is one day enough?

[bisforbrittney]

i recently found out i'll be spending a month studying in the netherlands this summer, and i will have the weekends free for travel. i definitely want to go to paris, and being that i'm a huge disney fanatic, i'm considering going to disneyland paris. however, since my time for travel is limited, i was wondering if one day would be enough time to go to and enjoy the park. i've only been to disneyland anaheim, and i usually feel day trips are really rushed there, so i'm not sure if i'd get the same feeling from a day at a park i've never been to before.

any input is appreciated!

[swampymarsh]

I would definitely take advantage of the chance. Is a day enough not really, but if that's all you can afford take it.

Try to skip some things, but be careful. A lot of rides are very different and this makes some well wort seeing. Many are very simple and I wouldn't feel bad about skipping.

DLP hosts a few attractions that are completely unique and a couple that are in WDW which you haven't seen either.

[CMHusband]

Depending on when you go, you'll find they have limited hours.. My daughter was there and did it all in a day. Gotta try the Haunted Mansion for sure. Totally different than ours. My daughter really loved DLP. If it was me, I'd go for a couple of days just so I could take my time.

[vdBurg]

I'd say one day is not enough to enjoy the resort, or at least not worth the 3 hour journey to Disneyland Paris from the Netherlands. (asuming u would take the Thalys high speed train) But then again, I'm dutch and have a passport annuel for DLP, so I have the time to wait for a better oppertunity to go. Paris is the only resort I have ever been to, so I don't know how it compares to Anaheim. I do think however that it could be worth the while depending on what you're looking for in a visit. But if you don't want to rush it, you either should decide not to go or accept the fact that you're going to miss out on quite a few things in DLP. And needless to say, the weekends are much more crowded (and thus have longer waiting times) than regular days. You also might want to check if there isn't a national holliday in France, not worth to go on any of those days... Hope I could help.

[mark]

If you can have one FULL day opening to closing,. you can do DLP in one day. Skip the Studios. Even Crush's Coaster is not worth it compared to DLP. Look at my American in Paris trip report on these boards. The parc is SO beautiful and worth your time. Just get there an hour before it opens and don't leave before its closed. You'll see it all- and you'll be glad you did.

[bisforbrittney]

thanks for the advice, everyone!

of course i would love to spend more than one day at the park, but seeing as i'll probably be going to the park alone (i don't know anybody in europe) and the prices of hotels near the resort are redonkulous for one person, i probably can't afford more than one day, both time wise and money wise (one day tickets are discounted right now, so i'd buy ahead of time)

i think you're all right that if i budget my time (get there early, leave late) and accept the fact that i won't be able to see everything, i'll still enjoy the experience. i think i was worried that there's really too much to do there (like, i would never consider only spending one day at disney world since the resort is huge) but i know there are certain rides i want to try in paris, so that should be enough for a good time. i mean, it's disney; i can't really go wrong. plus, mark's pictures from his trip make it hard to resist buying a ticket right now

thanks for the heads up about park hours, cmhusband; i'll definitely check the schedule before planning! and vdburg, you totally helped because i would have never considered parisian holidays, so thank you for mentioning that!

one more question for those of you who have been: are there single rider lines at disney land paris like there are in anaheim?

[whiteskyen]

Depending on when you go, you'll find they have limited hours.. My daughter was there and did it all in a day. Gotta try the Haunted Mansion for sure. Totally different than ours. My daughter really loved DLP. If it was me, I'd go for a couple of days just so I could take my time.

Of course, If you have limit hour, you will control every activity for good result

[swampymarsh]

one more question for those of you who have been: are there single rider lines at disney land paris like there are in anaheim?

I saw a couple, but I didn't use them and was not alone so don't know how many more there are.

I wouldn't simply count out the studios. It offers many small attractions that you would probably want to skip, but has many attractions that aren't in DLR. the Crush Coaster, Rock n Roller Coaster, Lights Motor Action show and Studio tour. Walking though the Toy Story Playland could be interesting, and you would see the front of the coming Ratatouille attraction(2014).


In Disneyland: the entrance and Main Street is very different. Big Tunder Mountain is great. Haunted Mansion(Phantom Manor) is very good and has a nice queue. Indy Tempile Du Perile is ok, a weak coaster. The Adventureland Island is good to walk around. Pirates is very good, similiar but much different. In Fantasyland the dark rides are very similiar, and you may skip a lot here. Do go under the Castle. You might enjoy the Alice in Wonderland Garden Maze. In Discoveryland Space Mountain is very different, not at all the same. Walk through the Natalius.

The Disney Dreams show may be worthwhile, but is a lot like WoC, and MMY if you have seen those, it may not be worth the time to view.


I would plan on a lot of time spent walking around as you may realize there are not many attractions compared to Disneyland Park.

Also for lodging, you may take an early train in and late train out. You might try some FB networking to find travel companions. There are some hotels just outside the resort. You might try hotels that are a shorter train ride away.

[bisforbrittney]

wow, thanks swampy! i never even thought of using the internet to find travel buddies; there's gotta be somebody who wants to be my companion to disneyland, right!? haha

i also just learned that my friend actually went for a day during her study abroad trip last year (how this never came up in conversation, i'll never know), and she said she felt like she got everything done she wanted to, so i think i'm going to bite the bullet and get the ticket while it's still discounted. now just time to start planning!

[swampymarsh]

wow, thanks swampy! i never even thought of using the internet to find travel buddies; there's gotta be somebody who wants to be my companion to disneyland, right!? haha

When you consider that you are going to a college program lots of people will want to make use of their weekends while there. DLP is a highly visited place so I'm sure you can find someone who hasn't been that would like to make the trip.

Biting the bullet and getting your ticket before the price incease is probably a good idea.

[jcruise86]

If you can have one FULL day opening to closing,. you can do DLP in one day. Skip the Studios. Even Crush's Coaster is not worth it compared to DLP . . . get there an hour before it opens and don't leave before its closed. You'll see it all- and you'll be glad you did.

I strongly agree with Mark about skipping the Studios Park (& I bolded it.) It's the only Disney park I've been to that I dislike and I hated it. It was so cheap-looking it made me depressed. It was like a flatter, much uglier version of Universal Studios Hollywood. Spend more time in Paris instead of visiting the Studios park at Disneyland Paris.

I do love the original park though.

I wouldn't make your one day stressful by trying to see everything.

I've been to nine Disney parks and the only two rides I feel physically uncomfortable on are Paris' Space Mountain and Indy rides.

Don't miss Phantom Manor, the dragon under the castle, and their Small World & Pirates.

I'd also suggest taking a long, interesting walk from the park to the Hotel Cheyenne to see families from all over Europe on holiday in an American western town setting. (It's a small, Americanized world after all and, unlike McDonald's , DLP made me a bit proud rather than a little embarrassed. Now if they had Five Guys Burgers and Fries in Paris I'd proudly march in.)


Getting to the park early and using Fastpass is always an excellent suggestion.

Have fun!

[jcruise86]

. . . Look at my American in Paris trip report on these boards. The parc is SO beautiful and worth your time. . .

Mark, your InsightsandSounds blog/website is impressive!

[vdBurg]

To anwser the the question about Single Rider lines: There are 2 rides with single rider lines in the resort, both in Toy Story Playland. The RC racer and the Toy Soldier Parachute Drop.

[BrerDan]

When I visited, it was only for one day. It was only my second trip to Europe (the first was to Germany) and I was spending a week in Paris and didn't want to spend too much time away from the city. While two or three days would have been ideal, I did find that one day was sufficient for Disneyland. I was able to experience everything I wanted to that was open (Phantom Manor was down for refurbishment).

Of course, I went in late January when crowds were very low and only spent time in Disneyland, skipping the Studios. We also didn't take time for a sit down meal (we grabbed dinner at a sit down in Downtown Disney after park closing, which was early at 7:00).

The keys for me in doing this were:
1) skipping the studios
2) staying one night before in the nearby offsite hotels (the circus themed one) and being there at opening. (To save money we took the train back that night--be careful to have train fair in advance, we almost missed the train because we had trouble getting change).
3) carefully hitting higher demand rides early

My favorite parts were the unique walkthroughs--the dragon and the Nautilus.

[ratoncitaloca]

I did Disneyland and the Studios in one day back in 2007. I did Thunder Mountain, Space mountain, Pirates and Phantom Manor 2 times each and got to see all the other stuff I wanted to see. The only thing I didn't get to do was Crush's Coaster. It had just been open a week and it broke down. Tower wasn't open yet either. You can do it in one day, but two would have been better. I don't have many pictures because I felt like I had to hurry.