Have 1 day- do we attempt both parks?

disneymom0104

DIS Veteran
Joined
Mar 17, 2008
We will have the opportunity to visit DLP for one day in mid Sept- during the week. We are spending a week in London and then a week in Paris and thought it would be fun to take one day in the middle to visit DLP (so no jet lag at that point). There are 6 of us in my immediate family, with kids ranging from 5-17. We are avid Disney fans and vacation to DL or WDW pretty much every year. We know the parks like the back of our hands. My parents will also be with us, they are in their late 60's and have not been to a Disney park in 25+ years. They are just tagging along with us to DLP and while my dad will ride most rides, my mom will not. My question is whether we attempt both parks, or just do Disneyland for the day. The hours look like 10-6 for the Studios and 10-9 for Disneyland the day we are looking at. We won't be purchasing any FP add on, just plan to use paper FP. I'm keeping it a surprise for my 2 youngest, but I think we are all okay to skip Crush's Coaster- just so that we can maximize our time. We reallllly want to ride Ratatouille and then some of us would do ToT while some of us take the 5 and 9 year old to see the Toy Story rides and that would be it there. Rock N Roller Coaster will be closed. Would it be silly to miss the rope drop at Disneyland to do those few things at the Studios? We could live without ToT- my older kids just love it. In Disneyland we reallllly want to do Hyperspace Mountain, Pirates and Phantom Manor and would fill in with whatever else we could do- Big Thunder, Star Tours, Buzz, maybe some of the Fantasyland rides (we could skip Peter Pan as well, but would ride if FP was available). Indiana Jones and Small World will also be closed. I know my parents probably won't be able to keep up with our usual pace and while I can't imagine being in Paris and not riding Ratatouille- I just don't know if it is worth it for that short amount of time we would be over there. This was kind of a last minute decision so I have no idea what to expect as far as crowds, etc. We are pretty proficient at park touring and riding a lot in a day.

Thanks!
 
Mid September, during the week is a great time. The downside with Small World & Indiana Jones being closed is the guests would go elsewhere. These two rides together can process over 5,000 guests per hour, but you should still be able to do everything on your list. Start in the Studios, ride Ratatouille , get a FP for ToT, ride the Toy Story rides. Then over to the Disneyland park, get a FP for Big Thunder Mountain, cross over to Hyperspace Mountain and Star Tours (pick up a FP for buzz on your way back), ride Big Thunder Mountain, ride Phantom Manor. Get lunch somewhere on the go. Depending on your return time for Buzz, ride Pirates, on your way to Buzz pick up a FP for Peter Pan. And then enjoy the rest of your day :)
 
I'd definitely try for both parks, especially if it is midweek. As for rope drop, I guess it depends on what kind of attractions you're after. A number of attractions draw large early crowds (Disneyland namely Big Thunder, Peter Pans Flight - Studios mainly Crush's Coaster which can have a REALLY slow throughput in the right conditions). Especially if you only have a day. Personally I'd start in Disneyland and just see what happens with the Studios...
 
“My older kids just love it” is a pretty good indication you should go. I am also from the US and I absolutely love DL and WDW and so we are obviously going to DLP when we are in Paris next year. We’re going for 2 days but if we were only going for 1 day, I wouldn’t think of skipping either park. Maybe there’s only a few rides there but they’re really good! And who knows when you’ll be back? Spend the extra money and do both parks.
 


“My older kids just love it” is a pretty good indication you should go. I am also from the US and I absolutely love DL and WDW and so we are obviously going to DLP when we are in Paris next year. We’re going for 2 days but if we were only going for 1 day, I wouldn’t think of skipping either park. Maybe there’s only a few rides there but they’re really good! And who knows when you’ll be back? Spend the extra money and do both parks.
I think that's exactly what I needed to hear :) Thanks! We are lucky to even get this one day as my parents were completely uninterested in taking a day from Paris touring to see Disney- but they also realized- when will we be back there? It will be unforgettable for my kids no matter what!

Thanks to everyone for the info and advice! I appreciate knowing the order I should pull the FP's!

I think we are planning on a Monday at this point- the "crowd predictor" calendar that was linked above shows the parks should be around 30% capacity- so hopefully it will all be manageable.
 
You can go wrong going Monday, it is always the best day to ride. As others have suggested, I would also recommend doing both parks. They're just a few feet away, even for only one or two rides, that might be worth it. You can always start with the Walt Disney Studios Park, ride Crush's Coaster and some others, and move with the “nicer” one.
 

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