza hub holds x4 flower bed pods which are surrounded by railings. You want to stand at the one on the left (as if you are looking at the castle), right up against the railings. You won’t have anyone in front of you and get an epic view. Plus you can sit and lean against the railings whilst you wait for the show to start. Now having found this spot in particular; I refuse to go anywhere else. Just make sure you have a lot of snacks and good company to keep you going, as the wait can be pretty long. 20:00 – The fireworks show begins and you watch in awe and glee…and if you’re anything like me; put your sunglasses on at night, as you are crying and overwhelmed with emotion. 20:30 – You start making your way back out of the park, but you don’t want to get bombarded with pushchairs and emotional and tired guests tugging at your ankles; I would always advise to walk the opposite direction. This can sometimes be tricky, as security have pretty much swept the whole park by the time the fireworks show is over. Resulting in the Plaza and Main Street being the busiest pinch points. There have been times where the castle turret shop in Fantasy Land has been open (and quiet) for shopping, otherwise you are just going to have to slowly follow the herding crowd out of the turnstiles. The park miraculously gets cleared within 30 minutes, and most guests leg it out after the last pyrotechnic bang. I personally use this time to get photos of an empty castle and Main Street in the night time darkness and lights. I have this habit of always getting kicked out by security, by being the last person in the park. It only takes an hour and you can stroll out the park easily after, rather than having to queue. 22:00 – I would always suggest getting an early (ish) night here as you can bet your bottom dollar you will be up early for extra magic hours and your first full day in the park! So get a good night’s rest and some shut eye, and keep on reading for tomorrow’s itinerary and run down in the Walt Disney Studios Park.
DAY 2 - WALT DISNEY STUDIOS PARK
06:00 – Set your alarm and rise and shine. Yes, you have to get up this early to get washed and dressed and start finding sense for the day. Make sure your bag is fully prepped and ready to go with cameras, spare phone chargers, snacks, drinks, jumpers, ponchos etc. 07:00 – If you are staying at a Disney hotel; you can head down to the lobby and be the first in the queue for a private character meet and greet with one of the fab five. 07:30 From here, you can slowly walk through Disney Village, grab a quick coffee and nibble at Starbucks, and be ready to enter the park at 08:00 for early ride time. There’s actually many things to do in Walt Disney Studios Park this time a day, but you want to head straight over to Crush’s Coaster before the queues get too busy. 08:30 – Next you want to head to the Toy Story Playground section of the park and try and jump on RC Racer. Technically this isn’t actually part of the early rider/magic hours offering, but more often than not it is open early and has virtually no queue. 09:00 – Head to the entry hub by the turnstiles of the Studios Park and join the queue for Goofy and his friends. This is probably the quietest it will be before the main guests enter the park, so make the most of only having to queue for a max of 20 minutes. 09:30 – You have 2 options here, either join the queue for Tower of Terror, so you can walk on the first ride of the day (which typically opens at 09:45), or do the same thing at Ratatouille. If you are looking to dine at Chez Remy’s, then I would suggest going with the first option, and following my option later futher down this page. 10:00 – So you’ve made the first ride of the day on ToT, and now you’re ready to hit some rides, character meet and greets and shows. Or if you’re really hungry, head back to the other park and grab your dining plan breakfast from Café Hyperion. If you aren’t too fussed about breakfast, then I would recommend doing the following rides, as you can usually get through them fairly quickly: Rockin' Rollercoaster, Toy Soldiers Parachute and Slinky Dog Spin. Based on these queues never really exceeding 20 minutes, you should be done by 11am. 11:00 – Head to the Production Courtyard and join the queue to meet either Captain Marvel, Captain America or Spiderman. These queues get really long however, as the characters aren’t in the parks all year round – just for this event period which runs until June. I would suggest maybe picking 1 or 2 characters you really want to see and leave the other for a later time. They typically rotate from 10:00-16:00, so there will be other times when you can come back to check the queue size. This is also a great spot to be in, as you are close to the first show of the day for Marvel Superheroes United in the Production Theatre. The first show is 12:15, but lines get quite busy, so half of your party can meet characters in the area, whilst the other half queue for the show. 12:15 – Show time at the Production Courtyard Theatre to watch Marvel Superheroes United. 12:45 – Head to Toon Studio and get an awesome meet and greet with the epic Buzz Lightyear. From here, you can then head to Ratatouille and grab lunch at Chez Remy. 13:00 – Remember the trick I spoke about to separate from your party for Ratatouille and join the single rider queue; well now is the perfect chance to do that and queue for a max of 10 minutes. What I like to do is go on this ride and then grab lunch immediately after in Chez Remy next door – for me I feel it really creates the magical experience of dining like a tiny critter. 13:30 – It’s easier to get lunch reservations at Chez Remy than it is dinner, so now would be a good break in the day to go. Again, if you are on the dining plan, you will get a large 3 course meal. So maybe going on a ride straight after isn’t the best option. Luckily I’ve got you covered. Head back to the Production Courtyard and stake out a great spot ready for the Guardians of the Galaxy Dance-off Show at 14:55. 14:55 – Guardians of the Galaxy Show – use your powerful dance moves to help the guardians escape the clutches of an evil enemy with some 70s and 80s classic bangers! Once you have danced and partied, you are then in a great spot for another show (again in the same area). Make yourselves comfy and stay in that great spot, ready for the 15:20 Stark Expo Show. 15:20 – Stark Expo Show. This is a great action stunt show filled with all your favourite marvel characters, including Thor and Black Widow. The 15:20 is the last scheduled show time of the day, so you don’t want to miss it! 15:50 – Unless you have any burning desires to get anything else done in this park; I would suggest heading back to the main Disneyland Parc for the afternoon parade and evening entertainment, as this will be your last chance to catch it again. Before you go however, now would be a good time to squeeze in a shopping spree at World of Disney on the edge of Disney Village. It will be much quieter at this time of day, and this shop is the largest one across the resorts and offers everything you didn’t even think you needed… 16:30 – After having raided the store; head inside Disneyland Parc, grab a hotdog from Casey’s and stake out another great Main Street spot for the 17:30 parade. 18:00 – Again, you have a 60-90 minute window here to either grab a bigger dinner (though I would recommend waiting until 21:00 and grab a feast in Disney Village) or go on some rides. There are still a few rides to do here, such as It’s a Small World and Pirates of the Caribbean – which are great fun and classics. 19:30 – Tonight (as you got a great spot last night for the fireworks), you can probably get a good fireworks’ view a bit further away. I would suggest (to also help getting out quicker) to watch as far down Main Street as you can get. You won’t see the projection on the castle as well, but you’ll get some great photos of the castle vista and also be close to the turnstiles to rush over to Disney Village and grab dinner. One thing to note is that all of the restaurants in Disney Village are walk-up only. Some of my recommendations to dine are: Chef Mickey’s, King Ludwig’s Castle and Rainforest Café. Try and avoid places like Earl of Sandwich, McDonalds, Five Guys and Annette’s like the plague; as the queues are crazy as most people just want a quick hot meal before bed. 21:30/22:00 – Head back to the room and get ready to call it a night. But before you do, you need to pack up your lives to make check-out in the morning as smooth as possible. You can clear your bill at any time of day, so rather than joining the busy queue at 7am the next morning; I would suggest getting that cleared tonight with a member of the night reception team.
DAY 3 - DISNEYLAND PARC
06:00 – Similar to yesterday, it’s an early start with checking out, catching a character meet and greet and schlepping over to the park ready for the early ride/magic time – but this time you are enjoying the benefits of the Disneyland Parc magic hours… 08:00 – Get ready to leg it over to Discoveryland as soon as the gates open, and jump on Hyper Space Mountain and Buzz’s Laser Blast. 08:30 – Finally! A morning where you can enjoy breakfast at a reasonable time! Relax and savour that coffee; you’ve definitely earned it. 09:30 – Head on over to Frontierland and join the short queue at Big Thunder Mountain, so you can get one of the first rides of the day when the park opens at 10am. Sometimes they open this ride earlier too at 09:45, so fingers crossed you can ride through the canyons even earlier… 10:30 – The park has just opened to its regular guests and the rides are getting busy. Why not use this time to jump on one of the Main Street Horse drawn Cars and take in some of the sights you might miss on foot. It’s a great photo opportunity and something different. Plus there is limited time to ride them, as they typically finish around noon. 11:00 – It’s time to catch some last bits and pieces and repeat any of your favourite things before you think about heading back to catch your flight, ferry or train in time. My suggestions would be – catch another Princess Vs Pirate Show. Meet some of the quieter characters such as Pooh, Daisy, Donald and Alice/Queen of Hearts. Sometimes Jack Skellington is out and about whilst they refurbish Phantom Manor, though it’s rarely advertised. Same goes for Baloo and Peter Pan… and just take in the last remaining sights and use the time to take photos. You can walk around Sleeping Beauty’s Castle and get some great shots from up top where the turrets are too.
13:00 - Depending on what time you're onward travel comitments are; you might want to think about wrapping it up and calling it an end to such a magical trip. But not before getting that final Main Street Shot and popping in for a peruse in Pandora...
And there you have it! Proof you can easily do the Disney parks in 2.5/3 days. Everyone is different, has different preferences and visits Disney for many different reasons. If you have any questions; let me know and I will happily tailor make an itinerary for you and talk about anything I may have missed. Whether that's tackling every ride in the park in 48 hours, meeting exclusive characters, hunting down all the 'easter eggs' and hidden Mickeys, or simply finding the best location around the park to make your 'gram shine with magic - I've got you covered!
Whatever you decide to do, ave a magical trip and keep on discovering,
Danie xxx
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