Disneyland Paris

Biggest boy excited to see the castle 🏰

Disneyland Paris

Ok pals so here’s a little breakdown of how to fit as much in at Disneyland In two days as poss without spending forever queuing, cause let’s face it nobody needs to spend the day queuing at the most magical place on earth….

Disneyland Paris…..where do we start?

I’ve broken it down so this one is how to make the most of your visit and get as much in as possible. I’m assuming you have one day but if you don’t I would say go to Disney studios on the second day, use the lineberty app to meet and greet characters (you can’t just queue) which is fab as you can “get in line” on your phone to save you so much time and waiting around. I would do this and then go to the parade at the main park/redo any rides in the main park on your second day, then anything you’ve missed you can go back to. The Studios park isn’t worth a trip on its own but 100% worth a visit….if that makes sense? I will do a separate post on studios.

So, back to the main park……I would strongly recommend a couple of things;

•Download the Disneyland Paris app. It’s definately not perfect but gives decent info, opening times, parade times, character meets and also tells you ride wait times which is wonderful.

•Get there as early as you can, buy tickets online and get in the Queue, you need to be through the gates when it opens.

•If you are staying in a Disney hotel get your extra magic time in!

•Be prepared to eat early. Nobody wants to spend their day queuing for food, get an early start, early breakfast and have lunch around 11-11.30. You won’t have to wait and will pretty much get a table.

So I’m going to be assuming you have adults and kids/are as a group and can go on any ride. You get 2 fast passes per day, per entry ticket and this guide assumes you are there off peak.

8.30-9.30 is extra magic time (if you stay at the Disney hotels/are an annual pass holder) so if you can get in at this time I would head to the castle and grab yourself a picture before it gets too busy and straight into Fantasyland to Peter pans flight. I would then do the following:

Dumbo It’s a small world Mad hatters teacups The carousel-if you fancy it, it’s not spectacular but you would probably have time. If you have a princess obsessed little one I would get inline for a meet and greet prior to 10am (opening time) as you will wait for 90 minutes any other point in the day. You will still have to wait but it will be much better.

Asssuming it’s about 9.30 head over to Frontierland and straight to the Q for big thunder mountain. I wouldn’t use a Fastpass here as if you arrive around opening time you won’t have to wait long. If you haven’t got extra magic time you have two options, if you are mainly there for the kids do fantasyland as above or if you like the grown up rides go over to Indiana Jones, again the wait hopefully won’t be too long but you might want to use a fast pass if it is. Then head to pirates of the carribbean, I find it’s never too busy normally a half an hour wait and you can’t get a Fastpass.

After this you have a couple of options, I’m assuming it’s around 10.30 you could head to Discoveryland and get your Hyperspace mountain, theres also buzz Lightyear space blast you can get a Fastpass for but if you do have one left I’d probably go for startours as you still have to wait for about 15 minutes even if you have a Fastpass. This is my least favourite area, not because I don’t love toy story, the rides are just not my favourite. Orbitron and Nautilus are worth checking out if the wait isn’t too long. My hubby really likes the rides in Discoveryland so he got there first last visit and went on hyperspace mountain without using a Fastpass so it does depend on what you enjoy.

My preference is to eat before Discoveryland (send somebody to get a space mountain Fastpass) I like to eat in Frontierland-the Mexican fuente del Oro…..it’s definately not fancy but fills you up and if you get in when it opens (I think 11am) you won’t Q and get a table.

After Discoveryland I like to check any character greets on the app and also any shows/the daytime parade. If nothings on I like to check a couple of shops and then head back to fantasyland to go for:

•Blanche Neiges et les sept Nains (Snow White) which is an underrated ride that generally has a smaller Q •Alice’s curious Labrynth which is a cool maze but no need to do early as you don’t have to wait •The land of fairytales there’s a sweet boat ride and runaway train suitable for infants, just past small world and there’s often a character appear near the gate. •Sleeping beauty’s castle and the famous dragon-allow plenty of time for a wander here. All of these are perfect for any age and nice for the smalls to burn off steam and explore.

Alice’s Curious Labyrinth

Head back to Frontierland/Adventureland and go for •Adventure Isle •Les Cabane des Robinson •Thunder Mesa riverboat landing Again all small person friendly. If you cut through back towards the castle you can check out Aladdin’s enchanted passage which is cool and underrated. I would then use this time to pass through Main Street USA, check out the shops and then go on the Disney Railroad (one of my favourite things).

We love a genie pic! You can usually find him near Aladdin’s passage.

During winter the main Parade is on at 17.30 and I would recommend to get a spot early (45 mins) on Main Street so this is your time to pull the snacks out with the smalls. After this you have until closing time for the illuminations so you can go back to anything you have missed (I’ve obviously left out a few bits like phantom manor) or anything you really like….most people watch the parade so if you are quick afterwards you may squeeze back on a popular one.

The Christmas parade

For me the parade is the best bit but I would reccomend 3 days if you can so you may not need to watch it twice. If you have the time/money I would have 2-3 days/2-3 nights and do day one as above, day two start in studios and finish in the main park again so you could always catch the parade on the second day. I have also assumed that like me you have travelled as part of a group but if you are in a duo with a little one you can use the single rider lanes and also my 3 year old has done a lot of these rides, obviously not space mountain, big thunder, Indiana Jones but quite a few.

If you did do the three days you can definately break this into two and target one section on one morning and a different one another. So If you had a 3 day pass you could take your time, my 3 day itinerary would look like this:

Day 1-Main Disney park, Fantasyland 1st thing and explore it properly, head for Peter Pan, then Dumbo then Small world then the rest of it (send somebody to get big thunder mountain fast passes and do that next then get Indiana Jones Fastpass while you do pirates.

Day 2-head to studios park (will do a separate post)

Day 3-Disney Park again, start in Discoveryland, buzz’s spaceblast (no Fastpass) then hyperspace mountain, Orbitron and nautilus then head back to anything you missed/want to repeat from day one.

This above would give you plenty of time to see everything/shop and explore the Disney village outside the park. You could go home on the final day in the evening as you will have already seen the parade and illuminations on the first day.

I will do a separate guide on practical tips/booking and a separate post on the studios park. Please let me know if you want to know anything else and if you have any other useful tips for DLP.